#and thank goodness for that. im so so so distracted. im also slightly exhausted bc lack of sleep. but whatever

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[kingskwing]

Hello!! M not too sure if ur busy with requests but I love your writing so I wanted to give this 'idea' that I've had for a bit now. If you don't mind, can I request a fic with Marius where he and reader broke up bcs he chose being the CEO of pax over the reader? It's really angsty ik but maybe with a happy ending? Thank you!!

ANON IM LIVING finally some good fuckin hurt/comfort || engineering major!reader inbound, it's also mentioned that the reader does commercial art, sorry 💔

Warnings: argument? They’re talking but it's a disagreement, breakup, SPOILERS for Marius’ story, kidnapping, Mild spoilers for Part 5, blood ment. and gunfire 

》 M.list

crisis control

It started, as it ended, with an argument. Of course, the beginning was far less emotionally charged than the gentle, sinking wreck that came later, but isn't such the case with all things? When time and effort is put into something, a piece of yourself is put within. And, when it eventually shatters, the pieces are hard to pick up.

》》¤

Being a student at Stellis University, admission to the campus art gallery was free. Your evening was uncharacteristically empty, so you decided to stop by to see the things your peers submitted for public view. On your way in, you waved to Professor Richter, having taken his class the year prior. 

You’d heard something about another Z piece being shown and kept an eye out for it, eventually spotting it and approaching. There was someone already there, so you stood next to them as you analyzed the piece.

“What do you think of the piece?”

The voice startled you and you faced the young man who’d been there before you. Taking another look at the piece, you spoke honestly.

“I don’t like it.”

“Oh? Why is that?” He seemed surprised.

“Now, I’m a mechanical engineering student, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but the composition and colors are just barely… off. They’ve got this beautiful spiral leading the eye to the center point, but there aren’t enough rigid structures for contrast. That, and this green in the bottom left quarter of the painting,” you gestured to it vaguely, “is slightly too warm for the tone. Then again, I struggle when color-picking for pieces, so it may be either a shared difficulty or a misperception on my part. Also, this stroke here, it’s far more textured than the surrounding area, setting a really strange feel for that specific area. How do you feel about it? It appears you like the artist, so I’m curious to hear your thoughts.”

As you spoke, his eyes flitted across the painting, brow set in thought. “First of all, you said you were an engineering major?” 

You nodded. “I do my own art on the side, much more commercial than this.”

“I see. You wanted my thoughts and I let myself get distracted,” he smiled. “I do see the extra texturing on that stroke, it does make the area discordant, but I disagree with the rest. I believe the color works well with the piece and that the spiral composition isn’t erratic enough to warrant the contrast you spoke of.”

“Tastes are always different... It's fun trying to see it from your perspective. Wait, I don’t think I told you my name,” you laughed. “I’m Y/N.”

He took the hand you extended and shook it firmly. “Y/N, huh? Good to meet you! I'm an art major at a school-hosted art gallery, so I expect to see you at the upcoming STEMfest next Saturday. What's your booth number?”

“You just assume- not important. 41B, why do you ask?”

“Great! See you then, I’ve got to go. And bring some of your art!” The man was walking away by now, leaving you confused in front of Z’s painting.

“What? Wait!” You ran around the corner, only to see him opening the gallery doors. “You never gave me your name!”

》》¤

It’d been a long day at STEMfest, entertaining kids and networking with professionals, but the art student from the week before was the most exhausting thing about your day. You recognized him as soon as he passed your stand. All seven times, in fact. He kept side eyeing you as he talked to every booth worker in the B section except you. He’d approach your booth, you’d reach for your portfolio, and he’d smile as he walked straight past you to talk to someone else.

Only when everyone began packing up did he finally approach you.

"Hey, artsy engineer," he smiled, lifting a box from your hands and following you to where it needed to go.

“Are you always this much of an ass?”

He was visibly surprised at your candid words and looked almost worried, but then he pouted when he saw the disbelieving grin on your face.

"You scared me, I thought you were really mad!" He nudged you with his elbow, a playful scold.

"Hmm, I should be, shouldn't I?" 

His answering 'nooo' was too adorable to resist.

He was easy to spend time with, the sun setting quickly while you two discussed art, history, engineering, and the general ways of the world. You'd been caught up in a conversation about whether or not planets feel like they're dancing when you saw how orange the sky had turned.

"Marius, it's getting late. I hate to leave you, but I ought to get home."

“Allow me to escort you to your car, my liege.” His exaggerated accent made you laugh.

“Ah, I walked,” you grinned.

“My car it is then!”

"Say, Marius, didn't you mention an upcoming day off? I'd like to go to a cafe with you sometime. 

His whole body seemed to lift up, eyes sparkling in the evening sun. "I'd love that, can I pick you up?"

"Of course, if you let me pay."

“Nope!” 

“Hmm, you can’t stop me.”

“I’m sure I can.”

“Is that a threat, Marius?”

“I would never.” His grin was blinding, so much so that it almost distracted you from the gleaming sports car he led you to.

“What major are you in again?” you asked, breathless. His car was beautiful, cutting edge and intelligently designed.

“Art and Art History, why?”

“Ah, so it’s daddy’s money,” you muttered cheekily before entering the vehicle.

You laughed upon hearing him sputter, relishing in the wide, flustered smile he flashed when quickly opening his car door to face you.

“I bought this myself, I’ll have you know.”

“Just teasing, Marius,” you lightly hit his arm before he started driving. “Wait. I must have blacked out the last couple minutes, you’re a near stranger and I’m in your car. Oh my god, that’s so irresponsible. You’re not going to kill me, right?”

“Ahaha! That’s for the coffee date.”

You froze for a moment, caught between a smile and a worried frown. However, before you could decide, he winked at you, prompting you to hit his arm again, harder this time. 

“Marius!”

“Hey, dear engineer, if you’re going to refuse to let me pay for coffee, I get to tease you as much as I like. It’s only fair.”

You directed him towards your dorm hall, joking and smiling the whole way. Of course, his position at Pax was revealed when you asked his last name to put his number in your phone, having recognized him from online headlines. However, that didn’t deter you from happily confirming the pickup time for your second date.

》》¤

He noticed everything, even if he didn’t realize it sometimes. Your heart swelled every time Marius complimented something new you’d bought, and despite his teasing about you adding his photo to your phone case, you know he was more flustered by it than you were. Every time you refreshed your phone wallpaper and lockscreen, every time you wore a new fragrance, every time you acted out of the ordinary, he noticed, be it passively or consciously.

Walking around Stellis was common for you two, stopping at every ice cream shop to try their novelty flavors. However, no matter how many bizarre ones there were, he got your favorite flavor for himself. He claimed it was because he liked it too, but you didn’t fail to notice that if you didn’t like the flavor you chose, he’d “share” his cup by giving you the entire thing. Surprisingly enough, seeing your face pucker at a flavor that was just too “out there” wasn’t his favorite part about ice cream joint hopping with you. No, his favorite part was messing with you. Early on in the relationship, Marius would often swipe his thumb across your lip to wipe away ice cream. You were too flustered to realize you weren’t enough of a messy eater to warrant such an action. Eventually, you caught on, checking in a mirror after eating and watching him pout when you didn’t let him.

