#added the background as like . a last minute thing ngl

[quirkle2]

i like to think that post-s3 they learn how to be normal siblings and become Goofy

[wwtneosay-archived]

For You? pt.1

series masterlist lies here

The pairing is Mark x Y/n x Haechan but literally all of 127 is mentioned, I was feeling a little bit obnoxious… No Sungchan mailman feature tho, if you guys are good maybe he’ll make an appearance next time ;)

Synopsis: childhood bffs turned superstars, within their years of success the bond of friendship has never been broken, outings to let loose are vital in order to withstand the pressures of being a celebrity. What will happen when you unintentionally push your body’s limits on a night out?

Word Count: 11.5K

The story has got it all; love triangle, eventual smut like… yeah , fluff, angst, heavy dialogue can be expected, also its multi-pov! I feel the need to mention that this story does not pass the Bechdel test..Oops! Mark’s residing in simp city and Haechan is, well, himself… but maybe you like that mix? Read below the cut to find out!

Authors Note: My first ever series haha… Had a lot of fun writing this ngl, like fully cracking up at some parts… yeahhhh I kinda love build up so there’s definitely a bit of background before you get to the dirty stuff, what can i say? I like to paint a pretty picture. But seriously , let me know what you thought :)

Here’s a small excerpt to coax you into reading it lmao <3 :

He retracts his head from the side of your body to take a look at your pretty face. The pleasure he gets from watching you snap out of his trance in real time scratches his ego in just the right spot, he tilts his head slightly as a cheeky grin envelopes his features, “You were so bold in the car, why are you acting so shy all of a sudden?”

You know, you wish you could say something, anything, to convince him his actions were not having an effect on you, but the alcohol has definitely dulled your wits. You go for the option that first comes to mind, playing it off… Yeah, that’ll do it..

Whatever is left of his spell wears off because you’re finally able to look him in the eyes again, “Oh please, I’m an entertainer! I had an audience to please”, you scoff, waving him off.

Yeah that should buy me enough time to build my defenses back up, you think.

You clearly miss the glint in his eyes before he leans into you once more,

“I’m your audience now, so how about you please me?”

*bzzt*

Markly [10:45]: yoo u got five minutes, we’re on our way now.

The boy’s always had a handful to deal with whenever promotion season came up, to be completely honest you tried your best to avoid them this time around, the prospect of possibly adding more stress onto them doesn’t sit right with you, instead you preferred to cheer them on from the sidelines, sending coffee trucks or meals whenever an important date came up. It was your personal way of being there, offering that little dose of encouragement that everyone requires.

Luckily for you, promos don’t last forever, in this case they had ended about a week ago, no more appearances or hours of grueling practice, your friends would finally be back in your grasp.

You’re happy for them, that no one could deny, but it still hurts keeping a distance from the people you cherish the most. God, good thing this ends tonight, you’d been needing to blow off some steam.

Your ears prick up at the sound of tires rubbing over the gravel, you quickly finish up any last moment touch ups and Mark's text serves as your final queue to make your way outside.

Markly [10:50]: outside :)

Man, you would've never thought that seeing a pair of silver vans outside your house would bring you so much joy. You briskly make your way to one of the tinted vehicles, the door automatically opens and you are greeted with roars of cheers, if you didn’t know any better you would’ve assumed their favorite sports team just scored a goal, you don't mind it at all, in fact, you think they could be louder. You echo their enthusiasm, taking in each of their smiling faces before shimmying into your seat, you appreciate that they always left the seat closest to the door empty for you, makes things a whole lot easier, you know?

Their chauffeur (manager lmao) makes sure that everyone’s buckled up before pulling out of your place.

Questions immediately begin to bounce off the walls of the small van, “hey how’ve you been!? I feel like I haven't seen you in a minute..” Mark ponders, a warm smile gracing his features.

Haechan quickly chimes in without missing a beat, “She always disappears during promotions, have you guys just noticed?”

The members look back at him all at once, their faces show that they’re calculating the math, then they turn to look at you. The sudden attention kind of catches you off guard, damn, busted..

Before anyone has a chance to question, you rely on your wits to help you change the subject , “Awww Haechan… I didn't know you kept tabs on me, do you really like me that much?”, a smug grin is plastered across your face. Yeah, this should do it..

You’ve never seen Haechan’s eyes widen like that, his lips pucker into a small “o” as his gaze remained fixed on you. The members waste no time to point out his expression, you let out a cackle as you soak in his flustered face.

He attempts to summon his composure, when that fails he rolls his eyes instead, scoffing at your seemingly ridiculous statement, “Pffft, in your dreams.”

You mentally applaud yourself for not being on the receiving end of Haechan’s playful taunts for once, you can't deny that your ego is soaring right now. So this is why he behaves the way he does..

You lower your eyes, glaring at him as the left side of your lips curl into a smile, “Yeah, ok, sure.. I’ll pretend to believe you..” He lets out a breathy, almost silent chuckle as his tongue pokes against his cheek, it seems as if he can’t bear to hold eye contact with you any longer because he turns to face the window.

Haechan, giving up? Huh…

This sudden dominance, or whatever it is you have over him is quite amusing to say the least…

You take his silent surrender as a queue to move on.

Laughter and jokes continue to resonate in the van as you all fill each other in on any random moments that have accumulated in the past couple of months, nothing is off limits. It's nice to hear their voices again, you always appreciated that no matter how long you spent time apart from them, you were able to pick things up like it was nothing, it’s one of the luxuries of having long standing childhood friends that you often relished in.

A couple of minutes of catching up go by, you begin to notice the familiar billboards so you take it upon yourself to ask if everyone’s ready for tonight, and their faces light up in response, Johnny is the first to speak, “Hell yeah man, it's been so long.”

He was right, they've been busy for a consecutive couple of months now, they deserve to let loose.

Your eyes scan the streets to gauge the liveliness of the night, before you know it you’ve finally made it to your destination, an exclusive club in Hongdae. Security and confidentiality was what made the place so appealing to celebrities. Here, they were able to fully experience their 20’s without having to worry about public scrutiny.

The car comes to a stop and a symphony of clicks are heard as the members move to open the doors. Their faces are quickly met with the brisk air slamming into their cheeks. As everyone makes their way out of the car you take your time to admire the way the tips of everyone’s noses have slightly pinkened thanks to the cold. You’re snapped out of it as you hear your name being called, you whip your head to the other van and see the rest of the members. You’re greeted by Taeil first, “Hey y/n! It’s been a while, huh? Glad you’re back.”, you immediately smile and reach out for a big hug, partially because you missed him and partially to get rid of the cold that was beginning to envelop your body.

Taeyong decides to skip out on these types of outings since he’s not much of a drinker, and Doyoung would much rather spend his time surrounded by peace and quiet, so naturally Johnny steps in as today’s leader. He gathers everyone just outside the doors of the van, making sure to get a headcount before you make your way into the club. You take your time to greet the members that had been in the other van, making sure to congratulate them on their steady success with the recent album and their stages.

Once Johnny makes sure everyone is accounted for, you all head towards the entrance. Today the club was bustling, you could tell by the amount of people drifting on the sidewalk, some crouching down puking, others having a smoke break, believe it or not, they all seem to be enjoying themselves.

As you approach the main entrance, the two bouncers share a look and immediately unhook the velvet ropes. Jungwoo laughs as one of the bulky men breaks his stoic expression, “Y/N?? I haven’t seen you all in a while!! Have a round on me, I'll let the bartender know, Have fun tonight, ok?” He says with a wink. The boys cheer as you lean closer to him to give your thanks “Heeey, thanks Manny I’ll have to make it up to you some other time!”. How cool of him...

You obviously weren’t going to take him up on his offer, I mean if it was one drink sure, but a round of shots for 8 people? That's pushing it honestly.. Instead, you make sure to let the bartender know to put whatever he got tonight on your tab, yeah that's fair, he’s always been so nice to you and the boys anyways, so why not?

—

As you make it past the main entrance you can immediately feel the bass reverberating off the walls. Once you all reach the end of the dimly lit hallway, you can feel the anticipation beginning to rise, Johnny turns around to take a look at all of you “Lady and Gentlemen, let the fun begin…” He says as he pushes open the thick steel door.

Colorful lights splash against every surface, no matter where you look, something seems to be going on. Your vantage point offers a view of the entire club. You’re greeted by a pool of bodies floating around the dance floor, you place your hands on the balcony rails as you soak in your surroundings. You feel a hand being set down on your own, your eyes scan the limb upwards to find that it’s Yuta, he doesn’t say anything but just raises his eyebrows and gives his signature smile, you mimic his expressions and begin to follow him as he leads you to the section, the rest of the boys followed suit.

They’re greeted with every step they take, “Congratulations!” and “Long time no see’s” are being spewed at them left and right. You slowly begin to loosen your grasp on Yuta’s hand as you notice the way people have immediately flocked to them. He gives you a light squeeze, nodding a small “no” to indicate refusal of your actions. You return the squeeze, leaning into his ear to try to overcome the thumping music, “It’s okay! I’ll go set up the drinks, meet us at the table when you’re done!!” He concedes, letting go of your hand watching you make your way through the crowd to your guys’ section. When he notices that Mark trails you he allows himself to take his eyes off of you.

You successfully make your way into the section, pleased to see that your request had been fulfilled, 8 shots were placed in a semi circle on the glass table, ready to be gulped down. You took the time to call beforehand to make sure the bar had all the members favorite liquor in stock, and they even took the time to prep them like this, huh, you can see why you guys keep coming back. There was no need for labels on the shot glasses, each member had their specific tastes so it was easy to differentiate them. Don Julio, Fireball, Jose Cuervo, Jack, Jameson, etc… Some were questionable to say the least, but hey, it’s what they like…

As you’re looking down at the table, you hear a sudden “BOO!” accompanied by fingers nudging into your shoulders. You know, after all these years you’d think Mark would’ve given up on his attempts to scare you but that doesn’t seem to be the case, he still tries his hardest even though he’s met with failure Every. Single. Time. But hey, that’s Mark’s charm.

Dang, you really missed his little antics.

You bring your hands to your heart, dramatically feigning your recovery from the so-called “scare”. Once he giggles at your reaction you offer him a snack, ones graciously provided by the club. He scans the small basket, it's like watching a kid raid their candy bag after a night out trick-or-treating. You notice the way his eyes glimmer as he identifies the watermelon sour patch kids, and you can’t help the smile that grows on your face.

He shoves a few in his mouth before he notices he didn’t offer you any so he extends his hand out, shaking the bag to signal you to get some. You place your palm out and he dumps a few into your hand. The small action momentarily fills you with nostalgia, they taste like the past, you mean that in the best way possible.

You two take the time to catch up while snacking on the candy, your brain absorbs every little detail that spills past his lips. Talking to someone is one thing, but talking to Mark has always been a breath of fresh air, you can't explain it, he gives every word such importance, you can't help but be captivated.

After minutes filled with laughter and him filling you in on his recent activities, you begin to feel a bit thirsty, so you ask if he’s down for a lil pregame shot while you two wait on the other members to make their ways to the section, he happily indulges you, moving towards the bar cart thats a few steps away, “Your favorite, right?”

He doesn’t waste time waiting for you to answer because he already knows what your response is gonna be. One of the things you had in common was your love for sweet liquor, because why would anyone willingly subject their throat to that burn..

A golden colored liquid makes its way into two empty shot glasses, its saccharine scent could be smelt from steps away. Once he fills the glasses, he hands one off to you, you decide on dedicating this first round to him, looking him in the eyes as you begin to speak, “To your hard work and efforts on the new album, just know that it never goes unnoticed, and please know that you can always count on me to be there for you whenever you need me to be, I'm proud of you dude.”

It's funny, he meets your eyes then dodges your gaze mid toast, it seems he found comfort in looking at the floor instead. You decide on not questioning it, his expression is one of content after all. You find it more amusing to tease him a bit (still living off the high from Haechan earlier..) “Oh my god don’t tell me you’re blushing right now”, you say in a sing-songy voice as your pointer finger nudges his shoulder. “Are you that touched?”, you gently bring your hands up on top of your heart to emphasize the sentiment…It only takes Mark a few seconds before he’s able to hold eye contact once again, shaking his head at you as his goofy smile makes its way onto his features. He decides to ignore your previous statements, raising his glass to simply state, “To us! I’m really glad you’re here, let's have fun tonight.” You nod, clicking your glasses before you two down the shot. You miss the way his gaze stays fixed on you, he can't hide a content smile as you close your eyes, sighing in content, relishing in the fact that you didn’t have to worry about any bitter aftertaste.

You’re both startled by a playful lilt coming from behind, “What are you two doiingg?”. A quick “Nothing!” leaves your lips in unison and when you both turn to face each other, you can't help but burst out into laughter. Johnny finds it amusing, the way you two act like a couple of teenagers who just got caught doing something they weren’t supposed to.

He makes his way to your side, “If you guys are going to pregame, at least serve me one too!”He pouts, but only for a second before he bares his teeth at you. That’s your queue to present the chrome salver that held the pre-poured shots so nicely.

Johnny doesn’t hesitate to pick up his drink, knowing instantly which one belonged to him. He quirks a brow at you as he eyes the shot glass, “Damn you really love us, huh?”

You tilt your head as you suck in a small breath “Nah, I wouldn’t say all that… Maybe just a little..”

The two boys chuckle at your response. Before Johnny has the chance to gulp down his drink he hears his name being called out in the sea of people. It's kind of amazing how he managed to locate the source of the call. He raises the glass up at you, quickly swallows it, and sets it down on the table before sparing you and Mark one last glance, “Don’t have too much fun without me, yeah?”, with a playful wink, he disappears within the crowd.

Eventually the rest of the members make it to the table, each downing their designated drinks, laughing, and socializing in and out of the section. After the 4th round of shots you begin to feel the effects of the alcohol setting in, nothing anyone wouldn’t be able to handle though, you make a mental note to hydrate before the next rounds just to stay on top of your toes.

—

The boys seem to be having fun, each in their own little worlds, you can't suppress the smile that creeps onto your face as you take in their expressions. It's been so long since you’ve all had a night out together, you’re elated to see that everyone appears to be enjoying it. You take it upon yourself to mingle within the confines of the club, occasionally coming back to the section whenever anyone would order a round. It's becoming harder to keep tabs of how many shots you’ve taken, so after a certain point you decide to stop keeping track.

—

The alcohol has fully made its way into your bloodstream, the realization hits when you’re stumbling into the women’s bathroom struggling to lock the stall door. Damn when did these things get so difficult? Eventually you manage to shut it before continuing to handle your business. Luckily, unlocking the stall door is a much easier task.

You make your way to the sink because you’ll be damned if you become one of those girlies who don't wash their hands after using it, even though you’re tipsy your sense of hygiene is still intact.

The suds begin to envelop your hands, you sway a bit to the music before deciding an appropriate amount of time was spent lathering your hands. After you finish rinsing the last of the soap off, you take a quick glance in the mirror, taking the time to fix any stray hairs. You blow yourself a kiss before heading out.

You decide to settle on the dance floor, the music is directing your movements at this point. You look around the crowd to see if any of the members are near you, you make eye contact with a few that are, waving at them as you grin ear to ear. You have yet to spot the youngests of the group though, so you look in the next logical place, your beloved section.

That’s where you spot them, Jungwoo, Haechan, and Mark, each with a glass in their hand. You motion towards them in an attempt to get their attention, the crowd was looking a bit sparse, you figured more people wouldn’t hurt.

Jungwoo is the first to notice you and he lifts his glass in return. Unfortunately his simple acknowledgment wasn’t enough for you right now, so what’s the next best thing? Ah yeah… genius, you think.

You mimicked throwing a lasso in his direction, because if anyone were to go along with the bit, it was gonna be Jungwoo.

You begin to tug on the imaginary lasso and he lifts up, adding the exaggerated theatrics you sought out. At first Mark and Haechan look at him confused, but as you continue pulling, they connect the dots.

Jungwoo has made his way to your side, and you two let the music carry you. You spare the sitting younger boys a glance and motion for them to join you, Haechan shares a look with Mark, the left side of his lips tilt into a smile, “Should we join her or what?”. Mark keeps his eyes glued to you as he answers him, “I’m good watching, you should go though, have fun.”.

Haechan shrugs him off and sets his glass down, “Yeah, I’m planning on it…”. Mark is a couple shots in himself so doesn’t really pay Haechan’s statement any mind.

You notice Haechan get up but instead of coming towards you, he waltzes over to the DJ booth.

Booooo, if anyone would be down to dance it’d be Haechan? Maybe he just wasn’t in the mood tonight…

You peel your eyes off of him and decide to see if you can maybe persuade Mark once more, when the lasso trick fails, a gloomy expression resides on your face, you pantomime wiping the non-existent tears from your eyes. He laughs it off, and although he’s well out of earshot, you could’ve sworn you heard his laughter from across the floor, you can't help but giggle in response. Once you see that your efforts are fruitless, you decide to redirect your attention to Jungwoo. He takes your hand and twirls you around a couple of times, he might’ve snorted a bit when you stumble after the third spin.

When you pause to recover from the dizziness you see Haechan sauntering towards you two, an excited smile makes its way to your features.

“Couldn’t resist the fun, could you?” You beam up at him.

“How could I ever?”, he throws you a mischievous grin but you’re a bit too far gone to even notice.

As you envelop him in a hug the lights of the club suddenly begin to dim, turning a deep red. You look around you to see if it was just part of your imagination, but the roars in response to the shift in mood are what make you realize you’re not dreaming.

The mid tempo song that now echoed throughout the club called for slow movements, the groovy baseline paired with the ambiance set in place by club directors clearly portrayed their intentions for this particular moment. All at once, people make their way to the dance floor. In the rapid movement, Jungwoo had been swallowed into another section of the floor, so that left you and Haechan alone. Your eyes widen as sweaty bodies continue to force you two closer and closer by the second. Haechan doesn’t seem to mind so you decide you wouldn’t either.

The fact that you were still locked in the hug from earlier gave Haechan easy access to your body. His left hand reached for your face, his touches were feathery as he caressed your cheek, he chuckles a bit when you lean into his hand. Hmm how responsive…

Your response to his touch only encourages him to keep going. He tucks a piece of your hair behind your ear before he lets his fingers glide along your jawline, they find refuge beneath your chin, resting there a bit before he decides to tilt your head upwards, allowing his eyes to come into contact with yours.

Low eyes study your features as a conceited smile creeps onto his face, you could’ve sworn you felt his irises searing into your flesh. He maintains steady eye contact before shifting his attention down to your lips, the quietest snicker leaves him as he inches closer towards your face, you can only flutter your eyes shut in response. Your senses prick up when you feel his plump lips graze against your ear, he lets out a small exhale before dropping his voice a couple octaves to whisper,

“You should probably close your mouth.”

You knew you had been a bit far gone but damn… How long had it been open?

He retracts his head from the side of your body to take a look at your pretty face. The pleasure he gets from watching you snap out of his trance in real time scratches his ego in just the right spot, he tilts his head slightly as a cheeky grin envelopes his features, “You were so bold in the car, why are you acting so shy all of a sudden?”

You know, you wish you could say something, anything, to convince him his actions were not having an effect on you, but the alcohol has definitely dulled your wits. You go for the option that first comes to mind, playing it off… Yeah that should work..

Whatever is left of his spell wears off because you’re finally able to look him in the eyes again, “Oh please, I’m an entertainer! I had an audience to please,” you scoff, waving him off.

Yeah that should buy me enough time to build my defenses back up, you think.

You clearly miss the glint in his eyes before he leans into you once more,

“I’m your audience now, so how about you please me?”

Hmm, that definitely sobered you up a bit…

You feel a small fire light up in your stomach, but you’ll be damned if you let him win again, he’s already gotten to you once tonight and that was enough for your taste, so you decide to stand your ground, lifting an index finger to his face, “ONE dance, since you want it so bad.” Ha, now it was his turn to scoff.

You turn around so your back faces him, the fact that he wouldn’t be able to get a read on your face was the main reason for this action, but you’re not going to complain about how close it brought you two.

The movements were set by Haechan, slow and drawn out to match the tempo of the song resounding throughout the club. He doesn’t waste time letting his curious hands roam your body. Each gentle drag across your exposed skin only stokes the flame that sits at the pit of your stomach, with each second that passes you begin to feel what once was a small pile of embers grow into a blistering heat.

Sweaty bodies surrounded your perimeter so unsolicited contact wasn’t unexpected, but Haechan’s grazes were different. You could’ve sworn he was riddling your skin with scorch marks, your eyes followed his fingers each time they came in contact with you just to make sure you were indeed imagining it.

At this point your ass was flush against his pelvis, the heat radiating off of him was beginning to become unbearable. You may have pushed deeper into him as he controlled your movements, not that he was complaining, his grip on your waist becoming tighter was quite the indicator. The song is beginning to reach its final couple of seconds, with that, your shared movements naturally begin to die down.

Before fully disconnecting from each other Haechan takes the opportunity to snake his hand upwards to the nape of your neck, he decides to continue a bit more into your scalp, taking a fistful of your hair, delicately tugging at the strands to turn your head to face him, your glossy eyes make contact with his.

God, did you always look like that, or was this expression only something you’ve shared with me?, he thought to himself.

The red lights compliment his features, if it were up to you, you’d look up at him until your neck cramped up, but you’ve unconsciously relinquished any authority over your body at the moment.

He chuckles at you before gently tilting your head to the side a bit, granting him access to your neck. The way you openly let him control your movements had his head spinning,

“What else would you be willing to let me do to you?”

His lips nip at your collarbone, traveling upwards, making sure to graze your jugular, because if you weren’t going to comment on how you were feeling, your body would do it for you.

A small huff is all you feel against your skin after he confirms his effects on you, but your senses are far too overstimulated for you to even realize he’s caught onto you. The journey of exploring your neck concludes when he comes to a halt at the shell of your ear, his lips graze it ever so slightly before he opens his mouth,

“Consider me fully pleased.”, his gravelly voice resonates in your eardrums.

He places what could possibly be one of the most delicate kisses onto your neck, before releasing his grip on your hair. You slowly turn to fully face him now, almost as if your body is just now processing all that it’s experienced in the past couple of minutes. His eyes don't focus on yours immediately, instead he concentrates on smoothing your hair back to its original state.

Before the final seconds of the instrumental fades into nothing his hand extends towards yours, pupils finally meeting your own. He simply brings your hand up to his lips, placing a small kiss on it, not once even daring to break eye contact. And with that, the song seals the moment you’ve shared perfectly. As the crowd woos the Dj’s choice in music taste, Haechan gives you a genuine smile paired with a wink before he makes his way back to your shared section.

You’re left completely bewildered, motionless in the crowd as you maintain focus on the back of his head. It takes Jungwoo rushing into your side for your senses to slowly make their return. “Wow that was amazing, did you see all the pretty lights?”, he asks with actual genuine curiosity. He decides to wave his hand in front of your face after not getting a response, “Helloo?”.

You feel your feet beginning to plant themselves back onto earth, that’s when you’re able to coherently form a sentence again. You beam upwards towards him, “It was mind blowing Jungwoo…”. He lets out a cackle before engulfing your entire upper body in the tightest hug, nuzzling his sweaty forehead against yours, “Haha, how cute, let's get something to drink, yeah?”, I mean, you've known Jungwoo for years now but it still amazes you how much he was into skinship, even in these conditions. Before you can answer he’s already tugging you towards your shared section. With your free hand you wipe away the sheen of perspiration that had built up on your forehead while dancing with Haechan.

The two of you finally arrive at your designated space. You see Johnny and Jaehyun have taken the liberty of inviting a few girls over, these two were like magnets, everywhere they went people just seemed to flock towards them, it was a sight to see truly, but you had more important things to focus on, your feet were begging for a break so you scan the section to find the next available seating. You spot a little booth off to the side, Mark and Yuta are already sitting there, perfect, you were in need of some familiarity after all you had gone through in the last 5 minutes.

You make a beeline to the booth and greet the boys, while Yuta immediately returns your smile, Mark doesn’t even bother to look in your direction, eyes deciding to focus anywhere but where you are standing. Hmmm, that's strange.. maybe he just wasn’t feeling the club anymore? He seemed fine a couple minutes ago? Maybe he just didn’t hear me? But that’s impossible because Yuta—

Your internal dialogue is cut off by Yuta signaling you to sit next to him, you plop beside him, “Having fun tonight?”, he asks. Phew, that's one way to put it. You resort to gestures to provide him with an answer, offering a mellowed out thumbs up. He chuckles as his hand reaches up to ruffle your hair.

“What about you?”, you ask, genuinely curious about what he’d say. Before he’s able to give you an answer he hears his name being called. Without a second thought you raise yourself up, urging him to see what’s up with his friend, he apologizes before leaving, “I promise to answer you when I get back!”He flashes a smile before tailing his friend, leaving you and Mark at the booth.

You position yourself in front of Mark, he wouldn’t be able to ignore what was right in front of him… right? You prop your elbows onto the table, “So how about you, mark?”, not even a second goes by before he answers you, “Never been better.” His voice was monotonous, devoid of any emotion, and he still has yet to spare you a single glance. Something’s definitely wrong, it's clear as day now. You knew Mark could be a bit hot headed sometimes, but it's never been anything like this?

