#anyway. some thoughts almost a year later wow!

[carcarrot]

scrolling back through my liveblogging of the day of the nyc concert because of recent notifications and its such a fun mixed bag of emotions to relive it all again

[lisired]

where angels fear to tread

pairing: jaehyun x (f) reader

genre/warnings: fwb to lovers, fluff, implied smut, angst

summary: Three years ago, you had a summer fling with Jung Jaehyun, and what was simply sex turned into more after you caught feelings for him. Then, you find out he has a girlfriend, and decide to call it quits. Three years later, he's back in town, trying to come back in your life, and most importantly trying to come back into your heart, but you're a little hesitant to let him.

word count: 14.5k

a/n: i think this was my first jaehyun fic? LOL… as always, feedback is appreciated!

“Not fair.”

“It’s very much fair, Jaemin.”

“How come the blueberry head gives you shit on the house? I asked him for a free coffee and he told me the only way I was getting coffee for free was if he splashed it on my face. Very unprofessional. I demand the manager.”

You want to tell him that the manager would just suck up to Taeyong in private because the customer is always wrong, but something in you tells you to be quiet.

“Saved his life,” you shrug, digging a fork into your pie.

“Saved his life?” Jaemin repeats, wide-eyed, “you just said that like it was the most normal thing ever.”

“I don’t think he would have actually died,” you mutter, but decide to tell the tale anyway, “You remember when I told you I was taking a two-week vacation out of town because Yeri invited me and some of her friends to her stepdad’s beach house?” Jaemin nods, “Well Taeyong was one of those friends. Saved him from drowning in the pool, and ever since he thinks he owes me his life, so he gives me a lifetime worth of stuff on the house.”

You consider Jaemin your best friend, although him not physically being with you for the past two years was the reason why he’s unaware of some minor details of your life during those years. Of course, he knew about the vacation—you had so much fun that you told him nearly every damn detail of it—but there was still some things you kept to yourself. Such as how you saved Taeyong from drowning. You thought that you’d look like a praise-seeker for bringing that up anyway.

You scan the room for Taeyong (the blueberry head) and once your eyes find him, you wave and wink. He waves back and smiles bashfully, before tending to one of his customers. You also think that Taeyong might have a little crush on you, but that’s not relevant at the moment.

“Oh wow. I guess not all heroes wear capes. Some heroes wear pie crumbs on their mouths.”

You wipe the corner of your mouth with a napkin then squeeze it into a ball to throw at Jaemin, making him gasp dramatically and start rambling about how you shouldn’t treat the best friend you haven’t seen in two years like this, but the chime of the cafe door distracts you. Your face falls in horror, and you’re still as a statue as it all races back. The pain, the memories, the emotions, everything you gave him that you can’t take back.

“I have to go,” you say, but Jaemin grabs your wrist.

His voice is filled to the brim with concern, “What’s wrong?”

Where you do even start? You sigh, ducking your head on the table in an attempt to cover your face the best that you can. The past is intertwining with the present and you do not enjoy it one bit. Fortunately, he sits away from you and doesn’t seem to acknowledge your presence in the room, but it’s just your luck that for the first time you’re seeing him in almost two years, he chooses to show up right here, right now.

“See that guy that just walked in?”

Jaemin nods with reluctance, subtly scanning said guy with his eyes, “Yeah, what about him?”

With a deep breath, you brace yourself for uncovering a part of your past that you’d rather keep ancient history, “Remember that fling I told you about from the vacation? That was him. And I never told you this, but we didn’t exactly end on the best of terms. I called it quits when I found out that he had a girlfriend.”

Another one of the vay-cay details that you kept to yourself. Technically, you did tell him about the fling, but it was nothing too specific aside from the fact that you were getting dicked down. You never told him about the way things abruptly ended, and you sure as hell never told him that you caught feelings for a cheater.

Jaemin’s face falls, and you’re not sure why. You think that he’s offended because you never told him about something so huge (and he is, but the two of you have bigger fish to fry at the moment so he decides it best to complain later).

Eyebrows furrowed, you ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Jaehyun is…” he pauses, and your lips part to ask how he knows his name until, “Jaehyun is my roommate.”

If you had the energy, you would sigh. Of course, Jaehyun also happens to move back in town and ultimately transfer back into your college for the second semester. You had to be a criminal in your past life, what else could you have possibly done to deserve something like this?

Taeyong walks over to your table, wearing a discontent frown, “Jaehyun’s here, do you want me to distract him so that you can leave without him noticing?”

“No way the blueberry head knew about this before me.” Ah, there it goes.

Taeyong glares, but he doesn’t say anything, instead locking his eyes on you to catch your response and his face softens when he does.

“Please,” you sigh in relief, “Thanks Tae, you’re a lifesaver.”

Taeyong smiles at the weight of your words, “It’s the least I could do. Now you two get out of here.”

It isn’t something that you need to be told twice, Taeyong goes to distract Jaehyun and you two bolt the fuck out of there. Though even out of sight, Jaehyun isn’t out of mind. In the beginning you knew it was nothing serious, Jaehyun had other girls that he fucked. But the fact that he was cheating on some poor, innocent girl was more then you could handle, and it would be selfish of you to risk getting caught up in that mess.

For a while, you and Jaemin ride in near silence. It’s your car, but he claims you aren’t in the right headspace to drive and you didn’t argue. You don’t feel the best at the moment.