“Marius, if you’re going to touch my lips, you may as well go all the way,” you shrugged, walking ahead of him.

He didn’t waste a second catching up to you and searching your eyes for sincerity before pulling you in for a light, teasing kiss.

》》¤

Even over a year into your relationship with the young CEO, his eyes still lit up whenever you agreed to go somewhere with him and his heart soared whenever you invited him places. Yes, he had a hard time balancing his busy schedule, but that just meant any time spent with you was made all the more precious.

When you moved in together, he was hard-pressed to keep his smile down when you played music while showering or working on projects. Some days, when you thought he was out, you blasted songs that made him tear up from trying to reign in his laughter.

He teased you for days each time.

》》¤

Moving in with him allowed you even more insight into his true self, the bashful, playful Marius who hides his artistic prowess behind a famed pseudonym: Z. He regularly showed you his pieces as he worked on them, leaving room for teasing when he kept works from you. Secrecy from Marius was relatively rare, so whenever it had to do with art, you poked and prodded him to show you what he had hidden underneath the veil over his easel.

“Goodness, Marius, is this how you see me? I’m flattered! It’s nice to know that under all that suave, you’re still a total simp.”

“No! Noo, don’t look at that, babe! It was supposed to be a surprise,” he whined, voice becoming clearer as he quickly approached the studio. His face reddened upon seeing how genuinely enamoured your eyes were as they scanned the piece. “Ah, well, you’ve already seen it. I suppose all that can be done…” He walked behind you and sat at the stool. “... is to work on it with you.” An arm wrapped around your middle and Marius swiftly pulled you into his lap. His chest rumbled with laughter against your back at the yelp you let out and he gripped you close as he could. In an instant, his breath was on your ear. “Isn’t this more comfortable than me hiding things from you?”

“Nope!” You shuddered at the odd feeling against your ear and worked to calm the heat in your cheeks. 

“Aww, come on! I’m warm and loving, among other things-”

“Oh my god, one more word and I’m moving out,” you laughed.

“Babe, you’d never do that to me,” he pouted, turning you in his lap and resting both hands on your waist.

“No, I wouldn’t, Marius.”

“Good,” he chirped, eyes quickly shifting back to his regular dangerous humor before he lifted you briefly, rose up, placed you on his stool, and made for the door.

“Marius Von Hagen!”

His home was filled with all kinds of laughter that day, from huffs of humored disbelief to mirthful peals.

》》¤

Though your time together was easy and delightful, things fell through after a little more than two years of dating. Your heart hurt watching him burn himself out day after day, coming back after a long shift at Pax to spend time with you and to paint in his studio. Time after time, especially after the forgery mess and the encouraging words of Sven Phillips, you pushed him to follow what he wanted. He was performing as Pax’s CEO to prove something to his father and lost brother. While you wished his reasons for it were healthier, your issue did not lie specifically with Pax. No, your concern was his willingness to give up art in exchange for recognition of his ability to keep Pax running. Was his self-esteem truly so low that he’d drop everything important to him when he could easily get recognition for something he was passionate about?

Unfortunately, you got your answer.

》》¤

“Marius, you know what I’m going to say.” The moon was high in the sky; you’d woken when Marius turned on the light to get to his studio.

“Then don’t say it. I don’t have time to do this again, I’m exhausted and haven’t gotten a chance to work on my piece all week.”

“That’s exactly it, though. You’re always too tired to do anything you enjoy! I know you’re busy at Pax and with your secret engagement, but you need to take some downtime or drop something. Your art fulfills you too much to let it fall by the wayside. I’ve respected your secrecy regarding where you go between Pax, SU, and here, so I don’t have any info on how rigorous it is. So, as far as I know, the one thing taking the largest toll, both emotionally and physically, is Pax. Something needs to give."

"No, I'm handling everything just fine. Stop bringing it up."

"You take ten minute naps instead of resting well! Your art screams for some kind of break, you need to make a choice, Marius!"

He was quiet for a good minute.

“Then… I choose you,” he whispered.

Silence fell.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” You knew what he meant, but your heart had fallen to your feet and it needed time to catch up with your mind.

“I choose… to drop you.” He was crying now, but you were too shocked to shed a tear.

“...Are you sure?” you asked.

He was surprised at your composed tone and quickly wiped his eyes, visibly holding sobs in. “If I’m honest, the thought has crossed my mind. I’ve done well managing my time between you, Pax, my art, and my side gig this past year, but things are heating up and I can’t… I can’t give you what you need.”

“What I need?” Your voice broke. “Marius, it’s what you need. I would never say this to anyone else, but I know you better than you know yourself at this point, and I’ve seen, felt the way everything falls away when you’re in your studio. Z is a beautiful thing you’ve created for yourself and it’s lucrative enough to keep plenty of your lifestyle afloat. Every time you tell me about Pax, your eyes age decades. I love you, Marius, and you love your art, but this constant striving to prove yourself is killing you.”

“Proving myself? I don’t have anything to prove,” he said lowly, brows furrowing above his red-rimmed eyes.

The quiet was deafening.

“Marius, I… I respect your decision.”

He seemed to snap out of his mild anger and started tearing up again, but you missed his hand reaching for yours as your head was down and your gaze was on the floor.

“I’ll pack some things, feel free to send the rest over when you catch a minute,” you said, voice breaking again. Turning toward the bedroom to gather your essentials, you let a tear slip and he let his hand drop.

He was sitting quietly in his studio when he saw you putting your suitcase into your car. It was only when he saw your head rest on your steering wheel and your shoulders shake that he let his own cries loose, moonlight glinting off the tears that fell and his sobs rang into the empty hallway.

》》¤

Marius felt he could breathe easier without the need to keep up a relationship, but he didn’t feel good about it at all. He knew where you were coming from, and you were right. However, despite his self-awareness, he couldn’t let go of Pax. He was tired and sad almost constantly and any reminders of you hurt his heart.

Z's works were considerably more gloomy now.

Marius heaved a sigh upon exiting his car, entering the very cafe he’d taken you to two years prior. Ordering his drink went slower than usual since he was caught up in his own thoughts, eyeing your regular order listed on the menu with tears burning to escape. In the few months he’d been apart from you, he hadn’t made any effort to reach out, unsure how you’d respond to a continued friendship after he’d selfishly picked Pax over you. Hell, he’d considered dropping art altogether if it meant he could have you back in his life, but he knew it was too late and you’d never accept that course of action anyways.

He’d only just sat back in his car when he received a call from Vincent.

“Sir, someone’s hacked into Big Data. They’ve uploaded a video-”

A call from Luke interrupted Vincent, and the rest of the assistant’s words went unheard over the ringtone.

“Hold on Vincent, I’ve got to take this.” 

The case the NXX was working on at the time was highly sensitive as they were trying to find alternate ways to indict Heirson until more information pertaining to Opaline village was found.

“Hey there Raven, what seems to be the proble-”

“Marius.” That was odd, Luke almost always referred to him as King when discussing NXX matters. Marius straightened in his seat. “Drop everything, you need to come to the NXX.”

“Has it got to do with the Big Data hack? Something about a video?”

“Yeah, but it’s far more serious-”

Marius sighed, not wanting to put up with another Big Data breach, not when he was thinking about you. “I’ll be right there,” he interrupted, hanging up without paying heed to Luke’s cries for him to wait and listen.

