#and I MEAN *l o n g* for on here this is 8k words

[landfilloftrash]

Some years before the High Seas campaign…

It was bright. It was relatively early. And Enososin had barely just woken up before she was surrounded, as per usual, by the chatter of her siblings uncaring about her wanting to continue sleeping, and the quieter sounds of her mom and her mama cooking and herding her siblings.

Man. Can’t she sleep for a few minutes more?

Apparently not!

Because as she sleepily pouted and pondered about it— She squawked loudly as her twin [for lack of better terminology, since she and Ahkrin were the closest in hatching age compared to the other five] stepped on her back— right below the base of where her wings were growing steadily— knocking the air and sleepiness out of her and started a tousle between the two for the rude awakening.

(She ignored the fact she was already awake, it was the principle of the thing, y’know?)

She grabbed his leg and pulled him backwards to make him either trip on his face or be forced to come back and fight her. It was a mix of both as he fell but fell backwards onto her in anticipation of the fight to be. There was grabbing clawfuls of each other’s feather and pulling as they rolled onto the floor and mutual squawked out attack cries and triumphant little calls of victory when they perceived the upper hand— and especially pushing each other’s faces until it was facing the ceiling or the floor, respectively, and out of eyesight range so neither could really see what they were hitting at. Eno herself got in a good whack with her wings at some point during a changing of positions, but Ahkrin was faster with his claws and got a good scratch on her arm past her downy feathers.

But her world of winning a wrestling cage match was quickly interrupted by Kinzon, as he was the one who pulled them apart and snapped at them with his beak, the tufts starting to grow in flicking in what everyone else called ‘eldest child annoyance’ [Kinzon looked closer to mama, a ‘great horned owl’, rather than their mom’s pure white and snowy pallet] and both her and Ahkrin met each other’s eyes in a small consideration of teaming up on their older brother. But before they could fully decide on whether or not to turn their tiny fury onto their rapidly growing brother, the chatter and hoots of the household’s own version of common eased out as their parents called them over to the table to start eating breakfast.

Eno was the youngest, so she got served first, bread and some bacon, and always finished first.

Which meant…

Playtime.

Being the youngest of seven owlin children, ranging from looking like pure great horned owls, pure snowy owls, or caught somewhere in between, her mama and mom couldn’t always entertain each and everyone of them; they tried, but it was simply easier to give them all a time to come back to the house at and let them roam free. Trouble was most definitely included; the main rule amongst the seven was “don’t get caught”.

And being the smallest, that was nothing short of easy.

The days of play consisted of three main things; hiding, pranking, and wrestling with the other kids who roamed the streets. Most of the time, this didn’t include her siblings for some reason. 

“Don’t like the cut of their jib, y’know?” Zofaas, the third eldest, once answered to her questioning chirps. “And it helps that they don’t like most of us. But they like you, and Odus, so don’t worry too much about it. Go on and play, Eno.”

Odus said she was playing with Ahkrin, Frul, Riik, and Zofaas— probably— today, anyways. So she was off to the streets of all the districts.

Zofaas tended to waffle between staying with Kinzon at home with their parents or playing with the rest of them. You’d think that being only a month or so apart in age from the eldest of them to the youngest would make them see eye to eye, but to Eno, that was an eternity, and she could not stand staying still.

Hunting down the other kids itself was a game; they did not like being found, and she stuck out with her downy grey feathers and bright yellow eyes. So she had to chase them first before she could join in; once she did, they’d laugh and welcome her back before resuming their games, as to which she either picked the rules up as she went, or remembered from whenever they last played, and tried to trip up the older kids.

This time, they really did not want to be found; this she quickly learned was because they had already started hide-and-seek.

One of the Dragonborn kids— someone she found easier to hang around rather than the more humanoid races— shushed at her when she called out a delighted “Rovena!”

“Shhh, Eno!” already starting to move towards her and extend a hand from the rafters of a building’s ramshackle roof, “I’ll get caught if you do that!”

“I didn’t see any’ne else!” She chirped quietly— she couldn’t quite fly yet, but she had enough power in her tiny little wings to help her jump pretty high, and grab Rovena’s already very strong hand. “Only you!”

“How?” She hissed, putting Eno behind her dark blue scales, “I’m in the shadow!” 

Eno pointed at her own eyes in demonstration, extending the pupils to completely cover the color of her iris, “You’ve got bright bright eyes!”

The only reason the owlin knew she was blue was due to everyone’s descriptions of her; but she knew light when she saw it, and Rovena’s eyes were always bright. Rovena’s eyelids shuddered and soon the bright eye lights were dimmed considerably. “That better?”

She gave a thumbs up in delight. When they got caught, she hoped they’d be one of the last ones.

Alas, it was not to be.

A half-wood elven kid Eno could never quite get the hang of’s name, affectionately nicknamed ‘Bell’, was the one to find them; they were about midway through finding everyone, and had to deal with a grumbling owlin about it. 

Hiding was for games, whether or not they included the shiny guards was up to the day’s pleasures. Today it was simply hiding from each other; the entire city was their playground and it took until the late morning before everyone had been found and all the street kids of their sector pondered on what games they should play next.

“Handball?”

“Nah, we broke a few windows last time; I’d rather not run away from the shinies on an empty stomach, y’know?”

“Marbles?”

“Did you bring yer freakin’ marbles? Say ‘aye’ if ya did, ‘nay’ if ya frickin’ didn’t.”

A chorus of ‘nay’s and ‘nah’s rippled through the lot of them. Eno didn’t have marbles so she ‘abstained’. That’s what mama called it when the rest of them tried to get her to do something mom didn’t want them to do, at least.

“Hungry snake?”

“Ooo. That’d be fun.”

“Yeah but that needs a rope— do we have a rope?”

“No- I had to give it back to the sailors.”

“Damn it!”

That was a swear. She wasn’t allowed to use those. But it was funny seeing her elder peer do it with no consequences.

“How about a ‘Scavenger hunt’?”

“What did Lily just say about running away from the shinies??”

“Oh, right sorry. I mean some of us could scavenger hunt—?”

“It’s not as fun without everyone doing it— makes the shinies have to scatter pretty thin to actually find any of us.”

Eno wasn’t sure why they called it a scavenger hunt, because they never really returned their hunted items, but it was really fun! She wished everyone had been up to playing that one.

“Sardines?”

“Too close to hide and seek.”

“But it’s easier!”

“Shelve it in case we can’t decide?”

“Fine.”

“How about kick the can?”

“Again. Really close to hide-and-seek. And besides, that’s such a lame game, though.”

“You take that back.”

“No— because it is!”

“I’ll frickin’ skin you.”

“Guys, stop using frick, just say f—”

There was a chorus of shushes and hissing from the various beast-and-non-beast children. Eno swiveled her head around at the snakes that decided to become her surroundings. Why’d they do that? 

She thought she saw Bell pointing at her, specifically, but she wasn’t sure, because as soon as she looked over, Bell wasn’t even looking in her direction. 

Suspicious.

“Well, we could always just play another round of hide and seek, I guess.”

The chatter got loud at that suggestion. “Dude that would take soooo long.” 

“Yeah, it took hours alone to find everyone this round.”

“I’d rather sardines if that’s what we’re doing.”

A small chorus of ‘yeah’s rang through the rest.

The ringleader of their little band sighed and pinched at their eyes; if Eno remembered correctly, they were fifteen. Eldest friend they had aside from their parents. “Alright then,” asked the Yuan-ti, “who’s gonna be the first fish?”

Eno raised her hand in excitement along with a few others. Pleeeaaase I’m really good at hiding! She mentally pleaded.

There was a moment as the troupe leader started muttering under their breath, eyes flicking between all of them with their hands up multiple times, and then landed on Eno.

“Alright, brat, you’re up. You’ve got a 3 minutes head start before we start comin’ after you. No Diamond District this time; we almost got caught during the earlier hide and seek segment getting a few of the others.”

She nodded in earnest listening. That she could do! She stuck out too much in the Diamond district anyway with her raggedy hand-me-downs and too bright an eye for the shinier things.

Bolting down a few alleyways and scrambling over a couple of rooftops, she made it as far as her little claws could carry her over the top of the buildings before she had to duck back down to the streets. She forgot to start counting, but there were enough nimble-footed and winged kids amongst them that staying on the roofs for too long was a bad idea.

Eno ended up much closer to the docks than she was expecting. She debated briefly of hiding on a ship, but the idea of suddenly setting sail and having no way to get off frightened her too much to put much true considerment into. 

Ducking more towards the shadier side of things she found a tight little hole in a wall; after checking to make sure no rats would jump her (she was big enough to kill them, but she got scared usually first and let out a really high pitched scream if unprepared. She didn’t want to get found that easily.) she dropped down to her hands and crawled into the space. It led to the back room of some building filled with barrels and crates and she grinned like she’d struck gold.

There she found the darkest corner she could, and settled in.

Again, she wasn’t counting, but it was awhile of sitting in one place (enough so that she got pretty fidgety) before a head poked through the crawl space and coughed at the dust.

Surprisingly, it was the yuanti! Or maybe it was unsurprisingly… she wasn’t quite sure.

Eno was careful not to make a sound, or exude fear (or excitement for that matter), but it didn’t matter in the end, because they started sniffing, and spun their head towards her hiding place.

“There you are, brat.”

“Tracking me wi’h your nose is no fair,” she whispered, as snake eyes settled into her corner along with her, “the others can’t do that.”

“Well that’s their problem, eh? Let’s see how long we last before the name of the game really starts impacting us.”

Eno found out she’d been hiding for around an hour before they found her, and slowly the minutes ticked by. At around an hour and a half, Rovena came in, followed closely by Bell and a dwarven kid a few short minutes later. 

They had started chattering about nothing in particular or listening to stories from each other at about two hours in before five more in quick succession joined them. It was starting to get quite cramped in the small corner, and Eno made a point to comment on that, being dog piled as she was. They all just snickered and hushed each other. No one really knew what this building was but they weren’t inclined to get kicked out of their hiding place.

A few more kids filed in at around the third, third and a half hour, citing exhaustion from searching everywhere for them, and how it was almost lunch time.

Lily was the last one to find them at nearly four hours.

“Guys, you suck,” the human girl hissed, crawling through and space and immediately clocking them, “You all suck diseased moose wang.”

“Lily!” Rovena hissed as everyone started chuckling and crawling out of the space.

“What?” Lily groaned, “She doesn’t know what that even is! Let me use it.”

Who didn’t know what was? It might be her. She didn’t know what ‘wang’ was. It might be a swear by the indignation from Rovena. Rovena probably used worse than this new word when she thought Eno wasn’t listening though, so the little owlin thought it was a little weird to bash someone for that when you did it too.

From the looks she was given while looking around to see if anyone would tell her if she was correct in her guesses, she was correct on both accounts.

“Well, you’re the new first fish Lily.”

“Can we do that after we eat or something?”

“Thought you didn’t want to scavenger hunt?” Bell asked.

“I don’t care at this point. I’m tired, you were hard to find, and I’m hungry. So after we eat, I’ll be the sardine; happy?”

Eno was also hungry. She debated on heading back to her house to get some food, but she weighed that with having to find everyone again, and decided she’d hang out with everyone else to get food. Dinner time was the time that was ‘mandatory’ or ‘must do’ as it’d been explained to her. She didn’t mind that, gave her a vague idea of when to start getting nervous about getting back, but she’ll skip out on being heckled by her siblings for this lunch time.

She grappled for purchase on Rovena’s back— to a familiar growly, grumble of surprise— before settling on the dragonborn’s shoulders. Rovena could move a lot faster with her longer legs, and she didn’t want to be left behind on this one. Scavenger hunts were fast, and involved a lot of running and hiding. Rovena was usually the one to keep an eye on Eno anyways, and often used the small owlin in pranking and hunting schemes. It was fun! 

And besides, the Dragonborn never left her out to dry like a couple in this small gang she could name (her gaze involuntarily flickered to the yuanti).

This particular hunt was faster than usual— all of them saying a lot of words Eno didn’t understand; not because she didn’t know them! She knew common! But this wasn’t common. So she just hung onto Rovena’s horns and watched the older kids plotting. But the ringleader nodded after a point, and they all scattered to the winds. Some quite literally, like Rovena, who spread out her wings and started flying high into the sky towards wherever she thought she’d find the item assigned.

“What’re we lookin’ for?” she called into the wind.

“Fruit— nothin’ hard this time!”

“Oo! D’ya think we could get some of those— uhm, little oranges like last time?”

“They’re out of season- I think. I haven’t seen them in the shops.”

“Awww.”

“How about we snag some pomegranates?”

“Pom—” she broke off at the new word. Full of new words today. What in the world was that? “Pom???”

Rovena laughed a nasty laugh; it wasn’t mean, it just didn’t sound nice, but it made Eno smile because it meant her friend was happy.

“Oh, well now we gotta snag ‘em. Let’s so, birdy!”

It was a few more minutes before Rovena started to do a dive, and the reason Eno knew she was going to do that was because she pulled the maneuver that Eno loved— the small owlin felt the sensations of being pushed off the Dragonborn’s shoulders and being dropped from the safe spot between Rovena’s shoulder blades as she briefly free falls. Eno twists her whole head around backwards to see as the other girl repositions, causing Eno to position herself in response, both of them becoming smaller very fast, and then just as quickly, Rovena catches her quickly in a hug as she starts to dive like the peregrine falcons Eno sometimes sees with her family.

The whole time, she’s giggling in delight.

Rovena huffs as she catches her and grumbles familiar draconic words— Enososin may not know the language, but she’d heard this kind of tone from adults before to know she was muttering kinda mean things about how reckless Eno was, and how she played with fire too much.

But they’re once more diving Eno once again twists her head in a way to be able to see where they’re going, and sees the Diamond district’s market stalls approaching rapidly.

“They said no Diamond district!” She called— curious at the rule break; Rovena tended to follow very closely to what the yuan-ti laid down as rules, even if Eno tended to. Y'know. Not.

“This is the only place we’re gonna be getting pomegranates from,” Rovena crowed back, “and besides; they’re definitely not following that rule.”

At that, she pointed off to some other alley way as they flew, and she saw a familiar scaled form as they whooshed by.

Huh. Well then.

Landing on a roof before scrambling into an alley by the small market was easy, finding the stall that they wanted? Not so easy.

It took them a few minutes of quiet debate as they ducked and weaved to keep out of as much view as possible before Rovena made a noise that sounded like rocks grinding against each other, and pulled Eno close to a wall with her. 

“There— y’see?”

