#and while i was eating someone walked past me to join the queue and said ‘hiya’

[fingertipsmp3]

Maybe it’s the delusions again but maybe… just maybe….. everyone is out to get me

[fific7]

Ticket to Ride - Part 3

Billy Russo x Reader

A/N: Inspired by The Beatles song of the same name. This takes place in my S1 Punisher AU with Arrogant!Billy in attendance, in which he gets a taste of his own medicine.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content, including unprotected and oral, between consenting adults* in some chapters. Drinking and swearing.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My photo edit)

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕤𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙

𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕥𝕨𝕚𝕔𝕖, 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕞𝕖

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy slammed the door of his hotel room closed behind him. He was fuming.

Damn!!! Damn, fuck, damn, fuck, fuck, fuck! He stormed across the room and threw himself onto the bed, hands linking behind his head on the pillows, glaring up at the ceiling. Apart from anything else, his male pride was injured - he was an ex-Marine for fuck’s sake! And he’d been outsmarted by a... a.. civilian!!

Lying there for a while, wondering what the hell he was going to do now. Micro couldn’t track her phone this time, and fuck knows where she was headed. Or... had she gone somewhere else? Or just moved to another location in London?

His gut told him she’d gone somewhere else. Those apartments she’d been staying in were for longer-term lets, not just one or two-night stays. Maybe she was using that as a base of operations like he would’ve done in the military. Yeah, he liked the sound of that. He sat up suddenly, taking his phone out of his pocket and opening Google Maps. He searched for Wood Wharf and when it listed up, he moved the map around with a finger and within a couple of seconds spotted what he’d been looking for - City Airport.

Billy grinned. He was back on her trail, he just knew it.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Frank jolted awake, and after a few seconds realised that his phone was ringing. He grabbed it, screwing up his bleary eyes as he tried to read the time and who was calling. Shit, it was 1 a.m.! And it was Micro. What the hell?

He accepted the call, hearing Micro’s muffled voice saying, “Frank?” “Yeah, yeah... what’s up, Micro? And you sound like you’re underwater.” There was a slight pause and a swallowing sound, “M’eatin’ a donut. Sorry. Look, Russo’s just texted me again - this time he wants me to search for her on flights outta London City Airport. I said ok... but....” his voice trailed off.

Frank sighed. He hated this, he was stuck slap bang in the middle of all this shit between Billy, Karen and Billy’s girl.

Billy - he could kick his dumb ass for ‘messin’ around’ with Madani. Karen - he really didn’t want to upset his girl. And Billy’s girl - he felt sorry for her that she’d had to put up with Billy’s recent bad behaviour but.... he’d been so relaxed and happy since the two of them got together. So... he’d give his idiot friend a break... but only a small one.

“Yeah OK, Micro, go ahead with what he asked ya to do. Let Russo know once you got an answer for him, then you tell me. And if Karen ever asks, you didn’t call me ‘bout this till a helluva lot later this mornin’. Got it!?”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Stepping out of the lift onto the landing of the 20th floor, you were met by a view across the harbour and a symphony in red - carpets, walls, doors.

(My Photos - Dec 2014)

The W was even better than you’d imagined, and as you reached your room and opened the door, you loved the view you got all along the beach from the big picture windows.

After you’d unpacked, you dropped a quick text to Karen just letting her know where you were, then left your room to go and have a walk around the local area, called Barceloneta according to your online guide book.

There was a cooling sea breeze, the sun was shining and you turned your face up towards it.

The W Hotel was right at the far end of the beach, and you had a pleasant stroll along it until you reached a busy street called Passeig Joan de Borbó, which ran parallel to the marina known as Port Vell. You passed several restaurants and decided that you’d have an early lunch in one of them, rather than eating at the hotel. You could have dinner or even room service there later on.

Sitting at an outside table, looking at the yachts moored at the marina, watching all the people strolling by on the wide pavement, sipping at a glass of wine.... you gave a happy sigh and relaxed back in your seat.

Billy would never find you here.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Touching down in Barcelona, Billy watched the airport buildings rushing past as the air brakes were applied and the plane began to slow down. He was impressed with how short a flight it was from London; it was only a few hours since Micro had messaged him with the search results and he was here already.

He made his way through Passport Control and headed for the taxi rank, joining the queue and eventually being waved towards one of the waiting cars by the attendant.

Half an hour later, he was checking into the W. He felt excited, pleased, a thrill of anticipation - he’d caught up with her this time. Now all he had to do was dump his stuff in his room and stake out the lobby until she inevitably showed up.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You’d walked up the full length of Joan de Borbó until you’d reached a new area of town called El Born. There was a lovely park - it had been built over a citadel from long ago when Barcelona had been occupied by invaders - and it was full of narrow little streets and cute artisan boutiques. Stopping for a coffee next to an old market building - the Mercat del Born - which had been converted into a cultural centre, once again you just enjoyed the sunshine and watching the world go by.

You looked around at the beautiful buildings; how lovely it would be to live in an apartment in one of these like the locals did. Most of the buildings had ‘Juliet balconies’, not especially spacious but enough to be able to step out of your apartment, maybe sit and enjoy the fresh air if you had room for a little chair. Some of the balconies had lush green plants in big ceramic pots on them, and you thought that sitting out there in amongst them would be like having your own little cocoon from the outside world.

You had a leisurely stroll through the neighbourhood, taking an interest in the small stores, tapas bars and old buildings. At the far end of the Passeig del Born you admired the huge Santa Maria del Mar, a church which your guide book told you was a fine example of Catalan Gothic. This opinion you agreed with - it was a beautiful church and you ventured inside to quietly look at its impressive yet simple interior.

You came out and turned onto Carrer Montcada, where the famous Picasso Museum was located. Not that you were going to go and check it out - your guide book had given some ‘best times to queue’ and spending time in a line of tourists was not your idea of fun - but you wanted to see if El Xampanyet, a famous tapas bar, was still open so you could have a glass of cava. Unfortunately it wasn’t, it had closed a couple of hours earlier and wouldn’t reopen for another couple. Sighing, you decided to walk along Montcada which would take you to Carrer Princesa, you could walk down it and cut round past the Mercat del Born again, back to Barceloneta and the W.

You were feeling a little peckish and the thought of some chilled cava and something to eat was really appealing.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy felt his eyes slowly closing. He shook himself awake behind his newspaper, he couldn’t risk falling asleep but what with his disturbed night’s sleep and then his dash to Barcelona was making even him - an ex-Marine who could function on little or no sleep - feel really fatigued.

Sitting in one of the comfy sofas in reception for the past hour or so was not helping, the quiet hum of voices and people entering and leaving by the revolving doors was soothing him into a drowsy state. The newspaper he’d been pretending to read was in Catalan, totally impenetrable to him so he’d had to resort to just looking at the pictures, not the best at keeping his mind active.

He heard the ‘swoosh’ of the revolving door again, looked up and then froze. It was her!! He peeked round the edge of his paper.

She was heading for the lifts, looking in her bag for her keycard as she walked, she needed to swipe it so she could go up to her floor.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The lift doors opened and you stepped inside, running your keycard over the reader and hitting the button for floor 20. The doors began to close but then suddenly sprang apart again as someone hit the Call button, and you looked up with the usual polite but disengaged smile that people give each other in lifts.

Billy Russo was looking back at you, a small smile on his face as he hit the ‘Close Doors’ button.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

She’d shrank back from him as soon as she’d realised it was him. Billy was incredibly hurt by that. He wasn’t going to harm her!!! He reached a hand out towards her but she moved even further away from him, right into the corner of the lift.

He said her name, then, “Sweetheart.... please! Just hear me out. That’s all I want to do - talk to you.” She glared at him, “Talk!! You want to talk? Ha!! And why would I want to listen to you!?” Billy grabbed her, getting her in a bear hug, kissing her hard and hungrily. He could feel her struggling in his arms but then she began to relax the tiniest little bit, so he just kept on kissing her passionately.

There was a ‘ting’ as the express lift reached its requested floor, and the doors opened onto the landing. There were two elderly ladies standing there and as Billy’s lips broke away from hers, he turned his head to look over his shoulder at them as they stared. “Ladies,” he nodded, firmly taking his girl’s arm in his and pulling her along with him as he got out of the lift.

“That’s not talking!!” she hissed at Billy.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You were towed along behind Billy until he stopped outside your door. So.... he even knew your room number. Why hadn’t Karen given you the heads-up this time? You were feeling very uneasy. Billy was on a mission, that was clear.

He’d grabbed your keycard while he was kissing you in the lift. Why hadn’t you struggled harder? Because you’d missed him, of course. You didn’t like it, but you couldn’t deny it.

Now he swiped the keycard against the reader on the door, opened it and bundled you inside, closing the door firmly behind him. He let go of your arm and strode into the room past the centre-located bed which faced the huge window and made his way over to it, looking out at the view it gave of the beaches and the city.

(My Photo - Dec 2015)

He sat on the window seat and turned towards you, “Please... let me explain. Have a seat.” Reluctantly you sat at the opposite end of the long seat, but then stood back up again. You needed a drink. Picking up the bottle of gin from the small table by the window, you walked over to the mini fridge and opened it, taking out a small bottle of tonic water before retrieving a glass from the cupboard above it. You walked over to the large unit under the wall-mounted TV and put it all down, then prepared a G&T for yourself and took a large gulp.

“Nothing for me?” asked Billy, with his best puppy-dog eyes and pout. Heaving a sigh, you went back over to the fridge and took out a bottle of Estrella Damm beer for him, popping the top off it for him. Picking up your G&T on the way back to the window seat, you handed him the beer and sat down.

He took a large swig of the beer, and began, “Sweetheart, I....” but you cut him off. “If you dare to say ‘it’s not what you think’, I’ll chop your balls off, Billy.” He winced, and you shot at him, “What’s her name?” Billy shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but again you beat him to it, “And don’t give me any bullshit. I’m not stupid.”

Billy sighed, taking another drink of his beer, “I know you’re not, sweetheart. But I swear I didn’t cheat on you, it was just about getting information.” “What. Is. Her. Name!?” you ground out. His head went down and he said, “Dinah Madani. She works for Homeland,” but not meeting your eyes. “Okay, Russo. Now we’re getting somewhere. What exactly did you get up to with Mizzz Madani?” “Nothing! I swear!” You stood up abruptly, and Billy - who’d been leaning in towards you - rocked back a bit. “Oh, fuck off Billy!” you yelled, “I can smell the guilt off you!”

You were getting angrier and angrier, “You say you wanna talk and then all you do is lie! Get out! Go on - just get out of my room!”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy opened his mouth to say something placatory but seeing just how furious she looked, he decided that a tactical withdrawal was probably the sensible option.

So instead he drained his beer, stood up and began walking to the door. He stopped and turned halfway across the room, gazing at her, “But I do need to properly explain all this to you, angel. Let’s talk later, okay? Please - just give me a chance.”

She nodded, “OK. Tomorrow morning.” He walked to the door, feeling defeated, and left her room. At least she was gonna give him another shot.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The door closed behind him, and you breathed a sigh of relief. Truly, you hadn’t been sure how he was going to react when you told him to leave - Billy had a temper on him. You really didn’t think he’d physically hurt you but he always had that air of danger about him. And you’d been so angry yourself, you’d kind of lost yourself in it.

He might be dangerous, but he was a cowardly little shit when it came to telling the truth. You thought back to what he’d said - ‘Nothing, I swear’ - yeah, a likely story! He must think you were so dumb!

Picking up the room service menu, you had a brief look through it then ordered a cheeseburger and a cup of coffee. While waiting for it, you got your laptop out of your bag and opened it up.

Sorry Barcelona, I haven’t seen even half of what I’d intended to and I’d been so looking forward to exploring.

But instead, I’ve got to love you and leave you.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy stepped out of the walk-in shower wearing one of the hotel’s fluffy white dressing robes, and headed to his mini-bar. He needed another beer. And some food. He flicked through all the stuff lying out on the unit, finally finding the room service menu and ordering a steak and a coffee.

He sat on the window seat while he waited, propped up against the wall with his long legs stretched out in front of him. He was feeling guilty, uneasy and really not pleased with himself. Telling her the truth was turning out to be more difficult than he’d thought. He wondered out loud, “Why is that?” but in fact he damn well knew why. The way he’d been carrying on with Madani was wrong. Even if he’d only been intent on getting information, it was just like Frank had said - cheating - and he knew it. Even if, in Billy’s book, there was Cheating Lite and Cheating For Real, and his overstepping had only been into Lite territory. Was it really that bad?

Who was he kidding? Unsurprisingly, his girl didn’t like to share.

So one thing he knew for sure was that when - if - he ever told her the complete truth, his angel was going to be very, very unhappy with him indeed.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You’d ordered a very early room service breakfast and after you’d eaten it while enjoying the view, your belongings were quickly stowed away and you took the lift down to the lobby. After checking out - and assuring the receptionist there was nothing wrong, you just had to leave earlier than you’d anticipated - you were on your way to the revolving door when your phone vibrated.

Karen: Billy got Micro to track you down again, sorry hon! He knows you’re in Barcelona 😳 he’ll be heading out there.

You: Yeah, he’s already here! Caught up with me yesterday evening. Agreed we’d talk this morning. But I’m in a taxi on the way to the airport 😉

Karen: 😂😂😂

Once outside, one of the guest services guys waved up a taxi from the nearby rank for you, and wished you a pleasant journey. The taxi driver asked you which terminal you were headed to, and then you were on your way.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Barcelona

(My Photos - Dec 2019)

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

@blackbirddaredevil23 @galaxyjane @omgrachwrites @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @ourloveisforthelovely @swthxrry @odetostep @supernaturalcat7 @obscurilicious @strawb3rrydr3ss @bruxa0007 @aleksanderwh0r3

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

[tlcwrites]

By A Nose

Submission for Writer Wednesday 5/12

Summary: If you're going to talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk. Or, proof Poe Dameron is a terrible loser.

Word Count: 1528

Tags/Warnings: Poe Dameron x Reader, Modern AU. Implied smut but mostly in passing. Some bad words. Poorly edited because as usual I finished this at like 11 and my kids get up at 5 so I need to go to sleep.

Author’s Note: THREE FICS IN A WEEK WHO AM I?

Okay, so I cannot be the only one who saw the photo for this week's Writer Wednesday (thank you once more for hosting, @autumnleaves1991-blog!) and went the direction I did. If I am the only one, well, just further proof my brain is certifiable. Make sure you comment on when you figure out where this fic takes place.

There will also be an accompanying headcanon coming for this probably tomorrow, because there was SO much material I wanted to use but couldn't make fit. Thank you @paper-n-ashes for brainstorming with me and being the best hype-woman ever.

“AAAAHHHHH.”

“WE’RE GONNA DIE.”

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!”

“FINN!!” You smack him. “There are small children here!”

But he’s too busy screaming to pay attention.

On the other side of you, Kaydel looks decidedly green. She lets out a pained moan as your vehicle makes a particularly hard turn. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

You pat her knee as you fly through a kitchy town. “Hang in there, honey. It’s almost over.”

The village elder’s well wishes still ringing in your ears, you pull up next to another idling transport. From the driver’s seat, your boyfriend winks at you.

“You’re going down, Dameron!” you holler at him.

He makes the universal ‘I’m watching you’ gesture. “Eat my dust, losers!”

Finn yells back something that has you smacking him again, shooting an apologetic glance to the second row of Poe’s transport, where Snap and Karé are sitting with their daughter Nora. Snap’s hands fly to cover Nora’s ears while Karé laughs heartily.

Next to Poe, Rey holds her thumb and forefinger up to her forehead in an ‘L’ shape. “Second place is the first to lose!”

Before any more trash talking can occur, you see a flash of red out of the corner of your eye and then both vehicles take off, bursting out of the dark into blinding sunlight.

You both fly over the rusty terrain, neck and neck as you navigate under rocky overpasses and around hairpin turns. From the second row of your car, you can hear Maz lobbing profanities at Chewie in the other ride. He’s yelling back in his native tongue (which you still only understand half of). Beside Maz, Leia and Han are both laughing like kids.

A shriek of joy erupts from you as you fly over a series of hills, the momentary weightlessness thrilling. Finn has both hands in the air, while Kaydel grips the safety handle with white knuckles.

Finally, you come out of a turn to see a sharp drop. You look to Poe, who grins back at you, his vehicle slightly ahead of yours. Damnit, you HATE losing to him. He’s the worst winner.

At the last moment, your ride leaps ahead, crossing under the checkered banner by a nose. The passengers of your car cheer and high-five in victory, while Poe’s passengers groan in good-natured defeat.

As you roll through the red-lit cavern, you laugh as you catch sight of Poe’s face. He’s a terrible winner, but he’s an even worse loser. Even if his loss comes at the hands of an algorithm.

Anthropomorphic cars wave you off as both vehicles enter the unloading zone. On the other side of the platform, Chewie is lifting Rey out of the front seat as she pretends to collapse in agonized failure, her laughter completely destroying the illusion. You accept Finn’s hand as he helps you up, both of you turning to support Kaydel as she crawls out of the car.

A ride attendant watches her warily. “Does she need assistance?” he asks Han.

Han waves him off, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders as Maz and Chewie beeline for the ride photos. “She’ll be fine. No protein spills here.” At the cast member’s astonished look, the charming rogue gives his trademark grin. “Ain’t my first rodeo, kid.” As he and Leia stroll past you towards the exit, he catches your eye and winks. “That, and they haven’t changed the lingo since the 70’s.”

Laughing, you rub Kaydel’s back as Rey swaps places with Finn and helps bracket your green-tinged friend. “Let’s get you some water, yeah?”

Kaydel manages a slight nod, and the three of you make your way towards the exit.

Behind you, you can hear Poe and Finn bickering, as they’re wont to do.

“It’s a ride, dude,” Finn is saying, the exasperation clear in his tone.

“It’s physics, dude,” Poe shoots back. “There’s NO way the car on the outside of the turn would be able to finish first.”

Worst. Loser. Ever.

Your rag-tag alliance eventually makes it out of the exit tunnel. Ben’s waiting across the walkway, those ridiculously long arms crossed over his chest as he leans against the guard rail and steadily ignores whatever Armitage is ranting about.

On the bench next to them, Rose perks up, a smirk crossing her pretty face as she sees Poe’s expression. “Well, I don’t need to ask who won.”

“Don’t wanna talk about it,” the most-competitive-pilot-in-the-galaxy grumbles back, adjusting his backpack. You help Kaydel to a bench, where she quickly curls up.

Rey rolls her eyes as she forces her way into the circle of Ben’s arms. “It’s not like any of us could have actually controlled the outcome, you noodle.”

“Not without some kind of magic,” Ben intones dryly, resting his chin on his girlfriend’s head.

“How cool would that be, though?” Rey’s getting her Down-The-Wormhole-We-Go eyes. You and Rose exchange a Look™️ as she starts gesturing wildly with her hands. “Like, imagine if you could just look at something like rocks and, like, make them fly. Or make someone do whatever you wanted them to do. OH!” She looks up at Ben with a slightly manic expression. “Lightning bolts from your fingers!!”

Well-used to these kinds of rambles, Ben gently captures her hands and wraps her into a hug that doubles as a straight jacket. “No more SyFy channel before bed.”

Rose slides her arms around her husband as Finn joins her on the bench. “Did you behave?”

Nora, in all her 6-year-old innocence, giggles. “Mr Finn said a whole lot of swear-jar words.” She casts a critical eye on the young man. “You probably said enough you could buy an Elsa doll.” The ‘for me’ is unsaid, but implied.

Karé rapidly turns her laugh into a cough.

Finn glances down at his wife as Rose smacks him upside the head. “Hey! That tractor thing is terrifying. And Maz said WAY more than I did!”

“Age before beauty, Finnigan,” Maz says haughtily, waving off Finn’s ‘m'name’s not Finnigan, damn it’.

Giggling, you tune out the ridiculousness that is your found family and turn your attention to your still-sulking boy toy. “You know,” you murmur, wrapping your arms around his waist, “you make that face for long enough and it’ll stick that way.”

He huffs. “This is just how my face looks.”

“Uh huh.” Considering yourself quite the expert in his face, having spent countless hours studying every crease and line until you could have drawn him blindfolded, you call bullshit, but say nothing further.

“It is,” he insists.

“Okay,” you agree.

The King of Sarcasm narrows his eyes. “You’re doing that thing.”

You widen your eyes innocently. “What thing?”

“That thing where it sounds like you’re agreeing with me but you’re really telling me I’m a dumbass.”

“What?!” You bring your hand to your chest. “Moi?! I would never.”

He huffs again, but you can see the hint of a smirk starting to break though.

“C’mon, First Runner Up,” you tease. “No sulking in Disneyland. Let me buy you a drink at Trader Sam’s, and then we can sneak off to the Haunted Mansion and make out like teenagers in our Doom Buggy.”

He tilts his head, considering it.

“Or-“ You brush an inky curl off his forehead and stand on your toes until your lips are just about caressing his ear and whisper, “-we could get back in line right now and go again.”

Even before you’ve finished speaking, Poe’s grabbing your hand and hauling you back towards the entrance, tossing a “See you jerks later!” as he pulls you under the Radiator Springs Racers sign. Their laughter echos behind you as he leads the way through the mostly empty line (thank goodness for parade lulls).

As you wait in the queue, only a few dozen people stand between Poe and his (re)shot at victory. You see that competitive gleam in his eyes start to come alive again.

“Hey.” You tug on his tee shirt until he looks at you. “If our car doesn’t win, tonight I’ll do That Thing you love.”

“Babe.” The look he gives you is one of pure torture. “You are killing me here.” He really loves to win. But he really, really loves That Thing. “What about when we come in first?”

You shrug demurely. “Then you wear Those Pants™️ tomorrow.”

Hm. Poe’s always been quick to calculate his odds, and this is quickly turning into a win/win situation. If you lose, he gets That Thing. But Those Pants™️ turn you about feral, and when you’re in that kind of mood- let’s just say Poe still has the scars on his shoulders to prove it.

“Are those terms acceptable, Flight Commander Dameron?” You smile sweetly up at him.

His licentious grin says it all. “Hell yeah.”

For the record, your car does lose a second time. And the next morning, Poe hardly has Those Pants over his ass when you’re ripping them back down his legs and shoving him backwards onto the bed.

Oh, yeah, he thinks to himself. This is better than any dumb kid’s ride.

…doesn’t mean he’s not going to ride it as many times as it takes to win.

A/N: I almost titled this “Tell me you have children without saying you have children”. I am so fucking sick of ‘Lining McQueen’. Yay 4-year-olds.

Thank you for reading; likes and reblogs feed my soul.

[seoracle]

DRIVERS LICENSE; i

Pairing: Bang Chan x Idol! Gender Neutral Reader

Genre: Fake Dating! AU, Angst, Lovers to Enemies(?), Occasional Pining, Comedy, S for potential smut(??)

Summary: Y/N has become an overnight sensation with ‘Drivers License’, Breaking records left and right...But what if the press gets wind of the ill-matched lovers and their company decide it’s the perfect attention ploy?

Word Count: 3.2K

Warnings: Swearing (a lot near the end), Drinking mention

A/N: this was meant to be a drabble... now it’s becoming a series...i’m sorry

“...and the winner of Inkigayo today is...Y/N with ‘Drivers License, Congratulations!”

You step towards the center of the stage and take the trophy and bouquet from a rookie idol, who flashes a bright smile at you, but you can see the envy in his eyes. You once had that same hunger and ambition that he seems to reek of, it’s a reminder of how far you’ve come.

Taking the mic, you begin to sing a more sultry and edgier vibe than usual, which seems to gather more screams from fans than usual. You remember what Seulgi taught you and gaze at the camera lens with a subtle pout, trying to capture the angst of the song in your gaze.

It feels ridiculous, feigning emotions you no longer feel, singing a song you begged the company not to put out in a corset fitted shirt that’ll leave your ribs sore and reddened. It’s pathetic and cliche, you quite literally sold your soul (well, heart) for fame. 

“Yeah, you said forever, now I drive alone past your street…”

Everyone behind you waves at the camera, signalling the show is ending. You leave last, taking several confetti bits for your scrapbook, which is the only thing keeping you from remembering this is all real. 

Backstage, Iris and San are waiting in your dressing room, they greet you with proud grins and slaps on the back. 

“Well, if it isn’t miss twelve...no, thirteen wins in two weeks.” San praises, enveloping you in a hug.

“Could be thirteen by tomorrow~” Hums Iris in a sing-song tone.

A groan leaves your lips, while slumping into an uncomfortable chair. You tune out their excited plans for your makeup and hair tomorrow, San says something about an end of year Award show.

All you want is to go home to your empty dormitory and sleep.

When you finally arrive to the ‘comfort’ of your ‘studio apartment’ (box room), it isn’t long before you strip down to your pyjamas and aggressively rub off the layers of makeup that seem to cling to every pore and fine line of your face. The cold air from the fan soothes the aching of your body from your strict workout routine. You stay awake until 4am, reading comments from netizens and replying to fans on your fancafe, it  was hard not to become obsessed with checking what people thought; whether they loved or loathed you.

[+184 -93] Y/N is talented, but they look devoid of emotion since last week...maybe singing a song so personal isn’t a good idea….what if the person it’s about hears it…..

User FYL**8 was right, it had become draining trying to convey emotions you’d long let go of. Your debut song was fresh and fun, it didn’t garner much attention but at least you hadn’t had to fake emotions and relive your first heartbreak.

Although the memories of the breakup didn’t hurt as much, the happiest ones were the most painful. The feeling of ignorance, thinking he meant forever and believing him completely...it was all so distant yet felt a fingertip away.

That night you slept with a heavy heart, remembering what it felt like when he’d hold you close and right and kiss you on the head to soothe your worries. Why did it have to end? Why like that? You try to drift into a nice sleep after another exhausting day but to no avail, thoughts of him are flooding every thought. Has he heard it? There was no way he hadn’t, he loved to check out every ranking song for inspiration or for another artist to add to his monthly playlist. 

Would he get angry? Sad? Laugh at your pathetic feelings? He was right in the end, when it came down to it you only shared your feelings when it was too late.

Stupid Christopher fucking Bang.

It wasn’t often you’d refer to him as Chan, you had met him when he only saw it as another name for himself that he hardly used. Back when his hair had been fluffed up curls that he couldn’t contain and his light freckles weren’t covered by BB Cream. When he didn’t belong to the world and only loved you.

After months of forcing yourself not to, you hastily search “Stray kids Bang Chan + Y/N”, Then “Stray Kids Y/N” and finally “Skz Y/N”. The results are minimal and far inbetween, mostly tweets from fans wishing for a collab and oddly enough one person making edited photos of you and them, which are so convincing you have to remind yourself you hadn’t met them.

Thoughts drift to his friends, the ones who didn’t know Chris was even seeing someone and had been for over a year. They tried to sugarcoat it, say they forgot, it’s hard to keep track when you’re training and all that. 

The sinking feeling you felt when Minho asked how long you’d been together, guessing a month at most. When you did reply, ears burning with embarrassment he coughed and muttered “Oh.’, That had stung.

Everything had seemed so perfect, until you opened your eyes and saw it for what it was.

You don’t end up sleeping much, two hours at most, Then it’s time to get ready and head to the Broadcast Studio for today’s event. All you know is it’s a show about giving advice, the reviews aren’t great but you aren’t allowed to turn anything down because fame is a double-edged sword that you can barely grasp as is.

Iris and San are already waiting for you when you get there, within minutes makeup is being patted into your skin and your outfit is laid out on the chair next to you.

“Sleep more, Y/N-ah, I had to use a double coverage concealer to hide your dark circles.” Iris said in a fretful tone.

“I try, it’s hard being famous.” You reply jokingly, flipping your hair the best you can. Iris smacks your hand away and frantically finds her hairspray.

Within twenty minutes you’re dressed and not one hair is out of place, San pulls you aside with an uncharacteristically stern face. 

“The company have specific goals for sending you here, they want you to delve into a story of heartbreak to comfort today’s victim, while keeping anonymity and remaining as vague as you can.” 

Of course, even a show about helping others is fictional.

You nod solemnly and prepare to go on air, sitting on a cushion next to a popular comedian who doesn’t bother to even look at you. A well-known Streamer is on your other side and you begin polite small talk, which seems to irritate the host.

“We’re on in 3,2….1!” A sharp click follows the director’s queue and the host bursts right into the introduction.

After you’re introduced it’s easy to tune out, you couldn’t give a shit about that stuck-up comedian and the actress to their right. Instead you think of how the fuck you’re supposed to conjure up an emotional performance with little to no time to prepare.

‘My ex-boyfriend hid me for almost two years’ no, not even worthy of a cheap gossip magazine. ‘I thought my boyfriend loved me, turns out he loved his career more’ Maybe...but you sound too needy. 

“Today’s guest is Lee Chaeun of Suwon! Tell us your story, please.” 

You turn to look at the guest who walks onto the set and sits at the head of the pillow mats. She’s clearly a young girl, her baby face is covered by face-framing layers of shiny black hair and her eyes are already glassy.

“Last year, I began dating my crush after years of admiring him from afar...Everything seemed so perfect until last week….He dumped me by text message saying he needed space and now he’s with someone new..” Chaeun bursts into tears and the host fakes a sympathetic face and passes her a box of tissues.

“Ah, you’re young...you don’t know anything yet. This is a normal phase for teenagers, men realise themselves and break girls down so they become beautiful women. It’s just a case of a little girl not wanting to grow up!” Chimes in the Comedian, who talks about his falsities as if they’re facts.

The audience erupts into laughter and the heartbroken teenager lowers her head in embarrassment. Which only makes you more enraged, Who told that guy he was funny?

“Chaeun has every right to be upset!” You exclaim, cutting through the laugher like a hot knife. “When a relationship ends when everything seems alright for one person, it's cruel. Being blindsided isn’t a joke. It hurts and she deserves closure, and to move on someday to a better person..What happened to her shouldn’t happen to anyone!”  You barely register a gentle hand on top of yours, far too surprised by the fact there are tears dripping down your face. Crying wasn’t an option, so you pull yourself together and apologise to Chaeun and the host you cannot stand.

“Y/N, You seemed personally moved by Chaeun’s story, have you experienced a painful breakup?” The host asks curiously.

“You could say that,” You begin with a wry smile. “I was with someone who lived a double life, they were completely different when they were with other people...Things ended when I was still planning for future dates...it made me realise how fake they were.”

The guests all nod and you squeeze Chaeun’s hand, she smiles at you seeming relieved that she isn’t the only one who has felt this kind of pain. 

Everything goes smoothly after that, other guests chime in and the actress that seemed snobby is openly discussing her ex vomiting all over her Valentinos. You can’t help but wonder if the company really suggested this, or if it was divine intervention (Choi San, your manager). 

You don’t feel so alone anymore, everyone is guaranteed several things, two being love and heartbreak of some kind. 

“Thanks to singer Y/N and actress Sojung, Chaeun was able to feel a little better...Thank you for joining us on ‘Help No Counsellor!’, Join us next week when…’

“Choi San, you sneaky bastard.”

He tries to act surprised but a shit-eating grin soon overtakes his acting, Iris shakes her head and zips her makeup bag closed. It isn’t long until you’re all at The Min’s enjoying red bean bread and warm tea.  “What does inept even mean? I’m assuming it’s a good thing because Wooyoung kissed me after saying it.” San mentions, his lips curving upwards at the fond memory.

“I’d have to agree with Woo, it fits you perfectly.” You reply, circling around his question while Iris tries not to choke on her food.

Fits of laughter die down when you spot a familiar face, Lee Mijoo. 

Her blonde hair flows down her back in loose curls and her soft eyes seem to enchant everyone, admittedly even you for a short time.Behind her is a slightly taller figure dressed in all black and your stomach drops.They don’t seem to notice your presence, so you decide to use this valuable time to hide behind a menu. 

San and Iris try to play along best they can, but it is quite distressing that all of this has happened so suddenly, with no prior warning. But he did bring you here, a lot. So it’s amusing to see his date ideas haven't changed. 

As he’s walking past you he pauses, and you want to shrivel into a hole and die, He’s clearly recognised you but can’t be 100% sure due to The Min’s menu covering your entire face. 

“Y/N?” 

Shit. You cannot hide from this.

Slowly taking the menu away and placing it down on the table you smile at him, maybe a little too forced but it’s the best you can do. His hair is blonde now, his curls are long gone but his smile is as genuine as ever. 

Stupid Christopher Bang and his stupid ‘I-totally-didn’t-break-your-heart’ attitude.

“Chan, nice to see you. Still obsessed with their double shots?” You humoured, he seemed grateful for that.

“Oh, absolutely...and I see you’re still not saving any bean bread for anyone else.” 

You laugh, it’s a bittersweet one at best but nevertheless it’s a laugh.

'Well it’s great to see you again, I’d love to exchange numbers if that’s alright?” 