》》¤

Marius regretted not letting Luke finish. Maybe, if he had waited, he wouldn’t have been so stunned seeing you struggle against the bonds tying you to a chair in that godforsaken video. The other members were discussing who at Heirson could have captured you and who was confident enough to do such a thing, but Marius was glued to the screen. Every time he looped it, he noticed something else. The cut on your brow. The bruise on your lip. The blood staining the edges of the ropes keeping your wrists in place. The fear in your eyes. In all the time he’d spent with you, he’d never seen you afraid. But now? Seeing how terrified you were? He was scared.

Marius hit the play button to loop it again, causing Artem to close his eyes and grit his teeth. He couldn’t listen to the person onscreen struggle any longer while the voice behind the camera made their demands, despite not knowing the hostage. Rosa covered her ears, closed her eyes, and allowed Luke to pull her into his side, the detective's eyes set in anger at the captor and pity for Marius. To everyone’s surprise, it was Vyn that snapped.

“Marius Von Hagen! Do not play that video again.” Marius paused the video but did not turn around. “I am aware of your feelings towards them,” Vyn gestured to the screen, “but you fail to consider the others. Rosa is terrified, Libra and Raven are both upset, but none come close to how I am feeling. It was enough to watch my former student struggle in terror once, but to hear it over and over is a special kind of torture. Remember, Marius,” the young man flinched at another use of his name, but remained facing the screen. Vyn placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “You’re not the only one who cares for Y/N.”

At last, Vyn pulled lightly on Marius’ shaking shoulder so the young man would face him. Hearing your name after so long, especially with the situation at hand, broke him. Marius let his tears flow freely, keeping his sobs to hiccups and whimpers in Vyn's ear as the psychologist pulled the younger man into his arms.

The others were surprised, having never seen Marius so vulnerable.

The young heir did not show up for work that day.

》》¤

The team toiled day and night for around a week trying to find you. Marius, being less capable with computers, felt useless. He resorted to pulling strings from above, reaching through connections to identify the captor, the location, anything. Finally, they narrowed down the possible locations to just two dock warehouses. Luke needed to be onsite to figure out which location you were at, so the team split in half. Marius didn't listen to the decisions on who would go where, he simply started preparing his gear.

"King? You don't even know where you're going," Rosa said, concerned.

"I'm going south. I don't care who comes with me, but I know they're at the southern dock."

"Intuition, huh?"

"Something like that," he smiled. Rosa noticed his eyes were afraid, but opted not to comment on it.

Vyn took Rosa up north, just in case, but Luke trusted Marius' gut and went with him to confirm. Artem, being the sharpshooter of the group, joined the party heading south to provide extra cover.

Artem entered the driver's seat of one of the NXX's unregistered vehicles (provided, of course, by Marius), not trusting Marius' judgement enough to let him drive. Streets passed quickly, the commercial buildings shifting to the lesser-known outer edge of the city.

The more Marius let his mind run free while he sat in the backseat, the more his grip tightened on the firearm in his lap.

》》¤

Upon arrival, Luke called Vyn to let him know your captor was indeed holed up at the southern location, in case he and Rosa could drive down and provide support. The detective put away his signal tracker and drew his gun, joining Artem and Marius in quietly traversing the yard. The tracker wasn't made for pinpointing an exact location, but it was precise enough for them to know you weren't being held in the warehouse, leaving the storage yard out back.

Artem and Luke were quietly conversing on comms, updating one another on any sectors cleared or noises heard. Marius was uncharacteristically quiet, only chiming in when he cleared his own sections. 

The process was slow, but it picked up speed all at once. Gunshots went off in Luke's section, prompting Marius to rush over. Upon arrival, the young CEO hesitated. He looked between your captor and the open container behind the man. Seeing the man who captured you, injured you… Marius saw red. However, hearing a muffled noise from within the storage container caused him to stay back, momentarily caught in the middle.

Artem came up on him from behind and noticed his dilemma.

"King! Luke has him engaged, get inside and help the hostage." The senior attorney's voice was authoritative, accompanied with a shove to the shoulder to snap Marius out of his stupor before Artem left to support Luke against his surprisingly competent adversary.

Marius rushed into the container, heart breaking upon seeing you scared of the shadow that appeared before you. You'd assumed you were being rescued due to the commotion outside, but gunfire isn't exactly the most comforting sound. Marius' voice, on the other hand, was the peace you needed to think clearly.

"Y/N, Y/N, babe, I'm so sorry this happened, I never thought being involved with you would make you a target," he rambled until he couldn't breathe, apologizing for every circumstance that led up to this and for every slight wince you made as he undid your bonds.

You hadn't even had the chance to get a word in, much less move, before he scooped you into his arms and sank to his knees, holding you against him like a lifeline.

"Ah, Marius, not there-" his arm was pressing on what you assumed was a broken rib, but he quickly adjusted and silently brought your face into his shoulder with his other arm. His own head mirrored yours, his whole body almost curling around you protectively.

He'd been taking shaky breaths the entire time, but now he was full-on sobbing into your neck. His arms kept adjusting to cling to you ever tighter as his tears wet your skin.

Luke and Artem had taken the man into custody by now and rushed in to check on Marius.

For a moment, they thought you might have been dead, what with how Marius was crying, but a defensive look from you quickly fixed that. In turn, your expression softened, gathering that they must have come with him to rescue you.

Artem and Luke had taken to gathering the hostile's equipment as evidence while they waited for Marius to have his moment. Speaking of, Marius had calmed over time and loosened his grip, but his breaths still shuddered.

"Marius," you said at last.

His head snapped up to look at you, eyes misty from hearing you say his name again after so long.

"Hey engi-dear." 

You laughed with him, heart equal parts light and heavy at the silly nickname he'd bestowed upon you.

"Thank you."

"What for? If I hadn't let myself get involved with you-"

You placed a finger over his lips. "I'd like to think the issue is that I wasn't with you, under your watchful gaze."

His watery smile lifted your spirits. Although you were still terrified from the experience, your love for the man before you was all you could think about.

"I missed you," he whispered. "And seeing you on that screen…" 

"Hey, I know. I'm pretty shaken up myself," you laughed lightly. "But," you cupped his tear-stained cheeks, "you still came. And you did save me, I can't see a better outcome than that."

"I never thought I'd say this, but now is not the time for banter."

"Thought I'd give it a shot, didn't know a few months were enough time to make a responsible man out of you."

His chest rumbled against yours in laughter as he lifted you from the ground, one arm supporting your legs around his waist and the other across your back, hand splayed to hold you upright.

He carried you to the entrance of the storage lot where two cars idled. The walk was quiet, both people needing a mental reprieve, until Marius broke the silence. 

"Hm, I know a wonderful psychologist to talk to about all this. Who knows, maybe he'll be able to cure your ill-timed humor."

"Mister Richter!" you exclaimed, seeing the professor himself over your shoulder.

His stern face lifted into one of relief, happy to see his former student alive and relatively well.

"Dearest Y/N, I'm so happy you're alright—" his gaze darkened as his eyes flicked over you, taking in your injuries. "It appears I spoke too soon. Let's get you a private physician, you don't need the hustle and bustle of a general care hospital after that."