You quickly scan your memories of what’s happened tonight to see if you could’ve said something to tick him off, but to your recollection, everything with him was going great up until now? Whatever it was you weren’t in the mood to handle his passive aggressiveness, not when everyone’s supposed to be having a good time. So you immediately cut to the chase, the alcohol in your system unconsciously dissolving any sort of brain to mouth filter you’d usually uphold, “Sooo, are you gonna act like a child, or are you going to use your words and say what’s wrong?”

His eyes finally look into yours, but the feeling is different. He’s never looked at you like this before and it’s driving you mad that you can’t pinpoint why.

A bitter expression dawns his features, he takes a combative tone. “I’m fine, and you seem to be having a blast too, so what exactly is the problem?”

Your brows knit together, still unsure of where all this hostility is coming from, and why the hell it's even being directed at you. You immediately become defensive, “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Why are you acting like this? Did I say something to make you upset?”, your sentences were laced with exasperation.

Mark opens his mouth to speak but before words are able to leave his lips, he’s interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Everything alright over here?”Haechan questions, he doesn’t ask for permission before he settles next to you in the booth. He offers you a smile before his eyes land on Mark, “Hope I’m not interrupting anything?”

Mark scoffs, “I was just leaving.”

He gives Haechan a once over before he plants his palms on the table to force himself up, storming off into the crowd.

Your eyes follow Mark's figure as it makes its way to the club’s exit. When you lose him in the sea of people, you redirect towards Haechan, “What’s up with him?”, you sigh before you prop an elbow on the table, letting your face rest in your palm, “Dude I wish I knew...”

The last thing Mark sees before exiting the club is Haechan’s hand placed on your back, rubbing small circles into your flesh. He mentally curses at himself for even deciding to look back at you.

—

Mark successfully makes it out of the club, the cool wind that smacks him in the face causes him to lose his balance momentarily, after a few steps he eventually decides to settle on an empty part of the curb.

His eyes close as he pushes out a deep sigh, nimble fingers fumble in his pockets to find the vape Johnny asked him to hold onto before they left the dorms. He oggles the small contraption with curiosity before bringing it up to his mouth. I’m pretty sure this is how Johnny does it…

He takes in a long drag and before he knows it, his lungs reach their limit, now I just let it sit there right…? He attempts to hold in the smoke but his lungs aren't having it. He enters a coughing fit, small clouds of smoke leave his pinched lips with each puffed exhale, he comes to the realization that it may be better to stop resisting it, so he lets out all the smoke in one blow. Great. Now he was pissed off and his throat stings, wonderful.

As he brings his hands up to his throat in an attempt to soothe himself, he can’t help but replay what happened earlier. Why would he shamelessly caress you like that for the world to see? Seeing you pressed up against Haechan only filled him with rage, which only increased by tenfold when the little shit was daring enough to hold eye contact with him, knowing the way his actions were affecting him. He’d pull you in closer each second Mark observed you two, sending him a wink when your body was flush against his.

Each time his hands laid themselves on your body he couldn’t help but wonder; Were you actually enjoying the way he was touching you, is that what you liked? How would you react if it was his hands on you instead? Would you be just as welcoming, maybe even a bit more?

Envy coursed through his entire being each time you two closed the gap between each other, what was he saying into your ear so sweetly that made you look at him like that? Did you have a thing for him?—

Mark shakes away the image of you two, finally letting an ounce of rationality seep into his system. He stares blankly ahead as he lets out a low groan. It finally hits him just how immaturely he handled the situation, I mean, you never belonged to him? You were well within your right to dance with whoever you wanted. How were you supposed to know how he felt? It's not like he’s ever told you anything?

His face finds refuge in his palms as he exhales. After sitting with his thoughts for a couple of minutes, he reaches into his pocket for his phone. He fumbles with it a bit before getting it right-side up. The bright screen lights up to reveal a picture Doyoung had taken of the both of you. Even drunk he’s able to recall what the two of you were doing, and the exact words that left his mouth, making you laugh the way you did. He smiles at the screen for a few seconds before paying attention to the time; 2:08AM. Dang it's pretty late… He determines that his night has come to an end, the thought of having to look Haechan in the face leaves a sour taste in his mouth, and he doesn’t want to put a damper on anyone’s (your) night more than he possibly has already.

With a few clicks he reaches his managers contact page,

Mark [2:10] : hey, yoiclose ??

Manager hyung [2:11] : Gonna be honest I didn’t expect you to be done so early, I’ll come to the front, we can meet there.

Mark [2:13] : csn we stip for food. ?

[read]

Mark slumps against his manager as he raises himself up, “Ah hyung, you always take care of me, thank you.” His words are slurred but his manager understands the sentiment. He helps Mark stumble his way to the car, making sure he’s buckled up before slipping into the driver's seat.

They’re a couple stops away from Mark’s favorite noodle shop before he asks him “What dish are you feeling tonight?”. When he doesn’t receive a response he adjusts his rear-view mirror to get a look at Mark, who has drifted into what seems like a peaceful sleep. He chuckles a bit at the boy’s figure, luckily the redirection wouldn’t take long, the place was near the dorms after all.

—

Pain. Throbbing pain settled on the left side of your head. That’s all you feel as you find the courage to open your eyes. You’re dazzled by the sunshine bouncing off the walls of the room, so you immediately pinch them shut. You know you’re at the dorms, the question is, who's?

Since sight is faltering at the moment, you decide to rely on your other senses for an answer. A small hum of a computer fan is what registers first, and you can only assume you’re in one of three rooms. It becomes clearer where you reside after taking in a deep breath, a familiar citrusy scent makes its way to your nostrils. Yup, this is Haechan’s room.

After what seems like a few minutes, you gradually begin to open up your eyes, allowing them to expand from a squint until they’re fully open. You slowly bring yourself up so that your back rests against the headboard. The shared room is pretty neat, it looks like they’ve got an air purifier running, oh so it wasn’t a computer...

Your eyes look over to scan Johnny’s bed and see that besides a small ruffle on the edge, it's fully made. He must’ve slept in the living room or something… hmm, that's pretty strange, he's never minded sleeping in the presence of others, much less you. Damn, could it be possible that he didn’t even make it upstairs?—

Your thoughts are interrupted by Doyoung’s muffled voice that can be heard through the walls. “Set up the table and go wake her up, she should eat something.”. A small groan is all you hear in response, followed by metal utensils clattering as someone springs a drawer open.

A small smile registers onto your face at the command. As you let out a deep breath your eyes peer down to the small bedside table, it holds a neatly setup cup of water and 2 extra strength Tylenols. When your hand reaches towards the cup you notice it has a sticky note on it, “please enjoy deliciously ;)” the little sun drawn on the corner lets you know this was Haechan’s doing. You let out a laugh but immediately stop, as it causes your head to pulse even harder.

Once you take the two pills you bring your body to the edge of the bed, slowly encouraging your brain to allow you to stand on your two feet. Your legs hover a bit before coming into contact with the floor and before you know it you’re standing, completely still but hey, you’re up.

You’re mid-stretch as you hear heavy footsteps making their way towards the room, and suddenly Haechan bursts through the door. You wince at the sound of the door slamming back into the wall. “My god, do you have to be that lou—“, you’re cut off by arms wrapping around you, flinging you onto the mattress. Haechan lands on top of you, legs cradling your sides. He soaks in your fatigued state, bringing a hand to your face to gently stroke your cheek, “All tired out from last night, huh?”

WHAT?!

Your heart stops. You’re unable to produce a sentence as you attempt to recall last night's events, only to be met with splotchy blurbs of memories instead of full stories.

Haechan notices the panic in your face, and to be completely frank he revels in it a bit before revealing the truth to you. “I’ll save you the hassle, we didn’t sleep together.”

Relief washes over your features, and you shut your eyes, “Oh thank go—“

Once again you’re cut off, sleep still coats Haechan’s voice as he leans into your ear, “Although I will say, it was very hard to turn down your begging, you looked so pretty when you were—”, You pinch the underside of his arm to get him to shut up, and you’re glad it works, you shove him off of you, bringing yourself to stand up. He writhes around on the bed, exaggerating his pain, letting out dramatically loud wails. Seeing him like that made you almost forget how shit you were feeling, almost…

“Ok, alright, relax you little princess.”, you murmur.

He immediately freezes to make eye contact with you, “You think I’m pretty enough to be a princess?”

An amused scoff is all you can let out before deciding to change the subject, “If we didn’t sleep together, where did you sleep?”

His brows furrow at first, but he soon realizes what you mean, “Oh no— we slept together, we just didn’t sleep together, you know?”

Me and Haechan… In the same bed?

He can see the gears turning in your head at this newfound information, you fail to register the glint in his eyes before he continues, “ So you're telling me that you don't remember clinging to me all night, whining nonstop to get me to hug you back?”

You pinch your eyes shut, both hands instinctively make their way to your temple, lightly massaging the throbbing flesh.

“Of course I caved, I’ve never seen you act like that, plus Doyoung was getting sick of your noises, he came to check on us because you were that loud.”

Great, not only had you embarrassed yourself in front of Haechan but out of all the members on the 5th floor, DOYOUNG was the one to witness it? What kind of sick joke was this?

Your mortification is cut short by a knock on the door, you turn your head to see Johnny’s rangy frame leaning against the door. He eyes you up and down before his attention darts to Haechan then back to you, he does this twice and his face is awfully smug prior to opening his mouth, “Come on, you two dont want to make mom mad.” His voice is still gruff and you find pleasure that, by the looks of it, you weren’t the only one that had a rough night. As he pulls the knob to shut the door, he gives you one last grin, then he’s off with a shake of his head.

You slowly turn to focus your attention back to Haechan, pointing your thumb towards the door, “What was that all about?”

He feigns an unknowing shrug as a smile paints across his face, “Idk let's go eat, you already pissed off Doyoung earlier, don't wanna make it worse for yourself.”

As you mentally seek the courage to be able to look Doyoung in the eyes, Haechan climbs out of his bed and drapes an arm around your shoulder, leading you both to their shared kitchen.

—

When you step foot into the kitchen you’re greeted with groans and a couple of surveying looks instead of actual hellos. What could they possibly be looking at, this isn’t the first time they've seen me hungover? You decide to ignore their prying eyes, too tired to question their behavior.

So far, it's only the members of the 5th floor that reside in the kitchen, but you know it won’t be long until the rest of them make their way downstairs.

Doyoung’s parked in front of the stove. He always makes food for everyone after a night out, it's basically routine at this point. You know, even though he nags throughout the entire cooking process, you always notice the way he tries to hide his smile when he sees everyone digging in. You'll always be grateful that you have the privilege of calling him your friend, his presence is absolutely vital.

The only semblance of liveliness can be felt radiating off of Taeyong. You’re fascinated, staring at him with admiration as you watch him prep the plates of food, making sure to garnish each dish till he's satisfied with their presentation.

You decide to settle next to Johnny who leans his head on your shoulder when you’ve fully sat down. Bringing a hand to his head, you begin stroking his hair, “Have fun, at least?”, you ask, voice still a bit groggy.

“Of course… Not as much as you tho,” he says in between chuckles.

You freeze when the rest of the members chortle in unison to show that they second his statement.

I couldn’t have been that bad right? … Right…?

Hmmm maybe it's better to address the situation before continuing on…

You lift yourself up from your seat, gathering the attention of everyone in the room, making sure to meet eyes with each and everyone of them, “I’m gonna be completely honest, I don’t remember everything that happened, but I’m really sorry for whatever I might’ve done yesterday, and Doyoung, I apologize if I might’ve bothered you last night, that wasn’t my intention...”

The silence that filled the room was deafening, all that could be heard was the sizzling of whatever Doyoung was frying on the stove. Guilt washes over your entire being, gaze instinctively dropping to the table. Damn, what the fuck did I do?

Suddenly, a roaring laughter erupts, it's enough to startle you out of your remorseful state. Your head Immediately shoots up when Doyoung is the first to speak, “Why are you the one apologizing, Haechan was the one I could hear the most?”. A flurry of agreements echo within the room.

Your eyes widen at the sudden revelation of truth, they seek out Haechan who immediately feels the daggers you’re shooting at him. Punk ass liar…

Phew, I mean, at least now you know you weren’t the one being a complete nuisance. Still, this leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and it's becoming a bit tiresome to try to mentally fill in the blanks, so you settle on asking what happened instead.

“We had a blast at the club, but the real fun began when we came home.” Johnny grins, he notices the way your eyes are pleading him to continue, so he does,

“You couldn’t make it up the stairs so I had to carry you, but honestly listening to you going off on Mark was personally the highlight of my night,” Contemplation riddles his features before he resumes, “You know what, scratch that, it was actually when you threw up on yourself… and Haechan.” He cackles as he recalls your actions, meanwhile you can only duck your head and inhale a sharp breath in response.

The boys laugh as they replay the memory, you giggle a bit yourself as you bring your head up to look at Haechan, “…I may not be able to recall everything that happened last night, but I really feel that deep, deep down… you might’ve deserved that.”, you beam at him from across the table.

He raises his pitch a bit in an attempt to mimic your voice “ Wehh, i think you deserved it meh bleh blah— I can't believe this is how you treat someone who literally took care of you all night..”

Johnny interjects before you’re able to counter, “Hmmm I wouldn’t necessarily say that. I mean yeah, you did clean her up and all but you literally wouldn’t let her out of your grasp after that, I had to sleep in the living room because you were being so obnoxious.”

Leave it to Johnny to spare the bullshit lol, it's part of his charm that you often commend.

Doyoung relishes in the fact that he finally got an answer to his unvoiced question, “Oh so that’s why you’re wearing his clothes.”

……huh?

A stream of “Ahhh’s” and nods of realization follow Doyoung’s statement.

You look down to see Haechan’s garments covering your body, top to bottom.

You're at a loss for words at first, then your eyes widen at the sound of alarms going off in your head, “YOU STRIPPED ME?!?”

All heads turn to Haechan, who remains unphased at the sudden attention, “I mean yeah, I wasn’t going to let you sleep on my bed after you puked all over us? Would you have preferred if I left you sitting in your pile of vomit?”

The gazes shift in your direction now. Damnit, you hate it when he made sense… Silence fills the room, but it's quickly shortened,

“Your panties were super cute by the way, I always did love Wall-e.”

The members attempt to stifle their laughter, but they inevitably fail, quite miserably in fact…

A deep warmth rushes to your face, you fight through your embarrassment though, forcing yourself to meet Haechan’s observant eyes, “Yeah I’m gonna need you to erase that image of me from your memory, IMMEDIATELY..”

“Sorry, already seared into my memory. I might need it for when i get a littl—“

“OHKAYYY, food’s ready!! Who’s hungry?” Taeyong jumps in to save you from further embarrassment, he sets a couple of bowls on the table before sitting himself down.

Haechan snickers at you before shoving a spoonful of rice in his mouth, he makes a conscious effort to chew extra loudly before blowing you a kiss.

“Gross.”, You sneer.

“You know you love it.”

You roll your eyes as you bring a spoonful of warm broth near your mouth, you let the smell fill your nostrils before digging in. Damn, Doyoung’s meals really never miss.

You can feel your stomach unknotting with each spoonful you take in. A comfortable silence fills the kitchen as you all savor the food, the cacophony of quiet slurps and metal brushing against porcelain dies down slightly when you hear the front door opening.

Yuta and Taeil are the first to make their appearance, compared to the rest of the group, they seem to be walking on water. Congratulations, sooo happy for them... They greet everyone with warm smiles before taking whatever seats are left at the table. Doyoung had already set up bowls for everyone, so all there was left to do was dig in.

As Taeil swallows his first bite of food his eyes land on your figure, he notices your attire and it strikes a thought, “Hey, Haechan has a shirt just like that!”

“It’s his.”

The way everyone in the room felt the need to respond to his observation in unison has you choking on a spoonful of rice.

Taeil and Yuta look at you wide eyed, before their attention shifts to Haechan, who does nothing but wiggle his eyebrows at them.

Yuta turns to look at you once more with what seems like a concerned look etched across his features, “ Wait… So you two.. Slept together?”

You enter a coughing fit at this point.

Johnny offers you a glass of water along with a pat on the back, once your breaths are under control you clear your throat to give Yuta an answer, “Absolutely not. I may or may not have thrown up on myself.. And Haechan… Point is, I ruined my clothes so that's why I’m wearing this..”

Taeil just chuckles as he plays out the image in his head, but your ears are able to pick up the soft sigh of relief that leaves Yuta’s lips, and to be honest you’re not entirely sure why that's his immediate response.

You swallow a gulp of water and attempt to steer the conversation in another direction, “Enough of me though, how was yesterday for you guys?”

The two boys continue on to discuss the highlights of their nights, you’re glad they were able to enjoy themselves and come out of it looking the way they did, they genuinely looked like they had a blast.

As Yuta gives a reenactment of one of his stories he mentions Mark. You politely let him finish before letting your curiosity get the best of you, “Hey so what happened to him last night, did he get home safe— Is he up yet?”. Haechan’s eyes peek up at your displayed interest in Mark’s night, as Yuta parts his lips to reply, he’s quickly cut off, “ Why do you even care, he didn’t even have the decency to say bye to us before bailing last night.”

All eyes are on Haechan now, and that's when he realizes that he verbalized his thoughts instead of keeping them contained.

Johnny shoots him a questioning look, “Woah woah woah, what's with all the hostility all of a sudden?”

He’s stunned, but only for a split second before he formulates a response, “No hostility, just stating what happened.” He drops his spoon in his empty bowl before lifting himself from the table.

Your eyes trail him as he places his dish in the sink and trampes off to his room, all without sparing anyone a single glance.

What the fuck was that?

You raise an eyebrow at his behavior, “ Alright… You were saying Yuta?”

“Oh yeah, He’s asleep for now, Jungwoo promised to wait for him so they can come down together.”

“Perfect!” You immediately raise up off your seat, discarding your used dishes into the dishwasher before briskly making your way to the door.

As you squat down towards the floor to slip on a pair of shoes Taeyong shouts, “Where are you going!?” You peek your head into the kitchen, breath a little short when you reply, “He seemed angry about something yesterday, so I was gonna stop by our favorite spot and get us something so we could talk about it. It's past 9 so it should be open by now, do you guys want anything?” The members shout out a couple of menu items and you make sure to jot them down on a piece of paper so you’ll be set for when you call in the order.

As you slide on some sandals, Johnny makes his way to the door, “Want me to come with?.” You flash him a smile, “It’ll be right back, it shouldn’t take me more than 20 minutes bc it’s a pickup.”

He throws his hands up in the air in a false defeat, “Okie dokie, walk safely then, If you need anything text me, we’ll be here.”

“Bet”, You wave a goodbye at him as you sprint down the hall.

—

As you arrive at the shop you can see your order sitting on the counter off to the side. When you get ready to make your payment you notice a dessert tray sitting behind the glass window to your left. The pretty white plate holds about six bear shaped cookies, how cute. Hmmmm… Since Haechan didn’t come out to request anything you figured you’d take him some, I mean, you never did thank him for taking care of you after all …

“Hey! I knew it was you, there were a couple extra meals than usual, having some friends over for breakfast?”

The owner is an older woman, she’s taken a liking to you and Mark, every time you two visit she offers something on the house. You always accept it of course so as to not come off as ungrateful, always leaving a sizable tip in return because damn this woman can COOK, you can taste the love she puts into her meals, truly. You silently ponder if this is how Doyoung’s cooking will evolve…

You explain to her how you’ve spent the night with friends and just wanted to provide a meal in return. She smiles wide at your explanation, “They’re very lucky to have you.” The comment has you blushing a bit, she giggles at your slightly flustered figure.

“Would this be all for you then, dear?”

“Oh, and can I also get two of the bear cookies please?”

“Yes of course!”

She packs the cookies in a small brown bag and hands it off to you before continuing to process your payment.

When you grab the order off the table she walks towards the door to hold it open for you, as you approach the threshold, you thank her and she gives one last remark before you make your way back to the dorms, “Make sure to bring your boyfriend next time, he’s a keeper that Mark.”

“Mark?”

She places her hands over her mouth before speaking again, “Oh my, don't tell me you two broke up? It wasn’t my intention to bring up any bad memories.”

You chuckle at her worried expression, “Oh no don’t worry, it's nothing like that. Mark and I are just friends, that's all.”

“…Just Friends?” She looks at you as if you had broken out in foreign language.

There’s a small silence before she speaks again, “Are you sure we're talking about the same person, I mean the scrawny one who wears the round glasses. The one you always come in with!” Yup that's Mark alright..

You let out a genuine laugh, one where if anyone were walking by they'd think you just heard the joke of the century.

She just looks at you in amusement as you attempt to regulate your breathing. Once you’re able to catch your breath you give her one last thank you for the meal and head back in the direction of the dorms.

Me and Mark? That’s a new one, you smile to yourself.

She stays at the door observing your walking figure, she titters a bit as she shakes her head, speaking aloud to herself, “Pfft, she can lie to herself all she wants, I see the way they look at each other.”

—

You return to the 5th floor to deliver the orders, as you step in you celebrate slightly when you notice Jungwoo and Mark still haven’t made it down yet. Echoes of thank yous can be heard as you pass them their food, they look at the meals starry-eyed like they didn’t just eat less than half an hour ago lmao.

Once you ensure everyone’s gotten their food, a quick “You’re welcome!” leaves your lips as you practically glide towards Haechan’s room.

You don't bother knocking, that would take too much time.

He jolts on the bed at your sudden intrusion but he doesn’t bother taking his eyes off of his phone, “What’s this?”

“FOR YOU!!!!!” You yell, crashing next to him on the bed.

He’s still failing to acknowledge your presence, so you decide to get closer, batting your eyes as you shove your face between his eyes and this phone screen. When he breaks out into laughter you explain to him,

“You seemed off earlier plus I mean… I never said thanks, you did take care of me last night.. So like, two birds, you know?”

As he pulls out the cookies, he attempts to hide his enthusiasm, but you’re able to see right through him, “Bears, how original.”

“Oh please, you love it”

“Only a small amount…” He flashes you a smile, the kind that makes its way to his eyes.

After he takes a bite, he brings the cookie up to your mouth, motioning for you to take a bite yourself. When you lean in closer, you open your mouth to welcome the cookie, only for him to shove it up your nose.

You quickly expel the crumbs from your nostril, guffawing at his action, but if you were being honest you kind of wanted to taste it, so you squeeze his arm to hold it still. Even though you tremble a bit to keep it steady, you do manage to get a bite and wow, as expected, the owner has yet to disappoint…

“Hmmm so good~”

He chuckles at your satisfied face, “I know, where did you get it from?”

“Its this one spot Mark and I are always going to, this lady, Haechan, she makes the be—“

He cuts your sentence short, a hint of annoyance laced his words, “Oh yeah, Mark never shuts up about it.”

“I should take you, it's super close! We can go after your schedules one day if you want?”

He pictures it in his head, you, in that one dress he likes, sitting to grab a bite to eat, getting to listen to you go on about whatever interests you in that moment…

He’s looking off into the distance completely silent so you backtrack a bit, “Or not, no pressure…”

When he snaps out of his daydream he looks into your eyes, his face is unreadable and it’s throwing you off. You shift side to side on his bed, fidgeting with the hem of his tee that drapes your body.

He only blinks at you twice before leaning into you, softly placing his hands on each side of your cheeks, his eyes dart back and forth between yours then down to your lips, almost as if he was searching for any sign of resistance on your end. When he finds none, he brings his thumb up to your lips, gently running the digit against them. You let out a soft sigh of relief at the contact, as if the greatest weight had just been lifted off your shoulders, and when your eyes flutter shut he takes it as his queue to close the little remaining distance between you, pressing his plump lips against your own.

A spark of electricity travels through up your spine, causing your brain to momentarily short circuit. Fried neurons send the signal to tilt your head, deepening the kiss. Your lips part slightly to allow him to slip his tongue into your mouth. When his wet muscle comes into contact with your own, you can't help but wonder how it would feel gliding across your body.

Your heart is slamming against your chest as each second goes by and you’re curious if he can hear it. You realize that your brain can't help but crave more of him, because before you know it, you instinctively leap to straddle his lap. The newfound heat of your body on his has him groaning into your mouth. Fuck, it should be illegal for him to sound this pretty…

He slips his hands up your his shirt, raking his fingers up and down your back. Although you made your way onto his lap, he finds that you’re not close enough for his liking, so he decides to slightly dig his fingernails into your soft flesh. The action causes you to arch into him, causing you to let out an absurdly loud moan when you feel his dick come into contact with your core.

Your noise causes him to bring his actions to a halt, as he pulls away from your lips to get a good look at your face, you begin to feel the sting of embarrassment course through your veins.

When his blown out pupils look into yours for what felt like eons without saying a word, you promptly remove yourself from on top of him.

He eyes observe your now standing figure in awe. He doesn’t know how to process your reaction, it's so uncharacteristic of you, or was it? He’s never seen you in this state before. His head becomes overloaded with sinful thoughts. If that’s what you sounded like with barely any effort, what would happen if I actually tried a bit more? He feels lightheaded just thinking about it.

You stare at his heaving figure from a safe distance, before letting out a small chuckle,

I really just made out with Haechan right now..

You tuck your hair behind your ear as you prepare to speak, your voice wavers before breathlessly pushing out your next words, “I uh.. hah— I really should go upstairs.” You rapidly head for the door, not daring to look in the boy’s direction.