Without thinking you nod and oblige him, much to your friend’s disappointment which is evident by their glares. Mijoo exchanges smiles with everyone, who could hate her? She was funny, kind hearted and beautiful in every aspect. 

When they finally leave to their outside seats you breathe a sigh of relief and sink into the chair.Iris strokes your hair and San grabs more snacks to go, the walk home isn’t peaceful. It’s awkward and silent, which only makes your head spin more. When you drop off Iris you know a lecture is coming, San hates doing it but you know he tells you what you need to hear, even if it hurts.

“Look, I’m happy you were able to brush off all the hurt today but earlier on you were crying about….this. Don’t give him the power to hurt you twice.”

“You’re right, thanks Sannie.” You reply, taking his arm and smiling at the warmth of his (Wooyoung’s) fuzzy coat. 

Once San leaves and you get inside, it’s a matter of minutes before you hop in the shower and get rid of all the hairspray and mascara that’s been making you itch all day. The warm water soothes away your nerves and the impending frostbite from being outside in the cold for far too long. 

Once you feel clean and somewhat scalded you step out onto warm fluffy towels (cheap warm fluffy towels with holes in them) and get situated for bed.

Just as you exit the bathroom your phone rings and you answer immediately, it’s probably Iris wanting you to play a new Among Us mod with her. 

“Iris?”

“Uh, no, Chris.” 

“Oh.” is your initial reply, why would he call you at midnight?

“Where you asleep? I’m sorry I’ll call back another ti-”

“No!” You interject, much too eagerly. “No...it’s fine. I’m not even in bed yet.”

“Oh” He sounds relieved, much the opposite of you.

“I just wanted to congratulate you...The song, it’s great. What’s it like actually singing one you wrote?”

“Great,” You admit with a smile he can't see, “It feels...genuine. I Couldn't stand the thought of giving the song away.”

“I can see why.” He replies in an unreadable tone.

“Did it make you uncomfortable? Me singing...about-”

“No, why would it?” He cuts in, he sounds slightly agitated.

“Look, Chan, I’m sorry. I should’ve texted you, well I did but you changed your number. But it’s my story too, okay? I needed to heal somehow.”

Minutes pass with no answer, as if he’s trying to think of exactly what to say without getting more irritated or to spare your feelings.

“When did I become Chan?” His voice comes out wavering,and it hurts you.

“That’s what everyone calls you now, you’re not just Chris the trainee anymore.” You reply in a gentle way, trying to ease the building tension.

“But to you, when did I stop being Chris?”

“Probably when you broke my heart,” You deadpan, before adding a ‘kidding’ and bullshit reason.

“You weren’t kidding, but you broke mine too. Don’t make me the bad guy.”

This had taken you aback, you had been in a perfectly happy relationship for almost two years and then he changed his mind, said he wasn’t happy and it wasn’t your fault. When the fuck did you break his heart?

“When exactly did that happen?” You query, “Before or after Mijoo?”

Chan lets out a dry laugh, “Don’t talk about what you don’t understand.”

“Well what does it matter? You never told me shit anyways.” You snapped.

“That’s because you wouldn’t fucking listen. Maybe to you it was all sunshine and roses but I was struggling, I changed and outgrew us. I didn’t want to but you were stuck in dreamland where we’d debut at the same time and live happily ever after. I realised it wasn’t going to happen and set you free so you wouldn’t be embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed?” You bark,”Fucking embarrassed of what exaclty? I left that shithole you call your company by choice and worked my way up. I’m not embarrassed, but you should be. You’re a fucking sellout Christopher Bang.”

Before he can reply you end the call and throw your phone at the wall, it would’ve broken only for the forty dollar case the store assistant convinced you to buy. You burst into tears just like you had that night when it all came crashing down. He must’ve loved seeing you in pain, because he keeps doing it even now.

That night, you wish for everything to go back to a time before him and the heartbreak that followed.

It’s early on a Friday when you’re called into a board meeting with the CEO, Director and San, who looks like someone stepped on his clay masterpiece. You still haven’t been told anything and as the minutes pass by you wonder if they found out about you getting drunk at Club Suran several weeks back. What if someone saw San there too? What if–

Suddenly the doors open and in walks JYP’s CEO, followed by several others and finally Chris. He looks as confused as you, but you quickly look away before he spots you. Last night was still fresh in your mind and you didn’t need anymore reminders or conversations with him.

“Dispatch has sent us several photos of you two together, spanning several years.” Your CEO announces, an Executive pulling the photos up on the screen behind her. “Including one from yesterday.”

“That was a coincidence, we broke up a long time ago.” You admit, she seems satisfied with your answer and nods, which makes you remember that damned dating ban you have.

“Usually, we’d shoot down these rumours immediately...but this could be quite beneficial to both Stray Kids and Y/N.” JYP’s CEO adds, “Stock prices have shown a rise for both of your albums, and real time searches are at an all time high.” 

“I have a girlfriend.” Chan states, arms folded. “So that’s out of the question if you’re implying we fake a relationship.”

“Look Bang Chan,” Begins one of the Advisors, “It’s all for show, we’ll plan every detail and your girlfriend will keep her mouth shut if she knows what's good for her. Frankly, our sales aren't what they used to be and you need this, if you want complete musical and artistic control.”

Chan takes a while to think, you know this is all he’s wanted. Control over everything he and the boys put out there, with no censorship or edits by anyone else. Your CEO assures you you’ll also benefit from the agreement, including your debt fully cleared and money in your bank account as soon as you sign on the dotted line.

“How long does this last?” You ask, pen in hand.

“Twelve months, then you’re free again.” 

Chan looks to you for conformation and you ignore him, signing it and standing up to leave. You only stop to sign more formalities and then you and San head back to your local coffee shop. 

“Well, you sure have a funny way of moving on.”

[donaidk]

Mick Schumacher - Perfect Strangers

Thank you so much for requesting! I had lots of fun with this one 😂 and did leave it a bit open if maybe in the future someone would like a second part to this one. Hope you will like it, and have a lovely Monday! 🥰🧡

Inspiration song

Masterlist | Taglist/Queue | Request

“ You okay alone? I have to go but wouldn’t want to bore you with press events. ” Seb turned to me after talking to Britta for a little, while I watched the mechanics tend to his car in the garage. “ You can stay here, I’m sure no one minds the company. ” He added, sending me a little smile, making me nod.

“ Yeah, I would probably get lost anyways if I went out there. ” I let out a laugh, staying in my seat next to the engineers as he gave me a quick hug and then left the garage, following Britta who was already telling him everything he needed to know. Today was the second time I met her, but I still liked her calm, collected demeanor and energy. I could see why Seb was so content about working with her for the past years.

While they were gone I watched as the team got ready for FP1 and the camera crews walked around the paddock, catching drivers for interviews and capturing moments for interludes they will have during the coverage of the practice rounds on TV. I was more familiar with watching the practices, qualis and races on TV than attending them, even though I would have had the chance to do so. Sebastian was a great friend of my dad, making him like an honorary uncle or godfather to me when I was a bit older and spent quite some time with him and Hana. I even looked after Emilie when they had somewhere to go and were sure I won’t put him in danger. We were lucky that I was trustworthy from a really young age, meaning they could trust me with him as soon as he was fine without Hana being there for a few hours. There wasn’t an occasion when I would have rejected babysitting the young Vettels.

“ Can I get a coffee from somewhere? ” I turned to Seb’s engineer when I saw he wasn’t occupied with something else. I really didn’t want to bother them as they were doing an important job here. At the same time, I needed directions not to get lost around the paddocks.

“ Of course. They have different kinds in the canteen. But we have a machine here too, if that’s enough for you.  ” He pointed at a door in the hallway, making me follow his finger with my gaze. “ It’s the staff room, but driver guests are welcome to use it. ” He added with a smile which I returned, thanking him before standing up.

Inside the room I could easily spot the machine that was already going with a cup under it, slowly being filled with the dark liquid. While it finished up I took another cup and a capsule from the holder on the counter. When the machine turned off I quickly changed out the empty capsule and also the cup from it, putting it to the side. I was sure someone would come back for it later. Sure enough, just when the machine finished my coffee the door behind me opened. I was just looking for some sugar and creamer, not really paying attention to my surroundings, and jumping a little when someone greeted me. Turning back immediately my eyes met with a boy, who was around my age and I could recognise him as Mick. Probably anyone would have recognised him.

“ Sorry, didn’t want to scare you. ” He let out a chuckle, stepping to the counter next to me. “ Was this under the machine? ” He asked me pointing at the mug that I put to the side.

“ Yes. Hope you don’t mind me taking it out. ” I smiled at him stepping to my own cup and adding a bit of sugar and cream into it. “ Sugar? ” I asked him, handing the container to him when he nodded a little. I took a sip from it, to make sure it had enough of everything, before turning to the room.

“ You’re Y/N, right? ” He asked and although I nodded as an answer, I couldn’t help surprise getting onto my face. It wasn’t shocking that people knew his name and almost anything about him, but I couldn’t tell the same about me. “ Seb talks quite a lot about you. At least once every weekend. Also, I think we met before already. ” He explained, making me sigh and hide my face in my palm a little.

“ Never thought I would be a topic for Seb to mention all the time. ” I shook my head, leaving the room when he was ready and we went back to the garage together. “ Hope he only said good things about me. Although I’m pretty sure he probably embarrassed me already, even without me coming to races. ” I let out a sigh entering the garage and sitting down on my previous spot.

“ Not too embarrassing. Just the usual child stories. Although I would say they were more about his children, mentioning you on the way too. ” He shrugged a little, sitting down next to me, at the end of the ‘table’. “ But he made sure we knew you’re coming today. ” My eyes widened a little, before letting out a laugh. If people didn’t know him so well, they could have misunderstood me for one of his children. If I would have been younger, probably, as I was too old for that to be a possibility.

“ So I wasn’t even a surprise? That’s upsetting. ” I let out a sigh, swirling my cup a little, to dissolve the sugar on the bottom of my coffee, as the first sip was still quite bitter. “ Oh, congrats for the championship. I almost forgot. ” I let out a laugh, my hand slapping my forehead a little, as I realised how impolite I was with not even mentioning it.

“ It’s okay, but thank you. I’m just looking forward to the next season now. Gonna be quite a change. ” He smiled at me, shrugging a little but then his shoulders stayed a bit lifted as his muscles tensed. I looked up at him with an understanding smile.

“ You’re gonna get into it. First years are for getting used to the championship and the car. ” I told him, hoping I wasn’ saying something that sounded stupid. I followed the sport but wasn’t as knowledgeable about it as some fans. “ I’m sure every fan knows how hard it is. ” I added as I thought that could be a concern of his. His team loved him, I was sure they would support him however the next year turns out.

“ First seasons are always for learning, but… you know, they think experience comes easily with my name. ” He sighed, rather lifting his cup to his lips, probably to mask the smile fading away from his face. I couldn’t fault him though, there was probably immense pressure on him. Of course, mostly from the outside world, as people around him probably knew quite well how talented he was. Just as Seb always mentioned how skilled and kind he was.

Everything sped up when Seb and Charles arrived back at the garage and they started getting ready for practice. We mostly just stayed silent, sharing a few thoughts when something happened, so we won’t disturb the engineers and he can also mostly focus on the data and how everything went with Ferrari. I knew this was already his time to learn  everything, and didn’t need any distractions. I was fully content with just watching the practice runs and how the crew worked around the car when it was brought back in before one more round around the circuit. I was just about to get a bit bored with everything when it was time for lunch and we could leave. For the afternoon I went for a little walk close to the track, and only met up again with Seb for dinner in the hotel’s restaurant.

I was a bit surprised when Mick joined us, but didn’t mind it one bit. He was funny and it felt like we have known each other for years already, even though this was just the second time in our whole lifetime. I could see Seb watching us, like a hawk, his grin not leaving his face once. I saw as he tried to speak up, the smirk giving him away, but by pushing his leg with mine I got him to close his mouth before uttering a sound. Britta almost choked on her next bite as she knew exactly what was happening, but tried playing it off. Luckily it didn’t seem like Mick realised what was happening around him, and I was glad Seb couldn’t make the night uncomfortable for everyone. He had that effect on situations like this, mostly when it was about me or his own children. They were lucky they were still too small to understand it.

“ You seemed to get on quite well. ” Seb spoke up when we were already on the floor of our rooms making me roll my eyes. He wasn’t someone I was about to have this conversation with gladly.

“ Well, he’s my age and kind. Not like you. ” I poked his side with my elbow, making the both of us laugh as we got to our rooms. With a quick goodnight both of us entered our separate rooms and got ready for the night. I was maybe looking forward to the next day a bit more than that day. Knowing I will have a bit more company made everything better.

The following day we got to the track early as Seb still had some interviews to do before practice. I knew we wouldn’t be able to have lunch together as the afternoon was about Qualification and he needed to focus, but I was sure I would find someone to eat with or maybe just go by myself this one time. What surprised me stepping inside the garage was Mick sitting in the same position as yesterday and a mug of piping hot coffee waiting for me next to his one. With a glare sent at Seb, who was snickering at the situation, I walked closer, sitting down on the stool. His gaze immediately lifted from his phone, looking at me with a smile.

“ Morning. ” I greeted him with the same smile, my hand moving to the cup in front of me. “ Is this for me? Or are you getting ready for a long day? ” I asked him chuckling, seeing as he shook his head a little, maybe even rolling his eyes.

“ Yours. The way you made it yesterday. Hope that’s really how you like it. ” He added, although I already got an answer to my question. It was really sweet of him to think about me, and even more, remembering how I made it just a day ago.

“ Thank you. Glad I didn’t hold back on the sugar then. ” I shook my head a little, taking a sip already and I was sure he followed my usual ‘recipe’ as it tasted the exact same way. “ Perfect! ” I added with a content sigh, my body finally waking up. I wasn’t made for early mornings, even though on most days I started my schedule quite early.

We had an almost exact repeat of the previous day, the only differences being that we had lunch, just the two of us, and that I stayed for the afternoon, watching the quali and rooting for Seb. I may have missed a few laps, being too distracted by our conversation but even when he only reached P13 I knew it wasn’t because of us not watching him. Seeing how frustrated he was I left him to Britta, knowing he didn’t like company so soon after suffering a kind of defeat. He usually just needed time to calm down and look at everything with a calm head again.

“ There’s usually a party on the beach after the races here. Usually the younger drivers are the one attending with some of the crews. But if you would like to come and Seb will be in the mood to relax, they probably wouldn’t mind having you guys there. ” Mick made me turn towards him from my position, a smile getting onto my face, while his was a bit unsure. “ I wouldn’t mind anyways. So you two can be my guest. ” He shrugged a little, his eyes averting between mine as I was looking straight at him.

“ Sure, thank you. He usually gets back to normal if he has some time to calm down. ” I let out a sigh looking towards the hallway where Seb disappeared just seconds ago. I was pretty sure that inside he was fuming at his starting position while Britta tried to talk a bit of sense into him.

Although I took a car back to the hotel with him, in the end he chose to have dinner in his room and I went to the canteen alone. Thinking back to the night I can’t even remember how I ended up at a table with some of the guys who were my age, with Mick to my side. There were a few of the F2 and even F3 drivers too, everyone talking and joking together. even though everyone had to have an early night we still spent a few hours together just talking, before everyone went to their own rooms. I did toss and turn for a little until I finally fell asleep and then stayed in bed almost all morning.

The first thing I got out of bed for was lunch before getting ready for the race and the party afterwards. I didn’t put on anything special as I always prioritised comfort over look and didn’t pack anything party worthy anyways. A light blouse, jeans and a sandal had to do it as it was everything I had for the few days I planned on spending in Abu Dhabi. Who thought I would get invited to a championship party during my first ever true race weekend. Not me, that’s for sure. I knew we would maybe have a drink or two with the ones close to Seb if the race goes well, but didn’t think I would get to celebrate with younger ones, no matter in which position they cross the finish line.

We left the hotel together for the track with Seb, the car dropping us off at the parking lot just prior to the entrance to the paddocks. I tried focusing on him,just making sure he knew he had my support too, although I couldn’t help but get into a short conversation with Mick. When I turned back to the older man he was already putting on his helmet, but sent me a smile, from which I knew he wasn’t mad at me for not being always next to him. I watched as he got into his car but then left for the grandstand, as I really didn’t want to be in the way of anyone, and opted for watching the race from the usual position. I thought it would be less stressful this way, as I was an outsider more than someone who knew a drive personally, but I was still a bit disappointed for him when they finished the last lap in front of us. I took the stairs down to the paddocks, entering the Ferrari garage even before Seb arrived back.

“ You did good. ” I hugged him when he got to me, although I knew simple words couldn't help after a season like his. It still felt right to tell him, making sure he knew we were still proud of him.

“ Thank you, but it wasn’t the best last season I would have asked for. ” He shrugged a little, putting down his equipment on the table next to him. “ I’m gonna have to get some interviews, photos done and change. We can leave after that if you don’t mind staying until then. ” He informed me, while I crossed my arms in front of myself.

“ Actually, Mick invited me to like a season ending party at the beach. Most of the younger drivers will be there, and you’re invited too if you would like to come. ” I told him, waiting patiently for his answer. “ But I don’t mind staying if you would like some company. ” I added, realising I took him not minding my absence for granted.

“ I’ll probably just have a quiet night, but you go and have fun. I’m fine with leaving you to him and the others. ” He shook his head, with a small smile still visible on his face. “ I’m gonna be miserable enough for the both of us, and we will have enough time to catch up after today. ” He added with a laugh when I was about to change my mind, pulling me into a side hug.

That’s how I ended up in a car with all the youngsters, after a quick introduction, that took us to the beach. It was probably a private section of the sandy path next to the water, as it wasn’t crowded and every face that came up to me was already familiar in a way. I couldn’t fault them for only partying in their own circles, as I could imagine the chaos some fans getting in would cause. No one needed that when they came here to relax a bit, after a stressful season full of training and working. I was just happy to take part in it and have a few drinks with the guys before dancing the night away. Looking back, I wasn’t that fed up with my choice of flat sandals, as even that was killing my feet when we got back to the hotel.

Even though I woke up with a killer headache, I wouldn’t have traded it if it meant changing the previous night's outcome. Despite the hangover, and having to fly home early, I felt refreshed and ready to take on the usually boring life at home again. It always filled me with energy if I could get out of the usual rhythm, and this time maybe the new contact in my phone helped too. To the stage that Seb was giving me curious looks when we got into the car already, and even more when just looking at the meaningless device made me smile a little wider.

[onepiecereactions]

Vice-Admiral Smoker and the joys of administration, OS

Smoker, Tashigi, Garp, Kizaru OS.

Humour.

Warning vulgarity.

2100 words.

English Version

Vice-Admiral Smoker and the joys of administration

Smoker hated coming backfrom a mission. Don't get me wrong, he loves his job! But two things annoyed him the most about these moments.

On the one hand, that meant not going on the sea for at least a few weeks. Indeed, Marineford had established a complex system of turnover of vice-admirals so, with some exceptions, at least 3 vice admirals are always present on the base in case of necessity.

The feeling of freedom, feeling the air on his face, not being locked, that was what made Smoker happy deep inside him. That and the feeling of having helped the citizens and brought some justice back to this damn world, obviously.

On the other hand, returning to base meant a horrible administrative mountain. And just thinking about it, headaches were already migrating through the vice-admiral's head. Luckily, Tashigi was always ready to help him and do some of his duties to let him rest.

So it was with a heavy heart that Smoker set foot on the base for the first time after months of mission. While Tashigi was already rushing into his office with the firm intention of working all night to do her report on time, Smoker was walking mechanically to his private apartments. He threw his dirty jacket on the floor, took a long, hot shower, and get into his bed, already cursing tomorrow's hellish day.

The next morning the vice-admiral woke up in a bad mood. He grabbed his jacket that he had left on the soaked bathroom floor and sighed: it was ruined. As resistant as the clothes made by Marineford are, staying intact when you get cannonballs in your back is complicated. And Smoker, unlike many of the women on the base, hated walking around topless.

So his first resolution of the day was to go find a new jacket. And of course, he was going to ask Tashigi to do it for him. At first, as a man of integrity, Smoker was remorseful about leaving so many of his tasks to his colleague, even if the latter was doing wonderfully. But after several years in Marineford, honestly, now he didn't care.

So he grabbed his den den mushis and called the brunette. After several seconds of waiting, Tashigi did not pick up. Smoker worried, it was very unusual for the young woman who had a reputation for answering even when she was asleep.

He then quickly took two cigars from his desk, threw his dead jacket over his back, and walked quickly to his office.

Misfortune never happening alone, of course, on the way he passed Admiral Kizaru. The latter joined him in his race to his office and took the opportunity to discuss. The Yellow Admiral had the reputation of loving to talk, much to the misfortune of Smoker who loved calm above all else.

"Oh, tell me dear friend, are the holes in the jacket a new fashion? I know that I am no longer very young but still, I don’t understant. Is it to provide a ventilation system? Don't tell me you have a fever my dear friend? Do you want me to call the dear caregivers of the "

Kizaru didn't even have time to finish his monologue when he got the door of Smoker's office in the face. The latter had already crushed his cigars to refrain from hitting the high-ranking officer in the face.

Once he was sure he heard the yellow monkey leave, he got into the chair across from his desk and reached into the second drawer to extract two new cigars.

After a few seconds of enjoying the smoke reaching his lungs, Smoker grabbed the stationary den den mushi of his desk and, as he went to call Tashigi, a note stuck to the back of his device intrigued him.

"Even though I warned you last night, that I sent you an official mail 48 hours before and that I slipped a note under the door of your apartment, I want to remind you, just in case, that I am absent that day until 7:30 p.m. All the captains have a meeting. I wish you a very nice day. Captain TASHIGI. "

Oh shit. For a little Smoker could have cried. It was certainly one of the worst announcements he could receive. No Tashigi. No Tashigi for a whole day! One more day after a mission! All the calls and assignments she receives today will go straight back to him, her boss! In addition to her work he was going to have to do his own! With holes in his jacket.

Smoker decided to go on strike. The schedule for that day was already far too scary to be able to live it. A thousand times he would have preferred to fight against Monkey D Luffy rather than going through it.

He then decided he would do what was necessary. He got up quickly from his seat, crashed out of his office and almost ran towards Building C. It was barely nine in the morning but the Vice Admiral thought he was fainting when he saw the huge queue in front of the door. . Obviously, it was Monday, and those morons in the administrative sector never worked weekends.

He then did like everyone else, walked over to the door to grab a numbered ticket, sat down on one of the few free seats and waited.

To his left was an ordinary soldier, without a shirt and pants, just his underwear. Smoker could smell a familiar scent of magma. Akainu had made his own again during the training of his subordinates.

Smoker looked at his ticket, number 38 and sighed. As he was about to improvise a nap while waiting his turn, his portable den den mushis rang.

"Vice-Admiral Smoker, I'm listening. » He said wearily.

The soldier at the other end of the line looked surprised to find the Vice Admiral and not the Captain. “Captain Tashigi is in a meeting, her calls are being redirected to me. If it's not urgent hang up ". Without further ado, the soldier hung up to the vice-admiral's delight.

1 hour later.

"I swear in front of Gol D Roger that if that damn den den mushi rings one more time I will blow his head against the wall." Grumbled the marine for the third time in a minute.

After an hour of waiting and 15 calls, the Vice Admiral was finally called into the room.

He almost tore his jacket from his back, put it violently on the desk while trying to keep his nerves and glared at the woman in front of him who remained unmoved.

"Vice Admiral Smoker, registration number XXXX, I need a new model 3 series AB size 98 jacket with option 13". Smoker had been clear, to the point, and hardly angry.

The woman, who was well into her fiftieth, looked at him indifferently.

“It doesn't work like that, vice-admiral. She said in a weary voice, as if she was talking to the first moron in the area.

Smoker struggled not to crush his cigars again but revised himself to think it would be difficult to face this without cigars.

"So how do you do in this case?" He asked sharply.

The woman didn't even bother to answer him, she just gave him a form. Smoker thought it was a big joke when he found himself with a five-page double-sided document in his hands.

" Are you kinding me ? Five fucking pages for a fucking jacket? Can't you just write 22 fucking words on a fucking post it note and talk about it? Bellowed the Vice Admiral who was already starting to turn to smoke in annoyance.

"Blblblbl, blblblbl, blbllb" The den den mushi began to ring, straining Smoker's last strength to stay calm.

" It's not my fault ". The woman began in a slow, boring voice.

Blblblbl, blbllblb, blbllb

"If you are too stupid"

Blblblb, blblbl, blbllb

"To complete a simple form"

Blblbllbbl, blblbl

"That even Kizaru gets to"

Blblbl, SCRATCH.

The vice-admiral's den den mushi flew across the room, finishing its course into the wall.

To the slow voice of the woman was added the tears of the den den mushi.

"FUCK OF," Smoker yelled as he stormed out of the room to make sure his fist didn't end up in the woman's face. He went out like a madman and locked himself in his office to try to find calm and serenity.

He grabbed a third cigar and after about ten minutes of relaxation began to fill out the damn form. He was only halfway through when the door to his office slammed open, knocking out the lustrous wood that had already received quite a few knocks.

"Ah my dear friend, I went to the infirmary and got you some medicine to lower your temperature. But beware, this is a suppository! ".

Smoker felt his heart stop beating when he saw the yellow admiral's face in front of his nose.

Blblblb, blbllb

"Oh my dear friend I think someone is trying to reach you on your stationary den den mushi. "

Blblblb, blbllb

"Maybe you should answer, maybe it's urgent, don't you think? "

Blblblbl, blbllb

Smoker had a vision. The den den mushi stuck, smeared with haki, right in the middle of the admiral's face, his nose bleeding.

It took phenomenal self-control for the vice-admiral not to reproduce his impulses. For the second time, he chooses to escape.

He took a pen with him to finish filling out the damn file that had become completely unreadable so much he had massacred it.

He found himself in front of the lingerie door, walked past all the soldiers and walked into the office. He barely had time to put a foot inside when he felt a stapler cross his face with its smoke.

"I DON'T THINK I CALLED YOUR NUMBER!" Yelled the woman who had "briefed" him earlier.

Smoker crushed the doorknob but stayed calm. He turned around, took a ticket from the machine, and sat down in the only seat available: the one next to Vice-Admiral Garp. "

Smoker sighed and prayed to all the gods that this old fool would leave him in peace.

So he settled down next to him and inspected him discreetly. He then realized that the old man's uniform was impeccably worn if the traces of grease were omitted from his shirt from all the donuts he had. But the Marineford hero wasn’t wearing socks.

"Don't ask questions kid." The grandfather simply told him when he met Smoker's gaze.

"Hey Smoker, I heard you're after my grandson. Did you know that when he was young he used to have fun sticking his finger up his nose to eat his boogers? Except that this stupid pirate, as he is elastic, he always ended up bleeding from the nose. Suddenly he would start screaming and running in all directions. Most of the time he would smash into a tree or a wall and fall apart, by the time the bleeding ended. Did you also know he got clean very late? I had to buy him pyjamas with an opening pocket on the buttocks because he never managed to undo his buttons and ended up pooping on himself? Ah and also the time when ”.

Smoker wanted to: die.

Blblblb, blbllbl

A mirage ? a hallucination?

"Vice-Admiral Garp, I'm listening. Ah hi Sengoku, how are you? A fishing trip? Now ? Ah I'm coming. By the way, don't you have pairs of socks to lend me? »And so the Vice Admiral disappeared through the maze of hallways, much to Smoker's delight.

It took no less than forty-five additional minutes of waiting for Smoker to finally put the damn file in the damn good drawer which, by chance again, was in building A and, as it happened, no administrative soldier was available to take the paper which he therefore had to deposit himself.

The same day, at 10 p.m.

"A call for you Vice Admiral Smoker." The bartender handed the den den mushi to the vice-admiral, who took a last sip of sake before answering.

"Good evening Vice-Admiral, I hope you had a good day! » Tashigi began. "I was wondering why you weren't answering den den mushi... I received an official document for you. It involves a fine for "disrespecting an administrative colleague" as well as a two-week ban from returning to the lingerie office. Is everything okay ”.

"I STILL PREFER TO WALK NAKED THAN TO RETURN TO THIS OFFICE".

[star-lemonade]

Chapter 5: Casserole

Series rating: R  (AO3: E)

Warnings: polyamory, marking, mentions of pegging, smut

Word count: 5k

Genre: Smut, romance

Female Reader x A.C.E Byeongkwan, Female Reader x A.C.E Sehyoon

beta-ed! Thanks so much to @Alexing1061

Masterlist

 |

Chapter Index

Summary: You admit your crush on Sehyoon and after an apparent rejection, Sehyoon has to make a confession of his own.

If you don’t enjoy reading about relationships that involve more than two people, this story is not for you

Taglist: @multistan-net

The cafe was comfortably warm. While waiting in the queue you rubbed your hands. A cold had settled into the streets of the city and it would take some time inside before you could feel your fingers again.

You ordered two coffees and sat down at one of the small tables. No sooner had you settled down, the door opened and Sehyoon entered. You waved and he waved back, a little smile on his face.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

He peck you on the lips and seated himself opposite you. The long, black coat matched his dark suit and white shirt in its professionalism. He looked like the hip CEO of a startup.

“So. How did it go?”

You were on the edge of your seat, wanting to know how the talk with his boss had gone. Before he could answer, a figure appeared next to you. The waitress smiled and set the mugs of coffee down. You thank her and she left. Sehyoon sipped on his coffee, lost in some thought, but you were still waiting.

“So?”

A smile broke on his face. He leaned forward, beaming and said:

“I got a raise.”

“Oh my god! Congrats!”

You took his hands and shook them violently to release your happiness. This was amazing news for him. Although he had been at his company for years they had underpaid him. If Sehyoon had gone somewhere else, he could have made more. That was why you and Byeongkwan had joined forces and persuaded him to talk to his boss.

In your celebration you had somehow landed in his lap. Some of the other customers, but especially the two young women at the table next to yours, glared disapprovingly.

“He matched the offer I got from that other company. So, let’s get something nice to eat after I get my salary.”

You nodded and kissed him. It ended too fast, but you were in a cafe. Sehyoon reluctantly let go of you and you sat back on your chair.

“Talking about fancy dinners. Someone from work invited me for dinner with her husband. Do you wanna go with me?”

Having to spend an evening alone with her and her husband did not seem like a good time. You needed backup there.

“Sure.”

He offered you his hand and you took it. Despite walking outside in the cold, his hands were warm.

“Oh, are you cold?”

Without waiting for an answer your hand was sandwiched between his. He rubbed your hand and slowly the cold faded.

“The other one is cold too.”

Pouting, you showed your other hand. He smiled and gave it that same treatment. What a good way to stay warm.

The weak sun hung deep in the blue sky and the cold was already lurking in the shadows. An almost magical feeling hung in the air. First Christmas decorations had appeared in the shop windows and some trees in the park had been hung with small lights. You stood at the entrance of the small park and waited. It was Friday late afternoon and the street was packed with shoppers. You scanned their faces but so far you had not seen him. For some reason you felt nervous. Even though Sehyoon had expressed his delight at the thought of you and Byeongkwan going on a date, it still felt odd. It would take time to get used to.

A figure waved. You saw him on the other side of the street waiting for the crosswalk. Byeongkwan wore a puffy jacket, loose fit work out pants and a beanie. The thick scarf hid half his face.

“Hey!”

“Hi!”

You threw your arms around him and he chuckled. When you pull back he would not let you get away. He pecked your lips once and as you were about to protest, he kissed you. You moved your lips against his. His lips were wonderful. They were warm and soft, exactly what you needed right now. For a moment you forgot that you were outside, on the street with people around you.

“… I’m really happy with how the students are doing, that choreography was pretty hard for them.”

You walked slowly along the path as joggers and shoppers passed. It felt nice to spend time with Byeongkwan again. You slipped your hand between his arm and his upper body. Walking arm in arm around the park felt like a scene from a movie.

Byeongkwan had come off work a little earlier so you could meet, when it was still daylight. The sun set earlier each day.

“Well, I’m sure it has nothing to do with you being a good teacher.”

A smile tucked at the corners of his mouth and he petted your hand on his arm.

“Thanks.”

The sun was disappearing behind the buildings and you shivered, snuggling closer to Byeongkwan.

A couple passed with some delicious smelling food. That reminded you …

“Do you wanna have dinner with me?”

Just as you asked, you walked past an entrance to the park. Byeongkwan and you had completed a round.

“I thought that’s what we were going to do anyways.”

You had not actually decided anything beforehand. It had just been a vague declaration of “we want to spend time together”. On your phone you had a short list of recipes you liked.

“What do you think about this?”

Byeongkwan checked the recipe on your phone and nodded.

“Sounds good but I don’t think there are any of that at the apartment.”

