#and it’s very competitive with cash prizes

[fitsinthepalm]

[hellenhighwater]

i have. no idea what art prize is? but your blog is very cool and my brother lives in gr so i could easily drive over there to visit him and cast a vote for you :)

Huh, yeah, I guess I haven't explained it really.

ArtPrize is a city-wide art show/competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which happens annually in September. It lasts a little more than half the month, and it usually involves somewhere around 500+ pieces of art, ranging in scale from handmade pots to building-sized murals to large-scale art installations. The venues that host the art are generally business, parks, or public spaces across the city. There's somewhere in the range of $600,000 in prize/grant money this year, spread out across categories. There's also parades, live events--it's a little like a citywide festival.

There's three direct ways for an artist to get money out of ArtPrize. The first is by receiving a grant, which I did! There's a limited number of grants available, (I think ten?) most of them for $2,000. Which is both a lot of money and also not that much, when you're factoring in things like costs of lumber to build display pedestals, studio fees, etc. $2,000 mostly covers what it's cost me to participate. (Of course, costs of competition vary a huge amount from artist to artist! It depends entirely on what you're making.) It's a huge gift (and a big vote of confidence) to get the grant I did.

Second, you can win a juried award for your category. Juried awards are selected by a panel of judges from the professional art world, and they choose based on the more academic criteria that art is generally judged by. There's a $10,000 cash prize for the jury award winner in each category of art, 2D, 3D, installation, time-based, new media, and design. I'm in the 3D category! It's one of the bigger categories, so competition is stiff.

For every $10,000 juried award category, there's also a public vote award! This is the bit I will be bothering all of the locals about. Anyone who visits the geographic range of ArtPrize (a specific area of the city that they map out) and gets out their smartphone, logs in to the website, and scans a QR code can vote once a day for an artwork. (You only have to be in the city the first time you vote, you can keep voting once a day from wherever you are after that. ) There were about 30,000 votes cast by the public last year, out of 700,000 attendees.

But the headliner is the Public Vote Grand Prize, for the art piece in any category that gets the most votes--a cash prize of $125,000. It's a lot! I don't know that I have any real chance at winning that but I will be trying my best!

So, if you go, you'll find my art at the Atrium by Uccello's, and I'll be asking you to vote for this series.

[leonw4nter]

Ex-Swimmer!RE4!Leon

In his childhood, his grandparents wanted to find an activity to get his high energy down. They tried gymnastics but it was too expensive for both of them to cover, poor Leon was really excited to swing and twirl in the air like the rest of the kids in the better side of town. Fortunately for his grandparents, his school teacher recommended swimming classes— they were more affordable for him and also, Leon seemed happy to take the classes.

Leon excelled highly in swimming. He was a fast learner and eager to try new techniques for swimming and breathing. He would help other kids who were having a harder time, giving them tips, and uplifting encouragement to keep them going. The coaches, the teacher that recommended swimming for him, and his grandparents saw that he was doing exceptional, like he’s destined to be an accomplished swimmer. After being convinced and encouraged enough by his support system, he decided to train for a local competition— his first of many.

His first competition was memorable— not in the way that he won a medal, he did not, but he enjoyed the feeling of competing with others. Post competition, he gave everyone a hug and congratulated them on their wins. Of course he felt bummed out but he didn’t let that stop him— he just felt even more motivated.

That night, he lay awake in bed as he figured out what he wanted to do: be a professional swimmer or pursue his lifelong dream of being a police officer. Both of these things made him immensely happy— to feel his body cutting through the water as his arms and legs drove him forward, to be able to stand up for those who couldn’t and protect them. By the morning, he decided to keep swimming in his heart as a hobby and keep chasing his dream of being a police officer.

As he grew older, he still competed in competitions and did his best to win cash prizes to surprise his grandmother with. However he had to put a halt to swimming when he got in the police academy; he needed more time to focus on his studies and had to lessen expenses, classes weren’t that cheap anymore.

After Raccoon City, he no longer had any police duties to consider. He’s now under extensive government surveillance and most of his decisions are made with the consideration of what the government can do with Claire and Sherry, fellow survivors of the incident. During days where he’s allowed to see both of them or at least one of the two, he talks about how he missed swimming and feeling the electric thrill of competing. He rambled on and on about how the chlorine smell of the pool reminded him of when times were normal, he thought about the adults that guided him when he was a boy.

On very rare occasions where he got to sleep during his military training, he had dreams of the pool, of cheering, of feeling light in the water. Usually, it was followed with him drowning despite knowing how to swim or the water turning red with blood, flotsam scattered on the once blue surface. He hated that the horrors of bioweapons even tainted the treasure he kept deep in his heart wherever he went.

His therapist recommended swimming again, not necessarily competitively like back then, but as a manner of relaxation. He thought about it and rejected the idea until he decided to cave in. The next morning, he looked for pools around town. He didn’t jump in straight to a full on pool and start paddling around, he stayed in a plunge pool and let the cascading water gently sway his body.

After exposing himself to water again and slowly getting over the fears and worries that held him back, he began performing swim strokes— front crawl, trudgen stroke, backstrokes galore. He knew that his form was slightly off but quite impressive for someone who hasn’t done this in 6 or more years. The familiarity of childhood swimming breathing techniques and the sloshing water gave Leon a sense of peace, even for a moment. He practiced dives and swam fast, hard. In no time, his form felt much more correct in the water though he knew he was far from the precision his younger self had.

He was underwater when he heard faint steps approaching his position, rushing back to the surface to check who the footsteps belonged to. It was an old man, with a clipboard on his arm. Leon approached and the man explained that he wished to scout Leon and train him professionally because he could see the potential in him, the chance for athletic greatness. Leon declined, stating that he’s not too well to train professionally and besides, he has a full-time job that demands a lot from him already. The man smiled and gave Leon a pat on the shoulder, complimenting his skill before making his way out and observing the other swimmers with him in the natatorium.

He drove home that night, the chlorine smell still lingering on his person like an old memory. He was frustrated at himself for turning down an opportunity that presented itself to him, it was so close. All he had to do was say a few words and soon he’d have a schedule to go back there and practice. It would be nice to compete again, to swiftly slice through the water but he was tethered to a job he’s blackmailed into, a job that he never wanted in the first place. He’s not even sure he can reach the levels of athletic skill his younger self achieved, he thinks he’s not quite right in the head anymore after all he’s seen, heard, felt, and done.

That night and many nights onward, he dreams of two things: the horrors of the now decimated city with its snarling undead lunging at his warm throat and what could’ve been his Olympic debut, if he was given time to fully hone his talent. He wanted to appease the little kid inside him that wanted to swim in new natatoriums, hear the crowd scream in exhilaration, and feel the weight of a cold medal on his chest but he can’t. In his visions behind shut eyes each night, he apologizes and hugs the 10-year-old Leon who always asked about his dreams because all of them— to live a happy life, swim competitively, and help people as a police officer— were all a distance too great for Leon to swim towards.

NOTE - So I'm back. But I'll also be gone soon :3 Sorry if it's a little too short, I still don't have any idea what to write but this felt like an idea too good to pass up so why not pen it down yk :) While I was gone I've been watching the Olympics and lowkey is this what patriotism feels like... like bro why am I suddenly so passionate and shedding tears of national pride. Also it's incredibly obvious that I've been keeping up with the swimming events by the theme of this post... Also, as of writing we're 7 followers away from 500 followers so I'll prolly do something for that milestone! Anyway, thank you for reading my fics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I <33333333 UUUUUUUUUUU

The chain divider is made by @cafekitsune , the images are colored by me (sourced from Pinterest).

[oneforthemunny]

omg cowboy!eddie when one of those buckle bunnies come back for more and try to flirt with eddie right in front of sweet girl

ooh love this!!! so this is kinda set after the first encounter and fight they had (check the blurb masterlist if you're interested in reading!) and kinda like a follow up fluff blurb about later <3

"There you are." You grinned, greeting Eddie when he finally came out of the small tent. The winner's circle, he'd called it, where he collected his obnoxious belt buckle of a prize and his winning cash.

"Hi, baby." Eddie was shuffling a little slower that usual, stride a little slumped despite his win. He was doing competitions less and less now, getting older and bronco riding was taking more of a toll than usual.

He greeted you with a kiss, sweet but swift, your arm sliding around his waist. "Lemme see it." You grinned, looking over at the shining, studded belt buckle in Eddie's hands.

"Ooh," You giggled. "Nice and shiny. Winner, winner, chicken dinner, hm?"

Eddie snorted in laughter. "Where'd you hear that from?"

"Someone in the stands said it." You shrugged, giggling. "I thought it was funny. Thought you might like that."

Eddie pressed a kiss to your head, shrugging his saddle up further on his back. "I don't think I want chicken tonight." Eddie sighed heavily. "Think I want a steak. You feelin' like goin' out?"

"Are you?" You looked at him carefully, brow raised in suspect. "We can order room service if you're tired."

"Nah, I just need to shower and change. Get outta these boots." Eddie shook his head. "I'll get a second win. 'Sides, I promised you a night out."

You grinned, leaning into his side. "Where should we go? Oh, should we-"

"Congratulations, cowboy." A purring voice came from beside you.

You turned, seeing a girl stepping towards Eddie with a sultry sway of her hips. She was wearing a cowboy hat, one that looked cheap, fashioned with a pair of cutoffs that looked more like underwear, plaid shirt tied around her lacy, push up bra that you could see peeking out. A very stark contrast to the sundress you had one.

"You stayed on a pretty long time." She grinned wickedly, lashes batting at Eddie. "I can stay on a long time too. You wanna see?"

Your hand curled around Eddie's waist, pulling him closer to you, possessively. Your eyes narrowed into slits, jaw set, ready to go off on her.

Eddie didn't even turn towards her, not even blinking in her direction. "Where'd you wanna go?" He hummed, moving to look at you sweetly, continuing his stride towards the car, heavy boots on the dirt path kicking up a small puff with each step.

You watched as the girl's face fell, shock replacing her once proud smirk. It was your turn to grin, smug and triumphant as you leaned into Eddie's side, one last glare thrown at her before you turned back.

"What a fucking bitch." You muttered to Eddie, huffing in annoyance.

"Don't pay them any mind." Eddie shook his head. "They're a dime-a-dozen around these things. Another fuckin' reason I'm ready to call it quits." He grumbled.

"Let's not worry 'bout that." Eddie cut off your retort. "Tell me where you wanna go, baby. I'll take you wherever you want."

[sexhaver]

What makes Jeweled Bird so bad?

first, some context: wayyyyy back in the stone ages when dinosaurs walked the earth and MTG first released, it was envisioned as less of a serious competitive card game people would explicitly try to minmax and more of a fun little diversion for your D&D group to play while you wait for Jared to get off his shift so you can actually start your campaign. this explains a lot of design choices that seem backasswards 30 years later. for instance, yes, Richard Garfield knew Black Lotus was unbelievably busted, but figured it was fine to print since it's not like people would do anything crazy like buy up hundreds of packs/hunt down singles on a secondary marketplace and play the game competitively for cash prizes.

one of the wackiest outcomes of this design philosophy was the concept of "playing for ante", an optional game mode/modifier where each player would begin the game by putting the top card of their library directly into "the ante", a pile of cards off to the side. whoever won the game won permanent, real-life ownership of all cards in the ante. basically "playing for keeps" but in a TCG instead of with Pogs or those weird tiny cardboard Beyblade tops that came in chip bags.

as you might guess from just reading that description, it was pretty wildly unpopular with most of the playerbase at the time and only got less popular as time went on. people didn't want to risk losing their cards, especially once the game became established and some of those cards were worth, like, actual amounts of money. and then there was the variance - it was entirely possible for you to ante up your only copy of an expensive card (meaning you were even less likely to win because now you can't draw it) while your opponent anted a basic land.

partially due to this, but mostly due to WOTC lawyers learning about the concept of "gambling laws" and WOTC PR learning about the optics of getting children into gambling, ante was officially removed from all sanctioned MTG tournaments very early into the game's lifespan (in fact i think this might have been enshrined into law before the actual first official tournament) and mostly memoryholed from the comprehensive rules, outside of section 407, which leads with this literal legal disclaimer:

there were 9 cards printed before this that explicitly reference "the ante" and do something unique to the cards in it. all of these cards have been errata'd to include the rules text "remove this card from your deck before playing if you're not playing for ante" and banned from LITERALLY ALL SANCTIONED FORMATS, including Vintage, the format whose entire appeal is "we never ban anything" (laughs in Lurrus).

okay so with the context out of the way we can start getting into why Jeweled Bird specifically is A Bad Card

first, the obvious: it's an ante card, which means you can't play it unless you're playing for ante, and if you ask anyone at your LGS to play for ante they will try to surreptitiously call the nearest retirement home to report an escapee from their memory care unit. so right off the bat it's quite literally unplayable as an MTG card (ante doesn't even work right in cube drafts, usually the last solace of jank-ass mechanics), which is not a great start.

now that we've established that ante cards are bad because they're effectively banned everywhere, let's assume we're living in some bizarro land where you've managed to convince a handful of friends to play in your personal MTG tournament bracket that allows ante. even then, all but one (don't worry we'll get to that one in a second) of the banned "ante cards" are just. unplayably bad. like absolute dogshit.

ok actually you know what i hadn't looked over all the ante cards in a while before typing up this post and now that i have i think Jeweled Bird is arguably the third or fourth best one out of the lot, and it's STILL unplayably bad in a modern context. it's effectively 1 colorless mana to draw a card, which is theoretically decent in some colors nowadays if you squint but would have actually been notably good back in its heyday. it actually gets pretty close to what WOTC was trying to go for with most of these ante card designs: you get a powerful effect (card draw for 1 colorless mana in an era when even blue had to jump through hoops for a rate that good outside of Ancestral Recall), but at the cost of adding something to the ante, but since the effect is so powerful, you should ideally be able to win the game off of it and completely negate the downside of adding your stuff to the ante.

you know what, fuck it, let's just go through the other ante cards from worst to best:

this card looks absolutely batshit until you get to the last sentence and realize it's effectively 6 mana to force your opponent to ante a card. if you spend 6 mana doing effectively nothing, you are not winning the game or that ante

this one is this low because in 99% of circumstances it's 10 mana over two turns to burn your opponent for 10. however, it takes the edge over Amulet of Quoz because 1. it just bypasses the ante zone entirely to literally steal the card directly, outcome of the game be damned 2. if your opponent has 9 or less life, they have to either let you steal their card or concede on the spot (which means they lose their ante) and 3. if i'm reading this ruling correctly you can set up the 9-or-less-life scenario with a TOKEN COPY of Bronze Tablet and give them a literal bar napkin with a doodle on it in exchange for their judge promo foil Elesh Norn:

so for 6 mana, you can heal yourself back to full at the cost of anteing an additional card. if that was all this card did, it would still be pretty bad, but the icing on this shitcake is that your opponent can just. also do that. but without spending their entire turn to cast a 6 mana spell. so now you're both on equal footing lifewise, but they have their entire turn to gain tempo advantage after you spent your turn healing them. and you gave them another one of your cards once you inevitably lose because of this. i guess theoretically you could run it in a super heavy control deck that aims to win via mill as a safety valve against aggro? idk man

this card effectively does nothing, but doing nothing for 3 mana is still an improvement over "doing nothing for 6 mana", "doing 10 damage for 10 mana over two turns", and "helping your opponent for 6 mana". i guess if you're really confident that your deck can win anyways (perhaps because of another card on this list) you could use this to force your opponent to ante another card for you to win? mostly this one is this high up here because "if the opponent doesn't concede the game immediately" is the funniest possible opening to a MTG card's rules text. like that's always true. you could add that to quite literally every card ever printed and it would change nothing other than making the game way funnier

okay so this is a three mana 1/1 with an ability that costs three MORE mana to activate that effectively just makes your opponent ante a card. i know it looks like it destroys and then literally steals an artifact, which would actually be a pretty good effect since it impacts the board (something none, but the entire thing is countered by anteing a card so that's what's gonna happen every time. at least this one can chump block

okay now we're starting to get into cards that at least make you think a little bit before deciding they suck (Jeweled Bird would go around here)

this scores higher than Timmerian Fiends for several reasons. obviously, a 4 mana 3/3 is a much better rate than a 3 mana 1/1, and the sac ability being free (other than a tap) makes it a lot more usable. the effect is even debateably good in red specifically: either it "draws" (literally legally steals irl) you a card, or it does 10 burn to the opponent's face. however, it does lose points due to the part where you, uh, have to give it away after using it once, win or lose. basically this is like Bronze Tablet but 6 mana cheaper and on a body that can actually theoretically do something. also lol at the "or conceding game" clause like Demonic Attorney, i really want to start seeing that wording on every card ever printed

now this might seem similar to Demonic Attorney at first glance, but the Oracle text makes it make more sense: "You own target card in the ante. Exchange that card with the top card of your library." notably, like Efreet and Tablet, this swap in ownership happens regardless of the outcome of the game, and unlike those two cards, you don't have to trade Darkpact itself for the card you're stealing. stealing your opponent's card out of the ante does mean that now both of the cards in there belong to you, meaning you have twice as much to lose, but hey, you just stole (and got to draw and cast, lol) your opponent's shit. "do what you must, i have already won" type beat

as powerful as Darkpact is, it's still only the second best ante card, and it is not even in the same zip code as the first best. ever heard of a little card named Ancestral Recall? draws 3 cards for one mana? and that's such a busted effect you're only allowed to legally run one copy in the one format it isn't explicitly banned in?

hahahahahahahahahaha holy shit sorry every time i remember this card i cackle at it a bit. what do you MEAN "discard your hand and draw 7 for 1 mana"?? discarding is an UPSIDE these days! people have unironically run One With Nothing, which is this card except for all the words after "discard your current hand". that "add the first drawn to the ante" bit might as well be flavor text because if you manage to lose after casting this then your deck was never even theoretically capable of winning in the first place. jesus christ.

[daddywright]

I had so much fun with the AA Lost in the Wild poll I decided to make another one, inspired by the notes on it:

For context: Survivor is a very long running American competitive game show famous for putting its contestants on remote islands where they compete in stupid challenges, try to find hidden immunity idols, and gaslight gatekeep girlboss the competition through petty, paper-thin alliances for a big cash prize.

[merunair]

Aquarium tips!

So if you're new to aquascaping, here's a very simple thing you can do to make your scape look better.

The S l o p e

Angling your substrate towards the back, be it steep or shallow, gives the whole thing depth, and it means that you'll see more of your scape from the front. Obviously don't do this if you want it to look good from all angles, but if it's meant to be seen from one angle, that's a non-issue.

Below the cut are some entries to AGA's 2022 aquascaping competition that demonstrate the S l o p e better than I can.

This is a very dramatic S l o p e for a more dramatic scape. Showing off all of those lovely rocks.

Here's a more subtle S l o p e. It gives the illusion that the path in the middle extends further back than it actually does.

Another path illusion here!

Here's one of the 1st place winners. You can learn a lot about aquascaping just looking at this bad boy, but as far as the S l o p e is concerned, it gives the illusion of extra depth, and it raises bits of hardscape higher up so that you can see them from a level, front angle.

In fact, just go look at AGAs aquascaping contest backlog if you want to improve. A lot of them also have judge's critiques which are very useful.

Also also! Keep in mind that these scapes have their picture taken when they look their best! For the rest of the year they ABSOLUTELY look more wild and frazzled. Plus hundreds of dollars go into them because the cash prizes for these kinds of contest are very, very high. So it's 100% okay if you aren't able to make a big, sexy tank that wins contests and looks good 24/7 365 days a year.

As long as you end up with something that you love, or learn a lot of new things making something that you hate, you're on the right path!

[wtfanworkclassification]

Announcing the Tour de France Fanwork Classification 2024!

This Tour, while watching your favourite cyclists, little and big guys alike, compete, compete yourself!

The Tour de France Fanwork Classification is an event that will run for the entirety of the 2024 Tour de France, with a different task for every day. Competitors can choose as many or as few stages to complete as they wish, but all works must be submitted by midnight GMT on July 22nd, the day after Stage 21 of the Tour. There is no minimum word count, and works can be either posted to the Ao3 Collection thorugh claiming the relevant stage here, or posted on here on Tumblr with this account tagged along with the stage it is for.

Aside from the ITT challenges, the prompts, AUs and tropes are the competitors to do with what they will. You can subvert, embrace and play with these tasks however you wish!

However, you are not called competitors lightly. For what is a classification without some sort of prize? While we at WTFC are far too cheap for a cash prize, we are proud to announce a new jersey up for competition- the soon to be very prestigious Imaginary Glitter Jersey- le maillot scintillement!

The winner of the fanwork classification (which will be chosen base on who has completed the most tasks by the end of the deadline) will get this Prestigious JPEG as well as their profile picture with a sparkle filter poorly superimposed upon it, for bragging rights.

The people who complete the most tasks in each category will also win their category classification. Their prize will be a PNG of a silly hat to put on their profile picture, along with a glitter filter of their own, for bragging rights.

Feel free to ask us any questions- we'll build up FAQs as we go along but this post is just to let you know what's ahead! Further breakdowns of each category as well as a post for every stage to give you ideas to come!

[edytae]

Rush²: Club (smut-mature) ft Kim Taehyung x Reader

(do not interact if you are underage)

pairing: Taehyung x (female) reader     

summary: just smut y’know?

rating: 18+, smut, mature, do not interact if you are underage

genre/warnings: possive Taehyung, lap sitting, whole loads of dirty talk from Taehyung, he is a freak, fingering (female recieving), some stripper action but zero detail... It has been a long time since i uploaded so idk.

word count: 8K

masterlist | part1 rush: concert | part2 rush: club | part3: rush: bed

——

“Is your boyfriend always this uptight, darling?” The dancer asked while her hands caressed your forearms. Her pinkish nails made you shiver. A woman, especially this sexy, flirting with you was very new to you. You weren’t sure if this would qualify as flirting though. She was a stripper and you were a client. You assumed that she would go loom around the boys as they cheered and threw cash, but this one was very fond of you for some reason. 

“No, we are just fri-” You tried to explain as she drank some of the alcohol that Jungkook got everyone. “Then, he should be, huh? Look at how he clings to you.” She laughed pitifully as her hand lowered down to Taehyung’s arm wrapped around your waist. You uncomfortably shifted; you would prefer her not touching Taehyung. 

Taehyung’s arm squeezed you even tighter to his side when her fingers came to Taehyung’s wrist and played with his bracelets. “He even refused my lap dance.” She tutted, retracting her hand. You tried to face Taehyung, but it was quite difficult because of the way he held you. Instead, you mimicked the dancer and held his arm, his warm breath immediately came behind your ear. 

“Maybe I should give you one,” The dancer’s fingers danced to your hair. She wrapped your hair around her forefinger, her booze-scented breath hit your face. Okay, this was a bit intense. “I will pass.” You pushed her finger. It was Taehyung’s limit now. He should have picked you up a lot earlier anyway. 

Taehyung held you from where the two of you were sitting and pulled you onto his lap. He didn’t want you to sit on this filthy leather seat from the beginning- fuck, he never wanted to come here. “Do you need some tips, baby?” The girl insisted and scooted where you were just sitting. Your ass sat right on top of his thigh.

“I think you should leave now, Rosie,” Taehyung spoke for the first time. His low voice came out more serious than you anticipated. This time you could see his clenched jaw, strained neck and his eyes pulled to the sides dangerously. One could think that the dancer wanted to hurt you. His possessiveness felt unnecessary, but you indulged in his tight arms.

“My name is not R-” You thought she would understand and leave now, but she had her eyes on the prize, Taehyung’s lips. 

“I won’t repeat.” Taehyung sternly warned again. This time it worked. Rosie or whatever her name is scoffed and left with her drink in hand. 

You didn’t realise how tense you were until she left your side. Taehyung was the same. He muttered in your ear, “So now I have to keep you fucking away from women too? Are you into chicks now?” His low voice made you melt against him. You laid your back on his chest. “Mhmm, are you afraid that you got competition?” You laughed.

Taehyung let out a growl as your dress hiked up to your thighs. “Don’t get angry. I am not into girls, okay?” His angry face didn’t disappear. “I am into you-” You said but his harsh hands stopped you.

“You fucking– bad girl!” He manhandled you and harshly made you sit across his lap. “You don’t know how to properly sit and you still wear these short ass dresses, huh? Do you want me to pick up a fight with every single man in this fucking club?” His frustration poured out of him. 

“Taehyung no one is looking at me. People are literally fucking.” You pointed to Hobi and a girl on top of his crotch. Taehyung held your chin. 