As your hand reaches for the door knob you feel his hand on your wrist, it's followed by a low voice, a foreign seriousness coats his next words, “It's not in my head, I can't be the only one who felt something at the club last night, you know what I’m talking about, and you can say whatever you want, but this—”, he motions at your flustered state, “confirms that for me.”

How dare he? I mean he’s absolutely correct but still, how brazen of him..

A small glimmer makes its way to your eye, you let a confused expression bloom onto your features before turning to face him,

“Last night… at the club?”, you furrow your brows as you tilt your head to the side to really sell your faux confusion.

He’s completely taken aback, dumbfounded, it takes him a minute as he chooses his next words carefully, “Yeah— I mean… Wait a second, you’re telling me you don’t even remember the club? What exactly is it that you DO remember?” You can feel his hand becoming clammy as he continues to hold his grip onto your wrist.

It's getting harder to hold back your amusement, but you manage to put on an excellent performance.

You stare at him blankly before raising an eyebrow, “Dude I literally blacked out? Did you forget the part where I asked everyone at breakfast to fill me in on our night?”

He freezes, demonstrating the telltale signs of someone who’s buffering in real time, Oh fuck, tell me that did not just happen right now…

You let your facade drop after a few seconds of silence, letting a smug aura emanate from your body, “But please, don't stop, what was it exactly that you felt last night?”

He quickly loses his grip on you, turning around to make his way back onto the bed, “Weren’t you in a hurry to leave or something?”

A puff of air leaves your nostrils as you observe him sliding under the covers, “Yeah I’m just gonna go up to the 10th floor” As you’re opening the door you turn to face him, “I’ll be back later though, try not to miss me too much”. He lets out a scoff at your remark, “I think I’ll survive.”

How does this man have an answer for everything? Hmmmm, how could I possibly get a reaction out of him?

As you pull the door to shut, you make sure to leave just enough space for you to peek your face through, getting in one final quip, “Oh— and if you decide to feel anything else, be sure to share it with me this time, you have my number.” You shoot him an exaggerated wink before slamming the door shut.

He sinks into the mattress as he hears your fading footsteps, wishing it would swallow him whole.

This is gonna be even more fun than you thought..

—

That’s a wrap on chapter 1!

part two can be found in this masterlist

What could possibly happen next?

Any feedback is appreciated haha :)

[hoodoo12]

how was the show??

THE SHOW. Oh man, THE SHOW. I had such a good time, thank you for asking! (it sparked a lil idea for a s-m-u-t-t-y story, so I'm happily typing away at that atm too!)

It was an audience of "standard" theater goers (older people who hold season tickets) + Beetlejuice fans. Fun combo. After coming from seeing it on Broadway with so many rabid fans, sitting in an audience that wasn't intimately familiar with it was a lot of fun. Kind of like being able to see it with new eyes again! At intermission I kept hearing things like, "This show is . . . interesting. Definitely different," from the older patrons. The old guy sitting next to me was talking to his wife and did some internet research on the show and Justin before it started; I managed not to fandump all the information in the world on them, lol

Even though the show was "sold out" there were plenty of seats open, including the one beside me. I wish I could have taken so many people who have put up with my fangirling about it for so long.

As for the performances! Kate grew on me as Delia. She is still no Leslie, but she seemed more comfortable in the role. Everyone did, actually. Everyone's cohesion and interactions were much more relaxed and natural compared to when I saw it last month.

Isabella knocked it out of the park of course. She really is a stellar Lydia. Will and Brittany still have great vibes together. Justin was amazing. Simply amazing. He really plays up to the audience and milks reactions. His improv background is so obvious; he has impeccable timing as to how long he can stretch a bit: the initial laugh, the increased laughter that comes when it continues, the dip in laughter when it becomes awkward, then the uptick again because it's so ridiculous. He did that twice: when he was sitting on Adam's lap (so much humping) and a sustained, almost a minute long scream after Lydia runs into the Netherworld.

I love that he added a little lore to Beetlejuice's background with the whole "Katherine Hepburn herpes" bit (if you don't know it, let me know and I'll write it out behind a spoiler). His Beetlejuice still sounds and gives off more of a menacing Keatlejuice vibe, which ngl, I am really digging.

My one complaint was that most of the cast seemed to rush through their lines. I know the show, but I bet if I didn't I would have had difficulty picking up on some of the words/lines from all the cast members except for Karmine and Justin.

One super weird thing was that during "What I Know Now", when it's "never smoke cigars in bed" the line was changed to "don't take too much Sudafed" and that actor was wearing a mask. Like a rubber face mask with fake hair that you could buy at a Halloween store. W-the actual-F?! It was just so out of place. I don't know if it was Matthew Michael Janisse (who made his Maxie Dean debut last night) and they wanted to cover his face for some unknown reason, but it was so bizarre I couldn't stop watching him in that scene.

Now onto the stage door! It was a different experience compared to what goes on in NYC. I don't know if people were starstruck or what, but . . . man. It was painfully awkward and I was just another fan standing there with them. There were only like 12 people waiting. All had BJ swag and several were talking about the bway show and stuff. When the actors started coming out, though, the other fans just acted deaf and dumb.

First was Will Burton. I clapped for him and told him what a good show, then since everyone else just stood there I walked up to him and started chatting. He asked if I wanted my playbill signed, I said sure; he asked if I had a pen and I said, "no, I'm the worst" so he dug around in his bag and found his own, lol

That type of interaction happened with.all.the.actors. Nobody waiting seemed to recognize any of them. Like WTF??

When Abe came out, I said, "Thanks for thr good show, Abe" and he zeroed in on me. "HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" he asked. I told him I saw him in NY, and yes, it was very creepy, lol lol. We talked for a while too.

I met Sean McManus, Lee Price (had a looong chat with him; he's a DEAR and such a good dancer! Holy crap I want to see him as Beetlejuice!!!), Kate, Isabella, Britney, Jesse, and Justin.

It was all the same with everyone standing around the stage door; if I didn't start talking/thanking the cast, they just froze like they had no clue what was going on. No one even seemed to recognize Justin! Like, this sweaty guy with black nails and smeared eyeliner was the star of the show you just watched! Since everyone else was frozen or whatever, we talked about stuff not related to the show. (I told him I liked his boots. He told me he stole them. hahaha--no, that was a true story.) I got the worst (or best? lol) photo of the two of us together.

So I guess the take away is: stage door in the city you see them in because that fan crowd (at least the size of it) is not anything like the NYC crowd.

I'm seeing it one more time before it leaves the area. If you get the opportunity to see it, do! It's worth it!

[dottielovegood]

ASMR

Elriel Fanfic. Read here on AO3

Azriel can’t sleep Elain has an ASMR channel Match made in heaven (or you know, on youtube..)

I was thinking about Elain's gift to Azriel for Solstice and how she would help him sleep if they were just regular people in our modern-day world. And thus, this chapter was born. I haven't really decided if this will just be a one shot or if I will continue with a few more chapters. Please tell me if you want more.

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

Azriel couldn’t sleep.

It wasn’t a new occurrence. Sleep rarely found him, and when it did, it was tainted by nightmares. Ever since his childhood, sleep had been a battle. Other people talked about how much they loved sleeping, and how they might spend an entire weekend in bed, just sleeping. Azriel always nodded when he heard people say such things, but he never understood them. If he could, Azriel would skip sleep altogether. If he could, he would just keep going without rest.

But to his dismay, his body did not agree. It needed sleep. His traitorous body needed the thing he hated the most. This had led to Azriel trying anything and everything to fall asleep. He had tried working out for hours before bed. He had tried tea that was supposed to make you sleepy. He had tried calming music and meditation. Nothing had worked. He still woke up after an hour, covered in sweat. When he had become really desperate, he had tried medication (which made him feel like a zombie the next day) and weed (he hated it. It made him feel sick.)

He had almost given up at this point. He was in his late twenties and had come to accept his fate as an insomniac with horrid nightmares.

But maybe his fate would change tonight?

It was in the middle of the night and Azriel was browsing Youtube, as he so often did. He had started with an interview of one of his favorite musicians, and then he had clicked on a recommended video, and all of a sudden he was down the rabbit hole. He was just about to give up when he found himself watching a video about how to grow a micro garden (he had no interest in micro gardens, so he had no idea how he ended up there). He was just about to click off when a thumbnail of a different video caught his eye.

The small picture showed him a young woman in a lilac top. Her hair was the color of dark honey and she had some small freckles across her nose. But it was her eyes that drew him in. They were a light brown color, and he would probably describe them as doe-eyes. Big and beautiful and innocent. And kind. She looked so kind.

He clicked the video without reading the title. He needed to see more of this girl.

The video started with her sitting very close to the camera. There was a microphone in front of her and she leaned in close and whispered “Hello my lovelies, lovelies, lovelies. Welcome back to my channel.” The girl paused and moved her hands in front of the camera. “Tonight’s video will be personal attention and hand movements.” Her voice was soft, almost angelic.

He didn’t know what he expected to see when he clicked the video, but it wasn’t this. Azriel had no idea what he was watching, but he couldn’t stop.

The girl on the video picked up a hairbrush and started tapping the back of it with her nails. “I am going to brush your hair,” she whispered into the microphone, and Azriel could feel himself relax as she started to move the brush in front of the camera. She had added a background sound that actually made it sound as if she was brushing someone’s hair. “Does that feel good?” she asked into the microphone. Her eyes never left the camera and it felt as if she was staring into Azriel’s soul. She continued the brushing while whispering affirmations into the microphone. Azriel felt a tingling sensation that started in his neck and traveled down his back. He had no idea what this girl was doing to him, but he wanted more. He glanced at the channel name: Flower Girl ASMR.

He made a mental note to google what ASMR was when the video was finished.

He did feel a bit weird watching this though. He was just watching this girl whisper sweet things into her microphone, and it felt as if she was whispering them into his ears. She had finished the brushing and was now giving him a face massage. He knew that it was weird. He knew that his friends would laugh their asses off if they found out that he had been watching this video. Luckily, they would never find out.

Flower Girl ASMR moved her hands slowly in front of the camera in small circular motions. She smiled gently at the camera and he could feel himself smile back. He actually smiled at his phone. God, what was this video? Witchcraft?

“If you like my content, you can subscribe to my Patreon,” she whispered halfway through the video. “For only five, five, five dollars a month, you get access to hundreds of videos, and I post five new videos every week that are exclusive to my patreons.”

Never in his life had Azriel wanted to subscribe to someone’s Patreon, but he could make an exception for this girl.

While having her soft voice in his ears, he decided to scroll the comments.

Most of the comments were nice enough, telling her that she made them feel relaxed and helped them sleep. Was that what she did? Did she help people sleep?

Azriel didn’t really believe that anyone could help him at this point, but he had to admit that he did feel relaxed.

He continued scrolling, and almost wished he hadn’t. Among all of the sweet comments, there were some assholes that made his blood boil.

HybernCoolKid 4 days ago Pretty girl, but you could show more boobs. N00ds on patreon? OF?

Amarantha_utm 7 days ago Boring af

LucienV   6 days ago Just subscribed to your patreon! I love watching you every night when I fall asleep. I always wish that I will dream about you <3 ily

LucienV 5 days ago You are so pretty. Can you please make a video with kissing sounds?

MortalGraysen 4 days ago People only subscribe to you bc you’re pretty. I mean ngl I only watch your videos to look at that pretty face while I jerk off.

Azriel curled his hands into fists to keep himself from replying to every single weird comment on this video. Didn’t she moderate her comments? She could easily block words from appearing in her comment section. Why didn’t she?

The internet was full of creeps, which he was well aware of since he worked in IT. He had moderated many comment sections in his life, and people never ceased to surprise and disgust him. But he couldn’t understand why people would comment such things on this lovely girl’s video. She was obviously just trying to help people.

He shook his head in disbelief and clicked away from the comments.

The video soon ended, and another one started automatically.

In this video, the pretty girl was sitting in front of a wall covered in flowers. The microphone was still in front of her and she was using a make-up brush on the microphone. It made a swooshing sound, and Azriel could feel that tingling sensation again. He put his phone on his chest and relaxed on his bed. The swooshing sound of the brush combined with her sweet whispers made his entire body feel good. He thought to himself that he should subscribe to her channel, but before he knew it, he was drifting off.

Slowly, he fell asleep and no nightmares plagued him that night.

Azriel jolted awake to the sound of his alarm. Sleepily, he found himself cradling his phone. His air pods had fallen out of his ears during the night and he found one under his pillow and the other one on the floor.

He was sleepy, but also...rested?

He couldn’t even remember what it felt like to sleep for hours without waking up to nightmares and anxiety. Was this what normal people felt like every day? No wonder they loved sleeping so much.

Azriel picked up his phone and walked out to his kitchen to make some breakfast. While he waited for the coffee machine to brew his coffee, he leaned against the counter and clicked the YouTube icon on his phone. He searched for “Flower Girl ASMR”. Video after video with her beautiful face appeared on his screen. He clicked on one of the videos he had watched last night and decided to leave a comment. He usually never left comments on videos, but there was just something about her…

Shadowsinger 3 minutes ago I have no idea what ASMR means, but this video put me to sleep last night. I can’t remember the last time I had hours of uninterrupted sleep. Thank you!

He then clicked the link to her Patreon and subscribed to her there. It will be the best five dollars a month ever spent , he thought to himself as he poured coffee into his favorite cup.

Today was going to be a good day, all thanks to Flower Girl ASMR.

[organic-guacamole]

showtime

episode 211 let's go

ok first of all, this is the second to last episode guys... I don't even wanna think about how much pain I'll be in after next week's episode

mr mazzara doing the recap-

this is so weird to me and I don't know why

WHY DIDN'T YALL JUST ASK BENJAMIN FOR HELP, THATS LITERALLY HIS THING

is Nini giving out the cards a callback to season 1 when Natalie Bagley said that Nini gave her a card or something on opening night of another musical?

STEPHY AS THE ENCHANTRESS OMG YES

Ricky in the crown gives me Harry styles in that photoshoot vibes

he's so pretty.

ok but why did we never see Ricky and Ashlyn interact before? it's been like 5 seconds and I already love how they bounce off each other and it's just so natural

OH THEY REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY UNDERSTUDIES-

well that explains a lot...

so Ricky fell on top of Ashlyn and all that broke for both of them was their wrist-

insert Jake Peralta *coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool no doubt no doubt no doubt*

of course howie was amazing as the beast, were we expecting anything less??

Ricky is so beautiful and I will not shut up about it....

let me enjoy this before the makeup crew slaps mud on his face.

Nini and Ricky talking to eachother? in a civil manner? wasn't she avoiding him just in the last episode? hm ok

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH THEY CANT EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS JUST LIKE ME HAHAHAHAHA THIS IS HILARIOUS, WHATS NEXT? THEY CUT EVERYONE OFF CUZ THEY CANT HANDLE EMOTIONS? ...ha

yes Kaden and Rico, my favourite east high boys 🥰

I mean....where's EJ?

THERE HE IS

EJ AND GINA IN THE BACKGROUND... doing something idek

KOURTNEY'S MOM IS BACK YAY

Howie is a shining star, ofc ofc

the smallest fOrk

can't wait to see the fork burst into song about how she deserves more than to be used to eat salad😌

the duster and the bluster.... ok😃

hi Gina!

hi- oh wow I didn't know Robbie Rotten was in this show!!!!!

the portwell look.

that my friends, is a married couple's look✋

GOSH EJ WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU

aww Gina's so excited for this

D word?

Die?

Delicious?

Dom Toretto?

"good, clean fun all alone with someone I dig...a lot"

sir that does not sound very clean to me

SEBLOS

Seb looks so cute standing there next to pope Carlos

DID THEYEY REALLY LIGHT ANTOINE ON FIRE-

I NEED TO SEE THAT

Seb's reading Carlos better than big red read the script in episode 102, this is great development after the "fight"

Kourtney really just made the best outfit for herself and let the rest of them suffer

the way Gina immediately goes to hold on to EJ after the announcement

"tonight we're going to put the U in UTAH"

...

"hey where are you from?"

"TAH"

SEB'S SINGULAR CLAP KILLED ME-

he's officially salt lake city's resident thanos

just wity clapping because for some reason I have a feeling he doesn't know how to snap his fingers...don't ask why

Ms Jenn do you mind encouraging your leads before the show? idk just an idea

pepto bismol product placement smhsmh

those flowers are bigger that big red himself-

*bops along to the opening theme*

that whistle at the end slaps everytime

WHY IS THE AUDIENCE SO MASSIVE

I guess they're all here to see Ms Jenn go on as a fork after Nini decides to *go her own way*

wow i am so funny

so they couldn't do many group scenes cuz of covid, but this 300 person crowd is cool? nice

OO THE VIOLIN GIRL FROM EPISODE 6 IS IN THE ORCHESTRA

HOWIEEEEEE

"Mr Caswell", he said, in the loudest voice possible while backstage at a show that's about to start.

Mazzara what are you trying to pull-

I usually like Benjamin but I don't like his tone

"iS yOuR wHoLe FaMiLy HeRe?" LIKE YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW THATS A SOFT SPOT FOR EJ

"we've had some good conversations these past few weeks"

right so what's going to happen after you graduate?

what does he think of you not going to Duke?

what did he say about you giving the sweatshirt that's been in the family for 3 generations to a girl you're not even dating?

good old Mr. M

therapist Mr. Mazzara, they all need it.

start with Ricky though.

"Michael Bowen"

dude why did you shave, now you look less like "hot lumberjack" and more "creep at the gas station"

OH-

does she not like Mike anymore?

why does it sound like jennzzara started dating and now they just sit back and talk smack about everyone in their freetime

break the fourth wall-

uhhhh im scared

why am I scared

he's scary

hehe flowers for Ricky, obviously for Ricky, ObViOuSLY

oh boy poor Michael

this man is in love, rip

why does Ms Jenn always look at people with her eyes open so wide

LILYYYY

I'm only excited because I really like the idea of lily and Ricky being friends, nothing more.

ha this guy's got jokes

a MOAT AROUND THE SCHOOL

wheeze

also he's very pretty.

"the wolves and very talented humans"

how dare he forget to mention the very talented wolves and normal humans, smh erasure

"being nice, what a concept" ted talk by Lily who still doesn't have a last name

did she just say lol out loud

same with the hug emoji last episode-

go touch some grass babes

the way he didn't say no, but said he didn't know how the east high kids would react-

not saying he does want to date her but that's an interesting thing to think about, also another thing to write an essay analysis on just to leave it in my drafts for a few months

awww lily genuinely trying to help him

sorry guys, I've been taken by the Lily charm (didn't know it existed until now but oh well)

REMEMBER WHEN I SAID I'LL NEVER SHIP PORTWELL?

just look at me now

the Lily wink I can't she's so cute-

HELP ME I'M BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY LIL-

David Attenborough?

oh nvm it's Benjamin narrating the show in a really weird British accent for some reason.

STEPHY GOT MORE LINES YAY GOOD FOR HER

also is this to show that Nini doesn't care about being the star of the show anymore? the way she's supporting everyone else even though she's a fork?

I would pay for a special of the full musical ngl

OOO THE TRANSFORMATION WAS SMOOTH

shockingly

yo where did the makeup come from

man I wish I was a theatre kid

THIS IS STEPHY'S EPISODE NOW IDC✋

my girl is starring

"needs an X-factor"

Simon Cowbell creeps in

"it's a yes from me"

and them boom, he takes Nini and mistreats her horribly and then she comes back to theatre after deciding music isn't for her👍

"I thought she just hog-tied him?"

don't ask sebby, it's better if you don't know.

imagine they spotlight the wrong person and this dude is just some random person that likes writing down stuff during shows.

Ms Jenn just let them do what they rehearsed (at some point we never saw) or else this is gonna end horribly wrong

"help"

same Carlos, same

I love how seb is just his translator rn

I thought he said "great displeasure" instead of "greatest pleasure"....help?

big red coming out from throwing up to see his girlfriend star is the cutest thing in this show.

Ash and Gina dancing is so fun

I'm imagining them practicing at night at their home, watching the movie for the 100th time and making sure their one dance together is perfect

KOURTNEY YES

HOWIE IS IN LOVE AHHHH

I LOVE HOWIE SO MUCH

SEBBY

THIS SCENE HAS SO MUCH GOING ON I CAN'T KEEP UP

THIS IS SO GOOD

HOW???

no because I'm actually crying

I'm dead serious.

we need this musical released as a special

big red is so proud and I love to see it

Natalie: "if you do not by at least 20 dollars in concessions, you do not support art"

rando in the audience: "but I pay for ad free Spotify"

Mr Mazzara clapping in the distance

Gigi, the guy you like is talking to you, complimenting you and hyping you up

YOU LUCKY LITTLE FEATHER DUSTER

aw EJ teasing her about the chocolates in a way that doesn't make her feel bad? take notes Richard

JORDAN FISHER

there is no rest of the show idc Jordan is it for me

THE WIG CAP ON RICKY OMG

they look like they're high and having "deep" conversations on the floor

THE MEAN GIRL WITH THE EYES-

@sunshine-julie-molina YOU HEAR THAT

Natalie really just be coming for them all

Howie what is happening rn

I'm scared

"did you enjoy it"

"very much"

dude wants a kiss so bad

ASHLYN OMG

NO DON'T DO IT BECAUSE OF LILY, PUT YOUR OWN TWIST ON IT

I want a Jordan autograph please

just keep swim- oh pushing...

Gina is literally a giant next to him and I live for it

am I about to cry for the 3rd time in this episode?

yes.

Ricky's leg kicks under the table makes me so happy aw

the portwell glances will kill me.

ah yes, mashed potato snow

Mr. M.... I'm not a theatre kid but even I know you can't have your phone on backstage.

Howie please just do it

CHIP'S BIG LINE I CANT

I LITERALLY HAD TO PAUSE IT AMD SCREAM INTO MY MASK FOR A SOLID 2 MINUTES (I'm not at home rn) HES SO CUTE

oh ok bye Jordan

oo tea

NOT HIM BEING STARSTRUCK BECAUSE HE'S MEETING HIS FUTURE BROTHER IN LAW-

"we're all just glad Gigi has a big brother figure in her life"

excuse me for a few thousand hours while I laugh hysterically

THE CAMERA ZOOM ON EJS FACE AND EVERYTHING-

STOP EJ LOOKS LIKE HE'S GONNA CRY BUT I CAN'T TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY WITH THE STAGE MAKE-UP

someone else said this already but I think it's hilarious that they had to bring in 2 guest characters to create some portwell angst

omg this really is Cici's episode, found family is their thing

elevator music lol

I'm gonna bet that big red took the harness for his surprise for Ashlyn without realising what it was

did Ms. Jenn just....tell her most mentally unstable student....to commit suicide....on a disney show...was that....I'm very....well....what the actual-

oh and there she goes running off instead of trying to make it right

oh wow Nini's the hero, she's gonna save the show 🤩

😐

the judge is doing a sudoku

honestly if I went to the hsm show as well, I'd come prepared for this one too

Lily why are you looking like that-

I WAS JUST STARTING TO LIKE YOU DON'T MESS THIS UP

wow ok, there goes that.

omg

what if Howie was acting weird because he knew what Lily did and wanted to tell Kourtbut Lily threatened him so he was scared to-

anyways see y'all clowns next week when we all simultaneously lose all motivation for the week without Fridays to look forward to.

[1994sunflower]

heaven to you. (m.c)

pairing: michael clifford x reader

genre: smut, fluff, angst (if you squint)

word count: 8.1k

involves: bad boy!michael, college!au, jealous!michael, established relationship, a lot of cursing, oral (m receiving), unprotected sex, daddy kink (really mild), choking, dirty talk, pain kink (slight), size kink, thigh riding, face slapping (consensual), hair pulling, spitting kink, throat fucking, impregnation kink, praise, degredation/name calling, innocence kink, virgin kink (kinda), smoking, mentions of drugs/drinking, maybe more but nothing too big just pretty filthy ngl

summary: your high school classmates come over to michael’s house in hopes of being friends with the famous bad boy on campus. this includes your one-sided high school crush that may not have been so one-sided after all. unfortunately for him, michael is not someone to piss off. fortunately for you, michael’s anger and jealousy isn’t always so bad, at least for you.

part two

+

“Tell me again why we’re going to this guy’s house?” Justin asked his two childhood friends. At least, they were up until high school. Now, as they went to different colleges, they felt more like strangers. But that was part of the reason he took the multi-state trip down to their university: to mend that rift.

“We’ve been telling you man, Michael is the man on campus to be friends with.” Chris punched one of his hands into his other palm for emphasis.

Charlie nodded beside Chris, both standing in front of their front door, ready to go. “He gets into the best parties, gets the hottest chicks and is the most feared guy on campus.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Justin raised his eyebrows.

Chris opened the door, shaking his head. “Yeah, dude. No one messes with him because he’ll beat the shit out of them.”

“He’s done it a few times already.” Charlie added.

“There’s rumors he used to be involved in a gang or something and that’s why he’s like that. Either way though, he gets whatever he wants.”

Justin’s lips curled up a bit in disgust. He came from a wealthy background, wealthy family and wealthy school. Though he never let that get to his head and he never looked down on someone because of it, this stark contrast to his normality was difficult to shrug off.

But he did as he followed both Charlie and Chris out.