You went to the store to pick up the groceries. There were surprisingly few people around and you flew through the aisles, picking out all the ingredients. Because this was an unfamiliar supermarket it took a while to get everything. You had read somewhere that the layouts of stores were confusing on purpose to keep you there longer. While in the line for the checkout you and Byeongkwan held hands like it was the most normal thing. No one was paying any attention to this and smiled to yourself because you knew a secret they did not.

Outside the store it was freezing. Byeongkwan looked around before starting to walk.

“Where are we going?”

He headed in the direction of the next subway station.

“To Sehni’s place.”

The sun had made way for the biting cold of the night and your breath rose, puffs of fog. Each of you carried a bag with ingredients.

“Isn’t your apartment closer?”

He looked in both directions before crossing the small side street. A sign at the next corner marked the entrance to the subway.

“My apartment is … very practical.”

Byeongkwan pulled the zipper of his jacket higher. His scarf was also back in his face. You hurried to the stairs that promised escape from the cold.

“I basically use it for storage only at this point.”

Indeed the air got warmer as you descended underground. The glass doors at the bottom of the stairs released a stale, warm wind from inside the subway station.

“So you moved in with Sehni?”

Your voice echoed from the tiled walls of the hallway that lead to more stairs going down.

“I mean, It would be great to have an actual shared apartment, where I have all my stuff…”

This topic was dropped, when you saw that your train had arrived and you both ran to get to the door. Inside the car was packed with people and way too warm for your thick coat. Byeongkwan unzipped his jacket and you seized the opportunity to sneak your cold hands under it and around his chest. Compared to Sehni’s broad shoulders and massive chest, Byeongkwan seemed rather petite but his body felt solid and warm. Your head rested on his shoulder and he kissed your hair before burying his nose in it. In this position the ride with the subway could have lasted forever. You loved it.

Sehyoon‘s apartment was deserted and dark when you arrived. Its owner was currently spending his evening with some friends which was partially why you were with Byeongkwan on this day instead of him. Date night was date night, today just with someone else.

The small hallway with the built-in closet opened into the open kitchen and living room with the only other rooms being the bedroom and the bathroom. The kitchen was separated from the living room with a counter that also added more space for cutting and working. On the living room side of the counter stood a small table with two chairs where you had had breakfast with Byeongkwan last time.

For dinner you had opted for something simple to make, a casserole. While you made the sauce, Byeongkwan cut the vegetables into small cubes and you watched with half your attention. He had rolled up the sleeves of his black sweater so they would not get stained and the muscles in his forearms moved as he cut. His skin was very pale against the dark fabric and even to your surprise you found yourself thinking about leaving a hickey somewhere on him. How it would look when you sucked at the skin. It would turn red and you would have done that. The thought was exciting. Now where would you put one? The neck was an obvious answer but not one you liked. A bit tacky. On his chest maybe? Not as obvious but you would know it is there. Maybe if he wore a low cut shirt the mark would be visible. Everyone could see someone did that to him.

“What is it?”

He did not even look up from his vegetables and your brain needed a moment to register that he had addressed you.

“What?”

You echoed. I think I stared. Damn. I stared.

“What were you thinking while licking your lips like that?”

“Ehm…”

The cutting stopped and he looked at you expecting an answer, but you were a bit too embarrassed to tell him. He would think it’s weird that I want to essentially bruise his skin.

“Come on, spill.” He pressed and when you reverted your attention to the sauce, he put down the knife and wrapped you in a back hug. He kissed your neck and it tickled.

“Tell me!”

Perk. It tickled.

“No!”

You wound in his grap. Tickling.

“Come on!”

You ducked your head trying to limit his excess. Your face was hurting from laughing.

“Tell me!”

Breaking out from his grasp seemed impossible. You could hardly breath.

“Okay, okay. I will tell you.”

He let you go, gently turning you towards him, but you looked down, catching your breath. You had to tell him because you would not survive another assault like this.

“I was thinking about … how I wanted to … ehm … leave hickeys on you.”

Oh boy, I said it. He will think I’m weird.

“Okay.”

You looked up at that. Definitely not the reaction you had expected. Byeongkwan did not seem particularly distressed about this and went back to cutting the vegetables.

The sauce had thankfully not burned while you had almost died from laughing. You watched Byeongkwan from the corner of your eye. His reaction has been so odd, it bothered you. You wanted to know why he was so calm about this.

When he was done with the vegetables, you stacked the casserole. The oven was hot and you opened it.

“How long will it take?”

He asked with a slightly husky voice, when you placed the dish in the oven.

“About an hour.”

You started the timer set for 50 minutes. Then you would have to put the cheese on it and increase the temperature for a good finish.

“Good.”

Byeongkwan’s hand landed on your shoulder and turned you around. His eyes were dark and his hands wrapped around your middle. Okay, so that is where this will go.

He crashed your lips together and backed you up against the counter. The kiss was desperate and your stomach clenched as his hands slid into your hair. Secretly you had been thinking about him all week, since you had decided to meet.

You could feel him, half hard, pressing against you and moaned quietly. He used your weak moment and slipped his tongue into your mouth. The counter was pressing uncomfortably against you back but you could endure it for a bit longer if it meant having him kiss you like this. It made your knees like rubber. What ever cold had remained from outside was now driven out. You felt hot. Breathing would be nice though. You broke the kiss to get some air and saw the pupils of his eyes blown out with the want.

“Come.”

He took your hand and you followed him to the bedroom feeling like a lovesick teenager. Giddy and beaming from ear to ear. The bedroom was mostly unchanged from last time except the sheets on the bed were now a dark blue.

Byeongkwan sat down on the bed and pulled you into his lap, his arms secure around your waist. His soft lips moved slowly against yours as your fingers buried themselves in his silky hair, lightly pulling at it. He moaned, low and quiet, into your mouth and you rolled your hips in his lap for some friction. You were getting a bit worked up too.

He broke the kiss and pulled his sweater over his head leaving him in a dark, soft t-shirt. You took the hint and removed your pullover. His hands were under the hem of your t-shirt immediately, gently rubbing your lower back as you continued to kiss. The feeling of his lips was addicting, you did not want him to stop clouding your mind.

“So you want to leave a mark, hm?”

He purred into your ear before kissing down your neck that you presented willingly to him. An affirmative noise was all you could muster. Coherent sentences were not possible at the moment.

“I got a suggestion as to where.” He leaned back slightly and you looked at him, head spinning with the need of wanting him inside you. You got gently pushed off his lap and you stood up with shaky legs, watching as he pulled the t-shirt over his head and opened the button of his jeans. Okay, wow. You could not decide where to look first. He had beautifully defined muscles and his pale skin was begging for you to mark it. The fact that he wanted this too had alleviated all concerns and guilt you had felt.

Your hands flew to his abs like metal to a magnet and ran down towards the bulge in his pants but never reached it because he laid back on the bed. He pulled the jeans and the hem of his underwear down exposing more of his perfect stomach.

“What do you think about here?”

His finger ran over the area that was previously hidden just under the waistband of his jeans. The thought of putting a hickey there made your mouth water and you swallowed hard. The smile on his face was down right evil as you pulled down his pants and the underwear the rest of the way. He positioned himself in the middle of the bed. You ran your tongue over the area in question, earning shiver from him, before starting to suck and bite. The way he responded made you even more wet. The sucking in of air, was followed by a higher pitched moan and his hand landed on your head. He had a hard time keeping still and shifted slightly under you. His fingers were tangled in your hair. You pulled away to look at your work. The area was a deep red and Byeongkwan was panting audibly, he looked uncomfortably hard.

“Do you want to ride me?”

It sounded more like a plea than like a question.

“yes.”

You could not get out of your clothes fast enough. He got a condom from the bedside table, rolling it on. You straddled him and rocked your hips forward along the length of his hard penis before aligning it under you. You let yourself slide down on it until he was completely inside you and your hips met. As you had not even fingered yourself the stretch was almost painful, but so good at the same time. You rolled your hips and his hand caressed your thighs.

“You feel so good.”

His hips twitched a little under you, trying so hard not to thrust up. Your hand traveled up his body and landed on his chest that you proceeded to use as rest as you lifted your hips and pushed down into him again. His arms supported your motion. A sharp pain in your knee made you stop. _Okay, then I have to do it differently. _You opted for rolling and grinding against him instead.

With your hands on his thighs, slightly bent back was the perfect angle. The pressure on your clit and g spot was making you light headed. You felt your whole body tense and you held your breath. So good. His cute moans pushed you over the edge and you rode your orgasm out while looking into his eyes.

“Can you continue?”

His voice was tense, his face and neck flushed pink. Some hair stuck to his sweaty forehead. You nodded and rolled your hips into him again avoiding your oversensitive clit touching anything. He closed his eyes and moaned again. It motivated you to push through the uncomfortableness. You let his hands guide your hips. He looked beautiful, with his pink cheeks and half opened mouth. He came with a loud, half-suppressed moan.

Thankfully the casserole did not burn while you had been in the bedroom. You turned up the heat for the last 10 minutes to get a good crust and went to the bathroom to clean yourself up.

“Here.”

Byeongkwan handed you a sweater and some fluffy pants.

“Thanks.”

The clothes smelled of the detergent that they used. You sniffed at it as you walked back to the kitchen and turned off the oven. The casserole smelled delicious.

Byeongkwan joined you not long after in the kitchen. He set the table and you placed the hot dish on it.

“It smells amazing.”

You helped yourself to some food. It was very hot and despite your hunger, you forced yourself to eat slowly. Byeongkwan’s hair was still wet from the short shower. You wanted to hug him. I guess the sex made me soft for him.

Thankfully the kitchen had a dishwasher. Washing everything by hand would have been awful. You settled down on the couch after loading the dishwasher and Byeongkwan turned on the tv. The hoodie he was wearing was too big for him and made him look very cute. He laid down and you snuggled up against his chest.

You continued the series you had watched the last time. Despite the warmth coming from Byeongkwan your back felt cold and you shivered.

“Are you cold?”

“A bit.”

He pulled out a blanket from under his head and threw it over you.

“Thanks.”

You did not pay that much attention to the story unfolding on screen. The position you were in was too relaxing. You were surrounded by warmth, secure in Byeongkwan’s arms. He stroked your hair. It was so gentle that it made your heart arche.

“Kwanie…”

You did not know what you wanted to say, so you just snuggled closer to him, if that was possible. His breathing had become very steady and when you looked up you saw that he was asleep. It’s very nice laying like this, but it won’t be comfortable to sleep here all night.

“Kwanie!”

You shook him gently. He stirred and groaned.

“Let’s go to bed.”

The sun woke you up the next morning._ _Byeongkwan was next to you, still asleep. His hair was disheveled and you wanted to pet it. He however was not the only other person on the bed. Sehyoon laid half on top of him, also sleeping. You had not noticed when he had gotten home or had entered the bedroom. Either he had been very quiet or you had slept like a stone.

As quietly as possible you stood up and opened the door. It creaked. You went to the bathroom.

When you came back, Byeongkwan had turned around and they were facing each other. His eyes were open now and he listened to Sehyoon talking. His voice was too quiet for you to understand anything but it sounded a bit husky. One hand was drawing circles on Byeongkwan’s bare shoulder, but now Sehyoon pulled him into a hug. You felt like you were intruding. _Maybe I should go shower first and give them some space? But I still gotta get something to wear. _You decided to just announce your presence.

“Good morning.”

You said and they both perked up. For a very short moment Byeongkwan was surprised and Sehyoon confused. It was only a moment. Then Kwanie beamed at you and Sehni gave you a smile that could melt ice instantly. Sehyoon looked very tired and you wondered when he had actually come back.

“I will make breakfast!”

Byeongkwan peeled himself out of his boyfriend’s embrace and got up. He collected his hoodie and pants from the chair next to the bed. Before he could leave however Sehyoon half-shouted: “Wait! What’s that?!”

“Huh? What is what?”

Byeongkwan looked down and you followed the outstretched arm too. It pointed to the hem of Byeongkwan‘s underwear. There something red and blue was peeking out. The mark from yesterday evening. Your face was instantly hot and your heart hammered in your chest.

“Wow.” Sehyoon reached over and ran a finger over the skin. Byeongkwan bit his lip. _There are no other marks on him so I guess Sehni doesn’t do this. _Yesterday the thought of other people seeing the mark on Byeongkwan was a huge turn on but now that Sehyoon was examining it, you felt anxious. As if he had heard your thoughts, Sehyoon looked at you, then up at his boyfriend’s face.

He smiled softly. “You two? Huh?”

A pout replaced the smile as he sank down on the bed again. “And you didn’t even tell me?”

He looked back and forth from you to his boyfriend.

“Ugh.. I …”

You stammered.

“Don’t make her feel bad.”

Byeongkwan lightly slapped him.

“I’m not mad, just.. I wanna know things too. Come here!”

He spread his arms and you jumped on the bed, into his embrace.

“You smell like a liquid store.”

Sehyoon laughed and kissed the top of your head. Byeongkwan joined you on the bed, embracing both of you.

“My head hurts.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Byeongkwan pecked his lips and got up. He left for the kitchen and you got to enjoy a moment with Sehyoon. You wrapped your arms around him and snuggled against his chest.

“How was it yesterday? When did you come home?”

Your voice was muffled by his shirt. Sehyoon groaned and rubbed his eyes.

“3 am, I think?”

You had been asleep then for sure.

“A friend had a bad break up and I had to take care of him.”

He tightened his embrace as if he was afraid you would leave too. So that’s why he is this hungover. Usually he doesn’t really get drunk. You kissed his cheek. Poor Sehni, he needs some extra care today.

“I need to drink something and shower. Let’s get up.”

You got some clothes from your backpack that you had brought the day before and took a quick shower. The hot water was a blessing.

Sehyoon had made coffee and Byeongkwan set the small table. There was a problem though. The table was only for two. Two chairs.

“You two eat, I will have coffee first.”

The mug in Sehyoon’s hand steamed. He leaned against the kitchen counter and watched as you sat down opposite Byeongkwan.

“I need a bigger apartment.”

Friday had become your favorite day of the week. It was the day when you spent time with Sehyoon and Byeongkwan. Either with one of them or sometimes with both. You would have movie nights and clubbing with Byeongkwan, long talks and cuddling on the couch with Sehyoon.

On this particular Friday you went to their apartment for a game night. Three was a good number to play any number of games. It was not as boring as playing with two. You did not know what game they had in mind, just that it was a cooperative one.

You arrived at the building at about half past six with a backpack. They had told you not to worry about food and drinks, but you still needed something to wear. Secretly you loved wearing their clothes. You did not know whose clothes were actually in the closet. There was no indication of who owned what. Byeongkwan tended to wear a looser fit, so everything except the suits seemed to be comunal.

Sehyoon opened the door and you fell into his arms. The thick fabric of his sweater was perfect to just sink into. Sehyoon felt warm and solid in your arms. You let your weight rest on him. He held you up as if it was nothing.

“We’re gonna play something later. Are you sure you can play like this?”

Holding onto him tighter was the only answer you gave him and he chuckled.

“How about you give me some love too?”

The pout in Byeongkwan’s voice made you smile. Being left out was not something he liked. If there was cuddling while he was in the room, it had to involve him as well.

“Okay.”

You let go of Sehyoon and moved on to the next victim. Byeongkwan was almost drowning in his clothes. The fluffy tie-dye hoodie was the cutest thing.

“Hard week?”

His voice was soft against your hair. _Had _it been a hard week? One of your colleagues had been sick since Sunday which meant all their work had to be done by other people. So in addition to your own work you also had to do a bunch of other things that you were barely familiar with. To get everything done in time you had to work over time. You had even fought your boss to get off work so you could be there on time. It was not like your boyfriends would not understand and more like you did not live for your company. You had to have leisure time too.

“Yes…. I missed you.”

“Aww. We’ll have a nice relaxed evening, okay?”

He kissed the top of your head and patted your back.

On the couch table they had already set up a board game. The map vaguely reminded you of fantasy novels.

“Here.”

Byeongkwan handed you the manual. The game they had bought was like an easier version of dungeons and dragons. Each of you played a different character with a specific skill set. You had to work together to fulfill the mission and win the game.

The time constraints of the game were what made it interesting. Indeed you lost the round.

“Let’s order some food and try again.”

Sehyoon handled the actual ordering and you decided to prepare some plates. Eating out of the container was okay, but you prefer something that was not cardboard. Byeongkwan joined you in the kitchen.

“I think, if we spread out more next round we will do better. We waste too much time by trying to go long distances.”

He nodded absentmindedly and made himself a tea. I guess the game is not where his thoughts are.

Byeongkwan studied your face. Something he did when he wanted to say something but could not quite bring himself to say it.

“What is it?”

He pursed his lips and sized you up. Is something wrong with my outfit?

“What do you think about pegging?”

It was as if he had hit you between the eyes. You were dumbfounded. Byeongkwan took a sip from his drink without breaking eye contact. He just loved making you blush didn’t he?

“Ehm..”

You were not sure what to say really.

“You know what that means, do you?”

You nodded stiffly. Why am I this speechless?

“It’s just, I have never done that.”

Good, so you can speak.

His expression softened.

“That’s okay, but do you want to?”

His eyes glittered as he waited for your answer. Byeongkwan however was not the only one who was waiting. Sehyoon had sat down on the other side of the kitchen counter and watched with eyes wide open. He looked like someone who did not want to miss a single detail.

“Maybe she needs to … see some arguments for that.”

Sehyoon offered to Byeongkwan. Arguments? Why does that sound like code??

Byeongkwan had this evil glitter in his eyes. He had something in mind. You swallowed hard. In a motion so fluid it could only come from someone with a lot of body control, he leaned forward, his arms outstretched over the counter. The position showed off his firm ass. The way he arched his back made the air catch in your throat.

Sehyoon exhaled and the sound snapped you back to reality.

“This is too much tension for me.”

Byeongkwan straigthened again and looked at Sehyoon who walked away.

“How about you get to watch?”

Sehyoon froze mid step. He had voiced on several occasions that he wanted to watch, so this really got his attention.

“What do you say?”

Without thinking about it your hand landed on Byeongkwan’s ass. A triumphant smile appeared and your face burned. Maybe that had been a bit much.

“Yes and yes.”

Sehyoon whistled and Byeongkwan kissed you.

[hyucks-archive]

perhaps; maybe.

word count: 9,765

genre: romance, angst

member(s): mark, featuring donghyuck, jeno, and the other dreamies

warning(s): none!

author’s note: this actually started out as a fluff fic but i guess i haven’t gotten over angst yet

Mark watches the students stroll into the lecture hall one by one, the conversation that his friends are having slowly dwindling into background noise. Mark props an arm on the table, resting his chin in his palm, noticing how majority of the students have their earbuds plugged in, a coffee or tea in hand. He too, grew up hearing the anecdotes of how college life is always lonely and independent, and that most would hang around campus without friends. It’s different for Mark, though. He’s lucky enough to be taking the same degree as some of his friends. He’s even luckier that all of his friend group belong to this university.

When the twelfth student walks in, he notices how the aura that surrounds this person is significantly different from the rest. Cladded in a full black outfit, Mark notices how unlike the others, you don’t have music playing in your ears, neither do you have a cup of beverage in hand. In fact, it doesn’t even look like you have anything in the tote you have slung on your shoulder. Mark watches as you take a seat by the left aisle, two rows in front of the row he’s situated in.

“What are you staring at?” Jeno interrupts, leaning shoulder-to-shoulder with Mark. He follows in the direction Mark’s eyes are looking in, to be greeted by your unwelcoming back. “Why are you staring at that kid?” Jeno questions. Mark shrugs. Mark remembers seeing you around campus numerous times, even more frequently in lectures, and consistently in that one tutorial class the two of you have in common. He has always noticed something different about you; maybe it’s your aura, or maybe it’s just Mark being the curious boy he is. The common baseline is that you intrigue him, and you somehow always manage to catch his attention, whether you know it or not.

“Are you guys staring at 06?” Donghyuck chimes in, resting his arm on Jeno’s shoulder. The three boys are now collectively staring at the big ‘0’ and ‘6’ printed on the back of your letterman jacket, that clearly does not categorise you into any athletic club, neither is it merchandise from the university. “Do you guys know 06?” Mark questions, turning to face his two friends. Jeno shakes his head, while Donghyuck is more than eager to share. “I hear 06’s really chill. Doesn’t ‘do’ friends,” he says, using his fingers to make inverted commas at the word ‘do’, “Doesn’t really care for school either. 06 kind of just,” Donghyuck takes a pause, trying to think of the right word. He settles for, “Exists.”

Mark and Jeno nod their heads in understanding. Mark resettles his gaze on the back of your head. Jeno nudges him, “You interested in 06 or something?”

Mark recalls the one time he’s ever heard you speak. It was during a tutorial, where you were pinpointed to answer. He had never thought much of you before that, simply falling into the assumption that you are one of the introverted kids who prefers to keep to themselves. But the way you stood up confidently, and the way your booming voice captured the entire class, painted you in a completely different light compared to what Mark had imagined. He had always thought that you’d have a soft, timid voice, afraid to make a mistake, like most of the other quiet kids. But when he saw the way you answered the professor’s question without any doubt or fear of being wrong, he realised you were different.

He takes a moment to ponder upon Jeno’s question. “06 is,” Mark pauses, pursing his lips, “Interesting.”

Donghyuck scans the café, finally spotting Renjun, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung by the large glass panel. “Over there,” he says, leading the way. Mark and Jeno follow behind, exchanging smiles and small waves with their friends. “You guys already ordered?” Donghyuck says, reaching for Renjun’s fork. Renjun slaps the boy’s hand away, “Get your own cake,” he chimes. Donghyuck mimics him in an annoyingly high tone, switching targets. He’s now going for Chenle’s cake. Chenle lets him eat it.

“I’ll order,” Mark offers, “What do you guys want?” he asks, directing his question at Donghyuck and Jeno. “I’ll have my usual,” Jeno says, to which Mark nods his head. Donghyuck looks past Mark’s shoulders, trying to get a view of the menu, but something else catches his eye instead. It’s the very familiar back view with the big ‘06’ printed on that he had discussed with his friends about earlier. “Hey, it’s 06 again,” Donghyuck comments, gesturing in your direction with his chin.

“06?” Renjun murmurs, furrowing his eyebrows as he looks in the direction where Donghyuck had guided towards. He squints his eyes, finding the face of the owner of the letterman jacket to be fairly familiar. When he realises it’s you, he snaps his fingers, “Ah, I know 06,” Renjun exclaims. Mark’s interest is immediately piqued. He turns to look at Renjun, “You know 06?”

“Yeah, 06’s in my ethics class,” he says.

“Is it true? 06 is really chill and doesn’t have any friends?” Jeno asks.

“06 is probably the most carefree person I’ve ever met,” Renjun describes, “Doesn’t care what people think. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve even seen 06 smile.” Renjun thinks back to the many times he has seen you in class. You always donned the same blank expression, even when the class would erupt in laughter at the lecturer’s or the students’ jokes. He had wondered for a brief moment if you simply weren’t paying attention, but when you had shared your opinion that made everyone cackle in their seats, you remained neutral with your poker face.

The topic is dropped when Chenle begins to talk about an incident that happened in class today. Mark heads to join the queue to order. He happens to be standing behind you.

Though there is a good amount of distance between the two of you, Mark is still able to pick up the subtle scent of clean linen that diffuses from you. It’s extremely pleasant and welcoming, a contrast from your cold and unamiable aura. Mark watches as you reach into your tote bag, aggressively digging around for something. He isn’t able to see your expression, for your back is still turned against him. He however, manages to catch the, “Shit,” that escapes from your mouth.

You furrow your eyebrows, flipping the minimal items you have in your tote bag around, desperate to find your card or some loose change. In your rush this morning, you had forgotten your wallet on the dining table back home. You groan, running a frustrated hand through your hair. You sigh, about to leave the line, when a low voice speaks from behind, “Do you need help?” You jump at the suddenness, turning around to look up to be greeted by a black-haired boy who has on an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he says. You notice how defined his cheekbones are, how his cheeks sink in slightly with his smile. You aren’t sure if you’re just seeing things, but you swear you noticed for a second that his eyes were twinkling.

Realising that you’ve been staring for a tad bit too long, you immediately avoid eye contact, snapping back to your senses. You shake your head. “It’s fine,” you say, taking the first step to move out of the line. The boy stops you, “You’re not ordering anymore?” he asks. This time, you notice how his brows are raised, a tiny mole on his left cheek, his lips seemingly forming a ‘o’. Usually, you’d just walk away murmuring your answer, but this boy seemed genuinely too nice for you to just ignore.

“I uh,” you bite down on your lower lip, “Forgot my wallet.”

You were expecting the conversation to end, but the boy only giggles at your issue. He tilts his head to the side a little, “I’ll pay,” he says. From the sincere smile that he’s giving you, you can tell that he means what he said. But, you still shake your head, refusing to be indebted to some stranger you happened to meet on campus. You’d have no way of repaying him, aside from deliberately meeting up with him; another thing you didn’t want, the risk of becoming personally acquainted to someone.

“Too late,” he says, giving you a light shove, “It’s your turn to order.”

You’re unable to register the situation fully, the barista greeting you with a polite smile. “What would you like?” he asks, ready to key in your order. “Oh,” you manage out, only collecting your thoughts now. “I’ll just get a chai tea to-go, please,” you say. The boy behind you takes a step forward, his shoulder brushing against yours, beginning to place his order. You take a few steps to the side due to the physical contact. Luckily, you’re able to just disguise it as moving aside to wait for your order, since there was no need for you to remain at the cashier.

When he has completed the payment, he walks over to join you.

“I’ll pay you back,” you say. “Sure,” his smile still plastered on his face, “You can just look for me in class.”

You stop for a moment, eyes shifting about as you try to dig into the deep depths of your memory. You don’t remember having seen him before. Granted, you honestly don’t even remember a single face of anyone in any of your classes.

“We take the same class?” you ask. Mark thinks you’re joking, so he laughs. But when he sees the slightly raised brow, genuine confusion in your face, he realises you’re being serious, that you’ve never noticed him before. It leaves a slightly sour taste in his mouth, but he manages to maintain a smile. “You’re in all of my lectures,” he says, “And one tutorial.”

You nod your head. That makes things a lot less of a headache for you. “I’ll pay you tomorrow, then,” you say. Mark nods his head in acknowledgement, reaching a hand out, “I’m Mark,” he introduces. You stare at his extended hand for a moment – you’ve never encountered a situation where you’re basically forced to return the introduction. You know it would come off as rude if you choose to not shake his hand, but you’re not one to care for others’ opinions. Life wouldn’t be fun if you wasted it worrying about how your every little action would frame the opinion of someone else. Not that life is fun for you, anyway.

That is why you simply look away from Mark’s hand, towards the collection counter. Mark stares at your side profile, unsure of what your actions mean. Usually, the other party would get the message that you don’t want to exchange names, but this boy, Mark, is different. He’s persistent, tilting his body in the direction of your line of vision, “Um, hello?” he says.

You turn to look at him. “I don’t do friends,” you state.

Mark recalls the conversation with Jeno and Donghyuck pre-lecture, where Donghyuck had shared about how you don’t ‘do’ friends. He had assumed it meant something different, but he realises now that it means you don’t make friends with people. He huffs out a smile at the thought; his interest in you seems to only grow as the interaction goes on. You’re different, just as he expected.

Before he’s able to say anything more, the buzzer in his hand lights up, vibrating as an indication that his order is ready. He walks towards the collection counter, and you follow behind. Because of the amount of drinks and plates of food he had ordered, his order was separated into two trays. You look at the trays for a moment – are you feeling nice enough to offer a helping hand? Technically, he can just make two trips.

“Here,” Mark says, holding out your cup of tea that he had already slipped on the sleeve for. Maybe it’s because you realised, he isn’t even going to ask you for your help, or it’s because Mark’s smile makes you want to do something nice, so you offered. “I’ll help you with that,” you say, taking the drink from him, placing it back down on the tray. You lift the tray up, “Where’s your table?”

Mark picks up the other tray, leading the way to the boys. Chenle is the first to notice Mark approaching, and he’s quick to notify the rest of the person following behind Mark. By the time you had arrived at the table, their stares are boring into you. Mark coughs awkwardly, trying to signal at them to stop staring, but his friends don’t seem to get it.

“Hey, 06,” one of them calls. ‘06’; the nickname you somehow go by on campus, just because of the jacket you always have on. You look in the direction of the voice, to be greeted by a somewhat familiar face. You remember him, only because he’s one of the only students from your ethics class who dares to have an opinion on things. You liked his gusto. “Hi,” you say.

You hold up your cup of chai tea by its sleeve, giving a slight tilt of the head at Mark, before turning around to take your leave.

“Damn, Mark, you work fast,” Jeno teases, taking his plate of food over to his side of the table. Mark rolls his eyes, explaining briefly that he simply paid for your drink because you forgot to bring your wallet. Luckily for him, his friends lose interest in topics as quickly as they get interested in them. Everyone is now listening to Jaemin rambling on about how the lecturer in his class is the most unreasonable man he’s ever met in his “many” years of living.

Mark is half-focused on the conversation, but the other half of his mind is occupied by the image of you.

Perhaps it’s the way that you managed to maintain a blank expression without smiling even once, during the entire interaction, or it’s the way you didn’t hesitate to leave without looking back. It could even be the way you’re so nonchalant about everything. Either way, Mark has come to realise one thing.

He can’t keep his eyes off of you.

You run a hand through your hair, exiting the lift. You reach into your bag, pulling out the exact amount of change for the chai tea from yesterday. Entering the lecture hall, you skim through the vicinity, spotting Mark by the middle row. He’s staring up at his purple-haired friend in awe, laughing while hitting the brown-haired boy next to him. Despite the round-frame glasses he has on today, you’re sure that this time, you definitely saw the sparkle in his eyes.

You make your way up to Mark, standing a distance away, behind the purple-haired boy who stands in the way in getting to Mark. You lean to the left a little, waiting for Mark to catch your eye. He doesn’t, but his brown-haired friend notices you, and he’s quick to gesture the black-haired boy towards you. Mark’s smile widens when he makes eye contact with you. He stands up, brushing past the purple-haired boy, towards you. You can’t help but be conscious of the slight tugging at the ends of your lips. You manage to supress it, but it’s undeniable that you just felt the minor urge to smile.

“Hey,” he greets. You hold out the money, “Thanks,” you say. Mark’s fingertips brushes against your palm as he takes the money from you. You turn, about to walk to a different row, but you’re stopped by the slight tugging at your sleeve. You look down, to see two fingers pinching at the end of your sleeve. Your eyes travel up the arm, past the neck, to the eyes of Mark, who is holding on to your sleeve.

“Sit with us,” he says. Mark isn’t sure if the reason he’s offering is because you’re always sitting alone during lectures, or it’s because he wants to be able to prolong the time he’s able to spend with you, without looking like some creep. Either way, he’s anticipating your answer.

Your eyes travel back down to Mark’s two fingers that are still holding on to your sleeve. Mark is lucky he didn’t grab your wrist, because you would’ve shrugged it off so harshly, that it’d probably ruin any chances of him ever wanting to reconcile with you. You’re not sure if Mark grabbed your sleeve with the knowledge of how much you hate physical contact, or if Mark is just so considerate to the point where he won’t lay a finger on someone he doesn’t really know. But the fact that he’s respectful enough to not touch you is the only factor that makes you say, “Okay.”

Mark shifts his things over to the seat next to you. “By the way,” he says, waiting for you to look up. “This is Donghyuck and Jeno,” he introduces, gesturing towards the purple-haired boy then the brown-haired boy. Jeno smiles sweetly, while Donghyuck simply gives a nonchalant bow, before sliding into his seat. They don’t ask for your name. You wonder if Mark had told them not to; maybe your encounter with Mark yesterday had sparked an entire discussion about you. You’re usually not one to care for these things, but you aren’t able to stop the constant thought about the fact that if they did indeed discuss about you, what did Mark have to say?

“Where’s your laptop?” Mark asks, breaking you away from your thoughts. “I don’t bring one,” you reply. You expect his next question, so you explain before he even asks, “I don’t see a need for it.” Mark nods his head, but you’re positive he doesn’t understand why you feel that there’s no need for a laptop.

The lecturer begins at that point, so the two of you turn to focus your attention on the lecture.

“Alright, remember that we’ll be needing your textbook for the next lecture,” the lecturer announces, disconnecting his laptop from the visualiser. The lecture hall is filled with groans and yawns, some students who are quick to leave, while others stay behind to exchange small talk with their peers.

You sling your tote bag over your shoulder, standing up from your seat. Mark notices this, but he’s quick to react. “Hey,” he calls. You turn your head, looking down at the boy. You want to know the reason behind how Mark is always able to keep that same bright smile on his face. Come to think of it, you don’t remember seeing him with a serious expression at all. You continue to stare, waiting for Mark to continue his sentence.