Enososin looked where she was pointing and saw— finally, dang it— the fruit stall. There were tons of different varieties of fruits there, most of which Eno had absolutely no idea what they were. But Rovena kept turning Eno’s head towards a round fruit with a weird little pointy top. She looked up at Rovena. “The weird apple one?”

“Yea— those are pomegranates; think you can grab some?”

Eno looked around assessingly. “Too many people,” she mumbled, “need you to do a dance.”

“The stage is set, the dancer about to take position; get to work little side character!”

Eno nodded and casually headed closer to the fruit stall, like she was meant to be here, and watched out of the corner of her eye what Rovena was doing.

The dark blue dragonborn headed out from their spot, walking a little bit out of the way of it, and then sprinting towards a booth, slamming her body into it like her life depended on it and looking like she had tried to skid to a stop before hand.

Well. Eno blinked. That. That was a distraction for sure. Eno was distracted. 

But so were the rest of the adults at the commotion; she may be pretty young, but she noticed that adults loved distractions just as much as, if not more than, her.

Making sure the fruit stall tiefling was distracted by whatever the meats stall seller was snapping at her friend, she slid behind them all and started reaching for the targeted food.

This part always felt a little strange to her. She wasn’t quite comfortable with taking things that definitely weren’t hers. Her siblings did it to her sometimes, but they always gave it back after a time; that was never the case with scavenger hunts. But they were fun, so Eno didn’t complain too much. Out loud, of course. And she thought nasty thoughts when she complained so mind readers wouldn’t like her.

She grabbed a few of the round, magenta fruits and stuffed them into the small sack as Rovena distracted people, and when she saw people starting to turn away, she sprinted back to where she and the dragonborn had landed to make their escape. This place always felt like eyes watched her, and she wanted out anyways.

Rovena did a cursory apology as she started hustling away— to the sound of the angry market stall keeper— towards Eno, who hopped from foot to foot with anxiety.

“C'mon c'mon c'mon!” She chirped to the dragonborn who decided instead of letting Eno try running with their haul, picked up her charge and set off at a dead sprint before springing into the air and zooming off to the woods.

Rovena landed them both near the woods with praises for her speed and amused chirping back.

“You did good kid— how many did you grab?”

“Not too many; I feel like it’s cheating to grab too many and not give them back.”

“Meh,” Rovena dismissed, “they can afford to import this stuff, they can afford to lose some of this stuff.” 

Eno had absolutely no idea what ‘import’ was but it sounded close enough to simply ‘getting’. Strange, but alright. “Well, I got.. uhm.” she counted under her breath. “Seven!”

“Nice!” The dragonborn grinned, “but knowing this lot they’re not gonna let you have one, so let’s have you and me crack one open before heading back, yeah?”

“Do we tell them we had one?”

Rovena looked at her strangely, but shrugged “If you want to, sure, why not. I’m not gonna. But what are they gonna do? Take it from your stomach? Nuh uh. Worst they’ll do is not share some stuff for awhile.”

At that declaration, Eno shrugged and eyed the fruit in question. Wasn't really made for a beak, but that had never stopped her before; she started digging into it a little bit with her beak when she heard a rushed, but laughing cry for her to stop.

“Nonono-!” Rovena laughed, “you don’t bite the outside! I did that too the first time; the outside isn’t tasty.”

Eno frowned. “Then what do you eat?”

Rovena reached out for the pomegranate as Eno handed it over. The girl bared her teeth and bit quite gently into it with the side of her mouth— ripping a small chunk of the shell off and spitting it off to the side. Then using her claws, she cracked it open like an egg, and showed the inside treasures to Eno standing on her tip toes.

It was— weird looking inside. The shapes of the encasement resembling cobblestones pressed not tight enough together, but the little round things that shined in the sunlight and looked like jewels embedded in a rock? Well, and delighted her to no end.

“You eat the seeds.”

Taking half of the pomegranate from Rovena, Eno sat down and used her tunic to help her catch the pieces that fell as she bit into tiny juicy seeds and pried open the inedible shell surrounding it. Rovena joined her and ate the seeds by taking the chunks out of the main shell, and simply eating them with the thin wrapping around them. Eno tried it once after watching her, but quickly decided that, no, she’d rather just eat the seeds by themselves, as the bitterness of the shell ruined the taste.

It was a very messy time spot of the day, laughing as they munched on a pomegranate together. After that though, they made their way back close to the docks on clawed feet, sticking close to the shadows so they wouldn’t get the shinies on their tails. Er— tail in Rovena’s case; tail feathers in her own.

Eno was the first to spot their crew, and tugged lightly on Rovena’s elbow as they walked— Rovena then changed course as they both headed over to a few others with a vast arrangement of goods.

“So,” called a few of the human, and half human, kids “how’d it go?”

“We got some pomegranates,” Rovena preened, as Eno lifted the bag with their find in delight. 

“Sheesh!” Lily called, smiling, “Hope I get one!”

“There’s only six,” said the dwarf, “so unless you’re sharing half or a quarter with someone so the whole crew can have some, it’s gonna be a free-for-all.”

“Toss me one then— I don’t wanna share.”

The kid shrugged and tossed her a pomegranate. “Five remaining.”

That’s why Rovena worried Eno wouldn’t get one. Huh. People were weird.

It took only a short while before the rest filed back; sprinting or sneaking, they all shared their food with each other and shared how they got it. Eno’s personal bias had her preferring Rovena and her own story, but everyone else’s was just as entertaining.

****

After the scavenger hunt, it was mostly doing simple games. Someone had found a rope so they did hungry snake, and one of the human kids who’d suggested marbles had brought a big enough bag for the rest of them to start a mini-tournament where some adults even came over and gave their best attempts. Some of them made it pretty far before getting their behinds handed to them by either Bell or the human kid in question. 

She lost track of time as the sun lowered in the sky and she simply had fun with her friends. That was until the dwarven kid— their name was Soir, or something close to that, but her pronunciation was never right, so she usually spelled it instead so she didn’t misname her poor friend— nudged her and looked at the sun with a pointed glance. She looked up in response and realized; oh it was late. 

Dinner time would be soon. Uh oh. She didn’t want to get yelled at.

Scrambling her marbles together and handing them back to the human kid, she waved frantically as she started hustling away. “I gotta go!!”

“Ah— dinner time?” Bell asked.

“Yeah—” she nodded rapidly, “see you guys later?”

There was a call from a shadow; “That’s if you can find us again, brat!”

She giggled as she ran away to the chorus of kids laughing with her. They always said that, and she always did. 

Her clawed feet clacked against the cobbles as she raced down districts to where she lived, and crawled through small spaces to get to the stairs, hidden away behind a usually locked door. She did some small hop-flying as she jumped up the stairs and ran towards her home.

Eno grabbed the door handle with a small jump and leaned her momentum into opening it and stumbled in— “Not late!” she called, heaving for breath as she started closing the door behind her, when she finally looked up and paused.

The room was empty.

She trilled in confusion as she closed the door. That’s.. that’s not right. 

Doing a quick sweep through the rooms, checking the nooks and crannies and under things (despite the small space), before standing in between the ‘living room’ and ‘dining room/kitchenette’, puzzled.

She wasn’t very good at puzzles. 

Eno was here, but her family was not? She spun around in place as if that would summon them; it didn’t, to her disappointment.

She huffed an unamused trilling hoot and went over and sat on the large comfy seat they all shared. Well. She would wait then! Show them that she could be patient as the rest of them were late.

As she sat, she thought about today with a smile. Ooo she couldn’t wait to shove the fact she’d tried pomegranates today in Kinzon and Ahkrin’s beaks— it’d be so funny. She’d bet they didn’t even know what those were! She sure hadn’t, so it must be the same, otherwise they’dve gloated about it too. 

Frul and Odus wouldn’t care— they didn’t really care about what food they got, only so much as they could eat it. The weirdos. She was always horrified when they started eating things with those horribly mushy textures. She hated those the most— how did they do that??

Zofaas would be the only one she wouldn’t boast to; they liked learning, the big ol’ nerd. She’d tell them every little thing about the weird fruit and watch them sit and listen to her every word. It was nice having their sibling’s attention like that, because she’d let them talk too and let them have the same attention.

Her stomach growled and she startled from her daydreams. She peeked outside and frowned at the darkness surrounding the streets. She’d come when the sun was nearly set, and now the sun was gone.

She was hungry.

Well— that wasn’t completely the truth; she was always kinda hungry. Her older siblings said that was normal, though. They lied to her though. Was this a lie? No, because she was always hungry; it was a truth. 

Speaking of truth, she continued picking at her feathers as she tried to remember if her parents had said something about leaving? Maybe? She didn’t pay attention like she should to them sometimes when she wanted to play, and this could be one of those times… Something at breakfast maybe? Did any of them mention leaving?? No because when she dashed for the door, someone would have stopped her to remind her— they knew how her head worked. She was five! They kinda had to at this point.

But it was really hard to ignore the fear making her belly flip flop like she was getting in trouble. She hadn’t done anything this time! She came back on time even! She was the only one here on time! 

She kicked at the ground. This was stupid. Stupid and dumb. She was smart! At least her mom always said so— even if it was with a weird expression on her face. So! She had to prove her right! She was Enososin Folook! Of course she could manage something as stupid as dinner! She’d seen her parents do it plenty.

Standing up determinedly, she marched over to the kitchenette and assessed the situation.

She was gonna need the chair.

After some near mishaps that were common for her, and some maneuvering to find the things she saw her parents use for food, she looked at them critically. Didn’t they have a cookbook? Another 30 minutes of attempting to find that, quick flipping through to find something that had the meat she had at hand (it smelled like turkey, so she was gonna hazard a guess and say it was that), and a meal name she actually recognized. She stumbled across “turkey pie”. She remembered there being pastry dough left over from bread making yesterday in a jar— would that work? She only needed to make one for herself; so she’d try this one. There was a very long hour of sounding out words and trying to find them on the little bottles and attempting to understand the instructions of what to do with the knife and stove.

One near burning of the house down later, she had a meal. It was very dark out now, but she didn’t really need the sun to work to be able to see— but  now to see if she could actually eat it.

It didn’t taste too good, the texture of the dough being off and a little too gooey, but it was food, and she devoured the whole thing.

Her parents would’ve made her go to bed by now, no matter what kind of prank they’d be playing. She wondered if she should stay up longer and see if they’d show up, but to be truly honest, she was super duper tired, and she’d squeaked her honest to freaking stones frustration with everything on more than one instance as she attempted to cook. Bedtime.

Hopping off the chair, she looked at the door. Lock it? Yeah. Lock it. Mom usually did that before she and her siblings went to bed. 

Scrambling with the door, she fiddled with the locks before stumbling back down and crawling into her nest of blankets. Usually she’d be surrounded by her noisy siblings. She waffled between feeling so deeply sad at them not being here and an amusement that she was going to finally sleep as long as she wanted. 

She landed on the former option and curled up on her stomach as she fell asleep.

****

Her anxiety had calmed after the first night because it wasn’t the first time she’d forgotten something— maybe they were on a short trip! She hoped they were having fun, the forgetful dumbies, they had left her behind! 

So she stayed at the house most of the first day, searching for clues in her house as to where they’d went. It couldn’t be too hard— there weren’t many places to look!

Scattered clothes, that was normal, nothing out of the ordinary there; no new claw marks so a scuffle hadn’t made them have to go to the hospice— they’dve been back by now anyways if that were the case. Everything looked like it had been left in the middle of things being done. Did they all up and vanish? She knew magic people could do that, but was it to play a prank on her? If so, it wasn’t funny! And she said so, into the empty air. Nothing responded, and it left her feeling so very alone.

She knew she was small, it helped with games where she needed to hide, but she also knew when everyone was home, it was cramped. She was small enough to duck through legs and wings and the cacophony they made in their house but not everyone was so lucky to have her dexterity and ability to squeeze past everyone. 

But nothing— she even hyped herself up to duck into her parents’ room (very not allowed) to see if she could find anything that could help her there. Zilch. 

That night she was once again careful with the food she made. She really only knew how to make breakfast, and so that’s what she made that night. She ate it by the window in hopes of seeing something out there. The stars were her only companions.

The second day, she went out and about; confused and the fear coming back. Surely they’d come back once they realized they’d forgotten her? But they knew she was smart— so maybe they trusted her? But mama always said she was too young or small for some things. Her mom usually echoed those sentiments. Her siblings were less. Nice. About it. Runt was the word they liked tossing around. And annoyingly energetic. Also brat. Brat was common for her. One letter away from rat was what Kinzon said once. But runt just meant she had some wiggle room, which she was very clever with!

So she tried to be clever. She was careful through the days like how her mom and mama were with the food. She wasn’t sure why but they were: so would she! She asked the other packs of kids who played in the streets with her if they knew; most shrugged, some frowned and said they’d look into it— those were the older kids who only sometimes played her, like her siblings. The yuanti ‘tsk’ed at her. Rovena, Bell, and the dwarven kid banded together with some others to try and find information. The next few days were filled with shrugs, more ardent declarations of trying to find them, and looks that looked close to sad for her. She didn’t like that expression. It made her belly flip flop.

She still played everyday, sunrise to sundown, but it wasn’t enough to distract her anymore.

It was at the end of the 10th day that there was no more things in the cupboards anymore, nothing she recognized as edible by itself at least, and her family still weren’t back. 

She couldn’t deny it anymore. She was scared. She was beyond anything she’d felt in her life. She’d once thought that having to face mom after accidentally snapping her grandfather’s timepiece was the scariest thing she’d ever have to do. She was so, so very wrong.

She stayed in the house, most of the time, too scared to go out. Rovena had figured out where she lived some time ago, and came by every so often with a few others to keep her company and bring food. They offered to bring her with them so she wasn’t alone. She refused. ‘Politely’ she thought, but she wasn’t really in the mood to try and ‘do what other people wanted to hear from her’. 

She just wanted her family back.

****

It had been just a little over two weeks since her family had simply fallen off the face of the earth and she felt like she’d aged a lifetime. 

After the fifteenth day she finally regathered her faltering courage and went outside to try again. 

She asked sailors, they cited a bunch of kids had been asking similar questions; they hadn’t seen anyone fitting the descriptions given. She asked some of the homeless that hung around her area if they remembered anything. Most shook their heads. Some claimed a large ruckus happened that day, but aside from that, they didn’t really remember it.  She even snuck into the Diamond district to ask the desk lady in the shinies’ place the same question. The desk lady had shaken her head and asked Eno to “wait right there”. 

This little owlin didn’t trust like that.

She ran.

But the thing is, when you have nowhere to run and hide, where do you go?