Charlie was still raving about ‘Michael’ as they walked out of the cramped dorm room to the unfamiliar winding paths of their university. “I mean, imagine being friends with him. You’ll get all the benefits he gets.”

“I’m sorry, if you aren’t friends with him, how are we going to his house?” Justin trailed behind the two slightly.

Chris looked back, “Turns out his best friend is in my accounting class and he invited us over to play video games. How lucky is that?”

“Yeah, lucky.” Justin looked away. He wasn’t going to admit that as they crossed the street across the student union, the whole concept of meeting someone with a reputation as rough as this Michael character was daunting and just a bit scary. In fact, it didn’t take a genius to look at the three boys all wearing vineyard vines khakis and polos, and know they didn’t mesh well with what he supposed Michael was like.

They didn’t even mesh well with the college neighborhood they were entering. The small houses looked worn and crumbled down and the streets were even worse. The only thing that calmed his nerves was the knowledge that the scariest people on the block were tired college students.

“Have you even talked to him before?” Justin kept asking questions to calm himself down and stop himself from looking around at the neighborhood in disdain.

Charlie shrugged, “I talked to him at a party once, he didn’t say much though.”

Chris smirked, “I walked with him to class once.” He paused. “Well, I was walking with his friend, Ashton? And he joined. But it still felt cool. Everyone was staring and making way for us - well him”

They filled in all the holes in knowledge of Michael. How he never lost a fight (even though he was involved with them often - evidenced by his perpetual bloody knuckles), how he rarely went to class (and when he did, how he sat alone, always), how his fashion consisted of black, chains and more black and finally, how he would go home with a different girl every party (but how that didn’t happen anymore as he had a girlfriend, though her identity to them remained a mystery).

Justin nodded as he listened. But as more and more was added to the infamous Michael, he felt less and less inclined to meet him.

Time, however, to turn back had run out. Because as his friends turned into a rubble pathway leading up to an equally rubble house, he knew he was about to be face to face with the myth, the legend, Michael himself.

The things he would do for his friends. If he didn’t hold such a sentimental place in his heart for the boys he had grown up with, he definitely wouldn’t be there, standing in front of a (turning green) door, waiting for an answer. They were different, it was obvious in high school that they had become different types of men; he valued education, science, and was a romantic at heart while they valued alcohol, parties and were willing to screw anything they found ‘hot’.

But that didn’t deter him from valuing their friendship.

It occurred to him that the only thing his friends had failed to fill him in on was Michael’s appearance. So, when the door opened and a boy slightly shorter than even Chris, the shortest of them (though Justin was 6’5 and Charlie was 6’0 so really, Chris being 5’11 wasn’t that short) and messy brown curls covering his head and forehead, he was shocked to say the least.

But that didn’t last long as Chris dapped him. “Ashton! What’s up man?”

Ashton smiled big and nodded in acknowledgement to the rest of them. “Nothing much bro, took you a while.” But he moved back into the small house, a signal of welcome for them to come in but close the door behind them.

So, as Chris and Charlie followed Ashton in, talking about who knows what, Justin made sure to shut and lock the door before trailing behind.

The house was bigger than he pictured in his mind. The living room and kitchen were divided by only a pillar and the counter. But it was spacious enough to fit a flat screen (granted, it was on the floor) and a black winding couch (granted, it had cracks all over it). The only light came from the kitchen and the tv, which was set to the beginning of the game.

Ashton already sat down on the couch, grabbing a game controller casually from behind him. He was wearing a black t-shirt that had it’s sleeves cut off to the point where you could see his whole side torso through the giant holes. His gray jeans were equally ripped and Justin was sure his shoes would be too, if he were wearing any but just gray socks adorned his feet. He had spiked bracelets on his left wrist. Maybe this was the reason his slightly tanned, innocent face looked strange. His big eyes and friendly smile was a stark juxtaposition to the rest of his body.

Chris looked around as his large figure slumped beside Ashton, “Where’s Michael?”

Ashton didn’t look at him when he answered, “In his room with his girl. He’ll be out soon, I think. That is if they don’t start going at it.”

Charlie laughed as he sat on the other side of Ashton, picking up a controller from the ground. Justin was left to sit awkwardly on the edge of the couch, closest to the kitchen. He felt out of place, just like he suspected and it didn’t help the darkness that surrounded the room, even through the lit kitchen and blue tv screen.

He didn’t get to think much on it, though, because not a few minutes after he sat down, did the bedroom door behind the couch open up. Light streamed into the dimly lit room.

Justin stood. It was a force of habit, really. He was used to standing up whenever someone knew came into the room to introduce himself. But when no one else stood, with Ashton not even bothering to look behind him, he felt awkward. It was too late to sit back down, though.

Charlie and Chris looked back, though, with big grins. “Hey, Michael! What’s up, man?” They said as if they were close friends.

And thus, Justin came face to face with Michael himself. And this time, he looked exactly like what he expected.

Michael was towering, though his height was nearly equal to Justin’s. His shoulders so broad that they nearly filled up the entire doorway of his bedroom. His t-shirt was plain black and so were his jeans, which had three chains adorning them. Two sleeves of tattoos ran down both of his arms to his hands and fingers , one of his hands reading F U C K in big bold letters, with a few peeking out on his neck as well. His black messy hair matched him well and fell onto his forehead.

But through that intimidating appearance, none of those things were what caught Justin’s attention. No, it was Michael’s eyes that did it. Though they were light in color, somehow they still seemed dark. The coldness in them was frightening. There was no hint of warmth, of friendliness, in them. In fact, as Michael held direct eye contact, saying nothing at the still standing Justin, the aggression his eyes held was enough to make Justin take a step back.

It was that step that seemingly broke the trance Michael had put him in. Because just like that, Michael looked away and moved forward into the living room. He nodded in acknowledgement at Chris and Charlie, still silent, before shouldering past Justin to go to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottled beer, opening it with his bare hand on his way back.

Justin was going to sit back himself as he saw Michael head to the couch but was stopped by a second, much smaller figure exiting Michael’s room.

The girl was petite, especially compared to Michael, standing at a proud 5’1. Her straight black hair was parted down the middle and hung perfectly over her shoulders. She wore a dainty white sunflower dress that contrasted beautifully with her olive skin which made her, along with her kind smile and bright brown eyes, look like the epitome of innocence. Quite the distinction from Michael who seemed to personify danger.

She was beautiful.

And she was his good friend.

“Y/N?”

+

Your legs were stationed at each side of Michael’s torso as you straddled him. Your hands were cupping his face and while one of his hands was on your ass while the other was gripping your long hair, pulling just enough for it to be pleasurable.

Your mouths melded into each others deeply and you couldn’t tell which one of you were more desperate for the other. You’d been making out for a while and your body was on fire. You felt like his touch was both burning you and exactly what needed at the same time.

It only took one slow grind of your hips against his that did it for him. He flipped you over so that you landed directly on one of his thighs, the chains of his jeans rattling in the process. His body was flush to yours, you could feel his hardness against you.

You looked up at him with wide innocent eyes, just how you knew he liked it. And you were awarded with a deep groan and a taunting smile before his lips returned to your body, this time to your neck. You moved your head to give him more access and as he got more into it, sucking and biting, you couldn’t stop the moan that escaped. You knew he was going to leave a mark (probably many) because he liked to have something that claimed you as his.

One of his hands wandered to your lower body, traveling under your flimsy dress to flip it over. He gave your ass a swat to command you to move. He didn’t have to tell you twice. Your hips starts moving, slowly at first against his jean-clad thigh. But as the pleasure started to build up at the friction, you began moving faster, desperately, moaning loudly.

Michael watched you silently, a smirk on his face. The only touch was his hands on your hips, guiding your pace and your movements. Otherwise, he just watched you get off on him.

“Did you wear this dress for me?” You nodded desperately against him, wanting nothing more than push against his finger but knew better.

His hand pulled your hair harshly, hard enough that it hurt but that just made you moan louder. “I asked you a question.” He growled, he had begun to move his leg up and down, making everything that much pleasurable.

Fuck. “Y-Yes, all for you, daddy.”

“Good girl.” Was all he said before his lips claimed yours again. His kisses were fervent as he bit and sucked on your bottom lip. Your hips were still moving violently against his thigh and you could feel your climax start to build up. It was almost too hot for you to handle. But you could tell he was going to give you what you wanted soon.

Or he was. A loud banging came from his bedroom door across the room. “They’re here!” Ashton’s voice rang to you from behind the door.  

You sighed deeply as you pulled away from Michael and away from your release. Michael groaned and fell, face first, into the mattress. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Maybe later.” You giggled, pushing him up to lay on his back. He looked up at you and a mischievous smile, the one you had grown to love, adorned his face.

“Or we can continue.” His hand was already reaching to your wrist to pull you up to straddle him again but you held back, shaking your head.

“Mikey, you have guests.” But still, you leaned over and pecked his lips quickly.

Michael groaned again, this time out of annoyance. “Fuck them. I don’t even know who they are, they’re Ashton’s friends.”

You smiled at his attitude. Your hand was tracing his neck, following the ink lines. It was a vulnerable position he was in, and something he only ever allowed you to do. When he was with you, it was so easy to forget how different he was with other people. How mean he could be. It was almost comical to see the difference in how he was right then to what he was just a few minutes ago.

“Be nice.” You chastised. “They’re here for you too, don’t bother trying to kid yourself.”

You heard Michael whine, “Come on, baby girl.” He took a hold of your wrist again. As he pushed himself up to a sitting position, he easily towered over you and he used that to his advantage. Pushing you against the wall next to his bed, he cupped one of your cheeks. His hand took up much of that side of your face, “Let me get you off.” His voice was deep with want.

You’d be a liar if you said that you weren’t wet. The way he was looking at you, the way you felt so small in front of him, you wanted to let him do whatever he wanted with you. But as you heard the front door close, you couldn’t. Not only would it be embarrassing because you were never quiet, Michael made sure of that, but it would be impolite.

Michael would never admit it but you both knew the guests were here for him. He was somewhat of a legend throughout the campus, especially among frat boys and wannabes. No matter your disdain for people like that, they came all this way for him.

So you pushed against his chest just slightly, knowing that would be enough for Michael to let you go. And when he sighed and moved away, you got up from his bed and moved to where there was a mirror hanging next to his closet. Your hair was a mess and so was your makeup. You looked fucked out and you were in awe for a moment at how Michael managed to make you this way with just a make out session and a dry hump.

Fixing yourself, you couldn’t help but smile at the pouting boy, still cross armed on his bed. Turning to him, you motioned for him to get up. “Come on Mikey.”

He stood and immediately, you had to crane your neck to look up at his big height. Even his shoulders engulfed your entire figure. Michael knew what he did to you so it wasn’t much a surprise when you felt one of his hands wrap themselves around your neck, the one with his bruised knuckles, but not hard. “After this, you’re mine.”

You think your smile was enough to tell him how excited you were at that prospect.

Michael gave you a weak smile. He didn’t tend to smile much, even when it was just the two of you. In fact, except the fact that he was a lot chattier and warmer with you, he was still always in his head and rarely expressed much emotion outside of bed besides anger, horniness and the rare affection. But you were okay with that. Your emotions were enough for the two of us.

He gave you peck on the lips, “I’ll see you out there.”

You nodded up at him, smiling before going back to fixing your makeup and adjusting your dress. Ashton had a couple of friends over ever now and then. Most, if not all, coming to see Michael. Though, you tried to not be there whenever they came over, Michael seemed to prefer it for you to be with him. To give him something to actually look forward to. He hated meeting new people and he hated their interest in him. He was popular without wanting to be. So you were often there to remedy that and you became the center of his world in those moments. Though, really, that was how you were most of the time you were with him.

Only a few minutes passed after he left the room that you followed him out.

But as soon as you left the room, you stopped when you saw someone standing in the living room, looking at you. In that same instance, you recognized him. Justin. A good friend from high school and an even better human being.

As your name left his mouth you grinned, coming closer to hug him. It had been so long, years, actually. The last you saw him was at your graduation when you swore you’d miss him. And you had. After all, he was the boy that plagued your heart all throughout high school - not that he’d known.

“Justin!” The hug was quick and you had to get on your tip toes to do it. You could tell he was just as surprised to see you. He was smiling wide and his eyebrows were shot high like they did whenever he was interested in something.

But just as soon as you pulled away, the weirdness of the situation seeped in, “What are you doing here?”

Justin blinked as if he, too, just became aware of the weird circumstance you were meeting in. “I, uh” He scratched the back of his head, unsure of how to answer and gestured to the couch. “I came with Chris and Charlie.”

Your brows furrowed further as you glanced at the couch where, sure enough, your high school classmates sat, looking back at you. They waved, slightly confused. You tried to ignore the fact that even Ashton had torn his eyes away from the tv to stare at you two. Which, considering how hard it was to take Ashton away from his video games, was saying something.

All you could think was that you wanted to crawl into a hole. The boys that you always said peaked in high school and made you so upset when they transferred to your university were now at your boyfriend’s house, trying to be his friends. It was truly a worst case scenario.

Excluding Justin. It’d been so long since you saw him, it felt nice to be in his presence again. You appreciated him as a person and the kindness he radiated - even to you, someone so much lower in economic status than him.

“But I thought you went to Washington?” You fiddled with one of your bracelets as you spoke.

Justin nodded, stiffly. “I do, we’re just on Spring Break a few weeks before you so I thought I’d visit.”

You smiled, “You should’ve gotten in touch!”

You think the situation had gotten a hold of him because while he otherwise would be rambling on with questions and stories, Justin had gotten quiet. “But why are you here?”

You blinked. Now you felt uncomfortable. It was as if you finally noticed everyone’s eyes on you, including Michael’s glaring ones. Yeah, this is definitely the last time you were going to be there when someone else was coming over.

Ashton turned back to the tv and scoffed, “Please, she practically lives here.”

Your nose crinkled when you smiled and made your way to Michael, who had taken a seat and motioned you into his lap. You shrugged, looking at your high school classmates. “This is my boyfriend’s house.”

Justin sat down slowly, his eyes just as wide as Chris and Charlie’s. Most people on campus knew you were Michael’s girlfriend. So the shocked reaction had been diminishing. You were almost starting to become used to not seeing it.

Almost.

You don’t really blame them. You are very different. Michael is aggressive, angry and cold while you tended to be bubbly, shy and school-oriented. But that’s what you liked about each other. You just fit so well together. Opposites attract, right?

Ashton spoke up again, knowing Michael would likely not talk the entire reunion if he could help it. “How do you know each other?”

You took one of Michael’s hands in yours, your hand looking almost minature in his large one, and traced the tattoos you loved so much, “We went to high school together.”

Ashton nodded, “Oh the private one?”

Charlie nodded, glancing at Michael before looking at you, “I didn’t know you were dating Michael Clifford.”

You smiled weakly, we’re not friends, that’s why you didn’t know is what you wanted to say.

Michael took a chug of the glass bottled beer in his hands. It was like a silent signal because after, the three boys began playing their game.

You made a grab for the beer but Michael moved it out of your reach, his free hand slapping the side of your thigh in warning.

Your eyes widened. “Michael!” You hissed under your breath. Not in front of everyone. But he just stared at you, unsmiling. The only hint of humor came from his twinkling eyes.

He didn’t like you trying anything he was into: drugs, cigarettes, weed, alcohol. It was all off limits to you and he made sure everyone knew it. It was his way to preserve your innocence, even if dating him made that seem sort of like a paradox. Sometimes, though, it was fun to mess with him even if you were never interested in actually experimenting with the things he did.

“So, Michael…” You were brought out of your own little world by Charlie. “Are you going to Epsilon’s party tonight?”

“No.” Came Michael’s curt reply, his thumb drawing lazy circles on your arm.

Ashton was the one who saved the moment (and Charlie’s feelings) by filling in Michael’s blanks. You think that’s why they were such good friends. “Michael hates parties. He’d rather be here with Y/N and do it like bunnies.”

You weren’t sure if you wanted to die or if you wanted to kill Ashton. Maybe both.

Because as soon as those words left his mouth to your high school classmates - and high school crush - you felt your face heat up. You didn’t have to look to know that Michael was smirking.

You saw Justin blush and look away and for a moment, you felt worse. There was something about feeling completely humiliated in front of someone you hold at such a high regard that does that to you.

Ashton and Chris both exclaimed at something on the tv at the same time your phone chimed. You unlocked it to read the text.

kelly (stats)

hey girl! are you on campus? i’m at the library and wanted to see if you wanted to work on the project.

The project. It was due in a few weeks and while you had finished your portion, the rest of it was definitely not done. You sighed, knowing you’d have to go and lose the rest of your day with Michael.

You felt Michael shift under you, moving up from his slouched position to be able to read your text fully. He kissed your shoulder when he did.

“I’ll be right back.” You whispered to which he nodded. You got up from his lap and moved to the kitchen, moving to call Kelly and sort out the details.

“Hello?”

+

Justin’s eyes followed your movements as you left to the kitchen, though certainly not missing the way Michael’s hollow eyes watched his every move. Michael, sitting slouched, didn’t even stop staring when he took a chug of his beer, the red of his healing bloody knuckles on full display.

Justin definitely understood what made Michael so scary on campus. What he couldn’t understand is why Y/N was with him. Sweet, innocent Y/N. Had you changed so much in three years that this is who you would fall for?

He could feel Michael radiate hostility but Michael remained quiet, simply choosing to observe Justin, which somehow seemed more terrifying.

When you came back into the room, Justin actively tried not to watch you. He kept his eyes on the tv with his only glimpse of you being your bottom half as you walked by him, your dress falling to just below your mid thigh. He couldn’t help but listen to his friend’s chiming voice as you spoke in a lower tone.

“I’m going to go to the library to finish up a project.” He couldn’t hear what Michael answered, if he even answered. But he heard you continue. “No, I might just walk. It’s still light out. I’ll call you when I’m heading back.”

Then, as if the afternoon didn’t already feel surreal enough, he saw you out of the corner of his eye, bend down and plant a kiss to Michael’s lips, one of your hands were on his abdomen, holding you up. It almost felt jarring to witness. Not only to see Michael allowing such a thing but to see the girl that had taken up much of his mind, and heart, in high school willingly put herself in that position with a man like Michael. It had taken him a while this afternoon just to put the pieces together and understand that Y/N was Michael’s girlfriend but to see it laid out in front of him was disturbing nonetheless.

When you straightened up again, you regarded the boys in front of you with the kind smile Justin knew so well. “I’m heading out, nice to see you guys again.” Though you didn’t really sound like you meant it.

Justin didn’t think his next actions through. All he was thinking was that it was an out. An out to leave this house that made him so uncomfortable and an out to not be in the same room as Michael without you to mend the tension.

So he stood up without much thought, “I’ll head out with you.” And as the words left his mouth, he wanted to take them back immediately. They came out wrong. He knew it and so did everyone else in the room, evidenced by the pausing of the video game and the multiple set of eyes on him.

You blinked up at him, processing what he said for a moment before he quickly added, “I mean, I left my phone back at Chris’ room so I was going to leave anyway. I was just thinking I’d give you some company.” That didn’t sound any better either.

But he trudged through the awkwardness of his phrasing by refusing to look at Michael. Justin had a feeling that would make everything a million times worse.

But you didn’t fail him, “Oh, sure.” You smiled warmly, looking back at Michael quickly before moving towards Justin and the door, “We can catch up on the way.”

Chris and Charlie were looking at him with wide eyes as he left, likely cursing him out in their heads for messing up any chance they had at being Michael’s friends. But as he followed his friend back out to the open world, outside of the dark and cramped house, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

+

You looked up at the tall blond boy beside you as you walked down the sidewalk that would lead back to campus. You were still in awe that he was there beside you, walking and talking to you after so long. Well, not so much talking. You think he was still up in his head about the situation.

“So did you really leave something in Chris’ dorm room?” You smiled knowingly up at him.

To which he let out a chuckle and lowered his head sheepishly, “No, I…I just had to get out of there.”

You nodded like you understood, which you did. You talked a lot when we were in high school and you knew his limits, what he was used to. “Yeah, I know that house can be a lot for some people.”

“It’s just cramped.”

You didn’t say it but that kind of bothered you. It wasn’t a mansion and while it wasn’t exactly nice, it was cozy and it felt like home. Michael made it feel like home. But you knew Justin couldn’t see it that way. He was the richest boy in high school, after all. And popular because of it. Though, looking back, you couldn’t think of a time where he had let that get to his head.

“So, you and Michael, huh?” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his khakis and looked over at you. His blue eyes clouding with worry.

Now, it was your turn to chuckle. “Yeah. It’s okay, a lot of people have the same reaction.”

“It’s just different, I guess. Have you heard his reputation at all?”

You got on the bus that would lead straight to the middle of campus at that point and found two seats right next to each other.

You nodded, “I guess. But Michael…Michael’s different from what you think. He can be sweet. You just have to get to know him.” You tried to tame the big loving smile that was threatening to explode at the thought of Michael, the version of him that you knew. You were well aware of how vicious and even cruel he could be, gaining him the rumors that constantly swirled around him and now even you. But he wasn’t like that with you.

“I heard he’s in a gang.” Justin whispered.

Your eyes shot up at him in alarm, “Of course he’s not.” Unfounded rumors like that did bother you, they whittled down all of Michael’s past struggles to be theatrical entertainment for those looking in, not to mentioned demonized him even further for no reason. Though they never really bothered Michael, you had too much respect both for him and for yourself to be okay with them.

“I just don’t think I expected him to be your type.” He explained, trying to diffuse the situation.

“Well he wasn’t, not at first.” You calmed down and instead bit your inner cheek, trying to decide whether you should let him in on your little secret. “Actually, you were my type. I had a huge crush on you in high school…”

“What?-”

“…Don’t worry, I’m over it now.” you quickly added in when you I felt him freeze behind you in surprise. It was embarrassing but it didn’t make much sense keeping it from him anymore.

“I had no idea.” His voice dripped with honesty. He pulled at the collar of his polo shirt.

You shrugged, “I made sure of that. I don’t know, you were just so nice to me even though you were so out of my league. You were rich, popular but so respectful and socially aware. Plus you weren’t a republican.” You laughed before looking down, “And I was the shy scholarship kid.”

It was obvious Justin was trying to think of what to say so you helped him out, “But you know three years of college really changes you. I’m a lot more outspoken now and I found a great boyfriend.”

Justin nodded, still seemingly shocked, “That’s great.” His voice was soft and, as you made eye contact, there was something more in his eyes that you couldn’t read.

But you didn’t have to think of it much because you got to our destination and you both made your way off the bus, onto the campus you loved so much.

“Okay, I guess I’ll see you around?” You were already moving back slowly, desperate to get to the library quickly so you could head back to Michael faster.

Justin nodded, not moving to go to the dorms, “Yeah, I’ll be here for two weeks or so.”

+

You practically skipping when you reached Michael’s house again. The sun had set and part of you were upset at how long it had taken you in the library. But as you opened the door to Michael’s room and saw him laying on his bed, headphones on and wearing a black hoodie with only the tattoos on his hands peeking out, those feelings disappeared and were replaced with much more primal feelings.

Michael, slipping off his headphones gently, seemed to mirror your feelings because just a bending of his index finger in a ‘come here’ motion, was enough to have you closing the door behind you and nearly jumping onto him.

You were smiling but asked before anything else, “Ashton-?” You always felt bad he had to deal with you constantly at each other with only thin walls separating Michael’s room from his.

“He went to that frat party.” Michael muttered, uninterested. His eyes were instead trailing your body, figuring out which way was best to take off your dress.

You were on all fours as you crawled your way to him, stopping when you were in between his spread legs. “You should’ve gone.” Even if you didn’t love parties, they were still a big part of who he was, before dating you he would be at them drinking the night away every other day, and a part of you felt bad for taking them away from him, even if unintentionally.

But still, he couldn’t look like he care less when he reached over and pulled your dress up to uncover your ass, his hands trailing down the curve of you sensually before giving you a small spank that made you jump in surprise. “I have better things to do.”

Now that deserved a reward. Your hand rubbed over the noticeable bulge in his jeans. Michael’s hands undid his belt, the sight of that action almost making you want to moan right then and there. Your hands trailed up to undo the button and zipper. He eagerly pushed his hips up to help you take his jeans and boxers off.

His long and thick length stood out horizontally and you felt your mouth watering already at the thought of taking him in your mouth.

One of his hands took a hold of the gold necklace you were wearing, twisting it and pulling at it to force your face closer to his.“Are you gonna be a good girl for me?” 

When you first started having sex, you were shy and inexperienced. Words and talk like that would have had you shaking nervously. And while you would still likely react that way in public, with enough time with Michael and in the privacy of his room, you didn’t even blink when you answered.

“Always.” Your hand wrapped around him before you took his dick into your mouth. Michael groaned immediately and threw his head back, eyes closed. This only proved to spur you on. You took him as deep as you could, stopping only when his tip hit the back of your throat, causing you to gag and pull back.

But the vibrations only seemed to have him moaning louder and led to one of his hands to collect your hair and push himself back into your mouth. “Fuck that’s good, take it.”

You didn’t even notice when he had taken off his shirt and hoodie. His tattoos, which ranged from his fingers to his entire torso and neck were on full display and you felt yourself get wetter at the intricate ink that adorned his beautiful body. It was a contrast to your body that was completely bare of any tattoos.