“Do you want to join us for lunch?”

You don’t even spare a moment to hesitate. “No,” you reply.

“You should join us for lunch, 06. We don’t bite,” Jeno adds on. His eyes form pretty crescents when he smiles. You’re about to reject their offer, but Donghyuck cuts in, “I’ll bite. Why should we have lunch with 06?” He doesn’t spare you a glance, but you can tell from his expression, that he’s not your biggest fan. You see Jeno nudging the boy with his elbow, and Mark shooting a look of disapproval. Maybe it’s because you don’t want to let this Donghyuck kid have his way, but you find yourself agreeing to their offer before you’re even able to think twice. “I’m down for lunch,” you say. You’re too busy eyeing Donghyuck’s expression of displeasure to notice Mark’s perked up smile at your agreement.

Jeno and Donghyuck lead the way, while Mark follows your pace as you stroll along behind them. Mark is trying to dig through his brain for a topic to talk to you about. He sneaks a glance at you, your blank expression unreadable.

“Does having lunch with us make you feel uncomfortable?” Mark finally speaks up, turning his head to look at you. You’re quiet for a moment. Usually, the answer ‘yes’ would roll of your tongue without any conscious effort required. “A little,” is what you settle for. Mark nods his head, “I assure you my friends are all nice people,” he says, a small laugh decorating the end of his sentence. You nod your head, biting down on your bottom lip.

Soon enough, Jeno spots the other half of the group already seated in the café. You drag your feet behind the three boys, the stares from the rest evident.

“06 is joining us for lunch,” Jeno informs. Mark gestures you to take a seat by the far left of the table. Donghyuck claims the seat opposite to yours. “We can take turns?” Mark suggests, to which you give a nod of acknowledgement. Mark, Jeno, and two of the other boys head to get their food first. In the meantime, you’re left sitting in an extremely awkward silence. Donghyuck, who had his arms folded, back leaned against his chair, shifts his body to rest his folded arms on the table instead. He looks at you, stare cold and unpleasant. You furrow your brows. “What?” you say.

“Stay away from Mark.”

Your expression hardens further. “What are you talking about?”

“Mark isn’t like you. Stay away,” Donghyuck has a brow raised, his glare menacing. You’re unsure of what you could’ve possibly done to offend the boy to this extent, but you’re not interested enough to ask. You’re robbed of the chance to anyway, when Renjun decides to add himself to the conversation. He throws an arm around Donghyuck, a smile on his lips as he asks, “What’s got the two of you so serious?” Donghyuck shrugs, not forgetting to give you one more glare, almost as though it were a form of warning. You scoff, rolling your eyes as you look away from the two boys who are sitting opposite to you.

You can feel the familiar discomfort in your abdomen. Your hand instinctively finds its way to place pressure on the hurting area, the beads of cold sweat beginning to form. You can already feel your lips becoming drier with every passing second.

You decide there’s nothing worth staying for. If you’re not welcome, you’re not going to force your presence unto people. So you grab your bag, stand up, and begin to walk away from the table. You ignore Renjun’s call for you.

“What the heck did you say to 06?” Renjun hisses, shoving Donghyuck by the arm. “I only said what I needed to say,” the purple-haired boy murmurs in reply. Mark arrives back at the table first, placing his tray of food down. “Where’s 06?” he asks, looking at the empty chair that you once occupied. “Donghyuck said something that probably pissed 06 off,” Renjun tattles, shooting a glare in said boy’s direction. Mark looks to Donghyuck for an explanation, a brow raised questioningly.

Donghyuck shrugs the attention off, “Not my fault 06 can’t take honesty.”

You drop the bottle of painkillers into your bag. You comb your fingers through your hair, the perspiration from earlier causing the strands to cling together. You let out a small breath; at least the torment is over, for now.

You fixate your eyes on the floor, watching as your feet take turns to invade the little space your eyes can capture. You shove your free hand into the pocket of your letterman jacket, a cup of chai tea in your other hand. You replay the words Donghyuck had said to you earlier. Stay away from Mark, he said. Why? You never approached Mark to begin with. Yeah, you’re unfriendly and borderline rude but you’ve never done anything that would warrant an outright warning to keep away from someone. Mark isn’t like you, he said. What’s that supposed to mean? That Mark is the personification of rainbows and galaxies but you’re the personification of dirt and dark alleys?

You don’t understand what Donghyuck has against you. You scoff at the thought of the whole situation – good golly, you didn’t even know of Mark’s existence until he approached you in the café a day ago. Yet suddenly, you’re the biggest threat to Mark, in Donghyuck’s narrative.

You’re so caught up in your thoughts that you jump at the sudden tap on your shoulder, whipping your entire body around so fast that you collide with the being behind you, your chai tea staining his shirt. “I’m so sorry,” you gasp, tugging on the sleeve of your jacket to grab it in your palm, using the cloth to dab at the stains your tea has caused. The being giggles. Your brows furrow instantly; it’s a giggle you’re somewhat familiar with.

You look up to meet eyes with the owner of the giggle, Mark. He stares down at you, noticing the remnants of the ordeal you had been through – the greasy hair, the pale, almost chapped lips, the tired look in your eyes. He doesn’t think much of it, his smile maintaining its charm. “What are you doing here?” you question. Mark points at the building behind you, “I’m running some errands. What are you doing here? You left without saying anything earlier I didn’t expect to still see you around campus,” he beams. Your eyes travel back down, realising now that you still held the hem of his shirt in your hand. You let go, standing upright.

“I just didn’t feel like staying there,” you say. Mark doesn’t probe any further; he has an inkling that Donghyuck must’ve said something offensive. “Do you live on campus?” you ask, eyeing the very obvious chai tea stain on Mark’s shirt. “I don’t. Why?”

“If you don’t mind waiting, I’ll run back to the dorms to get a shirt for you.”

Mark’s smile widens. “That’ll be nice.”

After a short ten-minute walk, you push open the door to your single-room dormitory, also known as your safe space. In your time living here, you’ve never had anyone over. You don’t consider Mark the first, because you never really intended for him to enter your room. He just followed behind and stepped in himself, no invite whatsoever. You’re not really affected by it, retrieving an oversized t-shirt from your wardrobe the only concern in mind.

Mark looks around the small studio apartment, taking in how minimalistic the entire setting is. He realises you don’t even have any photos, memories, or decorations hanging on the wall. Everything is clean and neatly placed, your belongings categorised into the practical and the necessities. He looks over towards you, your head buried under the shirts and jackets you have hanging on the rod. His eyebrows raise in interest when he notices that by the left corner of the wardrobe, hangs another two letterman jackets identical to the one you have on. They all have the big ‘06’ imprinted on the back.

“Here,” you say, holding out a plain black oversized shirt. Mark takes it from you, commenting, “I didn’t know you had three of those,” he gestures to the letterman jacket that you’re semi-drowning in. You slide the door of your wardrobe close, “I have to have a replacement when one of them is in the wash.”

“Is there some meaning behind 6?”

You look into Mark’s eyes. The two of you share a moment. It’s the first time someone has asked about the meaning behind ‘06’. Maybe it’s because nobody else ever had the chance to, but even if they did, they’d probably just be asking for the fun of it. Every time Mark asks you something, you can tell from his gaze that he genuinely wants to know the answer. He genuinely listens to your replies, regardless of how insignificant or dismissive they may be. Maybe it’s because Mark is the first person in a long time that has ever showed even a minute sign of interest in you, but you find yourself satisfying his curiosity.

“There are many meanings to the number 6. The meaning I relate it to is the need to find ways to move past feelings of fear and anxiety, to manifest what I want.”

It’s Mark’s turn to be silent. He looks at you, your expression as blank as it has always been, your eyes shifting around from the awkwardness of the prolonged eye contact. He didn’t expect that answer. People usually either used their birthdates or their favourite number as their ‘representative’ number. You’re the first person to give him an actual meaning behind the decision you made.

“You’re really different,” Mark says, voice almost coming out as a whisper.

Maybe it’s due to the fact that you’ve never been complimented like that before. Heck, you don’t even know if it’s a compliment. But you’re unable to deny the heat that rushes to your face, the warmth that spreads throughout your body. You don’t know if Mark notices. You don’t know if Mark can tell. But when you see his eyes flicker to level with your cheeks, the heat that overwhelms you only intensifies.

Mark’s never been this bold before. He has never been this straightforward with anyone. When you don’t answer, he panics a little, but then he notices the rose pink that decorates your cheeks. Did he, perhaps, make you blush? Is this his first time witnessing something different from your signature blank expression?

“You should go change,” you blurt, averting the topic. You point towards the bathroom, “Over there.”

Mark nods his head, turning around, closing the bathroom door after he enters. You let out a huge breath, pursing your lips. First, he’s the cause of the urge to smile. Second, his words make you blush. Third – you place a hand against your chest, feeling for your heartbeat. Mark makes your heart thump.

You want to be around Mark.

Mark comes out of the bathroom, your oversized shirt decently fitting on him. He smiles, “Thank you,” he says. “I’m really sorry about that,” you say, pointing towards his chai tea-stained shirt. Mark shakes his head, “No big deal. I’ll see you around?”

You nod your head.

“See you around.”

It’s been four days since you’ve last seen Mark. The interval made you realise that your once empty mind is now filled with hints of Mark. His endearing smile would pop up in your mind every once in a while, and his childlike giggles would ring in your ears from time to time. Mark is the warm presence in your otherwise cold world.

You’re preoccupied with your thoughts when there’s a knock on the door. You glance at the clock – 5PM on a Sunday afternoon, and you’re not expecting any guests. You sigh, slipping on an oversized hoodie to cover up your worn-out t-shirt. Running your sleeved-palm over your face, you reach for the door handle, pushing it downwards,

Mark waits patiently for you to answer the door, the t-shirt you had lent him neatly folded in his hands. When you pull the door open, the wind from the swift motion causes your baby hairs to dance along with the wind, tickling the sides of your face. Mark feels his heart skip a beat, the moment playing out in half the time of its actual speed. He swallows.

You look up to meet eyes with Mark. Your brows raise momentarily,

“Sorry,” he begins, “For showing up unexpectedly. I just came by to return this,” he holds out your shirt. You look down at the article of clothing, taking it from his hands, nodding your head in understanding. “Thanks,” you say, reaching to lay the shirt on the table. You look towards Mark once more. “Anything else?” you question, seeing that he’s still standing in the corridor.

Mark looks down at his converse. He contemplates if he should do what he actually came here for. Jeno’s voice replays in his head – just man up and ask 06 to join us. Donghyuck needs to apologise for saying things he shouldn’t have said the other day anyway. Though Mark and the rest of the boys are still unaware of what exactly Donghyuck had said, he agrees with Jeno’s sentiments.

“Actually,” he pauses, biting down on his lower lip. There it is again; the feeling of the two ends of your lips being tugged upwards. You blink multiple times – did you just think Mark is… cute? You almost miss his next sentence, “Do you want to go to the roller rink with the guys?” he ends with a shy smile, his fingers automatically clasping together due to the nerves. He looks at you, patiently waiting for your answer.

Usually, the answer ‘no’ would have escaped your lips before you can even think twice. But at this very moment, you’re standing opposite Mark, looking into his eyes, hesitating. It feels as though you’re beginning to lose the composure you’ve spent your entire life building. The rational ways you’d utilise to stay away from people, they’re starting to become blurry, just because of the boy who stands before you.

The fine line you’ve drawn to divide yourself from the rest of the world has become blurry ever since Mark’s appearance.

To move past the fear and anxiety that comes with building a relationship, in order to manifest the friendship that you seek.

You nod your head. “Sounds cool.”

So you find yourself trailing behind Mark at 5:37PM in the afternoon, eyes roaming around the vicinity in curiosity, taking in the very unfamiliar, loud, neon-filled surrounding. You’ve never been to any place of entertainment before, let alone a roller rink that majority of the population have never even been near. In some way, you guys are lucky enough to be schooling in this area – the roller rink is a ’90s themed hangout spot, with a jukebox that’s unique to every table, in comparison to the central speaker system used in all other modern buildings. A small smile creeps its way up your lips; you’re in a trance from the vibes of the place.

If there’s anything you love in this world, it’s nostalgia. Every movie you’ve ever liked, every series you’ve ever binged, they all screamed the ’90s. You’re extra sold by the fact that the different jukeboxes are rolling tunes from Destiny’s Child, Backstreet Boys, Guns N’ Roses, instead of the 21st century pop or rap that would be blasting in any other joint. Your smile widens, but you don’t even realise it. You’re finding more joy in this dated roller rink than you’ve ever felt anywhere else.

Mark turns around to tell you something. Instead, he stops in his tracks, the smile that spreads across your lips stunning him. The way your eyes light up, complementing your smile, and the way the apples of your cheeks are dabbed in a light scarlet; you’ve never looked more ravishing than you do in this very moment. Mark isn’t sure what’s the reason behind your smile, but he’s glad he managed to capture the moment first-hand.

You’re too busy basking in the glory of the vibes of the place that you don’t realise Mark has stopped walking. You almost bump into him, but you managed to stop in time. You’re now standing a small distance in front of Mark, who’s just staring at you. You don’t realise why, until your cheek muscles provide you with the answer. You let out a small gasp, your smile vanishing instantly. You cough, pursing your lips.

“What?” you say, shamelessly.

Mark doesn’t push for anything. He simply widens his smile, “They’re over there,” he says, pointing to the booth that’s hidden in the corner. You nod your head, gesturing for Mark to continue leading the way, while you followed behind. You mentally slap yourself – you’ve revealed way too many sides of yourself to Mark, that’s telling of who you truly are as a person, and not who you want people to think you are. You shake your head; maybe Mark hasn’t caught on. Maybe Mark just thinks you’re a looney ball. There’s a high possibility of that.

“06!” the blue-haired boy calls, a bright smile accompanying his greeting. “I’m Jaemin,” he says, “Didn’t get to introduce myself the other time, before you left.” You nod your head in acknowledgement.

“I’m Chenle,” the other black-haired, fair skinned one waves. “Jisung,” the brown-haired, coupled with lighter brown highlights, introduces. You nod your head at both of them; you can tell those two can’t be bothered about you. They’re too engrossed in whatever game they’re playing on their handphones.

“Hey, 06,” Jeno greets, as you claim the seat beside him. Donghyuck just shoots you a look, before averting his attention back to the conversation he was having with Renjun. “I’m glad you came,” Jeno continues. “Why’d you leave so quick the other day?”

“No reason,” you reply.

Jeno simply purses his lips, nodding his head. You can tell he doesn’t believe you, but you’re appreciative that he doesn’t probe. Instead, Jeno calls over the table, “Let’s go rollerblade,” to the rest of the boys. Jisung and Chenle are practically dragged away from their phones by Jaemin, while Donghyuck is forced to remain in his seat by Renjun, who runs after the rest. Mark sends you a small smile, “You can just find us later,” he says, before following after the rest of the boys, leaving you and Donghyuck at the booth. You’re only catching on now that you were invited with a motive.

“They’re expecting me to apologise,” Donghyuck states, breaking the silence. You look towards him, his stare still as unwelcoming as it was four days ago. “But I’m not going to.”

You let out a breath of disbelief, furrowing one brow. “I don’t think I’ve ever offended you,” you say.

“You haven’t. But I can see through you,” he says, leaning his body forward tauntingly. He raises a brow, the side of his lip twitching, “You’re not serious about Mark.”

You roll your eyes. You mirror his position, resting your folded arms atop the table. “I’m not even interested in Mark.”

“You’re already starting to be interested,” he says, hitting the exact spot. He isn’t wrong. “And it’s only going to go downhill from here. Leave while you still can.” You can’t tell if Donghyuck is just being a protective friend, or if he just hates you for no apparent reason. You just want to know why he’s so adamant about the fact that your relationship with Mark will never work out. As though he’s able to read your mind, he answers that very question.

“Commitment doesn’t exist in your dictionary,” he states.

He’s right. Commitment doesn’t and cannot exist in your world. Your mouth is left open, but you’re not able to say anything in return. You bite down on your lower lip; Donghyuck is right. It hadn’t occurred to you before, but it’s clearly evident now. If you were to continue letting whatever you have with Mark develop, and for some reason, Mark sees things in a romantic light, he’s going to end up hurt. You’ve never really considered it from Mark’s perspective. While you’re trying to take everything as a platonic somewhat friendship, he might not hold the same viewpoint. For goodness sake, you’ve already began to see Mark romantically. You don’t know what’s on his mind.

“I’m going to go rollerblade,” you murmur, sliding yourself off the seat, out of the booth. You walk towards the rental booth, retrieving a pair of rollerblades. As you remove your sneakers to change into the rollerblades, Donghyuck’s words keep ringing in your head. It’s only going to go downhill from here, he said. You let out a hesitant breath – how would he know, right…?

You tighten the lace of the rollerblade, getting up, heading into the rink through the small opening. With your eyes fixed on the floor, you lunge yourself forward, Donghyuck’s words still replaying in your mind like a mantra. It’s only going to go downhill from here, he said.

The pain is here again. It’s intense. You furrow your brows and purse your lips, letting out a restrained gasp, your hand clutching onto your abdomen. You’re so deep in thought that you don’t notice the human-sized advertisement board that’s stationed in the middle of the rink. You’re not sure what happened, but the last thing you remember, is Jeno’s loud call for you, and Donghyuck’s words that keep haunting you – it’s only going to go downhill from here. You’ve blacked out.

Renjun is the first to arrive by your side, holding you up by your head. “What are we going to do?” Jisung panics, eyes fixated on the large cut on your forehead. “Go get the first aid kit,” Renjun calmly instructs. Jisung hurries to the front desk, while Mark removes his rollerblades in a hurry. “We have to get 06 out of here.” Mark lifts your body up bridal style, the rest of the boys surrounding him to ensure that the other people in the rink are kept at a distance.

Jeno holds the door open, while Mark enters, making his way to your bed. He waits as Jeno rushes over, pulling the comforter off the bed. Mark lays you down. “I’m going to go make sure we don’t get a ticket for the illegal parking,” Jeno says, handing Mark the key card to your dorm. Mark nods his head, “I’ll be down in a moment.”

Mark walks over to the bathroom, in search for a face towel. He finds one, turns on the tap, drenches it with water, turns off the tap, and wrings it, before making his way back to your sleeping figure. He folds the towel into a quarter, lightly dabbing at your face to get rid of the oils. When he’s done, he washes the towel out, hanging it by the drying rack. Mark notices you don’t have a humidifier in your room. He looks over at the kitchen. He pulls out the first drawer, hoping to find a glass, but instead, he finds a stash of photos you had chucked into the drawer.

He remembers how the first thing he noticed when he first came, was the fact that you didn’t have anything of sentimental value on display. He had thought you just simply didn’t care for it, but he realises now you do own things of sentimental value. You just didn’t have them on show. He skims through the stash – he realises how much you’ve changed physically; your body has significantly shrunk in comparison to before. He also realises you’ve done many things in your life. Your life seems even more carefree than you let on. He smiles.

Mark lays the glass of water he had filled by your bedside table. Grabbing the ends of the comforter, he brings it over your body, beginning to tuck you in. He notices your left hand peeking out of the comforter, so he holds it gently, placing it under the comforter. When he tries to pull away, he notices the sudden grip on his hand. He looks at your face; you’re still knocked out from the accident. Your slightly scrunched up facial features seem to indicate that you’re in discomfort.

“Are you awake?” he whispers. There’s no reply. He loosens up – he thinks he’s just misinterpreting your expression.

Mark takes the opportunity to stare at you a little longer. The soft breaths you let out the cutest thing he’s ever witnessed. The image of your smile flashes in Mark’s mind; he doesn’t understand why you don’t allow yourself to smile more often. Slowly, your grip on his hand loosens. Mark will remember your warm touch, even if you don’t remember his.

“Goodnight, 06,” he says, taking in your entirety one last time, before taking his leave.

You turn your head to the right, vision still blurry from both the fall and the excruciating pain in your abdomen. The tension in your body relaxes ever so slightly when you note that Mark only opened the first drawer. If he had gone on to the next, he would’ve discovered the one thing you’d never want him to know.

You wanted to finally be able to muster up the courage to ask Mark to stay. Maybe if he were by your side, things would be easier. But Mark doesn’t deserve such torment.

That night, as Mark tosses and turns in bed, he just can’t seem to rid the image of your smile off his head. He smiles, stuffing his face into his pillow. He can’t believe he’s fussing over something as simple as your smile. Perhaps Mark has delved deeper into your charms than he’s conscious of.

He’s just glad he has the next excuse to meet you again – the injury on your head.

Another three days have gone by since the roller rink incident. It’s to your luck that there weren’t any classes for the past three days, because the episodes were getting more frequent. It also gave you some time to heal the big fat scar on your forehead. You decide that it looks safe enough to just be left bare without a band-aid to cover it. You honestly can’t be bothered if the sight of the red cut freaks other students out. The wound needs to breathe to leave.

You enter the lecture hall, already catching some unwanted attention. You ignore the stares, heading for your usual seat by the left aisle, away from the crowd. Three boys are already sitting there when you arrive. You raise a brow.

“Feeling better?” Jeno asks, eyes flickering to the cut on your forehead, before looking back down into your eyes. You nod your head. “Sorry. If we knew this would happen, we wouldn’t have asked you to the roller rink,” he says. You shrug, “I chose to rollerblade on my own,” you say. It isn’t anybody’s fault this happened. In fact, you’re kind of glad it happened. At least it meant that you didn’t have to go back to the booth to face Donghyuck’s scrutiny. Speaking of, the boy is just sitting there, staring at the front of the hall, completely disinterested in you.

“I’m going to sit elsewhere,” you say, taking the first ascending step. Mark wraps his fingers around your wrist, a loose hold keeping you in place. It’s not even surprising anymore that you don’t immediately shrug his grip off. Maybe a part of you is slowly getting used to Mark. Maybe a part of you is slowly coming to accept Mark as somebody that you want in your life. Maybe, just maybe, you think it’s worth risking the hurt that comes with relationships, if it means you can dwell in Mark’s presence for a little longer.

You turn to meet eyes with him. From his gaze, you already know he’s telling you to sit with them. Your eyes shift to glance at Donghyuck, who is glaring at you at this point. His glare is telling of how he wants you to reject Mark, to go sit somewhere else, to get off Mark’s case. You’re conflicted.

“I’ll see you later,” you say. Mark pauses for a moment, eventually letting go of your wrist.

You walk up, to a seat a few rows above them.

You remain in your seat as you watch the other students scurry out of the lecture theatre upon dismissal. Your eyes find its way to the back of a certain slightly curly, black-haired boy’s head. Your eyes shift to rest on the white bottle that has basically become your lifeline at this point. A bitter scoff escapes your lips as the words ring in your mind – things are not looking optimistic.

Maybe that is the only reason why you find yourself getting off your seat, slinging your tote bag over your shoulder, descending a few steps to arrive at Mark’s row. You wait by the aisle for him to notice you. He does this time, without Jeno’s help. He looks at you, smile immediately stretching across his lips. “I said I’d see you later,” you say. Mark’s smile widens a little at that. You ignore the dirty look from Donghyuck, and you’re no longer foreign to the soft stare from Jeno.

“Are you free right now?” you ask.

There’s a light bulb that’s suddenly illuminating in Mark’s heart. Perhaps it should be the other way around. Perhaps he should’ve been the one to ask, but he’d only have a 20 percent chance of being graced with the answer he longs for. But here you are, standing before him, the question rolling off your tongue so easily, with a 100 percent chance of being graced with the answer you want to hear. Mark doesn’t even need to think twice. He’s been waiting for this, and he’s excited. He’s getting the feeling of warmth spreading throughout his body. His smile only gets bigger as he replies, “What do you have in mind?”

In 15 minutes, the two of you are still within the vicinity of the campus, but in land that is foreign to Mark, yet it’s as close as a second home to you. Mark looks over the horizon, the view simply striking to him. He never knew that such a place, let alone such a view, was in reach in a matter of minutes. It’s probably because it’s in restricted premises, but you don’t tell him that. His goody-two-shoes nature would freak out. But that’s a part of Mark’s charm.

“Damn,” he gasps, taking in a breath, “This is amazing.”

For the first time ever, in front of someone that’s not your reflection in the mirror, you smile, willingly. The way the gentle breeze tickles your skin, the way the rustling of the leaves creates a pleasant melody, the way the view serves as the perfect panoramic shot in a romance movie. It’s all fantasy, and it’s all your imagination. But at least you’re sharing it with the one person you’ve somehow created a bond with. People might think it’s ridiculous, you’ve barely interacted with the boy for more than two weeks. But those people are the same people who don’t believe that feelings of attachment and liking comes quickly, and they’ll always get to you. You can’t stop falling. That’s the fatal part of attraction.

You turn to look at Mark. You openly stare at his side profile, taking in his entirety, memorising the sound of his giggles, the little nose scrunch when he laughs, and the way his eyes light up when he smiles. Who knows? This might be the last.

Mark turns to look at you. He gazes into your eyes. It’s so heart-stopping you feel your breath hitch in your throat. Your heart is fluttering at the eye contact. He’s smiling, and he’s smiling for you. Maybe he has been all this while. But now, you’re smiling, and you’re smiling for him. You wonder what he’s thinking about.

Mark stares at you. Mark watches your eyes light up with joy, but he doesn’t know what sparks it. Mark notices how you are finally able to freely give in to the urge of allowing the two ends of your lips to be tugged upwards; Mark takes note of the way your eyes form crescents, the way the pink in your cheeks become prominent under the sunlight. It is as though the entire scene is unravelling in front of him in slow motion. The scene that stars only you.

The both of you feel it – the attraction. You’re fully aware of the reality of the situation in this moment. Mark is the warmth you don’t deserve. You’re the cold that’s toxic to him. Maybe not now, but you’ll eventually be.

Mark isn’t sure what’s got him so confident. Perhaps it’s the way your smile seems to be giving him the consent he seeks, and perhaps it’s the fact that he’s only realising now how hard he has fallen for you. You’re like the soil; regardless of how much he has dug, he still has so much more to dig. He doesn’t know you fully yet, and he isn’t confident that he ever will. He knows he wants to.

You notice when Mark’s eyes drop to your lips. Your body tenses as he inches forward, bit by bit. You want him to close the gap. You want his lips to come into contact with yours. You want to feel Mark’s warmth. But you know it all too well – warm and cold don’t mix well. They’re not meant for each other. You’re not Mark’s fate.

You place your hand on his chest; he stops immediately, eyes snapping up to meet yours. Embarrassed, he immediately takes a step back, avoiding eye contact, tugging at the hem of his shirt, letting out an awkward cough. “I’m so sorry,” he says. He mentally berates himself. You reach out, interlocking your fingers with his. He looks back at you, eyebrows raised, mouth forming an ‘o’. You remember that face. You let out a chuckle. That might just be the most beautiful thing Mark has ever heard. He doesn’t tell you, though.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” you say. Mark lets out a sigh of relief, “Good, otherwise it will be really awkward.” You chuckle once more – gosh, he’s really cute.

You reach into your pocket, pulling out the film you had prepared with the intention of giving it to Mark. You hold it out, and he takes it, analysing the photo. “What’s this?” he mutters, taking a closer look. He realises it’s a photo of your letterman jacket, the iconic ‘06’ that everyone has learned to associate you with, in full view. He looks up to meet eyes with you, awaiting your explanation. You smile, averting your attention to the beautiful view.

“Just because,” you say. Mark doesn’t understand.

“Mark?” you call.

“Yeah?”

“We have the whole of next week off, right?” Mark hums in response.

“Let’s meet here in exactly one week,” you turn to look him in the eyes. Maybe then, we can have our first kiss.

Mark smiles.

“Okay.”

Mark taps his fingers on the grass. He’s been waiting for an hour, but there’s still no sight of you. He checks the time – 4PM. He decides that you’re probably held back by something, so he continues to wait, biting on the insides of his lips as he counts down the minutes.

Another two hours go by. Mark is now laying on the grass, staring up at the sun that is beginning to set. He’s not sure why you still haven’t shown. Mark wonders if you have forgotten your promise to meet here today. It’s been a week of absolutely no contact, after all. He decides that it’s unlikely that you’ve forgotten. He believes you’ll show, so he continues to wait.

Another hour goes by. The sky is almost dark now. Mark sighs. Did you change your mind? Mark stands up. Usually, he’s not one to confront. But Mark treasures this connection. Mark wants to make things work, even if it means having to take multiple steps forward, whenever you take one step backwards. Mark begins the trail to the campus dormitories. Even if you’ve changed your mind, he deserves to know.

Mark knocks on your door. He waits. There’s no reply.

Mark knocks again. Silence.

’06?” he calls, knocking once more.

Your neighbour peeks her head out. “Are you looking for the tenant?” she asks. Mark nods his head. “The tenant already moved out,” she says. “What?” was all that Mark manages out.

Mark’s heart begins to pick pace, but not in a good way. He rushes down to the front desk.

“Did the student who lives in room 612 move out?” he asks, panting to catch his breath. The front desk lady looks stunned for a moment, but doesn’t question Mark’s intentions. She types at her desktop, clicks a few times, before replying with, “Oh, this student,” she says, distinctly recalling the haste in your exit. “Moved out a few days ago. It was so sudden, didn’t even bother about the overpaid rent,” she comments. Mark’s brows knit at the revelation. “06 left?” he breathes.

While the rest of the boys were busily engaged in their small clusters of conversation, Donghyuck has his eyes fixed on Mark. He knew this would happen. Donghyuck’s eyes rests upon the film that Mark holds with his fingers, as though it’s the most precious object he has ever laid his hands on. Donghyuck sighs. Mark looks up at Donghyuck briefly, a faint smile forming on his lips. Donghyuck clicks his tongue, shaking his head in disapproval.

“What are you thinking about?” Donghyuck questions, even though he knows what the exact answer is. Mark shrugs, affirming Donghyuck’s assumption. “Seriously, when are you going to stop thinking about that person? It’s been months, close to a year, and you’re still holding onto the futile hope that something will change? Because it won’t.”

Mark lowers his gaze. He scoffs bitterly, “Maybe you’re right.”

“There’s no maybe, I’m always right.”

Mark doesn’t respond. Donghyuck looks at him, taking note of the genuine sorrow in his eyes. Mark has changed a lot within the span of the past few months. The Mark that was once overflowing with joy, bursting out in giggles and laughter over the smallest things; that Mark is gone. The Mark before him right now, is a Mark that hasn’t shown any signs of genuine happiness in forever. The Mark before him, is a Mark that has long forgotten how to feel the different emotions. That is, except one emotion – longing.

Donghyuck lets out another sigh.

Mark turns the film around. Hidden in the corner of the black coating, were the letters that forms your name, inked in black marker. It can only be seen when the light directly reflects upon the letters. Mark smiles a bittersweet smile. He remembers how carefree you were as a person. He remembers drawing up a mental metaphor to compare the way you lived life, to dancing. You lived everyday like you were dancing. Even more than he’d ever know.

Mark wonders where, with whom, and to what music you’d be dancing to now.

Without leaving a span of a shadow, where did you disappear to?

Hidden in the corner, amongst the very many slabs with semi-circular tops, sits one lonely slab, that is patiently waiting for the visitor who’ll never show up.

[translations-by-aiimee]

Dig a Grave to Dig Out a Ghost - Chapter 14

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 14 - Lecture

For most people, it was just like any regular Monday afternoon. The temperature was high and there hadn't been any rain in over a week. A black Audi stopped at the entrance of the school's auditorium and really stood out. In the distance, he saw a big red banner at the entrance of the building: "A warm welcome to Professor Chen XX, appraisal researcher from the Palace Museum, for holding a cultural relic appraisal lecture in our school."

The auditorium had been recently built in the past few years. The entrance hall was very magnificent, with a light blue dome and wall, and the entire wall near the gate was made of glass. From the outside, he could see the crowds of people in the hall. Different from the usual modern style, the overall layout of the hall was more reminiscent of ancient designs. There were two large vases with impressions of a Ming Dynasty maid enjoying spring peaches. The promotional posters were framed by carved wooden windows. It was almost like walking into an antique shop.

The air-conditioning in the hall was turned too high and Lin Yan rubbed the goosebumps on his arms as he stood in the queue, staring at the posters to pass the time.

The professor on the poster looked like an unopened file folder, and even the reflection on his glasses looked like the transparent plastic wrapping paper on the file folder. Lin Yan was stumped, and then suddenly realized why he thought he looked so familiar. This person is the editor-in-chief of "Research on the History of Ming Dynasty Clothing". You could see his headshot when you turn to the first page of the textbook. It was said that he was quite famous in both professional research and folk antique auctions. He had probably seen him in a treasure appraisal program. Lin Yan recalled that he hadn't met him during the internship. Maybe because he had been an irrelevant excavation member.

On the other hand, why would someone ask him to participate in the excavation of a Ming Dynasty tomb?