She wandered through the district and ended up in the woods. She liked the woods. The trees were big and nice to hide in. 

Sometimes she and her siblings went deep enough that they came out the other side, but that was only if they started really really early. And Mama and Mom had to come, they didn’t let the seven of them do that alone, to the consternation of the rest of them.

Now she would give her shiniest trinket for that opportunity again.

She gently clawed at her leg with her foot as she antsed around— a bit of a dance like hopscotch, but more anxiety filled, and went up to a tree and started climbing, grabbing branches and vines when available, and using her little claws to dig into the surface level bark when necessary. She liked the trees. She didn’t wanna hurt them.

Climbing as far as she could, she started hopping from branch to branch, tree to tree, each level she tried to get high enough to get above the canopy of leaves, taking the low road only when there was no other option. 

Eno finally popped her head out of the leaves and peered around at the town partially below and the sea out past that. She wondered if she’d have to sail to find them. That would be a cool adventure to tell them all, that she, the youngest of them, hunted them down across the many seas and lands she’d never seen. 

She sat there above the canopy, watching the day pass; tiny ants of people moving around the town and the leaves rustling pleasantly as she stared unblinkingly. 

The sun was finally beginning to set when Eno ducked her head below the canopy once more, and clambered a few layers down, once more going deeper into the forest as she leapt.

And then she heard noises that were not from her, nor any animal she recognized.

It was humming.

She blinked as she held onto a trunk of a tree she was about to leap from and peered around to see where it was coming from.

It didn’t take too long for her to spot the perpatrator; because they were coming from the brush like a statue from the castle come to life to roam the earth.

Huge.

That was her first thought on seeing the figure and she immediately puffed up upon seeing them.

Huge person. Bigger than her mom, and mom was giant. But instead of feathers and wings making up their body, they had the familiar grey skin every humanoid had and bright red hair in a very, very long braid. She didn’t think she’d actually seen anyone with that long of hair. And the only reason she could tell it was red was because she’d once seen a book with the same shade of grey, and people said it was ‘red’. Their back was to her, so she couldn’t really see their face, but she was almost sure that there had been bright red lines disappearing under their clothes. They looked super strong, and they were carrying a weird shining stick to walk— Eno fluffed up even more as she realized her mistake— giant glowing hammer. 

She watched them intently. Why had she never seen this person before? Did they not come into town? They couldn’t do it regularly if so, because Eno would definitely remember this person. Her memory wasn’t very good, except for shiny things, food, and games. This person had a big shiny object— she’dve recognized them.

Eno realized she must have been staring a bit too much, making the big statue to have the thing that happens when you feel someone staring at you too much happen, because they’ve stopped walking, and tilted their head very very slightly behind them before fully turning their head around. She watches as their eyes are glancing around before— Oops. They spotted her. The big grey person started blinked rapidly a few times. And looked around like he was looking for something attached to her. 

They seemed.. confused? She wasn’t good with the nose people expressions yet. Their postures were all wrong for her to completely get what they were doing. But he was doing that almost scrunchy move with the eyebrows and mouth, so she was deeming it ‘confused’ until proved otherwise!

“Hello, little one...”

Whoa. Big voice. She clutched instinctively at the tree tighter. It made sense— of course!— big big adult means big big voice ! Even if the big man seemed to be trying to… not. Do that. 

It shook her. She valiantly attempted to stomp on her fear. That didn’t stop it from making her feathers fluff up in response. 

Watching them carefully, they seemed to watch her back. She had absolutely no idea what to make of this person and that unsettled her. She didn’t like being unsettled. Her wings tended to fluff up even more when that happened and flutter in distress. She couldn’t 100% control that movement yet, and it always gave her away when she said she ‘wasn’t scared’ when one of their parents told a scary story.

This seemed to make the big person start moving towards her, an expression she couldn’t really understand on their face as they came closer– what–?

Then she realized she was suddenly being grabbed oh no oh no— she squeaked out a jumbled call of “back up” and “I’m fine”. She continued to get pulled from her perch— the big man was saying something as he started pulling her down but all she could think was “let go” and nothing coherently came out in common.

Starting to panic, she squirmed and let instincts take the reins. She felt something warm and smelled weirdly similar to how she imagined a wet copper piece to taste like in her mouth all of a sudden and a sharp inhale and slight shake from the big man; it took a moment for her to realize her beak was embedded in something. That’s a very large finger. She had bit him. 

Uh oh. 

She was about to get yelled at or he was gonna take her to the cops or maybe hurt her or— in Oh no oh no she was so dead she was so dead why did she do that?!? She knew biting wasn’t allowed why did she bite?! She was so dead this big man was gonna kill her and she’d never be able to say sorry to her parents for forgetting—

She had started squeaking in fear while her brain raced like a horse— and she felt the world kinda rush down in a way that made her already twisted tummy start sitting in her throat as the big man bent down and gently put her down, releasing her but keeping his hands close.

“Hey, hey,” said the big voice again, actually making sense to her this time, gentle and a little rushed, “you’re ok, you’re ok, sh-sh-sh-sh— I’m sorry, I thought you were stuck, that was my fault, you’re ok, you’re ok, I promise. I’m so sorry, little owlette, that was my fault.”

It took her longer than the pride every five year old carried like a trophy would ever allow her to admit for her to calm down from squeaking noises only her missing family would recognize and physically crying in the middle of the forest. The whispered apologies and reassurances helped, but everytime she thought a little bit about the fact the big man didn’t know what she had been calling out in her panic and that made her start crying all over again. 

At some point during her meltdown, the big man had stopped crouching and instead was sitting crossed-legged, and very, very gently petting her head, humming some sort of tune instead of words. She noted he had a very warm hand. 

Once she stopped shaking so hard she felt that warm hand move away and she felt a loss. She missed her mom. She wanted her mama. She wanted to hug her siblings even if they made her angry. She didn’t know how to convey all that to this weird big man she had bitten. She just looked up at him miserably waiting for the chiding to start. 

But it didn’t. He just looked back down at her in concern, and she noted idly as she sniffled that the big man had eyes the same shade of grey as the leaves in the trees. Was he a tree spirit? A protector of the trees? The hammer would make sense if so.

“Child, are you alright?”

She always heard people say ‘yeah’ or ‘I’m fine’ to this question, but she really did not feel alright. “No.”

The man tilted his head at her in assessing concern. “Are you hurt on your body?”

She shook her head. She didn’t think that the heavy weight in her chest was real otherwise the big man might’ve had a bit more trouble picking her up.

“You feel bad?” He asked.

She nodded miserably.

He ‘hmm’ed in sympathy at her nod. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know where my family went,” she squeaked out— her voice was quivering so bad and she wanted to kick herself for it, but just like that she was on the verge of tears again, “they just went poof like a magic show and they’ve been gone for— for two weeks. ’M good at — at finding things but I don’t where to look anymore. They lef’ me behind.”

The man’s eyebrows had risen, eyes widening a small a bit at the start of her reason and had shot to his hairline by the end of it. She didn’t know what she did that was so bad she’d been left behind and she stubbornly refused to cry again. 

It was really hard not to.

“Dear child— what’s your name?”

Mom always told her telling her name to someone was dangerous, especially if you didn’t know what they could do with it, but she didn’t really understand what that meant. She closed her eyes really tightly for a moment so she didn’t cry. “Enososin.” She replied, blinking her eyes open again and remembering to add— “Folook.”

“I am Saint Rollo,” he introduced, bowing his head in a nod, and now that he mentioned it, she spots the symbol on the weird pointed cloth thing that priests wear with the symbol of what mom called ‘the blood clerics’. Oh. She knew that was important, but she didn’t know why. “And if you don’t mind me asking, would you like some food? A place to stay while we look for your family?”

“I have a house..” she mumbled. She felt bad— what if they came back when she wasn’t there? 

“Forgive me, as I’m sure you’re extremely good at taking care of yourself, if you have for this long, but it’d ease my heart if you were somewhere with people who will support you.”

“Th.. the older kids help.”

Something seemed to occur to the ‘Saint’ and he murmured something about something explaining a few things. She was tired, so she didn’t really feel up to asking what he meant. She’d ask later if she remembered.

“Here— I’m sure, your friends help enormously, but perhaps some adults who have more reach in concerns of missing people?”

“No cops,” she immediately squeaked. “I don’t wanna go to jail.”

The Saint laughed, baring his teeth gently at her. A big smile. “No no, definitely not. I won’t let you go to jail. I was referring to the church.” He pointed off towards the towering… tower. She didn’t know what else to call it. It was a really big tower that peeked through the leaves. Her parents didn’t go to church, said it wasn’t really their ‘thing’ whatever that means. “We’d only need to go to the church down that way, and get you some clothes, some food, and maybe some sleep?”

She thought about how tired she was. “Yeah. Sleep sounds nice.”

He nodded at her assessment gently, and seemed to be pondering something. She looked up at him as he blinked back at her. She always won staring contests with other people.

“If I may— may I carry you over there?”

She blinked. Immediately the fluttery heavy feeling in her stomach was back. “I’m sorry—”

He raised up a hand— not the one she had bitten, that one was still bleeding through some cloth he’d at some point wrapped around his hand— and shook his head. “Don’t apologize. I was in the wrong. You reacted correctly in that situation. But the question stands; may I carry you, or would you prefer to walk?”

Eno shuffled her claws as she thought. Her legs ached and her wings couldn’t really carry her anywhere. Yeah. Ok. She nodded after a moment and raised her arms expectantly.

There was a brief look that flashed on the giant’s face before it was replaced by the content expression he’d been wearing before he’d spotted her. She was once again lifted into the air and placed in the crook of his right arm, as the bandaged hand picked up the hammer, and they started towards the church.

[jungshookz]

consider this... so ballet class is done for the day and jimin is rubbing down the bars/wiping the foggy mirrors and y/n sees him and shes like you guys go ahead. then she stays to help him bc he works so hard to be a good teacher BUT THEN WHEN THEY FINISH ITS LIKE AFTER HOURS and they attempt to leave the building but realize that the janitor locked up so they're trapped inside and they're forced to be alone together until the person jimin called for help finally comes. imagine the TENSION 🥺

➺ pairing; park jimin x reader

➺ genre; balletteacher!jiminiverse!!! mostly cute things happen but also some words r exchanged that make it a little hot n heavy heh 

➺ wordcount: 8k 

➺ what to expect; “what-“ your voice cracks, “-makes you think that, mr. park?”

➺ optional readings: one; two; three

➺ note; i hope u don’t mind but i changed the request a little bit!! there’s still plenty of y/n and jimin cleaning up the classroom but the janitor didn’t make it in as a character :’(( but i douBT you guys care about the janitor anyway because hello it’s jimin and y/n!!! as per usual this drabble spun out of control which is why it’s 8k words long :D also i’m realising that all the parts combined basically add up to one of my regular fics so i guess ballet!jimin could’ve been a fic but enough about thAT i hope this very large drabble pleases the crowd!!! (also i’m sorry i couldn’t find the original source of the gif but i found it off this pinterest page) happy reading!!

                                       »»————-　♡　————-««

you typically do not condone lying because you believe in the idea that if you tell a lie, that lie will come back sooner or later to bite you in the ass… so it’s always better to tell the truth!

honesty is the best policy, after all  

with that being said you aRe human at the end of the day and you can make exceptions at times when it comes to telling the truth

and this would definitely be one of those times

“how come you haven’t packed your stuff up yet, slow-poke?” lisa nudges your back with her duffle bag and you turn around from your locker to see her and a couple of the other girls all packed up and ready to go “and how come you’re still in uniform??”

you pause for a second before offering her a sheepish smile “i… uh…”

here’s what’s happening

you really appreciated that jimin went out of his way to get all of you guys valentine’s day presents because it was just such a sweet surprise and honestly you haven’t been able to stop thinking about how bashful he was when he was handing everyone’s flowers out

and of course you haven’t forgotten the fact that you were the only one who received a lavender rose when everyone else got light pink ones

anyways

you bought him a little gift as a way to return the favour just because you felt kinda bad that he didn’t get anything on valentine’s day

and at first you were going to ask the others if maybe all of you should chip in and get him something nice and expensive but the selfish little monster inside of you convinced you that no, you should keep this a secret and make yourself look like the beST student!!!

and you will admit that you felt a little bad at first about not telling everyone about your idea because it… does kind of make you look like a suck-up (and you hate suck-ups!!!) buT in your defence, if you suggested the idea then everyone would just round back to the whole ‘y/n and mr park sitting on a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g’ teasing nightmare and why the heck would you want to subject yourself to even moRE teasing???

usually after class everyone kind of just goes off on their own after saying goodbye but for some reason, it seems that the girls decided to take their sweet-ass time in leaving this afternoon

you’re not even sure if jimin is in the dang building anymore at this point

“i know we usually walk to the subway together, but-” lisa speaks up again after five whole seconds of you staring at her going uhhhhhh before she gestures behind her “the girls suggested an uber carpool situation and my legs are suPer duper sore so i’m going for that - do you want in?”

“oh, well, thanks for asking- i think i’m… probably just going to take the subway home!” you smile politely as you discreetly shut your locker so that they don’t see the neatly wrapped gift peeking out of your bag

“aw, really?” lisa purses her lips in thought, “since it’s a little late, we can all walk you there and then i guess we’ll call an uber after we say good-“

“no, no!” you snort before flicking your wrist “you guys head off, no need to worry about me. it’s going to take me a while to change out of the unitard and the skirt and the-“

“since when do you change out of your uniform after class? everyone just wears their clothes ovEr their unitards.” jisoo pipes up from behind lisa and you swallow thickly before letting out a chuckle and scratching the back of your neck

that is true

everyone usually just puts on sweatpants and a hoodie after class

no one ever changes into another outfit!!!!

you can feel heat beginning to travel up the back of your neck

you’ve never been good at lying!!!!! and now you’re getting nervouS!! and when you get nervous you become even worse at lying!!!!!!

“are you feeling okay?? you look a little flushed-” ailee’s brows furrow together in confusion and you rub your clammy palms on the back of your cardigan

o god

what do you say now???

oOH tell them you had a bad tuna sandwich for lunch and that you need some alone time with the toilet

…ok no that’s a little nasty aNd very too-much-information

what about if you tell them you applied for a job here as an after-hours janitor and that you need to start getting ready for that and then when they ask you why you got a job here you can tell them that you’ve been having financial struggles and as a young woman living alone in a big city you’re just trying to make ends meet but it’s been really hard and you can barely pay for these classes and every night you have to beg on the streets for dinner-

yeah thAt one’s a little melodramatic and straight up not true so that probably isn’t going to work either

“helloooo?? what’s the holdup, people??” seulgi yells out from the entrance of the changing room

“-my period just came and it’s going to take me a while to strip off and do my business!” you blurt out and a couple of the girls back up a little because of how louDLy you announced that

“oh! alright, that makes sense?” lisa snorts before shaking her head “i totally get the struggle. do you… need a tampon or anything?”