Up until then, he was still controlled. When you looked up at him with the innocent eyes you knew drove him wild and moan against his length as you bobbed your head, his control snapped. There was something about you looking pure, especially in that angelic-looking white dress, at the same time you were doing something so dirty with him that sent him ablaze. Even more knowing that you were only like that for him.

Immediately, he tightened his grip on your hair with both hands, holding you in place. He thrust up into your mouth at a fast pace, fucking your mouth harshly. His groans increasing in volume. He thrust into your mouth deeply, your nose nearly touching his stomach, and kept himself there. Your throat closed tightly against him.

“Do you like that?” Your jaw hurt and you felt tears in your eyes as he pulled out enough for you to breath, his cock was messy with your spit. Then he continued, thrusting into your awaiting mouth and murmuring dirty nothings under his breath. You wanted to trail your hands down to your pussy to soothe the ache it had for him but you refrained. “Do you like me using your mouth like a dirty fucking slut?”

You moaned involuntarily. You needed him. You could feel yourself soaking through your panties. Michael gave a sharp tug at your hair and pulled you off of him. He tilted your head back painfully to lock his eyes with yours.

“Do you like being used like a toy?” His voice was cold and mean but it was a turn on. You nodded your head submissively and one of his hands reached down to your cheek, giving you a sharp slap. Enough for you to feel the sting and enough for it to feel good. “Open your mouth.”

You did what he said immediately. Your tongue poking out in anticipation. Michael leaned down before spitting into your mouth. You closed your eyes, moaning when you felt another slap at your cheek.

“Dirty whore.” Michael muttered under his breath before pinning you down to his bed, tearing your dress off as soon as hit the mattress and then doing the same to your bra and underwear.

Part of you wondered what had gotten into him. Being rough and kinky in bed isn’t something out of the ordinary for you two but he usually wasn’t like this out of no where. Not that you were complaining.

On all fours, you swayed your ass to him enticingly and looked behind you with a virginal smile, “Fuck me, daddy.” You said innocently.

He didn’t say anything as he flipped you over quickly and ran the head of his dick teasingly along your entrance, slapping it onto your pussy twice. A load moan of his name left your mouth when he finally entered you. He wasted no time in thrusting at a rough pace into you. Your moans were cut off and stuttered at the pleasure.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” One of Michael’s hands reached up to your throat and pressed tightly. The feeling of his inked hands around your throat amplified the pleasure. Your walls clenched around him. “No matter how many times I fuck you"

You saw his eyes be fixated on your breasts, the way they bounced up and down fully in pace with each of his thrusts. He leaned down and wrapped his warm mouth around one of tits, flicking and twirling his tongue around your nipple.

Your eyes closed involuntarily and your back arched in pleasure as he continued to slam his hips into yours. The only sounds in the room were the sound of skin slapping, your moans and his grunts.

“If only those boys could see you now, their innocent little classmate, so submissive and desperate for my cock, letting me fuck you like my bitch.” Michael’s voice was taunting and you could barely get your mind out of the haze of pleasure to question what he was talking about.

“But they’ll never see you like this. This is the only cock you’ll ever get, your first and your last. No one will ever be able to please you like I can. Do you think that blondie can make you feel this good?” You closed your eyes in pleasure, too far lost to even understand what he was saying, just shaking your head in answer. You were blushing like crazy at his words, which only served to make him thrust faster.

“Look at me.” He hissed and you did just when his thrusts’ vigor increased even more which left you whimpering and writhing underneath him. But still, you opened and kept your eyes on him, your mouth open as moans filtered out of you. “Tell me you’re mine.”  

Though your mouth was open, you couldn’t formulate words. But Michael’s hands on your throat pressed harder and his other hand slapped your cheek as a warning, “Tell me.”

“Y-Yours. I’m yours, Mikey. Only yours.” His mouth was on yours in a heated kiss while his pace never faltered as he pistoned in and out of you.

“That’s right.” Michael praised, “Mine.” Then he said something he had never said before. “I’m going to knock you up, get you nice and pregnant. Everyone would know then, that you��re fucking mine.” He almost sounded delirious with the prospect.

He didn’t mean it, he couldn’t mean it. Even if he did, you were on birth control. But you moaned loader just at the thought of his love for you reaching those lengths.

“You want that, little one? Want me to fill your tight little cunt with my cum?”

A chorus of “Yes, yes, yes” left your mouth, you couldn’t speak anymore than just repeating that. The thought of being pregnant with his child and the reminder of just how small you were compared to him was enough to put you on another planet.

“H-Harder.” You were shaking as he complied with your request, his thrusts moving faster and rougher into you. Your arms wrapped themselves around his torso and scratched at his back, desperate for a way to express the nearly overwhelming pleasure you felt. He hissed in pleasure at the pain, his body above you engulfed nearly your entire figure.

“Open” His rough voice commanded and you opened your mouth obediently. Moaning again as he spit into your awaiting tongue once again.

Your throat was starting to be raw with your screaming and begging to come. “Cum for me, princess.”

You clenched your walls as you came around his big cock and that seemed to be the only thing that took for him to release after you.

He released inside you, filling you and leaking out after he pulled out. “Such a good girl.”

He was still coming when he pulled out and ribbons of cum adorned your face, which you graciously accepted. Michael watched your face and groaned to himself when you licked some of his cum off that was at the corner of your mouth and swallowed.

His eyes were closed in pleasure for a moment before he released his grip on your throat. You didn’t doubt the image before of you, blushing and covered in his cum did wonders for his libido.  

He cleaned you up but you had a feeling it was just an excuse to be able to give you a passionate kiss. “You did great, baby girl. I love you.”

His praise made your heart swell. “I love you, too.”

Before you knew it, your kiss had gotten much more frenzied and his hand was trailing to your sore entrance. But you stopped before it could lead to a round two.

“I’m sore.” You mumbled before nuzzling into chest. His arms wrapped around your body protectively and kissed the top of your head, gently, so different from how rough he was just a few moments before.  

You looked up at him quizzically just to see that he was already looking at you. “So, are you going to tell me what that was about?”

Michael looked genuinely confused, “What do you mean?”

You rolled your eyes, moving up so you were at eye level with him. You ran your fingers through his soft black hair, noting how his eyes fluttered at the sensation. “You know what I mean. What wound you up so bad?”

“Nothing” But at your pointed look, he sighed in defeat and muttered, “Those little rich boys. The tall one, he’s into you and I couldn’t do shit about it.”

You sputtered, “Justin?! No way is he into me.” You shook your head, giggling as you leaned back to lay your head on his shoulder. “Actually, in high school, I was the one into him.”

You probably shouldn’t have said that. You knew it as soon as Michael’s eyes hardened and his body stiffened. “What?”

Shaking your head, you stuttered out, “But I got over that years ago, he’s just a friend.”

But Michael couldn’t let it go, “You liked him and he was in my fucking house? He left with you for fucks sakes Y/N.” He moved as if he was getting up and you placed a hand on his chest to stop him (only doing so because he let you, otherwise his strength would quickly overpower yours). If he were to go after Justin, there would be little you could do to stop him from beating him to a pulp.

You kissed him deeply to calm him down because you saw his eyes start to shut down. They started to look like the same eyes he had in public, the cold, angry ones. And you couldn’t let him go there, not with you.

“We were only with each other for a few minutes, we took the bus.” You reasoned with him.

Michael locked his jaw tightly but he was starting to calm down, “That bitch ass couldn’t even look at me but I was watching him. He kept looking at you like he knew you, like he knew you how I know you.”

He looked at you then, with a mocking smirk. “Like he knew how sweet and moral you are and that you shouldn’t be with your big bad boyfriend. Too bad he didn’t see you begging to have your mouth and pussy filled by your mean boyfriend’s cock. Or that he didn’t know I was the one that took your virginity,” He moaned at the memory, “What do you think he would say if he saw innocent little Y/N like that?”

You didn’t have to be looking at him to see the delight in his bright eyes and sneering smile. It was obvious he enjoyed corrupting you.

You whined at his words, embarrassed, as if you didn’t hear much worse things come out of his mouth when you were underneath him or even when he was in fights with others.

“Are you sure Ashton isn’t home?” You changed the topic.

“He’s out.” Michael repeated, “Why, did you want him to join?”

He was teasing you, you knew he was but you whined again, blushing (something you knew he loved) and shook your head no.

He chuckled, a warm and joking chuckle, “Good, because I’m not sharing you. Remember that.”

Michael settled you in between his legs comfortably, giving you his phone to busy yourself with games or take photos. He kissed the top of your head, that reached just to his chin. Meanwhile, he grabbed a cigarette and a lighter from his nightstand, placing the white stick in his mouth and lighting it. The scent overtook your senses uncomfortably. But you were used to it so you didn’t do much besides raising your hand jokingly, to ask for a puff.

But Michael, who never took those things as a joke, squeezed your thigh. “I don’t want you getting into the shit I’m into.” He said, “I want to keep you pure for me.”

Because as much as he loved corrupting you, he loved your innocence even more.

+

so i think i’m going to make this into a two part series with each part having two stories involved. if that makes sense, let me know what you think!

[nighttimepixels]

TALK TO US ABOUT MASS EFFECT I HAVE BEEN AN INSANE MASS EFFECT/SHAKARIAN TRASH PERSON SINCE 20-FUCKING-11 AND LEMME TELL YOU THOSE FEELINGS HAVENOT TARNISHED A SINGLE FRACTION IN THOSE TEN YEARS OH MY GOOOOOOODDDSSSS!!!!!!!

I DEMAND A PLAY-BY-PLAY UP TO THE MINUTE OF YOUR REACTIONS TO EVERYTHING!!!!

you are so valid and I totally see why everyone I've ever mentioned it to loves the hell out of it

aksdjlsdfj I meannnn if you want to hear my rambling about it then hell yeah

Okay, gonna put this below the cut to save everyone else XD also- since I'm not leaving this Mass Effect obsession anytime soon, if you're not interested in seeing occasional posts about it, please feel free to block the tag "night plays ME"~

(mild spoilers ahead??)

((also for real I mean it when I say this is rambling as hell lol, apologies and no stress if absolute no one reads all this))

OKAY SO Mass Effect 1-

Stars help me, I was honestly hooked right from the start?? Like even in Legendary Edition (the combined trilogy just re-released in one "can play it on one system + minor improvements", for anyone who doesn't know) where it's smoothed out, of course it's obvious that ME1 is a decade old... but the foundation for these relationships are all there and gods I love them already.

Like - Kaiden right off the top is a delightful good fightin lad, what the hell. I've heard that he's viewed as 'bland' by a good portion of the fan community but I dunno, he's a delight and even more complex by the time 2 rolls around and you encounter him on Horizon, it was honestly Ashley I was way more meh about - mostly because before you can learn about her family history/etc, she comes off as hella xenophobic and I was immediately offended for my growing space family that she didn't like/trust all the aliens around, pfff.

(she gets redeemed a bit through further actions/evolving thoughts, but I thought in retrospect it was a bummer that they didn't flip the order there, give her a chance to be liked before the complicating factor of being so rude about aliens >:c that then she could grow from... ah well. Apparently she has a good arc but uh, let's just say I chose Kaiden at the "key junction" in the latter part of the game so I won't be seeing anymore of Ashley uh... anytime soon, haha.)

Garrus??? Is??????? The ABSOLUTE best???????????

I liked him from the start, I'm always a bit of a sucker for a rogue-detective "the system won't bring this bastard to justice, so I've got to" type and all their moral shadiness XD But he just gets better, honestly, and where I'm at in ME2 (right before the Reaper IFF mission, as of typing this, with everyone's loyalty!) I am only digging myself deeper into this hole-

-*wheezing* okay anyways -

Wrex is AMAZING I love fightin' middle-aged krogan bastard, gods. Liara is great too, I'm a sucker for a wlw relationship (playing fem!Shepard, so) - buuuut I'll admit she's a bit more one-note in ME1. Last week while I was still on ME1 I remember hearing (while trying to dodge spoilers) that her arc is really good, though. I think they leaned a little hard on the 'innocent but sexy' sterteotype on her (so despite the yikes aspect of a few of the things I've learned in ME2, lol, I actually really like the complexity that's been added to her character.)

Saved Liara first, so by the time I got to Noveria and had the standoff with Benezia there was the chance to have emotions over Liara having to face her TwT and of course, I made the questionable but quality decision to free Queen Rachni heheh. no ragrets

More than a blow-by-blow of my choices though I totally wanna take the chance to say that even in the mild jankiness of ME1 (goddammit, the Mako.... please..... please just go up this impossible cliff I just want to resource hunt-) the way that the lore, both obvious/key to main plot and the lesser/filler/background/world-building kinds... I just love it. It incorporates it well, you can go ham in the codex learning more, or just dive into the basics - it's clearly a complex galaxy (and they do an even better job in 2 of fleshing it out further), and it never really felt overwhelming. It was pretty natural figuring it all out-!

Plus the interesting implications of resource hunting amongst the sapient races, and the little side missions you better bet I did every one of- there's so much rich depth in the story if you do 'em!! (And that lead with that Keeper side mission...? Looking back, damn, clever foreshadowing-!!!)

And oh my gods, Ilios??? hell yeah. I loved that mission so much, especially having Garrus & Kaiden with me when talking to the hologram/computer, and more than anything, that last sprint in the Mako trying to get to the jump before it closed-???

yeet the boi-

Also mannn I love a good setpiece, and having to go up the side of the elevator, space-side?? such a cool setup!!

Plus it felt good having been Paragon enough (as simple as the good v bad vibe system is, I don't hate it, lol) to avoid one of the Saren fights, ngl. And the er, "second fight" with Sovereign-Saren.... hell yeah

... I'll admit I had to double check my choice re whether to save the Council. I did in the end, but I swear, sometimes the way they phrase things I'm like ".... okay but Garrus is right, defeating Sovereign is more important than these few leaders??????" woops. Listen, priorities, is all I'm saying..... (￣ヮ￣|||)ゞ

'Course later they emphasize (in ME2) that there were 10,000 people on that same ship and I was like well I wouldn't have second guessed if I'd known that, I mean c'mon-

Also I did indeed romance Liara in this one, so I got that scene ;Dc But,,,, I also knew by the end that I was totally gonna romance Garrus in 2 since he's an option then finally,,,,, lemme tell you the guilt as I waffled over whether to romance Liara bc of it. hahaha.

Aaaaand Mass Effect 2-

So I'm only up to right before the Reaper IFF Mission, so I don't know the ending, etc etc lol. That said, I've just finished every side mission I've found with the exception of the Shadowbroker Quest and the Arrival Quest (I've heard the latter basically leads into ME3, and the former is best either right before the Omega 4 jump or in postgame).

So from the start - fuck yeah fuck yeah what a high adrenaline start Shepard noooooo but also yes save Joker aH-

The motion comic too hot damn nice job

I loved this setup, seriously - especially forcing Shep into this situation, having to work with/for Cerberus, and the compelling reasoning given behind "why" they do what they do (I especially found it a good point that the Salarians have the Task Force, the Asaris the Commandos, the Turians the- etc... like, true, when you put it like that, having a similar group advancing human interests/solving human interstellar problems is pretty reasonable...). That said, I love too that it really isn't shied away from how Cerberus is nonetheless fucked up - or its at least done fucked up stuff.

Listen, I still think some messed up stuff is gonna be revealed in 2's endgame......... after that Horizon mission and the Collector's ship???? TIM I SEE YOU YOU SHADY MF-

aaanyways lol...

I'm so so glad on a gameplay level they nixed the Mako style exploration. A few Hammerhead missions are fine and a lot more focused than the slippery ass navigation in that glorified ATV, pfff. The probes are a neat way of getting after similar resources - and more importantly, having good levels and some good hubs (the Zakera Wards, Omega, Ilium, etc) is way way more fun than having a more 'sprawling' space that is.... a lot of empty nonsense, lol.

Then there's the fact that we get Joker right off the bat and you can interact with him so much - and him and EDI??? Get out gods I love them. Kasumi is so right when she says they sound like a bickering old married couple lol. I have a terrible feeling that some shit is gonna happen with EDI..... but I don't think she's evil as-is, at least.

Side-eying the hell out of those "access forbidden" parts of her that she doesn't even know.... and the fact that her AI core has a locked door access................... something's gonna happen gdi LEAVE OUR ADOPTED AI ALONE.

(Also Joker pls stop fracturing your thumb on the mute button)

Also please save me there are so many hot aliens in this game,,,,, the xeno/monsterfuckers really comin' through strong in the sequels............... doin' the lord's work........................................

In general, I love how many levels ME stepped up in two with complexity and interwoven narratives!! Like, to the point it'd be almost a drag to replay ME1, even though it was fun going through it (if occasionally a bit tedious with the cookie cutter rando planet science/mine facilities, lol). Like, just from how fun and interesting ME2 is, mostly! more of all the pre-introduced races, plus new ones, plus more filling in of intragalactic politics, and more interesting implications of all these space-faring races mixing....

Also gods WREX and his planet holy shit,,,,, fuckin' hell yeah my man get their shit together and also adopt Grunt yes good-

And Mordin??? My singing semi-evil scientist best friend forced to confront his choices more than he thought he ever would have???? With some of the best ongoing general report chatter of all the companions??

(when I tell you I choked on my coffee when I talked to him after confirming romance choice w/ Garrus and that 'pamphlet' and 'anaphalactic shot if ingesting-' kajsldkfjsldfjk)

Like, fuck, the fact that they actually dive into the mixed morality and horrors of the genophage, and you can confront Mordin on it, for good reason, yet he still stands his ground, until finally some bits of his loyalty mission seem to... affect him, and I'm guessing might set up things for 3 with him? Unsure, but either way, damn, the fact that they start to dig into it...

And Taliiiii my beloved forbidden alien wife TwT her loyalty mission was SO GOOD. I love how varied they all are?? Getting to defend her and discover what she'd unwittingly been a part of-!!

Zaeed is a bastard but tbh I love that he is and that he's unapologetic in him - and Kasumi omg, best thief. A heist?? Gods, yes- I love our couch lounge chats XD

Samara is..... illegally.......... she's an illegally powerful and beautiful and eloquent MILF...........................

(.... listen I'm sapphic as hell and I'm kicking my own ass for picking her up last aksjdlfksjdfl - but her loyalty mission, damn. And seeing how there's this interesting cultural subset, and the struggle with the Asari in that they unquestioningly accept/respect justicars, but also know that the impact outside their culture is a diplomacy nightmare waiting to happen-)

,.,,,,,T,,, Thane,,,,,

I am weak for morally implicated murder dads okay?? And that voice??? His mannerisms?????? How you first see him, and that prayer after assassinating her...???????? And his history/his people's history with the hanar, gods I love how messy it is, it feels so much more real!

Also Jack is a mess and I love her (and want to get her some therapy, omg), and her and Miranda nearly duking it out after you've done both their loyalty missions??? so good and makes a lot of sense-! Honestly I would love more interactions between teammates on the ship, but there's already so much the devs had to balance I can't blame 'em for minimizing, heh. But suffice to say I also love Miranda and Jacob, even if I'm softest for my alien crew XD Hell yeah Jacob, we'll get loud and spill drinks on the citadel indeed TwT

.... I could write a whole essay on how much I love Garrus oTL Perhaps because he and Tali are the throughlines from 1 on your 2 crew, I have some of the strongest feelings about them... but genuinely, he was one of my favorite companions in the first game, and how you find him as Archangel in two? Getting to help him fight his way out after he's gone nearly 48 hours straight fighting off three gangs alone, jfc. His vengeance quest and what can happen there.... That line? fuck me, that line -

It's so much easier to see the world in black and white. Grey? I don't know what to do with gray...

How DARE you come for my heart like this, devs holy shit

(also, some other choice faves so far from the series from him include We can disobey suicidal orders?? and This wasn't in my training manual... [in 1, if you have him with you @ th Thorian fight] and his whole.... pop the heat sink - in his romance ;Dc)

asdasdfksadjfkl like I said I can write an essay on him PFFF suffice to say I'm very looking forward to his romance scene and where things go in 3

But yeah gods I'm just gonna keep rambling if I'm not careful lol. Gods I don't even know what to talk about it's all so good and while I can understand people roasting the obviousness of Paragon V Renegade (v neutral) choices/alignments, I think they do a pretty damn good job in 2 of pushing it further - to the point that there were some times that I accidentally got renegade points and I wasn't that mad, haha. There's so much fun in the interactions that I just have a good time anyways~

I have so many thoughts about TIM (The Illusive Man) and Cerberus.... theories evolving galore............... and like, what the hell!! Omega 4 going to the center of the galaxy is such a cool twist, goddamn - though my heart still breaks at losing Kaiden (his line if you haven't romanced him?? about feeling like he lost a limb when he lost you??? holy shit.... but I also can't blame him for not trusting Cerberus to the point of it affecting his ability to trust Shepard... like fuck Shep go after himmmm) I'm really excited to see where that goes since he comes back in 3, and what the fuck happens with Cerberus bc while I love the fact that obviously there are a lot of people in it for the right reasons, doing good work, there are those that are doing the opposite, and I have a very bad feeling about where TIM will end up landing....

All that said though I need to do the Reaper IFF mission (where I'm lightly spoiled as to getting That Boy, but not how/what happens to make it so - just that it's apparently wise to have all your side missions done before getting him...) and the actual Omega 4 jump. So we'll see what happens and what I think about it from there heheh!

.... major kudos and genuine props if you made it here to the end, I am so sorry for not editing on condensing all this, and appreciate you so much ;w;

[yoddream]

The Price to Pay | n.jm

pairing: jaemin x fem!reader

summary: when you’re given your dream job, what will happen to you and Jaemin?

warnings: ANGST, bad writing lmao, depression (not specifically mentioned but it’s obviously there), a shit ton of crying, jaemin being kind of an asshole ngl, mentions of hockey (only because there might be some things that don’t make sense idk maybe they do to somebody who doesn’t watch it), VERY INACCURATE INFO ON BECOMING A TRANSLATOR

notes: here’s part 2 to New Beginnings! idk how to link it lmao im sorry im really bad at this also im iffy on how this came out but at this point whatever i wrote a lot. I’m gonna try to do the bold for korean again (cuz new beginnings on the app is fucking jacked af but on the full website it looks how it’s supposed to) but like just assume that everything the OCs are saying are in Korean and whatever the Dreamies say that aren’t to English speaking people are in Korean

“Please put on your seatbelts as we will begin our descent to Los Angeles, California.”

You did as the flight attendant asked and looked out the window. The ground slowly got closer and closer, and your heart raced with excitement. Despite how you’d felt a year ago, you couldn’t wait to land and start the next chapter in your life. You could still feel the exhaustion from it being in the middle of the night in Seoul, but that was so little compared to all the emotions running through your body.

Once you were out of security, you pulled up FaceTime on your phone and called Jisung. It rang and rang, and you almost gave up when he finally answered the call. He was out of breath, as if he’d just run to get his phone. His face lit up when he saw yours.

“Y/N! You landed safely!” he said. Your parents appeared in the frame, which made you smile.

“I did! I’m heading towards pick-up now, so hopefully I’ll be on my way to the rink,” you told them.

You’d decided you wanted to be an English-Korean translator, so you had been hired as a translator for a new NHL prospect. He was born and raised in Korea, and he knew very little English, so you were going to help him during prospect camp, translating and teaching him English. You expected to be in America until September, but if he made it past both prospect and training camp, who knew what your future held?

“Oh honey, I’m so proud of you,” your mom said.

“We both are. You’re gonna do great, we know it,” your dad added.

You looked around and spotted your name on a sign that was held by a man with a driver’s cap. You told your family you had to go and hung up before walking over. He greeted you with a smile and grabbed one of your bags, heading to the parking lot. You shot a text to the boys, letting them know you’d landed. The drive to the rink didn’t take long, and you were escorted by a security guard through the hallways to an office.

“Ms. Park is here,” the security guard announced before heading back to his area.

“Y/N, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m Rob Blake, the general manager,” a very tall man in a suit said. He held his hand out to you, which you shook. “We’re very happy to have you here. Chi-won Han’s translator from last year has a new job, so we’re glad you can stay for longer.”

“Thank you, Mr. Blake. I’m very excited for this opportunity,” you stated with a wide smile. “So, where should we start?”

Mr. Blake’s assistant gave you multiple papers to sign before bringing you to get your ID made. You proudly hung it around your neck, even though your picture looked absolutely horrible (you just got off an eleven-hour flight). Then, Mr. Blake himself brought you to a conference room where the prospect, his agent, and the coaches were.

“Everyone, this is Y/N Park. She will be Chi-won’s translator.”

You bowed and said, “Han Chi-won, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Park Y/N.”

The boy bowed as well. “Thank you for flying here, Y/N. You have to idea how appreciative I am.”

You then introduced yourself to the agent and the coaches, dropping your bags to bow and shake hands. You told them about your exact role and how to contact you in case you were needed last minute. You’d been given a phone for work with everyone’s contacts in it, along with a rental car since you still had a valid driver’s license. You were then handed the keys to your apartment, which you would be sharing with Chi-won and one of the Kings’ players, Tyler Toffoli.

“Y/N, do you own any skates?” Marco Sturm, one of the assistant coaches, asked.

You shook your head. “I’m not very good at skating, but I’ll definitely do my best.”