Marius seemed to get impatient, hefting you up again with a little huff and pleading eyes.

Vyn smiled at the young man's irritation. "We'll discuss how regularly you'll meet with me to process the incident come next Wednesday," he smiled, walking off to his shared car where a young woman stood. She was unfamiliar to you, but waved with her own relieved smile nonetheless. 

A young man with brown hair and a windbreaker entered the car with Vyn and the woman, presumably for a bit more privacy with Marius. Your boyfriend placed you into the backseat with the utmost care before rounding the vehicle and entering on the other side while Artem started the car and prepared to drive you to a trusted doctor, Apothecary, an NXX sideliner.

You were thankful Artem was driving, in part because you'd met him briefly before, but mostly because you were able to spend the drive close to Marius. The entire ride was quiet, save for the sound of gentle kisses being pressed to the top of your head every so often. 

》》¤

Healing was far from enjoyable, what with the lack of activity and regular pain. However, Marius' regular visits made it all the more bearable. He came as often as he could, even though he was using silence to avoid the elephant in the room. 

One day, well into his visit, you called his name. He turned to you, calling attention to his eyes. They'd been stormy since the rescue and you were confident you could guess why. Relationship stuff could wait, though. 

“I assume this is your ‘secret engagement’?”

He winced a bit, looked to the floor, and lifted his hand to soothingly rub at his own neck. “Yeah, yeah it is. I’m sorry for not telling you earlier, but I didn’t want to stress you out. It’s not the safest hobby, is it?”

“Of course it isn’t! But I can tell what you’re thinking, and my answer is no. I’d never have asked you to let the NXX go, what you’re doing is too important. Not only that, but being at Pax is a huge help and I realize why you were so adamant on keeping your position as CEO. Marius,” you grabbed his hand that laid on your bed, causing his gaze to flick over every movement of your fingers on his hand.. “I never should have pushed so hard. Regardless of your motivation, as your peer, as your... lover, I never should have presumed to know better than you. NXX aside, your reasons for sticking with Pax are valid, I just don’t want to see the other side of you crumble beneath the weight of a demanding company.”

“...I agree that the push to rethink my position could have been gentler, but you were ultimately right. You weren’t presuming, you did know better. I’ve tried and failed to find a better balance since I realized that, but… something’s missing. You’re missing.” His eyes met yours once more, purple hues gentle amongst his resolute expression. “Y/N, you brought something to my life that no amount of inspiration or... validation could ever match.” His hand moved from beneath your fingers to hold your hand in his, grip firm, but still loose enough to allow you to escape. “If you’ll allow it, I’d like to have you back in my life, in whatever way you’re willing.” He squeezed your hand, his eyes pleading.

You withdrew your hand from his, not missing his face falling. Quickly, before he could make any more assumptions, you lifted his warm hand to your cheek, turning to press a kiss to the heel of his palm. His eyes misted as you spoke, tenderly thumbing your cheek.

“Marius Von Hagen,” you whispered, “I’d be honored to come back into your life and resume my place as your lover. If you’ll allow it, of course.” 

He didn’t miss the teasing lilt behind your words. “Always making fun of me, eh, engineer?”

You didn’t have a chance to respond as the hand on your cheek pulled you in and Marius kissed you lightly. It was more breath than kiss, both parties feeling overwhelmed at the familiar feeling. However, that didn’t stop him from diving back in, pressing a flurry of kisses in varying lengths to your smiling lips. His lips slid over yours, pulling them in and releasing them seamlessly. His light, happy laughs echoed into the air between and around you both, mixing with the sounds of your own joy. He kissed you slowly, softly, deeply, absorbing all he’d been missing for the past months. Whatever Pax threw at him, whatever dangers arose, whatever stifled his creativity, he felt he could conquer it all with you by his side to pull him through.

Some time later, Marius was laying next to you, curled into your side. The quiet was comfortable, until you decided to break it. 

"You really should have told me about the NXX."

His face fell again, but you were right. "I know, there wasn't any real reason for keeping it from you-"

"So irresponsible, keeping things from your partner. You ought to be a better boyfriend," you chided, barely holding back your smile.

"Y/N! You had me worried! Again with the ill- timed humor, it's too soon to tease me!" His adorable pout was the only thing on your mind as you kissed him for the umpteenth time that night, relishing in his presence. 

Yes, he had a lot to figure out. But so did you, and it certainly felt better to work out the walks of life with someone you truly love by your side.

[beifongsss]

birthday [sero]

Pairing: Sero x reader

Requested?: Yes! a lovely anon said: “Ahh im so happy to hear you're taking bnha requests!!! So recently it was resident tape boys birthday,,, i was wondering if you could do something where it leads into the two slow dancing in his room?? Thank you so much, i really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to crank out amazing works 🥺🥺”

Summary: (late birthday post for this boy) You try to get the Bakusquad to help you set up a small birthday celebration for Sero. It seems to be going as planned but little do you know, Mina’s main goal is to get the two of you to confess your feelings.

w.c.~ 1.7k

.masterlist. taglist form.

my first time writing for bnha so i’m sorry if it’s not that good! also idk if i’d write for sero again bc it was low key hard 

~

It had been an exhausting day, with you running around trying to keep the Bakusquad under control.

You had been planning Sero’s surprise birthday party and the hardest part about it was making sure that everyone acted as though you had forgotten that there was something to celebrate. There had been many close calls, with Kaminari almost asking him what flavor cake he wanted and Kirishima almost shouting a loud ‘happy birthday!’ when Sero first walked into class.

You had been quick to jump over his desk, slapping your hand across his mouth and earning yourself multiple confused looks as you tried to explain that it was a new game you and Kirishima were playing. It was the dumbest excuse ever and you could hear Bakugou cackling in the background but Sero hadn’t commented, instead choosing to give you a worried nod before slipping into his chair. 

As soon as the bell had rung, you had sprinted out of the classroom, pulling Bakugou along behind you as you motioned for Kirishima and Kaminari to distract Sero. Even though Bakugou muttered multiple profanities under his breath as he followed you, he dutifully helped you pick out the materials you needed, claiming that if he was being forced to attend some shitty party he was going to make sure that it wouldn’t be a bad one. 

Sneaking back into the dorms was the hardest part and you could faintly hear Sero in the common room as he asked Mina where you were. Truth be told, he was pretty upset. He had been waiting for this day for months, ever since you promised him that you would spend his birthday with him doing whatever he wanted. Now that the day had arrived, you were nowhere to be found and he was wondering why you had told him that and then gone back on your word. 

You rushed into the kitchen to check on Sato, who had happily agreed to bake a cake for Sero, before sneaking into the elevator. Once you had reached Sero’s floor, you managed to sneak into his room, knowing that he always left it unlocked because he hated carrying his key around. Even with Bakugou’s condescending comments, the two of you managed to set up pretty quickly. Balloons were floating around the room, some covering the ground along with some confetti. There were streamers hung up all around the room, a sparkly banner positioned right above his bed displaying the two words you were yet to tell your crush friend. 

Once you were done with the set up, you stepped back, brushing your hands off as you looked around in wonder. 

“Thanks, Bakugou,” you said, smiling at the grumpy boy. “This is gonna be great, I can already tell.”