“nope! i, uh, i’m all good. thank you, though.” you clear your throat and offer her a smile “but seriously, you guys go ahead and i’ll see you next week!”

you smile and wave as the last of the girls file out of the changing room before letting out a breath of relief

you appreciated them offering to walk you to the subway and all that but damN they were starting to get a little annoying!!

“okay… it’s not a big deal…” the present in your bag feels like it’s weighing you down as you make your way down the hallway back to the classroom  

for some reason it feels like you’re walking to your execution

it’s not a big deal!

it’s just a present for your teacher and that is noT a big deal

it’s a nice gesture and you’re doing this because you’re a nice person

…okay but if u think about it it is kind of a big deal because the person you’re giving this present to is park jimin and you don’t want him to think that you’re harbouring a little crush on him because a student crushing on her teacher is not only cliché but also kind of!!! pathetic!!!!!!

and if he knew that you had a crush on him he’d probably end up giving you a whole speech on being professional and respecting student-teacher relationship boundaries which is honestly very pitiful aND embarrassing and you’d much rather avoid that whole fiasco

hm

ok then maybe you should rethink this whole gift-giving thing

you can express your gratitude in other ways!

do you still have the receipt?

it’s probably crumpled up at the bottom of your bag  

you wonder to yourself if the store is still open right now and if you have time to return the-

“y/n?” you stumble backwards a little in surprise when the door suddenly swings open and jimin’s brows knit together curiously “what are you still doing here? was there something you wanted to talk about?”

oh there are pLenty of things you’d like to talk about with jimin

like the meaning behind the lavender rose he gave you and if he knows that it means what it means

“well, uh, i didn’t have something to talk about, necessarily…” you clear your throat as you follow him into the classroom “but i-“

“you know what, i’m actually glad you stayed behind.” jimin whips around and your eyes widen a bit

what’s that supposed to mean??

“you are?” you whisper faintly and jimin nods before offering you a smile

oh god

this is happening all too fast

a minute ago you were freaking out that jimin probably didn’t feel the same way but here he is now-

“the janitor said that he had to leave early tonight so i told him i’d stay behind after class to clean the classroom myself, but now that you’re here - why don’t you start wiping down the mirrors?” jimin gestures towards the grubby mirrors at the front of the classroom before pointing towards the door “and i’m going to go find the mop and bucket.”  

“oh!” you drop your duffle bag to the ground with a flop when jimin tosses a rag at you “well, mr. park, you see, i actually wanted to-“

“less talking, more cleaning, miss y/l/n…” jimin raises a brow at you before clapping his hands together “chop chop!”

“but i-“ you groan quietly when jimin slips out of the room before turning to look at the foggy mirrors

…okay why are the mirrors so dirty?????

you’re going to have to talk to everyone about maybe not smearing their hands all over the mirrors like animals

also you’re not sure how you’re supposed to give jimin his gifts when he’s given you the responsibility to help clean up the classroom

you didn’t sign up for thiS >:-(

right

so

it’s been about 20 minutes or so since you started cleaning

jimin put some music on so that the two of you wouldn’t be cleaning in awkward silence

he surprised you a little when he asked yoU what you wanted to listen to

(you ended up choosing one of those lofi mix videos on youtube because you felt like that would be a safe option)

(it’s an animal crossing gentle piano mix and it’s very soothing and is actually helping you calm down a little bit)

(“really? animal crossing?” “what?? you said i could choose!”)

you decided to take a break from the mirrors (wiping mirrors was noT as easy as you thought it’d be) so you’ve moved on to wiping down the bars instead

jimin’s on his hands and knees diligently scrubbing away at some shoe marks on the floor

he wore a white button up and slacks to class today which isn’t anything out of the usual except for the fact that now he’s unbuttoned the top couple of buttons and he’s rolled + pushed up the sleeves and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t bothered by it

the chain around his neck seems to wink at you under the lights and almost immediately you wonder what his chain would look like hanging above you

…oh boy

you swallow thickly before scrubbing harder at a smudge on the bar

okay you know what

this is ridiculous

you came here to give him something but here you are doing chores

and it seems that you’ve decided against giving him his gift simply because you are SHY

you’re weak

WEAK!!!!

a weak little wimp, that’s what you are

no offence (but it’s kind of tru)

“hey, mr. park?” you blurt out before you realise and your eyes widen slightly in panic

“yes?” jimin turns to glance at you over his shoulders for a second before returning to his vigorous scrubbing aaaaAAND you are now realising that his shirt is a little see-through under the lights and his back muscles are.,., well.,., they are definitely flexing.,.,

you cut your nails recently so it probably wouldn’t hurt him if you dug them into his shoulder blad-

oh my god

get a grip

PLEASE for the love of god get a grip

you know what

it’s because your period is late this month!! that’s why your hormones are completely out of whack

you wouldn’t be surprised if you reeked of pheromones right now

“also, you can call me jimin, you know. mr. park is kind of an in-class thing.” jimin teases

“right! …jimin.” you cough a little when your voice wavers slightly

it’s not that you’re uncomfortable with calling him jimin

it’s just that you’re used to calling him mr. park and jimin feels so informal and you knoW he’s only like two? three? years older than you so it’s not weird for you to be calling him by his name but!!!!! aHH

but then again you like saying his name :-) because it makes you feel closer to him :-) oh god u rly do like him :-)

(also he likes hearing u say his name)

“i, um-“ you hang the rag over the bar before quickly wiping your hands on the back of your skirt “the reason why i stayed behin-“

“hold that thought-“ jimin gets up off the ground and dusts his hands off before patting his stomach “i don’t know about you but i am starving, so i’m going to quickly get some food from that deli down the block - do you want anything? i feel a little bad that i made you stay after class to help me clean.” he grabs his jacket before checking the pockets to make sure he has his wallet with him

right

well  

maybe this is another sign from god to noT giving jimin this present

every time you’re about to do it something happens!!!

“oh gosh, don’t worry about it! i… didn’t have any plans, anyway, so…” you snort before turning away from him because woW you are very good at making yourself sound like a loser “but, uh- you don’t have to get me anything! thank you for offering…”

“alright, i’ll be back in twenty. feel free to take a break!”

as soon as jimin leaves you immediately smack your forehead against the glass

okay first of all ouch

but second of all

“c’mon, y/n. keep it cool!”

what is it about park jimin that reduces you into a fumbling, awkward little loser???!!!

jimin lets out a breath as soon as he steps out of the room

he has no idea what’s wrong with him today but for some reason he’s like extra jittery and he has no idea why

it probably has something to do with the three iced lattes he drank but aLso it doesn’t really help that for the last 20 minutes he’s been alone with you and it’s driving him crazy

you drive him crazy!!!

he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you

you’ve been grand jetéing all over his damn mind for the last two weeks!!

lately he’s just been finding it more than difficult to suppress and deny his feelings for you

like during the ten minute break in the middle of class he thinks it’s so sweet how excited you get when you pull your snacks out of your bag

the other day you brought in some cherries and you were making some of the girls crack up because you were trying to use the cherry juice to stain your lips for a make-shift lipstick but you were failing miserably

and then when you noticed he was watching you you immEdiately wiped your mouth with the back of your hand and ended up smearing cherry juice across your cheek and he had to try sO hard not to crack a smile at that

or when one of the girls asks you to help them out with a move you’re always so willing to help out

it’s pretty normal for jimin to give you guys about half an hour of class time to just get used to the routine and practice it on your own (and also this time gives him the chance to sit back and relax a little bit)

but he’s noticed that y/n the student is very different from y/n the teacher

“okay, 5-6-7-8- nope. no. try again. here we go, 5-6-7-up- okay, you need to get this timing right otherwise you’re going to be a beat behind for the entire routine.” you shake your head as you look at lisa in the mirror “are you paying attention? you go on the 8, you don’t go after the 8. i don’t know how many times i need to tell you that.”

“right, sorry…” lisa mutters as she gets back into first position and blows some hair out of her face

“don’t be sorry, just be ready.”

jimin’s eyes nearly pop out of his skull when he hears you say that because that’s what hE says to you guys all the time!!!

it’s adorable how you’ve been picking up on some of his techniques :’) the technique of being scary :’)

but also… he’s kind of very into y/n the teacher

miss y/n is hot

jimin immediately pinches his arm as soon as he thinks that before reminding himself to control himself

“alright, 5-6- ooh, wait, before we start- do you like my new leg warmers??” you ask excitedly before sticking one of your legs out and turning back towards lisa “strawberry patterned!!! strawberry!!!”

aaaand y/n the student is back

or the other day when you asked him for tips on a triple-pirouette because even though he taught that lesson a couple weeks back (ahem the day you sprained your ankle) you still haven’t been able to get the hang of it

it shouldn’t be that complicated!!! it’s literally just spinning on one foot so you don’t understand how you manage to fall off balance each time

anyways while he was walking you through the correct posture and all that he couldn’t help but notice the way that you were staring at yourself in the mirror

“neck straight and lengthened… eye-line is up.” jimin stands behind you but reaches around to tilt your chin up “and shoulders…”

there’s a little divot in between your brows and your tongue is poking out a little in between your lips and jimin doesn’t know how this is the first time he’s seen you make this face because you look like a little puppy and it’s adORABLE

damnit

every time he thinks he’s finally gotten control of his feelings for you you manage to reel him riGht back in

“mr. park?” jimin snaps out of it when you speak up and he blinks twice before looking at you in the mirror

“ah- sorry, what?”

“you… were saying something about shoulders?”

“shoulders! shoulders, yes.” jimin nods quickly and looks over your position “uh, shoulders down.”

jimin stares blankly into space as he waits for his order to be ready

he just doesn’t know what to do

he always knows what to do!

in fact, he prides himself on being able to handle anything that comes his way while remaining both level-headed and classy

but this

this is unknown territory

he’s a teacher, an authority figure, crushing on one of his students like a smitten little schoolboy and if he acts on his feelings, that could not only jeopardise his position at the school (and future positions at other schools) but also your enrolment at the school anD your relationship with your fellow peers (seulgi seems like the type to judge on the spot!!) aND!! your relationship with him!!  

because what if he tells you he likes you and you feel forced to tell him that you like him too because he’s your teacher??

would that classify as him abusing his power???

maybe in another universe if he wasn’t your teacher, you guys could be together

age definitely isn’t a problem because he’s only 3 years older than you which really isn’t that large of a gap

he could freely take you out all over the city

he could hold your hand whenever he wanted and he could kiss you whenever he wanted

you guys could go on dinner dates and movie dates and ice cream dates and museum dates and aLL the dates

maybe one night he could drive you to the outskirts of the city and you guys could have a picnic by the river and he could rest his head on your lap while you threaded your fingers through his hair

he wouldn’t have a care in the world because all that matters to him is you

and he doesn’t know if your whole “i, y/n y/l/n, am 110% attracted to park jimin-“ speech was just for entertainment purposes or if there’s truth behind your words but god he hopes it’s the latter

but at the same time, he has to be realistic about this

even if you do like him back… he can’t do anything about it

because at the end of the day he’s still mr. park and you’re still miss y/l/n

yeah

maybe in another life… just not this one.

“order number 48!”

jimin squeezes his way to the front of the crowd to grab his take-out bag

suddenly he’s lost his appetite

chakkachakkachakkachakka

“hey, mr. park, i actually have something for y- nope, no, he said to call him jimin-“ you mutter to yourself as you scrub vigorously at the grime in between the floorboards

god it’s like the janitor doesn’t even trY to clean this place up

everything’s so dusty and icky!!

“well, jimin, the funny thing is i actually stayed behind to- why is it funny? it’s not funny. you’re not funny.” you grumble and reach up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear as you continue to scrub with the worn-out toothbrush

these people really need to invest in some proper cleaning equipment

also you’re scrubbing so hard that your arm is going to pop out of its socket soon

and you’ve been on your hands and knees for the last ten minutes so every joint in general is starting to get a little sore

maybe you should take a brea-

“okay, i know you said you didn’t want anything, but i noticed that you didn’t bring a snack in with you today so you must be at least a little peckish.” you jump three feet into the air when the door suddenly swings open and you quickly get up off the ground

you can’t help but hiss a little in pain when your knee cracks

ouCh

if anything this is a sign that your body wasn’t made for cleaning the floor and you should stick to mirror polishing

“but i’m almost done scrubbing the-”

“i got you a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of tomato soup.” jimin looks back at you as he peels his leather jacket off and tosses it on top of his bag

“ooH i love grilled cheese sandwiches-!“ your eyes widen in excitement but you quickly dial it back when the corner of jimin’s mouth twitches in a smile “i mean… thank you, jimin.”

he nods in acknowledgement as he pulls the boxes out of the paper bag “come and sit. i have a wet-wipe for you if you wanted to clean off a little.”

okay

this is not a big deal

you and jimin are just… sharing a meal which is NOT a big deal

you’re having dinner together!

…oh god you’re having dinner with jimin

is this a date?????

are you on a date with jimin????

okay now you’re just spiralling

how many times do you need to remind yourself to keep it cool???

no

you know what

this isn’t a date, because if it were a date, then there’d be like candles and everything for mood lighting and you wouldn’T be wearing leg warmers and your hands wouldn’t reek of chemical cleaner

and these bright fluorescent lights in the studio completely kills the whole romantic thing so you’re fine!

“what did you-“ just as you get settled on the ground, the fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling crackles and burns out “…huh.”

on the topic of lights

the weirdest thing about this studio is the vast array of lights hanging on the ceiling

because there are little spotlight bulbs lined up where the mirror is at the front of the room along with the back of the room which are warmer toned

on the ceilings are the classic tube fluorescent lights which obviously have a whiter tint to them

nighttime classes aren’t a huge thing so most of the time you guys don’t even use the lights because the suN is your source of light so you never really understood why the studio was designed this way

anyway, the point is - bright fluorescent lights certainly don’t scream romance but now that they’re dead and you’re left with the warm, golden glow of the spotlight bulbs,..,,. this feels more like a date than a simple shared meal

you swallow thickly

“christ… i bet the janitor didn’t change the lights like i asked him to.” jimin scoffs as he looks up at the ceiling

that guy never listens to him!!!

