#although i DO like her instantly idolizing adult!her and then finding bit by bit that she's not everything she dreamed

[novelconcepts]

you may have already answered something like this but, as a fan of the comics from before the show, I’m curious what your thoughts on the changes were. personally i really enjoyed it as an adaptation and my only real issues were aesthetic (it needed more bright color)

idk if I mentioned I was talking about paper girls in the previous ask or not whoops 😅

I really don't mind most of the changes! Paper Girls is such an expansive, explosive story on paper; the comic versions of these children are ping-pong balls firing off from one insane, splashy situation to the next in a heartbeat. A world made of ink and paper can afford to have crazy dinosaurs and hockey sticks sticking out of thin air and bombastic scene-scapes in past, super-past, super-future, etc. The show...in order to be feasible, kind of can't? If they'd done a one-to-one execution, 1) it would have cost a truly insane amount (or looked absolutely awful with VFX teams being run ragged lately) and 2) I don't think it would be accessible for non-comic readers. I think they did an excellent job of toning the whole thing down without losing the heart of what's happening, grounding the world so the viewer doesn't feel as though their face is being blown off with every shot.

I also think this really benefits the girls in terms of character building. KJ in the comics figures out she's gay because she gets some flash-bang images dumped into her head, and one of them is kissing Mac. That's great for that medium--but you get SO much more out of that journey onscreen by actively seeing her adult self be relaxed and happy with a girlfriend. Getting to watch KJ have that quiet mental breakdown (which, in 1988, she absolutely would do; finding out at 12 that you're destined to be queer, especially coming from a family that "cares what everyone else thinks" like hers does, would be incredibly jarring) and then slowly come to terms with what it all means is much more effective on a grounded level. Same with Mac finding out she dies, not from some random lady telling her the family moved afterward, but from the older brother she's revered her whole life--and then building on that relationship to help her on this journey of understanding she's always had value. Erin getting time to discover her adult self is way cooler than she gave her credit for gives adult!Erin's final scene so much more punch than if it they'd gone the clone!Erin route, and gives her room to learn that maybe there's more to life than just being the caretaker.

None of these story beats are better or worse, per se; they just exist more cleanly in the tone of this world. The comic beats are perfect for a comic world, and the television ones are easier to digest as viewers who watch these actors make choices to flesh out the characters scene-to-scene.

Even the colors, I understand. Like. The comics have some of my favorite art, hands down. Paper Girls and Wicked and the Divine are probably my top-tier comics for just how gorgeous they are--but, as with the languages of the future teens and the Old Timers, I wonder if having the palette that extreme would have been alienating to the eyeballs. The whole final episode is kind of rough to watch simply because they've cast that magenta filter over it all; imagine a whole show with such vibrancy. It's possible to do, but I don't think it would have fit the tone as well. I think they found a middle ground that works really well for a first season, and if they get a second, I would think that is where they might start to play with expanding the imagery.

[melonkooky]

love unlike any other [jeon jungkook]

not requested

word count: 8053

genre: fluff and angst (it’s like 1/4 fluff, 3/4 angst), happy ending, small/singer/unpopular band thing, singer (but not kpop idol)!jungkook x reader

warnings: parties and nightclubs, heavy drinking

author’s note: was at first based off a song but then i strayed away from it so it’s more of an idea that i wanted to write (cause you know, i’m a hoe for angsty fighting with happy endings, so why not write one with my bias?). this is super long and i’m sorry for that. i have not gone through for any mistakes and grammar errors but what’s new? i say that every author’s note 😂😂...

please do not copy my work. but please like and reblog it. thank you!!

the first time you saw him, it was at a party. it was your best friend’s birthday party. her twenty first to be exact. so naturally she wanted to celebrate it at a bar/nightclub setting. where else?

minhee, your best friend, was a party animal, and that’s how she always had been, at least since you and her started high school. she instantly became your cliche, popular girl. you ended up getting roped into that stereotype as well, as you were constantly around minhee, and she was always including you. even though minhee was popular, she was known for being kind-hearted and outgoing. she never failed to leave someone out. so, for her party, she invited all her past high school friends, and told them to bring their friends. she said she wanted to fill up the whole building and party the night away.

you were more of the shy, not so outgoing, type. though that didn’t stop you from making friends and hanging out with them, you still liked to keep from being the center of attention.

going back to him, you had been sitting in a booth, by yourself, watching silently. minhee was partying in the center of everyone, dancing, drinking, laughing, all that you could imagine at an event like this one. you were happy because minhee was happy.

you spotted him as you were finishing your own glass of alcohol. you had already forgotten what it was called. minhee had ordered it for you, claiming that you would like it, and you did, so you ordered a few more. your head was already feeling fuzzy, but that didn’t distract you from making eye contact with the young man that was with his own group of friends. he was laughing at something his friend had said, but still made eye contact. he had looked away within a split second. if there hadn’t been flashing red and green and blue lights everywhere, you might’ve seen a light blush on his cheeks.

suddenly, minhee was next to you, talking into your ear. “i want you to meet someone, rather some people.”

your stomach immediately was filled with anxiety. she was drunk, you could tell from the way she stumbled as you followed you and how her breath smelled of her citrusy drink. you worried for her slightly. you joined her, surprised to see that it had been the group of boys you were watching just moments ago.

you met his eyes again, this time it was your turn to blush. he was smiling, all his attention on you rather than on minhee. “y/n,” she yelled over the music, “this is hoseok.” she gestured to the guy who was moving along to the rhythm of the music.

he smiled. “hoseok.” he introduced himself and you shook his hand.

you said your name before turning to minhee. “we went to elementary school together.” she explained.

you nodded, understanding.

and then hoseok was introducing his friends. they all were nice, and few of them made you laugh as they were introducing themselves. they were a little drunk, some more than others. that’s when you learned that his name was jeon jungkook, the one that you seemed to be developing a small crush over. you had never seen him before.

as the night drew on, you found yourself wanting to leave. you were the designated driver for minhee, knowing that she had little to no control. although you were feeling the effects of the alcohol as well, and wondered how you were going to get home. maybe minhee wanted to leave with you.

you sought out your best friend. you couldn’t find her however, which was unusual. a sick feeling enveloped your heart and stomach as you frantically searched for her. she wasn’t on the dance floor, or in any of the booths, or at the bar, where could she be?

finally, you wandered to the back where the bathrooms were, and there she was. the last place you would expect her to be.

she was being kissed by a girl that was shorter than her. you weren’t surprised, of course she would find someone to kiss. the girl pulled away, noticing you, and then minhee saw you. she grinned. “i think i just found the love of my life.”

the girl blushed.

you smiled, “anyway, i’m taking off, minhee. do you need a ride?”

she shook her head. “i’m not ready to leave. besides, i’m sure yoonji can take me home.”

you felt awkward suddenly, as if you were in the middle of something you weren’t supposed to be in the middle of, like you were interrupting something, like you were seeing something you should’ve have. nevertheless you smiled, “alright then, text me when you get home, or at least in the morning.”

“of course.” she replied.

you turned to walk away, before minhee was calling your name. you turned. “are you sure you should be driving?” minhee asked. even through the alcohol, you could hear the worry.

you nodded. “bye, minhee. happy birthday.”

“bye! i love you!”

you laughed and blew her a kiss before turning away. you sighed tiredly, your head beginning to ache, whether it was from the alcohol or the music. you had to push people aside and mumble apologies left and right as you tried to reach the exit of the nightclub. you stumbled by hoseok and his friends, they were making fun of jimin for something. you flashed them a smile.

“leaving already?” hoseok asked.

you nodded. “yeah, i’m exhausted. it was nice meeting you guys.”

you hurried out of the doors. relief washed over you in a instant as you felt the cool, night breeze. you hadn’t realized how hot and crowded it was inside, and to suddenly feel the cool and open air, you felt better.

you sighed as you walked. it probably wasn’t the best idea to be walking by yourself, especially this late at night. but your car was only a block away. if you hurried, you would be alright. but should you even be driving? they say one drink is one too many when it comes to driving.

suddenly, you heard the fairly recognizable sound of the door squeaking as it was opened. it closed and then there were footsteps heading towards you, as if someone was jogging. you felt nervous, wondering who it was. “y/n.” it was a man.

you turned and saw it had been jeon jungkook that was running towards you. you were shocked to say the least. you couldn’t fight the heat rising in your cheeks. “jungkook?”

he finally reached your side, panting slightly. “hey.” he seemed a little shy, perhaps even nervous.

“what are you doing?”

“i wanted to ask if you have a ride, you know, to go home.”

you blushed. “yeah, my car is just a block from here.”

he nodded, seeming relieved. “well, would you mind if i take you home?”

“do you have a car?”

he shook his head. “no,” he laughed, “i rode with my friends. but i can drive. i didn’t drink anything.”

that was a relief. you weren’t sure if you could trust yourself to drive home, not with a fuzzy, aching, drunk mind. “well, that’s really kind of you. uh, my car is just a block from here.”

he grinned. “let’s go.”

the ride, at first was a little awkward. you were silently watching jungkook drive, trying not to make it obvious. he had one hand on the steering wheel and the other resting on the gear shift. you couldn’t suppress your thoughts. this man, this acquaintance, was very attractive. it wasn’t long before you started a conversation, and then you and him couldn’t stop talking. things clicked between you and him.

“so, where do you live?” he eventually asked.

your cheeks reddened. “i forgot to tell you.” you said, while laughing.

he grinned. he was adorable too.

you told you where you had lived, feeling a bit nervous. you weren’t sure where things were heading. and to give someone who was practically a stranger, your address, for all you knew, you just signed your death sentence. but jungkook didn’t give off any negative vibes. he seemed cute, genuine, the type to bring someone’s daughter home at just as the clock strikes eight, just as the father had asked. luckily you lived in a small apartment by yourself, seeing as you were an adult, so you didn’t have to worry about any parents.

soon, jungkook was pulling into the parking lot that was next to your apartment. he asked where you usually parked, and you told him anywhere.

“do you, um, want to come inside?” you blushed. “maybe wait until someone can pick you up or until i’m sober enough to drop you off somewhere…”

jungkook turned off the car, causing the car lights ahead to turn on. you noticed how red his cheeks had become. “sure.”

things were awkward again, but it was more comfortable compared to earlier. he was nice, a gentlemen, making sure you were comfortable with him around, keeping his distance. when he walked into your apartment, his eyes were going around to all the pictures you had and all the decorations. you thought he was looking at the pillow and blanket on the couch from when you had taken a nap right before minhee’s party. “sorry, i’m a mess.” you commented, hurrying to pick up a few things here and there.

“don’t worry about it.” he had a smile on his face.

“are you hungry?”

“sure.”

you ended up cooking two servings of ramen, wondering if it was enough for the both of you. you and him finished the entire thing. soon after, you and him sparking conversations, getting to know one another. the conversation eventually led to your couch. you sat on one end, a blanket resting up to your chin while he sat on the other.

you felt comfortable around him. and your crush on him was growing stronger. you wondered if it was becoming more noticeable as you began to flirt. was he flirting as well? or did he talk to ladies like this all the time? you couldn’t tell.

“no, i’m serious. i like to keep it cold so that i can bundle up in my blankets.” you said after he made a comment about you being wrapped in a blanket when you were still wearing your jacket. a thought about changing your clothes crossed your mind, but that was a little weird to do around him. “i’m serious.” you sat up, letting the blanket fall into your lap, before holding out your hands to jungkook.

he was hesitant to touch your hands, but you didn’t notice. when he held them, your heart skipped a beat. his hands were warm, soft, comforting. and you wondered if you weren’t going to let go. a blanket of silence fell over you and jungkook, which led your mind to drift. jungkook hadn’t let go of your hands, and you were sure you didn’t want him too. his thumb was caressing the back of your hands.

breaking the silence, he scoffed lightly. his voice was quiet and distant, as if he was distracted. “your hands are cold.”

you met his eyes. they were so kind, and comforting, and welcoming, your inside were twisting and somersaulting, full of anxiety and anticipation. what was going to happen next?

suddenly, you were leaning forward and your lips were on top of his. the action was so quick, you almost didn’t know if you imagined yourself doing it or if it actually happened. jungkook was taken back, his cheeks matching the color of your rug. he hadn’t let go of your hands, until he was reaching towards your cheeks and pulling you closer to him. he was kissing you this time, and you could feel the emotion. almost hungry-like, his kiss was full of passion and determination.

you pulled away moments later, blushing and panting. jungkook took this time to start planting kisses on your cheek, heading towards your jawline, and down your neck. “i guess you’re not going home anytime soon.” you whispered.

he stopped kissing you to meet your eyes. “if you’ll let me stay the night…” he suggested, a mischievous smirk on his face.

you grinned, leaning forward, “i don’t think i will…”

the morning, you woke up, almost forgetting what had happened. it had felt like a dream, a really good one. you felt delirious, happy, until you began to feel the effects of drinking. you sighed, registering the slightly heavy weight on top of your bare stomach. you glanced down, seeing that you were wrapped in your blankets on your bed, but when you moved your hand around underneath the blanket, you felt another arm, his arm. that was when you peered next to you, finding him.

you blushed, remembering last night. you hadn’t expected things to go that route, but you didn’t regret it.

you found yourself smiling, turning onto your side and cuddling into the man next to you. jungkook… the warmth of his bare chest was addictive. instantly, he was pulling you closer. you chewed on your bottom lip, studying his face. his skin was flawless, reflecting the sunlight perfectly. your finger traces the bridge of his nose, then his pink lips, and then his jawline, and then you were brushing his black hair out of his face. you were blushing furiously, your cheeks aching from trying not to smile too widely.

you had to remind yourself that you had only met this man last night, you had only offered him to stay until he could go home, you hadn’t expected to kiss him (amongst other things, of course). you were falling in love with a man you just met. it was like all the love stories you’ve read when you were a teenager. this type of story only happened in fiction novels, and yet here you were, laying next to a man, one you had spent the night with. it was as if you were in a dream, in your own little love story.

he stirred, his nose twitching slightly. “that tickles…” he mumbled tiredly.

you laugh, trying to be quiet and not move too much. “sorry.”

he then opened his eyes, revealing the dark brown eyes that had captivated you just last night. his cheeks immediately turned to a shade of reddish-pink, and a shy grin formed on his face. “hi.” he spoke, laughing nervously.

you grinned, feeling just as shy as he was. “hi.”

“how are you?” he asked.

“i’m good. how are you?”

“hungry.”

you laughed again. “maybe we should eat something?”

“we?”

you blushed again, suddenly avoiding his eyes. “i mean, only if you want to. i’m hungry too, but if you have places to be, that’s okay too.”

“no, no, that’s okay with me. but maybe you should drop me off at my apartment so that i could shower.”

you blushed, this time out of embarrassment. “right! of course.”

“but then we can meet up.” jungkook suggested.

you smiled. “okay.”

you and him hurriedly got dressed, him in his old clothes and you in pajamas. your backs were turned to each other. it was as if you two hadn’t just seen each other without any clothes on just a few hours ago. it felt silly, but it was a good kind of silly.

you drove him home, asking when you and him should meet. you saw that it was ten in the morning, so you and him opted to have lunch instead.

you hurried home, practically screaming and laughing. you were happy, in love, and you felt giddy about it. you’ve never felt this way before. and jungkook seemed to be interested in you you as well.

you remembered that night well. it was a happy memory that you hoped you would never forget.

and so, you and jungkook met up for lunch. little did you know then, that you would be spending as much time as possible with jungkook. almost everyday for weeks, you devoted your time to him. of course you and him had to work. he was a local musician that you just so happened to not know, and you worked as a painter that did commissions.

one night, you were laying on top of jungkook, head turned towards the tv in your living room. some tv show was playing, you were focused on it, even though you wondered if you missed something because you had no idea what was happening. jungkook, on the other hand, his mind was elsewhere.

you had been clouding his mind all day, which really wasn’t totally unusual. but it was different. a thought had crossed his mind earlier in the night, when you had showed up at his recent gig. he was playing at a local hangout spot for young adults, him and his band, which you found out what hoseok and the rest of the boys. you hadn’t known what their profession was, who they were, and you were surprised that minhee had known then for a long time. you, in a way, wished that she had introduced you sooner, so that you would have met jungkook earlier.

jungkook had noticed you in the crowd, near the back. he could tell you were uncomfortable, you didn’t know anyone and were alone. but you nonetheless were smiling brightly at him. he played the best that he could, just to impress you. and since then, he could not stop thinking about you.

jungkook pressed a kiss to your head, making you smile. you lifted your head up, resting your arms on top of his chest. you pressed a kiss to his cheek, before laying back down. jungkook was itching to tell you what his mind was constantly thinking about. it was about to burst out of him, he was growing restless.

finally, he worked up the courage. he would whisper it, that way if you weren’t necessarily listening, you wouldn’t notice, but there would still be that small chance that you would hear it. anxiety immediately pooled in the pit of his stomach. his heart wanted to race, and he tried to best to calm his nerves.

finally, pulling you into him tighter, making you shift slightly, he whispered into your hair, “i love you.”

you heard him.

you’ve been waiting for him to say it first.

you waited a few moments, however, questioning if it came from the tv show or if you were imagining things or if he had actually said it. of course your mind was overthinking things. but, you lifted your head, eyes searching for his dark ones. his ears and cheeks were growing red as the seconds ticked by. you chewed your bottom lip before scooting upwards. his attention finally was on you, just as you brushed a stray piece of hair behind your ear and pressed your lips onto jungkook’s. he was shocked, but only for a split second, before he returned the kiss. the kiss was warm, longing, as if you couldn’t express your love for each other.

it wasn’t enough.

so things grew heated, and before you knew it, clothes were thrown around your apartment and you were in your bed, making love with the love of your life. your one true love.

but, not everything was full of rainbows.

jungkook’s career started taking of. he was gone for long periods of time. he would try his best to text you and keep you updated but of course, he would either forget or choose not to. your heart yearned for him. you and him had been inseparable for so long, and now that he was away, you felt empty. you told yourself that you could live without him, you had been perfectly happy before you met him. but having been with him for so long now, things weren’t right.

you missed him, and your apartment was often still and bare.

one night, you decided to look up his band, finding that they were playing at a hotspot for bands, one that they’ve played at multiple times. you drove there in a hurry, imagining him being happy to see you, him kissing you, him repeatedly telling you that he missed you.

however, you were a little late, much too late. their performance was over just as someone walked onto the stage, thanking jungkook’s band for performing. your heart dropped, but you immediately wondered around, searching for them. you found them in a room in the back, probably only meant for performers, but no one stopped you. what you didn’t expect was for him to be talking to an unknown girl. she was evidently flirting with him, and he would smile, a smile you through was only supposed to be for you.

you were frozen, unable to move. you couldn’t pry your eyes away.

your name was called. you blinked, and suddenly, hoseok was standing directly in front of you, concern filling his eyes. you touched your cheek, finding tears. you stared in shock at him, and then glanced behind his shoulder, seeing jungkook. he had stood up from the couch. he seemed shocked as well. at least the girl was across the room. but you were angry, upset. you felt that you were being dramatic, it’s not like he was cheating. but it felt like it. so then a spiral of emotions took over your body.