Bakugou simply scoffed before throwing himself onto Sero’s bed. Shaking your head, you went back down to the kitchen, grabbing Mina’s attention beforehand. She joined you in the kitchen, the two of you praising Sato for his amazing work on Sero’s birthday cake. After handing the cake over to Mina, she went up to his room and you went into the common room. Kaminari and Kirishima exchanged a subtle glance as you nodded at them and they quickly said their goodbyes to Sero before heading up to his room as well. You sighed softly as you plopped down onto the couch, leaning your head on Sero’s shoulder. He glanced down at you, smiling softly when you reached up to scratch the tip of your nose.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten,” you said, breaking the silence first. Sero’s heart swelled at your words before shrinking back down again when you continued speaking. “We have that quiz tomorrow and you haven’t studied.”

Sero’s smile dropped in annoyance and you had to stop yourself before you could apologize and tell him that you did indeed remember his birthday. You shuffled off the couch, heading to the elevator before turning around. “You coming? We can study in your room. I’ll even let you pick the music!”

He trailed after you quietly, trying to hide his disappointment as the elevator ascended. When you reached his room, you stood behind him, earning you a confused glance because he knew that you knew that his room was unlocked. So why weren’t you opening it?

“Surprise!”

Sero stumbled back slightly as he looked around his room. Bakugou was still on his bed, a scowl on his face as he scrolled through his phone. Kaminari and Kirishima were wearing party hats, party horns being held between their lips as they made a racket. Mina was standing in the middle of the room, a large smile on her face as she held a delicious-looking cake. The rest of your classmates were also there, each of them holding a gift and chanting ‘happy birthday!’. 

“Happy birthday, tape boy,” you said softly, wrapping your arms around him from behind. You were smiling widely, happy that things had gone according to plan no matter how many times your friends had almost ruined the surprise. Sero turned around and hugged you tightly, his heart leaping into his throat as he realized you had done this all for him. 

“Thank you,” he whispered, grinning widely before turning to face his friends. 

The party went well, both you and Sero flitting from group to group but never quite spending any time together. Everyone was aware of the lingering glances you would send to each other and as day turned into evening, everyone began to make excuses and leave, making sure to wish Sero a final ‘happy birthday’ before they left. Eventually, it was only the Bakusquad left and you had fun filming a silly unwrapping video of each of Sero’s gifts. After that was done, Bakugou was the first to leave, stating that it was way too late and that he needed to sleep. Kaminari was the next to go, saying that Yaoyorozu had agreed to give him a late night review session for the upcoming test. 

After a few more minutes, Mina let out a fake yawn and tugged Kirishima off of the ground. She sent you a sly smile, pausing at the door and turning to face Sero. 

“Well it’s getting late, we should go,” she said, smiling sweetly before turning back to you. “See you tomorrow (Y/N/N) don’t forget to tell Sero that thing you mentioned. Bye!”

The door shut before either of you could react and you laughed nervously before turning to face Sero. He was looking at you, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you drifted back into his room. 

“What was she talking about?”

“N-Nothing!” you squeaked, turning away from him and flopping onto his bed. “We really should do some studying though.”

Sero hummed, not replying to you before he turned and opened up his laptop. He connected to his speakers before turning his chair to face you. “So what do you wanna listen to?”

“Whatever you want,” you replied, glad that he was choosing to ignore Mina’s words. “I told you I’d let you pick the music!”

You pulled out your notebook, smiling as you heard Sero mutter to himself. After a few seconds of silence, he let out a sound of approval and you perked up as you heard soft music fill the room.

“Well that’s a bit different from your usual music choices,” you teased, frowning slightly when Sero didn’t reply. You turned around, seeing him standing a few inches away from you and causing you to jump. “Geez, Sero. Give me a little warning next time!”

Wordlessly, Sero held his hand out and you took it, giving him a questioning gaze. He pulled you forward and you stumbled slightly, falling into his chest as he led you to the center of the room. He chuckled at you before placing your hands around his neck and putting his own around your waist. You hesitantly laid your head on his shoulder, your heart pounding as the two of you started swaying softly to the music. 

“Thank you,” Sero said softly, his voice barely louder than the music.

“What for?” you replied. 

“Everything.”

“It’s your birthday, silly,” you said. “I wouldn’t have forgotten it. You deserve to be celebrated.”

Sero was glad that you couldn’t see his face as he broke into a bright blush. Still holdin you close, he cleared his throat before speaking again. “Not just for that. I mean for everything, (Y/N). You do so much for me. But yes, thank you for today as well.”

You pulled back slightly, smiling up at Sero. “You do so much for me too, Sero. I love you.”

The music faded for a few seconds as the previous song ended and the new one began. The silence was overwhelming and you felt yourself flush under Sero’s gaze as you realized what you had just said. Before you could fully pull away and run to your room to hide, Sero carefully cupped your cheek and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to your lips before nudging your head back to its spot on his shoulder. 

“Is that what Mina wanted you to tell me?” he asked, laughing softly when you nodded. “I love you too.”

“Happy birthday, Sero,” you said, closing your eyes as you enjoyed the moment. 

“Happy birthday to me indeed.”

~

A few hours later, Mina Ashido was rushing through the dorms when she realized that she didn’t have her phone. She didn’t bother to knock as she burst into Sero’s room, immediately locating the device and placing it in her pocket. 

“Sorry for just bursting..” Mina began, turning to face Sero but trailing off when she saw the two of you curled up in his bed sound asleep. “In.”

Smiling, she fished her phone out of her pocket and snapped a few pictures before sprinting out of the room to locate Kirishima and Kaminari, making sure to close the door quietly as she left. She couldn’t help but giggle wildly as she showed everyone the picture, knowing that when you awoke the next morning you would be pissed. But she could deal with that. 

She was just happy that her two friends had finally gotten together. 

[currywaifu]

𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: scouting dilemma 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: hyodo juza/reader 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: sfw 𝐰𝐜: 1.7k words

𝐚𝐧: guess who was inspired by the 2020 gem heist? wrote a dumb little thing dedicated to all my fallen comrades bc juza won’t come home to them after the reset- sorry to the requests I have yet to fulfill! year 2 ages btw~

This was the moment you’ve been waiting for. You managed to save up a massive amount of gems, waiting to be spent on a banner with your best boy in it. For months, your fingers itched to pull but you were loyal (with a few caving exceptions) to the character who got you into the game in the first place.

When the developers finally announced a banner with him in it, an SSR of best boy in a summer outfit no less, it was as if fate decided to tell you now was the moment to splurge strike.

9:58 pm.

Staring at your phone screen, you made sure everything was prepared before you could summon. You decided to do your first pull at 10 pm (his favourite number was 10), and surrounded your phone with a summon circle made entirely out of candies still in their wrappers.

9:59 pm.

You sent your prayers to the gacha gods, counting down the seconds until the clock struck-

10:00 pm.

With a shriek, you nearly ruined your summon circle formation of sweets as you scrambled to your phone, clicking the bright, shiny button that had tempted you endlessly.

“Yes, I’m sure I want to spend! Come home, come home, come home…” you chanted, unable to decide whether you should close your eyes until the final results or keep them wide open.