“Have Tyler and Chi-won take you shopping for a pair. We really need you on the ice for drills.”

You translated for the hockey player when his head perked up at his name. He nodded shyly, his eyes darting to the floor. You couldn’t help but feel bad for him; he had no idea what anyone was saying, so for all he knew you could’ve been talking poorly about him. None of you would do that, but he didn’t know any better.

“Camp doesn’t officially start until tomorrow. We just wanted you to meet before then so that you can get situated. before the madness,” Mr. Blake explained.

“I appreciate that. It’s past midnight in Korea, so I’m pretty exhausted,” you replied.

“You guys are all set for today. We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow for day one.”

You turned to Chi-won and asked, “You wanna get food?”

He nodded vigorously, saying, “Tyler and his wife were making breakfast when I was called down here.”

Grabbing your bags, you said your farewells to the men before heading out, Chi-won hot on your feels. When you clicked the key fob for the rental car, a new SUV lit up. You let out a low whistle and popped the hatch, tossing your suitcases and duffel in. You and Chi-won then climbed in and decided on a local diner. The car ride was mostly silent, the radio playing softly in the background. When you walked into the restaurant, his eyes widened in fear as the waitress spoke to him. You ordered juice for the both of you and then started translating the menu with ease, watching his shoulders relax at the sound of a language he knew.

The two of you ate in silence for a couple minutes, simply enjoying your food. You checked your personal phone for any messages, but there was nothing. You weren’t surprised, though. The boys were supposed to be asleep, so you expected there to be nothing, but it still hurt to see that you hadn’t even heard from Jaemin. Then again, you probably should’ve expected as much.

“What?” Jaemin asked quietly.

You’d shown up at the dorms, wearing one of your boyfriend’s sweatshirts and a pair of shorts. Your hair was a mess from stressing out, so you had the hood up. He had to know what was going on, and you were out of time.

“I’m going back to America,” you repeated. “A major sports team contacted me last month to help one of their prospects. He doesn’t know much English, so I’ll be translating for him during camp.”

“When you do leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” You flinched at the sudden rise of his volume, the sound bouncing off the walls. There was no way the other Dreamies hadn’t heard him. There was no way the other Dreames hadn’t heard him, and you started to panic. This was definitely not how you expected this to go. “You’ve known for a month, and you’re just telling me now?!”

“I was going to tell you sooner, but since you’re working on your comeback, you’ve had to cancel dates! I didn’t have a choice but to tell you now!” you argued.

“Oh, so now it’s my fault?”

“I didn’t say that, Jaemin. I’m just explaining that there wasn’t a good time, so that’s why you aren’t finding out until the day before my flight. I’m sorry it wasn’t sooner.” Your hands were wringing in the kangaroo pocket, but it was hidden by the island in the kitchen.

“How long will you be gone?” When you didn’t answer right away, his jaw clenched. “How long, Y/N?”

Scared by his tone, you said, “I have no idea. Prospect camp is for a few days, but they’re expecting him to continue on to training camp in September.”

“Are you even coming back? What does that mean for us?”

“I don’t know, Jae!” you snapped. Your voice reverberated off the walls, and you could hear shuffling down the hall. “I don’t know.”

There was a heavy pause. He then asked, “You don’t know if you’re coming back? Or you don’t know what will happen with our relationship?”

“Both.”

“You’re very young to be a translator,” Chi-won stated, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You wiped your mouth with a napkin, giving you time to think of your answer without revealing too much. “My step-dad is from Korea. He and my mom got married when I was nine, but he and my step-brother had to stay there while my mom and I live here. We would visit whenever there was a vacation for school, so I learned it over the years.”

“Do you live in Korea now?”

“Right in Seoul. I moved after I graduated high school last year.”

Chi-won was silent after that. After you paid the bill, you plugged in the address for the apartment building and made the quick drive over. Parking along the street, Chi-won grabbed your bags for you and led you to the apartment. You used the key to unlock the door and walked inside. A man and a woman looked over at the same time from the kitchen and smiled.

“You must be the translator. I’m Tyler, and this is my wife, Cat,” the man introduced.

You shook their hands and said, “It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Y/N Park.”

“Come right in. I’ll show you where your room is,” Cat offered.

You followed her down the hallway to a room that had grey walls, dark wooden floors, and a matching wooden dresser. There was a queen-sized bed with fresh sheets on it and a cream armchair in the corner. Identical nightstands stood on either side of the bed, and there was a bathroom attached to the bedroom.

“Make yourself at home. You look like you’re about to fall asleep standing up,” she joked.

“Yeah, I’m gonna take a quick nap, if that’s okay?” you asked.

“Go ahead.”

Cat closed the door behind her, leaving you alone. You collapsed onto the bed and checked to see if any messages had come in before you’d left the diner’s WiFi, but still nothing. Sighing, you put your phone on the nightstand and let your eyes close, the heaviness becoming too much to fight against.

When you woke up, the sun was high in the sky. You groaned as your arms stretched above your head. According to your phone, it was a little past noon, so you rolled out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Luckily, the password to the WiFi was on the refrigerator. As soon as your phone was connected, it started blowing up with messages and snapchats. The sudden sound made you jump, definitely waking you up. You took some time to respond to the boys and your parents, and it took you a few minutes to notice that none of the notifications were from Jaemin. Sighing, you shoved your phone into your pocket and went looking for Chi-won. You found him in his room, looking at an English book with furrowed brows.

“I’m not starting lessons until after prospect camp,” you said.

The boy jumped, clearly unaware of your presence until you announced it. He closed the book and placed it on the nightstand before looking around the room, avoiding your eyes. Sighing, you sat at the desk that was by the window.

“What’s on your mind?” you asked.

“What if I don’t make it past this camp?” he questioned.

You let out a deep breath and said, “Then you go back to your team in Korea, continue to train and practice, and then next year, you’ll come back. The exact same thing as what you went through last year.”

“What will happen to you?”

“I’ll go back home as well. I’m currently under contract with the team, so if you’re not here, I’m not needed. They’ll let me know when I am. You’re stuck with me.”

///

You and Chi-won walked into the practice rink the next morning, a fresh pair of skates in the duffel bag on your shoulder. You’d gone out with Tyler and Chi-won after dinner to buy them, just like Coach Sturm had told you to. The thought of being on the ice with a bunch of hockey players and falling on your ass was terrifying, but you didn’t have much of a choice.

You headed to the weight room and sat on a bench. Skating wouldn’t come until after they were done for the day, so your bag was simply dropped to the floor. You then pulled out your phone and looked at the last message you’d sent to Jaemin.

You: I know you’re upset, but I would love for you to be at the airport tomorrow.

He never showed up. Everyone else had, but he’d stayed at the dorms. The way the conversation had ended left the status of your relationship up in the air, and you were too scared to ask. Your anniversary was supposed to be in a little over a month, but you didn’t even know if that was something to be celebrated anymore.

The sound of the door opening behind you caught your attention. The players started filtering into the room, shooting odd looks your way. You stood up when Chi-won walked in, moving to his side for when the head strength and conditioning coach started talking.

After a speech, the coach came over and introduced himself, apologizing for missing the meeting the day before. When you assured him it was fine, he transitioned the conversation to the first test he wanted Chi-won to run through. You translated everything as you followed them to the bikes, not missing a single beat. You watched as he pedaled and pedaled, sweat dripping down his face as his leg muscles rippled from the rapid movement. You could hear the cheers of encouragement from the other prospects as they watched the others that were running through the tests.

When there was time for a break, Chi-won took the water bottle you handed him, draining it fairly quickly. He then grabbed the towel from your shoulder and wiped his face and neck, tossing it in the hamper in the corner. He looked around at the other prospects, watching them talk and laugh with each other. You felt bad knowing he wouldn’t take that first step. It was understandable, though. You’d gone through the same thing when you started making trips to Korea; you’d been surrounded by people who understood you as much as you understood them, which was not a lot.

After a few minutes, it was time for more testing. You followed the group around the weight room, mostly watching but translating when needed. Everyone’s eyes were on you whenever either of you spoke, but all your attention was on him and whoever was talking to him.

At the end of the day, Chi-won looked like he was about to drop at any moment. You decided to skip the skating and brought him back to the apartment, using the work phone since it could connect to data. He dozed in the car, his face finally relaxed. You’d never noticed how much tension was there until now. Between the stress of getting past this camp and not knowing what anyone was saying, his head was probably spinning.

When you entered the apartment, Chi-won immediately headed to his room to nap. There was a note from Tyler and Cat that they’d gone to run errands, leaving you alone. You tried to FaceTime your parents, but neither of them answered. You knew the others were rehearsing, so you called Mark, but he didn’t answer either. Feeling dejected, you headed to your room and sat in the armchair. You looked out the window and watched the world below, a sudden flashback to the day you and Jaemin were sitting in the mall’s food court. Your heart ached at the thought of one of the happiest days of your life, knowing there was a chance it was all over.

///

It was the last day of the four-day camp for prospects. You wobbled onto the ice as you tried to skate closer to Chi-won. He looked over and rolled his eyes before skating over, grabbing your arm, and dragging you to the group. A few of the players laughed, but you didn’t care. You would be laughing too if you’d seen it.

Yesterday, they’d run drills, so you got to see Chi-won on the ice for the first time, and you could see why he was their first-round pick the year before. However, the true test was the scrimmage scheduled for today. Drills could be run over and over until you got it right, but in a game if you made a mistake there was no going back.

Once the teams were split, Chi-won helped you to the bench. You could hear your personal phone ring with a FaceTime call, but you ignored it. It was most likely Jeno, calling to talk to you before he finally went to bed. He loved to call you before he went to bed, which annoyed Jaemin whenever you were on a call with your boyfriend. You wished you could answer, since you hadn’t had much interaction with anyone. You mostly translated back at the apartment, leaving you craving to talk to someone, but you felt too awkward talking to Tyler and Cat.

The scrimmage was exhilarating to even just watch. Chi-won was fast, despite how large he was. He wove through players, making fantastic plays. His stick work was quick, and he seemed to know where his teammates were, making passes without looking. There was no doubt in your mind that they were keeping him, but seeing the looks on the coaches faces made it that much better. Chi-won played fairly, probably too much; he always passed the puck for a goal instead of taking a chance himself.

During a break, Coach Sturm was going over a couple plays to Chi-won’s team. You translated as fast as you could, trying your best to make it sound clear and right. Hockey pretty much had its own language, so you assumed it was working when he nodded along. As he was about to head back onto the ice, you grabbed his attention.

“Shoot the fucking puck, man. You’ve made plenty of great passes. They want to see what you’re capable of.”

His eyes widened, but he nodded and bumped your held-out fist before skating back to the face-off. You watched the puck drop, and the game was on. Your eyes never left the player you were there for, his form zipping across the ice with a breakaway. He was denied, but you could tell there was a fire lit under his ass. There were still amazing passes, but he was taking shots on goal more. The goalie was just unbelievably good at his job,

There wasn’t much time left in the scrimmage when Chi-won was skating towards the goal, him against two defensemen. His feet moved in a way you couldn’t explain, and he slipped past the opposing players, taking a shot on goal. You nearly jumped with joy as it flew past the goalie’s shoulder, and you didn’t miss the smile on his face as he celebrated with his teammates.

At the end of the day, Chi-won was asked to dinner with some of the other prospects. He nodded his head with a grin, so they told you the restaurant. Your phone connected to the Bluetooth as you were typing it into the map, and “My First and Last” immediately started playing through the speakers. Chi-won sent a look your way but said nothing.

The other players made sure you and Chi-won had seats next to each other so you could easily translate for him. They asked him questions about his life in Korea and his teammates. He talked about his family, his girlfriend Eun-ji, and his friends. You were learning more about him by doing your job rather than conversing with him yourself. You could feel something heavy settle in your chest as they all talked to each other, only looking to you when you translated.

When you were back at the apartment, Chi-won collapsed onto the couch. You sat in an armchair and stared at the ceiling, thoughts of Jaemin running through your head. It’d been five days since you last heard from him, and you were still hesitant to reach out. He was probably in the same boat, but what if he didn’t want to hear from you? What if your relationship was over and you didn’t know it? You hadn’t talked to the other boys about it, not wanting to drag them into your drama.

“You’re thinking too loud,” Chi-won complained.

“Sorry,” you said quietly. “How do you think camp went?”

“I think I did well. My whole body hurts, though. I wish Eun-ji was here. She gives amazing back massages. I would be in constant pain if it wasn’t for her. I’m definitely the luckiest guy in the world.”

That’s what Jaemin tells me. “Is she gonna be starting college this fall?”

He nodded. “She wants to study sports medicine, so she’ll be studying at Seoul University. I’m so proud of her.”

You looked at the time on your phone before realizing that it was your work one. Your personal phone was still in your duffel, which was in the car. Cursing under your breath, you rushed downstairs and grabbed your phone from the bag.

Jaemin💕: 3 missed FaceTime video calls

Shit. Just in case your relationship wasn’t fragile enough, you’d missed three calls from him. It was the first time either one of you had tried reaching out since you stormed out of the dorms in tears. Worried, you headed inside and returned to the apartment as fast as possible. You tried calling Jaemin back, but he wasn’t picking up. It was about ten in the morning where he was, and he never slept in too much no matter what time he’d gone to bed, so you knew he was ignoring you. Trying again, you cursed and swallowed around the lump in your throat. He finally picked up, and he was not happy.

“Hey,” you said as you moved to your room.

“Hey. Where were you?” he asked.

“We were at camp, and then we went to dinner after,” you explained.

His eyebrows raised. “You went to dinner?”

“Yeah.”

“Was it a date?”

Your eyes widened in shock. “What the fuck, Jaemin? Of course it wasn’t a date! Why the hell would you ask that?”

“I mean, you did say you didn’t know how this would affect our relationship,” he snapped.

“That doesn’t mean I would cheat on you. God, do you really think that low of me?” You could feel the sting behind your eyes of tears forming, but you tried to hold them back.

“I don’t know what to think anymore, Y/N. You waited until the day before you were leaving to tell me about it—”

“I didn’t have a choice, and you know it!” you exclaimed. “You know what? I’m done. I can’t do this right now.”

You hung up and threw your phone across the room, muffling sobs into your hands. Being here, having the job you’ve worked towards the past year, it was supposed to be exciting, yet you were dealing with possibly the worst heartbreak yet, and you didn’t even know if there was a relationship to salvage anymore.

Your phone was ringing with a FaceTime call from Jisung, but you ignored it. He couldn’t see you like this; even though you were partially in the wrong in the fight, he would completely lose it and attack Jaemin. You didn’t want to be the cause of something happening to NCT Dream. It would have to stay to yourself, just like everything else about your life.

///

You’d been in America for two weeks, and you were absolutely miserable. You didn’t talk to the boys as much, ignoring some of their calls so that when you did answer, there was too much to talk about for you to think about Jaemin during the calls. You hadn’t talked to him since your last argument, and you didn’t know what to do. Jisung didn’t now, but it was clear he was suspicious of something. You just wanted to go home, but Chi-won had to stay in California for more training and practice. He’d been invited to training camp in September, so it was easier for him to just stay here until he knew his future with the team post-camp.

Chi-won’s English was improving a little, but it was clear he wasn’t confident in himself. Learning a language was hard, and English was one of the most difficult. From conjunctions to words sounding the same but being spelled different to even the sentence structure, you didn’t blame him for feeling self-conscious and frustrated. You had talked to Jisung, and he’d agreed to speak with Chi-won.

“Chi-won, can you come here for a minute?” you called out.

He walked into the living room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked at your phone, jaw dropping when he saw Jisung on the screen. You held it out and said, “My brother wants to talk to you.”

He took the phone, sending a glance your way before looking back at Jisung. You moved to the kitchen to make breakfast, giving the boys some privacy. You could hear Jisung’s laugh through the tiny speaker, and it made your heart ache. Not seeing him every day felt like torture. You were so used to talk to him every day, but the both of you were too busy with your jobs, not to mention that you were still unsure of what the others knew about you and Jaemin.

As you were making some fried eggs, Chi-won joined you, holding your phone out with Jisung still on the screen. The hockey player sent a look that told you there would be a conversation later, and then he disappeared to his room. You looked at Jisung and smiled, asking him how it went. He said it went well, that Chi-won seemed to really listen to what he’d had to say. A door had opened behind him, and Chenle walked into the room. His face lit up when he saw you, and he ran over and jumped on Jisung’s back.

“Y/N! I haven’t talked to you in so long,” he said, suddenly pouting.

“I know, I’m sorry. Prospect camp was crazy, and I’ve been busy with teaching Chi-won English,” you replied. “I wish you guys were here. You’d love it.”

“We’ll have to visit sometime. Jisung, we gotta head to bed. We have practice tomorrow morning,” he said.

“Sleep well, you two,” you said with a smile.

“Love you!” they shouted, and then the call ended.

You finished breakfast and called for Chi-won. He joined you in the kitchen, taking his plate from you without a word. The two of you sat at the breakfast bar, eating in silence. Tyler and Cat were in Canada for a wedding, so you were alone with him. You waited for him to say something, anything, but he didn’t. Instead, he washed the dishes and went back to his room. He returned a few minutes later in workout clothes, so you changed into your own outfit and silently followed him to the gym downstairs. He started out on the bike while you went to the treadmill, starting a light jog.

After a few minutes, Chi-won said, “So, your brother is Park Jisung.”

“Yup. Has been for ten years,” you panted.

“I didn’t even know he had a sister.”

“No one does. It’s too dangerous.”

“That must suck. I can’t imagine keeping my sister a secret,” he said.

“Seeing him live his dream makes it all worth it. Besides, once I’m living here permanently, we’ll be able to tell everyone who I am.”

///

Getting out of bed was harder and harder as each day passed. You could feel yourself settle into a deep and heavy depression. and it seemed like the people you were living with were concerned. You never felt hungry, you were having trouble finding the motivation to shower, and you were ignoring every call that popped up on your phone.

There was a knock on your door before Cat poked her head in. You glanced at her before turning your attention back to the window. She sat in the armchair and leaned on her elbows, sending a smile your way.

“So, Chi-won and Tyler talked to the team, and they decided that if you want, you can go back to Korea until it’s time for training camp,” she told you.

You sat up slowly and asked, “What?”

“We can all tell how homesick you are, and Chi-won said that you had an argument with someone that sounded like your boyfriend. They have a back-up translator, so you can go home for a little bit,” she explained.

“He told you all that?”

“Well, he used an app to translate, but yes.”

Leaping out of bed, you hugged her tightly, mentally thanking yourself for having showered that morning. She laughed and hugged you back before telling you to start packing. You started throwing your things into suitcases and your duffel bag as she left, and tears started streaming down your face in happiness.

You hugged Tyler and Chi-won in thanks before rushing to the airport, not wanting to stay in America any more than you had to. You called your parents and Jisung once you had a ticket purchased, and they promised to keep it a secret. Jisung was practically vibrating in his seat once he heard the news, and you couldn’t wait to hug your family again.

Somehow, you managed to sleep on the flight. When you landed, it was about three in the afternoon. You raced towards your family as soon as you spotted them, leaping into Jisung’s arms. He lifted you up and squeezed tight, as if you would disappear if he let go. You then hugged your parents, not afraid to let the tears fall down your cheeks.

“I missed you guys so much,” you sobbed.

“We missed you too, sweetheart,” you dad said.

When you were home, you took a couple hours to settle in before taking Jisung with you to the dorms. Not only did you have some boys to surprise, but there was a certain boy with blue bangs you needed to speak to. Jisung seemed to be excited to be on the other end of the surprise.

As you walked into the building, your stomach twisted into a giant knot. You didn’t know how Jaemin was going to react. Before you could dwell on it too much, Jisung opened the door to the Dream dorm. Jeno and Haechan were playing video games in the living area, but they stopped immediately when they looked at you.

“Sunshine!” Jeno shouted. He threw the controller on the couch and ran over, scooping you into a bear hug.

“What are you doing here?” Haechan asked as you managed to pry away from Jeno to hug him.

“They let me come back home until training camp starts,” you explained. “Where are the others?”

“They’re in their rooms. Jaemin’s napping, but Renjun and Chenle are playing PUBG,” Jeno explained. “It’s good to have you back. Jaemin’s been moping every since you left.”

So they didn’t know. “I’ll go see Renjun and Chenle first. Jaemin must be really tired if he’s napping.”

You walked down the hallway and quietly stepped into Renjun and Chenle’s room. They were too busy looking at their phones to notice, so you sat by Renjun and asked how he was doing. He glanced at you and then did a double take before tackling you to the bed. Chenle complained, but when he looked up a screech left his mouth instead as he piled on top. They started asking you a bunch of questions at once, but you shushed them and explained why you were home. Chenle didn’t want to let go, but you explained that Jaemin didn’t know yet.

Jaemin looked so peaceful as he slept. You could just stand there and watch until he woke up, but the conversation needed to be had sooner than later. Quietly closing the door, you walked over and sat on the bed as gentle as possible. Your fingers carded through his hair, pushing it away from his forehead. He sighed in his sleep, melting under your touch. You called out his name lightly, but he didn’t stir. You tried a couple more times, and his eyes finally opened. He stared at you for about ten seconds before grabbing you. You were suddenly thrown on the bed, and he pinned your arms down before kissing you.

Kissing Jaemin felt like a dream, especially after what you two’d been going through the past few weeks. He pressed kiss after kiss to your lips, finally pulling away with a frown.

"I’m really sorry for how I acted the past couple times we talked. I trust you, and I support your career,” he said.

“I forgive you. God, I forgive you. I’ve been so miserable the past few weeks. I should’ve tried harder to tell you sooner than when I had.”

“Let’s just forget this, okay?”

“Deal.”

He leaned down to press your lips together again, not leaving any space between your bodies. He trailed kisses down your neck, sucking a mark into your skin at the base of your throat. When he moved back to your face, he whispered, “I love you.”

That was the first time either of you had ever said those words. Whenever the two of you were together, there was a good chance another Dreamie was with you, so actual dates were rare, which meant that neither of you felt like it was the right time to say them. However, the past three weeks, had proven that it didn’t matter how much time was spent alone.

“I love you too.”

It was about half an hour before you two emerged from the room. The others made fun of the hickeys that were all over your necks, but in that moment you didn’t care. You and Jaemin were more than okay, and that was all that mattered to you.

[crystal-lillies]

A few positive things from 2020

So we all can agree 2020 was hardly much but chaos and struggle, but there were some good things I don't want to overlook on this last day. Therefore, in no particular order, here are some bright things we had this year.

-We got the finale of Steven Universe Future, the end of the SU saga, and it was full of emotions of all kinds, but ended with our boy getting love and care from all his family and friends and that's all that matters yknow?

-Infinity Train books 2 and 3 holy shit man they both slapped so hard, one at the top of 2020 and the other in the middle. Wild. I really hope we keep getting more but what we've got was spectacular.

-Continuing the line of animation, like, The Owl House? Absolutely superb??? Hello??? Finally some good fucking food??? Lumity watered my crops, cleared my acne, saved my life??? Not to mention Eda and Lilith and Hooty and Willow and Gus oh gosh they're all so great

-ATLA got added to Netflix mid-year, and a whole swarm of new fandom was brought into the mix. with this came a lot of Zukka, and honestly not bad tbh.

-we got Sonic the Hedgehog this year y'all and lemme tell you it was honestly a solid movie which we were all not expecting at all. I went to see it twice and it was the last movie I saw in theaters. Totally worth it.

-Movies kinda got shot in the foot this year, but the ones I got to see in theaters besides Sonic were Dolittle, Knives Out, and Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn), along with a collection of animated short films nominated for Oscars this year. That last one was a pretty rocking experience ngl, and all of the ones in that collection were incredible.

-Speaking of that collection of short films, Hair Love won best animated short film, and even though there were so many incredible ones, Hair Love was so sweet and heartwarming and gorgeously animated, it was a deserving win.

-I think it goes without saying that Animal Crossing New Horizons has been one of the best things to come out this year, period.

-for better or worse, Hamilton proshot was released on Disney Plus in July, and In the Heights was pushed to next summer. Hey, we got to see everything from King George spit and everyone's sweat to every heart wrenching emotion and fun background actors you don't get to appreciate when watching bootlegs or listening to the album (particularly thinking of the Bullet character).

- do I need to mention the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, or the double full moon of October? Absolutely brilliant.

-Fruits Basket Reboot!!! Holy hell has it amazing this year!!

-BNHA got lots of crazy reveals and arcs coming to heads this year with all kinds of fun in store for the next season of the anime

-y'all. Y'all. TWEWY not only got an anime adaptation announced with trailers that look amazing for a drop next year, but WE ALSO GOT NEOTWEWY....TWEWY2.....AFTER ALL THESE YEARS.....

-Doctor Who season 12 went hard all the way through and was so exciting to watch weekly the old fashioned way this year

-on a personal note, I got a couple amazing art commissions from my good friend @ghoststrawberries, and while I wanted to do more, I'm so so happy with getting what I was able to this year. (And I highly recommend commissioning them)

- Also another personal note, I was able to keep in touch with a lot of my friends, even some I haven't kept in good communication with, via letters and messages this year, and I've got a sweet collection of letters and cards from everyone I've connected to this year, and it's really nice.