“No, no look at me,” he said in a whiny voice. No sign of his anger from just seconds ago. “You should give me a lap dance instead.” 

You shrugged, “I already made you cum,” Taehyung rolled his eyes. “And you didn’t even moved the entire time, I just fucked myself on you.” You dug your finger into his chest as he bit his bottom lip. You fucking did that, yes. He would love to do that again, yes, please.

“I still feel you inside me, Taehyung.” You took advantage of sitting so close to him and whispered into his ear. Taehyung loved dirty talk and breath play. Another thing he loved was neck kisses, so you gave him a small peck just below his ear. 

The result was exhilarating. The gorgeous male whimpered against you. “Yeah, keep my kids right here,” Taehyung cupped your tummy. You breathed shakily this time. Why would he say that? He wasn’t even your boyfriend. 

“And you came so early, Taetae.” You were so gonna milk this. Taehyung scoffed, chewing inside his cheeks. “Ahh, you are so crazy about me.” You shook your head to the sides. “You always talk about me being the needy one but you are my whore, Taehyung.” You spoke rather silly about it. Taehyung rolled his eyes, “So am I going to get my lap dance?” 

You lifted your head and looked him in the eyes. Fuck Kim Taehyung for how handsome. 

“I think you owe me an orgasm, first?” You bit him with your words. Taehyung raised his brow, “Do we owe things now, babygirl?” Taehyung’s warm hand caressed your cheek.

It was annoying how he belittled you even though you had the upper hand. You poked your tongue at him like a five-year-old. Taehyung gave you a full chest laugh, throwing his head back. “Y/N…” He said your name melodically.

You felt even more annoyed at how cocky he was. You held the collar of his shirt. “You gonna finger me,” You demanded, trying to spread your legs for his hand, but Taehyung held your thighs closed. 

“My hands aren’t clean.” He said. 

“Go wash them.” You insisted.

“What if someone steals me from you? You saw how these girls are stubborn?” He caressed your bottom lips when you gave him a big pout.

“Eat me out, then.” The options were endless with Taehyung. You truthfully asked what you wanted just to realise you were being too honest. Taehyung liked your honesty. He gave you another cocky grin. “I am sorry, baby. I will make it up to you tonight.” He kissed your shoulder.

You shrugged that shoulder, “You will finger me too, okay?” You would never pass on those gorgeous long fingers. Never.

“I will.” Taehyung nodded dutifully. 

“You will fuck me on missionary too.” You shook your finger as if you were lecturing him. If he was in the mood to accept everything, you would better give him the whole list.

Taehyung nodded again, his eyes watching your lips. “You are asking for the most vanilla things.”

You pinched him playfully, “I will ride you, then.” As if it was a very spicy position, but Taehyung proved you wrong when he nodded breathlessly. 

“Anything you want.” He said, leaning closer to you. 

“You will sing for me too.” You pushed him more. Taehyung looked at you confused. You wrapped your arms around your torso as Taehyung laughed through his nose. When you looked at him with big eyes, Taehyung nodded for the final time. 

“Pinky promise,” You held your pinky out for him. If you knew Taehyung just a little bit, he would keep his promise. 

Taehyung rolled his eyes again. “There is no need for it,” You huffed and poked his chest. “As if I would pass on eating your sweet cunt.” He wrapped his pinky around yours.

“But I need to add my terms to your deal.” Taehyung held your finger nice and tight as he pointed at you with his chin. 

It was your turn to roll your eyes. “You aren’t in the position to make offers, Mr Kim.” You used your tone to scare him, but Taehyung didn’t buy it.

“I will eat you out if you sit on my face.” He pointed to your cunt with his chin. You scandalously close his mouth with your free hand. Why was he so loud and chill? You shushed him with warning eyes. 

Taehyung licked your palm and winked at you. “Taehyung! Go alert the media if you want the whole world to hear it.” You said whiningly as you wiped his drool onto his shirt.

Taehyung shrugged, “I begged you to post a photo of my face between your legs so many times, babygirl.” Oh god, he brought this up again. You shushed him once more while your pinky lost blood circulation. “You can’t post things like that, Tae. No one needs to see you in that position.” The view that made you cum on its own: his brown eyes, flushed cheeks and his beautiful bangs between your thighs made you cream like a whore. 

“Okay, okay, but you do that later.” You wanted to finish this pinky promise before Taehyung permanently stuck to you. 

Taehyung shrugged, “No deal then.” He faked a pout that made you fall into his traps so many times. “No, we have deal. We can do what y-you offered a late-er. night” You forced yourself not to think about riding Taehyung’s face, getting that thick tongue deep where you needed, fuck your clit on his big nose. 

Taehyung noticed you clenching and pressing your thighs. “What I offered? Say it.” He placed his hand on your knee. As soon as he touched your thighs, you pushed his hands off. “If you aren’t gonna finish it, don’t start.” You sternly warned him. Your voice, for the first time in the night, came out very serious and weak which made Taehyung’s heart clench. 

“Aww,” He said, bringing the hand you pushed back to your face. “Did I get your pussy so high and dry, baby? I am really sorry.” You hid your face into his neck. Could he stop talking? Your cheeks were getting tingly. 

Taehyung cracked a big, loud laugh at your cuteness, which got attention from the other boys. In return, you hid your face in his neck even deeper.

“You are lucky that you have a long tongue and thick dick, Tae. Otherwise, I would ban my pussy from you!” You huffed as you hugged yourself. 

Taehyung tsked, “I knew it was my dick that kept you all these years.” You didn’t answer, but your squirms on his lap gave Taehyung the answer he fucking needed right now.  “I fucking know you love my cock, pillow princess. I will do everything you want tonight.” He tightened his grip on your pinky, pressed your thumbs together, and then pressed his lips onto yours. You gasped at his sudden move but easily gave in to him. 

After minutes of teasing and sexual tension, you thought that Taehyung would get messy in kissing you or at least grope you on your ass. However, his hands stood around your thigh, pulling your skirt down, making sure that you were all covered. 

He muttered something when it kept riding up your thigh. “Put my jacket over your legs, babygirl.” He laid the brown leather over your lap as you kissed his neck. Oh, his beautiful neck. It was one of the sexiest things about him. His strong neck with his prominent Adam’s apple. You never got enough kissing it, sucking it. How his masculine neck connected to the most delicate collarbones was absolutely breathtaking. 

“Mhmm, Tae…” You didn’t realise your lips acted your mind and sucked a few love bites to his neck, one just over his pulse and two onto the column of his neck.

Taehyung patted your head as you basically made out with his neck. He thought he would be used to it by now, but no, he was still crazy about neck kisses. “No one cares about my legs,” You tried to push the jacket just to tease him.

A sexy growl immediately answered you. “Can I take you home tonight?” Taehyung asked.

You peeked, unsure if you wanted to go to his man cave. Considering Jungkook and Hobi were on a mission tonight, the house was going to be extra crowded and messy. 

“I- Actually-” You raised back to Taehyung’s eye level, and for a second those eyes filled with worry and he put his guard on. He thought all of this scene was just a play for you.

“I think we should go to mine, Taehyung. I am sure we won’t be interrupted there.” You brushed his hair back as Taehyung secured his jacket over your legs violently. 

He silently nodded when you approved. “I also have actual human food in my house.” You have never seen Tae's fridge full of groceries. It always happened to have a bunch of beer.

“Okay, Miss Masterchef. What is wrong with my ramen?” Taehyung faked an offended face. 

“Everything! You can’t cook to save your life, Tae.” You immediately opposed it. “Also, you still didn’t bring back my favourite bowl.” 

“I was going to! But Tannie only eats food out of his mummy’s favourite bowl.” Taehyung knew if he brought Yeontan, you would melt and forget about that dish bowl a colleague gifted to you.

“Oh, my Tannie,” You gasped, bringing your hands to your heart. “I missed him so so much.” Taehyung definitely didn’t mean to look at your hand pressing your tit against your chest, but saying that he didn’t have a sneaky peek would be such a lie. 

“He misses you too. More than he ever missed me in his entire life.” You watched Taehyung sigh disappointedly. Then, he reached for his phone, “My mum sent me a video of him, do you wanna see?” 

Before he finished his sentence, you snatched his phone. “My baby!” You excitedly gasped.

As you scroll through Taehyung’s camera roll, he noticed the absurdity of this scene. You two were in a strip club after he nutted inside you like a horny teenager a few hours ago; and now you were in his lap, looking at his puppy’s video, promising to fuck him again later in the night after he refused a fricking lap dance from a stripper. 

To be very honest, any touch you would give him felt a hundred times better than any lap dance a woman can give him. Even your slightest bounce as you laughed, throwing your head over his shoulder made him feel incredible— more than Jungkook who was groaning like a dog in heat at the corner.

“Omg, can he be quieter?” Taehyung groaned, his face was in pure disgust. You didn’t realise how loud Jungkook was until Taehyung pointed it out. You also didn’t realise the thumping voice in your ear and your fast-beating heart. 

Jungkook's voice was…umm… interesting. He was the little brother that you loved endearingly, but he sounded sexy when one of the dancers rubbed herself onto him. You squeezed your thighs involuntarily, feeling aroused made you slightly uncomfortable. Thankfully, the room was dimmed to save your ass. However, Taehyung felt your shift on the meat of his thigh.

“Are you turned on, baby?” He asked, lips stuck next to your ears. “N-no— oh!” You were ready to deny it until Taehyung placed his hand on your lap. You immediately intertwine your fingers with him so he wouldn’t slip his fingers into you.

Taehyung laughed through his nose when you tried to engulf his hand with yours. “I bet you are dripping to my thigh, huh?” Taehyung whispered again. You were sitting on his one thigh, legs draped over the other thigh. 

“I-“ Taehyung shut you up when you opened your mouth to defend yourself. “Good, I want my babygirl to drip everywhere. Mhmm, I never want to wash my sheets because of you, baby.” His sinful mouth continues with a kiss on your neck. He bit on it too, Taehyung wanted to make sure he left bruises on you too. 

“Give me that neck, baby. Mhmm, that’s good. Who got that neck so red, already?” He murmured as you let your head hang behind. You closed your eyes involuntarily when he peppered up and down your neck.

“Oh, s-” Taehyung’s eyes dropped down to your neckline. Your beautiful tits were showing in the most gorgeous cleavage Taehyung had ever seen.

“Do you like my tits, Taetae?” You watched him salivate your boobs unashamedly. Taehyung’s nose let out a pathetic whine. “I want your big hands around them, Tae. Touch me…” You whispered into his ear. 

Taehyung’s eyes rolled back. He was back to the place he was previously on, the place where you ride him out making him cum in minutes.

You pushed your chest out; your right boob was already pressing onto him. Taehyung looked around if anyone was watching you. 

You scoffed, “Nobody cares about my tits here, Taehyung. We are literally around completely naked women.” Your voice didn’t reach Taehyung’s brain, but his hand slowly came around your left tit. He ran his fingers underside of your tit, around your ribs. You pressed yourself closer to him. 

Taehyung smirked but didn’t say anything. “I thought you loved my boobs. Touch t-” Taehyung halted your breathing when he grasped your entire boob in his one hand.

You moaned very loudly. “Ah, thatss– i–it.” You wrapped your one arm around Taehyung’s shoulder and pulled yourself closer to him. You rested your forehead on his temple.

“Taetae,” You whined which made Taehyung’s smirk grow. “Do you feel good, baby?” Taehyung’s eyes slightly looked up at you as he rolled your nipple between his thumb and index. This time you felt yourself drip heavily into your panties.

“Oh, are you gonna cum, baby? You would be such a babygirl if you came from my hand on your titties.” Taehyung laughed mercilessly. Your breathy gasps fully followed his finger squeezing your nipple. 

“Ughh, only I had these titties in my mouth…” You heard him grinding his teeth.

“Or around your cock?” You offered. Titty fucks were resigned for birthdays and celebrations only. It is what made Taehyung love having birthdays and getting a beautiful titty fuck from you after he ate his birthday cake.

 Taehyung growled with the numerous memories; he loved being rewarded like that. “Too bad we are in October, right?” You laughed when his hand slowed down with the squeezing and just held your boob.

“I want every day to be my birthday…” He kissed your neck.

“Eww, then you would be too old.” You joked while you ran your fingers through Taehyung’s hair. 

“Do you wanna share the dessert, Tae?” Jungkook yelled across the room while a girl with very long hair was entangled in his legs. You couldn’t understand how Jungkook could see Taehyung sucking at your neck, but surely it made you feel shamelessly more aroused.

“Mhmm, my menu is exclusive, Jeon.” Taehyung yelled back. “Let me take you home?” He whispered to you.

–

You didn’t let Taehyung drive when he dug his way into your bag to find his car keys. “You are too tipsy to drive, Tae, sit back down.” You grasped the car keys from his hand.

“I knew this was all an act to get my car.” He shook his head to the side while he took his seat on the passenger side. 

“How did you know?” You gasped when getting in the car. The driver seat was pushed all the way back to accommodate Taehyung, but you looked very absurd. “Ah, I knew it…” He dramatically shook his head as you got yourself comfortable in your seat. 

“It is not as good as mine but guess we can work with it.” You shrugged carelessly. Taehyung's car was no more than a year old, a baby with absolutely luxurious seats and a design, also everything was ridiculously digital. It speeded more than you couldn’t stand even in movies and the seats were in very expensive leather that you felt so bad to stain with your arousal. 

“I apologise your highness.” Taehyung held his chest with a fake sad face. “It can be as good as Mini-Mo.” 

You shook your head, “Yes, never.” Your car, Mini-Moo, was a gorgeous Peugeot 106. He was only 5 years older than you and looked like a cow with scratches and bumps all over it. Not to mention its wonderfully strong engine. “He is the A-class.” You defended your car, after all, it saw all your mental breakdowns and cries at the university parking lot. 

“Yeah, like two decades ago.” Taehyung scoffed; it baffled him how you still hold on to that car.

“You know you can borrow mine anytime you wish, right?” He reminded you while watching your side profile highlighted by passing by street lights. He knew you drove a lot for conferences and that car wasn’t built for long rides. 

“Nothing is wrong with my car. Sam said it will serve me another 10 years.” You said. Sam was your friend from high school with whom mostly Jimin hung out. 

Taehyung shrugged, “I am just telling you.” He didn’t need to know you still talked to your high school friends. He didn’t like that Sam guy or any other friend from high school.

“Don’t worry. I only want your big dick from you and that’s all.” You laughed while turning to the left smoothly. Taehyung had a difficult time comprehending that you were here for his dick. He knew it, for years actually, but hearing this clearly and in this context made him realise you were just his fuck buddy.

He placed his hand on your thigh. He simply held you without insinuating anything and tried to keep his mood light. 

You drove silently to your house. For the first time, Taehyung experienced silence this night. It was great. The fact that it was adorned by your steady breathing was awesome. 

“Are you gonna park inside?” Taehyung asked. You nodded, “Yeah, my car is still at Sam’s garage.” Taehyung silently scoffed. What could it take so long for that dude to keep your car?

“Taehyung,” you sweetly asked him after pulling the handbrake. He turned his whole body to yours. You reached for him, your lips ghosting his immediately. “Do you mind parking for me, Mr Kim?” You faked a babygirly sound to amuse him. You would rather not park this half-million dollar worth of a car. 

“Mhmhm,” Taehyung murmured when he connected your lips. You kissed him back generously. Now, no other guy existed, only him. 

“You can do it yourself, baby.” He pulled back as he playfully rubbed your thighs. You followed his lips back immediately and connected them as if you didn’t hear him. Your hand came up to his nape to pull him to you. “Come on, Tae. Let’s go quickly.” You bit his bottom lip down and pulled it.

“Beg me,” He whispered at your playful tug, and you rolled your eyes at him. “Please, Tae…” But gladly would feed his kink. With new vigour, Taehyung tried to push his tongue inside your mouth. You giggled as Taehyung lost his patience. 

You got out of the car and watched him smoothly park. The cold air in the garage hit your bare legs and you felt the wetness between your legs. Taehyung got out of the car with flared nostrils, your bag still secured on his shoulder.

You bit your lip, “Looking good.” Your compliment earned you a big slap on your ass. “Don’t tempt me until we enter the house.” His strong jaw was accentuated as he clenched his teeth strongly. 

“Mhmm, babe…” You rubbed your face onto his cheek when you two got into an elevator. Maybe your touch could stop him from gritting his teeth. In total contrast, Taehyung’s whole body tensed and wrapped one of his arms around your body. “You’re so hot.” You rubbed his chest over his simple black t-shirt. His pecks calling your name to grab them. Taehyung smirked when you did, “Do you want me to grab a titty while we are in public?” He condescendingly asked. 

“You did that already. Also, we are in an elevator…” You shrugged. 

“There are cameras…” Taehyung warned and kissed the top of your hand. You sighed slightly disappointed. 

“Impatient girl…” He warned when you rose onto your tippy toes back to kiss him. He grabbed a fistful of your ass, “Be patient…” 

“You were just shoving your tongue into my mouth.” You opposed but stood silently next to him. “Yeah, that was in the privacy of our car.”

Taehyung let you open the front door and entered the house first. Your house felt so familiar, it had a mind-blowing, comforting smell that immediately swallowed him. Your house was quiet, a bit stuffy and warm… and it was homey.

As you walked to open the lights, Taehyung’s arm held you firm to your stance. “We don’t need to do that, right baby?” He asked as his warm body surrounded you easily from the back. He kissed your shoulders and nape while you shivered against his chest.

“What about dinner?” You meekly asked. Taehyung’s lips followed a trail to your ear, “I want to eat you…” Your knees buckled, and Taehyung held you stronger to his chest. “You could be my supper, mmhm?” He kissed your ear as his hands rubbed your stomach. He felt how tense your torso was. He wanted you to be calm, relaxed, and melt into a puddle in his arms. 

“What about a shower?” You asked. 

 “We can get dirty together…” He bit into your neck. 

 “Are you ready for me, baby?” He asked raspily. You hummed slightly, head was thrown onto his shoulder. “I’ll take that as a yes?” He kissed under your ear as his hands came to caress your waist. He started on your hips and he rubbed up to your underarms. Then, his fingers caressed the under your boobs with a feathery touch. His hands always felt incredible. You squirmed when he fitted your chest into his palms.

Taehyung tried to pace himself, touching you this freely was like a sweet lullaby. He could easily lose track and end up rubbing your tits for hours. He continued to stroke down to your hips and up to your back a few times before he decided to take your dress off. 

The black dress was simply pooled around your ankles after his hands opened the zipper with one fluid motion. Right then, you remembered how he struggled on the night of your high school graduation years ago. His hands were inexperienced, and his needy whines and giggles made him cute and attractive. The 19-year-old Taehyung was the same as today. His ragged breath was still here, yet his hands handled you like he was made for you.

Taehyung noticed your dreamy smile, teeth showing, eyes closed. He couldn’t help himself press a kiss to the corner of your mouth. “You are so smiley, baby. Are you happy that you got me all to yourself?” He pushed your ass to his crotch. 

You tried to kiss back, “You were always mine.” You lied. He wasn’t always yours, but believing that he was yours is enough for you.

“Let’s go to the bed…” He whispered which you opposed with a shrug. He looked at you confused, “Finger me here.” 

Taehyung’s eyes pulled to the sides; he was trying to match your playfulness level. “What?” He asked as if he didn’t understand. 

You shrugged, “You said anything I want. So, I want you to finger me right here, right now.” You said as you pulled him in front of you, wrapping your arms around his waist. Taehyung looked around your hallway, he was pleased. “Wait here.” He said with a playful tone. 

You watched him walk down the hallway to your bathroom. Taehyung didn’t even bother to close the door. He simply turned on the tap and started washing his hands– all while looking at himself through the mirror. He was so full of himself. 

“Quickly! Or I’ll start before you.” You leaned through the front door as you mindlessly threw your heels away. The cold metal of the front door was irking but you knew that Taehyung could make you burst into flames in seconds.

Taehyung rolled his eyes at you while he walked back. “You are so bratty all of a sudden.” His voice almost echoed in your hallway… or your brain.

“I am so horny that’s why!” You talked back even brattier. “Aww, baby…” He faked a pout as he pressed you flat to the door. “What should I do about that, huh?” His sweet-spicy cologne filled your senses. “Fuck me!” You meekly asked. Taehyun groaned, pressing onto you harder.

“Make me cum at least once before you suffocate me.” You teased breathlessly. That’s when Taehyung pulled his body weight on you, and you breathed out right onto his face. It still baffled him how easily he could command your moves, and it turned him on.

“How bad you wanna cum, baby?” He asked you while you caressed his biceps and shoulders. They always felt good under your touch. Whenever you squeezed them, Taehyung couldn’t help flexing his muscles. It amused you. After all these years he still had the urge to prove to you how manly he was.

“So bad…” Taehyung let an inner squeal. You were in the mood tonight. You played into his game, your pouted lips made Taehyung’s teeth sizzle. He wanted to bite into your sweet lips.

“Tell me how bad, baby.” Taehyung ran his hand through your hair and held them gently. He brought your head up and lowered himself towards you. “Tell me how much you want my dick, kitten.” He connected your foreheads. 

You waited a few seconds to see if he could say please, but the only thing you got was an impatient growl from his throat. “I want you so bad, Tae… All day I wanted you…” You confessed slowly as his nose played with yours. 

Taehyung smirked at your honesty and connected your mouths. Both of you sighed when your tongues connected. You tasted bitter alcohol faintly; he tasted the remains of your chocolate-flavoured lipstick.

He tilted his head to the side and gave you the best French kiss you’ve ever gotten. His thick tongue always filled your mouth with such desire that made you a dripping mess. Your hands continued to caress and squeeze Taehyung’s shoulders. 

“Mhmm, talk to me more, baby. How do you want me, mhm?” He loved to hear your dirty confessions. “Did you touch your pussy while I was performing, huh? Rubbed that little clit…” Taehyung groaned. 

He really wanted to take things slow, but still he couldn’t stop his hands from groping your ass.

“I did, Tae…I touched myself in your dressing room.” Nope, you didn’t do that… tonight, but it was something you would totally do.

“Fuck, I know you are a fucking slut for me.” He groaned, biting your neck harshly. “I fucking smelt your cunt when I walked into the room. It smelt exactly like my little slut. Oh, baby.” He cooed your cheeks. “I didn’t take good care of you, right?” 

His words drove you absolutely mad as you tugged at this shirt, you were yearning for that smooth golden skin against yours. 

“Mhmm, my little baby… I thought you wanted my fingers.” He tried to detach from you but you were so eagerly holding him. “Just kiss me-” Taehyung connected your lips with yours. Your back flat on the door, “Shirt off.” You mumbled between the kisses. Taehyung grinned against your lips, “You are so demanding.” He pulled his shirt off in a second and felt you throwing his shirt to the ground. Then, your hands came up to grope his skin. You did touch every inch of his skin, sliding your hand up and down on his chest, and shoulder, feeling every fibre of muscle.

“Do I feel good, baby?” Taehyung silently waited for you to finish feeling him up as your lips started to follow your fingers. When you decided your first attack was going to be his sensitive nipples, Taehyung took charge.

He ripped your hands off of him and held your wrists over your head. “Naughty girl…” He hissed through his clenched teeth. You felt yourself gushing out a bucket of juice to your thighs. “You like playing with my nipples, huh? You are so spoiled, Y/N.” He gently squeezed your wrists when you tried to escape his hold. 

Taehyung kissed your cheek in the same gentle manner, “You know I will never trap you, baby. Tell me if you don’t like it, okay?” He rubbed the sides of your wrists and placed a smooch on your upper arm. 

“Taehyung, I have been a good girl for you…” You whined, ah, you missed him so much. 

He held your wrists with his one large hand and freed his other hand to caress you wherever he wanted. Now, you were deprived from touching him and he had his way with you. 

Taehyung chuckled, “I know, baby. I am gonna reward you now.” Your breath hitched when Taehyung rubbed your thighs with his large hand. “I’ll do everything you want, my pampered, spoiled baby.” He brought his knee in between your legs. You hissed at the sticky feeling. 

“Baby…” You tugged your wrist impatiently. “Make me cum.” You ordered.  Taehyung hummed at your eagerness. He broaden his stance on the ground, with the way you were clinging to him, he was sure two of you would trip over. 

“Mmph!” The loss of his thigh under your cunt was frustrating. How could he dare to your sweet, comforting pressure from your weeping cunt. Your frustration was Taehyung’s amusement. 

“You are so spoiled.” He chuckled as his fingers brushed through your inner thighs. “You rubbed off everywhere…” Taehyung sighed at the wet feelings of your thighs. “You are so messy for me, baby. Perfect for me…” He kissed your neck and pressed you onto the door.  “Good girl… Now take my fingers.” He slowly but surely worked one of his fingers inside. You shakily breathed out. “Little wet cunt for me…” Taehyung groaned to himself. “It is all mine… made for me.” 