"There are still 20 minutes before the doors open. Please wait patiently in the queue. Our staff will provide you with an introduction pamphlet for the event and free drinks." A sweet female voice came from the lobby intercom. Not far in front of Lin Yan, a tall boy who had been playing on a PSP with his head down turned his head and smiled wryly. He said to the person behind him: "The girl's voice is so sweet."

What's peculiar is that this person is wearing a modified Hanfu outfit, tailored to fit his body but with wide sleeves. With his pimples on his face and the PSP in his hand, he looked very strange. Lin Yan glanced around the room and was surprised to find that not only the PSP guy was dressed up, but many others had certain ancient style elements in their outfits. One girl even had her hair curled, and the ebony crested hairpiece swaying down by her sideburns.

Lin Yan stared, bored, outside the glass wall, and a familiar figure in a blue cloth robe caught his eye.

It was the little Daoist priest, squatting by the flowerbed not far away, feeding a lazy big yellow cat with some ham in his hand. The yellow cat curled up with a comfortable look, and his chubby figure resembled a large snail with a lot of privilege.

As soon as the little Daoist looked up, he saw Lin Yan beckoning to him. He threw the rest of the ham to the yellow cat in a hurry and ran into the hall with his schoolbag on his back. Lin Yan stepped out of line, and the cold surrounding him moved with him, although it seemed a little reluctant.

"At least A-Yan is a living person. You don't know how long you've been dead." Lin Yan couldn't help muttering. The series of events such as the exorcism and giving him talismans made Xiao Yu disgusted with this little Daoist priest. Every time in the past week that he had called A-Yan to ask about sending away spirits, well, his reaction was clear.

"Come here and wait." Lin Yan greeted the little Daoist priest who had just rushed into the hall. "It wasn't eating well, so I brought some ham for it." A-Yan was still holding half of the red plastic container in his hand. His face suddenly flushed red and he looked at Lin Yan with bright eyes.

His arm was squeezed by a cold hand and it pulled him away from the little Daoist priest. Lin Yan was already uncomfortably cold by the air conditioner, so he frowned and pushed down Xiao Yu's hand.

The lingering cold leaned against him, and abruptly shook against him. Lin Yan thought he must be really angry. When he looked up, he saw a group of students dressed in ancient costumes coming out of the golden gate of the auditorium. Unlike the people wearing the modified Hanfu costumes, these dozen or so people wore put-together Ming Dynasty outfits. Boys wore blue or white cloth with trimmed edges and silk scarves on their heads. Girls wore outer coats with gold and jade pendants and outer sleeves with beautiful embroidery. Some blouses and moonflower skirts were plainer for everyday Ming women, and some of them dressed as graceful ladies with big red sleeves. They each held a plate. There were small disposable paper cups inside, which the staff brought out to distribute.

Something wasn't right with Xiao Yu. His whole body was trembling against Lin Yan. Lin Yan was startled. He tried not to move his lips too much and asked him in a low voice, "Did you remember something?" Xiao Yu didn't answer, but Lin Yan remembered when he saw the ghost on the computer screen for the first time, he was not wearing a high hat at all, it was a futou.

"I'll take over, you guys go on break," a clear voice rang out. Lin Yan was shocked. A familiar figure stood in the staff's team, with short hair set against the various pieces of brocade. While distributing black tea, she turned around and laughed with her acquaintances. No matter how she changed her style, Lin Yan would never mistake that it was Weiwei.

Lin Yan wanted to lower his head and pretend that he hadn't seen her, but Weiwei had obviously noticed him. After a second of pause, Lin Yan called out and walked straight over to the buffet table. The colours of the rice farmer outfit she wore were interlaced and she was wearing very little makeup. There is a small Hetian seed around her neck, which is kind of chunky and stiff, which made a very natural look.

"Long time no see, are you here alone?" Weiwei smiled and handed a cup of black tea to Lin Yan. "Do you want to join us?"

Straightforward people like Weiwei never took embarrassing memories to heart. Lin Yan couldn’t do it. He always felt that he could never be friends with his past love affairs. Since they broke up, he did his best to avoid any situation where he might run into Weiwei, whether it was class reunions or birthdays, he always went with someone else. Of course, there were times he couldn't escape her, such as right now. Lin Yan reluctantly raised his head, forcing a laugh.

"No, no, I came with A-Yan." Lin Yan's face felt very hot, and he hurriedly pulled the little Daoist priest to hide behind.

Probably because of the little Daoist's strange reputation, Weiwei glanced at A-Yan in surprise. She quickly adjusted her expression, took a cup of black tea from the plate and handed it to A-Yan. She also gave Lin Yan two laminated pamphlets. Shee said: "This is the biggest activity of our club this semester. I have been busy preparing for more than two months. I'm losing my hair from how tired I am."

"Sounds great." Lin Yan's answer was a bit awkward.

"I hope you like it." She grinned.

A team of staff members rushed forward as they called her name. When they saw Weiwei and Lin Yan standing face to face without speaking, they began to mock: "Hey, is this the guy you used to go out with?" Shu Shengfu gave Lin Yan a once-over, shifting their gaze from the plaid shirt with good texture to the CK label on the jeans. He said, "You know how to pick the lookers. Such a nice little boy."

Weiwei didn't get angry. She simply turned around and said calmly: "What kind of look? This was the man I almost married. It doesn't matter what kind of person he is, he will marry into someone else's family." Everyone's face changed into realization in the shift of tone, and there was a wave of awkwardness. Shu Shengfu had a grimace on his face, and he pat Lin Yan on the shoulder. "So that's who you are. You had such an amazing girl get away from you. Too bad we don't have time to catch up" The words were addressed to Lin Yan, but his eyes kept staring at Weiwei.

Lin Yan smiled and said faintly: "If you want to know my methods, it'll be 100 yuan per lesson. Although you should look at my state now to see how it turns out."

There was another burst of laughter. Weiwei was a little embarrassed. She glared at Shu Shengfu and turned her face to Lin Yan and said with a straight face: "Don't pay attention to them, they're just fooling around. By the way, you two don't need to line up here. There are a few rows of seats reserved for the staff. We all have to be on duty at the door and can’t go in. It’ll be a pity for them to be empty, and it doesn't look good for the photos. Go sit there.” She pulled out two blue tickets from the bottom of the pamphlet tray, which were similar to those in Lin Yan's hand, except that there was a small yellow VIP logo in the upper right corner.

Lin Yan instinctively wanted to refuse, but when Weiwei said that there was a question-and-answer session in the lecture, she was too nervous to sit in the front row and talk directly with the professor. He clutched the pamphlet hesitantly but eventually accepted the tickets.

"However. . ." Lin Yan thought for a second: "I need three seats, can I?"

Weiwei glanced sharply at the girl behind Lin Yan. Lin Yan shook his head with a strange expression: "No, my friend hasn't come over yet."

Weiwei asked the girl next to her for a ticket, She seemed reluctant to ask, but she whispered: "Lin Yan, are you. . ."

A large group of well-dressed girls swarmed behind him, and the one who took the lead was surprised when she saw Weiwei, gesturing to the handsome guy that was in front of her. Weiwei glanced at Lin Yan helplessly. She wanted to say something, but Lin Yan suddenly interrupted her: "I'll go now if that's alright. My friends are still waiting for me."

A group of people huddled Weiwei and she continued to hand out drinks. She was a very social person. No matter where she went, people always flocked around her. Lin Yan was the opposite. Although Lin Yan was popular, he felt more at ease alone as opposed to being in the crowd every day. Lin Yan handed the three VIP seat tickets to the little Daoist priest, and the two walked along the red carpet to the staff seats together.

The backstage corridor was completely different from the front hall. The western-style decoration was magnificent. The gilded flowers float across the wall. After staring at them for a while, they seemed to jump off the wall. Lin Yan stroked the wallpaper with a finger, unsure of what to feel. He was a little embarrassed, a little nostalgic, he didn't know what expression he should wear. He wasn't sure what to do with himself.

His life shouldn’t be like this. Lin Yan looked up at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling. He had felt that the world was splitting apart when he and Weiwei broke up half a year ago. In a normal world, he and Weiwei would have been the ideal couple, standing at the door of their home together to welcome their guests. Here, he walked down the corridor alone in a daze, and fell into an abyss behind the main entrance of the lecture hall, falling endlessly to the ground.

The cold fingers touched the back of his hand. He held his wrist a little harder. His thumb slid into the palm of his hand and opened his fist, giving his hand a light squeeze. Lin Yan paused and sighed, his fingers curling back around the other's hand. It was as if holding Xiao Yu's hand was natural. It was cold, firm and slender, like holding a piece of porcelain. Xiao Yu turned around and wrapped Lin Yan's right hand in his palm. He didn't know why he suddenly felt so calm. He thought it was always good for someone to stand by him through the most embarrassing moments, regardless of whether or not that person had been dead for almost 500 years.

[flora-jimin]

𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 (𝑹𝒂𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒙 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓)

AO3 Link

Relationships: Namjoon x Hoseok x Yoongi x Reader

Genre(s): Smut, PWP

Written for @btspolyshipbingo

Square Filled: Bed Sharing

Rating: 18+

Tags: Smut, Pwp, Previous poly triad (rapline), Endgame poly relationship (mmmf), Dirty Talk, Cum Sharing, Spanking, 69, Oral

Summary: You’re invited to spend the last week with Bangtan before vacation is over. Of course, a certian someone didn’t get the house with enough rooms, and now it seems you’ll have to share. Sharing is caring, after all. 

Word count: 8.1k Im so sorry

A/n: This is my first ‘y/n’ fic and of course its long as hell omg.

Tag List: @jungkook-me-down, @jinie, @mapofmarisoul, @vallkyr, @canyoucallthiswriting, @hobisbapsae

-x-

“Wait, you invited Y/n over to stay with us and didn’t even make sure there were enough rooms?” Jin inquired, brows furrowed as he watched Namjoon run a hand through his hair. You were seated between Yoongi and Hoseok while the other band members spoke, brows furrowed. 

The vacation for Bangtan was winding down to a close and the boys had all decided to go out together with you before they were back to their hectic lives. The trip to Jeju Island was last minute and impromptu, hence why they could only snag a vacation home with a few rooms too less than they needed. 

“Hey, it’s alright. I’m just happy to be here. We can always just blind pick the rooms like you all did for the Run that one time.” You offered, blinking when a collective lightbulb went off over their heads. 

“Did…did none of you think of that?” You slowly questioned, snickering at the way some of them flushed. You nod in approval, catching Namjoon’s eye as the other boys scurried around, positioning themselves in a circle. 

The dimpled rapper had been your boyfriend for a few months now, and if the blind pick went well, you’d be sharing a room with him alone for the next week. 

“Okay. So, there are eight of us. There are three rooms. If you choose a room, you have to honor however many people pick the room to share afterwards, got it? Once you’re done, write the position of the room on your palm with a marker.” Jimin ran the rules by everyone, bouncing excitedly. You and the others nod, and Jungkook motions for you to go first. 

“M-Me?” 

“Ladie’s first, Y/n. Choose well!” He beamed. You nodded and sent a small look over your shoulder at Namjoon before disappearing down the hall once the others turned their backs so they couldn’t see which direction you turned in. 

The first room was on the smaller side, with windows facing towards the ocean. You wandered in, slightly in awe as you took in the view. There was a TV set up that took up most of the wall space and though you’d love the ocean view, you figured Namjoon would pick a room with more space for him to set up his laptop or work. 

Turning, you moved to the next room, immediately taken by the scent of flowers. This room was definitely the master bedroom of sorts, with the bed being larger and facing the mountain side of the house. You could see it had a good view of the garden in the backyard and without hesitation you knew this would be the one. 

Without needing to see the third room, you hastily wrote ‘middle room’ on your palm before heading back to the living room. You plopped down on the couch, hugging the Mang plushie Hoseok had left behind on the couch as he stood to pick his room. 

One by one, everyone chose their desired rooms. 

“Okay. On the count of three, everyone open their palms, okay?” Tae instructed, clearly excited. You and the others nodded. 

“One, two, three!” 

In union, all of you threw your hands out, opening your palms facing upwards. 

“Hey! We got the same room!” Jungkook cheered, throwing his arms over Jimin and Taehyung. It seemed like the three chose the room facing the ocean, bounding eagerly down the hall after they scrambled to grab their bags from the living room. 

“I brought my PS4!” Jungkook cheered, all but sliding into the room with the other two in tow. 

Jin looked down at his hand, grinning wildly when he found he had a room all to himself. 

“Handsome and lucky~” He whistled, blowing the remaining four a kiss before he strolled down the hall. 

You blinked slowly, looking at the hands around you to find that Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok had all written down ‘middle room’ on your palms. 

“Well that happened.” Hoseok exhaled, unable to keep the laugh from bubbling out of his chest. Namjoon gently rubbed your back as he stood beside you. 

“It may be a tight squeeze, but we’ll make do.” He offered a little bit of positivity as you moved to grab your suitcase. Yoongi and Hoseok nodded, walking ahead as Namjoon gently took your bag. You pouted, tugging on his sleeve. 

“Joon-”

“It’s okay, Y/n. Yoongs and Hobi already know about us, we can relax.” He whispered. You blinked in surprise, lips parting. 

“You told them?”

“Had a late night session with them in Rkive and I mentioned missing my girlfriend.” He admitted, laughing gently as he started carrying both of your luggage. You watched his back for a few moments, feeling your heart flutter for a moment before you hid a smile, shuffling after him. 

In the room, Hoseok was sitting by the window, his leg pulled in close to his chest as he stared out at the sunset. You perk, darting past Yoongi and Namjoon to admire the way the sky and the clouds were bathed in a stunning mixture of oranges and pinks.

“Woah…the sky is so pretty.” You muse, unable to keep the smile off your face. 

Hoseok watched the side of your face out of the corner of his eye before he hummed in agreement, muttering a quiet ‘she sure is’ under his breath undetected. 

-Later-

“Don’t eat so fast, you’re going to get sick!” You scolded as you watched Jungkook and Jin shovel food down their mouths. Yoongi’s lip curled slightly at the sight, moving his plate away when Jin nearly toppled over the sauce bottle reaching for more meat from the pot simmering between the group. 

“She’s right. You’re going to choke or burn your tongue if you keep eating like a bunch of coyotes. No one’s gonna take the damn pot from you.” He added, rolling his eyes as Namjoon leaned down to add more meat and vegetables to the pot once the two ate the last fully cooked piece of meat. 

“We have to hurry! The game DLC drops in 20 minutes!” Jungkook huffed, pointing his chopsticks over in you and Yoongi’s direction. You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose in mild disbelief while Yoongi leveled him with an unimpressed stare. 

“So you’re telling me you two are trying to gobble down a whole pot of meat and veggies meant for eight people so you can stay up playing video games?” He inquired. Jin nodded from beside Kook, unable to talk as he drank his soju. 

Jimin watched them in amusement while Tae eyed the grilled meat, clearly excited about the second round. Hoseok cracked open a can of sprite, pouring it into one of his glasses before he spoke up. 

“We bought extra meat but you two are going to eat it all before Y/n even gets her share.” He scolded. The two vocalists exchanged a look with one another, frowning when they realized that not many of the others had gotten to eat much. Noticing the immediate guilt that crossed their face, you waved your hands. 

“I-It’s okay, you guys are hungry-” the sound of your stomach cut you off and everyone frowned. 

“Okay, that’s enough meat hogging for you two.” Namjoon declared, grabbing some lettuce and packing some rice in the bottom of it. Before you could protest and say it was okay, Namjon plucked some of the thicker slices of meat off the grill before holding it up to you. You blushed, slightly shy as you leaned closer to him, taking a bite of the wrap to test and see if the meat was too hot. Once you found it was the perfect temperature, you took the rest in one bite, your plump lips brushing against Namjoon’s fingers at the end. 

He must have noticed your subtle flirting, if the blush on his face was anything to go by. 

“You two would make a cute couple.” Yoongi mused idly, making his own lettuce wrap. Namjoon, now flustered, moved to take the meat off the grill, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks. You only smiled as you reached for more of the grilled food. 

Later that night, you stood in front of the bed, tapping your foot as you tried to figure out how this was going to work with four of you in one bed. Namjoon wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing light kisses to the side of your neck. Part of you melted immediately, pressing back against him before remembering that Hoseok and Yoongi were in the room, too. 

“J-Joon!” 

“Don’t worry, we’re not gonna watch you. Unless you’re into that kind of thing.” Yoongi mused, cursing when Hoseok elbowed his side. 

“What, you gonna suggest we join, too?” 

“Again, if she’s into that, why not? We already know Joon-” Whatever he had to say to end that sentence was cut off by Namjoon hurling a pillow in his direction.

“Yah! Quit it, you’re going to make Y/n uncomfortable!” He scolded, pivoting on his heel to get in bed, clearly flustered. You blinked for a moment or two, trying to figure out exactly what had just happened in such a small time frame. 

What was Yoongi going to say? Joon was into…what?

You glanced back at the bed, finding Joon furiously scrolling through his phone, probably looking through his queue of webtoons to catch up on. Shaking off the small curious need you had to press this further, you crawled into bed beside him, scooting so your head was on his chest. Joon smiled, pulling you closer into him as he continued his scrolling. 

You were already drifting to sleep by time Hoseok and Yoongi got up to turn it in for bed. Namjoon said something above you, but it melted into the sound of his heartbeat as you let sleep finally take over.

-2 am-

You tossed and turned, groaning in annoyance as a sudden wave of thirst arose you from a particularly cute dream. Rubbing your eye, you noticed Namjoon absent from your side, and your brows furrowed in confusion, noticing Hoseok was also missing from the bed. 

After rolling out of bed, you slide on Namjoon’s oversized Koya slippers, shuffling your way out into the hall. Namjoon and Hobi could be out for a late night stroll or something of the sort. You just hoped they were being careful out so late.

Idly as you made your way to the kitchen, you wondered if you should slice some apples and wait for them to get back.

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone chattering in the kitchen. You slowed your steps, slowly peeking around the corner. 

You found the two men in question, standing near each other as they talked. Normally you’d stroll up and teasingly ask why they were up so late as well, but the intimate closeness and the looks on their faces made you hesitate. Instead you hung back, listening to them.

“You still haven’t asked her?” Hoseok inquired. Namjoon rubbed his neck, looking down at the ground. 

“Things have been so hectic lately and I haven’t gotten to sit down and talk with her.” He answered, his tone clearly disappointed. Your heart sank. 

Was something wrong? 

“Not everyone is down for a poly relationship, Hobi.” He added after a beat of silence. You stared at the two, lips parting as the fractured context of the late night convo started piecing themselves together. Hoseok nodded, reaching out to gently squeeze Namjoon’s arm.

“I know. Yoongs and I aren’t gonna push things if she’s not okay with it. We miss you, though, Joon. And honestly? Y/n is a beautiful woman with an amazing personality. I’d be lying if I said Yoongs and I haven’t talked about it more than once.” He chucked. Namjoon cocked a brow, lifting his head.

“You two were talking about my girlfriend?”

“We’re trying to get you to quit being such a coward and tell her you’re poly. Maybe she’d be our girlfriend.” Hobi fired back, teasingly. Namjoon, seemingly flustered, didn’t seem opposed to the notion.

Your heart skipped a beat and you stepped back, eyes wide.

Yoongi and Hobi? They had been thinking of you in a romantic manner? Since when? And what was all of this about them missing Joon? Had the three of them…?

As you were turning to leave, you ran right into Yoongi’s chest. You almost let out a startled yell, had he not have gently put a hand over your mouth. You stared up at the sleepy eyed rapper and he shook his head. 

“These two really have no hindsight, having this kind of conversation out in the open.” He nodded towards the bedroom. “C'mon, it’ll be a whole mess if they find out we’re here.” He moved his hand from your lips, gently taking your wrist to tug you silently along to bed. 

Once there, he let you go, crawling into bed and giving you a small hum when you hesitated. 

“Before they come back, I’ll fill in the blanks. Hoseok, Namjoon, and I were in a poly relationship. Joon met you and we all decided he could take a break from us and see how things went with you. He wants to tell you he’s poly and see if you’d like to try a relationship with us as a quartet. It’s a lot to take in, but you can rest easy, Hobi and I will respect your decision. Joon cherishes you and your relationship, too. He’s never snuck around or anything behind your back. All of us have respected you, as well as Joon’s wish to take a break from our relationship while he worked this out. Plus we’re not gonna like, push up on you or anything. Unless you’re into that.” He yawned, echoing the same words he said earlier.

They suddenly held a lot more weight.

You heard the other two rappers heading back down the hall and all but dove into bed, eyes closing just enough for you to peek in the darkness as Namjoon and Hoseok walked in. Yoongi bit back the urge to chuckle, humming in faux sleepiness when Hoseok settled in behind him, kissing the nape of his neck. Joon mirrored him, wrapping his hands around your waist as he pulled your back flush against his chest.

You hoped Namjoon couldn’t tell how much your heart was racing as you did your best to go back to sleep.

-Next Day-

After yesterday’s revelation, you began to notice things here and there that had previously went over your head. 

The way Yoongi felt at home borrowing Namjoon’s clothes, giving himself sweater paws with one of Joon’s Fear of God sweaters as he settled on the couch, immersed in a book as Hoseok rubbed his calves idly, quietly complimenting Yoongi on the muscles that were there. 

Namjoon wasn’t too far behind, squeezed into the end of the couch with Hobi, sharing his phone screen so they could also watch some videos of other bands. Hoseok shifted his attention quickly, his head on Namjoon’s shoulder as they watched. 

They all looked so comfortable.

Biting your lip, you walked over, standing in front of them. 

“I wanna watch, too. That sounds like Dreamcatcher, I love them.” 

“I can lift my legs, Y/n.” Yoongi offered, moving to move his curled legs from beside Hoseok’s hip.

“That’s alright.” You swallow down the butterflies and nervousness, moving to sit down, your bottom on both Namjoon and Hoseok’s thigh, gently taking the phone from Namjoon and holding it between you three. Yoongi watched you in interest, the corner of his lips curling up.

“C-can you see?” You inquired, glancing over your shoulder to look at both Namjoon and Hoseok, biting your lip when you saw how close they were. 

“Not quite. Scoot back a little.” Namjoon instructed, gently pulling your hips back until your back was flush against both of them. You squirmed slightly, heart hammering as both of them settled their chins on your shoulder, breaths ghosting your neck as you shakily resumed the video.

The four of you sat like that for at least an hour or so, enjoying the proximity of one another. With every creeping minute, you found it more apparent that you weren’t really bothered by the idea of Namjoon’s previous relationship with the other two rappers. 

If the thunder of your heart was anything to go by, you were more than comfortable with also getting the same attention.

Before the gravity of that realization could hit you, Jimin came bounding into the living room, startling you all. 

“Hyungs! Y/n! We should do karaoke!” He cheered, seemingly unbothered by the closeness of the four of you. You lowered the phone, tilting your head.

“Karaoke? Where did that come from?” 

“I had to sit up all night while Jungkook played with Jin-hyung and Tae can sleep through a hurricane, I can’t. So tonight, before that happens, I want us all to do some karaoke!” He cheered. You smiled at his energy, sliding out of Hoseok and Namjoon’s lap as you helped Jimin set up the TV and the machine that Jimin had found in one of the closets in the home. 

Namjoon rubbed his neck as he watched you, eyeing the curve of your ass while you bent over to see where the HDMI cable port was located. 

“I didn’t expect her to sit in our lap. She’s making it hard for me to figure out an approach on asking.” He muttered. Yoongi hummed, sitting up to slide nimble fingers over Hoseok’s sweatpants clad leg, giving the outline of his cock a subtle, sneaky squeeze, purring when the younger rapper bit back a groan, sucking in a quick breath through his teeth. 

“I’d say she’s making something hard, alright.” He added, casually taking his hand away from Hoseok’s now throbbing cock when he heard Tae, Jin, and Jungkook loudly making their way over to the living room. 

“Yoongi, that’s just evil.” Hoseok spat, adjusting himself as inconspicuously as he could. Yoongi only hummed coyly, head tilting to the left as you leaned back further, cheering in success when you finally plugged in the machine. 

“It’s in! We can start!” Jimin beamed, clapping eagerly. 

“I wanna go first!”

“Is there Charlie Puth in the bank?”

“Can we sing songs in English and Japanese too?”

You and the vocal line began chattering at once, looking through the list of songs. 

“How about we make it interesting. Whoever gives the worst performance has to do dinner dishes.” Jin offered, a spark in his eye. You immediately frowned, squinting. 

“Isn’t that unfair? Did you forget who you are? How am I supposed to beat the seven of you?” You hissed in clear disapproval. 

“Well you won’t win with that attitude, Y/n. Plus, as long as you have fun, that’s what matters!” Tae cooed, a boxy grin on his face. Your eyes narrowed even more and Namjoon raised his hand. 

“If you do lose, I’ll help with the dishes. Though I doubt you will.” He offered. You smiled softly, feeling at ease once again. 

“Fine. Let’s do it, then.” 

Everyone eagerly looked through the songs after that, with Jungkook and Jimin teaming up to duet one of Khalid’s songs, having the time of their lives. Tae followed close behind them, singing one of Halsey’s songs. From the way he moved his body, you can tell he’d probably listened to it often, coming up with his own choreo for it as he sang. He nearly slipped a few times, leaving you wondering why he tried to dance on a tile floor with socks on. Jin got more than a few laughs as he chose Gain’s Paradise Lost, copying the choreo nearly perfectly. 

“Hyung, how many times have you done this?” Hoseok inquired, clearly impressed by the look on his face. Jin only winked and blew him a kiss in his usual manner. 

“Enough to not have to do dishes. Y/n, you’re up!” He grinned, passing the mic to you.

You shuffled forward, shyly clutching the mic as the familiar sound of Ddaeng filled the living room.

“She’s pandering!” Jimin gasped playfully, unable to move fast enough to dodge the pillow Tae threw his way as he shushed him. 

“Shh! Let her rap!” 

You stuck your tongue out, doing your best to copy the Rap Line as closely as you could, unable to keep yourself from breaking character and laughing when Tae started dancing and rapping along in the background.

Out of the corner of your vision, you could see Yoongi, Namjoon, and Hoseok mouthing along, and you’d be lying if you said the subtle intensity in their eyes as they watched you wasn’t as terrifying as it was arousing. 

You took a seat once the song ended, smiling and taking the water bottle Jimin offered you as you watched all three of the rappers get up from the couch. 

“The three of you are going to do a song together?” You asked without hesitation. They nodded. 

“We figured we’d wrap this up so we can actually start cooking.” Yoongi mused, checking the time. You glanced at your phone, nodding in agreement when you saw it was already close to seven at night. 

You settled down on the floor with the Vocal Line, knees pulled up to your chest as you waited. Hoseok scrolled down the list of songs in their playlist, eyes sparkling when he found one, pointing at it as he whispered to Namjoon and Yoongi. Namjoon was blushing, but he didn’t look opposed to the idea, while Yoongi only sent him a knowing quirk of the brow. 

“Subtle.” He hummed under his breath as the first notes of the song started. 

You felt your throat run dry, immediately recognizing the song. 

Girl, change into that Victoria’s Secret thing that I like

Alright, okay

Tonight you’re having me your way

Perfume, spray it there

Put our love in the air

Now put me right next to you

Fittin’ to raise the temp in the room

First rub my back like you do

Right there, uh-uh, right there

Uh you touch me like you care

Now stop and let me repay you for the week that you’ve been through

Working that 9-5 and staying cute, like you do oh, oh, oh

You watched, lips parted as Namjoon started singing, his eyes on you as he did so. Hoseok and Yoongi weren’t far behind, improvising a dance with one another as Bangtan’s leader practically serenaded you in front of everyone. Yoongi reached around Joon in a manner way too intimate for a mic pass, his fingers wrapped around Joon’s as he pulled the mic over to his lips, singing the chorus.

I love it, I love it, you love it, you love it

Every time, every time, we touchin’, we touchin’

I want it, I want it, you want it, you want it

I’ll see you, see you, in the morning, in the morning

I wanna put my fingers through your hair

Wrap me up in your legs

And love you till your eyes roll back

I’m tryin’ to put you to bed, bed, bed

I'mma put you to bed, bed, bed

Then I'ma rock your body

Turn you over, love is war, I’m your soldier

Touching you like it’s our first time

Imma put you to bed, bed, bed

Imma put you to bed, bed, bed

Did no one else in the room notice how this was all directed at you? One glance at the others showed they were entertained and immersed in the performance, and not their best friends currently giving you fuck me eyes while singing a song about fucking.

Hoseok, ever the dangerous one, casually took the mic, a far too sweet dimpled smile on his face as he sang. He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was singing to you, motioning to you in gentle sweeping motions as he did so.

I’m staring at you while you sleep

You replaced, it for beauty

Put my face up in your neck and breathe (ah breathe)

Take you into my senses

Wake up, it’s time to finish

Round two, It’s round two

Matter of fact, it’s closer to three

D-did he have to motion to the three off them during that last part? You swallowed thickly, unable to decide which one of them to focus on. To be honest, it didn’t matter. At this point, there was an ache between your legs and a flush on your cheeks you were sure people could see a mile away.

The boys continued like this for the entire song, body roles, grinding, and eye contact relentless as they sung, and part of you honestly forgot there were others around. Your mind wandered the longer the song went on. 

Yoongi’s fingers deep inside of you, his lips against your ear, his low voice purring pure filth as he made you fall apart from his hands. Namjoon’s large body pressed against yours, your lips crashed together as he rocked into you, your fingers laced together. Hoseok’s head between your thighs, squeezing your ass and pulling you flush against his lips as he greedily ate you out, dark eyes trained on every twitch of pleasure from your face. All of it rattled through your head along with images of the boys tangled up with one another. Soon, you couldn’t hear the music over the sound of daydream Hoseok, Namjoon, and Yoongi panting and groaning in your ear, accompanied by your own desperate cries and mewls for more-

God, what is happening?!

The sound of clapping cut you out of your daze, and you blinked back to reality as the three Rap Line members set the mic down, only slightly out of breath.

“Okay, so we know who won.” Tae whistled. Everyone nodded in agreement while you gulped down as much water as you could, trying your best not to choke in the process. 

“So as for voting-”

“I’ll just do the dishes.” You said hurriedly, standing up like a shot. All eyes were on you in an instant and you bit back a curse at how obvious you were making it apparent that something was wrong with you. 

“Woah, Y/n…I can see your cheeks all flushed from here. Are you okay? I can do the dishes if you’ve got a fever. Do you want to hold my RJ?” Jin offered, frowning. You waved your hands at him, shooting them all an unconvincing disarming smile.

“I-I’m just a little hot. Go ahead and start dinner, I’m gonna wash my face.” You stuttered though the sentence before darting down the hall, muttering a few curses in your native tongue before you ducked in the bathroom. 

“Get it together, Y/n! What are you doing, girl?” You scold yourself, splashing water on your face. You grip the counter, bowing your head down as you collect yourself. There was a gentle knock that interrupted you, followed by a concerned voice.

“Y/n, are you alright? Do you want me to run to the store and grab some medicine?”

You swung the door open, looking up at Namjoon’s concerned face before you pulled him inside with you closing it back with a little more force than you’d meant to. This did nothing to calm the fears no doubt racing through Namjoon’s head. 

“What-”

“I know about you, Yoongi, and Hobi.” You blurted. Namjoon blinked, brows furrowing for a moment before realization dawned on him moments later. 

“Wait-”

“I overheard last night.” You explained, smoothing your hands down on your pants as you held Joon’s gaze.

“I…I was going to tell you, I swear I’ve never cheated or anything, I would never-”

“I know. Yoongi also woke up last night. He told me everything. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head, Joon.” You stepped closer to him, never breaking eye contact. 

“I never expected something like this, but I’m not opposed to it.” You finally tell him, reaching up to wrap your arms around his neck. Namjoon’s hands gravitated towards your hips instantly, surprise clear on his face. 

“Are you serious?”

“I am. I wish you would’ve told me sooner, though. Instead of triple teaming me by singing sexy songs in front of all our best friends.” You teased. Namjoon hummed, a smile finally cracking onto his face. 

“But where’s the fun in that?” He quipped, leaning down for a kiss. You happily kissed him back, giggling against his lips as he pulled you flush against him by your hips. You ran your fingers through his hair, licking at his bottom lip. Namjoon picked you up without warning, drawing a yelp from you as your legs wrapped around his waist. He set you on the counter of the sink, palms at either side of your thighs as he deepened the kiss, a low groan leaving his lips when you teasingly sucked on his tongue. 

You two broke apart after a minute or so of the sloppy kiss, slightly out of breath as you looked into each other’s eyes. 

“We’ll talk to Hobi and Yoongs about all of this in the morning, right?” You inquired. Namjoon nodded, kissing your head before the two of you quickly made your way out into the kitchen. 