Choosing the latter, you gritted your teeth at the sequence of cards arriving.

R, Event R, R, R, Dupe SR, R, R, R, R, Event SR.

Suppressing the scream that wanted to escape your throat, you tried to laugh it off. At least you got two of the event cards…? Maybe it would have been better to wait until 10:10 pm?

An SNS notification popped up at the top of your screen, and from the little summary, you could tell you were gonna get upset at the contents. Checking the chat, your mutual quickly followed up her message with a screencap of your best boy. Coming home to her.

You quickly sent your response before promptly returning to the game, ‘asdfghjkl im happy for u but like also muting u rn :’< brb soon hopefully yeet need to retrieve my boi from the game’s clutches cya’

Despite your initial optimism, as the pulls kept going, the lower your gem count, the worse your mood became.

Should… should you stop right now? Banner really said no rights to best boy, huh? Sure you were able to fully merge a bunch of SRs and even the event R and SR cards, but not once did he come home? Even his sworn rival’s initial SSR came home if only to spite you or him or both.

Mentally exhausted, you decided to sleep. Maybe your luck would be better tomorrow?

When you walked into the room with a frown visible on your face, Juza immediately knew something was wrong.

From even before he got together with you, he was always sensitive to the different expressions you made, and by association your emotions— to the little smile on your face as you ate desserts together or the eyebrow furrow-pout combo you did when the professor said something you didn’t agree with. He’d never say how fun it was, seeing the different faces you’d make.

However, while those were cute, this just made him worry.

He’d really rather not fight anyone, but if he has to beat up someone…

Juza found himself distracted during class, unable to stop himself from constantly looking at you every few minutes. With a faint peach staining his cheeks, he slipped his hand underneath the desk to grasp your own.

“… you okay?” he said, voice low and quiet as to not catch anyone else’s attention. The look on your face turns a little softer, even throwing him a quick smile but he knows you well enough to spot the traces of sadness still present.

You don’t reply, squeezing his hand back as you finally tried to pay attention to the professor.

He sighed, slowly releasing your hand from beneath the table. He’ll find a way to make you feel better later, but for now, he had to take notes— for the both of you, it looked.

It’s not every day that Juza does most of the talking, but that just so happened to be the case today. He’s getting restless, stuck between actively wanting to help you out with whatever you needed or just sticking by you and letting you overcome whatever’s troubling you on your own.

You’ll talk when you want to, he knew that, but even still he wanted to be more useful to you. Do you want him to just keep talking to help you take your mind off things? Do you want to rant to him so he can listen? Do you want him to get you something? He’s not the best at giving advice, but if you needed it he’d do his best.

He doesn’t know what to do. You’re responding to him, but your mind is all the way elsewhere.

The next thing he knew, he’s getting a spoonful of his frozen dessert and pressing it against your lips.

You get startled from your thoughts when a sudden icy temperature meets your mouth. You opened your mouth, cringing slightly at the cool before finally enjoying the shaved ice dessert.

While it wasn’t uncommon for Juza to let you taste the food he ate and vice versa, he was usually more reserved, too shy to feed you in public.

‘He must have been worried,’ you thought to yourself if he had to do that just to catch your attention. You immediately shifted your thoughts from the game to Juza, already about to apologise for troubling him before he interrupted you.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, and even though he had a scowl on his face, he looked at you with tight and worried eyes.

He knew you played games on your phone, but it was still a bit embarrassing to admit that you were upset for such a long duration because of your best boy not coming home. However, Juza deserved to know, so you pushed away your hesitance before explaining the whole fiasco to him.

Juza doesn’t get it entirely. He’s bordering between relief and confusion— on one hand, at least no one wanted to hurt you or fight you or anything; on the other hand, a 2D guy got you upset?

The concept isn’t completely foreign to him, what with Itaru-san and even Settsu constantly gaming, but usually it was his roommate being irritating and gloating while the salaryman got frustrated, eventually passing his phone to Sakuya.

He’s honestly shell-shocked that you’re upset, so even though he doesn’t understand why it’s such a big deal he’ll do what he can to make you feel better. He’s not the best at comforting people, he can never find the right words… but he’s good at listening.

He placed his hand on top of yours, grateful you don’t point it out verbally or he might actually combust. He can only hope the two of you are seated secluded enough that no one comes by.

Something’s starting to bother him though. The more he listens to you, the more he’s conflicted— if you’re dedicating that much of your… gems (?) to this guy he gets why you’re upset. Another part of him wonders what’s so great about this specific guy.

He’s not upset nor is he jealous, he’s just… figuring out what specific traits you like in this guy. For future reference. Who knew, maybe he’d get to play a role similar to the character you like so much?

“Why do you like him so much, anyway?” He asked, staring intently at you.

Your attitude quickly changed from being upset to being excited to talk about your favourite character.

“He’s just so kind and thoughtful! A total gap moe, you wouldn’t expect him to be so family-oriented because of his appearance but he totally is!” you began, barely catching a break to breathe before continuing on, “plus he didn’t start off as the strongest? But he’s constantly trying his best you just want to root for him and care for him?”

Unexpectedly, Juza finds himself a little flustered, though he’s unsure of why when you’re only describing a character. Perhaps it was the look on your face while you talked?

“Plus, he looks a lot like you! Obviously, I need him to come home, right?” you exclaimed, hitting him straight in the heart with your crinkled eyes and a beautiful smile.

The hand that was comforting you a while ago and gently rubbing patterns onto your skin stilled. You noticed right away, hoping you didn’t say anything too weird during your rant.

“Juza?”

He’s silent for a while, unsure of what to do and ultimately deciding to say the first thing that popped up in his head.

“… then why’d you need him to come home if I’m already-“

When he heard you squeal he stopped himself from continuing whatever he was going to say. Did you hear him? Dumb question, of course, you did!

You covered your face with your hands, unsuccessfully hiding the strawberry red colouring your face, and screamed internally. You can’t see how Juza is reacting but you just heard a bang on the table?

‘Juza? Who told you to- istg I’ll have you arrested for-‘

After a few moments, you’re the one who ultimately breaks the silence, knowing neither of you had enough will to point out the warm flecks that still remained on both of your faces.

“We should get going. Our class is all the way in another building,” you said, slowly standing up from your seat.

“… ‘kay.”

You’re not holding hands while walking, but if he noticed the frequency of your hand grazing his he doesn’t let you know.

Reaching the midpoint between your classroom and his, you turn to face him before splitting off in the hallway. You look to see if the coast was clear, and to Juza’s surprise, you enveloped him into a warm embrace, quick but heartfelt. Neither of you saw each other’s expressions, but Juza wondered if your heart raced just as fast as his did.

“Thank you for making me feel better… I love you,” you whisper the last part, before untangling yourself from him and speed walking away to your classroom. You miss the way Juza looks back at you, body frozen but face a mixture of shock and longing and love.

want to order again?

[nonasidesstuff]

Dimension au ficlet

note!!! this is part of my dimension hopper au! everything about it can be found on my blog under the tag #tss dimension hopper au

i wasnt planning on writing anything else so soon but. i wrote this in like 2 hours and now its 3 am. ive lost control of my life

also i just really wanted soft patton and janus

also also this is entirely unedited bc i wrote it in one sitting at 1 am so if you see any glaring mistakes please let me know!!

im tagging @greenninjagal-blog bc if i remember correctly you wanted to see more

if anyone else wants me to tag them in these then idk how fast they’ll be coming but i can certainly tag if you want me to!