You giggled out of the pleasure he gave you. Taehyung’s throat hitched as you blessed him with your laugh. “You are right where you belong Taetae…” You kissed his chin sloppily, “In between my legs, right where you belong with your fingers in me…” You cockily said. Taehyung knew what you were trying to do.

Taehyung chuckled, “Is that so, baby?” He plunged his finger deeper and that alone was enough to get you to moan. “I wouldn’t disagree.” His eyes gleamed with eagerness. 

He loved spending time with you, being with you alone whether it was for sex or not. You clearly yearned him for sex, but Taehyung simply loved waking up next to you too. Sometimes, you serving him dinner to him had more effect on him than you riding his dick all day. It is not that he didn’t like it when you made yourself cum on him so many times. He loved your relationship, all the sexy bits were beyond amazing. However, he found himself craving your emotional domestic side too. He wanted to belong to you. He often wanted you to care for him like he was your partner. There would be rare moments where you would forget your fuck buddy status and act like a proper couple. Those rare moments had always ended up with an ache in Taehyung’s heart.

“Tae! My arms are going numb.”  Your whiny scream and needy hips pulled Taehyung out of his spiral. Taehyung shook his head and cleared his throat. He released your arms, “Mhmm, sorry babe.” He really needed to focus on you. You, you, you. His fingers were still in you. He was in you. He was you.

“Fuck me…” You whimpered, hips working up to his hands. “Damn, you are slow today.” Your breathy giggle mocked him. In return, Taehyung moved his finger gently up to your inner walls. Only a few centimetres deeper and he could find your sweet spot. But why would he give you what you crave so easily?

“Such a warm cunt…” Taehyung’s low voice vibrated as he tried to squeeze another finger in. “Ah, yes!” You sighed as his fingers gently scissored you. 

“You need to be stretch nicely, right baby?” He whispered into your ear. You nodded while Taehyung watched you bite your bottom lip.

“Hmhmm, yes… Tae! More! Deeper!” Your poor attempts to grind yourself ended up being fruitless as Kim was excellent at commanding your pleasure.

“Why don’t you give it to me?” You tried your luck at crying, but Taehyung gave you his fingers teasingly. “You said everything I wanted!” 

Taehyung chuckled, “Yeah?” With a slight change of angle, Taehyung reached your sweet spot. His hands knew what to do. Not that you let him do any tricks on you. You easily let him guide you to orgasm. 

“You are dripping to the floor, baby.” He gasped as your juices dripped down to his wrist. You groaned, holding your knee up so that he could have a better angle. “I- fucking love it when you are like this, baby. Oh, so wet for me…” Taehyung continued fucking you wholeheartedly.

You squeezed your thighs closed momentarily as he hit your sweet nerves. “No, no, no. Keep them nice and open for me…” Taehyung warned you. You shook your head no but opened them when his free hand caressed your thigh. 

“Good girl. Now, focus on my fingers.” He ordered and continued giving you calculated fucks. He didn’t go too fast, he knew it would be too much and hurt you. 

“F-fuck… I love this pussy.” He sucked his spit in. “So soft…” His finger went a bit deeper and you hissed. 

He chuckled, pressing his lips to your ear. “So creamy too. Can you hear it?” He whispered. Your pussy was squelching with every move of his long fingers. Taehyung gave you a few fast thrusts to make a louder nose. 

You shied away from his face when the obscene sound filled the little space between him and you. “It-s cr-eamy becau-se of your cum.” You whined out. It wasn’t too long ago that he came into you.

Taehyung cursed, “Fucking mine…” With his free hand, he tapped your clit as if he spanked you. 

You jolted with the buzz. “Made it mine… I came in it… Fuck, you are clenching around my fingers, baby. Do you like it when I fuck you like my fleshlight? Dump my cum into you and make you sit like that.” You were making him lose his mind. 

“Tae!” You yelped, your back arched a few times and squeezed his hands with your thighs. “Fuck!” Taehyung bucked his hips up to you. “You are dripping down my hand, baby…” Taehyung looked down at his hand. His fingers, wrist, and bracelets were drenched with your juices. Right then your breath hitched with a sweet undertone that Taehyung recognised by heart. Your gorgeous orgasm was folding right before his eyes.

“Oh, there you go… Cumming so prettily for me. There you go, ride my fingers, baby.” He encouraged you while kissing the side of your forehead and cheeks. He hissed when you shake a few times as he gently continued to fuck you through your high.

“You came on my watch, baby.” He chuckled so dirty. “Did you squirt?” He cooed your face with his nose. You gulped, eyes tiredly closed. “I guess not? I- I just came too much… I’m sorry f-or your watch.” 

Suddenly Taehyung’s eyes gleamed with a naughty idea, “I will accept your apology if you cum on me too…” and pulled you towards your couch. 

He kicked off all the decorative useless pillows. He sat down on the soft couch all while having an iron grip on you. 

“T-taehyung! How- where should I-?” You asked as he pushed and pulled you like a doll. “Sit on my lap. No, the other way around, like I am your chair.” Your head was still dizzy so you let him figure out the position. “Have my leg between your legs. Lay your back on my chest. Don’t hiss I just wanted to grab a titty.” He whined when he not-so-smoothly touched your nipple. 

You sat on his left thigh. He easily captured you in his broad frame, his long arms pulled your legs up and spread them. Your cunt was exposed. “I will finger you again and you will cum on my jeans, okay? You will wet them.” Just before you could whine about how unnecessary this was, he gave you a firm spank on your clit. 

“If you don’t wet my jeans with your cum, I won’t give you my dick at all, okay? I will make you watch me touch myself.” Taehyung's voice was naughty, challenging and most importantly serious. You had no doubts that he could make you do everything he wanted. He gave your exposed cunt another tap before you could oppose. 

“Ahh, stop spanking me… How can you even see my clit?” You pouted but your hips chased his hands. 

You were right. He wasn’t able to see your cunt, he didn’t need to see it to find your clit. He was very accustomed to your gorgeous sex, he imagined more than a few rounds during a busy week to get himself to cum. But from this position, he had wonderful access to your boobs.

“Tae. You said I will get everything I want. I don’t wan-t to be teased… Please.” You squirmed in his lap. Your body needed to face him but his strong grip on your thighs kept you spread and on top of his meaty thigh. “I don’t tease you, baby. Look, I’ll give you my fingers back…”

He did what he said and inserted his two fingers inside you. No matter how much you feel aroused and stretched, having his fingers enter you always made your insides flutter. “I don’t tease my Y/N, right?” He babied you with his pouty lips. 

You rode up on his thigh, chasing his fingers away because you were too sensitive. 

Taehyung chuckled at your overwhelmed state. He loved playing with you with his fingers because it got you secretly more aroused than his dick ever did. He knew you loved getting dicked down by him, but something about getting fingered was so lewd, especially when he could whisper into your ear like this.

“I only want you to cum on me so that I can smell like you all the time, baby. I want to carry your scent when I work, huh? You would love that, especially when you can show Laura and other girls that you own me…” Taehyung knew your body’s weak spots AND your mind’s.

You immediately whined out, clenching his fingers with unmatched vigour. “Mhmm?” Taehyung moaned. “I-i-i…” You couldn’t finish your words.

“I want to take your panties with me again. Put them in my pocket to have a part of you with me while I work. You know that I think about your soft body during all those meetings… about how sexy it is…” Taehyung fucked you through his words while you just leaked out buckets of arousal. He only gave you just enough stimulation to excite that little spot.

You hissed at his confession. “Oh, fuck! Fuck… Tae…” 

“Does my baby like hearing my secrets? Do you like that you turn me on like a horny teen?” He groaned when you claw his forearms. He is too slow for your racing mind. “Taehyung, baby, please…” You begged, his fingers were impossibly long.

“You are dripping baby, good job…” He kissed your head. “Fuck, you are so tight on me, Y/N. You gonna swallow my hand…” He darkly chuckled. “As if you could fit my hand… I can’t fist this tiny pussy, hmm?” He cooed you as you threw your head back onto his shoulder.

“Fuck, look at these tits.” Taehyung grabbed your breast as his fingers caressed your front wall. “I wanna have them in my mouth so bad… suck on them…” Taehyung chuckled when you furrowed your brows. He slowed down again to make sure you leaked more for him. 

Taehyung held your nipple between his thumb and first finger and gently pinched them. Then, he tsked, “No milk coming from these, baby.” Taehyung rasped against your ear. His biggest soft spot was your breasts and how they feel against his palms and how soft they were and how he could make them filled with milk. The thought of it was enough to make him orgasm. 

“No?” You dug your fingers into his forearms as you held him in place. “No milk… I could make them make milk for me, huh? Would you like that?” He chuckled. “P-please, l-let me c-cu-mm. I beg-” 

Taehyung’s laugh only grew larger and fuller, “You’re such a slut…” He squeezed your tit. With his hold on your breasts, you rode up to his thigh. He bit down your earlobe and spoke with a low groan. “Whose slut are you, baby?” 

You whimpered in his arms, “Y-yours! Yours, Taetae…” His cute nickname was still there despite he was fucking you to another dimension.

“That’s it, baby. Scream my name!” Taehyung decided to give you your much-needed orgasm. He couldn’t gauge whether you could squirt as you have already given him enough juice that he could swim in it.

“Taehyung! Taehyung! Taehyung!” You chanted his name as Taehyung brought you high. You anticipated that he would stop again but his fluffy heart granted you a mind-blowing orgasm.

“Cum for me, my sweet girl… Ssh, don’t hurt yourself. Let it go… Oh shit.” He helped you through your orgasm as you convulsed. As he expected you didn’t squirt, you rather leaked your orgasm out poorly. 

You breathed out so heavily in Taehyung’s warm arms. All that labour to get you ecstasy was apparent on Taehyung’s sweaty body. He kept you tight in his arms, and let your body go jelly. Your head was on his shoulder, head tipped back. He placed a kiss on your cheek, nudging your nose with his.

“Oh, fucking yes… You soaked through me, baby…” His low, teasing voice was making your empty, tired hole quiver.

“Y-you ar- cr-azy.” You hissed. His entire thigh down to his knee was drenched in your juices. “Y-you literally made me pee on you! Tae!” You picked yourself up but your arms were too weak to carry you. He helped you and scoop your legs up. With his other helpful tug, you sat cross on his lap, still in shock of your much-delayed orgasm.

“I fucking wish you would actually pee on me, baby.” Taehyung caressed your knee as you rubbed your face to his nipple. 

“You are so weird…” You mewled. Taehyung’s limits were a lot higher than yours.

“I will fucking lick the sweat off your skin, Y/N. Stop being so shy!” He scolded you while his tongue licked your fingers covering your face.

“Tae…” You tiredly laughed.

“Oh look who is tired right now? Look who just came so quick and fell tired…” He said just the way you did.

“It’s different!” You tried to defend yourself but his arms cradled you like little baby. 

“How is that different, kitten?” Taehyung, again, mimicked your pout as you rub your face carelessly to his chest like a cat.

“Because I am your princess!” Taehyung was sure he spoiled you rotten. 

Taehyung released a chuckle from his chest as you let your head rest on his pecs.  With every breath bubbling on his chest, you felt your stress melt away. You looked up, his boxy smile was present on his face. He was so handsome…

Taehyung’s smile only grew larger when you planted a kiss on his chin. Then to his jaw. Taehyung’s mouth seemed to be shut as you carefully ran your hand through his hair. You kissed around his face quite a bit, he got some innocent kisses on his cheeks, some dirty ones on his jaw. “You know I was only joking earlier, right? You can cum whenever you want and it’s fine. I want you to feel good so… don’t feel pressured to last long.” You needed Taehyung to know you were fine. Taehyung’s lips curled up, “I know, baby. I was just-…” He tried to explain when you shut him up with a kiss. “I know, baby. You are crazy for me...” You babied him as he rolled his eyes at your words.

When your lips landed on his soft ones, you were absolutely captured by his attractive aura. You felt your heart squeeze when Taehyung wrapped his arms around you and pull you to face him. He pressed you onto his chest and his neglected crouched down. You kissed him for a bit, sucked his spit from his tongue and licked your lips as if he was your chocolate cake. “You tasty…” You mumbled when his tongue slipped out from your mouth. He grinned stupidly when you pulled him by the face. 

“A few mor- please.” You whispered into his plush lips. “Give your tongue back to me…” You whined as Taehyung felt your hands pull his hair. Oh, how sweet and horny you were.

You whined and invaded his mouth until you caught his tongue. Taehyung fucking lost every time you sucked on his tongue. It was so filthy and it made him feel like a fucking king when a clean freak like you licked all over his mouth.

Taehyung’s jeans stuck to his skin when your wetness started to dry. “Where do you wanna take this?” He asked when your fingers tickled the button of his jeans. “To shower or to bed?” 

You acknowledge him with a hum. Your fingers lingered on him a few more seconds after you made a rightful decision. “Shower… after I catch my breath.” You let yourself face deep into his neck. Taehyung hummed while caressing your back.  “Okay, baby…” He murmured and cuddled you until you decided it is time for the shower. 

——

> next: part3 rush: bed

masterlist | part1 rush: concert | part2 rush: club | part3 rush: bed   recommendation: i’m mad & you’re mine |

[belliesandburps]

Demonic Belly Love (Sadao x Ashiya Stuffing Fic)

Been a minute since I posted a kink fic, but here's another late December reward I just wrapped. This time, focusing on Sadao binging on a whole lotta Mgronald's because no self-respecting demon is gonna let all that junkfood go to waste.

The end result of which is a very bloated and burpy Sadao, which Ashiya doesn't mind one iota. ;)

“Sire, is this truly wise?” Ashiya asked while scratching at the back of his neck uneasily while the sound of munching and gulping filled the air. He watched as his young master sat on the ground, dressed in his usual T-Shirt and boxers combo, greedily munching away on burgers like the end times were fast approaching.

Sadao swallowed hard, sending a sizable lump down his throat before he huffed to himself and licked his lips. “Look, we had a huge takeout order that had to cancel after everything was already made. I wasn't about to let all this stuff go to waste. Plus, it tastes like crap if ya leave it in the fridge and reheat it,” Sadao insisted before taking another hearty bite of his burger. “So, unless you wanna jump in and help me eat more-”

“-Sire, truly, I simply cannot eat another bite before I start to experience digestive discomfort,” Ashiya chimed in, holding his stomach protectively with one hand. Though it wasn't visibly bloated the way Sadao's stomach was starting to get, it was nonetheless pushing against his shirt slightly.

“Well, there ya go then,” Sadao remarked with his mouthful before swallowing heavily, huffing, and going right back to munching away. “Besides, how often do I get to chow down like this?”

“...About once a week...” Ashiya muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Sadao asked a little sharply.

“Nothing!�� Ashiya said with an all too sweet and innocent smile, one Sadao didn't buy for one second, but nonetheless, let go so he could go back to his binge-eating.

The young demon ate at a rapid rate. His sharper, inhuman teeth made quick work of every burger or handful of fries he shoved into his greedy maw, causing every mouthful he gulped down to send a sizable bulge down his neck. Ashiya watched as Sadao continued to voraciously wolf down all that fast food, having been given a front row seat to Sadao's gluttony on numerous occasions, especially whenever there was left over food at MgRonald's in need of disposing.

Granted, both young men were demons, so even a whole lot of fast food wasn't even close to the most either of them could wolf down. But even though their appetites were unmatched compared to any other humans, in these young, lean human bodies of theirs, they did have their limits. Especially when it came to junk food.

Though, with Sadao, Ashiya could never gauge just what those limits were. When it came to free junk food, Sadao was a bottomless pit...

Sadao just ate and ate, sending more of that greasy, salty goodness down his gullet; devouring all he got his mitts on at a feverish pace. Ashiya was kind of astonished at how fast that pile of burgers and pepper fries was vanished. Honestly, if they ever held any cash-prize eating contests in-town, Sadao could probably clean out the competition with ease.

As time went on, Sadao's gorging slowed down; the sheer volume of food filling him up was starting to take its toll. Taking a break from stuffing his face, Sadao leaned back and groaned. “Whew, oh man, I'm gettin' pretty full...” Sadao moaned, rubbing his belly with one hand while the other rested against the ground for support. The usually flat organ had grown quite bloated at that point, rounding out beneath his shirt by over a foot, stretching his shirt out to the point where Ashiya could see a clear outline of Sadao's bellybutton.

Ashiya couldn't help but notice a sliver of flesh exposing itself from the bottom of Sadao's shirt, and blushing a little at the sight of his masters smooth, tanned flesh.

As Ashiya was about to suggest that maybe Sadao call it a day, a prolonged, gaseous gurgle erupted from Sadao's heavy belly while he rubbed it. Sadao grimaced with discomfort for a moment, until he lurched his head back and let out a big, rumbling belch. The abrasive sound echoed throughout their tiny apartment and could've easily been heard from outside.

“Sire, honestly...” Ashiya muttered, shaking his head.

But Sadao just sighed with relief and gave his belly a couple of hearty pats of satisfaction. “Oof! Damn, did I need that, heh...” he moaned out, giving his round gut one last relieved smack and ushering another burp in the process. “Hehe, think I made a lil more room there too.” Sadoa's grin turned impish with that as he turned back to the remainder of his fast food feast, and went back to chowing down.

As more and more burgers vanished down Sadao's gullet, his midsection continued to steadily swell out, growing rounder and heavier with each juicy, greasy burger he greedily devoured. Ashiya watched in real time as Sadao's already bulging belly expanded more and more. The blood rushed to his cheeks as the bottom of Sadao's shirt continued to ride up higher and higher, exposing more of Sadao's burgeoning bare belly as it grew weightier.

Sadao was getting so bloated that he had to scoot back just to keep his globular gut from pushing against the little table they had on the floor.

The young, overstuffed demon lord just kept on packing it away, eating more fast food than any being on this planet could ever justify wolfing down. He paused periodically to catch his breath or to rub his ever-expanding gut.

Sadao also found himself burping more frequently, both to make as much room in his heavy gut as he could manage, but also because of just how gassy all that junk food was making him.

The young demonic frycook kept at it, powering through his dwindling pile of burgers and fries, all while his growing gut gurgled and churned the more Sadao filled it up. Until finally, a long last, every last scrap of food was churning away inside of Sadao's utterly enormous stomach.

Ashiya honestly couldn't recall the last time he'd seen his liege so stuffed before. Sadao's gut had ballooned out by over two feet, riding his shirt up just below his chest, exposing the entirety of that dome. Not only were his thighs spread out to give that fleshy beachball of a belly some desperately needed breathing room, but Ashiya couldn't help but notice that Sadao's hefty gut was weighing his boxers down, showing off more of Sadao's hips in the process.

Sadao just sat there, groaning in an overstuffed daze for a few moments, before a long, rumbling belch erupted intensely from his maw for a good five or so seconds straight. When it ended, Sadao huffed breathlessly, then, using his hands against the ground for support, he slumped back, his huge belly wobbled from the motion while everything digesting within Sadao sloshed noisily.

“...Urrrgh, dude...I'm gonna buuuUUUUUrrrrrrrst...oof...” Sadao tried to speak up, only to cut himself off with another overstuffed burp that left him huffing and hitting his chest a few times to clear his windpipes.

“I'm kind of amazed you haven't already, sire,” Ashiya mused as he ogled his master and roommates' girthy gut with a hint of lust.

Muffling a rather deep burp behind his fist that puffed out his cheeks, Sadao exhaled the gas off to the side and grunted out, “Mph, y'mind doin' something about this, man...?”

Ashiya's eyes practically bugged out of his skull.

“...I...uh...w-why, of course, sire...i-it'd be my pleasure!” Ashiya insisted, swallowing thinly as he sat directly behind Sadao and, all too eagerly, wrapped his arms around Sadao's sides and placed both of his hands on Sadao's big, bubbling belly.

The big, churning organ felt so unbelievably soft to the touch, and so invitingly warm. Due to his demonic digestive system, everything Sadao ate churned away so much faster than it would for an average human. The result of which left Sadao's ample midsection much softer and jigglier than it would otherwise have been, being left so stuffed.

Ashiya practically shuddered at the sensation, but not as much as Sadao did when those long, delicate fingers began to gently stroke every inch of that vast belly.

“Groooaaaahhhh...hoooooly crap, that feels incredible, dude...” Sadao all but purred as Ashiya gingerly rubbed his belly.

“I live but to serve, my liege,” Ashiya replied, letting Sadao lean his back against his broad chest while he kneaded and caressed that big ball of flesh.

Ashiya kneaded into Sadao's belly, using his fingertips to really work out any knots in Sadao's stomach muscles that he could feel. All the while, Ashiya ogled Sadao's belly, marveling longingly at the swollen mass weighing the otherwise skinny demon lord down. He especially couldn't take his eyes off of Sadao's bellybutton; tightened yet a little deeper than usual.

As Ashiya rubbed, he looked down from past Sadao's shoulder and just took in the sight of the young demon lord's belly in his hands. He bit his lower lip and remarked, “I must confess, sire...unhealthy though your eating habits may be from time to time...this look suits you quite nicely...”

Even in his overstuffed state, Sadao managed a weak but cheeky smirk back at Ashiya from overhead and said, “Heh, what, ya wanna see your demon lord turn into a giant fatass now?”

“I confess, there is something rather...appealing, seeing your belly take on such a...corpulent state...” Ashiya conceded, stroking his hand down the side of Sadao's glutted gut, and starting to caress his oh-so-tender underbelly, before gripping at the soft underside and giving Sadao's belly a slight jiggle.

The jostling disrupted another pocket of gas within Sadao's gut, prompting him to push a fist to his mouth again and just barely manage to muffle another sizable belch. “Easy there, jeez...” Sadao muttered, palming his chest and letting out a smaller burp that he didn't bother muffling that time.

“My apologies, sire, how's this...?” Ashiya asked as his long index finger started slowly and faintly caressing the rim of Sadao's tight bellybutton.

Almost immediately, Sadao moaned with delight, especially when Ashiya's fingertip dipped into his navel and started to knead around inside. He slumped back even further against Ashiya's chest, making his hefty gut jut out more in Ashiya's grasp. One hand continued to gingerly stroke the soft, delicate underside of Sadao's belly while his other continued to finger his bellybutton.

Sadao huffed with euphoria, his tongue hanging out of his maw in an almost suggestive manner, the deeper Ashiya kneaded into his bellybutton. Both their cheeks were going flush at this point as Ashiya continued kneading his navel.

Ashiya couldn't get enough of the way he felt Sadao's entire belly slosh and jiggle whenever he pushed in and out. Sadao's digestive system really was working in full throttle to break down all that junkfood.

However, Ashiya might've pushed a little too deeply, because as he pushed into Sadao's bellybutton hard enough, Sadao's stomach gave an especially deep burble. Like clockwork, Sadao winced, then threw his head back as a big, raunchy belch rumbled out of him. Ashiya could actually feel Sadao's belly physically ripple in his grasp and around his finger as Sadao burped.

Sadao huffed when it finished and sat up a little, prompting Ashiya to pull his finger out of his bellybutton. The look on Sadao's face indicated he still felt another pressure pocket brewing. He gulped down some air, causing his throat to gurgle lowly as he gave the side his weighty belly a few firm slaps, making it jostle in his (and Ashiya's) hand, before Sadao burped again. It was another loud, obnoxious sound with some heft to it, but still not one that gave him relief.

“Oof...dammit, there's a big one stuck in there,” Sadao insisted as he smacked his fat, jiggling belly to try and knock it loose.

“Sire, if I may?” Ashiya insisted with a roll of his eyes.

He once again pulled Sadao back down against his chest and let his hands roam up and down that vast, smooth beachball of flesh. As he felt Sadao's belly up, he felt a particularly tense portion around the upper side of his stomach. So, Ashiya dug his fingertips into that portion of Sadao's soft flesh and pushed down firmly; a large, guttural belch bellowed loudly from Sadao almost immediately.

Sadao huffed breathlessly, but before he could finish catching his breath, Ashiya grasped that area just above Sadao's bellybutton and squeezed down. Like clockwork, another huge burp blasted past Sadao's lips, followed by a sharp afterburp.

Ashiya kept caressing Sadao's belly, feeling for any tense portions before pushing down and forcing Sadao to belch with ferocity. After an especially rumbly burp, Sadao was left panting like a dog with his tongue hanging from his maw while Ashiya continued to feel his belly up with dissatisfaction on his face. “Hmph, I can still feel all that pressure. We need to up our strategy, sire, and I think I know what to do.”