“y/n.” this time jungkook called your name, prompting hoseok to step out of the way, unsure of what to do.

you shook your head. “i shouldn’t have come.” you whispered before sprinting away.

you heard your name again, barely over the loud noise of the next performers. their music was loud, angry, and it only influenced your emotions. the crowd was hard to push through, and they only made you angrier. you just wanted to leave, and it seemed that the crowd of music lovers were only making things harder.

finally things felt clearer, like you had room to breathe, as you finally pushed open the door and felt the cool air of the night. you glanced around, finding a few passerbys staring at you. you hated the attention. you felt ridiculous for how you were acting. it wasn’t even jungkook’s fault, for all you knew. maybe the girl didn’t realize that he had a…

you paused…

you and jungkook… you and him never really put labels on each other. you knew he loved you, and he knew you loved him. that was something practically unspoken between you and him.

you shook your head. you were overreacting. you were just upset, you missed him, and were just caught off guard by him being close to another girl.

before you could walk away, a hand caught your wrist. you spun around, shocked, before realizing it was jungkook. “what do you want?” you asked coldly.

jungkook was shocked still. he was worried you could tell. “what’s wrong?” he asked. “tell me.”

“nothing. nothing is wrong.” you said forcefully. you were more trying to convince yourself that nothing was wrong.

jungkook released your wrist, shaking his head. “that’s a lie.”

“what do you want me to say, jungkook?”

he scoffed. “why are you so angry?”

“because!”

he cursed, taking in a deep breath. you were angering him, and that was only making things worse. “you wanna know?”

“i believe i asked.”

you ignored him. “i’m angry because you had been blowing me off. you’ve hardly texted me, talked to me, made an effort to see me.” you were crying again, and you hated it. “and then, when i find that you’re playing here, i show up, and find you with another girl.”

“is this really what it’s all about? you come to see me and you get angry at some girl? am i not allowed to talk to girls now?”

you rolled your eyes. “that’s not what i meant.”

“are you sure? because that’s what it seems like to me. we’re just friends.”

“look. i was just worried about you.” your voice immediately quieted to a whisper. “and i missed you. and because of that, and to see a girl flirting with you, and i can’t help but think that…” you stopped, shaking your head. “this is stupid. nevermind.”

jungkook’s gaze softened. he stepped closer to you. “tell me.”

you avoided his gaze. all your anger had vanished, replaced but deep sadness. “i just thought that maybe we were growing apart, that you were moving on. i hadn’t see you for so long, and it just... i assumed...”

jungkook smiled, his gaze still sad. he gently pulled you into a hug. “baby, i don’t think i will ever get over you.”

your heart began to race. the feeling of jungkook’s arms around you, his soothing voice whispering into your hair, this was what you needed. you missed this. “i’m sorry.” you mumbled into his shirt, wrapping your arms around his torso.

jungkook laughed lightly. “don’t be sorry. i should be sorry for neglecting you for so long.”

you lifted your head up to look at him, a hopeful look in your eyes. he smiled at you, and kissed your nose. “now take me home.”

your eyes widened. “but what about your bandmates?”

jungkook shrugged. “eh, i’m sure they’ll understand.”

you nodded, feeling a heavy weight lift off of your shoulders. “alright then.”

you and jungkook went back home, or rather back to your apartment, where he held you close, where he whispered sweet nothings, where he kissed you. he made up for lost time.

that was until he had to leave again.

“i’m sorry, babe, but i can’t miss this.”

you pouted. “i know, i just wish you could be here with me.”

he smiled, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “i’ll text you, okay?”

he kissed your lips before practically running out of the apartment, leaving you in the uncomfortable and lonely silence. he had just come back, not even a week ago, and then he was gone again.

you were beginning to question whether you and him were meant to be. things had been so perfect at first, and now, it seemed like things were falling apart. you couldn’t help but think. maybe you just needed to wait it out a little longer, no matter how much it hurts. or maybe, maybe you should tell him about your feelings, your insecurities, all of it. or maybe, maybe you should break things off with him.

of course, your heart immediately broke at that thought.

you wanted jungkook to be happy, and you knew that by him gaining popularity and becoming a musician made him happy. you were also proud of him for getting so far, and you could only imagine all the places he would go.

but where would things go between you and him? what if he had to move? would you and him be able to do long distance? would things fall apart? would you be able to move with him? would his bandmates be okay with that? would the management that he would end up signing with be okay with that? there were so many questions, and you shouldn’t even be worrying about that far into the future, not yet.

you sighed tiredly, feeling emotionally drained. you wondered what you should do to get your mind off of things. paint? no, you just finished a mural. your hand might fall off if you painted a second more. watch a drama? no, you might cry and wish that jungkook was there with you. sighing once more, you ruffled your hair with your hands. then you reached for your phone. you found yourself calling minhee.

the phone hardly rang before you heard her cheery voice on the other side. your heart lightened, just a smidge.

“hey, lovely!”

“hi, minhee. what are you up to?”

“absolutely nothing. kinda bored, to be honest.”

you laughed. “me too.”

she gasped. “what if we do something?”

“i’d be down for that.”

“great! what should we do? see a movie, paint and get drunk, bar bingo, go to a bar, skinny dipping…”

“definitely not the painting one.”

she laughed. “i know. wait!  i just remembered, there’s a party tonight. yoonji invited me to it and asked if i wanted to bring you. i almost forgot about it.”

you thought to yourself for a second. maybe it would be good for you to get out. minhee would be there to ease your mind, should you tell her your worries. “alright, i’ll just meet up at your house. i’ll drive.”

“sounds like a plan! the party's at eight, so meet me here around seven thirty?”

“perfect. see you later!”

you hung up and set your phone down in front of you on the bed. your recent phone calls still showed on your screen. minhee being the recent one obviously, but underneath her name were all your attempts to get a hold of jungkook. your heart began to sink before you shook your head, clearing your mind. you were not going to think about him, tonight was for you, and that’s it. that’s a promise.

unfortunately, it was still late morning, so you had lots of time to kill before then. but you would think of ways to pass the time.

it wasn’t long before you were stepping into a hot shower. you sung along to your playlist of songs that made you happy. then you got dressed in a rather revealing dress, you were going all out, and applied whichever makeup you felt. soon enough, you were grabbing your purse and a jacket, before heading out to your car.

you picked up minhee, who was hyping you up about your outfit. she teased you for finally getting up after being obsessed with jungkook. you went along with it, not letting his name affect you. you were doing this to make yourself feel better.

soon, you were pulling up to a rather large house. you parked on a street nearby, mentioning to minhee that you and her would have to walk.

as you and her were walking, arms entwined, you looked at her. “you won’t abandon me tonight, right?”

minhee looked offended by your question. she looked visibly horrified. “do you really think i would do that?”

you flashed a small smile, but it wasn’t convincing in minhee’s eyes. she pulled you closer. “what’s wrong?”

you sighed. “i told myself i wouldn’t think about him. tonight was supposed to be the night that i don’t think about all the problems in my life, you know?”

“him as in jungkook?”

you nodded.

“i won’t press you for details, i’ll wait until you tell me on your own. but, i will help you have fun tonight.” she flashed you a smile.

you couldn’t help but smile back. you were thankful to have a friend like minhee. things would probably be totally different and not as exciting if you had never met her. you also probably wouldn’t have met jungkook.

and there he was again, taking over your mind.

but you ignored it and continued walking. before you knew it, you could hear music coming from the house that the party was being hosted at. through the windows, you could see colorful lights, shadows of all the people inside dancing the night away. you grew nervous, but you told yourself you couldn’t let that stop you.

the music was much louder inside. you weren’t expecting to see so many people crowded into one home. many were dancing, bodies touching each other, red solo cups containing beer and vodka in their hands. off in the distance, on the far side of the house, you could see people smoking. there were probably people in the bathrooms getting high. you wondered what you had agreed too. with the exception of everyone actually being of age, at least as far as you could tell, and there being alcohol, everything else was illegal. if cops were called, if someone so much as complained about loud noises in the neighborhood, the cops were going to be called.

“cheer up, y/n.” minhee yelled into your ear. “don’t worry.”

“there’s so many things that could go wrong.”

minhee simply grabbed your hands and pulled you towards the kitchen where the drinks were being concocted and served. you immediately grew nervous.

minhee grabbed you a drink. she playfully warned you that she wasn’t sure what was in it, but you didn’t hesitant to take a large gulp. the unknown substance burned in the back of your throat. but it was nothing that you weren’t used to.

soon, it was one drink, and then two drinks. and then three drinks. this was all to make you feel better. you were telling yourself over and over as if you were still trying to convince yourself.

you shouldn’t be doing this. it was unhealthy. you felt like you were just being dramatic, and minhee was growing more and more worried about you. she could not recall a time when you seemed this upset. she could tell you were trying to get rid of something, a feeling, a person, just something that was painful. and she has never seen you go this far.

suddenly, the crowd around you and minhee grew louder.

“yeah!!! woo!!” followed by clapping.

you gulped. “what is that?”

minhee shrugged, turning around to see what the crowd was cheering and clapping at. her thinking didn’t last long when they started to cheer a particular band name.

minhee’s head almost got whiplash from how fast she had looked at you. your face had paled, and you were already reaching for another drink. minhee questioned whether she should get you stop drinking, or at the very least, get you out of here.

it was too late though.

the crowd coincidentally parted just enough for one member of the band. he happened to turn, trying to look at everyone, and he recognized you instantly. he could only see your side profile as you chugged down another cup, but he knew it was you. you were practically drowning in alcohol.

minhee noticed too. she quickly grabbed your shoulders, pulling you away from the makeshift bar. you whined, but were far too weak to fight against her. especially when, for once, minhee had hardly drank, she was next to sober.

“what?” you slurred.

“jungkook.” she yelled into your ear.

you looked at her. “who?” you gave her the impression that you hadn’t noticed yet.

she rolled her eyes. “jungkook. he’s here.”

you started to laugh. “why would he be here?”

“i don’t know.” she replied shrugging, looking around for him. he had disappeared.

minhee wondered if you wanted to see him. after all, she did not know anything about what was going on between you two, and she hadn’t thought that the reason you were acting this way was because of him. she thought you would have been excited, but you seem to be angry.

you shook your head. “no. i don’t want to see him.”

finally, minhee wanted to press you for answers. “why?”

“he doesn’t love me anymore.” you were pulling her back towards the drinks.

minhee was confused. there was no love like your and jungkook’s love. “what do you mean?” your best friend tried to pull you away once again. no more alcohol for you.

“he’s always away. he’s always leaving me alone.” you finally said. “then he hardly even talks to me. he hardly calls or texts, claims he’s busy, promises that he’ll be home soon.” you sighed, not bothering to fight against minhee anymore. “i understand that his career is taking off, that he’s becoming more popular, and i’m extremely proud of him. his dream is coming true.” your voice cracked simultaneously with minhee’s heart. tears were threatening to fall, if they haven’t already. “but i miss him. i feel so neglected. i caught with another girl once. of course, nothing was going on between them but it still hurt. he’s never home and then when i sought him out, he’s with someone else.”

minhee listened intently. although it was a little hard every time you accidentally slurred your words together. she could hear the pain in your voice.

“i thought that tonight, maybe i could drown my pain, my thoughts, to let go and not be so annoyed by him. i feel like i’m being dramatic.”

minhee shook her head. “no, no, your feelings are valid, y/n.”

you shook your own head, bringing your hands up to cover your face. “i just get so angry at him, and then i get angry at myself.”

your thoughts were endless.

“maybe, we were never meant to be.”

there. you said it. you finally said it.

“maybe we’ve been trying too hard. maybe we were just supposed to be a short fling, one one night stand. but then it became two and three and four. we do love each other, i know that. but maybe, maybe we are just not supposed to be together. there’s so many things stopping us.”

minhee didn’t know what to say. she wanted to comfort you so badly, but she was at a loss for words. this was why you were trying to drink every single bottle on the table. this was probably why you had called her in the first place. you were hurting, and didn’t know how to deal with it. you wanted to forget it all, to ease the pain.

but minhee was conflicted. she understood your feelings, but she thought that you and jungkook were meant to be. so he could communicate more and put more effort into seeing you, but he was always coming back to you in the end. she wondered how jungkook felt during this thing. did he even know? was he feeling the same thing?

suddenly, she caught sight of him. “speaking of the devil,” she mumbled, gaining your attention again.

you met her eyes, following the direction she was looking in, and noticed jungkook. he seemed confused, worried even, at the sight of you. so minhee hadn’t been lying, not that you thought she was. you just thought that she saw someone like him. but no, jungkook was there, and he was coming straight towards you.

suddenly, you were angry again.

you pulled away from minhee, rushing towards the table of drinks. you grabbed a bottle and poured it into a new red solo cup. you chugged it down, clenching your jaw afterwards. why were you being like this? this was so unlike you…

then you turned around. you headed in the opposite direction, stumbling around, bumping into numerous shoulders and chests and backs. you attempted to apologize to them all but your head was a jumbled mess. was your vision beginning to look fuzzy, or has it been like that for a while? who were these people? what were you even doing? where were you going?

just then, you bumped into someone, and your chest instantly felt cold. your shirt clung to your chest. you gasped and stumbled to a stop. you looked at who had spilled their drink of you, and recognized hoseok. he seemed surprised. “y/n?”

you felt a tear escape, sliding down your cheek. you looked down, seeing that your shirt was soaked with some orange-yellow color liquid.

“i’m so sorry, y/n.” you heard hoseok’s voice.

before you could reply, gently hands were reaching for your shoulders, sliding down to a spot just above your elbow. you were being pulled away from hoseok, stumbling backwards into someone’s chest. “is she okay?” hoseok asked.

“i-i don’t know.” it was jungkook.

you tried to get a glimpse at his face, but he kept you facing forward. jungkook led you to the stairs of the house, guiding you gently. he coaxed you with each step. as you ascended, you noticed the difference in the amount of people. almost everyone was downstairs, with the exception of the few that passed by, exchanging glances with you. you were embarrassed with yourself. why were you acting this way? there was no point to it. and look at where you had gotten yourself into.

finally, jungkook found a nearby bathroom. he turned on the light, pushed you inside, and closed the door behind you. he made sure it was locked before finally facing you. you were afraid to meet his eyes. the bathroom was larger than most, seeing as you were at a rather large house, but it still felt claustrophobic. the atmosphere between you and jungkook felt different, heavier, like something was hanging in the air, like something needed to be said, but no one would dare say it.

after a long, silent minute, jungkook walked towards the sink. he grabbed the washcloth that was on the side. he turned on the sink and waited for the water to warm before wetting the washcloth. then, he hesitantly turned towards you. he wondered if he should do it, or if you were capable of doing it yourself. but you seemed distant, eyes swollen, cheeks flaming red, shirt soaked… he sighed, feeling guilty. he had never seen you this way. after all, you didn’t necessarily like drinking alcohol, at least that was his impression of you.

finally, he allowed himself to move towards you. you didn’t flinch or move away. you allowed him to drag the warm, wet washcloth over your neck, washing off the almost dried alcohol. you felt gross and sticky because of it, and your shirt was annoying you.

jungkook was unsure of if he should speak. he had a lot to say, an apology for not speaking to you. he wanted you to know that you hadn’t left his mind for one second, he was always thinking of you.

the man next to you, who you were so in love with, was gentle as he cleaned you up. you were feeling guilty yourself, wondering who was going to speak first. or, if this was going to be your last encounter with him.

with that thought, tears sprung in your eyes once again. you looked down, and just as jungkook pulled the washcloth away to refold it, you felt yourself sitting down on the seat of the toilet. you inhaled, filling your lungs with air as an attempt to calm yourself down. “i’m sorry…” you whispered, voice shaking.

jungkook’s eyes whipped to you. he dropped the washcloth into the sink. he turned towards you, head swarming with words, thoughts, emotions. but all he could bring himself to do was to crouch down in front of you and pulled your head into his shoulder.

feeling his skin against your own, his warmth, feeling jungkook was something that you needed. you broke down into his arms. “i miss you.” you mumbled into the nape of his neck. “i miss you so much.”

jungkook felt his own eyes become glassy, tears threatening to fall. he gently stroked your hair, wanting to take away all the pain he has caused you.