“Y/n, are you feeling better?” 

Jimin was the first to notice you one you returned. You cleared your throat, nodding once. 

“Sorry about that. Just got a bit light headed from the summer heat, it seems.” You lied, shuffling into the kitchen further to see what everyone was doing.

Jimin was slicing some strawberries and mangoes, gently dropping them in a bowl while Jungkook and Jin argued over whether the lamb or lobster should be cooked first. Tae was close to Yoongi, reading off the instructions of the pudding mix they bought while Hoseok washed off a rather large radish.  

“Is that for some dongchimi?” You question, smiling when Hoseok nodded.

“I wanted to make something with a warm broth, so you’d feel better if you’re sick.” He grinned, rolling up his sleeves with a tender, yet determined look on his face. You felt your heart flutter for a moment, missing the proud smile on Namjoon’s face as he walked past you to take the spicy squid and pork out of the fridge.

“Can I help? I don’t want to stand around doing nothing.” You said, moving towards Hoseok. He frowned. 

“But…you’re not feeling well.”

“I’d feel better if I was helping.” You countered. 

Hoseok considered contesting the sentiment before he stepped aside, handing the radish to you. You took his place, getting to work cutting while Hoseok moved to dice some scallions. At some point, Jimin peeked over your shoulder, tilting his head. 

“Hey, Y/n? Aren’t they a bit…big? The slices of radish are gonna take up the entire bowl.” He mused. You blinked and looked at the parts you cut, flustered when you realized they were, in fact, much too large for the banchan bowls. Hoseok brushed the sliced scallions into a mixing bowl before he looked over your shoulder, as well. 

“That’s not too bad. Let’s doctor it up.” He hummed, walking behind you. 

“Just relax, if you’re stiff, it’s gonna come out all chunky.” He told you, his breath tickling the back of your neck as he put his hands over yours, guiding you as you both sliced the radish.

You could feel the blush creeping up to your ears at the close proximity and intimacy. Yoongi watched you both out of the corner of his eye, a satisfied look on his face.

You swallowed thickly, noticing every fine detail now that you were so close to Hoseok.

The way his chin brushed against the top of your head as he helped you slice, the light scent of his cologne flooding your senses, the comforting warmth radiating off of his body. 

Were Hobi’s hands always this soft?

“Oooh, are you flirting with Y/n, hyung?” Tae teased, dramatically popping a mango chunk into his mouth as he pointed in your direction. You bolted, nearly cutting your finger, had Hoseok not have tightened his grip on your hand. 

“Keep teasing Y/n and I’ll tell Joon to cut down on how much meat you get today.” Hoseok scolded. Tae gasped, scandalized while Namjoon nodded from the grill he was setting up in the center of the dining room.

“I guess I’ll give all of your pieces to Y/n.“ He sighed, clearly kidding with the threat of less food. Tae still bowed in your direction like a child being scolded. 

“Sorry, Y/n…”

You smiled.

“It’s alright, Taetae. Let’s get back to cooking, I know I’m starving.“ 

Tae agreed, maneuvering around the kitchen to grab everything he needed for the pudding.

Hobi smiled and nodded towards the cutting board. 

“Let’s finish up, then. We have other things to slice.”

-x-

It took around an hour of shuffling around in the kitchen, hands brushing against your waist, Namjoon scolding the other boys for stealing food, and the usual chaos that came with cooking with Bangtan before dinner was done. 

You squeezed yourself into a seat between Namjoon and Hoseok, digging in with the members cheerfully. It didn’t escape you how the boys had tactfully given you more food during dinner. You even took some initiative, reaching over the table to feed Yoongi a lettuce wrap.

You definitely noticed the way his tongue ran over the tips of your fingers as he took his bite, and part of you wondered if this was how flustered Namjoon was when you did the same to him.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed a small rose made out of sliced radish that seemingly appeared after Hoseok sat beside you. With a small smile, you admired it as you ate dinner.

Once everyone was full and satisfied, Namjoon hung back, as promised, to help you with dishes. He playfully bumped your arm with his a few times as you worked side by side. You sent him a playful glare, hip checking him while you put the plates away. 

Together, you finished them in no time, sharing a few kisses like two reckless teens before heading back to the room to watch some movies before bed. Tomorrow, you’d definitely talk with Hoseok and Yoongi about this relationship and where it was headed. 

-x-

Something shuffling beside you woke you up in the early hours of the morning, and part of you wondered why you couldn’t just a good night’s sleep without waking up mid way. The shuffling continued, followed by a sharp inhale and the telltale sound of kissing. 

Curious, you cracked your eyes open, squinting in the darkness to figure out what all that movement was. 

You got your answer when you heard the undeniable sound of a muffled moan. You could see Yoongi kissing and nibbling up the side of Hoseok’s neck, whispering something to him in a low, hushed tone. Hoseok shuddered, gripping Yoongi’s arm, and it was then that you noticed the fuller picture. 

Yoongi had pressed himself close to Hoseok’s back, a small, devious smile playing at the corner of his lips as he lazily stroked Hoseok’s cock through the loose sweatpants he was wearing earlier.

“You gotta keep quiet, Hobi. You’re gonna wake up Y/n and Namjoon.” Yoongi purred, though he didn’t seem even remotely close to stopping. Hoseok bit back a curse, blunt nails raking down Yoongi’s arm as he thrusted into his hand. 

“N-no one told you to start jacking me off, Yoongi.” He growled out, huffing out a low growl when Yoongi responded by rolling his thumb over the head of his cock, enjoying the opportunity to further tease him.

You bit your lip, squirming as you watched the subtle way Hoseok’s scolding melted away until he was gasping and whining in Yoongi’s ear, pleading for him to keep going. As your body heated up, you felt something firm nudging your ass, making your face ignite more when a low, groggy growl sounded off from above your head. 

“You’re gonna wake Y/n.” He scolded, but you could tell he was more than enjoying the show. 

“I…I’ve been awake.” Your voice cut through the sound of Hoseok’s moans and Yoongi muttered a startled ‘fuck’, stilling completely. 

“Oh my god. Y/n, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-” Yoongi pulled back, and you could see the embarrassed flush on his face. Hoseok sent him a pointed look, clearly frustrated his release was yanked away so suddenly. 

“It’s okay.” You cut off his rambling, looking back at Namjoon. He noticed the way your eyes darkened in the moonlight streaming in through the window and only quirked his lips, nodding in their direction. 

“We did say we’d work things out in the morning. It is technically morning.” He mused. 

Smiling deviously, you turned your attention back to the other two confused rappers. You got on your hands and knees, moving to straddle Hoseok, unable to hold back the laugh that left your lips as he looked up at you with wide eyes. 

“What’s wrong? You woke me up, aren’t you gonna put me back to bed? Isn’t that what you sang to me earlier?” You teased, rolling your hips down. Hoseok grunted, his hands immediately moving to your hips as you continued grinding on him, sighing at the slight relief you got when you felt the thick outline of his cock rubbing against you with every grind. 

“F-fuck…are we dreaming, Yoongs?” Hoseok shuddered, sitting up so he could press a kiss to the side of your neck. Yoongi having crawled behind you, leaned down to nip at the free side of your neck, drawing a gasp and a whimper from you. 

“Don’t think so.” Was the low growl of a response. You cupped Hoseok’s cheeks, leaning down to kiss him. Normally you would be tentative and shy, especially kissing someone who was just a close friend less than 24 hours ago, but the ache between your legs and the sound of Yoongi and Namjoon kissing behind you was enough for you to throw whatever hesitation you had away instantly. 

Hoseok didn’t seem to mind, his large hands dipping into your pj shorts, squeezing your ass firmly as he rolled his hips up. You whimpered against his lips, rubbing your breasts against his chest as he moved your hips. Your clothes were getting much too stuffy too fast, and Hoseok must have agreed, if the subtle tug at your shorts was anything to go by. 

“Are you okay with going further?” He questioned once he broke your kiss, his lips damp. You nodded, glancing over your shoulder when you heard Namjoon cursing. Yoongi’s head had disappeared between his thighs, and you couldn’t help the pout and challenging sway of your hips as you looked back at Hoseok. 

“We should have more fun, too.” 

Satisfied with your eager response, Hoseok ran his hands up your shirt, tossing it to the side once you lifted your arms. You did the same with him, gasping in surprise when he lifted your lower body with one arm, sliding your shorts and panties down past your ass in one fluid motion. You wiggled your hips, discarding them in the same manner. 

It surely would be interesting finding all your scattered clothes in the morning. 

You pulled Hoseok’s sweatpants down, nearly salivating at how thick he was. Without thinking twice, you took him in your hand, stroking him slowly as your tongue flicked out, catching the bead of precum that nearly rolled down his head. Hoseok growled in response, his dark eyes holding your gaze as you made a show out of kissing the tip of his cock, with each kiss lingering longer until you have him a teasing suck, rolling your tongue over one of the veins you noticed. He shuddered, hips tensing before he bit his lip. 

“You wanna suck my cock?”

“I am down here, sucking your cock, am I not?” You shot back sassily, a jolt of electricity running through you when you saw the way his jaw clenched. 

“Turn around. If you’re gonna gag on my cock, I should at least be able to taste that pussy while you do, right? C’mon, move that ass for me baby girl.” Hoseok ordered. The authoritative tone in his voice and the low drip of lust in his tone made you move much quicker, turning eagerly for him. 

You hardly had any time to get your mouth back on Hoseok’s cock before he grabbed your ass again, pulling you down until your pussy was right in his face, his tongue flicking out to give you long licks. You gasped, gripping his thighs, hips involuntarily rolling down for more. Hoseok chuckled, his nails digging into the flesh of your ass even more. 

“Almost creamed your panties from grinding on me and now you wanna ride my face, baby girl? Do you want it that bad?”

“H-Hoseok, ah…stop teasing her and eat her out already.” Yoongi scolded, drawing your attention back to him and Namjoon. Joon had sat Yoongi in his lap, spreading the pale rapper’s legs as he stretched him open with his long fingers, a bottle of lube off to the side of Namjoon’s hip. He was sucking hickies into Yoongi’s shoulder, watching you and Hoseok with such an intense look, it made you sudder in Hoseok’s grip. 

Hoseok obliged, his tongue rolling over your clit a few times before drifting lower, curling as it slid into your pussy. You mewled, taking hold of Hoseok’s girthy cock once more, deciding to forgo the teasing from before as you tested to see how far you could take him. 

Your lips stretched around him, stroking whatever you couldn’t comfortably fit. Hoseok groaned against your pussy, slapping your ass once you started bobbing your head. You whimpered, clenching slightly around his tongue. Namjoon perked from his spot near Yoongi, grinning devilishly. 

“Spank her, Hoseok. She loves it.” He instructed. You looked over at him, drool running down your chin once Hoseok started thrusting up into your mouth. Almost as soon as Namjoon told him, Hoseok’s large palm cracked against your ass, drawing a whine and a gasp as the sting sent a pleasurable shock throughout your body. Namjoon, satisfied after pulling his fingers from Yoongi’s slicked hole, lifted his hips, kissing the back of his neck as the Daegu rapper eased down on his cock. 

Yoongi groaned, fists clenching as he stretched around him. 

“G-god damn, it’s been a while, Joon.” Yoongi sighed, rolling his hips to adjust to the stretch. You moaned around Hobi’s cock, your free hand cupping his balls, rolling them in your palm as you eased more of his cock down your throat. 

“H-Holy fuck, Y/n.” Hoseok hissed, running his nails down your ass, leaving you with a pleasurable burn. You shuddered, feeling close to cumming. From the way Hoseok’s balls drew up in your palm, you could tell he was close, too.

A few more minutes of you drooling over his cock while riding his face and Hoseok was growling against you once more, squeezing your ass hard as he raised his hips, cumming with a low, drawn out groan. You mewled against his cock, feeling him fill your mouth. You whimpered, thighs slightly clenching around Hoseok’s head as you came yourself, literally riding your orgasm out as you rutted against his lips. Hoseok shuddered, giving your ass soothing caresses as you eased off of his cock. 

Eyes half lidded, you crawled over to Yoongi, who was nearly incomprehensible as he rode Namjoon, his eyes closed as his head rolled back onto Joon’s shoulder. While on your knees, you shuffled over to him, cupping his cheeks and waiting until he cracked open his lust blown eyes to look at you. You stuck your tongue out, showing him how you still had Hoseok’s cum in your mouth and he instantly knew what you were prompting him to do, leaning down to mold your lips together. His tongue instantly slid into your mouth, greedily sharing Hoseok’s cum as he dominated your mouth. 

“Fuck, that’s hot.” Namjoon growled, snapping his hips up harder at the sight. Yoongi’s voice cracked against your lips and you took over the kiss, running your fingers through his silky, slightly damp hair. Yoongi reached around, spreading your cheeks, and the warmth behind you was a pleasant reminder that Hoseok still had more energy. He slid his cock between your legs, kissing the top of your head as he pushed into your tight pussy slowly. 

“O-Oh my fucking god” You gasped, nearly biting Yoongi’s lip as Hoseok’s girth pushed into you. Hoseok kissed your head once more, holding your wrists back as he pushed in until his hips were flush against your ass. 

“He feel good baby girl? You excited to be stuffed?” Namjoon purred, reaching around to stroke Yoongi’s cock as he watched the way your face changed once Hoseok started moving. It made his cock throb harder while inside of Yoongi. 

“Y-Yes, oh my god yes!” You cried out, eyes rolling slightly as Hoseok started rocking into you with deep, hard thrusts. The only thing keeping you up was Hobi’s grip on your wrists. Your moans were shaky and loud, and the only thing that brought your volume down was Yoongi lacing his fingers in your hair, pulling you into a hard kiss. Whether it was to keep you from waking the others, or just because he wanted to claim your lips again didn’t matter.

The bed creaked in protest as the four of you fucked. At some point, Hoseok let your wrists go, chuckling darkly when your upper body slumped into the sheets, literally face down, ass up as he fucked you. 

“God, your pussy is just swallowing my cock, baby.” Hoseok growled, giving your ass another firm slap. You whined, looking up and biting your lip when you saw Yoongi’s cock bobbing in your face as Namjoon fucked him. 

You pushed yourself up to your elbows, leaning over to take Yoongi in your mouth, tilting your head and looking up at him through your lashes when his wide-eyed gaze flew down to you. 

“Fuck, no no, I’m gonna cum if you-”

You slid further on his cock, shaking your hips for Hoseok as his thrusts curled up just right. You ignored Yoongi’s breathless pleas, the sound of Namjoon and Hobi’s voice encouraging you as you bobbed your head. You moaned and mewled with every thrust, the pleasure running through every inch of your body like electricity as you edged closer and closer to the edge. 

“C’mon, throw that ass back for him baby, I can tell you’re close.” Namjoon instructed. You mewled, obediently spreading your legs further to move back, fucking yourself on Hoseok’s cock as you rolled your tongue along the underside of Yoongi’s cock. 

Namjoon was the first to cum minutes after that, his grip on Yoongi’s hips near bruising as he held him in place. A long, shuddering growl left his lips. You came not to far after him, nearly at the same time as Yoongi as thick ropes of cum landed on your tongue. You swallowed every drop, still teasingly sucking him after he had finished to make sure he was fully satiated. His hand in your hair was enough to draw you off of him. Hoseok came last, pulling out and groaning as he came over the curve of your ass. 

“Hoseok, did you just cum on her ass?” Yoongi inquired, arching a brow.

“I didn’t wanna be rude and cum inside of her!” Hoseok snipped back. You smiled lazily, shaking your ass. 

“It’s fine. Maybe next time Joonie can show you two how much I enjoy being stuffed.” You tease. The three stare at you for a moment before Namjoon shook his head, a chuckle leaving his lips. 

“God, I love her.” 

You all exchange smiles and small pecks, taking turns showering off. Namjoon took the liberty of changing the sheets, beckoning you over once you all were showered and dried off. You crawled back into bed, kissing his cheek while Yoongi slid in behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. You figured Hoseok was somewhere behind you and you smiled, settling in with a smile on your face, the pull of sleep taking you not too long afterwards. 

[scorlettimagines]

Try To Be Normal: A Caliban Imagine

Request from @panda-duuu​:  Alright, I'm going to try and be the shortest I can be without being confusing. (I'll be using R in this as in reader instead of "me") It started with R in college, having a few friends and a roommate. After a while the roommate had to move, which meant a free room. While trying to find someone to share the house with, R meets Caliban (can't remember how) and he ends up moving in and they develop a good friendship but because he's from hell, doesn't understand the whole college concept and what comes with it. After sometime they eventually go out and start dating, and when they're at the cafeteria/bar he's being a dork while choosing what to eat and cuteness and sappy couple interaction comes with it. When they go back to the apartment, because they still sleep in separate room, R is like "don't you wanna join me and lay here" leading to cuddles and fluffiness

Okay, so this is a Caliban College AU thing which was super fun to write!  Hope this is okay for you lovely, and enjoy x

Day One.

College was supposed to be fun, it was supposed to be a chance at normal. After the Pagans had invaded Greendale, you had decided you’d had enough of the whole witch business, and fancied living life the way mortals were supposed to. Zelda Spellman hadn’t been particularly impressed when you’d told her you were leaving the Academy, but you didn’t have to do anything she said anymore.

From the moment you had arrived at college, you had renounced witchcraft, and Satan, or whoever was looking after Hell now. Because that was happening, wasn’t it? The fight for the throne of Hell; Sabrina Spellman versus that other guy. You weren’t sure of his name, only having watched from the sidelines.

But that wasn’t your problem anymore. Instead, you had the issue of finding a new roommate.

And that wasn’t enjoyable for anyone.

You had put posters up around campus, and so far, there hadn’t been any takers. You were currently in your apartment, debating giving up completely, and just living alone, trying to muddle through normal life on your own, when he showed up.

“Heard you’re looking for someone to live with.”

The door opened to reveal a rather tall figure leaning against the frame, clad in jeans and a yellow t-shirt, arms folded as if him entering your place unannounced and uninvited was the most casual thing in the world. Golden curls framed a face that you knew was sculpted from clay, each eye a jewel set into place.

Your mouth opened slightly, lost for words as you looked at him. You knew who he was, and the fact that he was here meant that your plan for normal wasn’t quite working.

“It’s Caliban, by the way,” he chuckled slightly at your expression, taking a step into the room.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be competing against Sabrina?”

“Didn’t quite go as I’d hoped. Fancied a go at the whole normal thing, like you’re doing, clearly. How’s it going not using any magic?”

You should have told him to leave, but there was something about his whole demeanour that made you all the more interested to spend time with him. Not to mention, he was cute. And there were worse people to have for roommates, surely.

Day Seven.

Word of your new roommate had reached the ears of your friends, and the entire student body. That much was clear when you walked onto campus with Caliban, everyone’s eyes turning towards him. He obviously relished the attention, and you hit his arm when his gaze lingered on one girl for what you thought was way too long to not be considered creepy.

“What was that for?”

“Creepy. You’re supposed to be normal, remember?”

In the past week, you had developed quite a friendship with the former Prince of Hell, but there was something else there you couldn’t put your finger on; an underlying tension that you couldn’t define. There had been several moments in the week when he had suddenly seemed too close, or too far away, his voice taking on a tone that could have been interpreted as something else.

“I still don’t understand why we have to be here this early, Y/N.”

“Because that’s college.”

Caliban leaned down, and you were aware of how his lips just missed your ear when he spoke.

“Why don’t we forget college, and just go home?”

You shrugged him off, climbing the stairs to your class.

That evening, Caliban kissed you for the first time.

Day Fourteen.

A week into your relationship with Caliban, and he had already ensured that everyone knew about it. Walking onto campus with his hand in yours, fingers interlocked, kissing you in the middle of corridors, never leaving your side.

You couldn’t help but smile every time he complimented you, a blush rising to your cheeks. Maybe this normal thing wasn’t as bad as you thought it was going to be.

You walked into the cafeteria with him, his hand still in yours. You had yet to brave this particular part of college with him, knowing that it would probably cause more trouble than it was worth. Of course, that was back when he was just your roommate, and you were more inclined to get annoyed at him.

Now, what with the loved up-state that you were in, you couldn’t imagine getting irritated at him for anything.

He had been an absolute gentleman since that night he had kissed you, that night everything had changed. Hands in hair, on skin, slipping under clothes but protecting modesty all the same.

That step hadn’t been taken yet.

You pushed that out of your mind as you noticed Caliban looking at the food on offer with absolute disgust. You had ordered a lot of takeaways in the time you had lived with him, and he didn’t seem particularly impressed with the lack-of-budget college meals.

“You just pick one, babe,” you leaned up and kissed his cheek.

“They all look horrible, unlike you of course,” he turned to face you then and kissed you with more passion that was probably appropriate for the current situation. You fell into him, and you only broke apart when there was a shout of protest from someone waiting in the queue.

You looked each other and laughed, forgetting for a moment that you were a witch, and he was a demon.

In that moment, you were both normal.

Day Twenty.

Having finally mastered the challenge that was the cafeteria, plus multiple public displays of affection that had caused scoffs of disgust from your fellow students, you were now back in your apartment. Caliban kissed you good night, and made to go to his room, still a perfect gentleman, when you spoke.

“Don’t you want to come to my room? It’s not even that late,” your voice grew quieter, waiting for him to decline your offer. You were still nervous around him, always waiting for him to make the first move in any situation in case you were wrong about something.

“Okay.” He followed you, and at first, didn’t join you as you lay on the bed. You patted the spot next to you, your head on your pillow.

“Do you want to join me here?”

It looked as if this was the question Caliban had been waiting for you to ask, and he was quick to climb on, lying next to you. He wrapped his arm around you as you snuggled into him, head on his chest now. He kissed the top of your head, and for a moment, neither of you spoke, content just to be in contact with each other.

“You can sleep in here, if you want.”

“Hmm.”

You shut your eyes as he kissed you again, finding comfort in him, in a person you would never have found it in had you not left Greendale.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

And there it was. The first time it had ever been said. The three words that made your heart soar, that made moving to college and trying to be normal worth it.

“I love you too.”

CALIBAN MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

[powerwordsleep]

Sasuke Retsuden (Unofficial English Translation)

I’ve decided to do my own take on translating Sasuke Retsuden. It’s a long novel and difficult, so this will be a slow work in progress. As such I will be posting chapter by chapter updates here until the whole novel is finished and I can compile it in one document. 

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official translation and was not made for profit or distribution. This translation was fan-made and done for purely enjoyment and translation practice purposes. I do not own the rights to NARUTO or any of the related materials. 

Authors: Kishimoto Masashi and Esaka Jun Binding: Takahashi Kenji (Tera Engine) Editing Cooperation: Soeda Yohei (Tsubame Productions) Publishing Office: Shueisha Co. 101-8050 Tokyo, Chiyoda, Hitotsubashi 2-5-10 Printing Office: Kyodo Printing Co. Ltd. ©2019 M. Kishimoto/J. Esaka

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST THIS ANYWHERE ELSE. THIS IS MY WORK, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Character Introduction

Uchiha Sasuke: The master of the kekkei-genkai, the Sharingan. Member of Team 7 and husband of Sakura. 

Uchiha Sakura: Master of medical ninjutsu. Member of Team 7 and wife of Sasuke. 

Zansur: Director of the Astronomy Research Institute. Has apparently accepted an important mission from the minister of the country Redaku. 

Menō: A giant lizard prison guard who monitors the Astronomy Research Institute.

Jiji: A prisoner who shares a room with Sasuke and is doing manual labor for the Astronomy Research Institute.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Prologue

He can’t sleep. The man pressed his thin body to the chilly sheets. Inside the room his breath is white, and no matter how much he wraps the comforter that doesn’t fully cover him around his body, the shaking and shivering of his chest can’t be stopped.

He’s sleeping in sweat and dirt stained thin bedding. Soon it will be a half-moon. Every time he sleeps the bruises all over his body increase, so he never can feel rested. If he could sleep a little in an area with no draft, it would be enough. 

With feelings of bitterness the man opened his heavy eyelids and strained his eyes, surveying the dark room. Six adults sleep huddled in a small corner of the six-mat tatami room. In this place it’s natural for a newcomer such as himself to be allotted the coldest part of the room, with no room for objections or arguments. He shifted on the hard floor and let out a pained moan. 

“Damn it. Why is this happening to me…” 

Before the half-moon, the man had been in a prison in the capital of Redaku. Even though there had been no freedom, minimum standards of living had been guaranteed, and it was safer and more comfortable than here. He had even thought about going back to commit another suitable crime when his sentence finished. However, one day it was suddenly decided that he was to be transferred. He was only told that he would be engaged in public works in the cold regions. Because it was physically demanding labor, only young and healthy prisoners would be allowed to do it. He was brought to an astronomy observation facility made of stone, built on the peak of a desolate mountain range. 

The Tartar Astronomy Research Institute. 

It is said to be a research institute with an ancient and honorable origin derived from Janmarū Tartar—an astronomist of folklore legend who lived at the same time as the Rokudō Sennin. But he didn’t care about that. The issue was that this place was below freezing even in early springtime. And no matter how he thought about it, with the provided food, clothes, room and having to dig up cold dirt from morning to night without rest, it was an environment where livestock were treated better. 

“Why… is this happening to me?” 

He clenched his trembling teeth and squeezed the edge of the futon. Day after day of work, the skin of his palm peeled off and his nails became soiled with dirt. 

His crime was robbery and murder. Three years ago, on a winter’s day he had been having trouble finding something to eat. He broke into a house that caught his eye and stole everything of value. He left the young husband, wife, and two children bound in ropes and ran. Two days passed without anyone noticing them and they all froze to death. Since that’s how the four of them were killed he doesn’t count it as murder. He had no intention to kill; it was an accident. Generally, when he had no food to eat he stole from other houses. Was that not a case of legitimate self-defense? 

Why did I have to encounter those eyes?

Frustration swam like water in his chest. He was at his limit. The man decided while staring at the grooves in the ceiling—when dawn breaks, he’ll break out of prison. 

*************

The prisoners’ lives are managed by the sound of a gong. 

When the muffled clang signaling waking time reverberates throughout, the prisoners rise from bed like zombies and begin their day. They are always on time, because if they oversleep the patrolling guards offer no mercy when they catch them and force them to eat their batons. He wiped away the sleep from his eyes, and exited the room while yawning and scratching his rash covered arms.

Meals are served twice a day. The menu consisted only of messily stir-fried vegetables and wheat, and pork that looked suspicious to eat. The man lined up in the queue stretching out of the cafeteria and took a deep breath to quell his tumultuous feelings. Contrary to the heaviness and drowsiness lingering on his body, his nerves were clear and excited. Even as a man who walks in steps on his foot and another behind him spits phlegm out close to his ear, he doesn’t care. 

Today he'll leave here. He’s going to break out of prison. 

After securing his breakfast, the man looked around the room full of prisoners. If he’s going to escape, there’s someone he wants to invite. The shabby room was only a cafeteria in name, with rattling tables and chairs made from cut logs lined up. The man with the eyes was sitting in his usual seat by the window. 

Inmate number 487. Sasuke.

What is rare is his appearance rather than his name. Pure black hair and eyes. His face is finely chiseled and thin. The beauty of his nose stands out nicely on his profile, his features lined up perfectly on his face. No matter the angle, he looks like a painting come to life. If you looked at him up close you’d start to question whether you’re even of the same species. 

The fact that while he was born with such an appearance he was silent, unfriendly, and always cold and blunt like a cat, attracted attention from his surroundings. Despite that, because he was so strong that no one could raise a hand against him, he was a nuisance. On the day Sasuke arrived, a group of longtime prisoners immediately went to mess with the curious newcomer, and in a second their joints were severed and they were groveling on the ground. Looking down on the men crying in pain, the warning that came from Sasuke’s mouth was simple. 

“Don’t get in my way.”

For most of the prisoners Sasuke was someone hard to get close to. It was the same for this man too, of course, but it was strange to think that when he escaped today he would be able to speak his mind like normal. 

The man seated himself in front of Sasuke and opened his mouth.

“U-um,” Although his voice had been strong and burning with a fighting spirit when he imagined this, in reality it came out trembling and weak as he spoke.

“U-uh, you’re also… a-a shinobi, yeah?”

Sasuke moved his gaze from outside the window to the man facing him. 

“What do you want?”

“I-I’m also a shinobi. I’m from the Land of Wind. I never graduated from the academy and was abandoned by my parents… and I eventually ended up in this country. I can still control my chakra. Watch!” 

Using chakra, he attached the tip of a chopstick to his finger and shook it around for him to see. When he looked determinedly back at Sasuke, he had already lost interest and his black eyes had returned to gazing out the window. 

He’s ignoring me?

Sticking out his tongue, the man glared at Sasuke. 

If he got imprisoned in such a backwater country then he’s probably not that great of a shinobi either.

Sasuke was staring intently out the window while using his chopsticks in beautiful form, dexterously eating bamboo shoots and strawberries that had been arranged together in triangles on a crushed iron plate. He was an unfriendly man, but unknowingly to him his behavior was revealing his growing kindness, little by little. Among the human trash that made up the prisoners, Sasuke was clearly different. 

He waited for Sasuke to finish his meal and then broached the subject. “W-will you join me?” He was nervous and stammered out his words. 

“What do you mean?”

“Escape. I-I’m going to run away from here. Y-you can also use chakra, right? Um, w-we can climb the wall and run away.” 

The Astronomy Research Institute was surrounded on all four sides by a wall made of stone about ten meters high. Looking at it from below it seemed tall, but with chakra it was climbable. 

“I’ve a-already had enough. Y-you have too, right?”

Sasuke stared at the man, expressionless. 

“What do you know about me?”

“I know that you are not a normal person, at least.” Finally, he was able to speak until the end without stuttering. 

How on earth a man like Sasuke ended up in a place like this he could not figure out. Still, he didn’t think he was satisfied with the dull day-to-day manual labor of this place. 

“Let’s run away together. After this everyone will be going to their morning work shift, yeah? We can use that as cover and cross over the wall.” 

“Forget it. Outside the wall it’s nothing but wasteland. The closest village is two days on foot from here. You’ll end up dying.”

“But you can gather tons of wild plants and nuts, which is way better than what we can eat here. Also, look, there’s this mist out today. Now is the only time we could sneak past Menō’s eyes—”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Sasuke said shortly and with a glance out the window, he gathered his empty plate and stood up. Prisoners who were standing around talking in the narrow passage panicked as they saw Sasuke approaching and rushed to the sides to give him room. 

“Don’t you want to get out of here?!” 

The man ran up and latched onto his arm, but Sasuke easily freed it from his grip.

“Sorry, but I came here because I wanted to.” 

“... What?” 

Here? He wanted to come here?

The man was left taken aback as Sasuke exited the cafeteria. He waited until he could no longer see Sasuke’s form and then kicked the leg of a table in anger. 

Idiot. Whatever. He can rot in this shithole place forever. I’m going to be free. 

The man gathered his plate full of a messy breakfast and stomped out into the hallway. He cast a backwards glance at the prisoners scattered about sitting and chatting, then continued on outside to look upon the wall on the prison grounds. There was still time before the morning shift started. The chances of patrols coming out here should be low. No one guards the fence. Unlike actual prisons, the patrols here basically only work security. They’re not concerned about people who can’t even climb a ten-meter wall. 

That’s too bad. I can climb it. 

The man placed his hand upon the smooth stone wall. Recalling the lessons from his past, he gathered chakra and concentrated it in his palm. There was a sensation of it sticking precisely to the stone surface. The man started crawling up the wall like a frog.

In the distance he could hear a commotion from the other prisoners. It had only been a few minutes since he started climbing. There should be few people outside at this time. The head guard and the other patrols should be having breakfast in the main building. 

It’s fine. You can do it. Climb up before you’re found. Menō will appear at some point. 

His body was lighter than he imagined. He’d already climbed about halfway but wasn’t tired. He could keep climbing for another hour. 

There was the sound of gravel and sand being stepped on. The man looked over his shoulder and met yellow eyes. A chill went down his spine.

He’d been found. It was Menō. 

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad—I have to escape quickly!

In his panic the man lost control of his chakra. The hand touching the wall slipped off and his body floated in midair. 

I’m falling, he thought. Then a burning pain erupted in his torso, his blood pressure dropping suddenly. As he lost consciousness, he met the unmistakable eyes of Menō, sinking his teeth deep into his chest.

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 4

Hey there! Hope you’re having an amazing day! To make it a little better, here’s an update on my ToG fanfic! If you haven’t read the previous chapters, you can find them here:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

I promise I'll make a Masterlist one of this days so it’s easier to find n_n

CHAPTER 4

Implementing phase one

Once lunchtime came around, Celaena walked eagerly towards the school’s cafeteria, her stomach rumbling loudly. She was still not used to the new schedule and having to get up so early, she hadn’t managed to grab anything for breakfast before riding to school. She had had enough time to carefully sort out her uniform for the day though, adding her own little twist with a red bandana tied around her right wrist. She had also taken twenty minutes in front of the mirror putting on her contacts and making sure her makeup was spotless.