Before Sadao could ask what he meant, Ashiya grabbed either side of Sadao's big belly with both hands, and began to shake it up and down. Sadao's eyes widened as his bloated belly jostled aggressively; the digesting contents within him sloshing around heavily, and stirring up tons of gas in the process.

“Sire, refrain from belching at this time. No matter how badly you want to, hold it in for as long as you can,” Ashiya insisted firmly as he continued jiggling Sadao's belly.

Sadao winced painfully, but nonetheless complied, but it was getting harder and harder to do so. His thrashing belly churned and bubbled noisily and painfully. He could feel all that gas building up within him, begging to be released. Sadao had never needed to burp so badly in his entire life.

Ashiya jiggled away, blushing at how much he was loving this feeling of Sadao's big, soft belly quivering in his hands. But eventually, he felt enough gas build up, causing that bloated organ to grow slightly taut from the sheer volume of pressure now quite loudly gurgling away. And when he felt Sadao had finally had enough, he wrapped his arms firmly around Sadao's belly, grabbing it from the dead center, and squeezing down as hard as he could; hugging Sadao against his chest tightly to apply even more vice-like pressure to Sadao's gut.

Sadao's eyes bugged out for a moment as a rush of pressure rocketed aggressively up his gullet. Until finally, from the belly of the beast, exploded forth an utterly COLOSSAL belch!

It blasted from Sadao's maw with such ferocity that not only did his belly ripple intensely with the expulsion, but Ashiya could feel the ground itself quiver from just how strong that eructation was. The sheer volume was eardrum-shatteringly loud, to where it was all but certain they'd get a noise complaint for this one. And the burp didn't let up either. Ashiya squeezed on Sadao's belly even harder as he burped, causing Sadao's throat-abusing eruption to rattle out of him for a painful nine straight seconds. It seemingly just got louder and stronger as all that gas exploded past Sadao's rippling lips, with several strands of saliva spewing along with the gas.

After what felt like an eternity, Sadao was left utterly winded. Even with how enormous his gut was, he felt deflated. He panted and huffed, appearing dazed as he slumped back in Ashiya's arms in exhaustion. “Hah...hrraaaah, hooooooooly crap, dude, that was...” Sadao started to say, but paused, clenched his eyes shut, and let out one last big, throaty afterburp, too winded to even speak at that point. That, plus his throat actually hurt after that one.

Ashiya simply smirked and fanned the air around his nostrils and uttered, “Sire...I believe the correct words you were looking for were, 'excuse me'...”

But Sadao was simply too winded to say anything at that point. He just slumped onto his back, until his head was on Ashiya's lap and his enormous belly was jutting up like a fleshy hill. Ashiya simply rolled his eyes yet again, but blushed at the sight, and resumed rubbing it with one hand. Sufficed to say, Ashiya definitely wouldn't mind Sadao indulging more often...

[flowerandblood]

The Cherry Orchard (Oneshot)

[ students • modern!Aemond x fem!oc]

[warnings: just pure fluff my guys, safe space]

[description: She and Aemond are graphic design students, taking part in a competition for the best poster for a big festival in their city. When Aemond wins it, she begins to pay more attention to him, wanting to get to know him and befriend him. He remains completely indifferent, until he finds out that she can help him with a very important matter. Pure fluff.]

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

My other works: Masterlist

_____

A competition was announced at the graphics department of the Academy of Fine Art. The task was to create a poster for the symphony orchestra festival in their city. The festival itself was called Musical Architecture and received a large amount of funding, so the first three places were to receive a cash prize. The winning design was to be hung around the city and represent the entire festival. Bell decided that it was the perfect time to show off her skills.

She created a poster design in which a simple, minimalist house was composed of only musical notes. She added typography in the background and was pleased that it was a really cool, fresh idea. The whole thing looked simple and struck with a strong, legible sign, which was immediately associated with the name of the festival. She took the printout of her poster to her professor in whose design studio she was studying, and waited.

A council composed of professors of graphics and representatives of the festival gathered to choose the best works. After a few days the results were posted, which were available to everyone along with the classification. Bell, along with other classmates, ran up curiously to see who had won. She looked at the list and sighed heavily.

First Prize: Aemond Targaryen Second Prize: Emmet Colren Third Prize: Anna Bernard 1st Honorable Mention: Bell Stark Second Honorable Mention: Emma Arryn

"For fuck's sake!" She groaned, rubbing her face in fury.

She thought that fourth place was the worst place that could be because you are so close to the podium and you can only look at it. She would have taken this loss better if the overall winner, Aemond, hadn't been a year below her and the others on the list.

Aemond immediately caught her attention. Although she saw him only during woodcut classes, because the workshops were common for all years, she practically did not exchange a word with him. He only had three friends to hang out with, but otherwise he didn't talk to anyone.

She was embarrassed to pay attention to him because she thought that he was handsome. Unlike her other colleagues who favored a light, casual style of clothing, Aemond was always smartly dressed, almost as if he were a student of law rather than an arts.

Bell often looked over his shoulder, watching him laboriously cut out his stencils. All his works more or less referred to the works of the old masters. He created them with such finesse and processed them in such a way that he added his own, original, ironic commentary to them. His prints were always perfect and clean, unlike hers.

Her work was wild and chaotic, and while she also loved Renaissance and Baroque art, she didn't have the flair for capturing detail that he did. She was too expressive, her gestures were more emotional and ill-considered, which in the end added lightness to the whole work.

She liked to listen to him from the side. When he was talking to one of his friends, Isabel, he told various interesting anecdotes about religion, culture, art history. Bell felt like he knew everything, and thought that he must have read a lot.

She mentally agreed with everything that he said and could barely stop herself from approaching him and asking him about the various things that he was talking about.

She didn't dare.

Looking at him, she thought that she could make him happy. That if he wanted to, he would find in her a friend, listener and companion of his scientific quest. Embarrassed and ashamed at the thought, she gave up trying to get his attention.

The professors of the design studio decided that from this year, the semester reviews of all works from all years will be held jointly, and not, as before, in separate studios. Bell was going to see Aemond's work for the first time as his design that won the entire competition.

When he hung up his works and stood next to them, while the professor began to talk about what his student did all year and how many competitions he won, she thought that she would burn with shame. She felt that he deserved to win this and all the other competitions.

On his poster, their town hall building was partly depicted as a violin. He invented the whole form, so that it looked perfect and at first you didn't notice the difference between the building in reality, and what his poster depicted. Everything was simplified and enhanced with a strong, decisive red color, with the addition of white and black. The poster was fresh and brilliant.

His other works, performed as tasks assigned by his professor also impressed her. He referred in them to his roots, the folklore of the region he came from, using the technique of cut-outs, woodcuts and simple gesture illustrations to achieve the effect he needed. Bell thought that he was an outstanding student and was embarrassed to have her work shown.

During midterm break, Bell thought about a topic for her thesis, which she was due to start the following year. For years she has been doing genealogical research of her family, sending letters to the State Archives and parishes, looking for birth, marriage and death records of her ancestors.

She already had a whole catalog of these documents, and she also drew her great family tree. She thought that she would like to create a book, illustrated by herself, dedicated to her great-great-grandmother, Rosalia.

One day, sitting in a woodcut class, cutting out her stencil, she was talking to Isabel, whom she had liked since she met her for the first time. Aemond listened to their exchange without speaking, bent over his work.

Isabel finally asked Bell how her thesis preparation was going and why she had chosen her great-great-grandmother. Bell had told her about it eagerly.

“In the parish records of my great-grandfather, son of Rosalia, Joseph was listed as his father, but I was surprised that my great-great-grand mother's maiden name is the same as her husband's. So I started digging through the archives and found out that Rosalia had died unmarried, and her husband's name was made up. It turned out that she gave birth to six children in her lifetime as an unwed mother." She said excitedly as she made herself a cup of tea in the shared, electric kettle. Isabel looked at her in surprise.

"So who was their father?" She asked, surprised. Bell shrugged.

"I have no idea. My grandmother told me that she heard as a child that they were probably the children of some rich aristocrat, that Rosalia worked for. I have not been able to confirm this theory." She said as she poured her tea with hot water that had just boiled. She heard Aemond shift in his seat and clear his throat softly.

It wasn't until she glanced at him over her shoulder that she saw him staring at her. He stroked his chin as if debating whether to say something.

“My great-grandmother was locked up in a psychiatric hospital by her first husband and my great-grandfather during World War II, because he wanted to marry another woman. I later learned that experiments were carried out on patients in this hospital, and she disappeared after 1944. Her hospital was bombed, but I don't know if she was still there at the time." He said low, indifferent, calm. Bell stared at him in total shock at this sudden words, and Isabel was also impressed by the story.

"This is terrible!" She said, terrified. Bell thought hard.

"Have you tried writing to the National Archives in this area? You can even call them and ask if they have documents from this hospital. They will provide information to the family free of charge, some scans are also sent by e-mail for a small fee. If you want I can help you find out more." She said softly. He pursed his lips as he stared at his work, deep in thought.

"Yes, I would be very grateful." He spoke softly.

She felt a surge of great joy at his words and the fact that she might have a chance to get to know him better.

They agreed that Aemond would bring his laptop the next day and they try to work something out together. They managed to find several articles from those years and a historian who dealt with the case of this hospital. Bell called him, but put it on speakerphone, so Aemond could hear what he was saying.

“When the area was about to be liberated, the patients were forcibly transferred to a train with cattle cars and taken to the interior of the country. The train never reached its final destination – which was another hospital. When the hospital you are talking about was bombed, it was already a field hospital. Whatever happened to your friend's great-grandmother, we probably won't know, all the documents have been destroyed. Sorry, unfortunately I don't know anything else." The man said, genuinely concerned that he couldn't give them more specific information. Bell pursed her lips at his words.

“Thank you very much. Have a nice day." She said and hung up.

Aemond stared at his hands in silence, shocked. For a moment she didn't know what to say and looked away.

"I'm sorry." She said finally. He nodded and looked at her, his eye sad, tired, but also grateful.

"Thank you."

They had exchanged a few words once in a while since then, but Bell had the feeling that there was a wall between them. She decided, however, that she would not impose herself on him and would accept that he apparently had no need to become more familiar with her.

Isabel invited her to her vernissage, which was to take place in a few days at one of the famous local restaurants and pubs in one. Bell didn't want to go there, she was tired and completely immersed in her thesis. She decided to grant her a bit of rest, and finally she arrived at the agreed time.

She walked inside and immediately saw Isabel standing at the counter with Aemond, both of them holding beers. Isabel hugged her, happy that she had come.

Bell saw Aemond look at her as if he was scared of her. He turned his head quickly, taking another gulp of beer from the bottle. They greeted each other, and after a while the owner of the premises began the vernissage with a few words of introduction. Then Isabel spoke, and people dispersed to admire her works.

Bell was delighted when she noticed her classmates in the crowd of people - Emma and Peter, lovely, cheerful, talented people.

They sat together at one of the tables, ordering drinks, talking lightly on various topics. Bell saw Isabel and Aemond join several tables and sit down in a large group with their entire year.

For some reason, Bell felt sad at the thought that she probably wouldn't say a word to him for all evening. As she got up to go to the restroom and passed them, she saw Aemond glance at her from afar, but he turned quickly back to talking to his classmate. Bell thought that she would be heading home soon, heartbroken.

However, Isabel approached them and suggested, seeing that many people had already left, that the three of them join them and spend the evening with them. They gladly accepted this offer, took their chairs and sat down.

Bell decided that she wanted to get drunk to mask her sadness and desperation. She began to tell Isabel about her childhood stories, how she was a mafia boss in kindergarten and no one could take any toy from the shelf without her knowledge.

Isabel laughed loudly, and with her several people who listened with amusement. She saw that Aemond was looking at her. He stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face, and she thought with shame that he probably thought that she was a stupid idiot.

People slowly went home and said goodbye to everyone, but she didn't want to leave as long as he was there. Eventually the six of them stayed together and sat closer to each other, Aemond ordering another beer.

She could see that he was already slightly drunk, but he tried his best to show it as little as possible. After an hour, Isabel and her friend said that they were hungry and were going home to eat something. Emma and Peter also said that they had to go back.

In the end, they were alone.

"Was this city your first choice when you applied to Academy?" She asked curiously, wanting to strike up any kind of neutrally safe conversation. He looked at her in surprise, toying with his beer bottle.

“No.” He said finally. “I wanted to get to the capital, but they did not accept me. I failed my exams and ended up here, because only here was there still recruitment. It was probably my biggest failure in life.” He said casually, looking at his bottle absently. Bell rolled over in place and smiled warmly.

"I'm glad you didn't get in there." She said, before she could think what it sounded like. Aemond looked at her in shock, swallowed softly, and looked down, embarrassed. He did not answer.

She wanted to add something and deepen her thought, so that he wouldn't feel so awkward, but a waiter approached them, informing them that he was about to close the place. They had to quickly drink what they had and leave.

They settled outside the restaurant, looking at themselves uncertainly, not knowing, what to do.

"Which way are you going?" He asked, without looking at her. She pointed to the main, lit street on the right. He nodded and said that he was going there too.

They walked together, and for a moment there was a long, awkward silence between them which he broke.

"Simon is imposing on you?" He asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye, and she, surprised, giggled at his question.

Simon was an odd character in their year, who sought constant attention. He made himself an infinite artist, having a great opinion of himself. He also constantly tried to establish new artistic relationships, create a kind of bohemianism, be the leader of an artistic group that he would create himself.

“He offered to take pictures of me, using the 19th-century technique. I don't have any pictures of my great-great-grandmother, so I agreed to pose in period attire. I had to pose for him in his rented room and I have to admit, it was incredibly weird. He wanted me to come over later that evening to see him develop the photos, but I figured that he probably wanted me to see something else." She said amused, the alcohol buzzing in her head, making everything seem laughable to her. Aemond smirked at her words.

"You did right. He also texts me all the time, praising my works. He's attention seeking whore and he annoys me so much." He hummed low and she looked at him, happy and beaming that they were finally talking lightly.

She felt a pleasant shiver as their shoulders rubbed against each other once in a while. Even though they didn't have to, they walked very close to each other.

Bell looked at him, seeing the street that he should turn on. She knew roughly where he rented a room, because Isabel lived nearby and had told her once.

"Isn't your street over there?" She sputtered softly, pointing diagonally, her seeing blury. She saw him purse his lips at her words, repeat the mechanical movement of stroking his chin with his hand again. She thought that he did it when he was stressed.

"No. I'll feel better if I walk you home." He said after a moment. Bell felt a heat in her belly at his words, and it wasn't the alcohol.

They set off together, talking about light, non-committal topics. Aemond looked around her neighborhood, surprised as if he suddenly recognized where he was.

"Isn't there a church not far from here?" He asked low, evidently the alcohol had begun to imprint on him as strongly as it had on her. Bell nodded.

"Yes, right behind that house." She said, pointing her finger at the tower that was barely visible in the night sky. Aemond muttered under his breath, agreeing with her.

"I go there every Sunday." He said lightly, and her heart skipped a beat at the thought that he came so close to her home every week and she didn't know it.

He took her to the building itself. They stared at each other for a moment.

She couldn't help herself and just hugged him. He returned the hug stiffly and turned away, wishing her a good night. Bell returned to the apartment delighted.

Since then, she and Aemond had exchanged messages from time to time, often simply complaining about Simon and how he tormented them.

[Bell]: I feel like his mistress that he is cheating on you with.

[Aemond]: I feel the same, he fucks us as he wants. Should I be jealous?

[Bell]: About me or about him?

[Aemond]: Good question.

She pursed her lips as she read his words, her cheeks blushed. They used to say such sentences to each other from time to time, and she felt subconsciously, that even though they both pretended that they weren't, there was something going on between them.

They started going out together with his other friends to the city. Isabel always invited her, but now that she knew more of their year, she felt more at ease with all of them.

They sat down in one of the pubs, on a large, arched couch, in front of which was a big, round table. Even though there was plenty of room on the other side, Aemond sat down next to her. She took a sip of her drink, trying to hide the smile that appeared on their faces.

They sat there for several hours, talking about their professors, their classes and difficult assignments, unfinished projects and exams that were still ahead of them. The bartender finally told them that they were about to close, so they got up to leave. Aemond, Isabel, and Bell were walking in the same direction.

Bell instantly regretted her decision not to go to the restroom. She considered running into some bushes before her bladder gave out. She pursed her lips, feeling like she really wasn't going to last any longer.

"I need to go to the restroom." She mumbled softly, looking at them. Aemond looked at her in surprise and swallowed.

"You can come over, but I warn you, my roommates have turned this apartment into a pigsty." He said low and hesitant, embarrassed by his proposal.

Bell felt a heat in her lower abdomen at his proposal. The thought of being alone with him, at night, in his apartment.

"Stupidity, I live closer! Come to me Bell, I live around the corner already!” Isabel said cheerfully, not understanding that she had just ruined her entire plan.

Neither she nor Aemond could explain why Bell should go to him when she did live closer so Bell, disappointed, went to Isabel and returned home.

As she was going to bed, she saw that Aemond had shared with her via the app a link to a Facebook event about a lecture at the museum about Renaissance art, which they both found to be interested in. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that he had written another message underneath it.

"Do you want to come with me?"

Bell wondered for a long time if this was actually a date or not. She decided not, so she dressed the way she would dress for class - dungarees, a white turtleneck, and cherry-printed socks. She let her long, dark hair down.

When she got there, she was pleased to see that Aemond was already waiting for her at the entrance. She had heard him say once that he hated being late. They both showed up ahead of time.

They greeted each other and entered without a word, taking their seats next to each other. The lecture began, and she tried to focus as much as possible on what the woman was saying, not on the fact that he was sitting next to her.

After a few minutes, she decided that she could at least glance at him once in a while. She looked at him and saw that his eye was fixed on her socks. She blinked questioningly. He looked up at her eyes, a smirk on his face.

"Nice socks, cherry." He grunted and she blushed as she turned her head away. She felt her heart pounding hard, her fingers quivering slightly in her lap.

She tried to convince herself that she hadn't been falling in love with him in recent months, but she knew that wasn't true.

After the lecture, Aemond offered to walk her back again which she greadily agreed to. As they walked, she felt him slip something into her jacket pocket and she jumped in surprise, a smile lighting up her face.

"What's that?" She asked, sticking her fingers in her pocket, feeling the little ball with the stick on it. She took it out.

It turned out to be a strawberry lollipop.

“You once told Isabel that you didn't like cut flowers. That you'd rather men bring you lollipops, because you might eat them at least." He said, feigning indifference, looking at her expectantly as if to see if her reaction would be what he expected.

She pursed her lips, looking at him happily. She thought that she could kiss him now.

"Yes, thank you, it's a wonderful gift." She said, unwrapping the lollipop and immediately popping it into her mouth.

She could see him trying hard not to watch as she slipped it in and out of her mouth once in a while with a loud click of her saliva.

When they were in front of her building, she decided that she wanted to try. That she really likes him, really values him, really wants him. She thought it might work.

Christmas break was approaching and she knew that he would be leaving in a few days. She decided that it was the perfect time to ask him for what she had wanted to do for a long time.

"I'd like to write you letters when you're gone. Will you give me the address of your family home?" She asked uncertainly, her voice trembling slightly as she popped the lollipop into her mouth again.

She saw him tense all over, his gaze rising from her lips to her bright eyes. He swallowed softly, then forced out one sentence with difficulty.

"I'll give you my address only if you give me yours."

_____

My dears, those who know my private stories from my blog may have guessed, but - beware - this story is an exact reflection of how I met my husband-Aemond. Tomorrow we celebrate our second wedding anniversary. Everything I wrote in this fanfic really happened! Of course I condensed it and left out some important events to make it make sense as a plot, but that's how we fell in love.

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy @astral-blossoms @randomdragonfires @amirawritespoorly @apollonshootafar @padfooteyes @darylandbethfanforever9 @fudge13 @snh96

[sorryimananti-romantic]

Stay

archer!yeosang x princess!reader

friends to lovers au

genre and warnings: fluff, angst, violence warning

word count: 18.6k

synopsis: you encounter archer yeosang not in the sports competition you had just sneaked out from, but in the forest where he saves you on your way to meet your 'boyfriend'- you're not sure what to call him. yeosang doesn't recognise you as the princess of this nation, however, you encounter him again as your replacement tutor and you become friends with him, sharing problems you face and sneaking out with him because you crave adventure. you find yourself falling for him because he makes you feel like no one else, and he finds himself falling for you but he thinks he's not worthy of you- even when you tell him again and again how brilliant he is. will he end up staying?

The air was filled with the cheers of the athletes, of the women wooing over the young participants, of the men howling in glee because they had waited the whole year for this day. The day where everyone- from the most royal to the peasants- gathered under the same sky, bathing under the same sun. The day where everyone had an equal chance of winning- if they were blessed with the right skills. The Athletics Championships- the annual sports event where people of every status, regardless of gender, participated. 

There was no shame in admitting that everyone from the oldest to the youngest throughout Eden waited eagerly for this day. The athletes practised all days of the year, stayed fit so they could show off. After all, a position in the palace and a cash reward wasn’t the only prize they won that day. Even the most lacking of the athletes could win someone’s heart that day. Since there was still a majority of men participating in the competitions, the women still new to being allowed to participate, the women were usually watching the athletes with eagle eyes- not for their skill alone. And the men never failed to show off- most of them anyway. 

You would have been one of those women too, but there were a number of things hindering that. Firstly, you were the Princess of Eden, seated right at the stage they’d had built for the royal family for the best view. That also meant the people could get the best view of you too, and you had to be cautious of where you let your eyes stray, of your reactions, which is why you opted to remain unfazed throughout the games, only clapping for the victors. 

Secondly, you had a really, really bad headache from the way the Queen, your stepmother, had chewed off your brains so early in the morning. His son, your stepbrother and the Prince of Eden, seated on your left was the only reason you could mildly enjoy the event. His mother might be an ambitious, greedy witch who wanted her son crowned the heir instead of you, but his son was very much the opposite, having little to no interest in the position himself, only doing it for his mother (at least, that’s what he insisted) and opting to fool around. The Queen scoffed loudly when his son passed you a bowl of candies and you took two, hiding it in your sleeve. She passed a glare to the Prince who only pretended not to know what it was about, making you smile a little at his childish antics. He was still a kid at heart.

Last, but not least, you couldn’t wait to get out. Yes, the competition was mildly interesting (mildly only because this time’s female competitors were giving the men a hard time and you enjoyed that and hoped you’d see more of them next year) and you were comfortable, but you had a little… date with your… boyfriend? 

You didn’t know what to call him. Yes, he was attractive, not bad to look at. He was a noble, and it made it easier for conversation to flow between you. He had a nice sense of humour (or maybe your scale of judgement had a very low base to start with). You two were friends, but at the same time, not really. And you two were dating, but not really. Currently, you were still figuring out why you were risking so much meeting a man in secret- the one you weren’t even sure about- yet. You hoped to be sure, though, soon. You just had to meet him a few more times, stop testing the waters and take a little dive, and see if he was someone you really liked.

You chewed loudly on the candy, earning some groans from the Queen. You glanced at her right where your father, the King, was sitting almost at the edge of the seat, looking as if he wanted to join the spectators instead since they could see the current game of fencing better from down there. You pretended to cough and your lady-in-waiting, Siyeon, took the signal and came forward, asking you if you felt alright.

“I just have a bad headache, is all,” you sighed loudly, making the Queen look at you two interact. 

“Goodness, you look pale, this won’t do,” Siyeon shook her head. “You should let me accompany you back for a while. A cup of tea or maybe some soup would do you good.”

“You can bring that here,” the Queen shifted in her seat. “We should maintain our attendance.”

“It would only take a few minutes, Your Majesty,” Siyeon insisted, bowing respectfully, and before the Queen could scold her, you got up.

“She’s right- I don’t want to create a scene here if I faint. I’m sure you wouldn’t like that, Your Majesty,” you smiled sweetly but the Queen could see right through you and she only rolled her eyes.

“You better be back before the hour is over.”

“You got it,” you winked at her, satisfied at the gasp that left her, grinning to yourself as you followed Siyeon. Once you were out of earshot, you slapped Soyeon playfully on the arm. “Nice work back there.”

“You’re going to get me executed, Your Highness, I haven’t even had the joy of marriage yet,” Siyeon grumbled, straightening her midnight blue gown, the uniform. “Please don’t take too long- I don’t want to go after you. In fact, going in the woods is a very, very bad idea- you’ll get lost, and I’ll get fired and executed for being lazy-”

“I’m glad you’re selfish,” you laughed. “I’ll find my way, don’t worry. Mingyu will be waiting, and he’ll make sure I get back safe. Just stay in my room and cover for me while I’m gone, will you?”