“you don’t talk to me anymore. you’re gone for weeks, and hardly send me a message.” you took in a breath, inhaling the scent of his cologne. “i couldn’t help but wonder… what if we’re not meant to be?” jungkook’s hold on you tightened. “maybe we weren’t supposed to be together for this long.”

jungkook shook his head. “no, that’s not true.”

“jungkook, i understand, okay? your dream of being a singer is finally coming true. you had a bright future ahead of you, and it’s okay if i’m not supposed to be in it, okay? i understand, it’s okay.”

he pulled away. jungkook cupped your face, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. god, you missed him.

you were surprised to see that he was crying too. you didn’t want to hurt him. no matter how angry you got, how upset you got, you hadn’t meant to hurt him. you had let your thoughts get the best of you.

“y/n, i don’t think you understand just how much you mean to me. i know that i’m not the best person, starting with that girl.” why was he bringing up her? “she knew you were in my life, i had told her all about you, and she continued to flirt, i just didn’t do anything about it. and then i started to get recognized, and our schedule became filled with performances and parties, i should have told you.” he sighed. “i’m sorry for hurting you for so long. i had no intention to, and i know i should have said something, or made more of an effort to talk to you and see you. trust me, not once did you ever leave my mind, y/n. i was always thinking about you, you can ask the others.” he laughed a little, and your heart lightened seeing his smile, “they probably have an idea of how much i love you.”

you felt yourself blushing, a small smile forming with your lips.

“i have no excuse for treating you the way i did. i swear, i will make an effort. in fact,” he paused, the color of his cheeks reddening, “what if, well, if the band gets signed to a label, what if you came with me? to wherever the road takes us. if we ever go on a tour, what if you came along? if we have to move to hollywood and la, what if you came with me?”

you were grinning now, all sadness and anger gone. you were shaking your head, yes, before your mind could even process what he was asking.

jungkook was smiling and pulling you off of the toilet seat, holding you tightly in his eyes. “i’m telling you, you are the love of my life.” he said into your shoulder. “if i ever do this again, don’t be afraid to tell me, hit me if you have to.”

“well, let’s hope that it never has to come to that.”

jungkook laughed once more before setting you down. he cupped your cheeks again, pulling your face closer to yours. to feel his lips on yours again, after having been deprived of him, made you feel complete. you needed him, and he needed you.

no matter how tough things got, you and him would always find a way back to each other. you thought that you and him weren’t meant to be, but it seemed that you were wrong. fate and love brought you and jungkook together. and nothing was going to tear you apart.

“hello? y/n? jungkook?”

you jumped, feeling a small string of annoyance in your heart at whoever had just interrupted this sweet moment.

jungkook smiled shyly. “i think that’s your friend.” he whispered into your hair.

jungkook did not let go of you. if anything he pulled you closer, kissing the side of your head just above your ear. you unlocked and opened the door, feeling giddy and shy, and slightly embarrassed. minhee was on the other side, hoseok standing behind her. “so, everything is going okay?” minhee asked.

you shook your head.

“because just a minute ago you were crying your eyes out and just hearing your pain made me want to kill this guy.”

both you and jungkook looked at each other, smiling sheepishly. “sorry about that.” you said.

“sorry about your shirt.” hoseok said, changing the subject.

you had forgotten all about it. “oh, no worries. anyways, minhee, do you think your girlfriend would mind if i borrowed one of her shirts?”

jungkook shook his head suddenly, pulling you towards the door. “no need, we’re going home anyways.”

“we are?”

he nodded. “yep. you’re too drunk. maybe it’s best.”

“or maybe you just want to make up for lost time,” minhee suggested, lightly jabbing hoseok in the ribs.

your face heated up as you let jungkook pull you away from your friends. you didn’t object to what everyone was thinking, but the thought that everyone knew what jungkook had in mind was embarrassing.

nevertheless, that night was a wild ride, to say the least. but, it sealed a bond between you and jungkook that could never be broken. you and jungkook’s love was unlike any other.

[midline]

“chúc mừng sinh nhật, jun”

her voice echoes softly over the other end of the phone and he could hear the weariness in it. the years of experience laced in her simple words wishing him happy birthday. yet there was a sense of genuine joy added in, to be able to see another year to wish him happy birthday and the joy of simply celebrating.

“thank you mom,” he answers back in his stilted vietnamese. evidence of the language slowly wearing away from him, “are you and dad well?”

he could hear the gentle laughter as his mother instantly jumps into catching up, explaining the adventures she and his father went on during their stay in vietnam. an anniversary trip he surprised them with even though he knew it would overlap with his birthday.

at the age he was, birthday felt more like an excuse to go out to eat versus the large celebrations with gifts and memories he had when he was younger. or the abundance of gifts and letters from fans when he was an idol during those times.

now they’re a bit quieter, more subtle, and with a small group of people whom he feels comfortable with to be himself, no barriers up (although he never really kept one up in the first place).

when he was a teen the oldest he could see himself was in his 20’s. in his 20’s he’d envision his 30’s. 30’s to 40’s. 

yet here he was slowly making his way through fourty-two at this time and the horizon of what his 50’s would soon dawn on him.

though if someone was to ask when was his best moments he would pause and think about it before probably choosing these past few years has been the most joyous part of his life. 

more than he ever felt in his teens and 20’s and so forth.

maybe it’s the fact he’s grasping the reality of settling into his career, his home, and his life, past the days of being an idol. or having long completed his military training and being considered a full-fledged adult having served his country.

or maybe it’s the people that’s come into his life recently. unforgettable bonds from he never thought would form so easily. juniors and old faces coming back into his life.

it could also be her presence too. the past two years of memories filled to the brim of her. soft smiles and gentle laughs echoing through his memories, only growing more as they fill up in a jar tucked in the corner of his mind and heart wondering how long it’ll take before it’ll start to overfill.

either way, it’s all those thoughts that accumulate together so when he hears his mother ask softly, “are you doing well? happy on your birthday?”

and even though he doesn’t know what’s in store for the rest of this day he can’t help but find himself nodding alone and a small smile slowly forming on his lips, “yes mother, i think i’m the happiest i’ve been.”

[rainythefox]

Nightfall (Ch.9)

Synopsis: Pre-Resident Evil 1, slight-AU/Canon Divergence. Claire Redfield comes home to visit her brother Chris for the holidays but gets caught up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Albert Wesker, the Captain of STARS, after stumbling upon dark secrets. She can’t call the law; Wesker is the law, and she can’t tell Chris. She is trapped…Claire/Wesker & Slight Chris/Jill. Rated M for eventual smut, language, violence, adult content.

AO3 Link

Chapter 9: The Goddaughter

Claire couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. The new, two-story brick home in the fancy neighborhood was just as quiet and expensive as the other homes on the block on this chilly morning, only Claire knew the evil inside this one. She was just here the other day, breaking in to try and find something to expose Wesker, and ended up nearly being ripped to shreds by his guard dog instead. She wasn’t here to break in this time. Oddly enough, as Claire stepped up to the front door and rang the doorbell, she felt she would’ve preferred dealing with the attacking Doberman over the corrupt STARS Captain.

She heard Odin bark once, but it was faint and sounded like it had happened on the upper floor. Still, she flinched from the awful memories of snapping jaws inches from her face.

William had stopped by yesterday evening, relaying a message from Wesker to meet him at his house after Chris was at work. Claire let her brother take his truck because Jill was off of work today and just gave the excuse that she would most likely stay home. When in reality, she was about to go see what his boss wanted with her.

William wasn’t able to give her anymore information when he gave her the message and left. And that created a whole new problem. Chris had spotted William leaving. 

Claire could tell her brother was starting to grow suspicious. Between her behavior and seeing William, Chris was beginning to realize something was amiss. He had good instincts; it was what made him a good cop. She had to figure out a way to keep him far off the trail, or they would both be dead - courteous of her brother’s double-dealing supervisor.

Ignoring the nippy wind, wondering if Ada had found out anything yet, the door opened, making her heart rate spike considerably. Here goes nothing...

She glared at Wesker when he greeted her with his usual sneer, magnified by his lack of shades, his icy-grey eyes, bewitching and dangerous, a stopping force all on their own. “Ms. Redfield, nice of you to drop by on this lovely morning."

“It's not by choice,” she grumbled and pushed by him when he gestured for her to come inside. “What do you want?”

She looked around the foyer and living room, tense from having her back to him as he shut the door. He didn’t answer right away, but she nearly leapt out of her skin when his hands brushed up her back, his voice purring in her ear.

“From you, dear heart? Where to even begin?”

He took her jacket off of her and hung it up. Still reeling from his words, Claire was stiff as a board as he wrapped his strong arm around her lower back and escorted her further inside. Some kind of charged electricity sparked under her skin from the contact. She finally got a grip on herself, ignoring her stomach as it flipped in a way she would rather not admit. The younger Redfield sibling moved away from him and went over to the den area, facing him and keeping her back to a couch.

“William gave me a message to meet you here after Chris was gone. He didn’t say why.”

“That’s because I never told him why.”

Wesker wore more formal, black clothes like she saw him wearing in NEST the other day. She hated that she found him even more attractive in such attire. The college student kept herself from gawking, instead she folded her arms and gave him a dirty look. “Well?”

He instantly reacted to her animosity with a dark smirk, as though her fire sparked something within him. Claire was starting to get the feeling that Wesker enjoyed her temper and defiance, as if he got some sort of sick gratification from it. It aggravated her even more, but at the same time she knew she couldn’t let him goad her. It’s what he wanted.

And though Claire had kept her eyes from wandering over Wesker’s chic outfit and toned body, he didn’t even try and hide his roaming eyes. “You look quite lovely today, Claire.”

Again with her first name. There was that light, fluttering sensation in her chest again. Claire hadn’t realized it at first, but she had backed up right into the sofa when Wesker took a couple of steps in her direction. Stop messing with me, you asshole!

Claire opened her mouth, about to give him a slew of colorful, unladylike words, when the Doberman trotted down the stairs into the den, tags jingling on his chain collar. Odin gave her one short look before his snout upturned towards the stairs, alert, his docked tail wagging before he sat on his haunches.

Something else came down the stairs a bit slower, emerging into the den with soft steps. The Redfield girl gasped, not at all expecting a child. The little girl spotted Claire staring and dashed the rest of the way to Wesker, using him as cover.

The girl peeked from behind him, gripping his shirt tight. She had to be around nine or ten years old, her blonde hair in a messy bun, loose strands hanging around her cute face. Her blue eyes were curious but shy. She wore jeans and a light blue shirt and white vest. She didn’t have shoes on, only socks, and there was a golden pendant necklace around her neck.

Claire’s inner motherly instincts kicked right in. The girl was precious and Claire had no clue why she was in a place like this, hiding behind a man like Albert Wesker as though he was her guardian.

She slightly bent over, smiling, and gently waved. “Hello there.”

Her soft greeting delighted the bashful girl and she came out a little further, although still kept halfway behind Wesker, gripping his clothes like a lifeline. “Hi!”

Claire glared at Wesker. “Kidnapping children now?”

“Charming,” he mocked. “She’s my goddaughter. Sherry, where are your manners?”

The name instantly clicked, and Claire remembered. So this is William and Annette’s daughter? She’s adorable!

“Oh, right…” the little girl mumbled. She smiled at Claire again. “I’m Sherry. Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Claire gave her a big, friendly smile in return. “I’m Claire. It’s nice to meet you too, Sherry.”

Sherry blushed, slightly retreating behind Wesker. “I like your name!” She looked up at the tall, silent man she was using as a shield. “She’s really pretty, Uncle Albert!”

Wesker’s eyes were locked onto Claire, his lips twitching into the faintest of smiles. “She is, isn’t she?”

Claire shivered but quickly focused back on the girl. There was a strange, hushed excitement to Sherry that she couldn’t quite understand. It was as if she was shy, but, at the same time, was really intrigued by Claire. The younger Redfield felt a peculiar, warming connection right away with the child…as though their fates were somehow connected.

“Are you Uncle Albert’s girlfriend?”

Claire’s mind blew a gasket, horrified at the girl’s implication. “W-what?! No!”

She was about to unleash onto this little girl what kind of a monster she was hiding behind, but then quickly bit her tongue. Sherry was a child. There was no way she could even begin to understand. She looked at her godparent as though she idolized him. Wesker seemed to have everyone fooled. Everyone thought he was a good man, until, of course, they stumbled upon him in the woods blowing a man’s head off.

Claire sighed, took a deep breath, and faked a smile. “No, sweetie. It’s not like that.” She gave Wesker a hard look. “And it’s never going to happen.”

Wesker smirked, his eyes entrapping her, as though he knew something she didn’t. Claire forced herself to look away, feeling awfully jittery for a moment.

“Oh…I was hoping you would become my aunt and we could play.”

Claire’s forced smile derailed. She wasn’t sure what to think about that. Wesker’s goddaughter peeked halfway out from behind him, curious yet insecure. Claire had a feeling the little girl didn’t have many friends and didn’t get much attention from her family, if her parents and Wesker were anything to go by.

Claire stooped to Sherry’s level, smiling. “We don’t need to be related to play. How about being friends instead?” She extended her hand.

Sherry came out a tad bit further, eyeing Claire and her offered hand. She glanced up at her guardian, unsure. Finally, Wesker stepped out of the way. The girl froze, watching him, as if afraid her wall was gone to leave her out in the open unprotected. Wesker patted her head and gently pushed her closer to Claire.

“Go ahead. She doesn’t bite, Sherry.”

As if that was the only reassurance she needed, the young girl reached out and took Claire’s hand, beaming. They shook hands. Their moment was soon ruined by the phone as it started ringing on the stand on one of the end tables. Sherry’s smile disappeared and soon became disheartened, gazing up at Wesker. The STARS Captain checked his watch with a scowl and moved towards the phone. As he passed by the girls, he petted Sherry’s hair.

“What’s wrong?” Claire asked, watching as Wesker answered the phone.

Sherry sighed. “Daddy. He’s running late again. Or got held up and can’t come get me. I thought you were him when I heard the doorbell, even though he usually just walks in.”

Claire frowned. “Well, what about your mom?”

“She’s busy all the time, too. Like Daddy. They work at Umbrella and are making a new medicine to help people…but they work all the time and I don’t get to spend much time with them.”

At this point, Claire wasn’t even sure if William and Annette were working on any kind of medicine at all, let alone anything that could help people. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

Wesker’s goddaughter shrugged with a weak smile. “It’s okay. Uncle Albert helps take care of me when he isn’t busy. He comes and gets me from school when my parents forget. He sometimes helps them make new medicine too, but mostly he just keeps me, Daddy, and Mommy safe and protects the city.”

You poor, naive little girl…if only you knew…

Then Sherry’s words clicked and she looked at the Birkins’ daughter. “Wait, Wesker makes medicine, too?”

Sherry nodded. “Yeah. He’s really, really smart! Him and Daddy are two of the best doctors working for Umbrella…as Daddy likes to brag.”

Claire logged it away. It was definitely something she could use in digging up dirt on Wesker. There was more than his corruption as an officer of the law. He was also in the same shady business as William and Annette, whatever Umbrella had to do with it. She wondered exactly how many jobs he had…

“He really likes you.”

Claire shook from her thoughts and stared at Sherry’s cute, curious face. “I could tell when he let you in. You look cute together!” The girl suddenly gasped, cupping her cheeks. “Your babies would be so adorable! I could be like a big sister to them! And we could play together!”

The college student almost fell over backwards from the shock of Sherry jubilating at the idea of her having any sort of physical relationship with her “uncle”, let alone having offspring together. Her stomach jerked queasily. Despite her disgust, Claire had to give Sherry props for being so easily excited. She must’ve gotten it from her equally whimsical father.

Ah, to be that innocent again. Claire weakly smiled, trying to avoid that subject with the girl. She had come to the conclusion that Wesker liking anyone was a) highly unlikely and b) not a good thing in general, even if the Birkins told her otherwise.

She decided to see what else Sherry could inform her about Wesker. “So uh, what else does he do? Besides make medicine and protect the city?”

Claire had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at such a ridiculous notion. The only thing Albert Wesker protected was himself and his own interests, no matter how many innocent people got in the way.

Sherry pursed her lips in thought. “Hmm...he does a lot of things. He does some kind of pest control, I think? Daddy said he got rid of a big rat a few days ago. Mommy says that Uncle Albert is a workaholic like they are. But I don’t know...seems like I see him more than them sometimes.”