“actually, this happens a lot more than you think.” he sighs as he sets the boxes down on the ground

“oh?” you clear your throat as you pull your box towards you

“i usually stay for a couple more hours after you girls leave and this isn’t the first time the lights have died on me. at least the spotlight bulbs are working…”

“a little dim, but as long as we’re not fumbling around in the dark, right?” you snort as you pop the lid of the soup container off

almost immediately the smell of tangy tomato soup tickles your nostrils

yuMMy

“you’re right, it is a little dim… lucky for us, i actually keep candles in the cabinet.” jimin claps his hands together before swooping down to open up the cabinets

…yeah so what were you saying about this not being a date setting??

as jimin works on lighting the candles, yoU work on figuring out things to talk about to kill the mood

“you know, um, when i make grilled cheese sandwiches for myself at home, i actually use mayo instead of butter!” you clear your throat as jimin takes a seat after lighting the candles

“i’ve heard about that hack… but i do have to say it sounds a little nasty.” jimin raises a brow as he unwraps his own sandwich

“hey now… don’t knock it til ya try it!” you gasp in mock offence before tearing the sandwich in half and watching the cheese stretch out

god

what a beautiful sight

gooey cheese should be considered as one of the seven wonders of the world

“are you playing with your food?” jimin watches as you wind the stretched out cheese from one chunk of the sandwich around the other sandwich

“playing with your food makes it more fun to eat. that’s a scientific fact.” you break it off before bringing it up to your mouth for a bite

“oh yeah? says who?” jimin teases as feeds himself a spoonful of soup

you swallow your bite and shrug “says me!”

a couple seconds of silence ticks by in which the two of you continue to munch quietly and keep to yourselves

you hate silence

it makes you itChy for some reason

“how about we play a game?” after one whole minute of nothing but the sound of quiet chewing, you decide that soMething has to be said

“what kind of a game?” jimin sits up straighter as he polishes off the first half of his sandwich

“how about…”

hm

you should have thought this through

okay

some kind of an icebreaker game

something safe

truth or dare sounds like it could wander into risky territory so maybe not that

“ooh! two truths and a lie - ballet edition.”

“ballet edition? how would that work?” jimin hums as he picks up the other half of his sandwich

you feel your heart hiccup as he tears it in half and stretches the cheese out

he’s copying u :’)

“lemme think…” you wipe some of the grease on your fingers off on a napkin before leaning back on your palms “okay. my favourite move is the grand jeté, my favourite performance was the nutcracker, and my favourite warm-up exercise is the butterfly stretch.”

jimin thinks to himself as he chews slowly

you smile a little as you pick up your sandwich and take a bite

“your favourite move is not the grand jeté. the other day when i said that i’d be incorporating it into our next routine, i swear i could see the light die in your eyes.” jimin snorts before dusting the crumbs off his hand “that was too easy.”

“can you blame me?? i’m not trying to sprain my ankle again!” you pout as you reach down to brush your fingers over your ankle (that has fully recovered, thank goD) “fine, you give it a try then!”

“so it can be about anything related to ballet?”

“anything at all.”

anything related to ballet

ooh he can talk about his education!!

“alright, let’s see.” jimin wipes his mouth with a napkin, “i graduated at the top of my class… i was the youngest student in my class… and… i am not drowning in student debt.”

“…jimin, the game is called two truths and a lie, not three brags and a nothing.”

“well- there are two truths and a lie!! i’m still playing by the rules!!”

“okay, fine - obviously you’re still drowning in student debt. everyone is!!” you scoff as you pop a piece of crust into your mouth

“ah-“ jimin holds a finger up before wagging it at you “that one’s actually true. i’m not drowning in debt because my education was paid for by the scholarship i was awarded- say, this game is fun! your turn!!”

you can’t help but roll your eyes “again, this isn’t three brags and a noth- hEY-“

you squawK in surprise when jimin suddenly throws a crumpled up napkin ball at you

“don’t roll your eyes at me, miss y/l/n…” he teases before threatening to throw another one “go!! your turn!!”

“alright, alright… let me try to think of something to brag about too!”

the two of you spend the next half an hour or so playing the game while finishing up dinner

at one point you nearly wipe your greasy fingers on your skirt and jimin swats your hand away before telling you that if you walked into his class with a dirty uniform on he would definitely kill you

“okay, give me one last one before we clean up and get back to… well, cleaning up.” jimin pops the lid back onto the empty cup and sets it aside

also you’re going to need to ask him where he bought dinner from because the grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup was actually incredible

“fine, but you have to promise not to get mad or anything- that one time i forgot to bring my pointe shoes was definitely on purpose… we have a nickname for you that i can’t say because the others would kill me for it… ooh, and here’s a good one-“ you snort as you perk up in excitement “all of the girls in class have fallen deeply in love with you after you gave everyone roses on valentine’s day.”

the smile falters on jimin’s face

…

uh oh

maybe that one was a little over the line

you forgetting your pointe shoes was an accident!!! you were in a rush and you forgot to pack them

“…”

your lips part to say something but then it hits you

‘all of the girls’ also includes yourseLF you idiot

‘all of the girls have fallen deeply in love with you’

wow

you are incredible

well you might as well go ahead and throw yourself at him too while you’re at it!!

“all of them, you say?”

if that one’s a truth then he hopes you really do mean all of the girls in class

“y’know, uh, speaking of those roses-“ your voice cracks and you feel your face heat up a little before you scramble up off the ground “i actually wanted to say thank you for the valentine’s day gifts you gave us which was why i hung back after class in the first place-”

“oh?” jimin perks up in interest as he crumples up his napkin and tosses it into the paper bag

he can’t help but smile fondly as he watches you fumble through your bag with your tongue poking out

there it is again!!!!

little puppy :-(

god

you make everything so cute

“yeah! i felt a little bad that you didn’t get anything and that… you know, you had to spend valentine’s day with us…” you pull the presents out and a small frown tugs at your lips when you realise the wrapping paper is a little smooshed

oh well

it’s the thought that counts  

and hopefully these presents will get his mind off of what u just said lol

“ah, that’s very nice of you, but you really didn’t have to get me anything…” jimin feels his own cheeks flush a little when you sit down across from him and your knee nudges against his own

“don’t be silly… you didn’t have to get us anything, but you did! and i thought that was very sweet of you.” you smile at him as you hand the presents over

okay WOW you might as well have tiny cartoon hearts floating around your head

reel it iN

“well, i’m glad you liked your rose.” jimin hums as he carefully tears the wrapping paper

you did a very neat job at wrapping his gift so he’s not just going to tear into it like an animaL

jimin’s eyes light up in excitement when he sees what the first present is

ooh!!!!!!!

metal straws!!!!!!

“they’re for those iced lattes you drink all the time!” you grin giddily as you look at his face to gauge his reaction

from the looks of it he seems like he’s a fan and hopefully he’s no longer thinking about your weird confessioN

“ah! i love these! you know, i was thinking about buying them but i keep forgetting, so this is great!”

he’s going to use these metal straws all the time!!!!

he loves them!!!!

save the turtles!!!!!

he’s feeling very trendy now

“also, i chose blue because it matches your hair.” your eyes flicker towards his pale blue strands and jimin unconsciously reaches up to run his fingers through his hair

“you noticed my blue hair? damn, i was trying to be subtle about it…” jimin jokes before moving on to the next gift

“did mr. park just crack a joke?” you gasp mockingly and jimin can’t help but roll his eyes playfully

“mean mr. park does have a sense of humour, you know-“

“for a while there i was seriously considering the theory of you being an android-“

“now look who’s being mean!!”

it’s weird that this is really the only time you’ve had a conversation with jimin outside of class

and it’s even weirder than he’s basically an entirely different person outside of class

with that being said

on monday when he reverts back to mr. park he’s most definitely going to still have the ability to make you pee yourself

as he begins to tear the second gift open you speak up again

“i noticed that the journal you used to take notes and stuff looked a little tattered, so i thought maybe it’d be nice for you to have a new one! obviously you don’t have to use it if you don’t like it, but i just thought that… yeah.”

it’s a handmade brown leather bound journal with his initials pressed (and painted gold!!) on the front cover

truth be told you were a little wary about this gift because it felt oddly… intimate? personal?

it just feels more like a gift you’d give to your significant other rather than your teacher

like if you gave your professor an apple that’s normal but if you gave your professor a box of chocolate covered strawberries that’s a lil.,,.,. a lil out of line and more ‘i love you!’ than ‘i respect you!’

but before you could change your mind about it the person at the store had already finished pressing the letters in and she said no refunds so

oops

“oh, wow… this is beautiful, y/n…” jimin breathes out as he smooths his hand over the leather

although it’s fairly obvious he likes the gift you’re still vERY nervous for some reason

you catch yourself twisting your skirt in between your hands and you quickly let go and clasp your hands together on your lap

“so you… you like it?” you press your lips together and jimin snorts

“like it? i love it!” jimin gushes as he flips through the book “thank you very much, y/n. these were very thoughtful presents, i really appreciate it.” he hums contently before looking up at you with a warm smile

you feel your heart skip a beat at the little twinkle in his eyes

he,.,., is literally..,,. the most beautiful man you’ve ever laid your eyes upon.,,.

also the two of you have unconsciously been scooching closer to each other this entire time and your knees are basically pressed up against each others  

you’re so focused on the fact that your heart is pounding in your chest that you don’t notice jimin’s gaze flicker to your lips for a brief second

god he wants to kiss you

after dinner you pulled out the strawberry-mint flavoured gum you’re always chewing on before class (you offered him a piece but he’d already pulled out his own plain ol’ spearmint gum for himself)

so he’d definitely taste strawberry if he kissed you

and he really likes strawberries

“also, i-“ you lean back quickly before letting out a nervous chuckle and getting up from the ground “i also wanted to take this chance to apologise for the… inappropriate comments i made a couple weeks back.”

“inappropriate comments?” jimin clears his throat and leans back a little as well

he reaches up to scratch the back of his neck

hOo

maybe he should turn the air conditioner on

it’s getting a little hot in here

he gets up off the ground before heading over to the front of the room where the switches are

“oh, right!” jimin flips the air con switch on and tugs at his collar a bit “you mean you telling the entire class that you’d like to sit on my-“

“tHAT waS-“ you interrupt jimin before he gets a chance to finish his sentence before clearing your throat loudly “see, the thing is, that was just seulgi getting under my skin- i’m sure you’ve noticed we have a best frenemies kind of situation going on-“

you roll your eyes as you start to polish the mirror again (because you’re getting nervous again and when u get nervous you nEED to do something with your hands) “basically some of the girls were talking about you and i stepped in to- y’know, make sure that they were keeping things respectful because you aRe our teacher-“

ok all this rant is doing is making you sound like a major teacher’s pet but pop off sis

“a-anyways, seulgi seemed to think that me defending you was because i had a crush on you, so then i kinda just said all that stuff to get her off my back, you know? does that make sense? i’m not sure if i’m making sense.” you babble on as you start wiping at one spot on the mirror a littLe too aggressively “and, you know, i would, um, under normal circumstances, i would nevEr ever ever disrespect my teachers like that and i just hope that you-“

jimin stops listening to your nervous babbling to flashback to that afternoon

‘i would 100% love to sit on park jimin’s face because i, y/n y/l/n, am 110% attracted to him.’

even the reminder of you saying that sends a shiver down his spine and sends blood rushing to multiple parts of his body

you know what

fuck it

he’s just going to go for it

he’s sat on this for far too long and if it doesn’t work out, he’s veRy good at acting like he doesn’t care about anything

so, either way, he’ll be totally fine!!!

…right??

“do you?” jimin cuts you off and you look at him in the mirror as he packs the gifts away in his bag

“do i- sorry, do i what?”

jimin zips his bag up loudly and you jump a little in surprise

“do you have a crush on me, y/n?”

your hand immediately freezes on the mirror and your grip tightens on the rag

all you can hear is the sound of the air con whirring above you and your heart beating in your ears

you-

did he just-

what are you supposed to-

is this really happening right now or are u having a fever dream

you force your hand to move but your movements make you seem more like a tin-man rather than a normal human being

“i-i don’t… i’m not sure i understand the, uh…” your heart seems to beat faster with every slow step jimin takes towards you “what exactly, um, what exactly do you mean by ‘crush’? b-because, y’know, crush… crush can be interpreted in… in a miLLion different ways, so…”  

…

reaLLY??

thAt’s your response??

gee mr. park can you define crush for me???

can you use it in a sentence sir???

“okay, fine.” jimin purses his lips before tilting his head “are you attracted to me, miss y/l/n?” your hand freezes mid-wipe on the mirror with an obnoxious squeak the moment you realise jimin is standing directly behind you

if u thought that being referred to as miss y/l/n in class was intimidating

hOo boy

“a-attracted?”

this is making you want to catapult yourself into the middle of a busy intersection

“attracted. romantically…” jimin looks at you through the mirror and for some reason you’re unable to unlock gazes with him “sexually.”

“what-“ your voice cracks, “-makes you think that, mr. park?”

the corner of jimin’s mouth tugs up in a sly smirk

well now he definitely knows how you feel about him

this is where it gets fun

“well, i notice that you become very flushed whenever i’m close to you. the apples of your cheeks and the tips of your ears turn bright pink… kind of like how they are right now.” you can feel the heat radiating off of jimin’s body from how close he’s standing to you

you swallow thickly when he reaches up to pluck the rag out of your hand before tossing it aside

you’re completely frozen from head to toe but you manage to slowly drag your hand down from the mirror

“and don’t think i don’t notice the way you look at me when you think i’m not paying attention.” jimin hums and reaches around to tilt your chin upwards as his other hand rests on your waist “look at yourself, y/n.”

miraculously enough you manage to drag your gaze away from jimin to look at yourself in the mirror

oh boy

you are flushed

and your pupils are so blown out to the point where they’ve almost completely consumed your iris’

your chest rises and falls as you continue to take in shallow breaths

“i see the moony look in your eyes… and they get extra moony when i come to class wearing white button-ups.” jimin whispers in your ear and you feel every single hair on your body prickle to life “i see the way you bite your lip when i roll them up like this-“ jimin presses both palms up against the mirror next to your head and you swallow thickly at the sight of his almost obscenely attractive forearms caging you in

“and when you bend down to fix your shoes or adjust your leg warmers… you know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you?” jimin purrs and reaches down to tilt your chin up again

your back is pressed right up against his chest

“you’re not nearly as sneaky as you think you are…”

o god

you feel like you can’t speak

your mouth is just dRY

also you don’t know whether you should be feeling humiliated or.,,.,. slightly turned on

is it possible to feel both at the same time??