“I hope after all this trouble you go for this man, he treats you well,” Siyeon said and your smile didn’t meet your eyes. You entered an empty room outside your chamber, removing the outer layers of your clothes, the gown that indicated you were royalty, leaving you in normal clothes. You handed your tiara to Siyeon as well and she gave you the signal- no one would look at you twice today, at least. Not when you would be passing by as a noble woman, nothing more.

It was exciting, you had to admit. The thrill of sneaking out to meet someone- it would never get old. The way people met your eyes but didn’t look twice- it was refreshing, since all your life whenever someone dared look at you, it was either with wonder or fear. Mingyu, however, was different. He looked at you as if he was amused to find you to be the potential heir of the crown, and you couldn’t resist asking him what was so funny the next time you met him accidentally in the streets.

“I just think you’re too lovely to be wearing the heavy and dirty burden of the crown.”

“What makes you think I can’t handle it?” You had challenged, and he had laughed at that. 

“I never said you can’t handle it.”

You had smiled at that, and he had treated you to some ice cream, and you had found his company entertaining. You didn’t realise how you started encountering him more- in the palace when he came to meet a friend- which was an excuse to see you, or in the streets whenever you went out- having known from his acquaintances in the palace, but somehow, you didn’t mind him popping out of nowhere. He looked at you differently, and it got you.

You smiled at the thought as you navigated through the woods, the daylight a relief, trying to recall what Mingyu had said the last time he had come to the palace and sneaked into your room for a very short, dangerous moment to kiss your cheek and tell you to meet him in the woods near where the stream parted, when the fencing matches would start. You strained your ears to detect any signs of a stream but it seemed like you were still far. 

What you last expected was for two young men to spot you and grin at each other as they made their way to you, even when you had ignored them. They looked like they were athletes participating in the competition as well, since they wore the uniform. Perhaps they had come here as they waited for their turn, or perhaps they were done- it didn’t matter. It was your fault for thinking you could go alone in the woods on your own.

“And what’s a pretty little thing doing all alone? Lost?”

It was your fault. You rolled your eyes. “Making my way home- my brother’s picking me halfway. Have a nice day, gentlemen.”

You tried walking past them but they stepped in front of you. “We could drop you there- the halfway point.”

“There’s no need,” you insisted, this time pushing between the two and walking past, trying to ignore the way they laughed. 

“Why don’t you stop and have some fun with us? Won’t do you no harm.”

You should have turned and slapped them or punched them- you could do that. You had the training. But you did the most stupid thing you could have done. You ran- and that made them chase you as well. You couldn’t think straight- this was all so new, so you did the next best thing. You screamed for help, once, twice, before deciding the birds that were listening weren’t going to be much help.

But what you didn’t expect was the familiar sound of an arrow whooshing in the air and you only had a second to make a quick jump as you ran, the arrow lodging in the arm of the one who had been right behind you, making him stop and scream as he clutched at the arm. You turned back, trying to figure out the source, but you saw nothing. The second man who had been looking after his friend lunged for you but he, too, got shot by an arrow in the leg. You started running again, fearing you were next, finally hearing the damned stream and making the way there, hiding behind a rock.  

You watched the men struggling to run for their lives away from the stream and you sighed in relief, your breath catching when you finally spotted the person you definitely owed now- a young man with the most beautifully sculpted face you had ever seen, his physique radiating strength especially when he drew back another aimed arrow and put his bow down. You didn’t realise you were watching him shamelessly until he turned his full attention to you, flipping his hair back, and you immediately hid back behind the rock, praying to the heavens above that there was a small chance he hadn’t really seen you (even if you knew he had) or he would just call it a day and go back to wherever he came from-

“I saw you, you know.”

It was unfair, how even his voice had the strength to call your full attention- deep and rich, making you feel like it reverberated through your brain for a moment. You took a deep sigh- you had other problems to worry about, such as the fact that you were the Princess of Eden and this is the last place and situation you should be in.

“You do look awfully familiar, I have to say,” the man jumped in front of you and you put a hand on your heart- no living man had ever dared to pull such a stunt- not even Mingyu, yet. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“I’m- I’m okay,” you managed to say, finally meeting eyes with him, finding them a rich brown. “Thank you for saving me back there.”

“No problem,” he looked down as he brushed his clothes. “But you shouldn’t have been out here all alone- not today of all days.”

“I was meeting someone here,” you explained but he shook his head, handing you his flask of what you presumed had to be water- he must have noticed how you were still out of breath. You took a swig, wiping your mouth with your sleeve.

“That someone must either live under a rock or must be stupid enough to call a girl here,” he frowned. “Men fool around here especially at events like these.”

“And why are you here?” You raised a brow, making him raise a brow at your sudden shift of tone. You were back to normal. “With an aim like that, you should be participating.”

He pursed his lips as he smiled. “I’ve got better things to do.”

“Like saving damsels in distress?” You scoffed, finally moving from the rock and going to sit by the stream, washing your hands in the cool water, wondering if Mingyu really was waiting. “Can you tell me where this stream parts into two?”

“Is that where you’re meeting whoever?” He asked, sitting a respectable distance beside you. 

“None of your business, but yes,” you sat cross-legged, retying your hair. It looked like he really didn’t recognise you and that was good. “So?”

“Just a few feet down the stream,” he pointed at your right. “Shouldn’t you go back though?”

“Maybe,” you shrugged, your shoulders slumping. “Can I just say he’s an asshole for asking me to meet there? He should have come to meet me! Why am I even making the effort?”

“Tell me more,” he turned his full attention towards you, resting his face in his hands, really eager as he waited. You glared at him but you needed to blow off the steam- the adrenaline from that experience was still there, and as someone who rarely encountered such incidents, you were finding that rambling was your coping mechanism.

“Yes, I’m meeting a guy. Here. Down the stream, actually. I’m not even meeting him anymore, he can go to hell. I don’t know why he thought I could even make it there or pass undetected. He really tests my patience sometimes.”

“And who is he? Your boyfriend?”

“I don’t know, maybe?” You shrugged and he gasped. 

“You don’t know? Interesting.”

“No, what are you doing here?” You scanned him. “Hunting? You do know hunting is banned in this part of the woods, right?”

“I prefer the term ‘practising’,” he straightened a bit. 

“Do you usually practise shooting on living breathing humans? Because if you do, we have a serious problem here-”

“Of course not,” he laughed a bit and you finally cracked a smile. “You really should go back- it’s going to get dark soon.”

“My time is up anyway,” you muttered as you got up, brushing your clothes and looking around. You had no idea which direction to go after running earlier. You asked him where the event was being held, making a story of how you sneaked here and your friends must be waiting. The way he looked at you made you wonder if he bought that story- he probably didn’t. He offered to drop you at the outskirts of the town and you agreed.

“I’m really curious though- why are you not participating? You’ve got a killer aim.”

He side-eyed you and you smirked. Groaning, he said, “I just don’t like being the centre of attention- not like that.”

You made an impressed face- you wished you had the luxury of deciding that for yourself too. “Well, I hope you’re doing something good or worthwhile with your skill. Wouldn’t want to put it to waste, would we?”

“I have better things to do-”

“You always do,” you interrupted and he smiled at that. 

“I just mean… I’m actually a strategist in one of the royal legions,” he admitted and you wowed at that- he was quite young. You thought strategists were always old or experienced people- at least from what you had seen. “So really, I do have better things to do.”

“Suit yourself,” you bowed in thanks when you spotted the hustle bustle of the town, the sound of the drums in the event not far. “Thank you for accompanying me.”

“Be careful,” he simply said, turning before you could ask his name. You would probably never see him again. You sighed deeply before making your way back to your chamber where Siyeon was already waiting, scolding you for taking so long. You didn’t tell her that you didn’t meet Mingyu, nor did you tell her about the person you had spent the hour with. However, he was all you thought about for the remaining part of the event, seated back as a royal. 

What different worlds you two belonged in. It was both thrilling and a little sad.

—------------------

“Good morning, Your Majesty,” you bowed deeply to your father, the King, before sitting down in front of him in his room. He watched you with mild amusement and you raised a brow in question, wondering what was going on in his mind. 

“Good morning to you too, I suppose,” he was taking quick puffs of his cigar. “Though I’m not quite sure it will be good by the time you leave this room.”

“Ah,” you scoffed, dropping all formalities since it was only father and daughter in the room- not king and princess. “Mother dearest must be on her way here.”

“With Chan,” he referred to his son, your stepbrother. 

“Isn’t that good?” You were smirking and your father practically glared at you.

“I don’t know why she thinks you are plotting something against Channie when you two are always partners in crime,” he shook his head, pinching his nose bridge. “If anything, with the relation you two have, you should be able to rule side by side, but-”

“But there can be only one ruler on the throne, for the peace of this nation,” the Queen entered, Chan right behind her who threw a wink in your direction. 

“For the peace of this nation, I never should have married you,” your father joked and the Queen rolled her eyes. “And then we wouldn’t be dealing with this… mess.”

“We’re a mess?” Chan put a hurt hand on his chest as he bowed and sat down beside you. “I bet your father thought so too, about you-”

“Chan-” his mother warned but you could barely contain your giggle and that made your father laugh too, making the woman shake her head in annoyance. 

“Anyways, back to business,” the King straightened and so did all of you. “The governors are all demanding a quick decision about who is going to be accompanying me when we go to the West. They think it would make a statement about the heir if I choose only one of you, so I’m suggesting you both join me.”

“Nonsense,” the Queen started. “Why would you take the Princess in a place where there will only be men? Just take Chan.”

“It’s not like there won’t be any women there,” your father began but you shook your head at him, asking him to not bother explaining himself. “Besides, she is older than Chan. He could learn from her.”

“If you insist, I’ll accompany you, but I think Chan should come with us too,” you looked at the Queen who narrowed her eyes as if you were cooking up a scheme. “I’ll feel more comfortable, and he should really start involving himself more in the court matters.”

“I don’t want to inherit the throne though,” Chan muttered, only for your ears. While the King and the Queen argued, you turned to him. 

“It doesn’t matter if you want to or not; you should still know how the court, how the palace works. That’s your duty, okay?”

“Okay,” he shrugged, “I know you’re only making me tag alone so you won’t be bored.”

“Duh,” you smiled and he grinned at you.

The King asked to be left alone after you two watched them argue senselessly for a few more minutes. As you exited the room, Chan scurried off before his mother could rant to him, which left you as her target.

“You,” she sneered. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re going to make a fool of my Chan and win your father’s favour.”

“In case you forgot,” you folded your arms, not bothering to be courteous when she always assumed the worst of you. “Chan despises the throne, and it’s not my favourite job either. We all know father only favours me because Chan hasn’t shown much interest.”

“That’s not true. He thinks you’re interested, and you’re older- that’s the excuse he always gives. Does he not realise you won’t make a good ruler?”

“And would you?” You challenged her, taking a step towards her, making her glare at you. “Aren’t you only pushing for Chan because you want to use him as a puppet while you run the palace?”

You didn’t wait for her response but got the satisfaction of her gaping at you. Siyeon, who was watching all of this from a distance, shook her head at the Queen and passed you a smirk as she fell in step with you, reciting your schedule. 

“Before you go to your room… there’s someone waiting for you in the guest chambers.”

You raised a brow and she nodded. You let her accompany you- it had to be Mingyu, and you were still a bit pissed at him. Siyeon made sure no one had followed you before letting you in, waiting outside.

“Your Highness,” Mingyu’s honey voice was laced with amusement and you got the sudden urge to accompany him to the palace prison. 

“I can’t believe you asked me to meet you in the forest, Mingyu,” you were angry and he was finding that funny, which was annoying you further. “As you suspected, I almost got lost and made my way back before someone would think my head was a nice place to land their weapon.”

Mingyu laughed at that, running a hand through his dark hair. “I waited for you, you know.”

“You shouldn’t have. Let’s not meet anymore,” you announced, about to turn back but Mingyu grabbed your wrist, turning you around and into him, putting a hand beneath your chin and lifting it up to make you face him.

“Did I ever tell you you’re cute when angry?”

“You don’t need to,” you scoffed but he had you- you were smiling now. “I know so.”

“Hmm, I like this confidence,” he tucked your hair back and kissed your cheek, making your hand go to the back of his neck, resting at the nape. “You know what else I like?”

“We don’t have much time, so shut up and kiss me,” you muttered and immediately, you two were tangling yourselves in each other as you kissed, fiercely and desperate, being chased by time. 

It was always like this with him. A few moments, stolen kisses, no promises of the future. No prying into each other’s personal lives. Just two people who got attracted to each other by chance, and decided to test the waters- you were sure he had better reasons for why he decided to play with fire, but you? 

Your cheeks would flame whenever you would think about it. You weren’t sure how much you liked Mingyu yet, but you did like him. He was smart, and comfortable to be with. As a Princess, you didn’t have the luxury to explore much, so being with Mingyu sometimes made you feel like you were in the clouds. He would listen to you if you had some steam to blow off, and he would kiss your worries away. So simply put, you were lonely, and he wasn’t bad to be with.

What Mingyu was expecting out of this, you didn’t know, and you didn’t want to know yet. He was a part of the court, though, and that was the only thing about him that set you off. People were always greedy for something. And you wished Mingyu was greedy for the right things- like you were. Greedy for love and acceptance. 

“Where are you?” Mingyu paused to look at you, caressing your cheeks. “You’re lost somewhere, aren’t you? Is something the matter?”

“Nothing,” you smiled weakly. “Just the usual. Have you been well?”

“I have,” he kissed your forehead. “I’ll be coming officially soon- maybe we could spend time together then.”

“I’ll see,” you assured him, pecking his lips. “I have to go now.”

Mingyu nodded, scanning your face with a smile on his face before he kissed you again and then let you go. You left first, spotting Siyeon who looked like she was going to have a stroke. 

“What took you so long, Princess?” She huffed. “My heart stopped like ten times whenever someone passed by and spotted me.”

“You’re too dramatic,” you laughed at her, letting her accompany you to one of the scholar’s offices, where you were getting trained in strategy. You made sure you yawned wide and good as soon as you entered, and the old man shook his head at you.

“This doesn’t work on me,” he let you know.

“I’m feeling sleepy because it’s you who’s tutoring me, Professor Seo,” you teased, joining him at the desk. “So? Let’s start.”

The day passed like any of the other days. Professor Seo told you to meet him in the library when you would be free from your duties in the evening, and though he was an old man and a boomer, if you were honest, you respected him as your teacher a lot. He had honed you into who you were. You owed him much more than that.

However, the last thing you were expecting was to see another presence with him, one that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

“This is Kang Yeosang, one of my friend’s son, a strategist in the royal legion in the North,” your tutor introduced him and the man first bowed to you, but as soon as he raised his head to look at you, he frowned.

And you frowned.

And then it clicked.

“Uh, nice to meet you,” you glared at him a bit as you shook his hand, silently asking him to keep his mouth shut. However, he was thoroughly amused. 

“The pleasure’s mine… Your Highness,” he almost mocked and you two took a seat, your teacher looking between you two.

“Have you both met before?”

“Not at all-” “Never-”

“Alright, I get it,” the old man sighed. “Your Highness, I have an urgent matter to attend to in the North. I’m afraid I won’t be able to join you in your lessons, which is why I arranged for a replacement.”

You made an impressed face. “He’s… quite young for your replacement, I must say.”

The two of them laughed at that. “He’s the best I could offer. He’s a… prodigy, if you will. And if you like him better than me, maybe I can finally retire.”

“I got used to you, so I don’t know about that,” you fiddled with the hourglass on the table as you thought. “Is everything okay in the North?”

The old man looked at Yeosang and he cleared his throat. “There’s some conflict at the border, which he must inspect. I may be a prodigy but I’m not more experienced than him, which is why he suggested that we shift.”

“I understand, and I hope you return back well and healthy,” you smiled at your teacher and he relaxed visibly, making you roll your eyes. “It’s not like I was going to, I don’t know, throw a tantrum about you going. In fact…” you looked at Yeosang, “I think I’ll enjoy his company more.”

“No funny business, you hear me?” He pointed at you two and Yeosang raised his hands in surrender. “She’s quite difficult to handle, but hear me, Princess. He’s here for a reason. He’ll tame you.”

Yeosang coughed at that and you shot him another glare- he was making it too obvious now. Thankfully, the old man got up and told you both to acquaint yourselves, leaving you two alone in the library, both of you mirroring each other’s posture and expressions- folded arms and sceptic looks. 

“So, Princess,” he started. “I believe this is the first time we’re officially meeting.”

“Officially, yes,” you nodded- no point pretending that time in the forest three days ago didn’t happen. “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, roasting some squirrels in the forest or shooting strangers?”

“And shouldn’t you be on the way to meet a certain someone-”

“Not one more word about it, not here, you hear me?” You were almost whispering, to his amusement. “The palace has ears everywhere.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about anything,” Yeosang adjusted the collar of his shirt as he spoke. “We’re meeting for the first time. It seems like I’ll be your replacement tutor for a while, so I expect you to match my pace. Let’s be punctual in the mornings, shall we?”

“Of course,” you almost scoffed. “I’m guessing my dear old Professor must have complained.”

“Not really,” Yeosang leaned in, as if sharing a secret. “I figured you’re that type of a person.”

“Really?” You leaned in as well, more surprised to see him not backing off like others would. “What made you think so?”

“What do you think?” He almost laughed, getting up. “It’s getting late so let’s continue this tomorrow.”

—-----------------

“I can’t believe you asked me to be punctual and all when you’re late yourself and you’re trying your best not to doze off.”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep last night- Professor Seo took me out for drinks to introduce me to his friends here and you know how it gets…” Yeosang faltered when he saw your annoyed face. He smirked. “Are you the type that’s a teacher’s pet? Because you seem overly eager to be tutored-”

“I’m not,” you groaned, sighing deeply. “But you yawning widely when I’m reciting what I’ve learned so far really was the last straw.”

“I was only yawning, doesn’t mean I wasn’t listening,” he raised a brow and you glared at him.

“Did you hear the part about how I have to go to the East with the King?”

“You have to go to the West,” he smirked and you grinned. “See? I was listening.”

“I can’t concentrate if you look so sleepy, though,” you pouted. “It will make me sleepy too.”

“Then let’s just ditch all this,” Yeosang practically threw the register on the table to your left. “And take a little nap.”

“I ought to tell Professor Seo-” you were about to get up but Yeosang laughed, holding your sleeve and pulling you down and you raised a brow. 

“What?” Yeosang scoffed. “Don’t expect me to apologise or something. You still owe me for saving your life back there.”

You were the Princess of Eden, possible future Queen of an entire nation. But this individual seemed to not care about your status or the fact that you could end his career or life with a mere command alone. Perhaps because he had seen you as a damsel in distress, or perhaps because he was just like this. Peculiar. Interesting, even.

You rested your face in your hand, elbow on the table, as you stared at him. “I thought I told you to forget about that. It never happened. Nothing. Erase it from history.”

“I wasn’t aware the Princess of Eden had such secrets,” he mirrored your position. “And I wasn’t aware she was someone who took favours for granted.”

“Well, what do you want me to do? Pay you in gold? I can do that if you’d like.”

“I’m not interested in that, sadly,” Yeosang sighed as if it really was such a shame that he wasn’t. “I’m a rather humble person, which is why I only ask that we do not pretend that it never happened. I have an unfortunate habit of teasing, and if you can put up with it, that would be enough.”

“You’re an interesting person, Kang Yeosang,” you said and he smiled cheekily. “And your methods of teaching are also unconventional.”

“This is my first time tutoring someone,” Yeosang admitted and you were surprised at that. “So you can expect that. I think strategy is better learned from practical examples than by theory. And you don’t have to stick to battle. In your position, if you’re not strategic with every step you take, people will take the chance to pound at you from all directions.”

You considered that for a moment. “Did Professor Seo tell you something?”

“What he told me was enough,” he admitted and you relaxed- if he was someone Professor Seo trusted, that meant you could trust him as well. After all, the Professor was more a father than your own. “I still have to ask one question, if you would be so kind as to answer.”

“Go ahead,” you urged him.

“Why are you not interested in the throne, apart from the obvious reasons?” Yeosang leaned in, pushing back his dark hair. “You seem to have a rebellious streak within you, and I’m not sure why you’re not attracted to that offer- you could break the norms in Eden by being the first true Queen of Eden.”

“I know how big that sounds,” you sighed. “I’d be setting an example for all the females ahead- that there doesn’t necessarily have to be a Prince who rules the throne, but a Princess too. All these years in Eden’s history, if the eldest was a daughter, she would be considered negligible.”

“That’s right,” Yeosang nodded. “And Prince Chan isn’t too interested in the throne either. Everything seems perfect, yet…”

“Yet,” you almost smiled. “Do I really have to? I mean, I could. I’m ready, even, it’s what I’ve been trained for my whole life. Besides, my father, the King, would like me as his heir too. But as a person… I think I’m not good enough for that job. I have a few threats on my head if I am appointed the heir too, so I can’t jump on that chance without taking care of that matter- unless I’m okay with getting murdered which frankly, I’m not because I haven’t even lived yet-”

There it was. Yeosang’s knowing smirk- and your rambling mouth that was your besetting sin. Yeosang cocked his head. “You want to live a little, don’t you? Before you inevitably become bound forever? Is that why you’re risking so much meeting strangers in the forest?”

“First of all, you have no right,” you sneered but when he didn’t so much as twitch, you slumped back. “But yes. I guess so. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I don’t want to stop, yet. And anyways, our time is over,” you pointed at the clock. “Let’s continue this later, I have places to be.”

“Of course,” Yeosang nodded, resting his head on the table. “I’ll be taking a little nap here. You can go, Your Highness.”

You got up and stared at him, making him open one eye. “What?”

“I hope you won’t be rambling off whatever I said when you go to one of your drinks or something,” you muttered. 

“I’m not the one with the big mouth here, Your Highness- ow!” He rubbed his head when you not-so-gracefully threw your pen at him. You left, laughing loudly to annoy him but you could feel him smiling even though you couldn’t see him.

You didn’t know what it was about him that made the flow of conversation easier, that made you ramble without a second thought, that made you answer his very personal questions even when you hadn’t allowed this luxury to Mingyu, but… he really was an interesting person. You were having the sudden urge to ditch your next lessons and talk to him more, get to know him and judge him, see if he could be of more help, but you reminded yourself this was only your second (or third) meeting and you should take it slow. 

You shouldn’t make the same mistake you did with Mingyu.

Again, you found yourself pausing- whatever you had with Mingyu was a mistake, and this was the first time you admitted it to yourself. But… not all mistakes would bring bad consequences, right?

—------------------------

A few days later, Yeosang and you decided to take a walk around town- another one of his unconventional teaching methods. You were to dress as a noble lady, not the Princess, and learn the art of blending in.

You were also finding him wiser than you had initially thought. You two were crossing the road that led to the middle of the town from the palace when he explained the purpose of today’s lesson. “Strategy for you, Princess, is the art of disguising. When you are in the middle of planning an actual strategy for let’s say, a situation at the border or potential battle threat, or even civil war, would you trust everyone who’s in the same room with you as you plan?”

“I suppose not,” you nodded, adjusting your hanbok, walking comfortably for now due to the lack of the passersby. “As a Princess, I can trust no one. Not even family.”

“Exactly,” Yeosang clapped once. “You are capable of making several layouts in your head for any plan, I’m assuming?” When you nodded, he continued. “Real strategy lies in letting those people hear what they want to hear but doing what you want to. Please them but use them.”

“Ah,” you smirked to yourself. “I’m good at that.”

Yeosang gave you a doubtful look. “So, to make it seem legit, what will you do? You will need to blend in- not just in appearance, but in emotions, in their feelings. Now, we’ve almost reached town. I’ll let you lead and give you my judgement on our way back. We’re shopping in the marketplace first, and then we’re having lunch in public.”

“I wonder who allowed you to take me without guards-”

“I am the guard, in case you forgot,” Yeosang proudly pulled at his clothes and you scoffed. “I’m an excellent archer. Need I remind you how I-”

“I don’t see your bow and arrow today, though,” you pointed out. Yeosang paused as he looked at you.

“What makes you think my aim with daggers would be any weaker?”

“Wow,” you were actually amazed this time. “Maybe I should have paid attention when they were teaching self defence.”

“It’s never too late,” Yeosang resumed walking, urging you with a casual hand on your back. “Everyone should know the basics so they don’t encounter a situation like you did in the forest.”