Patton was tired.

He wasn’t sure what time it was but he knew it was after midnight. Patrol has been long and tiring lately, what with Iris having broken her leg last week and the rest of their group needing to adjust their schedules to fill in the time she would have been out.

He ran and leapt over a wide alley.

He’d taken all of the late night patrols for the past week to make it easier on their leader, Cherry. Iris’ injury had hit her the hardest. The two were very close, having joined the team at the same time and being the longest running magical girls on the current roster.

Patton stifled a yawn. He crossed the roof and hopped across another alley onto the next building.

Monster activity had been on the rise in their part of the country lately, enough for other teams to be relocated nearby in case the local teams got overwhelmed. It was concerning. All teams were on the lookout for anything that could be the cause.

Patton reached the end of the block and leapt down to the ground, stumbling on the landing. He crossed over to the next street and prepared to jump back up to the rooftops-

“Bell!”

Patton stumbled again as he whipped around, trying to both see who called him and right himself without falling flat on his face. One of his teammates was on the roof of the building next door.

“Snap, what are you doing out so late?” he asked, puzzled. His tail started wagging at the sight of his teammate. “It’s not your day to patrol.”

Snapdragon frowned. “I’m here to tell you to stop. Your patrol was supposed to be over-“ he looked down at his watchless wrist “-three hours ago.”

“It’s fine. I can keep going.” as if to prove him wrong, Patton immediately had to hold back another yawn.

Snapdragon gave him a look of disbelief. “Right. And you haven’t been doing this every night? For the past week?” He retorted. “Is there some other fox-eared guy that I don’t know about?”

Patton huffed and crossed his arms, his tail stopping. “Could be. Maybe another group moved nearby.”

Snapdragon rolled his eyes and leapt down right next to Patton. He startled backwards, flailing his arms and tail around as he tried to catch his balance.

“See? You’re so tired you can’t even stand straight.”

“There’s nothing straight about me.”

A surprised snort of laughter and a little grin escaped Snapdragon before he managed to catch himself. Patton grinned at the reaction.

“Don’t think you can distract me with gay jokes. You need to go home and sleep.” He tugged gently on Patton’s ear. Patton hadn’t realized they were drooping from how tired he was.

“But I’m f-” his protest was cut off by another yawn, his ear flicking out of the scaled boy’s hand. “-ine! We need to find out where all these monsters are coming from!”

“Nope. Go to bed.”

“I’m fine.”

“No you’re not. You need sleep.”

“But I’m really fi-“

“Go. To. Bed. Bluebell.” Snapdragon punctuated each word with a clap.

The noise startled him, knocking a giggle loose at the sight of Snapdragon clapping aggressively at him. And once he started the giggles kept coming. His sheer exhaustion making everything ten times funnier than it should be.

Once the giggles died down some Snapdragon spoke again, a softness in his voice. “Seriously you’re exhausted. We’re worried about you.”

For the first time that night Patton really took stock of himself. His ears were droopy, his tail limp, his arms and legs shaking slightly from the strain of holding himself up for so long. “Oh. I guess I didn’t realize just how bad it got.” He said in realization. His ears folded backwards. “Sorry Snap.”

Snapdragon sighed. He grabbed Patton’s wrist and started gently pulling him down the street. “C’mon. I’ll walk you home.” He looked back at Patton with a stern face. “If you do this again I’m just going to knock you out. Then you’ll have to sleep.” There was a joking glint in his eyes.

“Okay okay you win!” Patton’s giggles started up again. “No more late night patrols.”

“Good.” Snapdragon said in relief, letting go of his wrist. “I’m holding you to that.”

They walked in companionable silence until they got to Patton’s house, Snapdragon leading the way and Patton trying not to fall asleep on his feet. They stopped on the street in front of his house.

“Thanks for knocking some sense into me.” Patton said quietly looking up at Snapdragon.

He smirked. “All in a day’s work. Someone has to keep you in line.”

Patton snorted and punched him lightly in the arm before walking away. “Yeah. Best friend privileges am I right?” He called over his shoulder. He paused at the door and looked back at the scaled boy. “Goodnight, Janus.”

Janus smiled warmly at him. “Goodnight, Patton. Take care of yourself.”