Human pest control, sweetie. You poor thing...doesn’t sound like your parents deserve any Parent of the Year awards!

She’d like to give William and Annette a piece of her mind the next time she saw them. Sherry was so sweet and well-mannered for someone half-raised by self-absorbed parents and half-raised by a manipulative psychopath.

Odin trotted over, nails clicking on the hardwood floor. He licked Sherry’s face, making her giggle. She hugged the Doberman. “This is Odin. He’s Uncle Albert’s dog and I love him. We’re best friends!”

“Yeah...we’re well acquainted. Aren't we, boy?” Claire replied, reminded of how the dog almost tore her throat out. Sherry would never know it, but her backpack had saved Claire’s life the other day.

Odin snorted in response, but showed no signs of aggression, sitting next to Sherry and yawning.

They heard the phone click on the receiver. Sherry looked to Wesker expectantly as he returned to them. Claire remained kneeled in front of the girl, tensing as the corrupt STARS Captain came up behind her.

“Your mother is on her way, Sherry. You should go upstairs and get your things.”

Sherry frowned. “But Daddy promised he would take me this time.”

Wesker sighed. “I know he did, darling. Go on, now.”

“Yes, sir.” Sherry gave one last dispirited smile to Claire and left back upstairs. Odin followed right behind her.

Claire stood, watching the girl depart before turning to Wesker. There was a strange look in his eyes as they followed Sherry up the stairs, but Claire couldn’t read Wesker like William could, and so she was lost on what it could be.

He finally looked at her, lips quirking. “Precious, isn’t she?”

“You seriously don’t seem the type to like kids.”

“I don’t,” Wesker admitted. “But Sherry is the exception.”

Claire snorted. “Exception or not, you shouldn’t have kids let alone be a godparent to someone else’s. Not sure what William was thinking.”

Wesker softly chuckled. “I have no intentions...although,” he looked her over again with a dark, suggestive leer. “With the right partner, perhaps I would change my mind.”

It was a deliberate jab to provoke her. Claire glared at him, ignoring her heart that flailed madly in her rib cage after her stomach did a low pitch and rolled. The younger Redfield refused to take the bait, biting her tongue. She didn’t trust how her body reacted to his words at all.

“Whatever. Sherry’s way too sweet to be in the Birkins’ care or yours. She deserves better.”

“She does deserve better.”

Claire was surprised by his words, his eyes lingering on the staircase for a moment before he turned and slightly glared at her. “But life never goes how we expect it to, does it, dear heart?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

She wished her life had just stayed the same, instead of getting caught in this spider web of conspiracy, deception, and blackmail.

Wesker took her necklace into his fingers, rubbing his thumb along the silver feather pendant and turquoise stone. His eyes found hers, and he squeezed the pendant shut in his hand, tugging her towards him using the small chain. So close, Claire's hands braced his solid chest to give her a small buffer.

“And that is why I make sure I hold all the cards and have complete control over my fate. I am no longer the ruled, I am the ruler.” Wesker dipped to whisper in her ear. “And you, dear heart, will help me get even more power.”

His lips grazed her temple as he pulled back, still clenching the necklace and keeping her close. The chill that came over her was more thrilling than she wanted to admit, and according to Wesker’s dark smirk he had sensed it too. Dammit, what the hell is wrong with me?

The doorbell chimed. Claire’s heart nearly burst, relieved in the interruption because she was convinced something was about to happen. 

Sherry bounded down the stairs with a bag, the Doberman still tailing her. She paused at the bottom step, noticing Wesker and Claire’s close proximity.

“Did you get everything, darling?” Wesker asked, eyes not leaving Claire’s.

Claire was confused until she heard the soft voice and spotted Sherry coming back into the den. “Yes, Uncle Albert.”

“Good. Get your shoes on.”

Wesker stepped away from Claire, his fingers brushing her collarbone when he let her necklace go. He went to the door and answered it. Annette entered the house, looking mostly the same from when Claire saw her last, except maybe more tired. The older woman paused when she noticed Claire, surprised, but she contained it and shot a suspicious glare to Wesker’s back.

Sherry pulled on her boots after retrieving them from the foyer. She grinned at her mother. “Hi Mommy!”

Annette, distracted, looked between Wesker and Claire, and that made the college student even more uncomfortable. She then presented her daughter with a listless smile.

“Did you behave for Albert?”

“Yes, I did.”

Annette motioned to Claire with the same smile, though with added wariness. “Claire...It’s, uhh, good to see you again.”

In other words she was surprised Claire was still alive. Claire didn’t blame her, although that didn’t make the situation any less awkward. “You too, Annette. You’re daughter is very sweet.”

“Oh, right. Yes...she is.” Annette turned to her daughter just as she cinched the last strap on her boots. “Come along, Sherry. We need to go.”

Sherry got up and shouldered her bag. “All set!”

Annette looked relieved. “Good. Albert, thank you. William will stop by later, assuming he still isn’t at the estate in that ridiculous meeting. Claire...take care. Sherry, let’s go.”

The little girl frowned, glancing between her mother’s retreating back and Wesker and Claire. She sighed, trudging along behind Annette but soon paused and looked back at them.

“Bye, Uncle Albert. Bye, Claire. It was nice meeting you. I hope I get to see you again.”

That hit Claire right in the feels, and she felt torn over it. She wanted away from Wesker, the Birkins, and whatever they were a part of. She wanted her life back to normal, meaning no Sherry. But on the other hand, there was something about the young girl that Claire was drawn to. She wanted to see Sherry again also.

Claire smiled. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again real soon. Take care, Sherry.”

The girl was ecstatic at that, looking the happiest Claire had seen her yet. Annette hollered at her from the door.

“She’s a keeper, Uncle Albert!” Sherry added cheekily before joining her mother.

Claire flushed, paralyzed. Sherry giggled and hugged Odin before leaving with Annette. Once that front door shut, trapping her alone with Albert Wesker, he turned to her with a conceited and, dare she infer, sensual smirk. Her nerves turned to ice, although she suddenly felt feverish.

“I agree, Sherry. She is a keeper.”

Chris, Forest, Brad, Joseph, and Enrico walked back to the STARS office. Chris yawned. It was still early in the morning, but their day had commenced in chaos, having had two different emergencies to deal with. A freeway accident with a tipped over bus and an active shooter in southern Arklay County. None of them had even gotten their morning coffee in them yet.

“Good work, boys. Maybe we can finally take a breather,” Enrico said.

Brad rubbed his back. “Good. I need one.”

Joseph snickered. “What’s wrong, Chickenheart? Your ass still hurting where you busted it on the ice goin’ for cover?”

“Very funny, Joe.”

Forest wrapped his muscular arm around Brad’s neck and scrubbed his knuckles hard into his scalp. “Aw, we’re just fuckin’ with ya, Vickers. You did good!”

Try as he might, Brad couldn’t escape the taller, stronger Bravo member. Finally, Forest let go and dodged a swipe from Brad with a chuckle. The flustered Alpha pilot straightened his yellow vest with a glare to Forest and Joseph. Chris grabbed them both and banged their heads together.

“Knock it off, you dicks,” he said with a grin.

“Thanks, Redfield,” Enrico huffed and gave Frost and Speyer a mild glare. “You two knuckleheads have already given me a damn headache.”

They entered the STARS Office. Richard waved at them from his desk where he filled out a report on his computer.

“Aiken, anymore calls?” Enrico asked.

“No, sir. Been quiet.”

“Good.” Enrico pointed at Joseph. “Frost, go make some coffee and see if there’s anything left from the breakfast bar.”

Joseph groaned. “Why am I always the errand boy?”

“Because you get on my nerves and Wesker’s nerves, that’s why. Now go.”

“You couldn’t tell me while we were downstairs closer to the break room?”

“Nope.”

Joseph muttered under his breath and started to leave the office.

Forest hollered at him just as he sat down at his desk. “Make it extra strong, errand boy!”

Joseph flipped him off as he slipped out the door, earning him a chuckle from his Bravo friend. Brad took a seat next to Richard and Chris went to his own desk. He frowned at the empty desk beside him. Jill’s hat sat on her desk as well as a photo of her Golden Retriever, Bella. It was rare for them to have different days off, but this time of year always had Alpha and Bravo Team’s schedules mixed up.

Before he got busy and forgot again, he opened up the drawer to her desk and dropped a bag of her favorite candy inside. He closed it and signed into his computer. It was strangely quiet in the STARS office. Enrico had locked himself away in Wesker’s office and without Joseph around, the rest of them were quietly doing their work. It was strange to have Wesker, Barry, and Jill missing all in one shift. Kenneth and Edward wouldn’t be in until later.

Brad must’ve read Chris’s mind. “It feels like something’s missing…it’s too quiet.”

Forest snorted. “Course it is! We don’t have Chris and Jill yakking away behind us, no Barry laughing at his own jokes, and no Wesker scolding Frost or barking orders. Enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts. Won’t be long before Marini gets on our asses again.”

Brad rolled his eyes. “As if you enjoy anything of the sort, Forest.”

“Chris does seem like a sad puppy without Jill around,” Richard noted.

The sharpshooter glared at them. “I’m working. What are you guys doing, exactly?”

He ignored their laughs and entered the license plate number that was on the BMW that he saw at his house yesterday. As the information pulled up, Joseph returned and announced that the coffee was brewing. Forest mumbled something about the STARS office needing to replace the coffee pot that Edward accidentally broke a couple weeks ago and left downstairs to go get some. If anyone left with Forest, Chris didn’t notice, too absorbed in the profile the license plate brought up.

Vehicle is a 1997 BMW M3…everything is up to date…Registered to William Birkin of Raccoon City, Colorado. Chris did a separate search for William Birkin in their database. Not much came up. Age 35. Married. Type O blood. Height: 5’10’’, Weight: 147lbs. Blond hair, blue eyes. Licensed under the Umbrella Corporation as a medical researcher. No records, no flags.

There was a picture on profile, looking to be a few years old, but it was definitely him. He didn’t look threatening, but something just didn’t sit right with Chris. He wondered how Claire could know this man. Surely she wasn’t seeing him romantically as he was married. Claire wasn’t like that. Maybe she didn’t know?

It might not even be like that…don’t jump to conclusions. Jill’s right…this could all be harmless. Maybe he’s just a friend.

Still…he did not like the feeling in his gut looking at the man’s seemingly innocent picture. It was hard to decide if it was his innate instincts as a cop or his overprotective devotion as a big brother. Unfortunately, Chris couldn’t do much else beside keep a closer eye on his sister and see if anything else came on his radar. Claire was still acting strange…hiding something. He was sure this man had something to do with it. Sighing, he closed the profile and got back to his other work. He remained distracted for the rest of the morning.

Before leaving for lunch, Chris had found Ralph Hendricks again and asked his neighbor and fellow brother-in-uniform to keep an eye out for anything else unusual at his house, especially if it involved that silver BMW and the man that drove it. Ralph, sensing Chris’s worry, assured him he would do what he could. That made the older Redfield feel better and drove home to enjoy some lunch with his sister.

He unlocked the door and went inside. Chris usually took his lunch with Jill, and so he was sure Claire would be surprised. The house was warm, but he didn’t see her when he came inside. The television wasn’t on, it was uncharacteristically quiet.

“Sis, you here?” When there came no answer, he hollered again with a frown. “Claire?”

He checked the house. She was gone. Trying to remain calm, Chris thought where she could have gone without the truck. He searched for a note but found none. He had to rationalize this. Maybe a friend came and picked her up...

Or maybe that guy in the BMW?

Chris paced, knowing he was overreacting. He couldn’t call his STARS teammates in to help him look for her once more, especially since last time it turned out she had been just fine. Barry was out of town with Robert, and Wesker would probably wring his neck if he called him on his day off again. He decided that calling Jill would be best. She would talk him down and help him to clear his head.

He picked up the phone with a heavy sigh. If only he could get rid of the terrible feeling in his gut. You have to quit doing this…Claire’s an adult. She’s out there living her life. And you cannot be there to protect her all the time. She knows how to take care of herself. She’s probably just out there having fun. Quit worrying!

Claire was not having fun. This was torture. The silence ate at her, the small, confined space that smelled of leather and his cologne was dizzying. Every nerve under her skin thrummed, from what she didn’t know. Demanding her to move, to escape, to fight. Or perhaps respond to a darker urge she refused to acknowledge, pushed to the farthest corner of her mind.

“You’re more restless than William, and that’s saying something.”

The college student fell out of her thoughts, not realizing she had been so fidgety in the passenger seat of Wesker’s car. His look was that of mild amusement, genuinely less snide than usual.

Claire glared at him. “Can you blame me? Stuck in a car with an evil asshole like you. What are we even doing here anyway?”

“Waiting...some of us more patiently than others.”

“For what?”

“You’ll see.”

He stared out the tinted windows, elbow resting on the side panel of his door with his chin propped on his knuckles. He had taken his sunglasses off again when they had parked here over half an hour ago, observing and waiting patiently. Apparently, this man had the patience of a saint - and Wesker having any saint-like qualities, wasn’t that the epitome of irony? 

They were in southern Raccoon, on the east side of Circular River, south of Cider District where all of Raccoon City’s schools were. It was mostly warehouses and old apartment complexes around here. It wasn’t the poorest part of town, but Wesker’s XK8 was out of place in this area, and Claire had no idea what he was waiting for.

Claire had tried to behave, be good like Ada and the Birkins suggested, but her defiance soon got the better of her being stuck in that car with him, with nothing to do but go mad. So she deliberately fidgeted and made noise, anything she thought that would get under his skin.

After a bit, certain that her antics weren’t working, the STARS Captain soon glowered her way. “If you wish to irritate me, perhaps you should take pointers from Will. But let’s be honest here, Ms. Redfield, I know you are above such petty antics. If you have something to say, then say it.”

Claire didn’t break his intimidating gaze, glaring at him in return. “Go fuck yourself.”

“Feel better?”

“I will if I get the chance to kill you.”

Wesker’s smirk knotted her stomach again. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, dear heart.”

Smug prick…

Claire leaned back against her seat, folding her arms. “Why the hell am I even here? Surely, you can ruin someone else’s life without me?”

“I can. But why do that when I have pawns...and pleasant company...like you?” He smiled wryly at her glare. “Don’t worry yourself, my dear. No one will get hurt...today.”

“How can you be like this? My brother and the STARS look up to you, respect you! The city relies on you...Sherry adores you. How can you do this to them? Do you not feel anything?”

Wesker closed his eyes for a moment but remained impassive. “You’re wasting your time trying to understand me, Ms. Redfield.”

Claire wasn’t about to let him dissuade her that easily. She had a feeling her prying would get her in trouble, but damned if trouble wasn’t her middle name. “I have nothing better to do. So...hate the world? Trying to prove something? Issues? Emotional trauma? Revenge?”

She tried to read him for any kind of reaction, even if only minuscule. Though he was probably just a psychopath and nothing more, Claire had a feeling it was more than that. His relationship with the Birkins and apparent physical attraction to her proved that. It was something much deeper. The signs were there, what little the Birkins and Wesker himself had revealed to her.

I am no longer the ruled, I am the ruler. Wesker was obsessed with power and control. Something had to have made him that way.

Unfortunately, if the corrupt STARS Captain gave any reaction to her prying, she had missed it. If only she could read him like William could...

Wesker sighed, as if he heard this all before. “Since I know you are wondering it, I had a standard childhood.”

“Oh yeah? Parents? Siblings?”

He half-rolled his eyes. “My parents died long ago. I have a sister but we were raised separately.”

Now we're getting somewhere!

“That’s not a standard childhood,” Claire stated.

He looked at her and for half a second the college student swore she could see a little into this man’s darkened soul. “You would know, wouldn’t you?”

The nerve he hit was sharp and sudden, like a knife digging underneath her fingernail. She scowled, no longer able to keep his gaze. She should’ve known he would’ve turned it right back around on her.

“Car accident, correct?”

Claire flinched, certain he would ridicule her for her loss and heartache on the subject. “Yeah.”

Say it...I dare you! Just give me a reason to pound your face in...

“I’m sorry, dear heart.”

Claire’s head snapped to gape at him so fast, she nearly gave herself whiplash. Completely taken by shock, he didn’t present her with anything further on the words she would have never thought to ever hear come out of his mouth, let alone sincerely.

“Ah, right on time,” Wesker eventually said after a long bout of silence. “You see that man crossing the street ahead?”

Claire suppressed the turmoil of thoughts swirling in her head over their recent conversation and looked. She did see someone crossing the street; a younger man, tall and skinny, wearing mostly black, baggy clothes. He looked like a typical hoodlum, covered in tattoos, a cigarette lazily poking out from his lips.

“Yeah.”

“He will get inside that parked Ford Taurus. I need for you to join him.”

“What? I don’t even know the guy!”

Sure enough, the hoodlum got into the driver side of the parked car just up ahead.

Wesker looked to her, lips twitching in amusement. “He’s expecting you, dear heart. Just say ‘not the gravy’ and he will do the rest.”

Claire gawked at him. “Not...the gravy? Are you kidding me?”

Wesker sighed. “Do I wish I was. William’s code, not mine.”

“Oh…” she mumbled. She wasn’t really surprised since it was William. Still, she wasn’t fond of the idea of sitting in the car of a total stranger with no weapon on her. Granted, she was sure she could pummel the guy easily enough, but one couldn’t be too careful.