She had accentuated her cheekbones, making her face look a bit rounder than what it was, had thinned her nose, and added a few fake freckles across it. She had decided on black eyeliner and simple grey eyeshadow, with a little bit of gold in the inner corners of her eyes. That day's lipstick choice was bright red, as it matched her rider's vibe. 

Celaena got in the queue at the buffet, eyeing everything in front of her and having a hard time choosing only one item from the vast range of options. In the end, she settled for the fried chicken, a portion of fries, and two servings of pudding. 

Finding an empty table close enough to her main interests but a little secluded at the same time was a challenge; but once she found the spot, she sat down with her tray. 

She watched as the cafeteria filled up, and spotted Sam on a crowded table only a few meters away. They were one to each side of Aedion’s table, and she knew this was no coincidence; Sam was playing his cards too. Annoyed, Celaena glared at him, but Sam’s eyes were too focused on the couple making a scene in between them, and he didn’t see her.

“Hi, there!” Someone said, popping a tray of food next to her own, and grabbing a seat.

Celaena turned towards the intruder, surprised to find a dark-skinned girl with long raven dreadlocks falling to her waist and curious eyes that were looking at her. 

“Hi,” She said dubiously. 

She had enjoyed the peace and quiet of eating on her own the previous day, but she knew it wasn’t going to last. Celaena would have to find her place in the status quo soon, or else she’d end up as an outcast, and that wouldn’t be good for her plans.

“Nice to meet you,” the girl sitting next to her said. “I’m Nehemia, I’m the only other exchange student in this stuck-up school, so I thought we might as well kick start this inevitable friendship of ours,” she finished with a tight smile.

Celaena looked at her a little perplexed, and a little stunned. Nehemia looked somehow shy yet she also had a kind of hidden sass that Celaena found appealing. But she had to remind herself that she wasn’t there to make friends, she had no time for it.

“If you say so,” she replied, nonchalant.

“I’ve been here for a whole year, and I can tell you, this is a hard crowd to please.” Nehemia looked her up and down as if analyzing her. “I would have expected you to be sitting on the table with the jocks already,” she added pointing at them with her head. “A few of them are taken, as the team captain over there. His name is Aedion,” she explained, talking eagerly as Celaena listened carefully while pretending to be more interested in her food. “His father owns one of the biggest businesses in town, and they have investments all over the place, he is loaded! Even more than most of us. It's a bit of a sad story if you ask me, his mother died when he was young, and it’s just him and his father; I believe he lost his aunt and other family members to a tragic accident too. You wouldn’t be able to tell from looking at him though, he’s always so full of himself… And he's got that damned gorgeous smile!” 

Nahemia sighed and stopped talking for a moment as she ate a few spoonfuls of her lunch. Next to her, Celaena looked at Aedion through her lashes as she picked on the fries. 

“Who’s the chick with him?” She asked, knowing that any other girl would have asked the same question.

“Lysandra? She’s the queen bee. Captain of the cheerleaders, she’s probably the most gorgeous girl in this whole town,” she said, and then looked at Celaena, analyzing her again. “Well, maybe she was, she might have competition now.”

Celaena huffed, trying not to grin at the remark. Of course, she was better looking than that girl. At least now she knew who that Lysandra girl was, and she could keep an eye on her. 

“Don’t be stupid,” she said instead.

“Please, I’m not blind, you are absolutely gorgeous. And blond seems to be trending at the moment, I’ve heard every single boy in school talk about your entrance today,” Nehemia added as she lifted her thin brows.

Celaena smiled to herself and disregarded the comment with a wave of her hand.

“So, how long have those two been together for?” She asked next, knowing that she might as well just use this free source of information while it lasted; there wasn’t much time left on the clock before they’ll have to head over to their next class.

“A long while, they've been together since the start of junior year,” Nehemia said. “So sorry to be the one to break it up to you, but you have no chances with Aedion, many have tried to break them apart, but no one has succeeded,” Nehemia finished.

Celaena smiled while she laughed to herself once more. “Don’t worry, I’m not interested, he’s not really my type,” she replied.

“I guess you’re right, you two would look a bit creepy as a couple anyway, he looks like he could be your brother,” Nehemia stated, playing with a gold band from one of her dreads.

Celaena composed her expression into something neutral, trying not to worry about that remark. No one would ever suspect they were related, she was safe, she reminded herself. But this girl had her eyes on the details, and Celaena knew straight away that she’d have to be careful around her. Maybe having her close would be the smarter option.

“What’s your type then? I can picture a hot dark-haired boy…” Nehemia said dreamily as she played with another one of her dreads, her dark eyes darting around the crowd and looking for someone to match Celaena with.

“Oh, how come I didn’t notice it before?” Nehemia said in a hushed tone as she leaned closer to talk into Celaena’s ear. “Dorian is checking you out,” she said, a smile spreading wide on her lips. “You two would look so good together, but he’s not the dating type,” Nehemia replied.

That was a cue Celaena didn’t know she was waiting for, and as the words left Nehemia’s lips, she found herself popping another fry in her mouth and looking up. She met Dorian’s bright blue eyes, and she held his gaze, chewing slowly, playing with a strand of hair between her fingers. 

“How come?” She asked Nehemia, her eyes still on Dorian’s.

Dorian took the bait and elbowed the guy sitting next to him. Celaena watched as Chaol lifted his head, and watched her shamelessly staring at them. 

“I mean, he’s never had a girlfriend in school, rumor has it he’s been with half the girls from Adarlan Elite though,” Nehemia said. “Almost every girl claims to have been in bed with him, but the stories don’t quite… match,” she finished.

Dorian murmured something in Chaol’s ear and then contained a laugh as Chaol shook his head from one side to the other. Dorian shrugged, and stood up, leaving his tray behind on the table and sliding his backpack over a shoulder.

“Is that right?” Celaena replied, her eyes unblinking.

Dorian walked towards their table slowly, deliberately, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Oh my God,” Nehemia whispered. “He’s coming over here, what should we do? What should I do? Do you want me to go?” She was moving in her seat, and Celaena put a hand over her tight under the table, as if telling her to stay calm. Nehemia got the wordless message and went still all of a sudden. She kept her head down, but she gazed up between her long lashes. 

Nehemia looked shy all of a sudden, her shoulders slightly drawn as if trying to make her tall frame look small, but Celaena thought it was a facade; she reckoned underneath it all the girl seemed composed, careful, attentive. The girl knew how to lie, and how to make people see her the way she desired. Celaena noticed because she was so used to doing the exact same thing.

“Dorian,” Celaena said sweetly as the guy finally made his way to them and stood over the other side of the table. “What brings you here?” She asked, motioning at the table and the empty seats in front of her.

“Wondering if I could join you for a moment?” He asked.

“Well,” Celaena said slowly. “I’m pretty certain the bell is about to ring any minute now, and there’s a class I need to attend. I’m sure there’s one you need to head to as well.”

She finished eating the last of her fries, and grabbed a spoon, taking a bite of her chocolate pudding and licking her lips slowly as she swallowed.

“There’s still a few minutes on the clock,” Dorian quipped. “And I’m sure you can’t finish all that on your own,” he continued. “Maybe I could help you.”

“Would you like to bet on that?” Celaena said with a smirk and then shoved another big spoonful in her mouth.

She could see Dorian staring at her lips, and she ran her tongue between them again.  

“You’d be surprised at my odds in gambling,” Dorian said, composing his expression into something like a smug smile. “I’ve never lost, not once,” he said.

Celaena let her eyes drift past Dorian quickly, and saw that she had the attention of most of the cafeteria by then. She saw Aedion looking at her and then looking away when she met his eyes, and then she collided into Sam’s golden-brown irises. It was as if he was trying to burn a hole into Dorian’s back, trying to see through his very soul.

“And will you?” Celaena asked. “I mean, bet against me?” she said as she finished the first portion of pudding, and moved onto the second one.

“No, I would never,” he replied. “I would never dare bet against you, Celaena, I will be sure to always bet on you,” he said, and then he sat down in front of her, leaning over the table to look at her closely.

“Uhm, interesting,” she said. With that, she pushed the dessert over to Dorian and stood up quickly, grabbing her bag in one hand and hooking the other around Nehemia’s elbow. “Lost my appetite, you can have it,” she said as she pulled on Nehemia’s arm and turned around to walk away. 

“You can’t run away, I know where you live, Celaena,” Dorian’s mellow voice trailed after them as they headed out of the cafeteria without looking back.

“What was that about? You just stood up the king of the school! In front of everybody! Do you have any idea how popular that guy is?” Nehemia asked as the double doors closed behind them.

“You have to keep them on their toes,” Celaena replied as she abruptly let go of Nehemia’s arm. The dark-skinned girl looked shocked and motioned to follow along, but Celaena lifted a hand. “I’m on my own from here on, but thanks for the company,” she said nonchalantly as she walked away with quick steps. 

She had never had a girlfriend in her life, and this was the wrong time to go looking for one. Nehemia was smart, and she would keep an eye on her, but she didn’t need friends, no; she needed to infiltrate the hive. 

The first step of her plan had already proved to be a success. She had got the whole school thinking she was a possible match for Dorian. And most importantly, she had caught the attention of the jocks' table. 

Time to move to the second stage, time to become one of the popular kids.

Here’s the Queen Bee herself, Lysandra Caraverre :D [Made with picrew]

[tsumtsum-into-omiomi]

CHAPTER THREE: LUNCH TIME

warning(s): cursing

word count: 1.5k

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

AO3

The lunch traffic in the dining hall right now is no joke. You are squeezing through hundreds of hungry students trying to look for Suna, who is supposedly saving a seat for you somewhere. Well, he better. You bought him the bento that he wanted, so the least he could do is find a place for you to eat your lunch together.

Slipping past some familiar faces with a "hi" and avoiding the rest, you manage to get to your usual table at the end of the hall only to find Suna missing. You click your tongue while turning around to see if he is nearby. Maybe he was too late to get that table and chose another one.

However, instead of Suna, you see Kita making his way towards you through the crowd.

"Miya," he greets.

"Yo, Kita-san. What's up?" you play it cool while your heart thumps loudly in your chest.

"I need to talk with you about the festival," he informs, hand reaching into his bag for a file holder.

"Oh, right! I was gonna look for you to sign up," you rummage through your backpack to look for a pen.

Kita hands you a piece of form, "the twins have signed up for you. They're just not sure what's your student ID and I need your signature too."

You roll your eyes, "when will they ever stop making decisions for me?"

"I thought you wanna go?" Kita frowns.

"I am. But, the fact that they still sign these things up for me..." you accept the form Kita offered, "I can do it on my own. I'm in my fourth year already, y'know?"

Kita smiles, "I think they just want to make sure that you come. They said something about turning it into a family trip?"

It's your turn to frown at Kita, "this is literally a school thing. What the hell are those two thinking?”

The guy shrugs, "well, you know them."

"They're embarrassing," you shake your head, filling up whatever boxes the twins have left empty.

"And you're one of them too," Kita reminds. You look at him to rebut but unable to find the right words. He's right.

With a sheepish smile, you hand the form back to him, “I'm sorry that there are three of us now in the club.”

"At least you're polite,” he takes the form back and slides it into his file holder. “Thanks.”

“Only with you,” you think, remembering Atsumu and Osamu’s advice not to cross him. And also because you want to be on his good side.

“No problem. By the way, isn't there a fee?” you ask while searching through your backpack again to find your wallet.

Kita raises a hand up, telling you it's fine, “your brothers paid for you already.”

You stop in your track, “oh.” Whatever ill feelings you had for the twins just now disappeared, replaced by some sort of comfort.

“Have you had lunch?” he questions.

“I'm actually looking for Suna. We're supposed to eat together.”

“I saw him with your brothers around here just now. I'm joining them.”

“Oh, cool. Let's go together then.”

Kita nods and starts surfing through the crowd with you behind him. You follow closely, not wanting to lose him but in the middle of all those uniformed students, Kita starts to look no different from the others.

Out of nowhere, someone bumps into you, knocking you out of your path and you are disoriented for a moment. Gathering yourself back quickly, you found your footing again in no time, but Kita has dissolved into the mass. Alarmed by the sudden lost, you look around like a nervous chick trying to find its mom, drowned in the sea of people.

“Oi.”

You feel someone nudging your arm. It's Osamu, with a tray of food in his hands. You sigh in relief to see him. He juts his mouth out towards your east, pointing at where he's sitting at. You can see a blotch of gray hair and hear Atsumu’s laugh  now.

“Can’t  believe I lost Kita-san in the crowd. We were together!” you grumble, resuming your walk with Osamu.

“You lost him or did he leave you?” he teases.

“No way he'd leave me,” you glare at him even though his words made your heart sink.

“Kidding! That's why I said, it's a lost cause. I've never seen him lay his eyes on anyone. And knowing how useless you are around your crushes... it's not gonna go anywhere."

Osamu's truthful words cause you to press your lips together in annoyance. You wanted to respond but the both of you have arrived at the six-seater table to join Atsumu, Suna and Kita.

"See if he even realises that you were separated just now," Osamu adds in a whisper.

“Shut up," you cut the conversation off, not wanting anyone to hear.

“Just sayin’,” he shrugs his shoulders and takes the seat beside Kita.

“Samu-nii!” you hiss at him, giving a hint that you want to sit there.

“What?” he frowns.

“Dumb ass," you curse under your breath before making your way round the table to occupy the vacant chair in front of Osamu instead.

He looks at you with a silent "oh", realising what you meant seconds too late. You roll your eyes at him, pulling out two meal boxes from your backpack and giving one of them to Suna, who is sitting beside you.

"Ugh, you stuffed my lunch into your bag again," he whines, taking the slightly crumpled container from you.

"Sorry," you utter.

"As if you are," Suna opens his box with a small scowl.

"Shut it, I had to queue for 15 minutes to get that," you slam a pair of disposable chopsticks in front of Suna, warning him not to complain further. You would like to focus on your food now, which is also attracting Atsumu at the end of the table. He comes to stand beside you, bending down to inspect the bento.

"What did you get?" he bothers.

"Definitely not your food," you retort, feeding a piece of karaage chicken into your mouth.

"Just a bit, pleaaaaase," Atsumu tries.

"Where's your food?" you grunt, passing your chopsticks to him anyway. Plus, you kind of feel guilty now for crashing his presentation earlier.

"I ate already," he replies, taking a big bite of your rice and chicken.

You smack his shoulder, "are you fucking kidding me?"

"That's good," Atsumu comments, eyes travelling to Osamu's plate now.

"Don't you fucking dare," Osamu pulls his tray closer to him, trying to protect his lunch from Atsumu.

"Your food looks shit, I don't want it anyway," Atsumu sticks his tongue out.

"Miya," Kita interferes and the three of you go quiet. None of you knows which Miya he's referring to but that's definitely a cue to stop bickering. "Can we have a nice lunch, please?"

"Yes, Kita-san," the twins and you answer at the same time in obedience. Atsumu returns to his seat with a sour face, deciding that Osamu's egg rolls that he wanted are not worth the risk of pissing Kita off.

"Which school is hosting the festival this year?" Osamu then prompts.

"Fukurodani, right?" you recall the school name that was printed on the form you filled up earlier.

"Yes," Kita confirms, "Fukurodani Academy."

“Fukurodani’s cool,” Suna compliments, “but I wonder if they can top Seijoh’s festival last year.”

“Oh yes, that was fun!” Atsumu seconds him. He stares into the distance for a second to think, “the only downside was how they only let fourth year students and above to join the contests. The festival's great but last year was definitely the best for me. The duels were crazy, man.”

“Nice. I can join those then!" your excitement is apparent.

"Yeah, you chose the right time to join us," Atsumu echoes.

"What's the festival like?” you gauge, wanting to get an idea since it will be your first time going this year.

“Dude, you're gonna like the festival so much,” Osamu hypes, “it's a weekend full of workshops, pentagram duels, awesome food and pop-up booths selling all sorts of stuff. They always have very rare potion ingredients! Well, it's called the Potions Festival for a reason lol.”

“You’ll meet lots of crazy powerful people too. Remember that clean freak guy who kicked your ass when you dueled him last year?" Suna elbows Atsumu, directing the question to the blonde guy.

Atsumu stays quiet. He slumps in his seat and plays mindlessly with the paper trash of Suna's disposable chopsticks cover.

"No? The one who always had a mask on all the time?" Suna continues. All eyes are on Atsumu now but his mouth remains shut.

"He had like two moles on his forehead, I think?" Suna does not give up and so does Atsumu.

"With wav--"

"I know. He had wavy hair," Atsumu finally speaks, flicking the paper in his hand away. It's subtle, but you could hear the lamentation in his voice.

And you wonder why.

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

AO3

[junipersgarden]

metanoia 3. | Waves

PAIRING: Peter Parker x Superhero!Reader

SUMMARY: Touching down in Venice, Y/N is trying to figure out a plan to get rid of Brad Davis politely and Peter is trying to commence his plan; Venice should be calm and peaceful... right?

WORD COUNT: 5556 words

WARNINGS: N/A

a/n: i am on such a huge writer’s block and i am extremely bloated from all this Christmas food but who’s still gonna eat? duh me. anyways, hope you enjoy and ohmygod action scenes are hard to right... :)

[NOT MY GIF]

...

At Venice Marco Polo Airport...

...

The dreadful 9 hour flight was finally over; no more being cramped next to Brad Davis, at last free to roam the city of Venice.

Mr. Harrington had packed everyone off to the side into a small group, keeping everyone close together and secluded while everyone gathered their passports in a hurry to get outside and see Italy and what it holds. Eventually with passports out, Mr. Harrington and Mr. Dell merge all the kids to join the line to exit the airport.

Brad Davis. He was still by your side but all you wanted to do was hang out with Peter and Ned, even Betty and MJ as well. A summer vacation with your friends is a dream come true, but Brad Davis wasn't making it easy for you to even talk to Peter or anyone else.

It's not like Brad Davis is insufferable or anything... you just, would rather he stayed a distant away from you than constantly being by your side 24/7 for  2 days. You really just wanted to spend this time with someone else.

Among the commotion and sea of people in the airport, you search aimlessly for any sign of anyone to catch up to after you got past the line to wait on the other side for everyone else. The line was full of people standing close together, bouncing impatiently with suitcase and luggage balanced with the rest of their belongings.

From afar, your eyes catch the blur of a familiar blue flannel speed walking down the hustle of people, also looking for something or someone.

Peter.

A sly smile grew on your face as you watched Peter from the distance walk up to Ned, Peter heaving out a breath as he obviously started to rant. You couldn't make out exactly what he was saying but whatever it was about, it had him real worked up and concerned.

This is my chance!

Turning on your foot to budge through, a hand grips on your arm and stops you.

You pivot around and find Brad gawking at you with a funny expression; he clearly wants to know why you're leaving the queue, Brad's eyebrows are raised and he chuckles slightly.

"Sorry, just go without me. I forgot to ask Mr. Harrington something." You straight up lie.

"Oh cool! I'll see you soon!" Brad gently lets go of your arm and you hurriedly rush to Peter and Ned.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Hey man, did you see Brad and Y/N/N on the flight? They were watching movies and laughing the entire time..." Peter exasperatedly huffs out to Ned.

For the whole time Peter was sat behind Brad and Y/N, he was forced to endure the torment of Brad leaning closer to Y/N, countless times of them 'accidentally' knocking both headphones into one another, hearing Y/N laugh... it was a nightmare.

Peter wished so badly that it was him sitting next to Y/N on the plane and not Brad Davis.

"Dude, don't worry okay? I'm sure it's nothing." Ned answered in a strange tone.

"Hey babe? Can you hold this for me please?" Betty suddenly strolled up next to Ned with heart eyes.

Peter was taken back by what Betty referred Ned as: babe?

Betty then pecked Ned's cheek which caused Peter to stagger faintly back and furrow his eyebrows in disbelief and puzzlement. Ned then proceeded to boop her nose before leaving.

Peter's eyes linger on Betty as she walks away, still dazed and confused and still lots of questions remained.

"When was that?" Peter blurts out quickly.

"Ah well, we actually got to talking on the plane and turns out, we've actually got a lot in common... so now we're boyfriend and girlfriend!" Ned grinned brightly.

"Who's boyfriend and girlfriend?"  

Y/N.

To Peter's side, Y/N slid next to him and gave him a soft nudge.

"N-Ned and Betty." Peter peered at Y/N, still shocked himself.

"You and Betty?!" Y/N jerked to look at Ned. Ned grinned even more and nodded his head furiously. "I'll admit, it's new and like a surprise but congratulations?"

"But what happened about being an American bachelor in Europe?" Peter questioned.

"Peter, those were the words of a boy. That boy, met a woman, a very strong and powerful woman and now, that boy is a man."

"Well, that's new... but we're happy for you Ned." Y/N beamed.

"Babe?" Betty feebly called.

"Coming babe! I'll see you guys later!" Ned whispered the last part before making his way to Betty.

With Ned going to Betty, it left Peter and Y/N standing there, the both swinging around on the spot. The both stayed silent for a couple of seconds until the realization of why they were there hit them so the both without telling one another, starting catching up with the rest of the class in the line and were fortunate it was shorter than before.

"H-how was your flight?" Peter croaked out with a cough, embarrassed by his voice.

"Not as bad as I thought it'd be for 9 hours! What about you? You were next to Harrington and lemme guess: he rambled about his wife?"

"He said her name in his sleep!" Peter quietly yelled.

Y/N placed a hand to the chest, leaning back and letting out a giggle. I love that...

Flinging the hand back down, it mistakenly stroked Peter's, a blush arose on his cheeks. Y/N clenched their fist and averted to the ground.

Come on Peter. Peter encouraged himself, Ask to hang out!

"Hey Y/N/N?"

"Mhmmm?" Y/N glanced up at Peter. Don't chicken out, what's the worst that's gonna happen?! Come on Peter!

"Well, I-I was wondering if you wanted to-" Peter abruptly stiffened. Peter had felt something soft on his leg.

Y/N leant to the side, staring in Peter's eyes, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

A security dog was brushing against his leg and suitcase and then jumped up on Y/N, a yelp escaping as the German Shepherd started burying it's nose into her bracelet, growling and barking.

The security guard lead the dog down to sit and guided her hand to grab Peter's suitcase but as she edged closer, a robotic beeping erupted from her metal detector and was triggered by Y/N's bracelet.

The guard grasped Peter's suitcase and walked up to the examination desk, signalling Peter to follow, his breath hitched to the back of his throat nervously. Another guard swooped to Y/N's side and immediately clutches the bracelet.

The lady who took Peter's stuff returned without the dog and politely asked him to come with her to the desk.

Peter hesitated at first because 1. Y/N was getting inspected and seemed uncomfortable and 2. Y/N would be left behind.

She continued to insist but Peter kept focusing on Y/N but Y/N nodded, letting him know it'll be okay.

Oh this is great...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Crap! Crap! Crap!

Peter was no longer with you and now you were stuck with this buffoon wrangling and fiddling your very expensive and dangerous invention that held your even more valuable suit.  It didn't help either that the metal detector's high pitched alarm was blaring into your ears.

The guard was repeatedly twisting and turning your arm, looking from alternate sides and angles at the piece of jewelry, trying ever so hardly to identify it.

What the detector had picked up was possibly the aluminum in the bracelet alongside the various nano particles, frequencies and energy levels vibrating off it. The complete situation wasn't the one thing you were worrying about; you just hoped and prayed that he didn't noticed the black cross binding the sides was floating or that ARIS didn't sense your state of panic and activate anything.

"Would you mind explaining to me what exactly this bracelet is Miss?" The security guard questioned, his thick eyebrows raised, eyes observing for any sign of hesitation or lie.

Think of an excuse. Think of literally anything Y/N.

"It ease my wrists. You see, I have a condition with my hands that causes them to flame up and the bracelet cools it down." You speedily let out.

Let me go....

"I see... but why is it made of aluminum though?"

Damn it!

"It uhhh... regulates and releases the flow of coolness when my hands flame up and it also measures my blood pressure... since my blood pressure is high... I really need this bracelet to like, get by." You emphasizes the last part.

"So like some case of arthritis?" The security guard loosens his hold, staring deeply at you.

"Yeah, something like that."

The security guard took one last final at your bracelet and you.

Please buy it, please buy it-

"I'm letting you go but next time when you're travelling internationally, bring a medical certificate kid."

You nod your head vigorously just wanting to get out of there and back to Peter, you slowly step back and begin speed walking to Peter.

The woman from before was standing behind the counter and holding a banana with an an extremely unamused frown.

"No- no banana got it..." You hear Peter meekly murmur as he zipped up his suitcase.

A banana? What a dork...

"A banana? Really?"  Stepping up next to him, you crack a smirk by his reason he was called up.

"M-May packed it for me and I didn't know-" Peter flusteredly stuttered.

"Relax, I'm stirring you up." You can't help but giggle at his stance. "But we should be off Peter, everyone's waiting."

"Oh, uh yeah... lemme just-"

"Let's go Pete!" You urged in a jokingly but serious way; if Mr. Harrington counted you up and realized people were missing, how he would freak out.

"O-okay, oh-" Peter audibly gasped quietly; you had intertwined both of your hands together.

Peter felt his face burning but thankfully you were too busy maneuvering between the bundles of people.  You led the both of you through the frantic airport, relying on the signs to guide you.

"T-there!" Peter pointed out; the group was all huddled next to the information booth and Mr. Harrington was counting the students.

"We're here! We're here!" You urgently shout of your and Peter's presence.

Mr. Harrington as well as everyone else turns around to face you and Peter, his face falls with relief and you slow your pace.

"Oh thank goodness..." Mr. Harrington sighs.

Peter and your face are both puffed from running half way across the airport and as you go to wipe your forehead, you feel something lift up with your arm; you were still holding Peter's hand.

At once you drop Peter's hand from yours and avoid him, coughing awkwardly and side stepping away to get out of the uncomfortable position, subconsciously rubbing your arm.

All of that was way too close Y/N.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

After the airport fiasco, all of you clambered into a canal to do some brief sight-seeing as you all were going to your hotel.

Everyone, (mostly Flash), was hiding behind their screens; taking photos rather than enjoying the views in front of them, you had scored a seat at the tip of the boat with the summer breeze.

The architecture of Venice was so much more traditional and classical; embalming the Renaissance era through its buildings and its textures; to you the history behind it was fascinating.

You'll admit, you maybe did sneak in a few distant stares at Peter but he wasn't going to notice or anything.

As a hotel with workers and renovation equipment was in sight, the canal boat began to slow and made an eventual stop. Surely we're not-

"Looks like we're here! They're... doing some renovations in place, getting some upgrades!" Mr. Harrington quirks up optimistically, answering with your unwanted answer.

Looks of disgust and amazement were shared around with everyone as they picked up their luggage to enter the runned down place.

One by one, everyone single filed out of the canal, cradling their precious belongings in hand and went with Mr. Harrington and Mr. Dell inside.

Examining the hotel from the small and cramped entrance, you could make out random objects scattered all around, it was weird and unusual... but it was alright.

"Okay everyone, we're here-"

"Woah..." Mr. Dell tried to warn as Mr. Harrington stepped directly into a massive puddle.

"This place is sinking." Flash bluntly called out.

"I think you mean charming." Harrington corrected him.

Passing Mr. Harrington and his wet shoes, Mr. Dell started telling everyone of the plan of the day: drop bags and sort out roommates and explore Venice before meeting up at the Da Vinci Museum at 3.

"Vamonos!" That's Spanish sir.

"It's andiamo."  You jabbed at Harrington as you walked past.

MJ hearing you pick up on his error, peaked over her shoulder to give you a sly smirk.

You return a smile to her before quickly mouthing "roommates?" to her from below the stairs (since you knew Betty was bunking with Yasmin) and MJ replies with an approval nod.

Following MJ and everyone else to the rooms, you see MJ enter Room 11 and dump her bags on her claimed bed and put yours on the remaining bed.

Tidying yourself in the mirror, you take off your coat and neaten your hair before heading down to explore the streets of Venice.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The Main Square, the very heart of Venice was full of eager tourists like yourself; with people splitting into groups to try and cover as much ground as possible, you decided to take your time and go to anything that caught your eye.

"Yo Y/N!"

A flock of pigeons ascended into the air, startling you a tiny bit, you find the source of the person: none other than your best friend Brad Davis, with a camera in his hand trotting to you.

"Hey Brad." You greet him with a plastered fake smile on your face.

"Where did go you? You just like vanished and I-"

"I had to do something. Important."

"Oh. Anyways, I wanted to-" Before Brad could ask you whatever he wanted to, two pigeons landed on your arms.

Brad's mouthed gaped open in shock as he chuckled at your appearance; you really wanted to wave the birds off but to make matters worse, two more pigeons landed on you.

You nervously laugh because you had no idea how to get the birds off or why they landed on you and then Brad supposedly laughed with you.

"I-I gotta take a photo of this!"

"Oh you really don't have too..." You try to steer him away from the idea.

"No this is great! It's a perfect shot of you; the sun's hitting you just right, come on Y/N/N!"

"Umm I don't- GAH!" A pigeon lands on your head as you were speaking.

Brad doesn't get the memo and scrambles for his camera and points it to your face.

"Are you a camera Y/N?"

"Not that I'm aware of why?"

"Because each time I look at you, I smile."

Wait wha-

"Show me that gorgeous smile!" Brad encourages you to smile for the photo.

Giving in to his shenanigan, you spread your lips for that 'gorgeous smile' of yours as Brad snaps away; Brad keeps complimenting you, causing you to feel all queasy because it isn't right coming from him necessarily and you can't get out because of the pigeons on you.

Peter on the other hand, could only see Brad Davis taking numerous photos of you on his camera, the sun perfectly shinning on you, your smile competing with it.

Peter couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of jealously; Brad and you were hanging out with each other every second and how he wished it was him instead; Brad didn't even know half of the things he knew!

Leaning on a pillar, Peter then knew now was the third stage of his 6 step plan with the first 2 steps being unsuccessfully; pushing from the pillar, Peter was determined to find a shop that could made his white gardenia necklace for you, Peter typed in his phone for locations of stores and journeyed forward.

The sensation and sound if your phone going off managed to shoo away the pigeons, you hooked your phone into your hands and recognized the caller.

"Sorry Brad, I gotta take this." Excusing yourself, you swipe the accept button and jog off to the side with your phone next your ear, far from Brad's hearing range.

"Hello? Yes I know, I know. I never thought Venice would be this pretty... and yes the water looks perfect. Alright, talk to you later."

I need space... You conclude and establish that taking a brisk stroll by yourself will fix you.

Sheltering yourself from the beating sun and protecting yourself from Brad's sniper like vision, you take cover in a small alleyway and sigh exclusively.

Roaming the alleyway, an old antique shop at the end captures your attention; paintings and furniture pieces with plants planted on top of them decorate the front, you sneak quietly into the shop with the owner not comprehending since it appeared he was busy making some sort of glass item.

Admiring the bits and bobs, a figure wearing blue walks past the aisle your in and into the next aisle. Curious, you pursue to uncover what or who the figure is; scanning through the cracks of the shelves, you tell by the brown curls and blue flannel collar who it exactly is: none other than Peter Parker.

Intense his eyes are, Peter was too busy and focused in his mini world to gaze at your E/C eyes were admiring him; Peter had a silver bracelet in his hands, studying its complexions and smoothing its chain.

"Ragazzo!" The shop owner yells specifically at Peter. Peter excitedly ran straight for the counter with a goofy smile on his face.

"Fiore bianco." The shop keeper said as he dangled a necklace in the air; to you, the necklace wasn't beautiful but was ethereal; the way the stained white glass of the flower's form glistens truly was extraordinary.

"It's perfect..." An awe struck Peter Parker breathed out; in Peter's eyes, the necklace was everything and more than he thought it would be and imagined you wearing it and he swore he felt his heart skip a beat.

Tenderly giving the necklace back for it to be wrapped, you took a couple of steps forward to announce yourself.

"Buongiorno!"

Confused by his hello, Peter shifted to his stare and was met with you.

"Y-Y/N!" Peter's high pitched voice broke out.

"Is that for Aunt May? I-it's magnificent." You ponder and move closer to him.

"Oh the n-necklace? Um it's for-"

"Una ragazza!"  The shop attendant perks up.

"For a girl you say?" Folding your arms, you bump into Peter's side.

"Y-yeah it's for a girl..." Peter defeatedly professes.

"Well, tell me about her." Peter has a crush? When? And who?

"S-she's uhh... she's really pretty. And smart; she's always there and makes me the happiest person I can be just by smiling... she means the world to me. D-do you reckon she'll like the necklace?" Peter with puppy dog eyes inquires.

"Yeah... whoever the lucky girl is, she'll love it Pete."