“tell me you want this as much as i do.” jimin feels like his heart is about to beat out of his chest but it’s waY too late to take everything back

your head is reeling and you’re honestly not sure how to respond

because on one hand this is finALLY happening and your dreams are literally coming true right before your eyes but on the other hand this is finally happening and usually when you fantasise about jimin you never let it get this far so you haven’t had the chance to plan out your next move

meanwhile, jimin has no idea what to think and has no idea how to interpret your silence

he waits for another ten seconds to go by before deciding to call it

time of death is 7:48pm

well

this was mortifying

and he’s probably going to lose his job now!

so that’s great!  

“shit, i…” he lets his hands fall from the mirror before taking a couple steps back from you “god, i… i’m sorry, that was wildly inappropriate of me, i just thought- mmph!”

jimin stumbles back with wide eyes when you’re suddenly launcHing yourself at him and it doesn’t take long for him to start kissing you back

his arm snakes around your waist as he reaches up to cup your jaw

he was right

you do taste like strawberries

jimin feels a new kind of flame ignite within him when he hears a little whimper slip past your lips when he presses you up against the mirror

and yoU are just floating on cloud nine

jimin’s lips are so impossibly soft and pillowy and you feel like you could kiss him forever

jimin pulls away first to catch his breath and he can’t help but chuckle when you lean up to chase after his lips

“i’m not going anywhere, you know-“

“i know, but you’re a really good kisser-“ you breathe out as you nudge your nose against his

hOo

you could use a breather too

“i like you, y/n. i like you a lot.” jimin whispers and leans down to press his forehead against yours

you feel your heart soaring in your chest at his confession and if it’s even possible your cheeks get even pinker

“i like you too.”

and even though the two of you are currently encased in a warm bubble of love, one single question pops up in your minds at the same time:

what the hell am i going to do now?

help me help you make your wishes come tru (aka send me a request)

requested drabbles masterlist

[leggomylino]

light switch 2 | yandere!seungmin

Genre: Yandere, romance/fluff (sorta?), thriller, a little angst, some comedy

Pairing(s): yandere!Seungmin x reader

Word count: ~8k

Warnings: Author rambling, run-on sentences, mild language (censored), a few memes, moments of high tension and possible anxiety, ooc, and mild abuse/violence

A/N: Requests are open! | Masterlist in bio! | I told you guys I was working on this!! Lol I’m so sorry it took so long! :(( But, nevertheless, here it is! ...And yes, there’s a surprise waiting for you at the end... >u>” Enjoy!! And please be sure to tell me what you think! c: I love hearing from you all~ <3 (For those of you that missed it, part one can be found here)

Oh my gosh it’s finally back

Can you believe it’s finally back

Seriously what took this chick {author} so long to write this sh*t wtfudge man

Okay okay I know I’m sorry

It’s been really chaotic and I’ve had a lot on my plate (and mind) but we’re finally back now and that’s all that matters

So

My question to you all is

ARE YOU READY TO FINISH THIS THING?!

(enter your response here)

...THEN YEEHAW LET’S GO 

  Okay so

To recap:

AT A CERTAIN DANDY BOY™ HOUSE

Your mother had just made a phone call to Seungmin asking to talk to you

She wanted to remind you to bring the mail inside before y’all got too comfortable and side-tracked since you told her you were at Minnie’s (a fatal error on your part) and she and your father are out of town on a cliche business trip

Things always go wrong during cliche business trips

Anyway Minnie was pretty confused at first but he caught on pretty quickly that something was up

Something rotten in the state of Your Town Name Here

And knowing that you must have lied he decided to play along, beginning to gather the materials he needed

*cue ominous soap opera music*

 “......”

“...Seungmin? Is everything alright?” Her voice is growing more and more worried with each consonant. “Where’s (y/n)?”

“......” 

He laughs.

Just laughs for a moment, shaking his head.

“...Yeah, yes, she’s here. Sorry, my connection has been on the fritz lately.”

“O-Oh, I see...can I talk to her?”

“She’s in the bathroom getting cleaned up right now. I’ll have her call you as soon as she’s out...”

He paces over to the blinds, peeking out into the neighborhood from his second story window. Like a lot of cliche villains or suspicious people do. “...but it may be a while. You know how long she takes just to brush her teeth.”

Mrs. (L/n) gives a relieved, but still somewhat nervous chuckle, sighing at the end to ease her tension. “Yes, I certainly do. Thanks so much, Minnie. I know I can count on you to take good care of my little girl.”

“Yes...” He smiles, nuzzling the phone between his ear and shoulder as he’s scouring his room for things: a bottle labeled “Witch Hazel”, some cloth, a copy of his dad’s car key...as well as an additional key he never thought he’d get to use until now. “You can always count on me. I promise she’ll be out like a light before the clock strikes twelve.”

“That’s a relief. In that case just tell her to bring the mail in, would you? Thanks again!”

“It’s not a problem. Good night, Mrs. (L/N).” 

“You too dear.”

Beep. He hangs up.

Looks back out the window. Sighs.

It wouldn’t be a problem at all.

“...at least, not for long.”

 ~~~

 Back at Lucas’ house...well really, your imagination...you’re having a nightmare you used to have as a child

You’re walking down the street, minding your own business...

When all of a sudden the sky turns red, then black

The faces of the people around you turn sinister; they look like they want to hurt you

You begin to run as fast as you can, but your whole body is weighed down, like gravity is twice as strong on you

But not on anyone else 

So while the people who are slowly turning into monsters are gaining on you

All you can do is cower in fear and pray that it will be over quickly

But then there’s a burst of white light

Like a light switch has been flipped on

And the ground crumbles beneath you, bursts of white shining through the cracks

And you go tumbling down into the earth

Down

       Down

             Down

Until you land into a pair of soft, strong arms

Your face instantly buries into the figure’s chest, because you know you can trust him

He smells sweet, like lavender and fresh Spring daisies

It’s a calming, pleasing scent

And all the monsters who were chasing you before vanish as they fall into the crumbling Earth, disintegrating into nothing but ash that’s carried someplace far, far away

You look up to see who your savior is

It’s never the same person

At first it was your dad; then it was your sixth grade crush; a couple times it was the cute actor from your favorite movie

But this time, and sadly like the last five times you’ve had this dream since you started high school...that person is none other than Kim Seungmin

He’s looking so ...

There isn’t a word for it

His edges are soft

So are his eyes

And he’s looking at you like you’re responsible for hanging the moon in the sky and making all the stars glow

He has such high expectations for you

From you

That you’re afraid to let him down

To tell him the truth

You aren’t God, after all

But...

......

You just—

“gaAAAAAHHH—!!!”

!!?!?!!!?!

What the heck was that?!?

Your eyes shoot open to the sound of someone crying out

It sounds like a man’s voice...

And it’s nearby

You’re stunned into shock for a few seconds before you can get your body to move, and when you do you grip the plushie in your arms against your chest—

Wait, plushie...?

You look down.

Your eyes are adjusting while a struggle is clearing going on outside 

It’s the plushie that Seungmin gave you

The one from your house; you know it is bc it smells like your bedroom

But you didn’t bring this with you...

You’re scared, but you quickly throw yourself out from the safety of the tent—

And immediately wish you hadn’t

The window beside the bed is open

A cold draft blowing in

Lucas is pinned down, struggling 

The shadowy figure above him

Is none other

Than Kim Seungmin

He’s ripping something off of his belt-

It’s a syringe

He stabs it into Lucas’ arm with a curse, and not but two seconds later the boy is little more than a vegetable; no longer moving, barely breathing

Holy sh*t

I mean

Holy sh*t--

You gotta bounce sis

You gotta MOVE

Seungmin tosses a bottle of some clear liquid aside in anger, and it spills open in the middle of the floor

The smell hits you pretty quickly; it smells of lavender and fresh daisies

Just like in your dream/nightmare

It makes you feel a bit woozy upon inhaling it

But you don’t completely pass out 

Which apparently is what Minnie was going for

There’s a thump as Seungmin jumps to the floor

And you’re scared

Actually, saying you’re scared is an understatement

This is pretty freaking serious man

You don’t think you can meme your way through this one

You can’t move

You just kneel there outside your tent in shock, trying to convince yourself this is one of those nightmares that stems from another; you simply woke up into a new dream is all

But it’s not so

Something in your heart is telling you

This is real life

Seungmin is doing something...

He’s...filling another syringe 

Now that your eyes have adjusted, you can see he’s completely surpassed resting b*tch mode

He’s gone off the deep end. Like, he’s really gone this time

Looking so serious and genuine, so certain about what he’s doing...

Yet having lost all the light in his eyes

“Now, (y/n)...I need you to be good and take this for me.”

Uh

Uhhhh

No thanks bro that’s okay

P h A t pass on that one man

Phattest pass, phattest pass

You get your legs to finally work as he’s approaching you, scurrying towards the door and only stopping when your back hits against it, because dammit all, he’s still too fast for you

Seungmin is just right there man

He’s got you trapped

His fingers brush over the soft palate of your arm, gently feeling about for a vein

Apparently he wants to be more careful and professional when he drugs you

For whatever reason

You’re back to being immobilized

It’s like your feet are stuck in blocks of cement

Oh dear Lord you’re gonna die ಥ_ಥ

This is it

He wants you dead

He’s gonna throw you and Lucas into some twisted vegetable soup and that’s going to be the end of it

And you may have thought that had it not been for the blue and red sirens flashing outside

Minnie turns around mid-prodding, an obvious cringe on his face, and then suddenly he’s tackled to the ground by none other than Big Brother of the Year Lucas oh praise Jesus you may live after all

Wow this guy is your hero

He’s weak and there’s blood all over his face, his breath heavy as he heaves out desperate words to you

“.....(y/n)........g-get out...s-side.........cops....will take...care of y-you...”

Welp, he don’t have to tell you twice

Through all this, he’s still trying to protect you. He’d been drugged, his face cut into, beaten senseless without warning, yet he was still trying to save you...like a guardian angel or something

...Wow, maybe the author should have made this a Seungmin x reader x Lucas instead hubba hubba

But unfortunately she’s spaghetti and swamped with updates so we’ll never know 🤪🍝

You fling yourself out the door and down the stairs as some officers have just broken down the front door, and you don’t grab no shoes or nothing Lord, you r u n outta that place, choosing to consult with a kind-looking female cop that’s waiting outside on standby

Frantically you gush out what’s going on as best you can, even though you’re not so sure what’s going yourself

Most importantly, you’re sure to tell her that Lucas is hurt first. He needs immediate medical attention from what you gathered in the faint street light pouring in the open window

She comforts you and assures you that they’re handling it, all the while wishing and hoping and praying with every fiber in your being you’ll wake up soon, any minute now...

...but unfortunately, you never do. The reality hits you when Lucas is carried out on a stretcher and Seungmin is forced out in handcuffs.

 ~~~

 You’re at the hospital with Lucas

Seungmin really did a number on him; after beating him black and blue, he pulled out a knife and nearly blinded him

Luckily it was dark and Lucas put up one heck of a fight. He wasn’t on three sports teams for nothing. 

He’d put up such a defensive display that Seungmin had just missed his left eye...sadly, though, he got the right one

Lucas lost half his eyesight because of you

You don’t know what to say...what to think, even

If only you hadn’t gone over there. If only you’d just stayed home...or...or maybe...

You swallow as tears begin to fall. What the heck were you supposed to do? You’d had no idea this would happen. You didn’t know things had gotten this bad...

...but you also kind of did

The poem? It was a warning

No

A threat

You’d been given a heads up long before, and you’d chosen to play dumb and ignore it

And now Lucas would have to be called Patchy for the rest of his life

The only Halloween options he’d ever have are Pirate or...parrot with an eyepatch

And it was all your fault

Thank God Seungmin had been arrested…

...Wait

Seungmin--

Omgosh

He’d been arrested. Kim Seungmin had been arrested.

Why was this just now hitting you so ha--

“Oh my gosh, my baby! (Y/n)!!”

Oop. Mama (Y/n) in the house.

Your mother comes charging in like a swarm of bees, enveloping you in her arms but also giving you a bit of a sting for lying to her like you did. Lucas’ parents had caught them up to speed already, your father glaring angrily but thankfully from the doorway. 

After hugging them both and explaining everything from your point of view, they agree to give you a few more minutes alone with Lucas before you’re grounded young lady no TV no video games no books well okay reading is important for your future but nothing enjoyable and no dessert. They also plan to have a serious discussion with you about Kim Seungmin as well. Great.

Not wanting to let you go your father drags your mom out, her protestant whimpering echoing down the hall and they retreat to discuss things further with Lucas’ parents.

Oi vey

What has all of this come to? What are you even doing? How did things get this bad…?

You turn your head slowly from across the room, examining the boy’s eye (or in some ways lack thereof) as you make your way back, settling carefully into the chair beside him.

𝑊𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑑

𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠

𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑...

...You now hate poetry

You’ll never read another sonnet ever again

“Hmn…”

!!

Lucas is waking up

It’s now five o’clock in the morning

You’re both dead tired, but you can only imagine how he must be feeling, being the one in the hospital bed…

……

...This is seriously all your fault

You hate yourself for it

You just

You just…

Ping!

There’s a text on your phone. You choose to ignore it, of course. Lucas is way more important right now than some Instagram or trivial weather update

Tenderly you reach, taking Lucas’ hand...or start to. You hover over it, wondering if you even deserve to be...if you even…

A warmth envelopes your fingers as Lucas takes them weakly into his own, the faintest smile present on his face. He carefully reaches up to pat the white surgical tape and bandages over the upper right half of his face. 

“...It’s never going to get any better, is it?” he asks.

You practically jump at the question: “No, it will. It definitely will.”

...Lying to him in order to not cause him any more panic is the best you can do for him now. Pathetic, but it’s better to remain hopeful, at least until he can handle it later.

His smile turns sad as he gazes at you with his one good eye. 

“I meant for you.”

……

“......”

You slowly shake your head no

He sighs, turning towards the fluorescent lights on the ceiling that have been dimmed to allow the patient on the other side to sleep. “I’m so sorry, (y/n). This is my fault. I should have just brought you to the police station, and they would have handled it professionally right then and there. I didn’t think...things had gotten this bad.” He squeezed with what little strength he had. “But I’m really glad you’re okay. Did he hurt you at all?”

……………

This man

Was lying in a hospital bed

Drugged

Bruised to a bloody pulp

He’d permanently lost sight in one eye

And he was worried

About you

->

So author, what was that about no love triangle going on here??