Wesker must have sensed her unease. “The sooner you do this, the sooner we can leave. Meaning one step closer to you going home. Trust me, Claire, as long as I have you, no one will touch a hair on your head.”

Unless it’s your Russian Colonel friend, right?

The Devil might as well have been telling her to trust him. Still, there was something about his tone that did make her feel a little safer...a little. The younger Redfield slowly opened the door to the black luxury car and stepped out.

Taking a deep breath, really wishing she could have her gun or knife on her, she walked down the slushy sidewalk. A lot of the snow had melted from the sun being out for a couple of days, but more snow - and cloudy gloominess - was inbound. The dropping temps tonight would for sure turn this slush into more ice.

Reaching the car, Claire slowly pulled the handle to the passenger door and slipped inside. The interior was ragged and smelled of cigarette smoke. The guy had been sitting patiently this whole time with his hands in his pockets. He looked at her, only mild surprise coming over him and he gave her a one-over. If Claire had to guess, this seemingly normal looking hoodlum was an informant of some kind.

Claire sighed. “Not the gravy.”

The guy nodded, eyes scanning around them for a moment before he reached inside his coat and pulled out a small white envelope. He offered it to her. Claire studied it for a couple of heartbeats and then grabbed it. When she tried to pull it away, he tightened his hold on it.

“They only stayin’ for another week. If he gonna hit ‘em, he better hit ‘em fast.”

Claire swallowed. “Got it.”

The informant let the envelope go. He reached up and turned the keys to his ignition. Claire was sure that was her signal to leave and got out of the car. She barely shut the door before the sedan pulled away from the curb, loud music blaring even through the rolled up windows. Claire watched him go for only a second before turning and going back to Wesker’s car.

Once she was back inside his much nicer vehicle, shutting the door to contain the warmth from the heater, she immediately presented him the envelope. The STARS Captain took it, their fingers brushing, and Claire wasn’t sure whether he deliberately did it or not. He had already placed his sunglasses back on.

“He said they are only staying for a week and if you are going to hit them, you better do it fast.”

Wesker smirked as he opened the envelope and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. He unfolded it and read through it while Claire remained quiet, waiting.

“Hmm, interesting,” he mused. “I may get to cut the head off of more than one snake.”

Claire had no idea what he was planning or who it involved, but she knew it meant people were going to get hurt or killed. Or exploited if Wesker had his way. These “snakes” had to be problems or threats to him somehow. Or perhaps obstacles to a bigger prize. Her stomach soured just thinking about what he could do to these people, innocent or not.

All she knew was that she was sitting right next to her snake. And it was constricting around her, each new coil making it harder to breath, pulling her closer, poised to strike with venomous fangs. Claire had heard plenty of rattlesnakes growing up. She didn’t hear a rattler, but she sure felt the same cold weight of dread plummet in her stomach hearing one often produced.

[hcneymilkks]

Woojin ‘City Nights’

Life is always better at night.

Inspired by a post from Tumblr, changed it just a little

post found here!

College au! Friends to lovers.

[NOTE: Although Woojin is not in Stray Kids anymore (I'm still sad about that), or he right now is not a K-pop idol, he is still one in my heart and I will continue to write for him as one (not just a member of Stray Kids, but as a performer as well. Woojin will still be under Stray Kids in my masterlist until he becomes solo or an actor or something (he just gotta show off his talent if you know what i mean)]

Word count: 1.6k words

MASTERLIST

It was a Friday night. Normally people would be hanging with friends, going to clubs or bars, basically doing anything fun.

Y/N was not one of those people today. You usually were outgoing, your bright aura pulling everyone in, making you instantly be friends. It wasn't your fault that you had the face of a goddess.

But there were times where you felt like you were living a double life,  always wanting to stay at home wrapped up in the warmest blankets watching Netflix. Today was no exception.

Except.

You were stuck at the library doing a statistics lab, as the printer back at the apartment wasn't working and her roommate not home yet.

"Just one more question and then you can leave." you mumbled to herself.

Glancing at the clock, you knew it was late as you saw only a few lamps on. Probably students who wanted to get ahead on their studying.

Punching in the last bit of numbers, she relaxed in her seat. The papers still warm from the printer as it was stuck in your folder, ready to be handed in Monday morning.

You waved at the sweet librarian goodnight. The one who always gave you some book recommendations, your sore feet screaming for help as you trudged home.

_________________

Stiffing a yawn and pressing the number three on the elevator, you were ready to pass out. But as you got to the door you blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

There, on the door handle of your apartment was a pink sparkly scrunchie.

"No no no no." You sighed and knocked loudly on the door.

The door opened and your roommate peaked through, glaring.

"Um hello scrunchie on the door. Remember the rules?"

Of course you had remembered the rules, you made them.

A scrunchie on the door meant that the other roommate had company for various reasons. This meant that your roommate had company now and it didn't sound good.

"Yes I remember but come on I'm tired and I just want to sleep on my own bed."

Your roommate laughed fakely. "I would love to let you in but I'm entertaining San right now. He's hot and a great dancer." She waves at who you presume is San inside their shared apartment and cringe.

"Listen I don't wanna know San facts I just want to sleep in my bed."

Your roommate glares once more. "Sorry girl, go find somewhere else to sleep. Byeeeee."

The door closes.

You groan, just where are you supposed to go now?

Cursing your roommate, you dial someone hoping that they answer.  

"Oh Woojin please pick up."

"Hello? Y/N?"

"Woojin thank god. I just got kicked out of my own apartment for the night so can I um crash at yours."

Woojin chuckles on the other end of the receiver. "She has company over doesn't she?"

"Yup and I can clearly hear them from outside so I'm coming to yours right now."

Woojin laughs. "You're always welcome."

_________________

Across from the University campus was an apartment that Woojin resided in. It was five stories high, with blue blocks coating one side of the building. A bubble tea shop was beneath the building, Woojin wiping the last of the tables and counting the tills.

As he shut off the lights, his phone started to ring.

"Hold on Y/N, I'm just closing the shop."

"Hurry up you big bear, it's cold out here." Woojin looks through the shop windows and sees Y/N hugging her unoccupied arm towards her. He chuckles in response and opens the front door, getting hit with a small breeze.

You end the call and run to Woojin, your body colliding with his. "Hurry up Woojin I'm freezing and hungry and tired."

He hugs Y/N like there's no tomorrow, the heat radiating off of him mixed with the scent of his cologne makes your stomach swirl with a lot of emotions. You smile and relax in his embrace, the feeling of home.

_________________

Woojin groaned.

"Great just great." He had forgotten to buy groceries today.

You were curled up on the couch, the blanket wrapped around like a burrito as the television was turned on to watch a Late Night Show.  "So Woojin, any luck with some food?"

He closes the fridge and walks into the living room with two bottles of water. "So how does a gourmet meal of ice and cheese sound?" You choked on the water, laughing.

"Woojin! This is the second time in two weeks! Are you okay? What are you living off of?"

"The Chicken Gods."

You rolled your eyes as he typed something on his phone. "Ah here's good news, the convenience store across the street is open 24 Hours. We could go on a little adventure, grab some food and then drive somewhere?"

Looking outside, it was pitch black with some stars scattering the sky. The clock shone 11:00 pm in green numbers. "Really Wooj? You want me....already wrapped like a burrito, to go outside in the freezing cold to get some food and go on an adventure?"

"Why not? It's not like you have done something exciting the past two months."

"I have!"

Woojin crossed his arms and rose an eyebrow. "Tell me Y/N, what have you done in the past two months that was exciting?"

You chewed on your bottom lip. "I went to a party?"

"Bullshit I came with you to that party! I know for a fact you wanted to leave because the one person you have been eyeing in your Chemistry Lecture was sucking someone else's face instead of yours."

Putting your hands up in irritation, you groaned. "Okay fine! So I have not done anything exciting, but what makes you think I'm going to get out of your apartment and into your car?"

"There's gummy choco at the store."

_________________

There you were, wearing Woojin's hoodie over your thin turtleneck and in the car, forcing the heater on high.

"Dammit you! How could you say the name gummy choco in front of my face!?"

"Yeah yeah, you'll thank me later." Woojin's hands found yours and he clasps them together, squeezing it every so often.

The low sound of 3Racha, a music group at your local University was humming through the air. A comfortable silence wrapped around both of you.

Hands reattached as Woojin dragged you out of the car and into the small but bright convenience store, saying hello to the worker who was none other than Minho. A few things here and there. Instant ramen and rice cake soup added into the mix. Finished off with a huge handful of gummy choco, you whining to Woojin to pay for it because "you were forcibly dragged out of your warm burrito blanket".

The convenience store smelled of beef and spice, both you and Woojin sitting down and catching up. No longer sleepy, as the laughter from Woojin was like a melody to your ears.

Hands reattached as Woojin ran into the empty parking lot laughing and smiling. You couldn't resist and joined along, fooling around while the stars were watching.

Woojin smiled and tugged you closer. "Let's go into the car, I have somewhere I want to go."

Both of you looked back and waved to Minho who's phone was out recording. He waves back and chuckles to himself.

"Well someone is getting cuffed tonight." [Sent to SKZ groupchat]

_________________

Woojin's fingers lightly tapped the steering wheel as Day6 started to play on the radio. He increased the volume and started singing along to Shoot Me as you used your fist as an imaginary microphone.

Although it was getting closer to 1:00 am, the city became a nightlife, as if everyone had the same thought on this one Friday night.

Life is always better at night.

Woojin parked the car and opened the door, taking your soft hand in his. There was chatter amongst the crowds, as food vendors and shops were still open at this time.

Could it be? "Is this, a Nightmarket?"

Woojin smiled and nodded. "I heard this one is the most popular, wanna check it out?"

"Hell yeah."

Music played throughout the venues, trying out different foods, drinks. Taking lots of photos. You learned a new side of the city you resided in, that, not everything exciting happens in the daytime.

"Can we get one chocolate hazelnut mousse bubble tea with white pearls, 30% sugar and no ice and then just one pearl milk tea please."

"Can we get one fish cake soup, one order of dumplings, and two orders of the red bean pastries."

"Stand here Y/N I'll take a photo."

"Woojin come in here let's take one together."

The buzz became quieter as Woojin led you to the place he came to think. A hill that overlooked the city. The lights twinkling under the sky that was calling for a sunrise.

"I can't believe that we just stayed up for the whole night. Woojin do you know how bad that is?"

He shrugged. "I mean we both have the day off since it will be Saturday. Plus live a little Y/N, you're an adult, you're allowed to be free of the constraining chains of a society accustomed to the same norms and values of 'if you finish school you will have a higher chance at getting what you want.'"

"Wow, no need to go all educational on me."You looked at him smiling. "But I don't mind it."

Closer they went to one another, hands on your hips, hands on the back of his neck. Both of you knew it, felt it, wanted it.

And as the sky slowly turned to orange, you whispered a thank you and your lips met each other’s in a breathtaking kiss.

[louislouisrap]

Black Water ch. 3

Okay I guess I’ll post the last chapter here! Clinging to the last vestiges of tumblr huhuhhuuhu

If you’d like to read the rest of this fic, you can do so here on my Ao3 (although I have posted links to the other two chapters here on my tunbl): Black Water

Sometimes, I feel like throwing my hands up in the air

I know I can count on you

Sometimes, I feel like saying, "Lord, I just don't care"

But you've got the love I need to see me through

“You’ve Got the Love”, Florence + the Machine

The small nightlight in the kitchen on the first floor casts shadows from its orange glow as Bakugo enters. The kitchen itself opens up into the common room, darkened where the light’s glow is too weak to travel. The shadows disappear instantly when Bakugo flips the light switch and he blinks for a few seconds in the blinding brightness.

He quickly shoves the plastic bag he was carrying down into a large garbage bin next to the kitchen counter and washes his hands. After drying them on his pants, he rummages around the cupboards quietly for a glass.

He find a tall glass above the sink. There are a few fingerprint smudges on it, and with a scowl Bakugo thinks that it must have been Kaminari’s turn to do dishes recently; he takes the glass anyway. He turns the faucet on and before filling up the glass lets the cool water run over his hands as he rests his elbows on the countertop. It becomes white noise in his ears, and he lets it drown out the thoughts in his head. He closes his eyes for a moment, just being, existing, before standing upright again, wiping his hands on his pants for a second time, then filling up his glass. He takes a long drink, feeling the cold water fill up his empty insides.

He leaves the glass in the sink--he’ll come back to wash it before he leaves--and reclines out along the length of one of the couches in the common room. He folds his hands behind his head and stares up at the ceiling. The room is silent, save for the low hum of the refrigerator. Bakugo concentrates hard, lets the sound fill his ears, his mind in the hopes of drowning out any other thoughts that would, inevitably, rise to the surface.

For a few moments, it was peaceful.

Then, without warning, the image of All Might materializes in his mind: tattered suit hanging off his thin frame, bright blonde hair streaked with blood, and suddenly Bakugo feels sick again.

As if that’s not bad enough, the sound of a familiar voice floats through the air. Now I’m hearing things , Bakugo thinks ruefully.

Suddenly, the double doors into the common room open, and flash of red hair announces that Kirishima has arrived.

Bakugo stares. Kirishima grins.

Uraraka pops up behind the redhead with a friendly wave.

“Hey Bakugo.” Her voice is warm and comforting, which Bakugo would have appreciated more if he wasn’t currently being pissed off that the two of them were there in the first place.

Bakugo visibly bristles. “What the hell are you two doing here?”

“We were worried about you, man. I...heard you. Next door,” Kirishima explains.

Bakugo freezes. Fuck. Someone had heard him. He recovers the only way he knows how, with a scowl and a click of his tongue.

"So why the hell do you care? You should've stayed in your room, losers.” Bakugo's face goes warm and pink, but he doesn't budge.

“Ah--” Uraraka butts in-- “well, I was up, and I happened to run into Kirishima, so I thought it would be nice to have some company!” She clasps her hands together and smiles, in that stupid way that makes Bakugo spend the extra second to take in her expression.

He doesn't want them around right now (or does he? He honestly doesn't know), doesn't want them to see the pathetic state he's in, but he's smart enough to know that pushing them away will only make them worry more.

"Whatever,” Bakugo mutters and shoves his hands deep into his sweatpants pockets. Uraraka hums happily and announces she'll make some tea.

As she fills up the electric kettle, Kirishima flops down onto the couch next to Bakugo. The redhead grins, but Bakugo can sense it's fake.

"Stop worrying about me,” he grumbles, casting his eyes downward. Something about seeing Kirishima's stupid face irritates Bakugo, like there's something weird about it. Kirishima's not supposed to look worried. He's supposed to be strong-willed, determined, practically radiant with positivity. The fact that Bakugo himself is the reason behind his pained expression makes his stomach knot, and he doesn't want to look.

He doesn't see Kirishima's grin crumble. "Stop telling me to stop worrying about you. You're like my best friend, what am I supposed to do, just ignore what happened?”

"Yeah, idiot, that’s exactly what you should do. Because if you fall asleep in class after being up tonight with me, I'm gonna be the one to have to tutor your dumb ass again.” It's a flimsy excuse, and Bakugo mentally recoils as soon as the words leave his mouth. But if he explains himself to Kirishima and Uraraka, that means admitting weakness. Admitting that he's so damn lost. Admitting that everything he's ever believed in, about himself, about his idol, may have been wrong.

But he doesn't say these things, and so Kirishima barks out a laugh as Bakugo half-heartedly chastises him. "God, Bakugo, Uraraka was right,” he says, shaking his head. "You really are so easy to figure out."

Bakugo snaps his head up to glare at Uraraka, who's still in the kitchen with her back to the boys. Her body hiccups nervously and she can practically feel Bakugo's angry stare without even having to look.

"So you and Round Face been talking about me, is that it?”

"Don't get mad at her, Bakugo. Like it or not, you have friends now, and you're gonna have to get used to talking to us eventually.”

Bakugo feels a stab of guilt, knowing he's been purposely keeping them in the dark, but his mouth seems to move faster than his mind as he spits out, “I don't have to do shit, Shitty Hair. I don't care if you're my best friend, if I don't want to talk about something, I'm not gonna freakin’ talk about it, okay?”

Kirishima clenches his fists in his hair, leans his head back in frustration. "So there is something!  God, Bakugo, you're so fucking frustrating sometimes.”

As he says this, Uraraka enters the common room, stepping carefully with a mug of tea in each hand, and one floating gently in front of her face. She sets down on the table the two mugs in her hands. “Kirishima, can you get that?” she interrupts.

Kirishima stops what he’s doing, reaches out and takes hold of the mug by the handle, and Uraraka presses her fingertips together to release her quirk's hold.

"Thanks. Both of you are getting super loud, by the way,” she warns, taking up residence in the middle of the couch so that Bakugo and Kirishima are seated on either side of her. She turns sideways and crosses her legs, leans forward a bit in Bakugo's direction, even though he's making it a point to look anywhere but at her.

“Bakugo,” she says slowly, trying to figure her words out carefully. She's been learning that there's definitely a way to talk to him, and she and Kirishima both need some tact right now. “It's okay if you don't want to talk about what happened. But can you let us be here for you, at the very least?”