"Grazie" Handing a little golden bag to Peter, the owner thanks him of his purchase and grins to you and Peter, waving a sweet goodbye as Peter and you exit the shop.

"Since when do you know so much Italian? It's impressive." Peter breaks the silence.

"I might of studied a tiny bit before the trip so I can get around with the locals. Just tiny stuff though, nothing impressive. What about you though? I heard you talking to the guy."

"Aunt May; she taught me a couple of things. She's Italian so... guess it's a family thing?"

"That's cool and impressive Pete."

Peter rubbed the back of his neck from your compliment and you could feel your cheeks going pink.

"Hey look!" By the water's edge, heaps of crabs were crawling out of the water, Peter and you edged closer to get a better look.

"What's up losers- oh woah cool." MJ interrupts her welcoming to the both of you, distracted by the crabs.

Reaching for her phone, MJ records the crustaceans and quickly looks back to beam at Peter and yourself.

"MJ get back-" As you harshly warn, Peter feels the hairs and goosebumps on his ends stick up; his Spidey Sense knew something was up. MJ ignored your request as a sickly feeling buried deep inside your stomach.

Tilting his head to the side, Peter notices the water on top of the drain sink back down; something isn't right.

"MJ please-" Is all you get out before an explosion erupts from the water.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The water shoots off into different directions; flooding the streets and gushing violently from the motion, creating massive waves which boats are caught onto.

MJ slips from the water and can't seem to stand so you snatch her up from her satchel strap and pull her toward you and Peter, Peter steadily and firmly balances you into place, sticking you close to his side.

The screams and shouts of Venetian's and traveler's fill the tormented air with the stomps of their feet. A creaky, rocking sound from the water gains your interest; Ned and Betty.

The love bird's canal boat  was coming in fast and about to crash next to you guys and rammed into the wall.

Peter, MJ and you dash to get Ned and Betty out, you and MJ managed to grab Betty while Peter grabs Ned.

"Guys, guys, GO!" Betty shrieks but no one moves even an inch; the water had started to spiral toward the sky, its form changing and growing into something humanoid.

"W-what is that?!"

"I-I dunno!"

"What are you gonna do?!"

"I left my suit at the hotel room!"

"WHY?!"

"Because I'm on vacation Ned! Everyone's gonna see my face, just get everyone out of here!" Peter spat out and pushed Ned to everyone else. Betty laced her fingers around Ned's as MJ trailed but you on the other hand, you couldn't leave Peter; not up with this thing. So you rounded around a corner of a wall and kept a close eye on him.

"ARIS?" You call into your bracelet. The black crucifix lifted from the bracelet and spun itself around twice and a blue light shone from the sides, indicating ARIS was awake.

"Ms. L/N, how may I assist you this afternoon?"

"Suit up."

"I'm afraid I cannot."

"WHAT?!  W-why?!"

"It seems from the Venice Marco Polo Airport, the security guard accidentally combobulated some circuits from the detector as it disturbed certain amendments with your suit and commands."

"DAMN IT! Can you at least scan the threat?" You aim your arm to the water monster.

"Result found: a sailor named Morris Bench was exposed to an experimental underwater generator and obtained hydro abilities, Bench's alias is known by the public as Hydro-Man. Weaknesses are unknown as of the moment."

"They got that information up fast. Now, rest up because I'm gonna need my suit."

"Commencing Power Nap Protocol."

Now what to do? Wait- where's Peter?!

Panic arose in you as people blocked your sight and Peter was no where to be seen; this single second of idiocy could kill him... I promised I wasn't going to leave...

"Please.." You whisper for the universe to show mercy, just this once.

At your wish, it was granted at once as you spotted Peter leaping from beam to beam at a haste speed.

Thank you.

Reacting instantly, you pick up a quick pace and bee line to Peter; Peter lunges off the final beam and grabs a hold of an oar and bounds off it, landing with perfect form onto the bridge. You follow on suit; repeating his actions precisely.

Hydro-Man however, has other plans and slams a punch on the bridge, a tidal wave rocks the waters and knocks your oar's stability, the pole slides and then you feel a cold sweep of water crush your body, waves tossing you like a grain of sand in the ocean, so violently and so destructively, your body hits boats and debris of the bridge, marking cuts and scratches on your skin.

Through the clarity of the water, you rotate the crucifix and desperately plead for that blue light to shine. The black crucifix rises from your bracelet once more and twists twice in two circles and delicately lands back.

"Commencing Fish Out of Water Protocol."

Nano particles latched onto your skin tightly and rapidly, working on your helmet first to lock out the water and allow you to breathe, it fully regenerated and you gasped for a huge breath.

From your helmet, the nano tech molded itself onto your chest, to your arms and lastly to your legs.

The boosters on your feet whirred and transformed to function in the water.

"Y/N, I can only fly you out; my power is still weak. Once you are out, the armour will fully disappear;  are you sure you can land safely?"

"You know I will. Just get me out of here."

"Good luck Y/N." ARIS's voice malfunctions as your suit takes off.

The water was murky from the debris and destruction; there was no knowing where you were or where you would land.

Gradually, the flight power increased more and more by the second and then, you were free; but you were also feet above the ground and plummeting to your evident fate.

ARIS's promise was fulfilled as your black and suit faded from your body.

Free falling in the air, all you could see was chaos and demolition and most importantly, there wasn't anywhere you could land.

Breathe Y/N. Breathe. Focus and look, it's okay.

On the surrounding buildings, you survey the webbings and an idea pops in your head; I could stick to it.

This is crazy, but the best and only option I have to live.

Angling your body to the webs, you stretch out further to even at least grab any loose threads.

Brace yourself-

Your fingers touch the webs and you throw your body onto it and close your eyes, bracing for the worst.

But nothing happens. You open your eyes and see your body has fully stuck to the webs; Spider-Man (Peter Parker) saved your life. You glare up at the sky and dryly laugh; "Not today."

Sliding down from the webs, you touch down and plant one foot in front of the other, racing to find Peter but as you turn a corn, something suddenly hard collides into you and knocks you off your feet. Hitting your head on the concrete, you groan in pain and feel a shift of heaviness leave your chest.

"Hey are you okay? I'm so sorry I-"

"B-Brad?" You look up and see Brad hovering over you.

"Y/N! Thank god you're okay! Come on, we gotta go-" Brad wraps an arm around yours and forcefully stands you up.

You look up and see Peter swinging from building to building, you go to see where exactly he is going to and then you see it; a bell tower split from the bottom was toppling

"Brad stop-"

Brad ignored your requests completely and attempted to hold your hand but you leave it out of his hand's way and sprint to the others.

"Stay low kids, we'll be safe here!" Dell assures and crams everyone under a supported building.

Hydro-Man and a mystery green hero were fighting directly in front of you but you were worried about Peter; he couldn't hold that bell tower tower forever...

"He's kicking that water's ass!" Brad exclaims joyfully.

"He looks like a Doctor Strange rip off." You mutter as you turn to go after Peter.

Brad sensing you were about to run off, he sternly yanks you closer to him, a stone cold facial appearance portrayed on his face and now there was no chance of you sneaking off to help Peter or use your powers.

God damn it Davis!

An eruption of water sprays across from two sides and uproars, shaking the terrain and releasing its final cry, Hydro-Man was defeated.

How in the hell did he-

The ring of a bell made you snap your neck; the bell tower fallen and you couldn't see Peter.

No, no, no-

With a fleeting look at the bell tower, from it's corner you squint and find Peter's flannel sticking out like as he were standing. Peter's okay... it's okay...

Cheers and cries of rejoice for the mysterious hero blow up from the citizens,  praising of their work, the hero salutes the people and then, flies off into the sky on their gust of green smoke with the one question on everyone's minds.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Who is that guy?"  Betty asks about the elephant in the room (or more the elephant on the TV screen).

"He's like Iron Man and Thor rolled into one." Brad inaccurately compares.

He wishes-

"But he's no Spider-Man."

"What is it with you and Spider-Man?" MJ finally mentions Flash's obsession over the superhero; everyone knew of Flash's undying love for Spider-Man and how his Instagram account is literally spideyno1fan but no one actually knew why he adored the vigilante.

"What? He's just awesome okay? And he protects the neighbourhood and you know, he's inspiring; he inspires me to be a better man- sup dickward, thought you drowned." Flash sends a wink at Peter.

If only you knew...

"Sounds like his name's Mysterio." Brad states from the obvious news headline.

"No. It's Italian for 'mystery'; it isn't his actual name." You correct Brad from the staircase but he can't tell from your tone that you meant it to be rude; you were still incredibly pissed at Brad and what he did and you'd loss all respect and tolerance for him.

"Mysterio..." Ned starts as he nods to himself.

"Cool name." Ned and Betty finish each other sentences and freak out. What a power couple...

"So," Peter began and swayed his body and tip toed near you, "How much of that did you actually see?"

Not much because I was drowning in the surprisingly polluted canal. "Not much. You know when you're running for your life, you don't really look back."

"Right me too; I was also running away." Peter stammered. He can't lie for anything.

"So Paris tomorrow... go to the Eiffel Tower, should be great."

"Did you know people originally didn't like the tower? Excused it of being something useless and a monstrosity to France but then over time, turned into the heart of France?"

"Oh. I didn't know that." Peter shyly mumbled.

"That's why it's my favourite destination on the whole trip." You can't help but smile.

Peter chuckles softly and smiles at you and you do as well, the both stare at each other for what seems 'too long', Peter and you look away from each other and awkwardly laugh.

"Well, I'm probably am going to call it early tonight. It's been a long day..." You yawn and stand up from the stair and stretch.

"I'll walk you!" Peter uttered suddenly.

"Walk me up to my room? O-okay." You blush at his response.

Treading up the stairs, Peter and you arrive shortly at Room 11; your and MJ's shared room for the night.

"I-I hope you're okay from today Y/N/N," Peter sincerely conveys his concern, "and I if you need someone to talk to, I-I'm here because I know with everything, it's hard and I'm your friend and care a lot about you and just want you to be happy and stuff with Tony I know it's-"

"Thank you Peter." You softly let out, a shy smile plays on your face. "And same goes Peter... I care a lot about you too..."

The pair of you stand for what seems like a life time until the stampede of footsteps snaps the both of you out of your trance.

"G-Goodnight Y/N." Peter whispers with a giddy grin.

Too cute...

"Goodnight Peter." You playfully drag; you don't realise the effect it has on Peter though but to Peter, it was sweet like honey and he loved it.

Closing the door quietly, you slump down, with pink cheeks you lean on the door and exhale out heavily; what a day...

Brad was extra, extra today, Ned and Betty are dating, there was a monster on the first day and craziest of all, Peter has a crush?!

Feeling a vibration from your back pocket, you fish out your phone and turn it on to see a wonderfully timed message.

from: F/N ✌️

are you okay?! wth is happening rn?!

Wouldn't you and I both like to know...

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

TAG LIST !! < 3 

@eridanuswave @likeinfootloosethemovie @ivebeenthinkingboutu @watson-emma @herondalism @sweetdee198 @holyhumorliteraturelight @ferxaniti​ @averyfosterthoughts​ @cosmicmndes​

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

[beardedniall]

Chasing

Author’s note: I’m sure I’m not the only one writing about this scenario but I had to have my go at it. This is based on Nice To Meet Ya and everything Niall has said about it so far. Club hopping, finding and losing each other at each one, the saucy stuff eventually. Big thanks to @undertheniall for basically outlining the whole plot with me. Love you!!

Words: 5k (rip)

Warnings: NSFW, drinking, a bad pick up line, unsafe sex

-

“Four Gin Tonics, please”, Alicia shouted at the barkeeper while she held up four fingers so he would definitely understand what she wanted.

Your eyes roamed through the club. It was well patronised but not too full. While you were looking for the spot where the other half of your group of friends was waiting for you and the drinks, you felt something on your arm. 

“Careful there.”

The voice came from behind you and the person who it belonged to had grabbed your elbow to stop it from knocking over a bottle on the bar. You turned around only to be met with a set of stunning blue eyes and a charming grin.

“Oh uh, thank you”, you laughed nervously, “I’m a bit clumsy sometimes.”

“I’m Niall.”

He let go of your arm and offered you his hand to shake it.

“Y/N.”

“Mind if I’d get ya a drink?”

You hesitated for a second. Alicia already ordered for you and you didn’t want to leave her alone with four Gin Tonics to carry. But you also didn’t want to reject his offer. Before you knew it, a “Yeah, sure” left your lips with a smile on your face. Alicia would understand.

“What do you drink, love?”

“Gin Tonic?”

“Gotcha.”

While Niall was distracted with getting the barkeeper’s attention, you quickly turned around to your best friend who was already trying to get all the glasses in her hands.

“It’s alright Y/N, I can see you’re occupied”, she giggled, “He’s really fucking handsome.”

“I know right? You’re the best, thank you.”

She gave you a big grin and accepted the smooch you placed on her cheek before she made her way through the crowd with the bunch of drinks between her hands. You gave your attention back to Niall who was now ordering and handing a bill to the barkeeper.

“Thank you”, you said to him a few moments later when he handed you your glass and clicked it with his beer bottle

“Wanna get to a corner that’s more quiet?”

He leaned in closer than necessary to ask you that question. The music was loud and it was quite packed around you but you could understand each other rather well face to face. Still, his breath hitting your neck sent a flash down your spine. All you could do was nod as an answer before you wrapped your free hand around his biceps and followed him to an empty space next to the bar.

“Are you here alone?”, you wanted to know, half expecting him to say yes because the way he approached you practically screamed that he was only here to take someone home with him eventually.

“Nah, I’m with some friends. Actually, I should be getting them their beers but I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“Oh? So you’re the unreliable friend of the group?”

“I got my priorities straight.”

A light blush started to grace your cheeks. You usually weren’t one to be easily impressed by a random dude trying to pick you up at a club but the tone in Niall’s voice sounded so genuinely charming to you that you secretly hoped that you were on the same page here about were this was supposed to lead to. The more you had of your drink, the more intense the flirting between the two of you got. Until something rather inconvenient messed with you.

"Sorry, I gotta use the bathroom real quick. Be right back", you excused yourself while placing your hand on his chest and brushing your fingertips over his torso as you walked away. After you had reached the women’s toilet and taken your place in the line, someone bumped into you and clutched at you, almost dragging you down as they stumbled further into the room.

“Y/N shit I gotta-”

The next thing you heard was your friend Jen throwing up into one of the sinks for the lack of a free bathroom stall. While the women and girls around you gave her a disgusted look, you made a big step towards her and put your hands on her waist to help her stand.

“Oh God Jo, what’s wrong? How did you get drunk so quickly?”

After she had rinsed her mouth with water, she supported herself on the edge of the sink and took a few deep breaths.

“I’m not drunk. I didn’t have a lot to eat today. And to be fair, someone had to drink your Gin Tonic.”

“And that had to be you with an empty stomach?”

She only shrugged her shoulders and gave you a halfhearted smirk.

“Should we call Andrew so he can pick you up?”

“Yeah, that’s for the better I guess. I’m not much use like this.”

“I got you. Stay here and drink some water, yeah? I’ll call him.”

When Jen’s boyfriend was informed and on his way to the club, you brought her outside to be with her until he arrived. While you stood there and listened to the bass roaring through the party inside, you checked the time on your phone, thinking of Niall waiting for you. You hoped that he was a patient one and would still be there when you got back inside. 

In the meantime, Niall was having a look at his watch for what must have been the tenth time in the past two minutes. He was sure the queue to the ladies’ bathroom was long but it had been almost fifteen minutes now and by how hastily you had interrupted your conversation and left, he started to think that maybe you wouldn’t come back at all. A hand on his shoulder ripped him out of his thoughts.

“Hey man, the fuck are you doing here? We’ve been waiting for our beer for ages now”, Willie slurred into his ear.

“Looks like you got it from somewhere though.”

“Yeah but like… I was worried you died on the way to the bar or something.”

“Don’t worry mate, I’m fine. Waiting for a girl I met at the bar actually.”

“Oh? So you got yourself some already, huh? Well don’t let her make ya wait for too long. We’re ‘bout to head to the next club if ya wanna join.” 

“Alright, see ya there in a bit if she doesn’t show up anytime soon.”

Andrew kept his promise of coming as fast as he could because only a few minutes later, he picked up his girlfriend and thanked you for taking care of her.

“Yes, thank you Y/N,” Jen whined before getting into the car.

“Anytime. Let me know when you’re home.”

As soon as they left, you made your way back inside the club and to the other end of the bar where you were hoping Niall was still waiting for you. Luck wasn’t on your side as you looked around from the spot were you had last seen him. You even made quick side trip to the men’s bathroom to see if he was waiting in line there but after not getting lucky there either, you joined your group of friends who were just about to leave as it seemed.

“Y/N, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me handsome guy was a disappointment”, Alicia asked you with pitiful tone in her voice.

“He wasn’t at all”, you sighed and then explained to her what had happened.

“But you collected karma points with this one. C’mon we’re going to the next one. You’ll get distracted there.”

The club across the street was so packed that you were wondering why they still let people in. Thankfully, one of your friends knew the owner so after you had squeezed yourselves through the crowd and to a separated area - you could call it VIP but the people in there usually weren’t that important -, it only took her a few minutes of discussing with the security guy until he opened the cordon for you. While Alicia was looking for an empty booth for you to sit, you scanned the area for familiar faces. And unfortunately, you made a find. Niall was leaning against the backrest of one of the couches while talking to a beautiful tall blonde. When he caught a glimpse at you, he stopped for a second before looking away again.

“Hey c’mere, there’s a group leaving”, Alicia shouted while tugging at your arm to make you move to the other end of the area, “What’s wrong?”

You nodded in the general direction of Niall and waited until your best friend caught up on what was going on.

“Oh fuck. Maybe that’s his cousin? And he’d be happy if you said hello again?”

“Yeah sure”, you playfully rolled your eyes and followed her lead to the booth.

What you didn’t notice was the piercing glance that lied on your back from a certain handsome guy from across the room.

An hour later, Alicia was yet again tugging at your arm. This time to let you know that she was tired of all the pretentious people that had nothing better to talk about than which Rolex their daddy was going to buy them next.

“Can we please go somewhere else?”

“Gladly”, you stated. 

You hadn’t seen Niall with the blonde woman again but ever since that encounter, you hadn’t been in the mood for partying so you were hoping a new location would change that. Alicia and you left the rest of the group behind. They wanted to stay and you knew they didn’t like the club you wanted to go to next anyway. It was a bit of a sleazy one compared to the other clubs in this part of the city but they played a lot of good old rock music and other classics from past decades. Since you were there for distraction, the two of you went to the dancefloor right away, headbanging to Dropkick Murphy’s Rose Tattoo within a crowd of mostly students and Gen X people that were still young at heart.

“This is so much more fun than those snobs in the other one”, Alicia gasped half an hour later while you were sneaking your way towards the bar. When you were standing behind her just like you did at the beginning of this night, something - or rather someone - next to the bar caught your eye. Niall kept up the eye contact for a few seconds before a smug grin appeared on his lips and he winked at you.

“I may or may not have a handsome guy emergency.”

“Huh? He’s here?”

“Yes and he winked at me. That’s code for ‘I’m not mad at you for letting me wait for so long, would you please come here’, right?”

“Yeah I’m sure that’s what it stands for”, Alicia giggled, “Well go then. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay if I don’t come back, please let me know when you got home safely, yeah? And don’t you dare walk this time.”

“I’m grown, Y/N, I’ll be fine. You let me know if handsome guy’s legit or if you need help getting rid of him.”

“Love you, talk to you tomorrow”, you said goodbye to her before kissing her cheek and making your way over to Niall.

“We keep bumping into each other, huh?”

The tone in your voice was supposed to sound as casual as possible but you were afraid he saw right through you. 

“We wouldn’t if you hadn’t leave me hanging the first time.”

“Well yeah… sorry about that actually. I know this is gonna sound like a very lame excuse but my friend was puking her guts out at the bathroom and I took care of her until her boyfriend came to pick her up. And when I got back to our spot, you were gone. Understandably.”

“It does sound like a lame excuse, not gonna lie. But you’re here, aren’t ya? So you’re either very desperate and changed your mind or you’re telling the truth.”

“Or I’m very desperate and telling the truth?”, you suggested with a grin, making him laugh.

“Well lucky me then. You look like you could use a drink?”

“Oh God yes, I’m so thirsty.”

“You better still be here when I come back”, he joked as he left you behind to get the two of your something at the bar.

“Promise.”

While he was gone, you wanted to check your phone but noticed that the network of your wireless carrier was pretty much dead here. A few minutes later, Niall came back with a beer and another Gin Tonic for you in his hands.

“Thank you”, you grinned at him and clicked your glass with his bottle, “I’m glad I ran into you again.”

The smile he gave you was genuine and probably the softest one you had seen from him so far.

“So am I, love.”

“Do you know the Champions League results from tonight? I don’t have a signal.”

He raised an eyebrow as he fumbled for his phone in his pocket to check if he had any luck.

“Football girl, are ya?”

“I am. Why? Are you one of those guys that think women are only into football to impress men?”

“Not at all, darling. Love me a woman who’s into watching sports. Which team?”

While he scrolled through the app on his phone, you took a step closer to him and put your hand on his arm to sneak a peek.

“Liverpool... what about you? Oh man 0-0? Well at least Munich didn’t score an away goal.”

“Derby first and foremost but Chelsea in the Premier League.”

“Hm, you don’t have anything to do with Champions League this season then, huh?”, you stated with a cheeky look on your face before sipping on your drink significantly.

“That’s rude, Y/N. They’ll get there again.”

“Hmhm, sure.”

He gave you an amused side-eye before putting his phone back and giving his full attention to you.

“I feel like I should change the topic”, you pretended to think aloud, “What brought you here from the comfort of that nice little VIP area anyway?”

“Saw you leaving and might have followed you. Not to be creepy.”

“So you usually wouldn’t come here?”

“No I would. I really like his one so I’m glad you forced me to go here.”

“I didn’t force you to do anything. You’re stalking me”, you declared playfully enraged, “Wait… were you watching us dancing?”

“That really makes me sound like a creep, huh? I mean… I wasn’t staring at you. But I checked if you were still there every now and then.”

“You like the chase?”

“I like you... based on the conversation we had earlier. And I like a challenge, yes.”

You smirked at him before you emptied your drink.

“Would you trust me to use the bathroom again? I swear I’ll get back to you. Even if I have to drag a puking friend over here.”

“Very flattering. I’ll wait, darling.”

Even though you were pretty sure that no one would interrupt you and even if, that Niall would have a little more patience this time, you hurried to get to the restroom and get back to where you left him. He had his back facing you so once you stood right behind him you placed your palms on his shoulder blades and let them move upwards to his neck, causing him to throw back his head and chuckle. After you had let go of him, he turned around to look at you.

“Glad it’s you. That would’ve been awkward if it had been someone else.”

You giggled and took the empty beer bottle out of his hand.

“My turn to get us something to drink.”

“I’ll come with you.”

The area around the bar was a little more crowded so it took you some time to squeeze through all the people, one of Niall’s hands constantly on your waist, until you had reached the barkeeper to order two beers. A man who looked like he had already been riding a Harley Davidson way before you were born offered you his barstool to sit on.

“Oh thanks.”

Niall was still right behind you and now leaned forward to support himself by putting a hand on the bar, basically trapping you between the wood and his body. And you couldn’t say that you minded.

“So here you drink beer instead of Gin Tonic?”, he asked you with a smirk on his face, as if he was making a little fun of you.

“I do, I just don’t like to start my night with it.”

“You’d rather end it with beer?”

“So to say.”

“There’s a lot of it where I live. If you wanna end the night there.”

You couldn’t stop yourself from bursting out into laughter.

“Was that supposed to be smooth?”

“Yeah I knew it was awful the moment I said it.”

“I can get over it if you bring me to that place where all the beer is.”

“So it works?”

“You work, not your bad pick up lines.”

“Wanna get outta here right now?”

You nodded as you took a sip from your full bottle before you put it on the bar and took his hand to let him lead you through the crowd and out of the club. Once outside, he called an Uber and pulled you closer to him for the time being.

“You cold?”, he asked you while stroking your arm.

“I’m a big girl, it’s fine.”

His hand wandered from your shoulder over your neck to your cheek where he gently pushed your head towards him to place a kiss on your temple. The Uber didn’t take long to arrive and as you closed the car door, an euphoric feeling of excitement rushed through your body. This night had been rather chaotic and now you were really on your way to this guy’s place, hopefully not only to drink beer. That reminded you of texting Alicia quickly.

Leaving with handsome guy now ;) xx

Throughout the whole ride, Niall’s fingers had brushed over your thigh. He had kept it lowkey so far but you had a feeling that once you were at his home, the tension between the two of you would take care of that. You were a bit stunned when you saw where the driver was stopping but then again, Niall already smelled rich. You had thought that he wouldn’t bring you to a greasy shared student flat but this was a lot more than you would have expected. As soon as the door fell shut behind you, he grabbed your waist and pulled you against his chest before leaning down to place little kisses all over the nape of your neck.

“I think the beer can wait if ya don’t mind?”

Instead of giving him an answer, you turned in his embrace and involved him in a deep kiss. Your lips found a rhythm right away. It wasn’t as hungry as you would have thought, rather slow and soft, almost careful. You let your hand wander from his chest up to his neck before running your fingers through his hair. A slight layer of hair products covered your fingertips but his little sighs every time you tugged on one of his strands sounded too good to be bothered by that. He leaned into the kiss, his hands roaming from the small of your back down to your butt where he let them rest. Yours in the meantime were sliding down his neck again and over his collarbones.

“Can I take this off?”, you asked with a fake innocence in your voice as you played with the collar of his shirt.

“Let’s get this to the bedroom, shall we?”

It wasn’t a question. He let go of you only to guide you to said room where he closed the door behind him and kicked off his shoes, but not without placing his lips on yours again. You slipped out of your high heels, making you a few centimeters shorter all of a sudden which made both of you chuckle as you interrupted your kiss. Niall pressed his body against yours again and took a step forward to indicate to you that he wanted you on his bed. When the back of your knees hit the edge, you let yourself fall down with him right on top of you. He stood up a moment later however to open the remaining buttons of his shirt before throwing it on the armchair behind him. You watched him from your position on the bed and moved around a little while your fingers fumbled with the zipper of your pants.

“Let me take care of that, darling.”

Niall crawled on top of you again, kissing you passionately and opening your pants slowly so you could wiggle out of them eventually. 

“You smell amazing”, he whispered as he buried his face in your neck and took a deep breath.

You leaned into his touch and brushed the tip of your nose over his ear while running your fingers through his hair again.

“Gonna get you out of this, yeah?”

It certainly did something to you that he asked for permission to take off your longsleeve even though you were already in his bed, making out half naked. You lifted your arms to help him as he sneaked his fingers underneath your shirt only to let them wander up the skin of your stomach, dragging the fabric with them. His touch was followed by small kisses that he placed all over your torso as he undressed you painfully slowly. When the hem of the shirt had reached your chest, his fingertips brushed over the sides of your bra while his lips caressed the valley in the center. He carefully nibbled at the swell of your breasts before finally pulling the shirt over your head and giving you another gentle kiss.

His palms stroked over your lace-clad boobs, making you bend your back into a curve so you could press into his touch. He got the hint and sneaked his fingers under your body to fumble with the clasp of your bra. After he had opened it, he slid the straps down your arms and got back up again, taking in the sight of your naked body beneath him.

“Ya stunning”, he stated with genuine awe in his eyes that made you blush.

“Can’t have you getting stunned now.”

Your response made him chuckle before he stood up from the bed to take off his pants.

“Would ya lie down properly for me, love?”

You sat up and crawled over the bed until you were right in the middle of it where you laid back down, letting your fingertips wander over your own torso as you watched him get undressed. After being left in only his boxer briefs - that already showed off a nice bulge -, he joined you on the bed, positioning himself between your ankles that he meaningfully spread apart. He bend down to lie between your calves, his hands wrapping around your legs to pull your center a bit closer to his face. His lips brushed over the inside of your thighs, kissing you there, nibbling at the sensitive skin, probably leaving a mark for the next morning. When his nose nudged against the hem of your panties, you knew what was going to happen next. He got back on his knees and hooked his fingers under the waistband to dragged them down your thighs slowly, over your knees and off eventually. While he got into his former position, he turned his head to the side to kiss your leg until he reached the inside of your thigh again and lied on his stomach.

Niall leaned forward to place an open mouthed kiss on your pussy. A blissful sigh left your lips as you stretched yourself and put your arms behind your head, closing your eyes and enjoying what this beautiful man between your legs did to you. His lips caressed your slit, teasing you because they were careful to not touch your most sensitive spot yet. Instead, they wandered to the part where your thighs met your hips, leaving a few kisses there before getting back to the center. 

The tip of his tongue sneaked between your folds and went from your entrance to the top, nudging against your clit, causing you to whimper quietly. He closed his lips around the little bundle of nerves and sucked on it. A flash started right at that spot and ran through your whole body, covering your skin in goosebumps. You could feel yourself getting wetter while Niall kept eating you out as if he had waited all night for this. He used two of his fingers to spread your lips so he could properly lick his way up and down your pussy. His other hand teased your entrance, a fingertip dipping inside of you to the first knuckle, only to draw back again.

“Niall… please.”

He looked up where his gaze met your flushed cheeks and closed eyes, an expression of pleasure and desperation on your face. Instead of giving you want you wanted, he let go of you with both his mouth and his fingers, leaving you high and dry beneath him as he sat up on his knees. You opened your eyes, giving him a pleading look but all you got in return was a smug smirk.

“Don’t worry, love. I got you”, he let you know before he took off his boxer briefs and got further between your legs. While you let your eyes wander up and down his body, biting your lip in anticipation of what was to come, he wrapped his hand around one of your calves and lifted your leg slightly to have better access.

“Are ya on birth control?”

You nodded in response before you added, “Please…”

“Please what, darling?”

“Fuck me, please.”

When he had asked, he had been expecting you to say something along the lines of “Need you” or “Want you inside me” but those words out of your mouth made his cock twitch. For a quick second, he thought about teasing you a little longer but that would only be teasing himself as well.

He wanted you. Bad.

As he bent down, one of his arms supported him while the other one pulled you towards his center before he guided his cock between your folds. You wrapped your leg around his hips and sighed in pleasure from the delicious feeling of him filling you. 

“Fuck, you feel incredible.”

His voice was hoarse and you could hear how he was trying to hold himself back and not fuck you senseless right away. He gave you time to adjust to his size before he started to move slowly, carefully, as if you were made out of glass.

“Niall”, you whimpered, “Fuck me.”

Again, his dick twitched. Encouraged by your words, he picked up the pace, sliding in and out of you in a strong steady rhythm. The noises you made were filthy. Hungry moans, skin slapping against skin, the wetness of your pussy audible.

“Such a perfect little cunt”, Niall gasped before using his free hand to slip between your bodies and play with your clit.

You lifted your arms and reached out for him, making him bend down to let you place your palms on his back and involve him in a passionate kiss. He kissed you just as deeply as he fucked you, moving with you in perfect sync as you felt the familiar knot building up in your lower stomach.

“‘m close”, you

His mouth had brought you pretty far already and you had secretly hoped that he would make you come like that. But you then realized that Niall was a tease, that he wasn’t one to give you what you wanted but something better. Your words seemed to motivate him to bring you where you needed to be. He hit you deep, the force of his thrusts sent shocks of pleasure through your bones. His thumb on your clit was the final straw for you when he perfectly timed both the sensations inside and outside of your pussy.

You clenched around him uncontrollably. Your back left the sheets while the warmth spread in your whole body and made you shiver. His name left your lips a thousand times and your fingernails digging into the skin of his back would leave some marks tomorrow without doubt. While he gently fucked you through your orgasm, his hand stroked your cheek lovingly, adding the blissful feeling of affection to the pleasure you were experiencing. You came down from your high slowly, panting as he kept sliding in and out of you, chasing his own orgasm. Your pussy still twitching around him tipped him over the edge.

“Fucking hell.”

He threw back his head and stayed still as the exciting flashes pierced through his nerves. You could feel his cock throbbing while he spurted his cum inside of you. The look on his face was relaxed, satisfied and in your post-orgasm bliss, he looked like a piece of art above you. A few moments later, he slid out of you, leaving you uncomfortably empty but pleasantly aching, before he collapsed next to you, careful not to crush you. You cuddled into his side and kissed his collarbone, your leg wrapped around his as you listened to his breathing getting back to a normal pattern. He put an arm around you, turned his head and lifted your chin with two fingers to give you a sweet gentle kiss.

“Are ya staying?”, he whispered after letting go of your lips.

“If you don’t want me to leave.”

“I don’t. One time is enough for tonight.”

You buried your face in his neck, smiling as you already imagined how to wake him up in the morning.