Smh

The only thing you can do is look downward, at the nightstand, the bedding, the far wall...anywhere that isn’t Lucas’ face right now

You don’t have it in you to accept his incredible kindness and heroic humility. You don’t even bother answering his question, except to mutter out, “thank you.”

 ~~~

 So what’s going on with Seungmin now?

Well, glad you asked

Cause you were just about to find out from a friendly sit down with three guest stars on the (Y/n)’s Chaotic Life show: Mom, Dad, and Officer Jenny

...No, not from the Pokemon TV series. Though you had to admit, the resemble was almost uncanny...not that this was anytime for jokes

“So,” Officer Jenny asks, pen and notepad in hand, “I’m sure you must be feeling many things right now, but let’s start from the beginning, if that’s alright. When did this all start?”

Your mom and dad just shared a look before turning to you, your mother gingerly patting and rubbing your knee. “Go ahead, sweetheart. Take your time.”

You take a deep breath and tell her everything you know. From the moment you first met Kim Seungmin, to the moment you first noticed him changing, to the events of some twenty-four hours ago. Your mother and father gave their piece as well, though really they claimed to be completely in the dark to any of Minnie’s chaotic and violent behavior, insisting he was always a sweet and well-behaved boy for as long as they’d know him. It was quite a shock finding out what he’d done.

Minnie…

…

Did you even still call him that? Would you? Could you?

He was practically a murderer. A complete psychopath. And you still had no idea why…

“So what do you think brought out this behavioral change?”

Your head snapped up from where it’d dropped downward, spacing out after having contributed your part of the story

Mom and Dad were glaring at you. Officer Jenny was waiting patiently.

But you had no idea what to say

Because you didn’t know

You didn’t

You didn’t…

...Did you?

Idiot.

바보

Does this sound familiar?

 “...I can’t do this anymore, (y/n)...not if you’re not going to listen to me or do as I say. It’s driving me crazy. Don’t you get it? Don’t you f***ing see how I feel about you? Have you really been so dense this whole f***ing time?!?”

“(Y/n). I need to know...tell me, do you…”

“...Do you feel the same way?”

 ...The part that scared you

The part that really scared you

Was that

You didn’t know…

 ~~~

 That night

After the talk show was wrapped up and everything was out in the open

Officer Jenny reassured your family that you were safe staying at home

Seungmin had been captured and a few officers had done a thorough investigation on your house to make sure there were no cameras or bombs or anything fishy like that

So it was essentially safe and there was no need to go the extra mile of changing identities and moving across the country

Except well

If you’re new to this story

You’re in for a bit of a shock because

Of course the author likes to shake things up :D <3

It wouldn’t be a story without something going wrong

And (Y/n) was just about to find out what that something was

It didn’t happen suddenly that night

Some time had gone by, about a week, maybe a week and a half

You were still pretty shaken up over the whole thing, and stuck in a mental state of Twilight Zone

You knew it was real but your brain almost refused to accept and process it

It was like a never-ending nightmare, too farfetched to be true

Because Lucas had to remain in the hospital for further examination and therapy, you brought all his school work to him

You’d taken a few days off yourself and then insisted you were fine to go back

You needed something to distract you from the reality

But, in reality, it only made it worse in some ways, students swarming you with questions and facility repeatedly asking if you were alright or needed a break

The only place you were allowed to go was the Student Council room, and Lord knows you did NOT want to be alone in that place again

Even though the school had already granted Lucas an extended leave of absence, he insisted you bring him a copy of your homework so he could “keep up with his studies”

But

In reality, he just wanted an excuse to see you. And you liked seeing him as well. It was nice to be in his company and check up on him, and he felt the same

When you weren’t at the hospital visiting and quote-quote “studying” with Lucas, you were either going through the motions on autopilot at school or sitting in your room, doing anything and everything to erase what had happened

That was, of course, easier said than done though

Often you found it hard being at home. It didn’t feel safe anymore knowing Seungmin had been here, so many times before, in the very room you sat in. Laughing with you, smiling, comforting or taking care of you…

He was everywhere. His laughter practically filled the walls and echoed down the corridors, his smile reflected in every glass sheen of sunlight

And when the lights flipped off, so did his expression. It was like you were reliving that horrific night all over again

You had to break out of there, your house and your mind

So you went to the park with a couple of new friends you’d made, Felix and Changbin. They were just as surprised as anyone else to learn what had become of Seungmin, and they’d actually been the first ones to shelter you and protect your privacy on your first day back, when your classmates started popping out of the woodwork to drown you in questions and condolences

As you may or may not have guessed, you’d gotten a new phone, during the Officer Jenny visit, along with a new number

After sh*t had really hit the fan, though, you’d become much less social, only registering your parents, Officer Jenny’s number by request, Lucas, and the day after, Felix and Binnie. Despite your previous crush on Jaemin, that had all but flown out the window and exploded upon colliding with a powerline, and you’re pretty sure after he heard what happened, he probably felt the same

And anyway, again, you’d become much less social since the whole incident. You really didn’t feel like talking to anyone unless it was your parents or these three boys. Maybe Jenny if there was some kind of emergency, which you sincerely hoped there wouldn’t be

...I’m pretty sure that covers everything

Yeah

So

You were now at the park with Felix and Changbin

Just strolling aimlessly, you in the middle with Felix to your left and Binnie on the right

Your two bodyguards

Felix, you’d come to find out, was a professional at taekwondo, which was nice

And though Changbin was rather on the short side, just his looks and voice alone was intimidating enough

So you felt relatively safe in their company, taking a quiet stroll at sundown

The park was mostly vacant save for a few late-evening joggers or cyclist passing by

Birds and squirrels and other wildlife were just getting settled in their nests for the night, the owls and probably a raccoon or two taking their place

The three of you walked at a steady pace, hands behind your back or shoved in your pockets as you stared straight ahead, at the sidewalk, or the surrounding forest life

...It was peaceful but a little awkward

Probably because you all had the same thing on your minds

Something you all knew you needed to talk about, but had been avoiding to spare an awkward conversation

Instead now there was nothing but Awkward Silence™

“So,” Felix spoke up after your second and a half time around, smiling awkwardly. “How are you feeling today?”

Both boys looked at you. You gave them each a short stare in return before shrugging just as uncomfortably. You knew you needed to talk about Seungmin, but you’d left your house to escape him, not engage him elsewhere.

After a few more paces you noticed the two had fallen a bit behind, muttering to each other in hushed tones:

“She probably doesn’t wanna talk about this right now. Why did you bring it up?”

“Yeah...I dunno, I didn’t know how else to break it in. Sorry...”

“Apologize to her, not me! We’re trying to ease it in, not break her.”

“That’s what I said, bro.”

“...No, you said-- never mind, just go do something.”

“Like what?”

“Like apologize! Am I the only one that knows how girls operate?”

“...Says the man that’s been single the entire senior ye--”

“Shut up and go talk to her!!”

At that point you heard a shove behind you, and Felix came stumbling back up to your left, Binnie steadily catching back up on the right. He gave you a calm and peaceful smile while occasionally casting eyes at Felix expectantly.

Felix took a deep breath while he scratched the side of his head, looking up at the sky for a second before tossing his whole gaze down on you. It almost caught you off guard how intense and smoldering it all was

“(Y/n)...listen, Changbin and I were thinking-- …”

He opened his mouth, but no words came. Instead he pointed toward the restaurant district of town. 

“...You wanna grab dinner after this?”

You blinked. Changbin facepalmed, a small groan escaping him.

But then all your stomachs growled, answering the question for you. You couldn’t help but smile, even just a little, as the other two laughed and the three of you headed off toward the nearby city lights.

Your phone gave a small ping! as a notification came up, but you failed to notice it thanks to the nearby rustling of what you assumed was active forest life, a stray cat or maybe a mouse

You had no idea how wrong you were.

 ~~~

 I know, things are starting to get a little slow

Just bear with me, okay?

Cause we’re about to pick up big time

Spoiler alert?

Oops

Anyway

You were now sitting at a small, quiet, but decently populated restaurant

There were a fair number of customers but it wasn’t overcrowded at all, more of a cozy cafe styled place

It was the compromise Changbin insisted you all agree on, he being the most vocally worried about your mental state. He didn’t want you to be overwhelmed by all the noise and chaos of some famous barbecue joint or a popular family restaurant, so after you insisted you could handle it and would be fine (he had been pitching the idea of just grabbing some food to-go and heading back to his place), the boys let you pick a cafe you often passed by on the way to school but never got a chance to try

...until now

Ironically and thankfully they were a particularly special cafe that served dinner because the author said so yeehaw B))

So yes, you’re all sitting at a small booth off to the side, Changbin on one end, you and Felix curled up on the other. You order your food and as you’re waiting, Changbin and Felix are locked in some dumb debate about a few of their other friends while flicking straw wrappers back and forth. They tried to get you in on it at first but, seeing that you’re still in a weird place, decided to leave the invitation open if you wanted to join.

Everything is just so weird right now. You’re still in the Twilight Zone. It just doesn’t seem real at all…

The whole spectacle refuses to leave your mind. You’re coming to accept you can’t get away from it no matter what you try.

Kim Seungmin, from the moment you met him, has always been a part of you. And he always would be. It was just going to be weird from now on because...because…

Ping!

Your phone again?

Honestly it had kind of been doing that a lot before but you’ve been ignoring it because, again, you’re not much for talking to people right now. Or getting involved with any social media events or news flashes or...or uh…

……………………..

Huh??

There’s...a message. From Lucas?

Bro when did he get his phone back tho

You’d been communicating through his mum and the hospital when you weren’t there cause patients can’t have phones so like

Nani the heck??

Wait

Maybe this was good

Maybe he was being discharged early

The treatment had gone well and--

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖧𝖾𝗒! 𝖨 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝖺 𝖿𝖺𝗏𝗈𝗋.

Oh? A favor you say?

You were so there. You kinda owed Lucas your life after what happened.

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖮𝖿 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾! 𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝖨 𝖽𝗈 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗒𝗈𝗎? 

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗌 :) 𝖶𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗐? 

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖨’𝗆 𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖺 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌. 

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌? 

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖸𝖾𝖺𝗁 𝖼: 

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗇𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗌

> - > Bro why he wanna know tho--

Okay whatever

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖥𝖾𝗅𝗂𝗑 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖻𝗂𝗇? 

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖨𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗈𝗄𝖺𝗒 𝗅𝗈𝗅 

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝗇𝗈 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒

………..

*gulp*

It’s not?

Why

Why isn’t this okay

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖶𝗁𝗒 𝗇𝗈𝗍? :𝟢 

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖨 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖢𝖺𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗐? 

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖴𝗁, 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗁 𝖨 𝗀𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗌? 𝖢𝖺𝗇 𝗂𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗂𝗅 𝖺𝖿𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗌? 𝖨 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝖻𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗅𝗂����𝖾

Lucas is typing a reply as your food is being set down, the boys cheering and mouths watering while all you can do is nervously glare at your new phone.

Seriously, what was wrong with Lucas? He wasn’t in danger, was he?

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖨’𝖽 𝗋𝖺𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗇𝗈𝗐. 𝖯𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗌𝖾. :(

…

Y’know, this don’t really sound like Lucas

All of this is hella sus sis

But you’re so worried about him anyway, and so distracted by the excuses running through your mind that he could be on medication or what if it really is an emergency that you instead grab your coat and are just about to tell Felix to yeet when something else catches your eye

Ooooooooh boy

Ooooooooh bro

Ooooooooh buddy

It’s uh

Well

All those previous notifications

They’re all news articles and the like, as you already had guessed they’d be

Most of them aren’t very important: Attorney so-and-so does this, City of Hoopla does that, Guy Catches Phone on Roller Coaster, band drops new album and it’s a huge hit, yada-yada-yada

But there’s this one

This one in particular

That nearly makes you break down and cry

I mean

You’re close to screaming sis

It’s pretty bad

You probably know what it is already

Yep: you guessed it

 KXX News: Local Malefactor Escapes [Your Town] Jail; Police Baffled

 ...Okay

Y/n

Y/n--

Don’t freak out y/n

Deep breath sis

Deeeeeeeep breath

Breath nice and deep now…

Oop too late you’re already panicking

Hell I would too sis :( This is some bad juju

But

It’s going to be okay

...Maybe

I mean

You are kinda having a panic attack right now?

But don’t panic bc it’s going to be…

...you just passed out so I’ll be switching povs now

I’ll sort of summarize too since this is about you and - h i m - anyway

Basically you totally black out, the restaurant/cafe panics a bit (the few people who happen to notice) but Felix manages to catch you (thank goodness you were still seated at the booth so you just toppled over on his shoulder more or less)

In five seconds Binnie and Felix come up with a game plan where Felix carries you outside, trying to look as natural as possible, Binnie taking care of the check.

They argue and walk laps around the cafe about whether or not to take you home or the hospital

Home

Hospital

Home?

Hospital!

But when you start to come to, they agree it’s best to get you home to your mother

You fall in and out of consciousness all the way there, the only thing flooding your mind being the faintest scent of lavender and Spring: and Kim Seungmin.

 ~~~

 You were honestly a little surprised when you finally woke up

You were sure seeing those words in that news headline, all in one coherent sentence, was going to be the death of you

I mean, he did want you dead, didn’t he?

He…

…

Sigh

You don’t know

You have no idea what’s really happening

A reoccuring theme in this story

You dunno

You just

Don’t

Know 

:)))

But it’s going to be okay because--

Ping!

SCREECH \(ϾAϿ)/ 💦

Bro

Bro man

Your phone almost gave you a heart attack

A real one this time

Oof

Oi

Oi vey to hell and back

All of this is really getting to be too much man

You dunno if-- ...well

We done went over this already

You don’t know anything anymore 🙄😔

I mean

What even is life anyway??

You roll over on your bed to snatch the phone on your nightstand, an eerie feeling in your gut

Whether that’s from the fact you’re still recovering or you’re terrified it has something to do with everyone’s favorite Dandy Boy is a toss up

It could also have been the few nibbles of food you’d managed to have before zonking out…

...actually no scratch that, you were still pretty hungry. Which was a good sign, honestly

It meant you were already recovering well and most likely not gonna die

(ღ˘⌣˘)

That was always nice, y’know, not dying <3

So anyway

You glare at the lock screen in the dark, the brightness blinding you for a moment as you’re squinting and fumbling to turn it down

And when you do

You see there’s another message

A message from Lucas 

Oop. You forgot about him in your whole fainting episode

Hope he’s okay--

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖸/𝗇. 𝖸𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗆𝗈𝗆 𝖼𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝗆𝖾 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗇𝖾𝖽. 𝖨 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎’𝗋𝖾 𝗐𝖾𝗅𝗅. 𝖸𝗈𝗎 𝗀𝗈𝗍𝗍𝖺 𝗐𝖺𝗋𝗇 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾𝖻𝗈𝖽𝗒 𝖻𝖾𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎’𝗋𝖾 𝗀𝗈𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝗀𝗈 𝗌𝗄𝗂𝗍𝗓𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍, 𝗁𝖺𝗁𝖺

e-e

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖨’𝗆 𝗌𝗈 𝗌𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗒, 𝖨 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗆𝗂𝗌𝖾 𝖨’𝗆 𝗈𝗄𝖺𝗒 

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖣𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗍 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎?