-I participated in Camp NaNo April and July along with regular NaNoWriMo this year. I set and reached goals of 30,000 and 40,000 words for the Camp NaNo challenges and wrote every day; while I wasn't able to hit 50,000 words for NaNo proper per my hoped plans, I wrote about 10,000 more words than I did the previous year, and I'm proud of that considering how crazy my November was this year. Even though I didn't get to finish a second draft of my middle grade novel, I was able to work through a good amount of the research and worldbuilding through NaNo, and I'm proud of that.

It's been a hell kind of year, and I don't discount any of the struggles faced. But I wanted to just touch on some good stuff before closing out 2020. There's plenty more I didn't cover bc I'm 5 minutes away from sleep and am just listing off the top of my head, but I like this tradition of taking the good and appreciating it every year before the new one comes.

I hope you all stay safe and take care ❤ happy New Year, and I wish all of you good vibes into 2021!

[spaceorphan18]

Some thoughts about the Star Wars Prequels now that I’ve seen all three for the first time since they came out.  Ngl, I’m probably not saying anything new that people who look into these films much more in depth, and bigger Star Wars fans haven’t already said.  But I just needed a space to say what I think to get it out of my system. 

These are not good films.  

They’re not even bad films that are still enjoyable to watch.  

I can see where there are kernels of good ideas buried within this mess. Political corruption, star-crossed love, descent to the dark path, magical wizardry, space battles...  while a lot of the tropes are tired and true, the basic outline Lucas set out isn’t that bad.  It’s just that the execution fails on just about every level.  

I feel like all the everything boils down to -- failing to make a connection to these characters, thus an emotional bond is never created and the stakes never feel real.  And it’s like the films are actively doing all they can not to let you feel emotional connections to these characters.  Oh, George.

The political strife makes no sense.  No, I get it - the Chancellor is the Emperor and pulling strings.  But... I feel like everything happens just to service the plot?  Why is this senate so easily swayed by the delegation of Naboo? What is the resistance actually resisting against?  What is it about the Chancellor that people like so much? There’s just not enough background info to really fill in the pieces -- so the entire backdrop of this conflict just doesn’t work. 

Yes - the dialogue is bad.  Who talks like any of these people? 

Yes - the CGI is out of control.  There’s nothing tangible to hang onto - the CGI is often so clean it feels sterile.  Having real elements gives our senses something familiar to hold onto, which is why a little CGI goes a long way.  This is why puppet Yoda of the original films has a greater presence than this CGI Yoda -- our brains may know he’s a puppet, but we also know the actors are actually interacting with him.  

The action is too much going on and not enough substance.  It’s a lot of lights and a lot of lightsabers, but without emotional connection to the characters, and without any real fear of the characters being in trouble, the whole thing kinda fell flat.  (And I began to fall asleep during it.) 

Anakin Skywalker is a terrible main character.  And let’s take out the questionable acting choices (for which I actually blame Lucas for).  At what point are we supposed to have actual sympathy for him? When is he ever a “good” character? There’s never any real conflict within the character.  He’s so obnoxious and over the top, you know he’s going to go dark side, and therefor really hard to take seriously. 

The love story is horrible.  At no point did I ever understand why Padme would be into this dude -- especially since she’s clearly uncomfortable with him for a long time, and the fact that he straight up admits to killing an entire village.  Dude is a stalker and a psychopath.  And nothing about how Natalie Portman plays her convinces me she’s a woman in love -- and it’s like Portman is actively fighting against her instincts to say the lines she has to say. 

Because of all of the above, the bigger moments of the films fall flat. For example, the one that sticks out the most - The Jedi are killed off? This should be horrific and wrenching and it’s... not? Nothing about the actual filmmaking aspect of this sequence added to the emotion of that sequence.  

A lot of this feels like -- there’s a darker, more adult story in these ideas but they wanted to make sure it was kid friendly, hence a lot of it not working. (And fwiw - Pixar handles darker themes and still maintains a kid friendly demeanor.  It is possible.) 

The force did not need to be explained.  And there didn’t need to be a prophecy or an immaculate conception for Anakin’s story arc to work.  

Even the score feels tired through most of it -- I don’t think this is John Williams at his best. 

There’s some serious racism baked into some of the ‘aliens’.  Eesh.  

Jar Jar Binks isn’t that bad - and I don’t blame the actor at all for a questionable character design.  

Liam Neeson gives an underrated performance.  There’s a lot of subtly there -- especially against everything that’s mind-numbing in the first film. 

I love Ewan McGregor, and Obi Wan is perhaps the best part of these films.  You can tell, though, he’s kind of over it half way through the second film.  

There are three times when the connection to the original trilogy really worked for me -- A) When Obi Wan says Anakin will be the death of him, B) The scene with Padme and Anakin in Tatooine, where the shadow looks like Darth Vader, C) The last ten minutes of the third film.  

There’s a reason that good artists ask for feedback or constructive criticism on their art.  Other people will see the flaws, and help you fix mistakes.  There was no one telling George ‘no’ on these, and it shows.  Sometimes the best thing you can do is check the ego at the door and learn to let other viewpoints through.  

Well, it’ll be a while before I see these again.  

[twracehorse]

Cringing at my own videos

Training Videos Edition!

I got bored, needed motivation to start editing, went back to take a look at my older videos, and now I judge and cringe at them because that’s a given at this stage

Under the cut to keep your dash shorter :3

Determined Horse Training, the title I came up with to be a little unique. I obviously couldn’t use something akin to Northena’s “Training Is Fun...Right?” and I wanted to give it a proper title knowing this would be a series of videos. I thought, and thought, and came up with the title after thinking of Undertale and how you are filled with determination in the game. “I am filled with determination to train these horses!” is what I thought and so the title of the series became that!

I use // as a way to separate different topics I’m talking about

Brave Rebel- First off...the thumbnail. He was originally themed sort of after Nathan Drake from Uncharted, since I was into that series at the time. So the map was, you know, for the treasure hunting. But I didn’t want to stretch the map to fit and somehow decided that a brown background was a good idea?? // AH THE CLOTHES! THE NECK!! AHHH GATORADE OCEAN BLEHH. // Oh yeah I have a spelling error in the video “Let’s go defeat this traning day!”. // Been training with Sage from the start of the series. I wonder how many fails of their’s I’ve caught XD // Ah the rocks, the rocks that I caught Sage stumbling out of in a later training video. // Let’s not forget the double mouse thing going on that makes its appearance in many videos before I figured out to click off of the web pages (which had a music playlist going while training). // Omg there’s someone with the club name The Babies standing nearby when I turn in the final race. // Low-key still love this horse. He was my first true Soul Steed before we were designated to our starter. I don’t take him out much, the difference in horse animations from new to old is getting bigger and for dynamic photos, it just doesn’t look good ( @~@)

Cool Hero- The horse based off of Markiplier back when he had red hair. I also uploaded the video on his birthday! // The song choice....I mean it fits the theme, otherwise I’d pick a better song. // The mini references I’m still low-key proud of. // There’s quite the amount of gliding pons in this video and some horror texture pons. // I obviously had to max Markimoo at the observatory! // I also mimicked Mark’s outros where an image is boomeranging. It took a couple tries with my friend in the background, but it was worth it!

Violet Mystery- I hope when I introduced her as “The winner of the Jorvik Wild horse competition” I mean, she was the first coat to be picked. Back when it was only one horse coat is being made. They added the top two coats afterwards. // Oh yeah the character’s whole head would move to the side to keep eye contact with the camera. // It’s so weird to think that I caught a bit of footage of Swifty just before meeting her. Then again I remember NOT editing this training video until months later and uploaded it in September. Mind you that I got Cool Hero and Violet Mystery at the same time and Cool Hero’s video was out in June...oops. // Ironic that I have the pandoric cracks around when the horse is based off them. // People running up from the riding arena, ah the fog glitch that would happen when you left your horse in the riding area, ran all the way to the dino valley elevator, took it, and there was no fog in the valley! 

Megalove- Ah the first Undertale horse! I mean technically still the only Undertale themed horse I have, but I do have others planned. Haven’t gotten them yet and some plans changed. // The thumbnail....why did I make the stickers super tiny?? // Finally changed Elsa’s hairstyle to the ponytail I still wear to this day. We need updated ponytails with side bangs! I know we have the awesome braided ponytail in Mistfall, but there’s too much forehead! // Also the first training footage with the meet up....was 4 hours long. This was back when I recorded all stages of training and went through the footage in real time....I’m glad I changed strategy. // Can’t remember if crashing into a jump and the jump of the music timed at the same point was on purpose or if it was editing magic. // Oof cringing that I put comic sans as Sans “talking” in the video nnngghhhhh! // Ah my old club name Royal Ambassadors. I gave that club over to my side account Chiara Monsterhope for obvious reasons. // Annoying Dog in the credits, I still love that

Lucky Hero- I’m still proud that I came up with his nickname Vien short of Vienna where the famous riding school is. He, along with Brave Rebel, are my top horses. Please get an update eventually boys! // Finally Mac users had clear water! I was so happy over this you do not understand XD // Warriors by Imagine Dragons fits this horse, but quite a pain when I got Dark Warrior and didn’t want repeating songs. // Oh yeah early on, the Lipizzaners had a weird reflective tail glitch going on. // Vien was the first horse of mine that I got the day of release, bright and early in the morning! // I love how in the face of danger, an approaching bull dozer, I just stare at it. It wasn’t even a “oh no I should get out of the way” and instead was “huh that’s a thing”. // ALLY CHUM! I forgot that was a nickname to good friend!

Grey Ghost- OH BOY HERE WE GO!! Honestly my favorite training video. It was so much fun to edit with the music and the Halloween stickers hidden around the screen! Despite waking up at 5am to train for that aesthetic™. // Okay but that mushroom with the dark green sign did legit give me a spook. My body froze for a second and then I remembered that Slenderman doesn’t exist in Star Stable XD. // Ngl two of the stickers are hard to see cause of their surroundings. // GALLOPER THOMPSON MY MAN! Honestly I waited till midnight for him to be in Goldenleaf forest, just to see what would happen if you were racing and he caught you. By the gods of editing magic, the song was at a good point that fits perfectly with that scene. // For the scarecrow race I did actually take two different takes. I failed the first one and when I was editing I noticed that the two runs looked similar. So I put the first part of run 1 and cut before I failed and then put the remaining of the race with run 2. Looks almost seamless! 

Silent Promise- My favorite mare in my stable! She ends up being my AoT cosplay photo horse...until I get the actual themed horse XP. // Shadows were a little glitchy at first. // Why am I using Rud instead of Rude. Like I know why cause that’s how we got around the filter, but I didn’t need to put it like that in the video. It’s like back in my WolfQuest days where I learned to use Cuz as a short version of Cause and it bled into my text vocab. // The witch bombs...I wanted to make it dramatic, but in hindsight it’s just tasteless really. Also to note that the sound which was fine before uploading, got more rough once it was on YouTube

Small Potential- Real cringe theme here, Hetalia. It was fun while watching and all that, but since then I’ve seen some well done anime! Growth! // I love the nickname Finny. Not too sure if I want to keep this pony or not, sadly. // The Christmas remix song is because I had no other ideas XD

Brave Eagle- Oh this is another slight cringe theme. Even more cringe is the fact that I had to re-upload this training video since it got blocked all over the world! due to the Hamilton musical songs. So I....had to layer over the songs with other songs....it’s a whole mess and was a whole pain since I had to re-edit the sound effects. // I’m proud of the thumbnail though....that’s it

Winter Dust- Why did I make the “there’s a new app with these foals you can train” with the dramatic music? // I think because I had less levels to train, I tried filling that space with “cool looking shots”. // Ah, yes, my How To Get Over A Jump wikipedia step by step

Hollow Phantom- Had to bring a creepy vibe even though it was February. So he’s like a Halloween not Halloween horse. // Can you believe that I found the main song from a Haikyuu!! crack video? XD. // That zoom on the pony surrounded by magic shires was weird. We’re saying “SO TINY” but the clip was so short it was done and over without much sense. // Mmm that slight irritation that the music and clip didn’t match with the drop. // Tried to blend the music together with itself....it’s obvious. // Of course had to max the Galloper horse where I first met the phantom himself

North Guardian- I wanna talk about the thumbnail....that background...is literally just the horse’s hindquarters. I wanted something mossy since the horse is sort of based off of Pelagia from Shadow of the Colossus. I couldn’t find good enough backgrounds, so I used the horse itself. // Again that urge to want to make the clip and music match but ahhh

Lucky Lucky- Still wish I could name this horse Gold Luck or something. // I think one of the camera turns during a race was just to show off the rainbow nearby. // Ahh! back when we could say “demon” in the chat. // Hmm instead of letting the clip run, I could’ve just cut to Reed calling the askew fence “a disgrace”. // Text was onscreen for just too long. // Trying to do the riding arena jumps with a good camera angle. But at that point, the camera kept moving and wouldn’t hold still. I’m glad it’s better now. Maybe I’ll try it again with a future horse. // Huh, forgot to add sound effects when I hit something on the last race

Silent Surprise- Cause I had to let the people know that I bought the horse after watching the Belmont. // AH STILL THE NECK! // 2 minutes in and we haven’t even gotten to the actual training yet. // Another day, another SSO glitch, this time it’s shadow rocks. // Oop missed a sound effect

Hot Spot- THE MUSTACHE! // I forgot I put a filter over the video to give it an old timey look. I should do more like that if it’s in theme. // Of course I had to have The Wanted be playing with this song since it’s old west sounding. // What was the purpose of editing the scarecrow race like that? XD. // Random running clip. // Walking the whole bobcat race would be nice if I didn’t keep moving the camera

Pumpkin Candy- As much as I love my Halloween horses, this training video isn’t up to the standards that the first Halloween training video set up. It’s still got Halloween themed music, it’s still got stickers hidden in the video, but it doesn’t feel the same. // Having text be their default instead of making them the same agh. // The spooky filter I overlayed the clips with changes at times. Would be nice if it stayed consistent

Dragon Dawn- Hmm now that I have more songs to choose from (getting into another artist as much as I did with The Wanted), I would have another song playing to fit the horse better. Maybe Euphoria or Mikrokosmos. Oh well those will be for future horses eventually! // Didn’t drop with the music...disappointed

Thunder Spirit- The horse that trains through three months. You can easily tell by the Valentine race, the rainbows of March, and April Fools. // Man I really need to work on making the text not be so BIG. // The first rainbow race had lots of sound effects. After that one I was just like “yeah not doing that again”

Sun Chaser- Eh the slowed down music is not the best idea. But I think it was also an intro to a remix of the song. So it was only so long and I had a bit to say for the intro of the horse. // The second clip of the mysterious Icelandic cryptid you can’t see them once it zooms in....annoying. // Too much of a slow build up with another cryptid spotting. // Also using the same sound but slower after just using it...smooth (not). // You know the very last clip of the horse as he’s turning around on the beach? Yeah that’s the exact moment I did the intro for the horse XD

Dragon Warrior- The contrast between me and Sage’s bantering vs the sadder song (I found the song because of a Zeno AMV) well it’s kinda weird having laughs and then sad melody. // YouTube again ruins the quality of the mic as it sounds fuzzier than it was pre-uploaded. // Low-key recording voices was fun aside from having to make sure the clips matched the voices and clicking of the mouse. // I’m still annoyed I couldn’t find the perfect snoring sound effect when Sage’s Connemara is sleeping and starts gliding away

Smoke Mirror- A little too much of a pause between text in the intro. // I love how I’m wearing a Halloween shirt because no other shirt matched with the blue of the hat except for the dress it came with THAT I GOT RID OF! 

Obsidian Mystery- I love the thumbnail for her training video. It’s so spooky and cool! Favorite thumbnail of the entire series right there. // Ironic that with the three Halloween horses I’ve had. The two with the upbeat music are the ones where Galloper was present that year. The one where Galloper was missing that October, the music was softer, generic Halloween music. Not intentional, but it works. Though the first Halloween training video still gets the trick-or-treats because it has nostalgic music. // Some text isn’t easily visible

Dark Warrior- The horse I wish I could name Secret Warrior cause that would make SO MUCH MORE SENSE than Dark Warrior, but here we are. // Since Warriors by Imagine Dragons was in a previous training video, I had to search for another song to fit the horse. I literally went through those anime character theme song videos to find one! That was a terrible jump cut of the song

Ember Flame- Coming Soon

[fictional-lover01]

Stu/Billy Reaction to Quiet Wallflower being a Siren

@nyx-daughterofchaos98

Im glad you sent in this! I hope its to your liking! & I added quite a bit into the scenario & I changed it slightly

Sorry that it’s so long, the actual request is simple, I just like the idea of a little backstory behind the request:

1. Quiet, wallflower girl who never registers on Ghostface’s radar bumps into Stu a few days before a school camping trip. She’s very polite & kind & even gives him a hug when she leaves. Over the next few days, she gets to know both Stu/Billy, but doesn’t exactly get super close with them, holding them almost at arms length. Both Billy/Stu watch her during the trip, deciding when to go in for a kill. 1) One night, during the full moon, they watch in confusion as she sneaks out to the lake after everyone had fallen asleep, in only a robe, strips, walks into the water, & disappears beneath the surface. Seconds later, they hear a song, hypnotic and sweet. It was beautiful to listen to, and Stu shuts his eyes & just listens. 2) Until Billy hits his arm and points silently, & sees a rude jock that have been bullying the other students over the past couple days. He walks like he’s in a trance to the water, wadding in & then freezing. Reader comes out of the water. A siren (like from the show on freeform) emerges from the water, and holds out a hand as the song gets louder. 3) The jock smiled dreamily & went in deeper, going to her. She grabs him, & disappears beneath the water. There are bubbles, & a struggle & then utter stillness. Then there is movement as reader emerges from the water, grabs her robe, looks around, & heads back into her cabin. 4) Conclusion, how would Billy & Stu react to the quiet little wallflower, who was always content in staying in the background & keeping others at arms length, being a siren hiding on land until the humans she’s staying with decide she needs to head back home. And would they let her know they know? (Bonus if she knows about them too) 5)

Being a quiet wallflower tends to keep you off the radar of many people

And you’d like to keep it that way tbh

Unfortunately life wasn’t on your side; you had accidentally bumped into the infamous weirdo named Stu Macher

Slightly panicked you quickly but politely apologize, giving the tall boy a simple hug & another sorry before leaving

This of course captures their attention; you’re completely on their radar and it was obvious to you (considering they’re likely trying to include you into their activities ex: parties, hangouts,etc)

You trying to ignore them and stay off their radar; unfortunately that doesn’t work as you begin to ease up w/ them. Of course still keeping them a good distance away from your personal space

The more you hangout w/ them the more they’ll likely believe it’ll be easy to kill you

But you’ve come to terms that despite everything, you’ve grown attached to having them in your life

Eventually the school’s planned camping trip is around the corner; everyone was ecstatics. Minus you

This just seemed to increase your anxiety, but considering you now have more than just a couple of acquaintances, people you dare call- friends in your life. You have to go

While you’re at home packing and planning for the trip that’s literally tomorrow, Billy & Stu are coming up w/ a plan to kill you, maybe a few other campers

It would be an easy kill tbh. They knew you’d rather sleep in your own tent and further away from the group, one could be on watch while the other kept you quiet while spilling your guts throughout your own tent

You had completely tripled checked everything; especially the calendar. The trip was gonna last around a week and there was various activities that you were gonna have to do. Luckily the day you were worried over wasn’t until the last night

The next day: As everyone was boarding the bus you were forced inbetween one of the schools jocks and the preppy girls. The prep wasn’t one you’ve talked to considering they were pretty bitchy, however the jock decided to mess around

He was pushing back on all his friends as they pushed him back towards you, you tried to keep far away as possible from the prep while dealing w the jock; however his crew kept forcing him closer

It was getting uncomfortable & annoying

He was more of the douchy jock to so he didn’t really back up, his hands slightly grazing you here & there

“Can you back up please?” You asked desperately

But alas you weren’t heard

As the students piled into the bus you caught eyes w/ Billy & Stu who only grinned at you, motioning for you to sit near them

Billy made a kid move further back and you quickly took that seat considering you wanted to get away from the jock behind you

Billy sat on the outside w/ Sidney on his right, Stu sat by himself considering his girl was talking w/ another friend of hers further up front

You’d thought the group of jocks would go to the back but the douche quickly slid in beside you- squishing you further towards the window

Having gotten closer to the boys they knew you’d rather much have your space than be squished up against other people

But you also didn’t like having the spotlight on you

Billy was gonna shoo the guy towards the back w his group of imbeciles but you shook your head while just pushing yourself closer to the window, resting

The ride to the camp site started; it was ok at first. But the dude kept touching you

Like he’d lean more towards you, try to start a conversation w you, let his hand drift towards your thigh

You’d smack his hand away and curl further into the window side

Lets just say it was a long and annoying ride

But fortunately when you get to the camp site you’re allowed to stretch and pick where you want your tent

Taking your stuff and putting it the furthest but not too far from the group you’re quick to set it up and toss your items into the shelter

It was around 4pm meaning y’all had a couple hours before dinner so you were free to chill or walk around so long as you let a supervisor know & didn’t go too far

You decided to stay at the campsite and relax; in your tent away from everyone else w/ your music/sketchbook/book/etc

Meanwhile Billy & Stu were finishing up their tent; quietly planning your murder

The duo were hoping to catch you either away from the group or in the middle of the night-where they can keep you silent while they spill your intestines all over your tent

Maybe drag you further into the forest and torture you; a slow brutal death

Maybe even make it seem like suicide?

Ahh but the ideas of all those horror movies they’ve watched could help inspire them to make your death...more..grotesque?

Either way as the day continued and nighttime fell the group was quick to settle in for the night after dinner

The boys were still awake when they heard the sound of a zipper

You were dressed in nothing but a robe; quietly making your way out of your tent and to the lake that wasn’t that far off

After the boys deemed it possible they unzipped their own tent, watching the figure stray away from the group- course they took their knives- a kill is a kill

They trailed the figure barely seeing the outline of the person in the dark; they watched as the person had taken off their clothing article- revealing the person to be female

Once the robe was off you slowly walked into the water, the boys watching as your figure disappeared deeper into the cool dark lake

The clouds above slowly moved away, the moon shining down on the lake in it’s full glow. The boys were confused as the person didn’t come back up for air

Soon a sweet alluring tune echoed throughout the forest, ripples stirring the once still lake; Billy & Stu silently argued confused about the situation

Ngl Stu was probably slightly scared

Billy likely is confused & irritable

But the serenity was disrupted as the sound of footfalls thudded nearby, branches shaking and twigs snapping

Stu & Billy watched a tall male stumble out of the woods; w/ the moonlight they could make out who it was- that one douch that kept getting handsy w/ you

Billy made a motion towards the dude to indicate that they could kill this asshole too

Billy was the one to silently step closer towards the dazed jock

However the tune they heard had increased in volume, the movement to his left causing him to pause & watch whatever moved

What they assume to be the person that walked into the lake was now exposed slightly; their hair soaked and sticking to their body, skin having a slightly grey hue, eyes different in a creepy but entrancing way

Tbh they probably were just as enthralled by the person as the jock but it seemed as if the jock was literally in a daze

Stu quietly made his way to Billy; watching the Jock walk into the water, not saying a word nor making any other movements

The duo were likely freaked out- just slightly(Stu a bit more)

As the jock got closer to you, you backed further into the water,hands stretched out which now had webbing between your fingers

Once the dude was in your grasp you dragged him to the bottom of the lake, bubbles rising to the surface as you did your thing

Billy & Stu stood there waiting for anything to happen; tbh they felt like they were hallucinating bc of some serious whack drugs

But the figures didn’t come back up, not for a long while

“Dude I’m kinda freaked”

“Shut up!”

The boys were likely arguing on what to do, it’s not like anyone would believe them nor why one of the campers were missing

About 15-20 minutes later the female came back up to the surface; walking out of the water towards their clothes

W/ the moonlight Billy & Stu are able to see who the figure was- surprised they watched as you quickly got your clothes and started making your way back

Guess they’ll hold off on killing you, for now they need to get closer to you and figure out WHAT you are

They tailed you all the way back to camp- waiting before heading back to their own tent

Throughout the time spent camping they boys seemed to get increasingly closer to you, being more social w/ you and inviting you do do more activities w/ them

This has you confused but you don’t question it rlly

Overall, Stu & Billy are likely confused, curious and considering how you can be of use or if you should just die. Like in all honesty they’ll probably corner you eventually and start explaining what they saw, pestering & threatening you to explain to them. And if they deem you useful you’ll either be part of their scheme of Ghostface or you’ll be their source of blackmail, getting information on others and keeping any evidence from being found by the police or anyone of that matter.

[theleastcarefulofgamedevs]

hehehehehehehehe ur turn. overshare pals

hehe im lov u ceec :)

---

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

water bottles and soda cans!

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

chocolate.... im lov it

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

cotton candy!

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

hardworking, earnest, and honestly? they gave me too much credit ebagweaganegioawnegew

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

soda bottles!

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

somewhere between boho, goth, and grunge hehe

7. earbuds or headphones?

headphones!

8. movies or tv shows?

movies,,

9. favorite smell in the summer?

you know that wet pavement smell after it rains? love that

10. game you were best at in p.e.?

dodgeball hehehe

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?

nothin tbh. i don’t wake up early enough for it

12. name of your favorite playlist?