Bakugo's got his elbow propped on the arm rest, his chin buried in his palm. He glares out into the empty common room. Why did Uraraka always make so much fucking sense?

She made sense, and that pissed him off. That she could make him stop feeling angry with that annoyingly sweet voice of hers and that uncanny ability to see right through him.

And then there was Kirishima. He made Bakugo actually want to spill his guts, the only person he was comfortable enough with to even entertain the possibility of doing so. Even if he was kind of thick-headed sometimes, Bakugo trusted Kirishima.

And yet, he just can't. He can't explain to them about what happened. What's happening. Not yet, anyway.

"Fine,” he mutters into his hand. Uraraka smiles broadly and Kirishima's shoulders loosen up a bit.

“Good,” Uraraka says, reaching for the TV remote on the coffee table. “Hey, do you think anyone would hear the TV from down here?”

“We could keep it low and turn on the closed captioning,” Kirishima suggests, blowing off the steam from his tea. “What’s there to watch this late at night?”

“Lots of fun stuff! Bad infomercials, adult stuff,” she adds with a giggle and a blush. “When I was little, sometimes I’d stay up late and watch old black-and-white movies while my parents were asleep. Like Godzilla and stuff.” Uraraka flicks through the channels. After a moment, her eyes light up when she spies the beginning of Mothra Vs. Godzilla . “Oh, perfect! ”

Bakugo doesn’t say a word as he draws his feet up on the couch and cradles his mug of tea in his hands.

Kirishima leans back into the couch and grins. “I never really pegged you for a kaiju fan, Uraraka.”

She takes a sip of her tea. “Really? I just think they’re so cheesy and silly, the perfect thing to watch when you just want some dumb fun, you know? Watching it now though, I’m kind of reminded of Bakugo!” She grins and regards him out of the corner of her eye.

Kirishima sputters and nearly chokes on his tea, laughing incredulously as he watches to see what Bakugo’s reaction will be.

The blonde grunts in response and gives Uraraka a glare that makes her start to sweat slightly and lean towards Kirishima for protection. “You’re fucking hilarious,” he mutters, but to everyone’s surprise he doesn’t fight back. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t understand exactly what Uraraka was up to. She was, in her own way, trying to help. To take his mind off of whatever she thought was bothering him with tea and dumb old monster movies.

And he hates that it’s working. Somehow, with her and Kirishima with him, everything is, at least for the moment, okay . He knows they won’t judge him, won’t bother him to talk more. And for that, he’s grateful.

Bakugo expresses his gratitude by sitting quietly next to Uraraka, occasionally glancing at her and Kirishima out of the corner of his eye when they’re not looking. His lips quirk up slightly, which he hides by taking a long sip of his tea.

It’s halfway through the movie, and all three of them are quietly rooting for the giant monsters, fighting to keep their voices down as they watch sparks fly and buildings topple on screen. At one point, Uraraka’s fist goes flying and smacks Bakugo’s arm. She turns to him, eyes wide. “I’m so sorry,” she breathes, her hand instinctively coming back to rest gently where she’d hit him. “Are you okay?”

Bakugo’s face goes warm at her touch, and he stares at her hand before shrugging it off. “‘M fin--” His eyes narrow. “You trying to say that a weak hit like that would hurt me? Fucking bold of you, Round Face.” He smirks at her around the lip of his mug and once Uraraka has recovered from the fact that Bakugo just teased her, she grins back at him.

“Of course, what was I thinking?” she replies, and smiles down into her tea.

It's four in the morning by the time the movie ends. Uraraka stretches her arms above her head, yawning widely. “We should probably get to bed,” she offers sleepily.

“Mm,” Kirishima agrees, rubbing his eyes.

“Like I said,” Bakugo rumbles as he ambles off the couch, “if either of you dumbasses falls asleep in class today, don’t come crying to me for help.”

Kirishima waves him off. “Yeah, yeah.”

Without a word, Bakugo takes their tea mugs and washes them out, sets them upside down on the drying rack next to the sink. Quietly and carefully, the three of them step up the staircase to the fourth floor of the dorms.

Uraraka wishes them both a quiet goodnight before slipping silently into her bedroom. Kirishima and Bakugo walk together to the boys’ side of the floor; to Kirishima’s surprise, Bakugo stops in front of the redhead’s door with him.

“Kirishima,” Bakugo mutters, glaring down at the carpet. “Thanks.”

“Of course, man.” Kirishima sighs and crosses his arms. “But I still don’t get why you can’t just talk to us. And like, me especially,” he adds. Bakugo picks up on his slightly hurt tone and feels that pang of guilt again in his stomach. He’s not used to that.

“Kirishima, don’t fuckin’ do that again,” he says, making a face.

“Do what?”

“You think I’m just doing this on purpose? I’m kind of insulted, actually, that you would think I’m purposely not talking to you.”

Now it’s Kirishima’s turn to feel guilty, and pink embarrassment rises to his cheeks. “Bakugo, I--”

“I wasn’t done, dumbass,” Bakugo interrupts, trying to keep his voice low. “I know this kind of stuff is important to you and whatever. And I’m--” he closes his eyes and sighs. “I’m...sorry, but I just. I fuckin’ can’t talk about it.”

Kirishima opens his mouth and Bakugo immediately cuts in again. “It’s got nothing to do with you personally, okay? So calm the hell down.” Kirishima closes his mouth.

“I’m just not...ready yet. I guess.”

Kirishima turns this over in his mind. “Alright. Well. You know I’m here for you. I mean, for whenever you’re ready.”

Bakugo shoves his hands in his pockets and his cheeks begin to dust pink. “Yeah. I got that.”

Kirishima punches him gently against his arm. “Good.” He turns to quietly open his bedroom door. “See you in class, man.”

Bakugo nods at the floor and retreats to his own room. He throws himself onto his bed and lets the last hours of night take him swiftly and mercifully. He doesn’t dream, but his chest is warm and heavy with gratitude as he falls asleep.

[gunnerpalace]

Chen Guo x Ye Xiu Headcanons

(The manhua version of Chen Guo has the superior haircut, honestly.)

Some Possible Ship Contractions: CG/YX / YX/CG / YXCG / CGYX / GuoXiu / XiuGuo Some Possible Ship Nicknames: Coals in the Dark / One Winter's Night / Happy Ever After

I wrote this up with the copious help and input of @synoshian​ (Lies)!

I find Ye Xiu and Chen Guo interesting because that have a sort of tsundere thing going on with their sparks of annoyance—almost all of that comes from Chen Guo's end, because Ye Xiu is normally cool as a cucumber, but it's still there. Ye Xiu seems to be the person who most reliably pisses Chen Guo off, while at the same time never making her terminally angry or upset—meanwhile, he still inspires her to dare to dream and achieve. I've long felt that ships are kinda like planets in terms of how they work in that they need continuing sparks of interest to keep them hot and active; I feel these two definitely have that. (Chen Guo being flustered with and annoyed by Ye Xiu is rather cute too, as is the gradual fall of one of her idols into being a mere mortal.)

Even so, there's a certain respect between them. Although their "specialties" are very different (Ye Xiu’s skill at Glory, and Chen Guo’s skill at business and generally being an adult), they acknowledge each other as being good at what they do, if mostly tacitly. Chen Guo is also one of the relatively few people who really matches Ye Xiu in terms of having a love for Glory—as he put it to Sun Xiang in Chapter 1, she likes the game, and "treat[s] everything as glory and not boasting." The way in which she does so is different, but equally passionate.

There's also kind of an interesting... not necessarily tension, but dynamic, with Ye Xiu having a romantic life partner with whom he shares everything but the field of battle (since Ye Xiu's combat partner is always going to be Su Mucheng). This is especially neat (and sort of offset) since Chen Guo is herself a Su Mucheng fangirl (and they become best friends).

Likewise, there are some interesting expansion possibilities for how their ship evolves. After Ye Xiu eventually retires because of age, he can stay on as coach for Happy while Chen Guo stays as manager, or the two of them can diversify into other matters, or both. (Given Ye Xiu said to Ye Qiu that “This is why my dream will end at an early age. When that time comes, I’ll naturally come back because that place will forever be my home. And at my age, there’s still time for me to make a turn around at life,” it might be imagined he’s at least entertained ideas of moving away from the scene, if not leaving it entirely.)

As to their dynamics, they're complimentary. Although (at the start) Ye Xiu is 25, and Chen Guo is 27, she often acts younger than him because of how spirited she is, whereas he comes across as more mature in interpersonal matters. Conversely, she's far more adept at actually being a responsible adult than he is, given his monomaniacal focus on Glory. They have a certain comedic element to them.

You can imagine, in no particular order:

Chen Guo making dinner reservations somewhere that's upscale but not ridiculously fancy, and not minding that Ye Xiu doesn't dress up much even if she herself has. She'd get mad at anyone who called him out on it, but then would also finally get mad at him for not caring about it.

Ye Xiu taunting someone with something like "Wow, you really like to harp on about my shamelessness, don't you? Are you perhaps my girlfriend in disguise?" Everyone is confused, and Chen Guo has something else to be angry about.

Ye Xiu makes an obscure comment about her to the chat on QQ, like:

"Do you guys at Tyranny need a new manager? My girlfriend has the market cornered on being tyrannical."

Su Mucheng is instantly like, "I'm gonna tell Guo Guo."

"Mucheng, no," Ye Xiu says.

And she replies, "I'm gonna!"

"MUCHENG," Ye Xiu continues.

"Hehe... RIP," she counters.

(Or he mocks the fact that she's perennially a noob at Glory and not even at a good level of in-game skill, despite constantly encountering Gods, All-Stars, and pros.)

Soon enough, everyone reaches the conclusion that Ye Xiu is hella whipped and fears nothing but his girlfriend.

Su Mucheng leaves transcriptions of conversations she's overheard in the group chat.

Chen Guo often rats out weird or embarrassing things Ye Xiu has done to Su Mucheng and Tang Rou to get back at him, but does so strategically.

Even though Chen Guo is only two years older than Ye Xiu, he's constantly acting like she's a cougar. (I think the term for this is jiědì liàn, 姐弟恋?)

"You tempted my young and pure self... how do you feel about that, hm?" Ye Xiu questions.

"WHAT 'YOUNG AND PURE'?!" Chen Guo roars.

"I wandered into this internet cafe alone and adrift, only to be seduced by this wily woman."

"YOU SEDUCED ME!"

"She used me to deliver drinks, you know!" he continues, ignoring her. "She kept me in her house and fed me, I was practically a live-in slave."

"I PAID YOU A SALARY! (And I still do, asshole!!!)"

They probably seduced each other.

I sort of imagine them falling into each other’s company very early on, in her residence at Happy Internet Cafe. Chen Guo runs into Ye Xiu after he’s gotten out of the shower one day, and he occasionally walks in on her in her underwear. Relatively quickly they kind of settle into not caring what the other sees and it’s not rare for them to be eating or catching a bit of TV in their sleeping clothes or whatever. That combined with the little acts of kindness means one night, Ye Xiu’s covering Chen Guo with a blanket on the couch, and she grasps his wrist and looks at him in that way, and one thing leads to another.

They’re rather even in amorousness in bed; they’ll take roles sometimes, but they’re fluid about who leads and who follows.

Ye Xiu likes to please, though, and Chen Guo in turn isn’t selfish either.

Neither of them are really sappy with the other outside of pillow talk or certain private moments, so their flirting is usually just this (passive-)aggressive mess.

They mostly emotionally communicate with little touches and eye contact, and rather easily transition between them depending on their distance from one another.

They’re often touching each other’s hands if they’re not using them for anything, even if they’re not actually holding hands. Chen Guo remains fascinated by Ye Xiu’s hands, and he rather likes hers too.

Their Chen Guo's swats have a wide variety of tones, from being rebukes to being playful, and when nobody's watching Ye Xiu will sometimes lightly slap or pat her butt, earning a twinkling glare or criticism mouthed around a subtle smile.

Anytime something really big goes down, they absolutely do the equivalent of the Leonidas and Gorgo look exchange just before the "THIS. IS. SPARTA!" scene.

If they got together while still at Happy Internet Cafe, the other staff find they miss their antics at mealtimes.

Ye Xiu goes home to face the music after retiring, with Chen Guo in tow, and his parents see this beauty and are just confused. It turns out he's a CCP Princeling or the son of a PLA general officer or whatever, and she's confused too. Finally they're just like:

"Thank you for taking care of our foolish, wayward son!"

Chen Guo immediately panics and thinks, Shit, shit, shit, I'm the one who helped him be wayward!

Meanwhile, Ye Xiu is just like, "She owns her own business, you know!"

Chen Guo has to physically restrain herself from slapping him upside the head.

Ye Xiu leaves PC maintenance and repair to Chen Guo and always gets kind of lost at anything more complex than updating drivers. She rapidly comes to adopt a “don’t mess with anything” policy.

Chen Guo does her best to get Ye Xiu to quit smoking through both carrot and stick methods.

Until she manages to succeed, she will absolutely shove mints in his mouth before kissing him, even if he wasn’t immediately smoking previously.

Ye Xiu’s not really overtly sweet, but he remembers important dates and does more than go through the motions.

Anyway, I’ll leave this off here! If anyone wants to add on their own, feel free!

[save-the-cronch]

First Kiss

Hey guys! I finally have another thing out for you guys! I hope you guys enjoy this.

Word Count: 1689

Sitting alone in my room on a Friday night is not an unusual occurrence. Although, recently I’ve been hanging out with Connor Murphy. We became friends shortly after he took my letter and tried to kill himself.

His whole family instantly thought that we were friends because he still had my letter, and I didn’t know how today no. So I told Connor what happened when his parents took me to see him, and for some reason Connor actually agreed to keep the secret. Once he actually got out of the hospital, we did begin to hangout, and soon we became very good friends. I’ve been to his house many times, and him to mine.

Then, last month, I realized I had a huge ass crush on him. I use to have a crush on his sister, but somehow, that crush switched to him. We were sitting in this Orchard that he showed me, and we were laughing about some joke he said. I just looked over at him, and I realized that I’d do anything to make him happy. I instantly freaked out. I had always know I was bisexual, in middle school I had a crush on this kid named Michael Mell, but I never thought I’d like my best friend. I also don’t know if he’s interested in guys! God I’m such a fucking mess.

I grab my laptop, hoping that some youtube video’s could calm me down. However, as soon as I click on a Bob Ross montage, I hear banging on my window.

I jump, falling off of my bed at the sudden noise. I slowly stand up, shutting my laptop. Then, I glance at the window, and I see a dark, long hair, tall, silhouette of a person. I walk to my window, unlatching the latches and throwing it open.

“Connor, what the hell are you doing here? It’s eleven at night!” I nearly shout at him. I don’t have to worry about my mom hearing because she’s at work, and won’t be home until late. She always does the night shift on Fridays.

Connor jumps through the window, and stands up to look at me.

“I had a fight with my dad. He was extremely pisses, and I thought it would be best if I left. So, because you’re my only friend I decided to come here. Also, sorry for coming through the window, I wasn’t sure if your mom was here, and I didn’t want to make three adults upset tonight.”

“Connor, what was this fight about. I-I mean, i-if you f-feel comfortable wi-with telling me. Youdonthavetotellmeifyoudontwanttoimsorryiasked!”

“Ev, slow down, and breathe.” Connor puts a hand on my back, and leads me to my bed. “And, it’s fine. I, uh, don’t hate me for this.”

I shake my head. “I won’t.” How could I ever hate him?

“Alright, well, I came out to my parents. I told them that I was gay,”  Connor says, looking away from me. He seems embarrassed. Does he really think I’d laugh at him for this? Oh God, I’d never. I’d never laugh at him.

“You-you’re gay? Seriously?” I asked. Shocked. I really had no clue, but I am very excited.

“Uh, yeah. Look, if it’s a problem I can just-“

“Nononono, it’s not a problem at all!” I rush out, jumping from my spot on my bed, waving my hands in his face. “In fact, I just s-so happen to be bisexual.”

“Seriously? I, wow. That’s, wow, um, how’d you find out?” He seems to be extremely happy. But it’s probably because he now knows that I won’t laugh at him. God I wish it was because he liked me back.

“Oh, well, in middle school I had a crush on Michael Mell, but you know, I use to have a crush on Zoe and-“

“Wait, use to? You don’t anymore?” Connor’s eyes seem to brighten even more.

“Uh, yeah, I don’t. Um, ho-how’d you know?”

“Well, I always have? When I was like, ten, or something, I was at my cousin’s house and he’s about four years older than me. When I was younger I totally idolized him, and I never left him alone. Anyways, he’s also hella gay, the only difference is that his parents are chill with it. So, when my family arrived at their house for Christmas, he took me to his room. He said that he had to show me something. I think he was trying to scare me away, because what fourteen year old wants to hangout with a ten year old. And, when we got to his room, he pulled out this box of magazines, and they were filled with men and well, I didn’t think it was weird? My cousin from then on thought I was ‘cool’ enough and chilled with me and taught me all I need to know.”

“So, you found out cause your cousin was trying to scare you with gay porn?” I ask, laughing a bit.

“Yup, and it totally backfired.” Connor laughs with me.