“You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you?” You asked, tensing when you saw a couple looking in your direction and scoffing. Yeosang smiled to himself, not pausing, his hand keeping you walking as well. “Why did they laugh at us?”

“Why do you think? Now stop looking like you’re about to commit a murder and blend in.”

“But I am-” you shut up when you two took the final turn that led to the marketplace and this time, Yeosang let you take a deep breath as you took in the scene. 

There were people of all ages in the market- from old people who couldn’t even walk properly to kids running around, a group of them circling around you as they chased each other, making you almost yelp. Instinctively, you tried hiding behind Yeosang but he shook his head- this was your mission, after all. Blend in. the question remained- would people recognise you? Would they look at you twice?

“You have to stop at at least three shops and buy three things of different categories. So let’s start,” Yeosang said as he smirked. You glared at him before holding your head high as you walked. 

“Do you think you should walk so arrogantly?” Yeosang leaned in to whisper in your ear and you swatted him away, thoroughly annoyed.

“You think I can’t blend in? Fine- I’ll show you how good I am at it,” you said and didn’t bother waiting for Yeosang as you marched to the stall selling some candy. 

“What’s this called?” You asked the shopkeeper and both him and Yeosang snorted.

“It seems like she’s not from around here,” the shopkeeper smiled at Yeosang. “It’s called marshmallows.”

“Yeah, I’m not from around here, so I wouldn’t know,” you smirked at Yeosang and he raised a brow at how you had managed to twist the situation in your favour. “Is it a local delicacy? I haven’t seen it in the West.”

“Ah, yes, you wouldn’t see it in the West, I suppose,” the shopkeeper folded his arms. “Which ones shall I pack? They all taste the same so choose your colours- and add some flavoured jelly with it.”

“Hmm, let me see,” you took in the variety of the pastel marshmallows. “A few of each would be nice.”

The shopkeeper packed it for you with sticks for both of you and Yeosang paid for it. You were smiling cheekily at him as you waited for him and he scoffed when he saw you. “The day is not over yet.”

Yeosang wasn’t very surprised when you managed to shop for a few trinkets, a calligraphy brush and even a neck scarf. He had already judged you to be quick at adapting. You didn’t attract much attention at all, and he found you relaxing more and more as the day passed. Lunch was normal as well, choosing an outdoor dining as you ate noodles. However, the real test would be when someone would recognise her.

And he was going to make sure someone did. While you were busy admiring roses at a flower shop, Yeosang called a group of kids over and whispered what they needed to do, handing them some coins. The kids disappeared, unnoticed by you. However, as you turned, the kids (excellent actors, Yeosang laughed to himself) halted when they spotted you.

And you halted as well, frowning. Had the kids recognised you or what?

“Are you the princess?” One of the girls asked and you let out a nervous laugh, peeking at Yeosang who was currently too interested in his fingernails. 

“I told you, she is,” a boy elbowed her. “I saw her at the Athletics Championship.”

“You’re lying,” another girl argued. “Why is she not wearing her princess outfit?”

You snorted at that and the kids looked at you. “What? Do you think the Princess even sleeps wearing a fancy gown?”

“She doesn’t?” the first girl frowned. 

As the kids bickered among themselves, you turned to Yeosang. “I thought you could do better.”

“What?” Yeosang pretended to feign ignorance and you rolled your eyes. You were about to tell the kids to scoot off, but a woman came rushing towards the kids, scolding them for straying too far. You watched them, forgetting everything else for a moment until the woman looked at you and gasped.

“Your Highness!” She bowed deeply, and the kids burst into an excited fit that panicked you and you looked at Yeosang who was equally surprised. So this wasn’t planned…

“Your Highness?” A man who had been passing by also followed the woman’s suit and you groaned.

“Please, rise,” you commanded and they did, and you looked around, grateful for the lack of audience. “I am visiting town unofficially, so I hope you’ll keep my presence a secret.”

“Of course,” the woman nodded. “I’m a palace maid- you probably don’t recognise me. I’m happy to see that you’re out of the palace! You’re always inside- I hope you enjoy today.”

You were surprised at that- not her being a palace maid, but her observation about you. You thanked her, and the man grinned at you as a sign that he would keep it a secret as well and when they were gone, you finally looked at Yeosang who looked a little guilty. “Do I look that much of a bore?”

“What?” Yeosang laughed, not expecting that question so not understanding what you meant either.

“I mean,” you sighed. “The woman basically said that, right? That I’m always cooped up in my room?”

“Was she wrong?” Yeosang scoffed.

“No, which is why it hurts,” you laughed sadly. “I need more adventures in my life-”

You spotted a familiar face in the crowd- Mingyu. What were the odds? 

“Uh, Yeosang,” you kept your eyes at Mingyu who was alone, thankfully. “Do you mind if I go meet an acquaintance?”

Yeosang followed your gaze, right beside you. “Oh, is that the boyfriend? What a coincidence. I promise this was not arranged by me.”

“I know,” you tapped his arm as an indication that you were going. “You better wait right here- I’ll be back soon.”

Yeosang watched you boldly walk to the man who had to do a double-take as he saw you, and then you both disappeared in the alley, Yeosang laughing silently to himself. He had to admit- he was curious about what exactly was the relation between you two. He resorted to sitting on the bench and staring at the sky, while you?

You practically dragged Mingyu in the alley, the two of you stifling your laughs and hiding in a corner, you two were all over each other. You two were kissing like you were teenagers who had snuck out behind their parents’ backs, like you were past curfew. When you finally broke apart, Mingyu was grinning. “What are you doing here, Princess of Eden?”

“I was out with my tutor on a mission- blending in with the crowd,” you wiggled your eyebrows at him. “We haven’t properly sat in so long, Mingyu. Are you ever coming to meet me properly, or should I forget about you?”

“I promise I will,” Mingyu rubbed your arms. “I might get a job where I’ll have to frequent the palace often, so I’m concentrating on getting that first.”

“Really?” You were pleased. “What job?”

“My dad’s sick, so he might push me to handle his current affairs,” he said and you recalled how his father was a court member. “Let’s see how it goes.”

“Yeah, I’ll… look forward to seeing you,” you smiled at him. “I shouldn’t keep him waiting- I should go.”

“Okay,” he pecked your lips. “Go.”

Though you had just met your ‘boyfriend’, you didn’t look lovestruck, Yeosang thought, as you walked to him and joined him on the bench, slumping down with a sigh that made him feel as if something was bothering you. Yeosang simply offered you the same candy bag and you took some, the both of you staring at the sky.

“If you sigh anymore, I’m going to have to assume you broke up.”

“It’s not that,” you laughed. “It’s… I don’t know. He’s not my boyfriend, by the way.”

“Yet…” Yeosang raised his brows.

“Yet…” you sighed again. “He makes me forget that I am a princess when I am with him.”

“In a good way or a bad way?” Yeosang asked and you frowned- you had never had anything to compare it with, but today…

Or rather, with Yeosang, you hardly felt like a princess at all as well. And though Yeosang obviously treated you like just any other human… it was somehow better than Mingyu walking on eggshells with you or looking at you as if you would break. As if you were brittle- that you couldn’t bend, you’d simply break. So you only shook your head in answer, and that was enough for Yeosang. 

“Can I confess something?” You asked and Yeosang shrugged. He didn’t seem like someone who would judge you. “I don’t think Mingyu is the type of person I’d be happy with in the long run.”

“Ah, so that’s the name-”

“I think,” you ignored him, finding the fluffy clouds in the sky strangely comforting. “I think we’re both using each other one way or another. He’s handsome and I’m not the prettiest girl alive, so I wonder what he’s using me for. It’s obvious why I am, but I don’t think I want to know why he is. I don’t think I’d like the answer.”

“Then you don’t need to ask the question,” Yeosang commented. “You could part ways on good terms too.”

“That’s true,” you looked at him, smiling. “You know, you’re feeling more like a friend than a tutor or whatever you’re supposed to be. I like it.”

Yeosang put a hand on his chest and for a moment, you thought he was touched, until he said, “Then I have failed.”

You smacked his arm harshly and he laughed, shaking his head. “You’ve never had a friend, have you?”

“There’s Siyeon but she’s more like an elder sister,” you admitted. “Also, tell me you think of me as a friend too. I’d be hurt if you don’t.”

“As you know, I’m not the type of person who cares whether you’re hurt or not,” he brushed his clothes, getting up and offering you his hand, which you took as you got up as well. “But I think we could be friends. Only when I’m not tutoring you- I don’t want you to have the upper hand.”

You squeezed his hand, grinning. You could work with that.

—-----------------

“I can’t believe I thought you wouldn’t suck so much,” Yeosang was shaking his head in disappointment and you aimed an arrow at him. He didn’t even flinch when you let it loose- he already knew by what margin your arrows were always off, and he didn’t need to move- the arrow flew well past him. 

“It’s insulting that you didn’t even flinch,” you were laughing in disbelief at his guts. “How are you so good with all this calculating and aiming?”

“I grew up surrounded by archers,” Yeosang admitted, collecting the arrows as he walked around. You slumped down on the bench, waiting for him to continue. “I still think your case can be improved, so let’s not give up.”

“You remember what we promised, right?” You wiggled your brows at him and he rolled his eyes.

In the course of the past few days, there was a certain air of comfortableness between you two, growing casual with each passing day. As a tutor during the early hours of the day, you stopped giving him a hard time (only because you had the rest of the day to annoy the fuck out of him) and focusing on what he taught you- he was brilliant, you had to admit. He had taught you more tips and tricks than you had learnt in the entire course of your life. You would never admit that to him, or even to Professor Seo since he had shaped you at a good pace, but he really was amazing.

He kept insisting that you get basic self defence training before you go to the West. The civil war threat was still growing and the locals there were kind of brutal. You agreed that you’ve had enough of being the damsel, so you were going to learn to fight, at least enough to not get yourself killed in a stupid way. And Yeosang had been kind enough to try to teach you, albeit with little progress in the past two days.

Today, though, you struck a bargain with him- if your aim got better today, he would help you sneak out at night so you could meet up with Mingyu. 

Though he pretended to puke at the idea of it, he agreed only because you thought you wouldn’t get any better. He didn’t care if you met Mingyu or any other person, he didn’t care what you did with them, as long as he wasn’t involved, but for someone who didn’t bat an eye when others would very well crucify you, he was awfully curious. You were guessing curiosity was his besetting sin. Or maybe because you were the Princess of Eden, he was taking more interest in your life than he would have in any other person’s. Whatever the reason, you didn’t mind. You were very used to people prying into your private matters, but Yeosang was different- you just knew he didn’t have any evil intentions.

“You won’t ever hit your target at this rate, let me show you,” Yeosang said as he got up, making his way towards you. He stood next to you with his own bow and arrow, instructing you on how you should place your legs, how taut your arms should be, how you should hold the weapon properly.

“Like this?” You mirrored his position- or at least tried. He didn’t look satisfied but he nodded, urging you to try. You did, and surprisingly, this was the first time you hit the target on the tree, though you had almost missed it. 

“Again,” he instructed and you did, twice, watching him walk around you as he checked your posture. “I need your full focus on your target, not on me.”

“Yes sir,” you muttered, trying to pry your eyes from Yeosang who, frankly, looked absolutely ethereal in the glow of the sun. It was unfair how handsome he was. Sometimes you wondered how his parents looked like to have a son who looked like him. 

“Let me,” Yeosang met eyes with you, his hands raised in the air in front of you and you nodded. He fixed the position of your bow and then stood beside you, prying your fingers loose and positioning them correctly, his hands unexpectedly warmer than you had expected. With a hand on your back, he muttered instructions- which parts to relax, which parts to stretch, and the way his hands travelled all over your upper body-

Even though you were wearing a good amount of layers, you had to suppress the shiver with all your strength. Especially when he stood right behind you, snaking his arms around you as he positioned the bow and arrow.

“Shoot,” his breath caressed your ear and you were sure that was why you let go of the arrow, instead of the command. Yeosang drew back, clapping. “That’s much better. Let me see,” he said, standing in front of you and scanning you. 

“Relax that frown,” he pointed at your forehead. “And exhale with the arrow. Come on.”

You shifted your focus to the target and did what he said- this time hitting the arrow only a few inches above the bullseye. You lowered your bow, sharing a grin.

“See? Now you only gotta practise. And for the aim, try shooting daggers as well. Let’s do that next time.”

You continued to practise, your aim getting much better, while Yeosang lied casually on one of the benches, reading a book- or pretending to. You were pretty sure he had passed out at some point, and when you couldn’t shoot any more arrows, drained, you made your way to Yeosang, glancing around for any maids or guards- after all, you were still in the palace. Finding none, you flicked Yeosang’s forehead to wake him up-

Which resulted in him grabbing your wrist before you could blink, scaring you for a moment before he relaxed, letting go. “Sorry, I thought it was someone else.”

“Who would dare?” You rubbed your wrist, trying to calm your pounding heart. “You’ve got killer reflexes.”

“I do?” He laughed, tapping the space beside him and you sat down, stretching your arms and legs as you sighed deeply. “You’ve gotten better.”

He was staring at the arrows lodged in the target board. You grinned. “Now you’ll have to sneak me out.”

“I shouldn’t have helped you,” he shook his head but gave in. “As promised. But if we get caught, come up with a story before they send me for execution.”

“Of course,” you promised. “He’s coming tonight, you know. Mingyu. Should I see him before dinner or after?”

“Before would be better, night time makes everything more suspicious,” Yeosang ran a hand through his hair. “But then… everything is so visible before the sun sets down.”

“Night time is better,” you were thinking to yourself, folding your arms. “I can make the excuse of feeling under the weather and retiring early from my activities, and then wait for him in one of the guest rooms. All you have to do, Yeosang dear, is keep watch and alert me with three knocks on the door so I can sneak out from there and run.”

“What would happen if you got caught?” He asked and when you narrowed your eyes at him, he explained that he was just curious.

“I don’t know, actually,” you took a deep breath. “If it gets public, I guess the people will frown upon me, and then father’s plan of making me his heir would get more complicated.”

“You don’t seem particularly sad about that,” Yeosang observed.

“Well, it seems like I’m not hungry for that power yet.”

Oh, power was boring- you had seen enough of it in the two decades of your life. Sure, it had its perks- especially when you get to pull rank at times, however, once you took the crown and ascended as Queen, the little freedom you had? It would be gone like it was never there to begin with. So, yes. You did not like the idea of being his heir- at least not yet, and you were pretty sure you would never-

“Ah, so you’re simply hungry for an adventure,” Yeosang’s eyes practically gleamed as he made the connection.

You supposed he was right. After all, why were you still agreeing to meeting Mingyu, sneaking around the palace like a rat, walking on your tiptoes afraid of getting caught, all for someone you weren’t even sure about? Especially when you finally entered a guest room, finding that the thrill in your heart was not because you finally got to see Mingyu after so long but because of the excitement that came with the process?

As Mingyu smirked and walked towards you with light steps, tucking your hair behind as a greeting, you wondered if there was something lost in you. You wondered if you would ever find true love in your life- the kind of love they talked about in the books, the kind of love that people gave their lives for. Mingyu was not that person for you. And what turned you off the most about him was that he never tried to get to know you. Yes, he would listen when you would talk, but he never asked questions. He wasn’t interested in you.

Which meant there had to be something else that he was interested in. As far as you knew, he was only meeting you. He didn’t have someone else in his life, so what was he after?

“You feel so distant tonight,” he commented as he caressed your face. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just tired from all the practice,” you passed him a weak smile and he didn’t probe further, fishing out something from his pocket.

“Remember when we met in the market?” He grinned, “I may have gotten you something.”

You made an impressed face and opened the box- it was a necklace with a little golden heart pendant, intricately carved. “It’s pretty. Thank you.”

“You like it?” He pressed a kiss on your temple and you nodded, shy when he let his nose trace the angles of your face, his breath caressing you. “What else do you like, Princess?”

Well, the one thing he was good at was… whatever he was doing right now, snaking his hands around your waist and pulling you forward as he kissed you, letting his lips trail down your neck, peppering kisses and sucking at a few spots, drawing the collar of your dress away and making you gasp, drawing it away even further-

“Wait,” you suddenly pulled back, drawing your dress up and frowned when he looked disappointed. “I- I should go, we don’t have the luxury of time, Mingyu. Not right now.”

“It’s okay,” he got up and straightened his clothes. “I should leave anyway. My friend is waiting for me right outside the palace gates.”

“Oh, okay,” you nodded, getting up yourself. “See you soon?”

He smiled, tipping his hat before leaving and you didn’t realise how long you kept staring into the distance until Siyeon finally entered after a knock.

“Are you okay, Princess?”

“Ah, yes, I am,” you nodded. “Just taking a breather. Let’s go.”

You made your way to your room, not noticing Mingyu walking not towards the palace gates but to the direction where the Queen’s private chamber was. However, Yeosang who had forgotten his book in the library noticed Mingyu conversing with the Queen herself, hidden from sight- anyone else would not have noticed but Yeosang was more observant than the usual person. He wondered why the two were talking, dismissing it as their private matter, but as he tried to sleep that night, he kept wondering if you knew that the Queen and Mingyu knew each other enough to meet out of plain sight.

—------------------

“I didn’t know there was a place like this in the palace,” Yeosang commented, looking around after dusting himself. You passed him a grin.

“I found this when I was 11,” you told him. “My mother used to come here when she wanted to get away from things- I once followed her. After she passed away, I forgot all about this place until one day, I found myself walking here.”

“I can see why she would want to come here,” Yeosang folded his arms, nodding.

Away from all the hustle and bustle of the palace, at the far-east corner of the vast gardens that stretched at the borders, there was an opening in the fence, hidden from the overgrown vines. You supposed when your mother was alive, she must have maintained the place, but now… it was just a collection of forgotten memories, dust and overgrown plants. The hut was dark and home to spiders and other animals- you never dared go inside, preferring to rest on the stairs that overlooked the pond and the large tree which was the highlight of the little place- purple flower petals crowding the ground and the pond.

“Ah, there’s a cat here now,” you waved at the cat but it sneered at you before taking off, making Yeosang chuckle as he sat beside you, peeking inside the veranda. “What a rude cat!”

“You’re the one disturbing the poor cat’s peace,” Yeosang commented. “So? What are we going to do now that we’re here?”

“Well, I don’t know, not study for once?” You narrowed your eyes at him- he had been pretty strict with keeping the studying schedule. He had also been strict with your other classes- you were pretty good with weapons now- Yeosang would never admit that, always dismissing you off as ‘average’, but his proud cheeky smile? He couldn’t hide that. 

“Ah, so it’s just you and me then, huh?” Yeosang asked and you poked your tongue in your cheek as you wondered how to respond to that. He seemed to realise that and he shook his head. “I mean, as friends? That’s how we decided to go, right? Unless you’re planning to bury me here… pretty sure no one would find my body if you do-”

“Yes, let’s just talk and relax, and by the end of it I will decide if I really want to bury you here,” you passed him a sarcastically sweet smile. “Have you heard from Professor Seo yet?”

“I received a letter today, he’s doing fine and the situation is handled, but he decided to visit his family before returning,” he told you and you found yourself more relieved than disappointed about his late return. Yeosang spotted that right away and smirked. “Pleased that he’s not coming back soon?”

“He’s kind of boring and you’re… kind of not?”

“Why did that end as a question?” Yeosang frowned and you shook your head. 

“Anyways, you said you wanted to talk to me about something- what was it?” You asked and saw him visibly struggle as he decided whether he really wanted to say it or not. “Just spill- don’t make that face.”

“Well, it’s about Mingyu- let me make a few things clear first,” he cleared his throat and you raised a brow. “I am not interested in your relationship with him or whatever you do, and I don’t mean to pry, but what you said about him wanting something from you…”

“Well?” You urged him.

“Do the Queen and Mingyu know each other in some way? Because I checked and Mingyu wouldn’t need to privately converse with the Queen over his work matters.”

You felt your heart sink at that but tried to think rationally- maybe the Queen spotted him and called him? Maybe she found out about you two? But you couldn’t help but think of the worst- that the reason Mingyu was wasting his time on you had something to do with the Queen.

“Again, I could be wrong,” Yeosang sounded cautious. “Maybe it was a one-time thing and you don’t need to worry about it, but… you’re the Princess. You always have to be cautious, don’t you?”

“You’re right,” you nodded slowly. “It could be anything, but I have to be cautious. Thank you for letting me know, by the way,” you smiled at him and he pursed his lips, nodding. 

“I’ve ruined the mood, haven’t I?” Yeosang said after a moment and you finally huffed, laughing. “You said you wanted to ask me something as well?”

“Oh, yeah, did I?” You laughed nervously and Yeosang frowned in confusion.

For the past two days, you had been meeting with your father who decided he would have both you and Prince Chan accompany him to the West, despite the continuous attempts of the Queen to somehow make him choose their son over you. You felt better since Chan would be there and you wouldn’t be alone with the King and the generals and whatever officials you were going to find there, but you had an idea-

“If I asked you to accompany me to the West, with the King and the Prince, two days from now… would you agree?”

Yeosang raised a brow. “Is there a specific reason you want me there?”

“Uh…” Was there? “Just… it won’t be as awkward with you there, I suppose. Chan has his own friends there and I know as much as he likes me, he doesn’t like me enough to call me a ‘friend’. Besides, you’re a great strategist, Yeosang. We could actually use some help there. You’ll of course be representing me if you decide to go, so the court members realise I don’t have allies myself-”

“You don’t need to explain all of that,” Yeosang laughed to himself, shaking his head at you. “Come on. You’re the Princess. All you had to say was ‘it’s my order’.”

“I would have added it in the end,” you muttered, slumping but he knew you wouldn’t.

“You’ve warmed up to me, huh? Just admit it- you don’t want to die of boredom there. I make you laugh, I keep you on your toes, I even let you take those naps when we should be studying-”

“Fine, yes, you’re mildly amusing. I won’t say I’d die of boredom without you, okay? Don’t think too highly of yourself-”

Yeosang leaned forward until he was inches away from your face, making you blink in surprise. “But I think you would,” he almost whispered and when you didn’t push him away or respond, he seemed to realise just what position he was in, drawing back smoothly. “Talking about boredom, is there something fun to do right now?”

“I have dice hidden here somewhere,” you jumped down, pretending to search under the stairs while calming your pounding heart and trying to ignore the knot in your stomach. “Here it is. Let’s play?”

—---------------------

You were finding it extremely hard to get Yeosang alone once you arrived at the town in the west of Eden, where the Westerners were going to have meetings with your court to try and resolve the political problems they had with the King’s policies. The reason the King, his children and a good part of his court went themselves was a sign of good gesture- that you all were willing to listen and resolve this peacefully, but this was also a warning- that you would be assessing the situation and taking appropriate and immediate measures according to it.

However, you were warmly welcomed by the dwellers, and a large amount of the first few days were spent partying. You were, of course, the Princess and with that title, you had to display a certain amount of elegance, which Yeosang made sure to roll his eyes at whenever he came into your vision. He also made a note of telling you “I can see how hard it is for you to hold back” which only made you restrain yourself with a smile since the public was watching.

However, Yeosang clearly hadn’t expected you to sneak out in the middle of the night, leaving Siyeon alone in the room and tiptoeing to Yeosang’s room, following Siyeon’s map that she had drawn on your hand after you had begged her to let you breathe. Your heart was rhythmically matching your excitement, but you paused before you knocked on Yeosang’s room-

“Are you sure you and Yeosang are just friends?” Siyeon had asked.

“Of course we’re just friends, what are you implying?” You frowned.

“You’re different when you talk about him,” Siyeon smiled knowingly, which only confused you further. “I’ve not seen that smile once before. Not even with Mingyu.”

“Get your head out of the gutter,” you had muttered and she had laughed it off, but now that you stood-

The door slid open and Yeosang couldn’t keep from mumbling a curse when he found you standing with a hand outstretched. “What are you doing at this ungodly hour, Princess? And outside my room? Finally decided to kill me in my sleep?”

“It’s not even midnight yet,” you rolled your eyes, making your way inside his room and Yeosang watched you, peeking outside to see if you had eyes before shutting the door. “I knew you would be awake. Are you busy?”

“Not really, no,” Yeosang sat down on the couch, ruffling his hair. “Was just about to sleep, as you can see,” he pointed at his pyjamas. “Is something up?”

“I thought we could… I don’t know. Sneak out and enjoy the festival. I know we decided not to go because of security measures, but I learnt from my very wise tutor-” you pointed with both hands at Yeosang and he groaned, “-that the art of disguise comes handy. So we’ll blend in tonight, you and I, as civilians. No one would recognise us anyway- not when we dress up all fancy and… voguish, like them, eh?”