It takes a minute for him to respond.

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖭𝗈, 𝖽𝗈𝗇’𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗂𝗍. 𝖸𝗈𝗎 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗍.

And then…

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖨’𝗅𝗅 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎.

…

Uhhh

He’ll what now?

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖣𝗈𝗇’𝗍 𝗀𝗈 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾. 𝖨 𝗐𝗈𝗇’𝗍 𝖻𝖾 𝗅𝗈𝗇𝗀.

UHHH

wat

Sis honestly

what?

Lucas you ho what are you doin you’re sick

Sorta

You on them drugs boy

You needa be staying yer ass in bed so you can--

Ping!

Again? 

Oh now what does this crazy bish want??

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖲𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗒! 𝖩𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝖿𝖺𝗏𝗈𝗋 𝖨 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗒𝗈𝗎

Uh

Sure? What is it??

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖮𝗄𝖺𝗒?? 

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: :)) 𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗌 𝗒/𝗇 

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖦𝗈 𝗍𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖼𝗅𝗈𝗌𝖾𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗈𝗉𝖾𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝗈𝗈𝗋.

………………………………………………………….

Bro man

……

Okay you know what

This is a little too weird

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖨𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗍 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗒𝗈𝗎? 𝗈𝗇𝗈” 

𝖫𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌: 𝖸𝖾𝖺𝗁, 𝖼𝗁𝗈𝖼𝗈𝗅𝖺𝗍𝖾? 𝖨𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝗅𝖾𝖿𝗍 𝗅𝗈𝗅

oooOOOOOH

Oooooh man what a relief

If you’ll recall

Cause ik it’s been a hot minute

In the last episode (Light Switch 1) it was Valentine’s Day

He just wants something sweet =7=” Bro you know that jello sh*t they serve in them hospitals must be nasty af

He just wants some good stuff is all

Who doesn’t want chocolate when they’re sick? Or sad?

But author eating chocolate when you’re sick isn’t good for you do you want to die

Hey bro bold of you to assume--

...anyway

𝖸𝗈𝗎: 𝖮𝗁, 𝗈𝖿 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾! 𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗅𝗈--

…

Hold on

Wait just another hot minute

…

Sis how he know you keep chocolate in your closet??

He wasn’t here when you shoved everything in there

Heck he ain’t ever been in your house once

…

Enough ellipses you’re just gonna go for it

Screw it

It’s just Lucas

He probs just assumed it was a cliche or normal thing to do

You really needed to stop overthinking things and just

Do It ✔™

So you do it

You walk to your closet and open the door

…

Well you start to anyway

On the way over something catches your eye now that your sight’s adjusted

You make your way to your desk, where a stack of letters and junk flyers are just sitting there taking up space and making the room look trashy

You’re easily distracted at times, and a bit nosy, so you pick up the first flyer on the stack to figure out what it is

Such-and-So’s Pool Service!1!1 We clean--

Yeah okay you don’t care

About that anyway

What you do care about, or what piques your interest rather, is the date

It’s labeled as being delivered almost two weeks ago

…

All of the letters and junk mail are labeled as being delivered two weeks ago

…

You’re about to set them all back down when you see something flapping beneath the gentle circulation of the ceiling fan

A Post-It note?

A Post-It note

It says…

   It doesn’t matter what it says

Because you’d recognize that handwriting anywhere, after all the notes he’d written you

It’s from Minnie 

𝐼 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑑 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝘩 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑖𝑟𝘩𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒? ;) 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦, 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑎𝑧𝑦! -- 𝐾𝑆 <𝟥  

𝑃.𝑠. - 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑐𝘩𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟. 

Deep breaths deep breaths deep breaths

He was here

He’d been here

He’d come here the night before--

He’d known

You were such a dumdum

Of course you should have known one of your parents would call. Probably your mom-

UGH

WHAT IS THIS LIFE OF YOURS?!

Okay

But

He was arrested so it’s fine

No wait

He got out

He…

...He got out ._.”

And you

Were

Home

Rn??

……………………

Okay time to get those chocolates and move move move

Just make a small right turn and

Ca-chunk.

……………………………………………………

The closet door just...opens

A familiar figure stepping out from the shadows

He’s wearing his favorite striped blue t-shirt and faded blue jeans

And he’s holding a rose between his teeth

He removes it with a muffled sigh, tossing it back into the closet

“I wanted to surprise you but, I should have known it’s just like you to get easily sidetracked.”

He shoves a phone into his pocket

Lucas’ phone.

He smiles.

“Did you miss me?”

 He paces over to you, touching your face

Stroking it softly with ghost-like fingers

It’s...cold and somehow oddly comforting at the same time

Sending you down a trail of mixed signals and warning signs all over again

But you can’t move

He’s backing you up against the desk--

Wait yes you can move

You gotta get out of here. Don’t think. Just get out.

Scream! Yell! Do something!

You scream. He places a hand over your mouth, shoving you back down against the desk. His breath is hot against your skin from where he hovers over you just inches, centimeters away…

...Maybe you should have gone for using a brain cell or two instead

“Why are you doing this again? Why do you have to be so difficult all the time?”

You’re struggling but he must have been hitting up the gym again cause this beach is strong

He’s rambling things to you under his breath, but with the pounding in your ears it’s hard to make out everything he’s saying

Oh dear Lord in heaven you have to get out of here

Use your brain cells y/n use your brain cells

PLS

He’s forcing you both to stand upright. He pulls you so hard that the momentum causes the desk to sway, a drawer popping open

A drawer containing your knife. The same knife Seungmin had given you.

He wanted you to sever some bonds?

Okay, you could do that alright

Braincells: Activate!

You go for it

Raising a knee to his xxxx, you shove him back with all your feeble might and snatch that bad boy, whirling around to slash your way out of here if you have to

But somehow Seungmin has become a Superhuman™ and he parries your attack, twisting your arms behind your back and slamming you back down onto the desk

You almost hear him grimace as you cry out in pain, like he’s in just as much turmoil as you

And before you know it a rag is held up over your face, Seungmin gently laying his cheek against yours. Somehow in the span of time all this was going on, he’d managed to throw a mask over his face...

“I’m so sorry, y/n...I never wanted it to come to this...I was hoping to take you quietly…

...But it’s also not my fault you’re so damn difficult all the time.”

Moonlight streaming in through the curtain was blurring together, your thoughts slowly growing more and more incoherent

A scream still caught in your throat, the last thing you recall is again the scent of lavender and Spring daisies. Except it was much stronger now, because that scent was now carrying you somewhere up, up, and away…

 ~~~

 The faint sound of laughter is what awakens you for the 47294907204 time

Seriously how many more times were you gonna clock out like jeez

Not to over exaggerate but man alive

…

……

………

You’re blinking up at the ceiling when it all comes back to you

Seungmin

Your room

Kim Seungmin

Your closet

Minnie

You being carried away somewhere…

It doesn’t take you long to throw yourself up right, but when you do you instantly regret the action, as a splitting headache takes hold of your cranial

It causes you to wince, reaching both hands up to grab your skull...which are, surprisingly...rather heavy…

…

Holy frick and frack you’ve been chained

Your wrists

There are cuffs around them

And you’re literally connected to a bedpost

…………

You swallow

This isn’t good

It’s not good at all

What the heck is going on now…?

You gotta examine your surroundings. You need to stop being in the dark all the time

Time to flip on a light switch brother

Let’s see

You’re sitting in a bed

Your bed

…

Wait

Your bed?

That can’t be right

You distinctly remember, despite the running gag of you not knowing anything, that Minnie had hoisted you off somewhere

He’d deadass climbed out the window or something

You look up and around next

…

It was unmistakable

This was your room: here was your bed, your bookshelf, your desk, TV, closet…

Even your stuffed animals and stationery was here. Exactly as you’ve always had it.

Except, normally your bed was on the right side of the room. Currently, it was on the left

So it was like

A parallel of your bedroom

A weird mirrored version, like you’d stepped through the looking glass…

...You supposed essentially, in some ways, you already had. Starting around high school.

Argh

This was really bad

You had to get out of here

Thankfully the chains were pretty long, so your movement wasn’t too restricted and you could move around for the most part as normal

If you had to guess, you could probably make it about halfway across the room before you ran out of chain

……

A thought you’d never thought you’d be having

Swiftly, you raise the sheets to check your legs

They’re free, save for a few bruises. Yours arms are in worse shape with twice as many and these damned heavy cuff links

This was honestly an outrage

And hella dehumanizing

You weren’t sure what was scarier: the fact that you were sitting in a mirror copy of your bedroom chained like an animal, or the fact that Minnie had done this

…

Seungmin

No more Minnie

He was Seungmin now

Maybe even just Kim

Because you would no longer have any ties to him after this

He was long gone now

It was over

Bam!

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

Oh gosh

IT REALLY IS OVER

HE’S HERE

WHAT WAS—

Wait was that laughter just now?

It sounded...familiar…

As in

Recorded

…

You strained your ears, holding your breath a moment

If you focused really hard

You could just barely hear it

Voices. Sound effects. More audio laughter.

Someone was watching TV

That or Seungmin had sold you to a circus act

Which might have been preferable actually because you really didn’t know if he wanted you dead or not

I mean

On one hand

Why would someone go to so much trouble to make an exact replica of your bedroom?

But on another

There were some major sickos out there…

And you really could never tell what he was thinking

…

No, no, no y/n

No tears

We’re not going to cry

Big girl pants big girl pants

We’re going to get ourselves out of here and hop on the first plane to a new country

Move to Switzerland and start a cute little sheep farm

Change your name to Olga

Marry a huge scary-looking huntsman that was actually very sweet

And spend the rest of your days baking apple pies and schnitzel and shaving wool from sheep to knit fluffy sweaters and sell them on the Swiss version of Amazon

Yeah something like that

Everything was going to be a-o—

“You’re awake.”

ACAHNDUSLILIAHDSLINUFARJDSA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It’s Kim Seungmin

He’s standing in the doorway

You didn’t even hear the door open

He takes two steps in before pausing to admire what a mess you probably look like

Only to him, you’ve never looked more beautiful

You don’t know this of course, but in his mind: you’re stunning

I mean, absolutely breathtaking

Sitting here in the room he worked so hard putting together for you

Your hair a wind-blown bed-mangled mess the way you toss and turn in your sleep sometimes

The natural glow that radiates off your face when you’re not wearing any makeup

The shine from the rays of faint sunrise as they hit your tear-stained face

It’s a work of art

What he’s worked for since he first laid eyes on you all those years ago

He’s wanted this so badly for such a long time

And it’s finally happening

He’s finally gotten what he’s pined for all this time: you

All that time he took getting to know you, forming a bond, taking measurements and pictures and writing down numbers, formulating the perfect plan

It may not have gone exactly how he imagined it would, but it’d still produced the same results. You were now, finally, his. All that was left to do was to clean you of any ties you had to your past life, and then the war would be over. The climax had come and gone. It was all downhill from here.

He told himself over and over again, that this is what he’d wanted...but yet

A part of him felt almost guilty for some reason

Of course he was happy, but also

…

It this really what he’d wanted?

He wanted to celebrate

But

Though you looked so beautiful

He also didn’t like seeing you so sad

…

It was fine

You just had to get adjusted, that was all

It’s hard being whisked off from one place to another

In a few days you’d be all settled in and then you could both celebrate being happy and alone together

You’d realize what a wonderful thing he had done for the both of you and thank him

And he’d never have to worry about anyone touching you or so much as looking at you ever again

You’d be his special treasure

Something he’d be able to look forward to coming home to each and every day after he landed his dream job as a photographer

Of course, you’d never get to accomplish the goals you’d told him about for your life, but…

That wouldn’t matter after a little time had passed, once you realized you only needed rely on him from now on

And there would be lots of fun things to do at home, he’d make sure of it

He’d take good care of you, here at his father’s old cabin house

And no one would be any the wiser because his parents were scarcely ever home

They were never around, always traveling from one place to another. He’d learned to take care of himself when he was 13, and from then on had been fiercely and undeniably independent

He really hadn’t seen or heard from his parents since, they’d just left him with the house and sent monthly checks to take care of the bills. If he thought hard enough, the last memory he had of his mother was probably at an unexpected Christmas visit when he was 15

And after that, nada

So as one could guess, his life had been very lonely…

Of course, he’d normally preferred being alone and if he was bored, he had Felix and Changbin to check up on him

But that all changed the moment he laid eyes on you

Oh sure, he’d seen you before that fateful rainy afternoon. When he actually bothered showing up to class. But…

Catching you alone that day was like a sign to him

He’d been wandering the back alleys as he normally did

On his way home, he realized he’d forgotten one of his cameras at school

So he had to make a detour to get it

He really wanted to take some shots of the coming storm for a new collection he’d been working on

On the way over, it wouldn’t leave his mind that something was missing…

He needed a host, a muse, a character

Some sort of other life force to give breath to the photographs

They were fine as they were

But just fine wasn’t fine for him

He could do better

Surely there was something—

...Drat. They’d already locked the doors.

He’d have to hoist himself in through a window now—

 ...And there you were.

He couldn’t explain it

He’d seen you before, sure, rarely, on occasion. But you’d just been a passing figure in the sea of endless faces

Now you were more than that. You were the figure, the face, the missing piece he’d been searching for

But he knew how fickle the human race was. So he’d have to play coy and civil before going in for the kill

If he turned out not to like you, he could always toss you back out into the sea

But the moment he swooped down to catch you from that (minorly hysterical) fall, he’d felt it. The missing spark he’d been waiting for all along.

He couldn’t take his eyes away. You were simply too real, too alive, too beautiful and unwavering

Yet shy and clean and simple all the same

It was a perfect paradox

An acute conundrum 

And he was loving every second of it

He knew, in that moment, that he had to 

As cringey as it sounds

That he had to make you his

And now you were...almost

It was just a bit further before he reached the light at the end of the tunnel

He’d never be lonely or lost for inspiration again

Because he’d have you

And that was all he needed...

 𝑇𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑑...𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 ♥