Writing Music! i made it hehehe

13. lanyard or key ring?

key ring!

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

GUMMY BEARS AND JELLY BEANS

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

“A Child Called ‘It’“ by Dave Pelzer

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

cuddled up to someone in blankets,,, im lov anything with my s/o tbh

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

i have this beat up pair of blue slip ons that have bloodstains on em bc i got a nosebleed one day bwaeiugbaweugbaweubguaw

18. ideal weather?

post-raining, or like. just before it starts raining

19. sleeping position?

anything with my s/o or bein wrapped in like. a billion blankets

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

on my home pc in my room!

21. obsession from childhood?

dice and video games!

22. role model?

i know it’s gonna sound dumb but like. a lot of characters from media have influenced me a lot, like sans/komaeda etc. another one from my real life would be my aunt on my mom’s side!

23. strange habits?

i bounce my leg while listening to music or stressed,, that’s abt it. OH and i like twirling a small blanket around on my arm bc... acrobatics of sorts

24. favorite crystal?

amethyst, but anything clean cut and rounded looks rlly nice imo,,

25. first song you remember hearing?

the first day i remember in my life was christmas at my grandma’s when i was 4, so probably random christmas music ubwegebwgwebgoibgweg

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

sometimes when i get tired of sitting around at home i like to walk down to the dog park by my house! 

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

cuddle,,,,,,,,,,, wrap up in a blanket with some freshly baked cookies n just. be there

28. five songs to describe you?

megalovania, medley rush 2 from the sonic rush ost, the promised neverland english op, metal crusher from undertale, metal scratchin’ from sonic rush

29. best way to bond with you?

just talk to me! im godawful at starting convos but i love talkin to ppl! 

30. places that you find sacred?

every person’s room feels that way, as well as obvious places, like churches n whatnot. we went n visited my aunt’s old house so my mom could pick up some stuff and being in her room after she died in 2015 was just like. an emotion i can’t rlly describe

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

hoodie, trackpants, n sneakers hehe

32. top five favorite vines?

back at it again @ krispy kreme, ADAM, they were roommates, two dudes in a hot tub, my croissant

33. most used phrase in your phone?

either “be there soon” or “ily” 

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

none tbh. i don’t watch much tv so i don’t see ads often

35. average time you fall asleep?

either 10:30 or sometime after midnight. no in between 

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

it was a rage comic

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

suitcase!

38. lemonade or tea?

lemonade, but i LOVE tea!

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

LEMON CAKE....

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

i was walkin in the halls with my friend and someone dropped a styrofoam cup of pasta on my friend’s head from the second floor awbegiuawbeguiawbguaewg

41. last person you texted?

the person who sent this ask heheheheh

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

jacket pockets!

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

hoodie!

44. favorite scent for soap?

anything really, but i like whatever my s/o uses bc it would remind me of them!

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

fantasy!

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

underwear tbh. like. that and a tshirt or just underwear is the only way i can sleep

47. favorite type of cheese?

sensory issues say i have to hate all kinds of cheese outside of like. grilled cheese so let’s go with that/cheddar

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

dragonfruit! 

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

GOD pretty much every quote from monomi or chiaki in danganronpa 2, but mostly “if you learn to love yourself, that love will continue to carry you for your whole life! love, love...”

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

OH HERES A FUCKIN STORY OK so i was at my friend’s house with a bunch of others bc we were doin a sleepover type thing and we were eating raising canes in his attic at like 3 am and some guy high on like. 3 different drugs at once got impaled through the leg on his fence. nobody saw him but we knew he was there and the cops were there in like 3 minutes. that very same friend has some of the most wack stories ngl

51. current stresses?

just doing well in school and making sure my s/o is happy!

52. favorite font?

comic sans.......................... im sorry

53. what is the current state of your hands?

my palms b sweaty but my fingers are dehydrated tbh. typin

54. what did you learn from your first job?

work.... difficult

55. favorite fairy tale?

probably the princess and the frog!

56. favorite tradition?

christmas!

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

probably my most noteworthy traumas tbh. gettin therapy for em, too

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

writing, my ability to overcome obstacles, being able to help ppl as well as i can, and making friends fast!

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

“Not dead yet.”

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

Probably either shounen, romance, or moe,,,,

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

“It’s a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like these, kids like you... should be burning in hell.”

62. seven characters you relate to?

sans, komaeda, makoto naegi, komaru naegi, toko fukawa, chiaki nanami, and chihiro fujisaki!

63. five songs that would play in your club?

they’d all be fall out boy tbh. that and videogame osts

64. favorite website from your childhood?

armor games hehe

65. any permanent scars?

i don’t think so? at least, not yet

66. favorite flower(s)?

roses and anything blue!

67. good luck charms?

my dice sets!

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

vanilla york peppermint patties... gross

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

pikmin in pikmin 1 who are underneath a bridge when it’s completed are killed because they get pushed through the ground

70. left or right handed?

right handed!

71. least favorite pattern?

probably the hellish bumpy pattern all teachers have all over their fuckin classrooms

72. worst subject?

math

73. favorite weird flavor combo?

chicken nuggets in milkshake... good. or frankly just like. cooked chicken mixed with anythin cold like ice or ice cream

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

like. 3 or 4

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

i was eating a crunch bar and it fell out hehe

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

I WOULD DIE FOR FRENCH FRIES.

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

any small blooming plant, like a single rose or flower!

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

hrm. coffee from a gas station tbh

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

NEITHER LOOK GOOD LMAO and i don’t have a driver’s license. that’s just like. a prediction

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

jewel tones!

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

lightning bugs!

82. pc or console?

either works but i spend more time on pc!

83. writing or drawing?

writing, but i like both!

84. podcasts or talk radio?

talk radio, but i love podcasts like TAZ or Critical Role! 

84. barbie or polly pocket?

neither? but probably barbie bc it’s more well known? idk

85. fairy tales or mythology?

mythology!

86. cookies or cupcakes?

cupcakes all the way b

87. your greatest fear?

me being the last person i know alive. i’d rather die than outlive everyone

88. your greatest wish?

i hope that no matter what there is after we die, i get to be with the people that are most important to me. 

89. who would you put before everyone else?

my s/o and family tbh

90. luckiest mistake?

buying danganronpa bweguowabguawebogbaweibg

91. boxes or bags?

boxes!

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

fairy lights!

93. nicknames?

i go by wes, dev, bines, anything rlly

94. favorite season?

spring!

95. favorite app on your phone?

tumblr hehe

96. desktop background?

it’s the ddlc cast! it’s a greyscaled image of four of the events cut together and their eyes glow hehe

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

only one, and it’s my dads bc i have to call him every time i go to my grandparents’ hehe

98. favorite historical era?

probably the one we’re in now tbh, but like. also hate it

[bthump]

what are the things you like and dislike about the '97 anime and the films?

ty for asking, i’m just gonna write a few long lists lol

97 anime likes:

the animation, including the like, yk the more detailed stills they pan over in place of action or to punctuate important moments, i love it

the gorgeous backgrounds

most of the colour choices. red eclipse, femto’s blue eyes, casca’s skintone, griffith’s mauve clothes, etc.

how close it is to the manga. like, it’s a solid adaption just by virtue of making very few changes.

so like, most of it really, because i like the manga

special mention to the entire lead up to the eclipse from griffith’s reality break to the sacrifice tho, because i think that was all pretty damn perfect. it’s the most important scene and they did it right.

actually also shout out to casca’s flashback to griffith and the dead kid, gennon, the river scene, all that. another difficult v emotional sequence that they nailed imo.

griffith thinking about how he “loves” guts during the monologue

skipped most of the griffith/charlotte sex scene iirc which i approve of

the glimpse of black swordsman guts in ep 1. it’s not perfect but it’s way better than the ovas starting w/ 15 yr old guts

the opening and closing themes. fucking love both songs ngl

also the opening monologue. never get tired of hearing it

the score

the portrayal of griffith was honestly pretty solid imo. i have very few issues there. and lbr that’s important lol

97 anime dislikes:

not a big fan of griffith or guts’ character designs.

just about everything that isn’t identical to the manga is a change for the worse

turned griffith’s scratch marks into that giant unexplained scar

adding extra scenes where casca is secretly impressed with guts’ skills in battle in an attempt to build up their relationship better, which instead just made casca look unfair for still being a dick to him for 3 years and made guts stupidly gary stu-ish

obviously the straightforwardly romantic portrayal of guts and casca’s relationship

through several seemingly minor changes (eg, skipping guts’ night of self-doubt after he leaves, giving guts’ stay with godo its own half-episode, making guts inviting casca along super romantic rather than the incredibly casual and assholish way he does it in the manga, etc) it makes Guts’ dream seem legitimately noble and worthwhile, with none of the like… implicit critique the manga has. like honestly it completely fucks up what i consider one of the central themes of the story lol

the pre eclipse stuff also fails to sell guts’ sense of regret - through things like playing guts’ theme while judeau is telling guts to leave, not repeating guts’ statement of regret after casca tells him to leave again, the tone remains consistently in favour of guts’ dream. wrong and bad.

like it really reads like the suggested tragedy is that guts doesn’t get the chance to ditch griffith with judeau and take off with casca and the raiders lol

also fucks it up by never directly mentioning guts’ csa trauma

also fucks it up by losing guts’ self-destructive single-minded urge to fight monsters that we saw thru the wyald stuff. i’m not gonna say that losing wyald was a bad decision, but they should’ve at least moved erika suggesting that guts just wants to fight zodd again to the fucking waterfall scene in question, which they portrayed completely sans zodd discussion, completely sans implication of the self-destructiveness of guts’ dream

like in the manga he nearly gets killed by the falling logs and just laughs it off like a dumbass while erika is concerned and suggests that guts is driven by something irrational and not actually a ~noble~ dream, ie, wanting to fight zodd again (ie, going deeper, his csa trauma), while in the anime we get a 2nd scene where he successfully slices through the logs as a super basic symbol of growth and a narrative pat on guts’ back that shouldn’t be there!

honestly just fucking everything about the portrayal of guts’ dream lol it just takes it at face value in a way the manga consistently never did and always undermined and critiqued, and it bugs the hell out of me.

guts is just drawn in a way that makes him look angry way too often and he often feels ooc to me bc of it. like he lacks a lot of the warmth he has in the manga imo

showing that griffith is awake when guts says “i’ll stay too” even tho in the manga those words are placed over a panel of him asleep for a reason like, ffs

lots of other random nitpicky details that only i give a fuck about because my opinions and feelings about the story are too strong lol. like not showing griffith’s face when he asks if guts thinks he’s cruel

oh huge one: moving the scene where the torturer rips off griffith’s behelit from about a day after he was imprisoned to right before his rescue. completely trivializes griffith’s torture because it still looks like he’s been in there for a day at most

why on earth did it end where it ended????????????? who’s bright idea was that? the perfect ending is skull knight riding tf out with guts and casca and femto not killing them, but then they also cut out skull knight’s first appearance so idfk man.

oh some downplaying of griffguts, like i can’t complain too much about this because it was still p homoerotic, but things like omitting guts assuming griffith wants to fuck him right before their first duel. boo.

ultimately at the end of the day as much as i do genuinely like the anime, it’s not telling quite the same story the manga was - the story it’s telling is more boring and basic. but because it sticks so close to the manga the good story still shines through? it just means there’s inconsistent tone choices and stuff, like the aforementioned grievances.

it’s like, they kept casca’s diatribe at guts line for line while she’s screaming that griffith needed him and a man can’t live on dreams alone, but they don’t extend that train of thought to guts going off to pursue his dream, while the manga does.

anyway despite that giant list of dislikes i still think the anime is pretty fantastic overall. i just also like, blame it for a lot of wrong fandom takes lol.

movie likes:

character designs! honestly imo everyone looked pretty great.

they played up the homoeroticism and i appreciate that

illustrating griffith being torn between guts and his dream through that lovely moment when he catches guts when he nearly falls off the stairs right before he catches charlotte, and in a more romantically suggestive way

the whole scene where griffith shows up at charlotte’s window thoroughly improved on the manga, so hats off there. loved how completely out of it he was to the point where he barely realized where he was and immediately turned to leave when charlotte was like ‘woah dude wtf,’ love that charlotte was the one to ask him to stay and then physically move his hand back to her tit, love how emphatically griffith was thinking about guts during that sex scene, etc. like it’s still not perfect, but it is a vast improvement.

griffith showing up in person after the hundred man fight was a nice touch

it was cool that they got a lot of the same english vas from the anime dub back, and they all did a gr8 job. like it’s a pretty good dub imo.

i liked that they moved ‘the crystalization of your last tear shed’ to after guts’ post-eclipse breakdown

compared to the anime at least gtsca was more low-key and chill rather than dramatically romantic. still don’t want it there, and still not as… unromantic as the manga, but i’ll take what i can get

the animation during griffith’s transformation into femto, yk that whole sequence, was cool

slan’s english voice was super sexy

ummmmm i feel like they conveyed the whole dreams are stupid theme, and guts’ decision to leave being a mistake, better than the anime? like i got the sense that the ova ppl recognized that was a theme, at least. i’d have to watch them again to really be sure of that tho

movie dislikes:

GRIFFITH’S. NARRATIVE.

like holy fuck they completely destroyed his character lmao

i cannot believe

no backstory! no tombstone of flame! no ‘do you think i’m cruel?’ THAT WAS THE REASON HE MADE THE SACRIFICE FFS HOW DO YOU SKIP IT????

no dead kid angst, gennon only in vague implication, no self harm - oh no wait we saw self inflicted scratches, they were just completely contextless and meaningless to the point where we could assume charlotte’s nails made them

no torture chamber monologue

no guts monologue in the tavern either for that matter

no rooftop scene

again barely the implication of guts’ childhood trauma, both the sexual abuse and the general parental abuse. one vague flashbacky nightmare doesn’t cut it, it’s the cornerstone of the story

like i get it, it’s a movie trilogy, you have to cut some things, but goddamn, cut out gtsca. trim the hundred man fight. add 20 minutes to the first ova and take the insanely long rape scene out of the third. trim down the whole eclipse sequence. don’t cut out like… the story. like they cut out SO MANY emotionally relevant scenes and kept so many much less relevant scenes, idek.

and like let’s be real here, they turned griffith from an immensely interesting and complex character into a 1 dimensional dude who is torn between a vaguely evil ambition and being in vaguely evil love with guts, just for the sake of streamlining the least interesting aspects of the story

they don’t even try to pretend otherwise lol, look at his fucking hilarious evil smile here

also while i’m looking at it, in general i think they failed at the whole eclipse sequence. looks, lighting, colour, build up of tension… there are a few minor improvements here and there (eg casca’s point of view shot of femto, femto telekinesising guts back a la the black swordsman arc which emphasizes his failure to act when he escapes), but overall it doesn’t work for me at all. like imo the anime has the exact same highs and lows as the manga, but while the ova avoids some lows it never reaches those highs.

they also had griffith overhear guts saying he wants to stay. i really don’t get why this happened twice lol, like… ok his face is kind of shadowed here but he’s still very clearly asleep? this is an important detail, guts’ interrupted words are even on that very panel, so why would you go out of your way to show that he’s awake and listening at that point.

the pacing sucked. 3rd movie was too long, 1st was too short, and they skipped waaaaaay too many significant scenes that should’ve been there as emotional beats

honestly the movies are pretty, they’re nicely fanservicey in ways, they capture some good subtleties and nuances at times, but they’re a husk of the story

oh did i mention the music during the eclipse rape? incredible.

also i am actually generally positive about the movies too despite what it seems like here lmao. i’ve watched them all like, 3 or more times and i find them v enjoyable.

i just have a way easier time listing nitpicky flaws than positives honestly. the flaws stand out to me, the virtues pass me by because i’m just enjoying them and not dwelling on them

and lbr here at the end of the day no adaption will ever really satisfy me unless i somehow find several million dollars lying around and make my own lol. and that would probably be a flop anyway.

[kingsofeverything]

Hello Lauren I'd like for you to answer 11 12 13 14 15 for hfl dws famd and tshu please thank you for blessing us with these gems💕💕

omg ok. OKAY. thank you for playing! 

11: What do you like best about this fic?12: What do you like least about this fic?13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn't listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

Heading for Limbo

11: i think that what i like best about hfl is how imperfect they are. and how things between them aren’t just suddenly wonderful, even after they get their shit together. 

12: trying to answer without spoilers....... i think that the time when they’re friends right before they get it together? that was something that i added at the last minute and it was definitely necessary, and maybe it’s just that those scenes didn’t sit in my head as long as the others.

13: i listened to the playlist i made for the fic pretty much the whole time i was writing. and i also listened to the 1975 i like it when you sleep etc. 

14: hmmmm well, the most important part of hfl for me was harry’s personal struggles/realizations. so, i suppose...... i hoped that, if someone reading had never been through a similar thing, that they learned what it could be like for someone else. and if someone reading had been through something similar, that they learned that it’s more common than they might think?

15: i learned a lot about myself, really. there’s a lot (A LOT) of me in harry in hfl, so i was pretty much exploring my own brain while writing him.

Don’t Want Shelter

11: ooooh idk what i like best. i suppose maybe i like the idea that sometimes things don’t work out the first or second or third time? sometimes people don’t get their happily ever after when they’re young. 

12: idk. i guess...... i wish they’d allowed themselves to be more vulnerable sooner? dws is my baby though, so there isn’t anything that i don’t like about it.

13: i don’t think i listened to anything while i was writing dws because i wrote most of it when we were living in the camper, so i was like 2 ft away from all 4 kids 

14: i think this is a similar answer as 11. but also, i hope they learned 1) that they should always wear sunscreen, 2) what netflix and chill actually means, and 3) never attempt to climb around on ceiling rafters when you’re intoxicated

15: i learned a lot about diy renovation! 

Fall At My Door

11: my fave thing about famd is the pov switch. i think because it’s not typically done that way? so you get louis’ pov which includes a good bit of stuff that doesn’t involve harry at all. and you could almost read the entire fic that way, which was what i’d originally planned. but then you get to the END and then boom, back to the beginning, or rather before the beginning? and you see harry’s pov including a lot of stuff that doesn’t include louis. but there are scenes that you do see from both povs. idk. i just like the way i did that BUT IT WAS A PAIN IN THE ASS. 

12: i wish it was longer? i think that’s pretty much it as far as what i don’t like about it. it includes A LOT OF SMUT. like...... i think it’s the smuttiest fic i’ve written? and i kind of wish there was less of that, but it’s actually important to the story, i think. idk.

13: idk. it’s been a long time. i don’t always listen to music because sometimes it’s distracting. i think that when i wrote famd i had the tv on in the background the whole time.

14: hmmm not really

15: what did i learn.......... i learned that i have to plan more before i write. i didn’t plan SHIT for famd. i went into it with the idea that i wanted to write a fic based on the song “your love” by the outfield, and at first it was going to be famous/not famous, then i decided to make it famous/famous. that’s all i had lol. so the entire fic developed as i wrote it (ngl that’s what i usually do). 

but i learned that timelines are important to me because it was totally screwed up and nic had to help me figure it out. it was a pain in the ass.

The Second Hand Unwinds

11: what do i like most............ that (to me anyway) the time travel stuff feels real.

12: i wish i’d been able to include more of niall and liam

13: i wrote tshu while i was writing hfl, so i listened to the same playlist

14: hmmmmmmmmmm i guess 1) things aren’t always what they seem, 2) sometimes life is really shitty, but that doesn’t mean it’ll always be that way, and 3) sometimes you have to wait for good things

15: i learned that i am not going to be the one to invent time travel

THANK YOU!!!!!

if you want to, you can do this too! send me asks about my fics!

[mgnifiqueyoo]

“STAR” - THEORY

PART 3 OF 3

(a/n: hey MOAs! It's confirmed that I'm a clown and this will be THE LAST "STAR" THEORY I'll be continuing with the next album "MAGIC" so um stay tuned I guess)

Basically, "Nap of a star" MV got me fked up. I'll be listing the characters they play so like I don't lose MY SANITY OVER THIS.

YEONJUN - Boy with Horns SOOBIN - Boy with elf ears (??? Idk but uwu) TAEHYUN - Boy with like heterochromia (IDK ???) BEOMGYU - Boy with thorns on his shoulder HUENING KAI - BOY WITH WINGS (UHCKDE)

So, there's this big cat with heterochromia and Yeonjun ran away from it. Yeonjun painfully removes one of the horns AND FINALLY THE BOY WITH WINGS (HYUKA) FINDS YEONJUN ALONG WITH THE THREE BOYS.

Conclusion: I have concluded nothing.

Just kidding

---

So, let's get back to my summaries about the past two MVs.

CROWN:

"If we consider the fact that Beomgyu is the “main visual” (is that even a position? djkfhdhf. I mean like the visual that is actually the main character of the story most of the time.), it could mean that Beomgyu’s character is the one saying these words towards the members." - clown statement, 2020

This is UNTRUE. IT IS YEONJUN. I am big clown.

"What is the reason for the boy with wings to leave the boy with horns?" - clown question that kinda shook me tbh, 2020

Honestly, I am very confused about the boy with wings. In the NOAS MV, Huening Kai was the boy with wings but I haven't seen one MV that showed him either betraying or leaving Yeonjun.

Which leads us to CAT & DOG:

"In the mv, it also showed how they acted like they needed constant attention… much like what children need when they’re still in their youth days." - ngl, this made sense buT

Okay so in the Cat & Dog performance, there was a cat of course BUT there was no BOY WITH HORNS OR WHATEVER. The boy is either Yeonjun or a different member.

(TXT CAT & DOG PERFORMANCE)

- if we pay attention to the concept trailer of ETERNITY, even the SHIRT of the boy in the narration/background story from the Cat & Dog performance matches with SOOBIN'S SHIRT (it's a bit orange but that's because of the childish like vibe). Even the concept of Soobin feeling lonely and being actually alone MATCHES. - also in the concept trailer (at time stamp - 3:17), there is a subliminal/symbolism of a cat. It also showed that Soobin is intrigued about it and he suddenly became trapped in a glass box or whatever. - also, because I'm a dumbass who doesn't pay attention, the song being played in the trailer is the slow song version of TXT's DRAMA

NEW ADDITIONAL STUFF: - Someone from youtube (lmao) commented about the morse code thing (???) in the concept trailer. I literally thought that it was like adding the CROWN sounds but nOPE IT'S ACTUALLY A MORSE CODE WITH "SAVE ME" AS THE MEANING. (time stamp - 2:18) - I also found out that STAR era all has the words "Crown" and "dreaming" for morse code (link: https://www.quora.com/What-do-the-beeps-in-the-beginning-of-TXT-s-Crown-mean)

---

Cats in dreams? Cheshire Cat of Alice in Wonderland.

"To see the Cheshire cat in your dream signifies mischief, deceit and mockery. It may represent someone in your life who you are not sure if you can trust or rely on." - LINK : https://dreguage.com/dream-dictionary/cheshire-cat/

- This is what both Yeonjun and Soobin saw. However, the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland is a neutral character. Yeonjun saw it as a "bad creature" so he ran away from it but a good thing comes around instead of misfortune (aka. Huening Kai and the boys finding him).

- However in Soobin's case, it was pictured as both good and bad. In the Cat & Dog Performance (backstory/narration), Soobin (probably the boy *not confirmed) sees the cat and pictures HIMSELF as the cat. The cat was seen as comfort. However in the ETERNITY concept trailer, the cat was the reason why he was trapped in the glass box.

"There are many reasons why we associate glass as a symbol for change and transformation. Glass itself goes through a lot of change and transformation in the process of becoming glass. Glass starts out as sand. Only when it is heated to very extreme temperatures does it become glass." - glass meaning (link : https://journeyintodreams.com/glass-dream-symbol-meaning/)

"Dreams about being trapped, feeling lost with no way out or being unable to move are quite common. Also, you may even experience a dream of being buried alive or that you have lost the ability to scream or breathe. These dreams usually indicate frustrations you may be feeling in your waking life. They could be equated to a dead-end job you are in, someone holding you back in your career advancement, or a relationship in which you may feel trapped. You may feel that you are faced with no choice in a situation in your waking life or that you are facing difficulty in making up your mind about something." - trapped in box meaning (link : https://psychiclibrary.com/trapped-dreams/)

In MY OPINION/CONCLUSION about the Cat & Dog situation: Soobin is trapped in the transformation of his friendship between the four (meaning that he doesn't understand why he's being constantly left out). That's why he asked the cat (who hurt Yeonjun) to be somewhat friends with him because he was lonely. BUT it backfired because the cat was the reason for him to become more distant, therefore leaving Soobin alone again.

---

FULL CONCLUSION:

- Yeonjun is the boy with horns and Huening Kai is the boy with wings - Soobin is the boy who was left out (in Cat & Dog backstory) - Soobin MIGHT'VE betrayed Yeonjun because he befriended the cat who hurt Yeonjun (because he was lonely) - Cheshire Cat is A NEUTRAL CHARACTER (NEW!!!)

---

Question(s): - How did Soobin get so lonely? - Who is the Cheshire Cat?

//the end//

Btw, I wrote this for thirty minutes since I had some sources from the last two Star Theories I've written and MY BRAIN IS DEAD. Next week, I'll be uploading a full-on research about "MAGIC" era! It'll be on Thursday and I'm honestly dying so pls give me resources.

peace out, luvs.