You could tell Yeosang didn’t hate the idea because he was not kicking you out of his room. “You do realise what you’re saying, right? You didn’t drink, did you?”

“I’m perfectly sober, thank you,” you got up and unbuttoned your cloak, revealing a pair of red jewelled velvet tunic and pants, and you revealed your hair tied in a bun- a mess of braids and curls. You waved your matching red mask at him as well, laughing when he gaped at you. “I’m ready. Are you?”

After a few protests and you dragging Yeosang and throwing clothes at him after shuffling through his bag, earning snarky remarks and how you looked ‘overdressed’, you finally got Yeosang to change. He looked perfect in his black outfit with a jewelled jacket, and then you made him sit on the chair in front of the mirror so he would take care of his hair.

“Don’t make me comb it myself,” you scoffed. “I haven’t ever done even my own hair apart from a ponytail, just so you know.”

“Snobby little princess-”

“It’s because I naturally suck at it,” you slapped his head and he glared at you, wondering why he was even doing this. 

“You know,” he started parting his hair to one side, shrugging because if he was going out anyway, he might as well look the best. “All you have to do is be yourself. People won’t recognise you even if you wear your crown over your head.”

“That’s insulting,” you leaned in the mirror, cleaning your slightly smudged lipstick. “But also, somehow good to know.”

Yeosang shook his head, finally done and you gave him an okay. “Now, how do we sneak out?”

“Leave that to me,” you smirked.

A few minutes later and one guard down after a random rock fell on his head (only knocking him out, you told Yeosang), you were in the brightly lit streets, the noise of the people and the music almost overwhelming, but even Yeosang was surprised how perfectly you two blended in- you had clearly planned this long ago. You stopped at a stall to get some cake and you slid down your mask, peeking around but no one recognised you- you felt safe.

“This is stupid, but I can’t say I’m not enjoying,” Yeosang took a bite of the cake. “I mean, when will I ever get the chance? The Princess of Eden in the streets with her replacement tutor, unrecognisable.”

“We’re friends,” you narrowed your eyes. “If you’re still calling yourself my tutor, go home, Yeosang.”

“I don’t know when the boundary blurred,” he pondered.

“Probably when you saved me in the forest,” you muttered. 

“Ah, saved you, did I?” It was the first time you had admitted and you scoffed. “If we hadn’t met that day, would we be here right now?”

“Maybe,” you shrugged. “What do you think?”

Yeosang looked at you as he finished his cake and waited for you to finish yours before stepping forward and you almost jumped when his hands went behind your head to untie the cloth you had been using as a mask. He locked eyes with you. “Can I?”

You didn’t nod but he presumed to tie it around your neck like a bandana, and he rested his hands on your shoulders when he was done. “That’s better. You look beautiful.”

As if just realising what he had said, he abruptly drew back, clearing his throat. “Evil. I meant beautifully evil. Or evilly beautiful?”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that, smacking his arm. “You don’t have to be awkward about it, Yeosang. You don’t look too bad yourself.”

You were the last person to talk about being awkward when you stood there with a silly grin until someone asked you two to move. You took a deep breath. “Let’s go watch the games?”

You got the first row in the audience that stood to watch the fire show and you didn’t realise that you had been holding on to Yeosang’s arm when he guided you through the crowd, but he didn’t mind- he liked it when you squeezed it whenever you were surprised. At some point, Yeosang himself had stopped watching the show, instead watching how your face looked in the glow of the fire, how your eyes reflected your excitement which was contagious at this point, how your red plump lips parted and pursed. He was smiling faintly when you caught him staring at you.

None of you looked away. You raised a brow. “Bored?”

“Not at all,” he shook his head. “Just want to get some air after this ends.”

“Let’s go right now,” you told him and he insisted that you finish watching the show because according to him, you looked like a cat who had seen a mouse for the first time, but you only held his hand and dragged him, almost exiting when you met a pair of mimers.

“Ridiculous,” Yeosang laughed when they started mirroring your movements.

“That’s not how we look,” you pointed and they mirrored that as well, making you gape at them. “That’s a personal attack! Choose someone else from the crowd!”

Yeosang burst out laughing at that and the mimers continued to mirror your exasperated expressions and movements, until Yeosang grabbed your hand and started running away, the mimers mirroring even that and following you, making all of you laugh because this was unbelievable but fun. The two of you kept running even after you had lost them and just when you were about to stop, Yeosang spotted them and slid into a dark alley, turning you and making you stop against him as he rested against the wall, out of breath.

“They’re right outside,” he whispered, shaking his head as he laughed. “Don’t move.”

You nodded, aware of your hands on his chest and shoulder, aware of his hands holding your wrists loosely but not letting you go, and you rested your head against his chest, out of breath as well. “Tell me when they’re gone. Or should we give them a little scare?”

“I’ll tell you when they’re gone,” Yeosang said and you hummed in agreement, not daring to move but feeling glad when you felt his tense body relax against you. His hands slid down your arms but didn’t let go, and even when he saw the mimers leave the area, he didn’t tell you. 

He wanted you all to himself just for a little longer.

And that realisation made him so utterly confused. He hadn’t intended to cross the line, yet… he knew you two weren’t friends at this point- at least he wasn’t, because he was falling. 

But you still liked Mingyu, didn’t you? Even when he had told you about the Queen and Mingyu’s meeting, you met him twice after, and Yeosang helped you. You told him you wanted to feel him out and see what exactly he wanted so you could catch him in the act, but… he was starting to realise why he hated it when he saw Mingyu touch your face- that guy was clearly not sincere.

Were his own feelings sincere then, he wondered. Is that how you felt about Mingyu? Unsure but wanting?

“They’re gone,” Yeosang finally whispered and you took your head off after a moment, looking up at him and finding him incredibly close. You grinned and let go of him. “Well, that was an adventure right there.”

“That sure was,” Yeosang brushed his clothes and you walked back to the streets, just walking and chatting and grabbing more snacks until you both were very tired, which was when you decided to walk back, sneaking past the guards into Yeosang’s room which was thankfully on the ground floor. 

Yeosang shut the window behind him and you secured your cloak, smiling at him and asking, “Tell me how tonight was. Tell me honestly.”

“Well, Princess,” Yeosang stepped in front of you, smirking and flicking your forehead. “It was the most fun I had in a good few years.”

“Really? You’re not lying?” You asked and he nodded, crossing at his heart. You smiled wide and slumped in relief. “Glad you don’t hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, why would you think that?” Yeosang’s voice was incredibly soft. “I like you. A lot. I like whatever we have, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I just hope you don’t forget all about me when you’re busy or when I have to go, y/n.”

Your heart did a somersault and you took a step towards him as well, almost closing the distance between you two. “This was the most fun I had too. In my life. Thank you, Yeosang. And I won’t forget you, ever. I hope you don’t if you go back.”

‘If’, you had said, Yeosang realised with a glimmer of hope. You didn’t want him to go back. It was up to him now. But he had to be sure about you first-

He didn’t expect you to lean in and kiss him on the cheek and then shyly look at you as you grinned. Oh, he wanted to cross the line so bad. “Thank you for tonight, Yeosang.”

Before he could respond, you scurried off, and he stood dumb for a few minutes until he smiled and sat in front of the mirror, taking off his accessories and looking at where you had kissed him-

Where the red smudge of lipstick welcomed him.

So that’s why you were grinning, he thought, laughing to himself as he wondered if he should just let the mark remain.

—-------------------

The situation in the West had been resolved and you made your way back, making the visit last for about a week and a half. A week after that night you spent with Yeosang at the festival. You had attended a meeting together where you got to see just what kind of a strategist Yeosang was, and he was one hell of a strategist- he managed to keep the political interests of both the parties in balance as he suggested ways to resolve the conflict, along with his seniors. He was applauded by the King himself and that made you giddy. It didn’t help that he looked incredibly hot when he was in operational mode, you told him.

“There’s something wrong with you,” Yeosang had made a face and you had only laughed.

“You know, my father approves of you. He even asked me if you’re my replacement tutor.”

“I should go and tell him how disrespectful my student is-” 

And that ended with the usual bickering as well. In the few days you spent in the West after the festival, you only got to meet up with Yeosang once during the evening when you two were walking around, and Prince Chan had joined, which ended up making you the third-wheel. They surprisingly had much to talk about.

Your lessons with Yeosang were going to resume today. You had also just received a letter from Professor Seo which said that he would be returning in a week or two. You felt anxious for some reason- could you keep Yeosang all to yourself? Would that be selfish of you? After all, Yeosang’s family and friends weren’t in this town.

You went inside the library, finding it utterly quiet. You almost called out loud for Yeosang, but you saw him dozing off, sitting crossed legged on the floor with his head resting on his arms on the table. You smiled to yourself- what a sight he was. You tiptoed towards him, sitting in front of him across the table and waiting for a while- he was probably tired. You heard a muffled groan and watched him as he frowned in his sleep- was he having a nightmare?

“Yeosang?” You whispered, but he didn’t stir. You slid away from the table and went to his side, carefully pushing a few strands of his dark hair away from his face- he seemed to be caught in a dream-

You noticed the redness on his temple that you had spotted before too- you hadn’t asked him about it and the way he styled his hair, you couldn’t detect it unless you looked carefully, but it looked like it was a birthmark. You touched it lightly, smiling-

You couldn’t even let out a scream when he went for your neck making you fall flat against the floor and him on top of you with his dagger threatening to slit your throat.both of you were looking at each other in surprise with wide eyes and you patted his arm cautiously. “It’s me… Yeosang, it’s me.”

Yeosang came back and sighed deeply, drawing back and immediately apologising. “I don’t know what I was thinking, I have nothing to say.”

“It’s okay,” you frowned as you straightened your clothes, getting up to go back to your place. Yeosang, confused, got up as well. “Are you alright, Yeosang? Are you haunted?”

Yeosang snorted at that. “Actually, I’m not always like this. I was attacked on the night when we came back, in my room. I didn’t get who it was, but someone’s after me, which means… someone’s after you.”

“Oh, come on,” you shook your head. “It might be something you did. You’re not a saint, Yeosang dear.”

“Could be, but I’m betting it has something to do with you-” Yeosang stopped mid-sentence and pulled you by your arm into his chest as a vase fell and crashed on the floor, making you scream and clench onto his clothes. 

“Wait here- someone’s definitely after you,” Yeosang said and before you could stop him, he went for what you figured was whoever he spotted. You took out your own dagger, waiting for him or whoever it was that dared attack you in the library, of all places. 

However, the last person you expected to see was Mingyu, calling out your name before he stepped in your line of vision and you frowned. “I heard a crash and a scream, I was just passing by. Are you alright?”

“You were just passing by?” You almost spat but then shook your head. “I’m sorry- it’s just been surprise after surprise today. I’m overwhelmed. Did you perhaps spot someone else leaving?”

“Only Kang Yeosang,” he said, stepping towards you but stopping when you raised your hand. 

“Do you know him?” You asked.

“He’s made quite a name for himself after the tour in the West,” he pointed out and you lowered your dagger. “He’s your replacement tutor, is he not?”

“That he is,” you nodded. “He’ll be back any minute.”

“Can I see you tonight?” Mingyu asked, shooting a playful smile in your direction.

“If you tell me why you’ve been meeting up with the Queen, sure, I can see you tonight,” you countered. You refused to believe him passing by was a coincidence- not after you’ve been suspecting him for so long.

However, Mingyu clearly didn’t like what you were implying. “Do you think I’m a spy or something? That’s a low blow.”

“What else am I supposed to think, Mingyu?” You countered. “You’ve been meeting up with her- I saw you myself. And you didn’t bother to tell me? A simple explanation would have done. You could have lied and I would have believed you. But you didn’t even tell me. You never tell me anything. You only call me when-”

“And what do you tell me about yourself, Princess?” Mingyu walked towards you. 

“I tell you enough,” you seethed. “I risk meeting you and tell you enough. You have no idea what the consequences would be if I got caught meeting you.”

“Well, no one would know unless you spill,” he stopped in front of you. “Have you?”

“I just- I can’t continue meeting you like this forever, you know it,” you sighed. “And you’re still not telling me why you met her.”

“I tell you enough as well,” he countered. You couldn’t believe him. You were about to walk away but he caught your wrist. “Come on. Don’t ruin this-”

“Ruin what, Mingyu? What are we?” You locked eyes with him, surprisingly relieved when you saw no signs of longing in them. “We never address that though, do we?” 

“Well, what are you with Yeosang then?” He countered and you raised a brow. “I’ve seen you both. He’s not your tutor-”

“He’s my friend,” you sneered, trying to break away your wrist from him but he wouldn’t let go. “And let go of me. You’re hurting me.”

“Friend?” He laughed. “Friends don’t look at each other the way I’ve seen you-”

“I suggest you let go of her right now, Mingyu,” Yeosang’s voice boomed as he walked to the two of you. “Let go of the Princess.”

Mingyu scoffed at him. “No, what do you two even do in here? I’m pretty sure it’s not just studying-”

The crack of the slap on his left cheek was the most satisfying sound you ever heard out of him, and you didn’t regret it, even when he looked betrayed and surprised. “Who do you think I am? You’re the first person I’ve been with, Mingyu, and you’re the only one. I can’t believe you think so lowly about me. I guess I should have thought that about you too,” you rubbed your wrist- he had finally let go due to the initial shock. “Meet me tomorrow night at the same place. We’ll end this- only after you tell me what you’re up to with the Queen. And don’t bother lying- I know what you’re up to. I only need to see if you’ll tell me the truth or not.”

Mingyu huffed, laughing in what you could only presume was disbelief. “I think we should. We need to think with clear minds, huh?” He looked at Yeosang and left the room, leaving you glaring at his passing figure. Yeosang stifled his smile as he stood next to you. “Well… that was one hell of a slap.”

“Shut up, Yeosang,” you muttered but smiled, looking at him. “I should have done that earlier. I don’t know what took me so long.”

“Do you really know what he’s up to?” Yeosang patted your back, urging you to settle down before sitting in front of you.

“I don’t, actually, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to continue whatever it is we had. It was only physical, and that’s… it makes me shameful to think of it.”

Yeosang looked proud of you though, especially when he said, “I don’t think I need to be your tutor anymore. You’ve learnt all you need to- at least about strategy and offence.”

You laughed at that. “Have I? You still have to teach me the damned nonsense the old scholars left for us that’s not even relevant-”

“Don’t disrespect your ancestors,” he shook his head, grinning. 

—------------------

When Mingyu entered the room, you didn’t get up this time. He didn’t approach you either, simply sat down next to you.

“I’m sorry for slapping you earlier- I could’ve dealt with that differently,” you told him. You were sorry- that wasn’t a lie.

“I deserved that,” Mingyu looked at you and you both shared a laugh. “I was being an asshole.”

“Glad you realise that,” you shook your head. “So?”

“The Queen… the first time that she called me, she only wanted to know who my father was- apparently, he used to do some of the Queen’s private tasks, so she thought she could trust me as well. I didn’t realise what she was on to until the second time, when she casually asked me if I was interested in you.”

“Wow, she’s still digging for something to bring me down,” you made an impressed face. “What did you tell her?”

“I told her the truth- that I admire you as the Princess. That’s exactly what I said. Not a lie, but not the whole truth either,” he winked.

“That’s smart, I’ll give you that,” you nodded. “How did she respond to that?”

“She told me I should meet up with you, that you might be interested in me as well. Honestly, I was confused- I didn’t know if it was a test or some twisted game where she wants us to get caught because it’s no secret that she hates you. So I just told her I’ll look for a chance. Now she just asks me if I made some progress.”

“I wonder what’s going on in her head,” you sighed. “You should have told me, Mingyu.”

“I know,” he admitted. “I should have, but honestly… I’m not interested in you that way- at least not yet.”

“Neither am I,” you admitted. “We should end it, though. There’s no use continuing whatever we had, but I hope we can part on good terms, and possibly be allies in the future. You’re smart, Mingyu. I hope you won’t use our relationship to bring me down one day- I’d rather you be my ally, my friend.”

“Now that’s one tempting offer,” he laughed, tucking your hair behind your ear. “No hard feelings?”

“None,” you nodded. “Unless you pull something, in which case you can expect not to wake up after you sleep,” you smiled sweetly at him and he shook his head, raising his hands in surrender. “Also, yesterday… were you really passing by the library?”

“Ah, about that,” Mingyu straightened, recalling the detail he needed to tell you. “I did spot someone suspicious- dressed like a guard- around the library, so yes, I was just passing by but made a detour because I thought I saw something.”

“Who do you think could be behind it?” You wondered.

“Could be anyone at this point, but maybe start from the people closest around you,” Mingyu said. “Should I look into it?”

“Will you?” You asked and he nodded. You thanked him- that really was a kind offer, perhaps to make up for his behaviour.

After that meeting, you walked to your secret place just to have some alone time and think things through. You had just been in your room, and Siyeon had been beyond relieved after she heard that you broke things with Mingyu. 

“I’m just glad I don’t have to be the watchdog anymore, you know?” She told you as she prepared you for bed, about to go and bring your tea when you told her you wanted to get some air first. She let you go willingly this time.

But when you sneaked in through the vines around the fence, the last person you expected to see was Yeosang. What was more surprising were the empty bottles around him- he was drinking. 

He never drinked this much, from what he had told you. You whistled at the sight and went to sit next to him, shaking your head at his flushed cheeks. “You need to stop before I wake you up by pushing you in the pond.”

“What are you doing here?” He sounded surprisingly sober.

“What are you doing here? Why are you drinking?”

“Just needed to stop thinking for a few moments,” he admitted, offering you a bottle. You took a sip and told him you weren’t going to drink more. “Boomer. Look at the moon- it’s a wonderful sight. That calls for a few drinks as we admire the sight, no?”

“Yep, you’re drunk,” you folded your arms. “What’s keeping you up at nights, Yeosang?”

He was silent for a few moments, and you almost thought he faded into unconsciousness when he mumbled something. You frowned, “What was that?”

“You,” he said, and your heart sank. “You. You keep me up at nights. You don’t let me sleep.”

“Hmm, really?” You pursed your lips, stifling your smile. “And what exactly about me?”

He glanced at you and it was your turn to get flushed- he had rarely ever looked at you that way, but whenever he did… it drove you crazy. “I wish I hadn’t met you, y/n.”

Your heart broke like never before- it was a sharp blow. You managed to ask why.

“I’m not worthy of you. I cannot be with you. But I think I want to be with you. But… you don’t want me. So I wish I hadn’t met you- at least that day in the forest. Maybe if we hadn’t become friends-”

“What are you saying?” You shook your head. “What’s this bullshit about being worthy? I’m not some prized possession you need to win.”

“Oh, but you are,” he smiled, looking down. “You’re… wonderful. You’re brilliant. I’m nothing.”

“God, if you were sober right now, you would be saying the opposite. And that’s making me confused,” you tugged at his sleeve, making him look at you. “Are you joking right now? Do you like me or something? Because I’ve been the one afraid to take that step-”

Yeosang leaned in and kissed your cheek, making you pause. He drew back slowly. “That night… I wanted to keep you all night. I wanted you so bad.”

“Yeosang,” you whispered, “You can have me. You’ve had me long ago.”

“Is that so?” He traced your hairline, tucking your hair behind your ear, and you couldn’t help but shiver. You couldn’t help but compare- Mingyu had done this so many times, yet this single action had never made you a puddle, a mess like you are now. 

Yeosang continued to trace the outlines of your face. “I don’t want to let you go,” he whispered, “Are you real, or am I hallucinating? Am I too drunk?”

“I think you are drunk, but I’m real,” you managed to say, locking eyes with him.

“Even if you’re not…” he put his fingers under your chin and tilted your face up, gazing at your parted lips. You stifled a groan- his touch alone was making you go crazy.

And when he leaned in and finally pecked your lips, holding on to his shirt was all you could do to keep from falling down. As if realising you were real, he pecked your lips again, and again, until you parted your lips and kissed him back, making him cup your face and bring you closer as he kissed you like a man deprived of air, tongue colliding and swallowing each other’s moans. You had never felt like this, feeling his touch in every cell in your body, feeling the kiss as if he was caressing every part of you. 

When he drew back, you rested your head against his, and you wanted more, you wanted to kiss him all night, but he dozed off and you couldn’t help but laugh. You let him rest his head on your lap, caressing his soft hair and running your fingers through them, smiling because he looked like a cat. After you almost fell asleep yourself, you decided to leave him here- he needed to face the consequences of his actions.

But the next day, when he sat in front of you teaching you about one of your ancestor’s history, you weren’t listening- just watching him with a smirk. He seemed to be annoyed at that when he shut the book and glared at you.

“What’s so funny?”

“You look like you had one too many drinks last night,” you told him. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember.”

He didn’t.

“I remember. I never forget when I drink,” he said haughtily.

“Is that so?” You made an impressed face. “Do you, perhaps, remember meeting me last night?” He frowned in confusion and you scoffed. “Maybe you shouldn’t think too highly of yourself, Yeosang.”

“You came last night? There?” He groaned loudly, hiding his face. “I hope I didn’t do something embarrassing.”

“Nothing at all,” you shook your head. “Just did this weird dance and twirled around-”

“Now that’s a lie,” he declared and you laughed.

“If you do recall the events of last night, come find me,” you winked at him, opening the book back and leaving him confused.

—-------------------

A few days had passed when the King called you in his study to have a private conversation with you. You went after having breakfast and had tea with your father, chatting about the weather and Chan’s silly pranks when he steered the topic to what he had called you for.

“I want you to participate in court matters regularly as soon as you’re ready,” he sipped on his tea- basically telling you he was going to make it public that you were his choice.

“And what does the Queen say about this?” You asked, taking the umpteenth cookie.

“What she says doesn’t matter,” he told you.

“I think it does, a little,” you began. “She’s been sending some people after me- I don’t know if she wants to simply hurt me or kill me, but she’s out for me. I thought I should tell you.”

Your father stopped mid-air, bringing his cup back to the table. “Are you sure?”

“I am,” you nodded. “I have an ally in the court, you see. He personally caught and interrogated the guard she used. She made it a bit too obvious- it was one of her personal guards. Caught in the act.”

You weren’t lying- Mingyu had done exactly that. You had been practising archery when he sent an arrow for you- and if he had hit, all suspicion would have gone to Yeosang. However, Mingyu had been following him and knocked the guard out, and by luck, you had narrowly escaped from the arrow. 

“I don’t know what to do about her,” your father rubbed his eyes. “It would’ve been one thing if Chan himself was interested in the throne, but… he’s the least interested.”

“And so am I, but father… you know there’s another reason you didn’t groom Chan like you groomed me. You’re afraid of what the Queen would do to you. After all… She was royalty too, before you became your wife. She owns a lot of land, and a good majority would support her if she decided to do something about you.”

“I don’t know why I ever agreed to marry her,” he sighed. 

“Doesn’t matter, but… you don’t need to do anything about what the Queen did to me. She’s been after me all my life- I’ll deal with her myself. It would be wiser if you don’t interfere. She’ll never admit she was behind it anyway.”

“I should warn her though,” he said. “You’re my daughter. I don’t want anyone hurting you. Even if she gets Chan to inherit the throne, she’ll never let you stay here.”

“There’s always going to be someone after us, father,” you pointed out. “We’ll never feel safe. That’s the price we pay.”

The two of you concluded the discussion on the terms that you’ll both confront the Queen and ask her to back off, and that both you and Chan would sit in the court matters regularly, but you would eventually inherit the throne unless Chan is interested, in which case the King or the court themselves would cast their votes. However, that time would hopefully be after a good while. You wished your father lived long and healthy so you wouldn’t have to inherit the throne so young.

After leaving, you went to the library for your lesson with Yeosang, who had been acting a bit suspiciously himself the past few days. You didn’t know if it was because he recalled what happened that night, if he even believed, or if he regretted that, but you weren’t going to bring it up. Professor Seo was arriving in three days, and each passing day was making you anxious because with each passing day, you only became sure that you wanted no one else but Yeosang by your side. For the rest of your life. If he would return the feelings- you hoped he did, because you weren’t sure you could ever love someone like you had begun to love him.

Love- you never thought you’d get to experience that. Even as friends, there was love between you two, the kind that friends had in the books you read, where they looked out for each other and knew each other’s secrets, their likes and dislikes, and such. But the line between friends and more… it was always a little blurred between you two.

You found Yeosang waiting for you not at the usual spot but at the window. He looked at you with a mischievous smile and you raised a brow. He took a deep breath. “Do you want to go to the mountains? A little trip?”

You smiled slowly. “What took you so long! I’m ready.”