We just sit there, laughing for a good five minutes. I’ve always loved these moments. Sure, I’m way to scared to tell Connor how I feel. However, being with Connor, makes me so happy, and seeing him happy makes me even happier. Oh God, I feel like some teenage girl from a sappy romantic comedy.

“Hey, Evan, if you don’t like my sister, is there anyone else you have in mind?”

Oh God, I can’t lie to him, but I can’t say I like him! “Oh, uh, yeah, there’s this guy I have in mind.”

Connor’s face seems to fall, but the disappointed look from his face is quickly wiped, and replaced by fake excitement. That has to mean something, right?

“What’s he like. Tell me about him”

I pause for a second. The only reason he’s acting like this is because he likes me, I hope, so let’s test it.

“Well, his eyes are beautiful, they are this amazing blue color, like the sky. But they have this small speck of brown in his left one.” I glance at Connor, and I notice that he’s now looking away from me. He seems a little upset. He defiantly doesn’t realize I’m talking about him. God he’s oblivious.

“Oh, that sounds, um great.”

“And his hair looks really soft and I always want to run my fingers through it. It’s a really pretty brown that matches the brown in his left eye.”

“Mm”

“And, he’s taller than me, which is a plus.” I have no idea where this burst of confidence has come from, but I like it. It’s really helping me.

“I prefer shorter guys.”

“And, it’s kind of funny. I use to like his sister, but ever since we’ve become friends, I started to like her less and him a lot more. And whenever we talk, I always feel so happy. I love helping him. I also love that he feels like he can come to me for anything, especially tonight. I really appreciate that you came to me tonight.”

Connor’s head snaps back at me, his eyes wide, and hopeful, and excited. “Wh-what?”

I grab the collar of his shirt, and pull him forwards, still grateful for this confidence surge. Our lips touch, and he doesn’t pull away. It feels good to actually get the fact that he likes me back right.

Kissing Connor is better than I ever thought it would be. His lips are slightly chapped, and it’s very obvious that he smoked a but of weed while heading over to my house. Connor moves his hands, which were previously in his lap, and puts one on my cheek and the other on my waist. I loose my grip on his jacket, and move my hands to his hair, finally getting to run my fingers through his waterfall of hair.

We sit there, on my bed, kissing for about three minutes before we both pull away, gasping for breath.

“God, I thought I’d never be able to do that with you,” Connor says softly, his breath tickling my face.

“Well, if you say the right things at the right times, you may just be able to do that whenever you want.” I laugh.

“I feel like you telling me to ask you out, is that the right feeling or no?”

“God, Connor, of course that’s what I’m getting at.”

“Well, in that case, there’s this light show in Evanston on Sunday night, and I just so happen have two tickets to it. You wanna go to it?”

“Is it near trees?”

“On the edge of a forest.”

“Hell yes I wanna go!”

Connor laughs, pulling me closer to him. He then leans down and kisses me once, twice, three times.

“Come on, it’s getting late, let’s get to bed.”

“Am I allowed to stay in your bed and cuddle you instead of getting a blowup mattress for the flow this time?”

“Of course, I’m not letting my boyfriend sleep on a lumpy air mattress.”

“Good, I’ve always wanted to snuggle up against you, that sounds creepy.”

“Eh, I  understand what you meant.”

Connor chuckles, as he gets up to get us both some PJ pants. He’s kept a few pairs of pants here ever since his dad got pissed at him for missing curfew. His dad thought he was out getting high. He was really calming me down after a panic attack, I felt terrible, so I had him stay at my house.

Connor throws me a pair of plaid pants, and I quickly change into them. Both of us sleep shirtless, and I’m now positive that I’m not the only one that stared at the other during our past sleep overs. Connor crawls into my bed, and pulls me into his chest.

“Good night Evan.” He softly kisses the back go my head, nestling his face into my neck.

I grin, “Good night Connor.”

I close my eyes, and fall asleep, a smile on my face. I’m shocked I was able to tell Connor how I felt, but I’m extremely glad I did.

[dragomer]

The Neverborns

Hey, I'm back and this time I want to talk about something that happened a while after the whole Mirror ordeal. It had been a very tense time, but I managed to get the cops to back off and leave us alone with the help of the kid. He tried to insist that he be called 'Prince', though I had to insist he be called ...almost anything else, so we settled on [to be decided].

The official story was that I owed the kid a lot, he supposedly saved my daughter Sarah from a child trafficking ring. Something about how my home was so isolated, and they wanted to add to their 'catalogue'. We had told everyone that he had been with them as some kind of pet / mascot / guard, and that his parents had sold him due to being disgusted by his deformity as a toddler (or so he had been told). We said they had put him in charge of keeping an eye on the adult prisoners. After all, who would try to escape when you have a demon child right next to the door? But they did not usualy put him in charge of the children, the chief was afraid of him connecting to them. Which was exactly what people think happened. An underling who was in charge of the kids had decided to go have fun for a while, and he made the kid watch both adults and children, leading to him connecting with my Sarah and letting the prisoners run amoke so he could escape with her in the confusion. After which, she led him to back to the house and I wanted to adopt him out of gratitude.

I was very skeptical about this whole story, but the kid assured me that the cops would jump at the chance to bust a group like that. But when I raised concerns about them not finding anyhing, the kid told me that he saw many things through his mirror and it would be easy to set the cops on the trail of one such group when interrogated so I dropped the subject and just went along with it.

Surprisingly, that was the hardest thing we had to deal with, his ...particularities were easily dismissed as a birth defect and people seemed to get over it rather quickly, which surprised the kid even more than it surprised me. I guess that's just how it goes in a world where 'Elephant Man' and the 'Tree Man' are well known cases of extreme deformity, compared to them, the kid DID look pretty tame.

Though, what I really wanted to talk about did not happen until after all of that had been settled.

His acceptance into the school was still pending, due to the whole 'never went to school and barely laerned math or how to read from the human traffickers' cover story. So while Sarah and Cassie were in school, the kid and I were trying to finish preparing his room and the boredom that came with moving furnitures around made me unable to contain my curiosity anymore.

'So, what are you ...really?'

That one sentence started off the whole thing and I instantly regretted my choice... No sooner had the words left my lips, than a vicious smile crossed his face, like he had been prepared for that question, and was waiting to start his show. He was usualy no harder to handle than my kids, and I was genuinely starting to like him, but whenever he got that look on his face, it served as a reminder that he wasn't human and had pretty sick disposition.

He slowly positioned himself right in front of the mirror, knowing full well how much I hated it. Whenever he does that, it felt like that darkness inside the mirror would come pouring out, engulfing the whole room and giving him full control.

'Took you a while to ask, hey?' He always used that weird speech pattern, I mean, who ends a sentence like that?

Then he asked me if I wanted 'the long or short version'.

I hesitated a bit before deciding what to say. 'Let's go with the short version first, whenever you go too deep, I feel like I'm hearing stuff I shouldn't. I can always ask you to go into more detail if I need it.'

'That's because that's exactly what's happening. Anyway, here's the short version... I was a Neverborn.' He responded shortly, clearly baiting me to ask for more details.

'Okay, and what's a neverborn?' I stupidly took the bait.

'We are the incarnation of the path not taken. What could have been but wasn't. There are as many Neverborn as there are possibilities. The stillborn that could have lived, the unrealised genius, the justice that was never delivered, the crime that could have paid... Whenever there is a 'but' or an 'if', a neverborn is present, but me and my kin of the mirror are special.' He became more excited as he talked and the mirror started shaking at the word 'kin'.

'What kin, and what do you mean by special?' I could not resist the question, I was pretty worried about the possibility of others like him being in the mirror, that could still be dangerous.

'By special, I mean me and my kin are not the neverborn that came from what COULD have been, we are neverborn that came from what SHOULD have been. You see, the thing is, that the whole world that you know, it isn't as it should be.' He spoke like magician explaining his latest sleigh of hand, and like the typical layman, I was confused.

'And how should the world should be, what changed it?' I was now far too curious, in spite of the fact that I knew with every fiber of my being that I shouldn't be hearing this information. But as they say 'curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back', so I took the risk.

'Well, you see, sometime before the first world war of your world, another conflict took place between France and the UK, it was supposed to be a bloody war for both sides, but suddenly, the British troops started dropping like flies before any fighting could happen. It was because the French had, through pure luck, discovered how to weaponize disease. Yup, a bacteriological war in the hands of a world that wasn't even out of the Napoleonic era of warfare, how could that possibly go wrong? Oh, I don't know, maybe by having every country immediatly start copying the French, and hastily making their own version without anyone thinking, before even knowing the short term consequences? By the time France's weapon had turned on them and started ravaging both the UK and France, it was already too late, and dozens of bacteriological weapons were spreading around from all over, killing everyone, and by the time the diseases had burned themself out or had been cured, only around ten thousands humans were left alive, all huddled together in one makeshift town.'

I kinda had difficulty actualy internalising the idea that this was something that really happened rather than a random alternative history plot to justify a post apocalyptic setting in a novel, so it probably didn't have the impact it should have had, which is probably why I could more or less continue the conversation normaly.

'And? How could such a small population, with subpar technology and access to infrastructure, change the past?' I was feeling dumb before I even finished asking that question, I had a goddamn demon child in front of me, science was obviously not what did it.

'Simple, they didn't, what changed the past was something much much bigger... There were twelve families reigning over what was left of humanity, all of them having survived and risen to power through their occult knowledge. While still rare, it was much more widespread in that history, and the lack of knowledge in this world is directly linked to that event. See, the twelve families simply couldn't believe nor accept the current state of humanity, how it had been brought low and how much they had lost, not only materially, but spiritualy and personaly. The same went for their followers so they took drastic measures, they used all their knowledge to summon as many beings of power as they could, demons, angels, old gods, abominations, pagan idols, everything they managed to find. They summoned them at once and asked them to 'set right what went wrong'.

'The demons, angels, and idols were more than happy to do this, as the whole event had put a big strain on their own conflicts and taken away the majority of their followers, nor did it hurt that it would also give them a better foothold in this world. Although, the other entities were a more difficult crowd, and it was only when the families offered to give them all of their knowledge that they agreed. You see, this was because the more humans that knew about the occult and these beings, the less powerful they became, and the more danger it posed to them, so they jumped at the opportunity to essentially bring humanity back to a supernatural powerlessness ...that is at least until the secrets they had 'forgotten' were re-discovered.

'So these beings upheld their end of the bargain and the world was restored, but there was one last problem ...us. My kin and I, twelve Neverborn created by the change from the world that should have been, to a world that could have been, we had to be compensated, such are the rules, and so we were given the twelve families. In this new world they had been merged into one giant family, and each generation, one special member of the family would be born and claimed by one of us. The order was decided by a game of chance, but it was easy for each older kin to dupe the slightly younger ones and thus it went by order of birth. Though in my case, I was less 'fooled',  and more disinterested.

'I was already busy observing the world and the young children that would be claimed decades later by my older kin while they all bickered. The generations went by and with them my kin, we shared the whole family as a plaything while waiting for our turn to take our special members and disappear for parts unknown until I was the last one and only had the old man who sold you the mirror to pick from, but I wasn't really interested so I kept playing until I was bored of him and then let him sell off the mirror to find new entertainment.' As he spoke, he was clearly getting sidetracked into telling his own story rather than answer my question.

'If all that is true, then why did you bother accepting the pact we proposed to you? You could have joined their family since they were already yours.' I could not help but wonder, not really understanding the difference between being given a family and being given a family to play with given his disposition.

'Because that's not our pact, you didn't give me your family as compensation of any kind, remember when I said I WAS a neverborn? That's because I'm not anymore, our pact means you gave 'birth' to me, I'm the realisation of the wishes of all the children who should have rebuilt that abandonned world, and I now truly exist. It isn't enough to change history, while the angel who made time is long gone, his work is still way too sturdy for me alone to upset, but trust me, you, Cassie, Sarah, and me? We are bond by blood and flesh.' As he finished speaking, he showed me his hand as it opened itself, seemingly cut by an invisible blade to allow a few drops of his blood to fall upon the ground, as if to hammer his point home before it returned to normal.

'See, this is why I can't let you out of the house yet, you can't just go dropping forbidden knowledge of a hidden world on someone just because they asked what you are.' I prefered to play it cool, put all of this in the back of my mind and jokingly chastise him because that was way too heavy for me to handle as a response to something I asked out of boredom.

For once it seemed that the kid decided to be merciful and went along with my obvious attempt to change the subject, suggesting with feigned offense that nothing less could begin to explain his grandeur before we finished our task.

And that was the end of that day's excitement, yeah adopting supernatural entities can get really heavy over the simplest things sometime, and I just needed to share some of it, I can't even fathom the headache his first day at school is going to be, especialy when he insisted on dressing like goddamn King Louis the 14th, I'll keep you updated on that.

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Author note starts here ! as you can see, i wrote a sequel of sort (it’s more of a lore addition but whatever) to my previous short story, if you haven’t read it, you can find it here , i recommend it since the story probably make less sense if you don’t know the background/ previous story.

Anyway, hope you liked it (and if you didn’t, don’t hesitate to tell me) and for those who asked me about my Zucest fics, i’m still trying, i just haven’t produced anything worth publishing, i’m still practicing writing as you can see here and i hope you find this story to be an improvement over the first one and thanks you for reading !

[melonkooky]

golden maknae vs drunk y/n

requested

word count: 4645

genre: mainly fluff

author’s note: title explains this one shot. i’m kinda embarrassed about this, perhaps it’s weird or there’s too much fluff or something. then again, i’m always self conscious of my writing. also, jungkook doesn’t really come in until later... anyway, i hope ya’ll like this one!!! prompts used: 1. “i’m just trying to help.” “well, i hate to break it to you, but you just made it worse.” 11. “so...i might’ve been a little drunk.” “only a little.”

please do not copy my work. but please like and reblog. thank you!!!!

jungkook was your best friend, there was no doubt about that. you and him were close. ever since you and him met during your middle school years, you and jungkook did everything together. there were a lot of instances where people assumed you and him were related somehow, many times as siblings, and sometimes you played along just for fun. in fact, you and him had been the troublemakers in school, sometimes being loud or energetic. your favorite thing during school included you and him always trying out in clubs together, and laughed when you both did terribly.

and many years later, now as young adults, nothing had really changed, despite jungkook being a famous kpop idol now. fortunately that didn’t change anything between you and him. you still hung out, even sometimes daring to go out together in public - even though he had to be in a pretty good disguise. sometimes you would make fun of him because 90% of the time he would be dressed in all black, and he would have sunglasses on as well as a mask so that there was no chance of him being recognized. you would tease him for looking like he just robbed a bank or committed a serious crime, many times claiming that he looked like he was stalking you. underneath his sunglasses, you knew he would roll his eyes. and underneath his mask, you knew he was trying not to grin widely.

however, now that jungkook was famous, he had become very cautious around you. he didn’t want you to be caught with him because then he would be swarmed with rumors, and you would be constantly followed, your personal space invaded, paparazzi would be constantly in your face. he didn’t want that for you. he had to deal with it quite often, and he hated it. he wanted you safe and sound. although sometimes, you thought he was being too careful and protective. for a few years now, you and him had been hanging out with him being famous, and no one has caught him (although there have been a few stares because of how he looked in public).

today, you wanted to go out drinking with some friends of yours, inviting jungkook to come with you. “come on, jungkook. i know you’re not much of a drinker, or a partier for that matter, but it’ll be fun. you’ve been too busy with your career.”

jungkook sighed over the phone. he was at his dorm, laying horizontally on his bed while trying to find a movie to watch. “i’m sorry, y/n. i don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“i know you don’t want to be caught, but that shouldn’t stop you from having fun. besides, you’ve been out lots of times. what’s stopping you now?”

there was a pause. “i just don’t really want to go i guess. i’m sorry, y/n.”

you shook your head, feeling a bit annoyed at his response. “fine. suit yourself.”

right before you pulled the phone away from your ear and pressed the end call button, you could hear jungkook’s voice. “y/n, be safe.”

you shook your head once more and slid your phone into your small purse. you knew you were just being petty. you also knew you shouldn’t be mad at jungkook for not wanting to go out with you. you understood why, and there was no forcing him to go. but you were looking forward to seeing and hanging out with him. he had been so busy that you hadn’t seen him recently,

you couldn’t fight the angry feeling that was rising within you. luckily, you were going out, and you would be able to relieve yourself of the petty anger.

you glanced in the mirror in front of you and smoothed out your dress, performing a fun twirl afterwards. once you were satisfied with your appearance, you finally left your apartment to meet up with your friends at the club. it was a short walk for you as you lived in the heart of the city. you spotted your best friend, yeeun, who was in a beautiful, skin-tight dress. she was chatting with the others until she glanced over her shoulder and spotted you. she earned a few judgemental stares from the people around her in the long line when she screamed your name and waved her hand in the air. yeeun was always the type who never cared about was others thought about her. she just wanted to live her life to the fullest, and have fun and not let anything stop her.

you playfully rolled your eyes but hurried over to her and joined her in line.