Patton grinned and went inside, collapsing on the couch and immediately passing out for the next 12 hours.

~~~~

So! If you’re confused about the flower thing, magical girl animes tend to give their groups code names (sailor moon, mew strawberry, etc) and so i decided their team uses flowers!

the team members mentioned here don’t really have any big roles but i thought id give a little description

Cherry Blossom- leader- color: pink

Iris- second in command- color: purple- Cherry’s best friend

also i accept constructive criticism!!!!!! im new to writing so if you have any tips please let me know!!!!

[ilynong]

misunderstanding | han mubo

Han Mubo doesn’t like you, but you’ve literally never spoken to him before.

for anon:  I would like to request a "Hate to lovers" with him. Like y/n was a new staff member but she was always fooling around, joking and being loud with the baby line... Which according to Mubo only made them more difficult to handle and that's why he doesnt like her, because she was "unprofessional".

yall im really sorry i didn’t like how this turned out but im so exhausted maybe i’ll come back and rewrite yikes

under the read more bc this is hella long

so you were a new staff member on the idol producer set

you were hired as an intern, since you were still in college and majoring in film production

it was you and two other people from your university who were hired, so the three of you mostly did things together

and since the three of you were younger, you quickly became friends with the younger trainees on the show

they were under a lot of pressure, so it wasn’t uncommon to see the three of you with the usual suspects-- zuo ye, li quanzhe, justin, qian zhenghao and the other munchkins

you’d joke around and tease them, and it really seemed to help them take their mind off of how stressful everything was

and you formed a particularly close friendship w zuo ye!!

he was just so sweet and kind and you felt super protective of him

but one night, you were cleaning out the practice rooms when you found him crying by himself????

and so the two of you talked and he explained that he felt like he would never be as good as his ges

and ofc after that he came to you for a lot of advice

one afternoon, you and zuo ye were chatting about the upcoming position evaluations

zuo ye was laughing at a joke you’d made when han mubo came down the hall, both of you quieting at the sight of him

you hadn’t ever really talked to mubo, so you were confused as to why he was glaring at you like that???

you’d literally never spoken to him, but it really seemed like he didn’t like you

“zuo ye, shouldn’t you be practicing?” mubo asked casually, still glaring over at you

you raised an eyebrow at that, patting zuo ye’s shoulder, who nodded and trotted off quickly, obviously intimidated by the dark atmosphere

there were a few beats of silence, and then mubo spoke

“can you maybe not distract my trainees? i know that it isn’t the same for the staff, but these are our dreams, and zuo ye really doesn’t need anything distracting him.”

you scoffed at that, glaring back at han mubo

“if you think what i’m doing is distracting, maybe you should check yourself and your ability to lead,” you shot back before stalking off, fuming at the encounter

as filming continued, you kept noticing instances where you’d be joking with a trainee or something and mubo would roll his eyes or cross his arms

you’d even spoken with qin fen about it, who was pretty chill, and he just shrugged

“this means a lot to mubo, i know it’s hard to understand but he really cares deeply about this project.”

grudgingly, you did admit to yourself that you understood his perspective, but you were still pissed about how he’d approached the situation

when zuo ye and the others were eliminated off the show, of course, you were heartbroken

but you and zuo ye stayed in touch (ofc !! he’s ur son???) while you continued with filming

and you could just sense mubo being salty about it

anyways so eventually, the final episode rolls around

all the staff are super stressed and pressured bc it’s a live show

so literally everything has to be perfect

mannn they got you running around the place, buying gallons of coffee as the writers and producers pull multiple all-nighters

you chat with qin fen a few times, asking how zuo ye’s doing and such

a few nights before the livestream of the final episode, you’re in a training room helping a few members of the ‘mack daddy’ team get their timing down, since the dance instructors were all busy

qin fen is sitting next to you, citing his old bones as the reason why he wasn’t practicing

as ziyi shows chen linong a move again, qin fen turns to you casusally

“you know, mubo feels bad for yelling at you,” he said offhandedly, making you roll your eyes

“han mubo can tell me this himself,” you retorted, leaning back against the mirror as linong copied the move. “linong, you were a beat off.”

linong shoots you a thumbs-up as qin fen groans, running a hand through his hair

“mubo...” qin fen’s voice trailed off, “he’s bad at expressing his emotions. trust me, i’m the one who he vents to.”

you glanced down at the clipboard in your hand, “that’s nice.”

with a sigh, qin fen got to his feet, rejoining the formation of sweaty boys

your conversation with qin fen is forgotten until the day of the final filming, when zuo ye tackles you with a huge hug, clad in his grey idol producer suit

he’s immediately chattering away as you guide him to where the boys are supposed to sit, peiyao, zimo and mubo a few steps behind the two of you

as the two of you talk, you can feel mubo’s stare trained on you, and as you turn and make eye contact with the older, you feel your heart speed up for a quick min??

but you shrug it off, running to join the film crew that you were assigned to

about an hour before the show goes live, one of the cameramen asks you to grab his clipboard

“it’s in the office on the floor of the dorms,” he says, shooing you off, “hurry, hurry!”

you nod, trottiing off towards the main building obediently, feeling your lungs burn with the simple exercise

rip

anyways you grab the clipboard and hurry back to the elevator, punching the button as many times as possible

“wait, hold the elevator!”

you watch with wide eyes as mubo barrels into the elevator, clutching an inhaler in one hand, obviously out of breath

“um,” you say intelligently, refusing to acknowledge how good mubo looked with his hair and makeup done

mubo looks down at you awkwardly as the doors of the elevator close, hand going up to ruffle his hair

instinctively your hand shoots out to stop him, grasping his wrist

mubo’s eyes widen at the contact, hand going back to his side

“sorry,” you say softly, blinking quickly, “instinct. the stylists are always scolding us for not monitoring you.”

mubo chuckled at that, shifting his weight slightly

“no worries,” he replied, a little less awkward now, “i just had to grab qin fen’s inhaler, don’t want anything to happen.”

you glance over at the inhaler in his hand, nodding in understanding

there’s a few moments of silence, and you’re actually about to die from how awkward it was

“hey, um,” mubo coughed, “listen, i’m sorry for what i had said before. it was out of line.”

you peer up at the taller, raising an eyebrow

“did qin fen put you up to this?”

“peiyao, actually,” mubo grinned, and you chuckled at his joke

“it’s fine,” you replied as the elevator doors open, the two of you walking back to the big filming studio, “i mean, it wasn’t fine, but i understand why you said what you did.”

“i’m really sorry, though,” mubo reiterated, “i tend to get really tense and weird around people i--” mubo’s voice cut off, and he coughed awkwardly again, “um, around people. i’m weird around people.”

you raised an eyebrow as mubo metaphorically crashed his car of a sentence and watched it burn

“fuck, sorry,” mubo groaned, almost dragging a hand through his hair before you sent him a withering glare, “ugh, fuck, i’ll just stop talking.”

you giggled at that, the two of you entering the big studio

immediately, the sound of staff and trainees alike yelling, chattering and practicing their various songs washed over you, making you wince at how loud it was

mubo had a similar reaction, visibly flinching before starting to head over to where the oaca trainees were seated

“hey, mubo,” you called out suddenly, surprising yourself as well as the other, “good luck today.”

mubo paused in his steps before sending you a smile

“thanks.”

the final filming went past in a blur, and soon you were congratulating the trainees who made it and comforting those who didn’t

and before you knew it, you and your classmates were packing your things and on the long bus ride back to beijing

(rip)

on the bus ride back, you had a lot of time to yourself to reflect on the events

and your thoughts kept coming back to that moment in the elevator with mubo

like bruh that’s some shit from a fucking drama or something

you’ve finally figured out that you have a crush on mubo, and you’re traveling miles away from your one chance

your friends from uni pick up on the fact that your mind is clearly somewhere else, but at this point, you know that there isn’t anything that you can do

your only connection to mubo is through the other oaca boys, but you knew it would be awkward to reach out to him in this way after the odd way you’d parted

about a month after the end of idol producer, you’re sitting in a cafe near your university, working on a paper that was due in a few days

as you sigh, rubbing your eyes, you hear someone cough

“(y/n)?”

you look up from your computer screen, and your eyes widen in surprise as you see han mubo standing there, also looking a little startled

“oh, mubo?” you raise an eyebrow

“do you mind if i sit with you?” mubo asked tentatively, taking the seat after you nod quickly, moving your notebooks off the table quickly

“what are you doing here?” you ask in confusion, tapping your fingernails against the keyboard on your laptop

“oh, we’ve been coming to this cafe for a while,” mubo explained

the two of you struck up a conversation after that, catching up on everything that had happened after filming ended

you felt bad for zimo and zuo ye, with the amount of homework they were still catching up on

and to your surprise, the conversation with mubo wasn’t stilted or awkward at all

in fact, you found yourself giggling as he made a few jokes in between sips of his coffee

mubo glanced down at his phone offhandedly as you laughed at his latest joke, swearing under his breath

“shoot, i’m late for practice,” he said, quickly tugging his sweatshirt on over his head

“oh, i’m sorry to keep you,” you apologized quickly, instantly feeling bad

“no, no,” mubo shook his head as it poked through the neck of his hoodie, “this was really nice! i just lost track of time.”

you nodded a bit awkwardly, unsure if you should ask mubo for his number or social media or something

“hey, we should do this again,” mubo said suddenly, hovering over you with his fingers running through his hair, “chill at a cafe or something, i mean. you’re really chill to talk to, and qin fen has been on my ass about asking you on a date.”

you laughed at that, shaking your head as you imagined qin fen scolding mubo

“get my number from zuo ye,” you said playfully, smiling up at the trainee, “you’re already late enough for practice.”

mubo’s eyes got wide as he fully realized just how late he was, hurrying out of the cafe in a dash

“i’ll see you later!”

was the final episode of ip filmed in a different city from the training site? yes. does this make this scenario factually inaccurate? yes. do i care? yes. am i tiredt and not willing to figure out a better plot device? yes.