It was a thing between you two- sneaking out disguised as random civilians. You borrowed one of Siyeon’s pretty dresses (she always had prettier dresses than you while you wore ugly uniforms for the court) and hid most of yourself in a cloak, walking to the foothills of the mountain which was fairly near, just a long walk that passed by in a blink because Yeosang was suddenly feeling nostalgic and told you about the time he was a kid and climbed all the way to the top of the mountain as a challenge. When you finally started to climb, Yeosang held your hand, surprising you but you let him guide you all the way up until you asked for a break.

“This is a nice spot,” Yeosang stood near the edge of the rock and peeked down. “This shall do.”

“I’m glad,” you huffed as you sat down, Yeosang joining you. “I thought my legs were going to break.”

“I think we should ditch history and start working on your stamina,” Yeosang narrowed his eyes. “Imagine someone comes after you and you give up because you got tired after running a little distance.”

“I’m sorry but no one’s going to chase me up the mountain, I can run just fine,” you said and he laughed. You drank water from your bottle and he sighed, looking up at the cloudy sky.

“I told father about the Queen, by the way,” you said after a moment. “I thought you should know so you don’t worry your ass off.”

“What makes you think I worried at all? It’s a regret the arrow didn’t strike-”

“Hey!” You smacked his arm, pouting at him. “You’re so strange, Yeosang. You say one thing and mean another.”

“Oh? And what do I mean when I say I wished the arrow had hit you?” He turned towards you, appearing very interested. 

“Well, how about ‘oh, I wish I was there and could have taken the arrow for you’. Okay, I admit that was too much,” you sulked when he laughed out loud at that, very sarcastically. “You hate me, that’s fine.”

Yeosang scoffed. “You know what I would have done if I was there?” When you didn’t answer, he put a hand on yours, caressing it. “I would have shot an arrow back, not caring who it was. If it had been the Queen, the Prince or even the King… I would have shot them.”

You were about to smack him again for teasing you but when you saw how serious he was and his gaze- the same gaze you dreaded but wished to see again and again forever- it made you pause. “You’re serious?”

“I am,” he admitted. “And it scares me because I’m the type who weighs all the pros and cons before striking, as you already know.”

You scanned him for a few moments. “Do you finally remember what happened that night?”

Yeosang answered by sliding closer and capturing your lips in an eager kiss, smiling into it when you immediately responded with a surprised moan, clenching his shirt in your hands as he continued to slide closer and kissing you without a break until you two were out of breath. You locked eyes with him, laughing in disbelief. “You’re gonna tell me now that you’re sober?”

“Am I?” He made a confused face and you pushed him back, laughing again but he caught your hands in his. 

“Well, Princess y/n,” he began, smiling cheekily, making you bite your lips because gosh, he was criminally handsome. A walking sculpture- Siyeon had made the right observation. “I may have developed a… liking towards you.”

“That’s it?” You frowned, pushing him away properly this time, making him laugh until he couldn’t breathe. “Come back when you’re sure.”

“Okay, okay, hear me out,” he took both your hands in his. “I don’t want to go back, y/n. If you’ll have me… I want to be yours. I love you more than I thought I did. I don’t know how it happened, but it did. I fell for you before even realising- wait, you’re not taking this seriously!”

You let out the laugh you had been stifling. “I’m just in disbelief, because I love you and I thought you hated me and made a mistake that night or something. Okay, not hated me, but didn’t like me like that or something. But you’re telling me that…”

“That I love you,” he nodded, grinning. “And I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, you don’t need to do anything, just… stay and we’ll figure out, huh? But… stay at your own risk because I will not let you go if you stay-”

He shut you up by kissing you again, this time with a force that had you arching back until you were flat against the grass. You broke apart, “You have a habit of not letting me complete my sentences.”

“You love it, don’t you?” He caressed your face and you felt knots in your stomach. “What do you want me to do, then?”

“Kiss me until I can’t speak anymore?” You suggested and he started by peppering kisses all over your face, making you giggle. Then he kissed you ever so slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, making you melt into a puddle. He earned quite a few moans with the way he kissed alone, and when he started at your neck, it was the end of you- especially when he started nibbling at your sweet spot, sucking and licking and leaving a mark that he looked at proudly.

“Tell me you’re mine,” he whispered, caressing your cheek.

“I’m yours,” you nodded. “Tell me you won’t go.”

“I’ll stay,” he promised, sealing it with another kiss. 

“Even if I have to inherit the throne?” You asked. 

“I’ll be honoured to be by your side then,” he kissed your forehead. “If… if you would have me.”

“Well, you’re one hell of a strategist, and an archer- you shot that arrow at my heart-”

“Come on, you can do better than that,” he shook with laughter at your cheesy line and you pouted.

“No, I can’t,” you said. “But yeah. I’d be honoured to have a mind like you beside me. And a body and a face like yours to look at for the rest of my life, because honestly, you’re hot-”

“Ah, here we go,” he shut his eyes, basking in the compliments. “Carry on.”

You scoffed. “That’s all, Yeosang dear.”

He glared at you, lying beside you. “Can I take back everything I just said?”

“Yeosang!” You turned to slap his arm, getting half on top of him and grinning at your position, letting his hands on your waist guide you up on him. You spent a good few moments admiring him before you kissed him.

“To always and forever,” you said when you broke apart.

“To always and forever,” he nodded, about to bring you in again when you interrupted.

“What are we going to do about Professor Seo? Maybe I should ask him to retire,” you pondered.

“Can you not talk about other people when you’re on top of me?” Yeosang commented and you poked your tongue in your cheek, realising exactly the position you were in- practically straddling him.

“As you wish,” you let him kiss you senseless after that.

It was sweet, and it made your heart feel alive for the first time. You wished in that moment to have a forever and always with him. You would have no one else.

And weirdly, you were glad Mingyu had called you in the forest that day. How fate had worked for you two- meeting as strangers and meeting officially in the palace, finding an unexpected friendship and love along the way. Unexpected but welcomed.

For the first time, you felt safe too, when you lay in his arms. Even though you had told your father earlier that you didn’t have the luxury of feeling safe, you decided to one day tell him that you had found your home- the person that made you feel utterly safe.

[creative-caramel-coffee]

Stuck storming

Pairings: Weems x R (Platonic)

Word count: 2.7K

Summary: You and Weems get stuck in Burlington. Luckily Weems has somewhere for you to stay. However unluckily you get sick.

TW: flooding, sickness (like flu symptoms), prescription meds, anxiety, medicine

A/n there will be a part 2 to this but the whole thing was too long (in my opinion) to post as just one chapter/post. And I felt I needed it to be long to get in all the good stuff.

The rain smashed against the windshield and the wind blew relentlessly. You and the headmistress had been on your way back from Burlington when you got the storm warning. Principal Weems had been hoping to make it back to nevermore before the roads flooded. All the two of you had was her laptop, your sketchbook, a pencil-case, her work planner, both of your wallets with various amounts of cash and credit cards, your uniform and the clothes on your back. If you got stuck there really wasn’t too much to do until you made it back. You had left your phone in your dorm, but you were pretty sure that principal Weems had hers in the pocket of her white blazer. Luckily you had the foresight to bring a single change of mildly comfy clothes for the drive back, not eager to sit in the car for hours in your stiff uniform.

You felt bad, it was partly your fault the two of you were in this situation. It had begun when your art teacher had posed the idea to Larissa during a staff meeting to enter the best of the art classes works into the annual competition at Burlington. When she had received a call back a few weeks later she was pleasantly surprised to hear you had won. She had yet to see the artworks as she had simply given the teacher permission before she was wrapped up in work again.

As a part of the prize, the winner had their work exhibited at the art museum and the company hosted an event of their donors, other artists and art critics. It was a good way for the school to show face and even potentially scope for new donors. When Larissa had seen your artwork, a large painting of nevermore, she loved it. It was done in acrylic paints set at sunrise with the colours bouncing off the stone walls. She offered you money for it to hang in the school, but you declined saying she could have it for free as it was too large to take home with you after the school year.

Larissa had chatted idly with the other high-end members of society, and you showed face and awkwardly thanked people when they complimented your art. You honestly had no idea why you had agreed to enter, praise was not something you were very good with receiving. Larissa seemed to notice and often helped change the topic for you.

After around a stuff half hour of pleasantries and fake smiles you took your sketchbook and hid out further in the gallery to sketch. After a while Larissa came and sat with you before the event ended and you said your goodbyes. You changed in the gallery bathrooms and put your folded uniform in your backpack around your sketchbook to protect it from the rain that was starting outside. The backpack wasn’t waterproof.

However now it seemed you weren’t going to be making it back today or maybe even tomorrow. You had had a lucky run so far but coming across one of the creeks it had risen above the bridge. Effectively flooding and meaning you would have to stay in Burlington for the night. Larissa sighed.

“Sorry darling. Looks like we’re staying for the night.” She said apologetically.

���It's alright you didn’t cause the rain.” You smiled.

“I guess you're right.” She said and put the car into gear.

After the drive back you pulled into a parking lot in front of a what seemed to be an apartment complex.

“Um is this a hotel?” You asked, confused. Larissa laughed softly.

“No darling. This is my apartment.” You looked at her surprised. “I often have conferences in Burlington and so do other teachers, a few years ago we raised funds to buy and apartment so teachers could save costs and opt for something other than a stiff hotel mattress for however many nights they would be staying.”

“Cool.” You said.

“I’ll go find a park you go into the warm.” She said pulling up by the front door. You nodded and got out. Larissa went to park, and you found the door locked. With no other option you clutched your bag to your chest and stood in the rain waiting. After a few minutes Larissa came hurrying over.

“Darling? What are you doing outside still?” She asked concerned.

“L-locked” you stuttered and she mentally facepalmed, it was after five of course it was locked. She quickly put in the code and ushered you inside. You were freezing your teeth chattering and you began to worry you were going to get sick from the rain and the cold.

“Come, we need to warm you up.” The principal said and pulled you into an elevator. She pressed a button and pulled you into her side with an arm around your shoulder in an attempt to keep you warm. She ran her hand up and down the sleeve of your soaked hoodie to try and get some warmth from the friction.

After what felt like ages, the lift stopped, and Larissa put in another code. Explaining that each floor was an apartment so each level had its own code so only those who lived there could get in. After a minute a small light above the keypad went green and the door shuddered open. You stepped out after Larissa, and she turned on the light. The place was clean and very modern. White walls and grey stone bench tops. There was a kitchen with a fridge, oven and microwave which was in an open plan living room. There were ceiling to floor windows in the living room which looked out on the city below. There was a dining table and couch and a tv. Down the corridor you assumed were bedrooms, bathrooms and maybe a laundry room.

“Go hope in the shower love. First bedroom on the right. It had an ensuite. I’ll leave you some of the spare clothes i keep here on the bed for when your done and we can put those in the dryer after.” She said setting her bag down on the table. You nodded and scurried off. You left your bag just inside the bedroom door. You checked your sketchbook was ok and thanked god that you had the foresight to wrap it in your uniform, which had kept it dry.

You stripped of the soaking wet clothes which were heavy with water and stepped into the steaming shower. You shivered at the contact the warm water made with your skin. It felt amazing. Using the soap which smelt suspiciously like your principal, you also washed your hair. After a thorough shower you stepped out and towel dried your hair. Carefully opening the door wrapped only in a towel you peaked out. Just as promised, principal Weems had left you a shirt which was too big on you and fell to your mid thighs but was comfy and soft. She had also left a pair of tracksuit pants with a drawstring that you couldn’t imagine her wearing no matter how hard you tried. You put the clothes on and looked n the mirror. A bit baggy on you but you rolled up the cuffs of the pants and it was fine. You were mildly surprised to see the t-shirt was an old band t-shirt which looked like it was from the 80s based on the words on the back. “Rolling stones world tour 1987” was printed in big letters and you giggled imagining your hard-working principal dancing around in a crowd at what would have probably been a rave.

After warming yourself up, you groaned as you realised the pressure in your head wasn’t from the heat but another reason. The beginnings of a headache budded behind your eyes, and you pressed the heel of your palm to them in an attempt to stop it. You sniffled and the pressure in your sinuses grew.

“Dammit” you cursed. How were you supposed to survive in close quarters with your principal when sick? Normally you isolated yourself and looked after your own body until you were better. But you doubted you would be able to do that or hide the sickness from Larissa.

Heaving a sigh, you opened the bedroom door and wandered back into the living room. The principal was sat with a mug of hot chocolate and there was a second one on the coffee table. She was scrolling through Netflix, and you plopped down beside her. She raised a brow but didn’t comment, opting for another sip of the chocolate drink. She gestured towards the mug, and you thanked her and cradled the warm drink in your hands. Taking careful sip incase it was hot, the blissful taste of liquid chocolate smoother than silk and rich as honey flooded your mouth. You let out a small noise of content and Larissa laughed making you blush slightly.

“It's my own special stash. I keep it for after stressful conferences. I get it imported from Switzerland.” She said and you looked at her wide eyed.

“The Swedes?” You asked and she laughed again and nodded. “Well, they certainly make good chocolate. And I’m happy I get to have it again. Thank you principal weems.” You said and she smiled softly at you.

“No problem darling.” She said

“Reminds me of home.” You said with a sigh.

“How so?” She questioned after settling on a studio Ghibli film and lowering the volume to continue the conversation.

“First of,” you began “you have excellent taste in Tv. Second, despite only ever visiting Austria, it runs in my blood. I have Austrian heritage and so at home we have a lot of Austrian food. I learnt to speak German as a kid but i don’t remember to much of it, just enough to get by.” You said and she looked at you impressed.

“Germans not an easy language to learn as a kid.” She said and you shrugged.

“I guess just… you know, talking about Europe reminds me of home. Plus, I traveled across Europe with my family as a child. I’ve even been to Switzerland and tasted their fondue firsthand.” You said with a smile.

“Im jealous.” Principle weems said. “Their cheese and chocolate are what their best at.”

“Oh, and don’t i know it.” You smiled. After a natural lull in the conversation the principal turned up the volume slightly and you curled up on the couch to get comfy. Larissa spared you a glance every now and then to check on you but you seemed content.

You didn’t remember falling asleep when you woke up. But there was no better way to wake up than to the smell of pancakes. You popped your head up to look over the back of the couch into the kitchen and smiled. The principal was dancing slightly as she cooked and looked up and met your eyes, blushing slightly at being caught.

“Good morning darling.” She said flipping another of the pancakes. “You were sleeping in late so i went to the shops and got us some food. It looks like we’re not leave anytime soon.” She said and you looked to the window. The rain still coming down hard. “I’ve contacted the school and your friends to let them know we are ok. Luckily i have my laptop and it didn’t get wet so I can always work remotely. You can do whatever you want today. Other than leave the apartment.” She smiled. “Im afraid I don’t have much here to do but there’s always the Tv and i have a random assortment of stationery you can use for art.” She smiled and you nodded and rubbed tiredly at your eyes stifling a yawn.

You felt worse today. The headache had fully set in, bordering on migraine territory. Your throat felt raw, and your head felt like it was packed with a lovely sand and cotton blended concrete that would probably only be sold as a torture device in the seventh circle of hell itself. Even after rubbing the sleep from your eyes and blinking the light hurt a bit and your head was swimming. It was feeling a bit too warm in here, but you opted to ignore that and focus on the idea of food. After a minute you stood and sat at the table. Larissa came over a minute later and put down three plates. Two empty and one piled high with a stack of breakfasty goodness. She handed you a glass of apple juice and you thanked her.

After eating some of the pancakes and drowning them in the sticky syrup the principle had provided you paused eyes wide, made chew.

“Shit.” You said and the principal paused.

“Ms L/n-“ she began but you cut her off.

“I don’t have my anxiety meds with me.” You said sounding slightly panicked. Larissa paled slightly.

“Darling?” She said slowly and carefully. “What happens if you don’t take them?” She looked almost scared.

“Oh, i’ll be fine. A bit more anxious than i like to be. But fine.” You said coming to terms with it.

“Hmmm.” The principal hummed. “Are they prescription?” She asked and you nodded. “I’ll see if i can get the nurse to send a script to the local pharmacy that’s just down the road. And i’ll pick them up for you. When do you need them by?” She asked looking at her watch.

“Preferable as soon as possible but i can wait.” You said poking at the food on your plate. It seemed like the room was getting hotter and it was getting harder to downplay the congestion in your voice. The excuse of sleep was quickly running out. After another pause, she spoke again.

“I’ll grab them after breakfast then.” She said, “do you want to come with?” The principal asked and you knew saying no would either be rude or suspicious, so you nodded. After you had eaten the uncomfortable heat had seemingly only gotten worse. You were speaking less now, and you felt principal Weems’s stare burning into your back as you watched the rain from the couch as she washed up. You knew she was getting a little suspicious now and the sickness was getting harder to hide.

After putting the dishes away, freshly hand dried and scrubbed Larissa came over to you. Placing a hand on your shoulder she frowned at the heat coming from you, but you quickly turned around and spoke before she could.

“Ready to go?” You asked hoping to sound more put together than you felt.

“Sure. Let me grab my car keys.” She said and decided to let the matter go for now. She grabbed an umbrella and the two of you went down to the car.

For some reason even the car was hot. When the principal wasn’t looking you pressed your overly hot forehead to the cool glass of the window and sighed slightly. However sneaky you thought you were being; you weren’t. Simple as that. The principal had been around more than enough stubborn teenagers to know when they were sick. Pulling into the chemist she unbuckled at reached over to press her hand to your cheek. Your eyes were closed so you jumped slightly at the unexpected contact. She clicked her tongue and sighed.

“Darling why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” She asked, her tone was gentle but stern. You turned to look at her alarmed which she thought was strangely endearing. Your cheeks held the flushed pink of a fever, and your eyes were growing glassy.

“I-i didn’t want to make you worry about me.” You admitted softly and she sighed.

“Darling it’s my job. And i also care about you.” She said softly. “I’ll pick up some medicine and supplies while I’m in the pharmacy. You stay here and hold down the fort.” She said and you hummed, placing your face against the glass again, eyes fluttering shut. The principal frowned; she had been expecting to have to fight you on it. Concerned she made a mental note to be quick.

MASTERLIST

[banrionceallach]

Me: I would like to watch someone cook something very well and have a fun relaxed time while doing it.

Netflix: Here are twenty multi-season, heavily competitive cooking shows where people regularly scream, shout, get disturbingly aggressive and break down in tears because there's a life-changing cash prize hinging on their being better than the competition.

Me: :(

Netflix: Fine. Here are maybe four single season shows where someone has fun cooking.

Me: :)

Netflix: I see you've finished the extremely limited amount of nice relaxing shows. Are you sure you don't want to watch the screaming, crying, aggressive and borderline verbal abuse cooking shows? We have so many! And they have many seasons! Are you sure????

Me: Please let me watch The Cook-A-Long in peace (T-T)

Netflix: But you could be watching someone have a mental breakdown over their cupcake's consistency! Doesn't that sound fun!

[yyunari]

◌ ꊞ 🍓 ⿻ ﾟ｡ ๋ UPCOMING FICS!

☆｡ 💒 ﾟ㇁ ₊̇ ° ˚ . Ꞌꞌ …ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ ‧º.

note. these fics aren’t in a particular order this is mainly to keep myself accountable and so that i make sure to finish all these before i eventually stop writing.

I WANNA BE FAMOUS! a Yang Jungwon SMAU

Based off of the show ‘Total Drama Island’. A reality T.V show in which a group of 16 teens compete to win a cash prize of $100,000. Y/N L/N joined for one reason and one reason only, to win- and she would do anything to accomplish that. Naturally, she clashes with Yang Jungwon, whose moral values rivaled that of Y/N’s and rather saw her as selfish. Y/N, on the other hand, viewed Jungwon as a nuance. Who will win the competition? Will Y/N and Jungwon ever see eye to eye? Find out in Total Drama Island.

CHESHIRE! a Nishimura Riki fic

Y/N Cheshire lived her life carefree. Being the daughter of the Cheshire Cat made her more inclined to take everything with a grain of salt and to just have a little bit of fun in everything she does. Whether it was pulling pranks, sneaking up on people, or making jabs at her friends- Y/N kept a Cheshire’s smile on her face. Because of that, she just couldn’t take Chaehyun Cupid seriously when she claimed that Y/N had a crush on Riki Wonderland.

current progress: published!

CUPID IS SO DUMB! a Nishimura Riki fic

Riki had a crush on Liz. He knew it, his friends knew it, almost everyone in their whole grade knew it. So why did he rang the love alarm of Liz’s rather average best friend?

current progress: ~3kwords

BETTER THAN REVENGE! a Park Jay fic

Part 2 to ETA. After seeing Jake with some girl on his arms at a party, Y/N knew she couldn’t let her innocent front get in the way of showing Jake just what he was missing out on. Luckily for her, Y/N knows how to get revenge.

UNFORGIVEN! a Sim Jaeyun fic

As Tony Stark’s “intern”, Jake had a lot to hide. The fact that he was a secret superhero wasn’t very easy, and having to lie to his best friend and aunt hurt him more each time. However, the biggest lie he told was one to himself— that he didn’t care about his nemesis, Scarlet Witch. Also known as the Avenger’s number one target.

SWEET REVENGE! a Sim Jaeyun SMAU

Y/N was known by most as being overly nice. She often helped others she saw in need, and even if the help wasn’t needed her intentions were always pure. However as she accidentally finds herself entangled with a new transfer student, trouble ensues and a mysterious app named ‘Revenge Note’ downloads itself onto her phone. Who could this so-called Revenge Master be?

Enchanted! a Yang Jungwon Fic

Based off of Teen Titans (2003). Being in a superhero group with four other teenagers was always complicated. Although, there were days when things were seemingly normal. Y/N cherished those days, even if they only lasted for a night.

BARBIE GIRL! a Nishimura Riki fic

Known as the biggest loser in the whole school, Riki eventually embraced the title. After all, at least he had one. That just made it easier for him to get noticed by Y/N L/N. The most popular girl at school, and the love of his life.

[flowersandjigsaws]

Supress your instincts- Mac hasnt been flirting with Dennis lately. He’s been acting coy and stupid, weak and fragile, when in the past hes been seen to stand up for himself (The Gang Dines Out) and has been very fragile about his masculinity.

Inflate his ego- Mac is constantly complimenting Dennis. He is constantly making Dennis feel like the best in the room (The Gang Escapes). He always tries to put Dennis in front of him.

Need his power- Now this is the big one. Mac is constantly looking for Dennis’ approval (Dee Day) and is looking to him for instructions on how to live and function (The Gang Chokes). In some cases he literally puts the matters of life or death into Dennis’ hands (The Gang Inflates). He has always been dependent on Dennis but now he has reduced himself simply to Dennis’ control.

Negate His Power- In the same episode he is shown living by Dennis’ word, it is revealed he has been poisoning Dennis. (The Gang Chokes) He has made Dennis dependent on him physically. They also have been doing a lot of business together, so Dennis may start relying on him financially. It was implied that Mac is smarter than this though. (Celebrity Booze: The Ultimate Cash Grab). Bryan had that whole speech about the power imbalance in his and Aaron’s relationship, but the imbalance was because Bryan had more power. He did end up saying he was acting, but it was too similar to the MacDennis dynamic to be a mistake. Mac truely has the power over Dennis and is making him reliant on him.

Engage Physically- This hasn’t completely happened yet, but when he was poisoning himself with the nuts, it did cause Dennis to have to touch him to feel his pulse to assure he was still alive. We still have Risk E. Rat’s Pizza & Amusement Center and The Gang Goes Bowling for it. In Risk E. Rats, it is said that Mac is trying to get enough tickets for a prize. This prize may be for Dennis as a gift, or as something to get to hold against Dennis (like maybe Dennis assumes the gift his for him and gets snarky, then Mac says it isnt to get in his head, and then Dennis realizes he does want the gift. He wants gifts from Mac.) In The Gang Goes Bowling, there will most likely be physical touch. Mac and Dennis are both very athletic and competitive, meaning when they win, they hug, pat each other’s shoulders, etc.

Do You Need A Tissue- Dennis Takes a Mental Health Day. Dennis has severe mommy issues, we all know this. He wants someone in control, someone to protect him; we know this from him getting upset at having to guide Mac with every decision, saying he knows Mac wont protect him (The Gang Chokes). It is said in the episode he gets upset and it overflows. In the past when he got upset, he usually took it out on Mac. Mac will not stand up for himself, instead comforting Dennis when he reduces him to a vulnerable state. Or he will threaten to move out into Charlies extra room and Dennis will realize how much he truly relies on Mac.

Mac will win over Dennis. They will use the system against the other, Dennis already having done so as Johnny. They manipulate each other and are happy doing so.