“i was just talking to everyone about this.” she looked at you with an excited expression on her face. “let’s forget everything tonight, okay? we’re here to have fun and forget about everything that’s happening right now.”

you laughed. “i mean, we do that every time we come here already.”

yeeun and all the rest of your friends all laughed at your joke. after more conversation, and after slowly moving down the line, it was finally your turn. ids were checked, and everyone was let inside with the tight nod of the bouncer.

instantly the pounding of music caused your skin to tingle with anticipation. the music was loud and energizing. you were excited to spend most of your night here, having fun, drinking, dancing with your friends. you laughed eagerly as you eyes moved from person to person, admiring the flashing strobe lights that lit up the entire club, taking in the entire atmosphere.

you felt a jab in your side as you walked inside. you turned to see yeeun, a suggestive, mischievous look on her face. “want a drink?”

“you know i do.”

she grinned happily. “i’ll be right back.”

she soon disappeared into the crowd, another friend tailing her probably to help her out with the drinks. another friend of yours, hyeri, pointed over at an empty booth in the corner. “let’s claim that one.”

you nodded and followed her. you placed your purse in the booth as jisoo, the friend that tagged along only to supervise and watch everyone’s personal items, slid into the booth. she was the mom friend of the group.

after sitting in the booth for a few minutes, you heard hyeri called out yeeun’s name. you grinned as you spotted your best friend and the other friend with the drinks in their hands. she yelled loudly over the music as she arrived, handing everyone their drinks. “ey-yo!”

without a care in the world, you chugged your drink down. you felt the alcohol linger in the back of your throat, but it tasted just fine. “i need another already.” you giggled as you held up your empty glass.

yeeun sipped her drink. “damn, girl.” she patted your shoulder. “you plan of letting go tonight.”

“it’s what you said, right?”

after you spoke, she looked at you carefully, her eyes narrowing as if she was trying to see through you. for a second, she looked worried, as if she suspected that something was wrong with you. and you didn’t want to say anything. you wanted to pretend that you were just there to have some fun. her concerned expression, luckily, was quickly replaced with amusement and everything continued as normal.

it wasn’t long before you were feeling the effects of the alcohol. your head pounding, your heart racing, your body feeling warm. you currently were on the dance floor, a drink in your hand. you almost never got this way. you never let yourself go this far. you got drunk sometimes, but not enough to where you don’t even realize what you were doing. you sipped from your drink as you moved your body to the music. your hips swayed to the rhythm of the song. your eyes were closed, and your mind was a mess. it was almost as if the music was controlling you. really, you were having the time of your life.

suddenly, though, you felt someone pull you away. you fought against the pair of arms, thinking it was some stranger that was trying to steal you away. but when you opened your eyes, you saw jisoo’s worried expression. she smiled apologetically. “i think you should take a break.”

she reached for your drink but you held it away, almost dropping it in the process. “no.” you whined. “i’m having fun.”

“yes, yes you are.” she agreed. “but think about the wicked hangover you’re going to feel tomorrow.”

you shook your head and began to sing along to the song. “sorry, i can’t hear you.” you yelled. perhaps you were acting like a child, but tonight was your night. you weren’t going to let anyone ruin that.

“y/n.” jisoo warned.

you looked at her. “jisoo, i’m fine.” you tried to be serious, but you ended up stifling a laugh.

jisoo sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. she turned to glance over her shoulder. she met yeeun’s eyes. yeeun was sitting at the booth. she wasn’t too drunk (too being the key word here), although she herself had a few drinks. but she knew when to stop. she thought you did too, but something must’ve been bothering you tonight. she nodded at jisoo.

jisoo glanced at you again, finding that you had integrated yourself with the dancing crowd again. with a heavy sigh, she walked back to the booth, reaching for your purse. she pulled out your phone and easily unlocked it. it wasn’t wise for you to keep the password you made up when you first got a phone at the young age of fifteen.

she clicked on jungkook’s contact. everyone was semi-friends in school to say the least. they knew how close you and jungkook were. yeeun always teased you about how lucky you were for having someone who cared about you as much as jungkook did, sometimes rubbing in the fact that he was now famous. she always listed the benefits of being with jungkook, money being at the top of the list, “the priority” reason as she would tell you. you would scold her afterwards for thinking that way, but in the back of your mind, you always thought about how it would be like if you were to date your best friend.

jisoo held your phone up to her ear, a concerned look on her face. she had never seen you get this way, it was concerning for them. “hello? y/n?” she heard.

she could sense the worried tone laced in jungkook’s voice. she sighed, “hey, jungkook. it’s jisoo.”

“oh, hey. is everything okay?” he asked carefully, trying to find a reason as to why jisoo was calling him, using your phone. it worried him.

“um, no. the reason why i called you is because y/n is drunk, and i mean a lot more than usual. we thought it would be best for you to pick her up.”

she heard a heavy sigh from jungkook. after a long pause, he spoke again. “i didn’t want to come earlier, but turns out she’s making me come anyway.”

jisoo winced slightly. “if you don’t want to, i can take her home. i don’t want to trouble you or anything.”

“no, no. i’ll do it.” he sighed.

“alright. see you in a bit.”

jisoo hung up and put your phone back in your purse. she looked at yeeun, finding her looking at you. she shrugged. “a part of me wants to join her.”

jisoo glared at her. “you have to go to work tomorrow. why did you orchestrate this hangout in the first place?”

yeeun shrugged. “it sounded fun. am i not allowed to treat myself?”

jisoo shook her head and stood up, grabbing her jacket and her own purse, and then grabbing yours. “i’m taking y/n. i want to leave too. i feel sick.”

yeeun pouted before holding out her hand. “bye. it was nice seeing you.”

jisoo grasped her hand, giving it a friendly squeeze, before waving at all the others. hesitantly, she walked to the dance floor and spotted you stumbling out of the crowd. you looked disgusted and annoyed, an angry look in your eyes. jisoo gently grasped your upper arm and allowed you to lean on her. “y/n.” she called. “what’s wrong?”

you pouted. “i’m hot. and someone spilled their drink on my head and now my hair is really knotted. it smells gross too.”

jisoo fought back a laugh at your appearance, wet hair, your makeup running down your face, you were a mess. she shook her head as  she led you outside. the cool air felt refreshing against your hot skin.

“you need to sober up, my dear friend. jungkook is on his way.”

you were wobbly as you walked alongside of jisoo, your arm wrapped around her shoulder. “jungkook?” you slurred.

jisoo nodded, grimacing slightly as she was beginning to catch the stench of your hair. “yep. he’s taking you home before you do anything you’ll regret later.”

a few minutes later, a figure dressed in black approached you and jisoo. “who are you?” you asked, narrowing your eyes at the figure. you usually were quick to recognize jungkook, but you couldn’t in this state. you were too drunk to notice.

jisoo sighed as she handed your arm to jungkook, passing him your purse after. “please take her home.”

jungkook’s eyes were wide as he watched you, the state that you were in surprised him. “jesus. i’ve never seen her like this. what happened to her hair?”

jisoo shrugged. “something must have happened. she said someone spilled their drink on her.”

jungkook sighed. “well, i got it from here. thank you.”

jisoo nodded and turned around, heading in the other direction. jungkook’s mind was a mess as he wondered how he was going to get you home. he was already risking it by being out this late, especially in front of a club. with an annoyed sigh, he swung you up, placing his arm underneath your knees. you laughed at the sudden action, resting your head on his shoulder. “wee.”

jungkook chuckled lightly.

but then you lifted your head off of his shoulder. you stared into his eyes, your eyes narrowing as you tried to figure out who this stranger was. “mister.” you mumbled, “i have a boyfriend.”

jungkook eyed you carefully. he didn’t want to say anything, but he didn’t know you were with someone. you hardly had any secrets with jungkook. still, he felt himself asking, “who’s your boyfriend?”

“his name is jungkook. and he’s going to be mad if he finds out that some pervert was with me.”

jungkook sighed in relief. he didn’t reply, only focusing on getting you home. as he walked, a big gust of wind blew by, and that’s when he smelled the alcohol that came from you. his nose wrinkled in disgust and he picked up the pace. he desperately needed to get you home. and you desperately needed a shower.

finally, he was at your door. he gently set you down, making sure you could stand properly. he opened your purse and pulled out your keys, pushing a key into the door and unlocking it.

you started to badly sing a song that had played at the club as jungkook unlocked your door. you also started to walk away from him, as if you found the plant down the hallway interesting. jungkook quickly grabbed your arm before you could stray too far. he tugged you behind him as he entered your apartment, closing the door behind you before finally releasing you. he watched you carefully as he removed his disguise.

“ah, jungkook there you are!” you stumbled over to him with a frown. “please don’t be mad at me. some guy just carried me here and i tried to tell him that i had a boyfriend but he didn’t let me go.”

jungkook smiled as he approached you. “come on, you should at least wash your hair.”

your eyebrows knitted in confusion. but then you brought your hand up to your hair, finding it wet and sticky, and it smelled too. you tried to run your fingers through it, but you encountered a knot. you pouted. jungkook smiled and turned your body around, guiding you to your bathroom.

jungkook didn’t know how to help you though. he definitely didn’t want to take off your clothes. he didn’t want to do that for many reasons. but you clearly weren’t going to wash your own hair. he could see that you were slowly coming to your senses, but it wasn’t enough for you to know what you were doing. he sighed as he started your shower, grabbing the shower head and bringing it into the tub. he waited for the water to warm up before getting you ready.

you let him do whatever he was doing. jungkook first wrapped a towel around your shoulders that way with your wet hair, your dress wouldn’t get anymore ruined (although it already had a few alcohol stains on it). you sighed tiredly, your eyelids feeling heavy as jungkook guided you to lean back against the side of the tub. he moved all of your hair into your bathtub and using the shower head, he wet your hair. you were comforted with the feeling of the warm water on your head, as well as the image of jungkook hovering over you as he cleaned your hair. he was concentrating hard, and you could see that in his face. you let out a light chuckle. “i never imagined you would be doing this.”

jungkook didn’t meet your eyes, his hand still working on your hair. his cheeks turned a vibrant pink, and he held back a smile. you smiled yourself, although you couldn’t blush because your cheeks were already rosy from the alcohol. suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from the top of your head, causing you to wince.

“sorry.” jungkook apologized as he attempted to get a knot out of your hair.

he seemed to be having trouble, and it was only causing you pain. “can i help?” you asked.

jungkook looked embarrassed as he leaned back and allowed you to reach around for the knot in your hair. you brought it close to your face so that you could see it better, but even the it was still a bit fuzzy in your vision. you laughed lightly.

jungkook sighed. “i’m just trying to help.”

“well, i hate to break it to you, but i think you just made it worse.” you slurred, laughing a bit.

however, you had no luck yourself. jungkook sighed and took the knot back from you as you got frustrated. after a few more attempts, and some rather painful yanks of your hair, the knot was gone. jungkook felt bad so as he shampooed your hair, giving you a head massage. at this rate, you really were going to fall asleep.

however, jungkook was soon finished, and your little spa treatment was over. he gently squeezed your hair to ring the excess water from your hair before turning off your shower. with another towel, he began to dry your hair in a rather messy fashion (well, you wouldn’t blame him, it’s not like he did this everyday). he instructed you to sit up and face him so that he could dry your hair better.

you watched him through tired and drunken half-lidded eyes. jungkook could feel your stare, and it made him feel embarrassed. his actions began to slow, leaving a towel on your head, as he met your eyes. to his surprise, you suddenly leaned forward and pressed your lips to his. jungkook’s eyes went wide. he could smell the alcohol on you, although it was gradually being overcome by the smell of your hair products.

jungkook’s mind began to go wild. his heart was beating rapidly and his cheeks were radiating as much heat as the sahara desert. he wanted to think it was the alcohol that made you do this, the sloppiness of the kiss proving it to be evidence of it. but jungkook had always wanted this, to kiss you.

he was frozen when you finally pulled away. his eyes couldn’t leave yours. you looked like it was nothing, like what had happened actually didn’t happen. jungkook, on the other hand, was still dazed.

“jungkook?” you asked quietly, blinking rapidly.

you were tired, he could see. your body was becoming lazier, and your eyelids kept bouncing, open and close, open and close. you were fighting sleep. you looked cute in a way, despite your messy, wet hair, half-asleep expression, and although now dried, your makeup was still a mess. hell, you always looked cute to him, no matter what you did or how you looked.

jungkook cleared his throat, quickly averting his gaze to the towel that was still on your head. he suddenly decided that your hair was as good as dry. “let’s get you to bed.”

you pouted but didn’t object.

jungkook helped you off the floor, letting you rest your weight on him. “jungkook, you know i love you, right? i always have.”

jungkook froze once again, this time looking down at you. he smiled to himself. he knew you wouldn’t remember any of this, but everything was clear to him now. you loved him too. you claimed he was your boyfriend when you thought he was someone else, you kissed him, and now you were - drunkenly - confessing to him. perhaps he will talk to you about it tomorrow morning. perhaps tomorrow will be the day when he finally confessed his feelings for you.

jungkook led you over to your bed, quickly removing the sheets and instructing you to get into bed. you plopped down, curling into a ball as jungkook covered you properly. “are you leaving?” you asked so quietly, jungkook almost didn’t hear you.

he cleared his throat and turned around to look at you. “do you want me to leave?” it was the first thing he said to you in a matter of minutes.

“no.”

jungkook blushed as he sighed and turned out the light. “i’ll be in the living room.” he mumbled, although he could already hear your slow, heavy breathing. you were asleep.

jungkook smiled widely as he closed your bedroom door. he slipped out of his jacket, throwing it onto the chair next to your couch. he found some blankets nearby, throwing them onto the couch he was going to be spending the night on. he turned out the lights, enveloping the entire apartment in darkness, before slipping underneath the blankets and falling asleep on the couch.

----

you woke up to a sharp, stabbing pain in your head. wincing, you sat up and brought your hands up to rub your aching temples. you released a heavy, pained groan before throwing the covers away and standing up. you looked around, finding that you were in your room. confused, you glanced down and saw that you still had your dress on (although that really was a relief. there also wasn’t a weird stranger laying next to you). you also found some weird stains on it. you ran a hand through your hair, finding that it felt oddly clean. what happened?

you left your bedroom and was about to go into the bathroom to find some pain medication, but that’s when you spotted the black pair of shoes next to your heels. on a chair nearby was a jacket, a hat, and a mask. you were bewildered, and slightly scared. then, you heard a quiet groan come from your couch. carefully, you crept over to your couch. you wondered if you should had gotten a weapon first, but you weren’t able to act on that thought because the person of your couch suddenly sat up. you realized it was jungkook. his hair was a mess, and he looked like he was still asleep.

you were baffled. “jungkook?!”

he turned to look at you, finally prying his eyes open. he didn’t seem shocked at all. “oh hey! how’s your hangover?”

why was he so calm? you tried to figure everything out. you were at the club with everyone. you do remember thinking drink more than usual. and then...aha! “i remember you washing my hair.” you felt more calm remembering something. that was why your hair felt clean.

jungkook’s cheeks turned red. “yeah, jisoo said that you said that someone spilled their drink over your head so i thought i would at least get that out.”

you blushed as you slowly walked over to the couch. jungkook pulled his legs towards him, giving you room to sit down in front of him. “so...i might’ve been a little drunk.” you said, laughing awkwardly.

“only a little.” jungkook replied, smiling.

“did i say things? like, weird, personal things? or do anything embarrassing?”

jungkook grinned mischievous, the blush in his cheeks becoming more prominent. “i mean, besides the fact that you basically called me your boyfriend and then later confessed to me, no.”

you brought your hands up to cover your face. you groaned. “fuck me…”

jungkook laughed. “you also kissed me.”

“ah!” you squealed. “you should have said that first!”

“hey, if it makes you feel any better,” jungkook paused. “i feel the same way.”

hesitantly, you removed your hands away from your face. your eyes were wide. you stared at jungkook, trying to figure out if he was messing with you. he was the type to tease and make fun of people close to him, and he often teased you. but he seemed serious. the sweet smile on his face seemed pretty convincing as well. “do you really?”

jungkook nodded, his pink cheeks now turning red. you were blushing as much as he was. as his words echoed in your head, you found yourself smiling. “oh my lord, i’m so relieved.” it was almost hard to believe. but you were happy.

jungkook smiled. “yeah, me too.”

you released an exhausted breath. everything felt okay, like a huge weight had been lifted off of your shoulders, but not everything was okay. you were reminded of the consistent pounding in your head.

“perhaps you should take care of that hangover of yours.”

you glared at jungkook as you stood up from the couch.

“and change those clothes. oh! no, take a shower first.”

like a child, you stuck out your tongue at jungkook and made your over to your bedroom for a change of clothes. “shut up!”

jungkook laughed. “you love me though, you said so yourself last night.”

you squeezed your eyes shut as an embarrassed blush appeared on your face. “fuck you!” you yelled in response. then, with a change of clothes, you escaped into the bathroom, slamming the door closed behind you. you couldn’t believe that drunk you said all those things to jungkook. you were embarrassed of yourself, but at least you didn’t scare jungkook away. he also liked you, so that was reassuring. you sighed and hurried to get into the shower, feeling all kinds of dirty.

jungkook laughed as he thought about you. you never seize to amaze him, let alone fluster him. he felt a lot better, and he was happy. now he could tell everyone that you were his. although, he had to consider his career and how the members would react. perhaps it was best to keep his new relationship a secret, and to talk to you about it later on when things had settled between you two. for now, it was best to just handle everything later.

he laughed again and fell back against the couch. now he had to wait for you to shower, and then he could spend his entire day with you.