“Is this a bad time to invite you to my roommate’s Summer Break Kick-off party this Friday,” Jaemin asks over the radio, his voice cutting through the SHINee song playing lowly.

“Kinda,” you snort. “Is he coming?”

“Probably, yeah. I mean, he was invited. But my roommate’s other house is pretty big it’s been forever since we last partied.”

You blink. Why does your roommate…

“Don’t question it. I don’t know either.”

You fight the urge to laugh. Instead, you weigh out the pros and cons. Technically, you and Jaemin could always find another place to party if you wanted to so bad, and even if the house was big, there’s still a fair chance of you running into the one man you dread ever seeing again. You aren’t too sure if that’s something that you’re ready to risk right now.

You sigh again, pressing your face against the car window. “I’ll think about it.”

You haven’t stepped foot in a place this expensive-looking since Yeri invited you on that little summer vacation to her stepdad’s beach house (two years ago.)

Jaemin somehow managed to convince you to show up by pinky promising to do a week’s worth of your assignments next semester, and you’d be a fool for turning that offer down. It isn’t clear from the outside, but academically Jaemin is sharp. So now, you’re searching for Jaemin in a sea full of red plastic cups. He was right, the house is humongous, and now you’re really beginning to question why someone with this kind of fortune at their fingertips lives with three presumably broke college students.

At least they’re playing SHINee. That way you can sing along to your favorite boy band while you simultaneously search for your best friend.

It might be harder for him to spot you. You chose to wear something dull, deciding against standing out too much just in case Jaehyun wanted confrontation, so looking for you is like searching for a needle in a haystack. You two could have just spent the night karaoking with Jaemin in your living room just like the good ‘ole days, for heavens sake.

Na Jaemin, when I find you, you groan. He doesn’t answer your calls or texts, and just for this you should make him do your homework for two weeks. Three if you bump into Jaehyun. You stop at an empty spot to catch your breath.

“God, what are these guys’ parents? The CEO’s of Samsung?” you mutter, to yourself.

“Aw, so close.”

Not expecting an actual answer, you jump and turn in the direction of the voice. You find a tall, handsome man smiling at you. His teeth are so white that it looks like he eats Colgate for breakfast.

“Kai, I’m the host of the party,” he grins, yet then his expression falters, “do I know you from somewhere?”

“I was thinking the same thing!” You laugh, analyzing his face. He does look a bit familiar.

You tell him your name, and the way he repeats it once more then blinks a few times concerns you a little. It’s not that you have a bad reputation, but did he know you from something bad?

His eyes widen. “You’re Johnny’s ex-girlfriend.”

That, you are. Back in high school you and Johnny dated for some time, broke up after a while since you drifted apart from one another, but agreed to stay friends so you’re both cool. You’re relieved that’s all, but you still don’t remember where you know Kai from, and you’re almost one-hundred percent sure it isn’t high school. You don’t even think you went two to the same high school.

“That’s me,” you confirm with a nod, “I still don’t know where I remember you from, though.”

If this were a cartoon, Kai would have a thought bubble above his head, and moments later it would transform into a lightbulb, “Are you friend’s with Yeri?” he guesses, and you nod, “she’s my step-sister. She probably told you about me.”

Oh. Well now the dots are connecting. Yeri did in fact tell you about him, mentioning that his family is the one her mom married into when explaining how filthily rich she became—because her brand new step-dad is indeed a CEO.

You make an O with your mouth, “Small world.”

“I know, right?” Kai, or as you know him from Yeri (also why you didn’t recognize him immediately), Jongin, laughs, “Care to dance?”

At that, you frown, “I’d love to, but I should really find Jaemin. He’s my best friend and we’re supposed to be spending time together because he just moved back in town recently.”

Kai looks a little sad by the rejection but handles it well, nodding in understanding, “Good luck. Last time I saw him he was over there,” he points, “losing a drinking game.”

That could mean nothing good. That meant wherever he was, Jaemin was more than likely going to be shitfaced by the end of the night. You sigh internally, almost wishing he’d go back to being the shy and introverted boy you knew in high school.

You met Jaemin in your sophomore year, at a party his friends forced him to go to, and you had a couple of mutual friends, but until then you two were nothing more than strangers. Speaking of which, that’s how you bonded, even though it was a fight getting him to say more than five words at a time. You were sure your friends Sicheng and Yuta had a thing for each other, whereas he hadn’t suspected a thing. So you made a bet, and only a couple minutes later, they were found making out against a wall. He owed you 50 bucks.

When Jaemin is still no where to be find, you’re ready to cave in to defeat. You feel like you’re in a maze, walking around in circles and it shows in the ache in your feet. You’re about to give up and turn around, until you walk into something, or someone, and all audible to you is the sound of splashing before someone yells shit, I’m sorry!

Oh, you’ll make sure they’re sorry. You’re not sure what you should focus on. How your top is now soaked, or how familiar their voice is. Until you look back up and see a walking, breathing and unfortunately talking, nightmare.

He calls out your name.

Like before, you turn and walk away.

He says it again, louder, and follows you.

“I don’t want to talk to you, Jaehyun.”

Still, he tails behind you like a lost puppy, despite you obviously trying to stay far, far away, “Can’t you hear me out? It’s been two years.”

“Two very peaceful years,” you stop dead in your tracks and finally turn to face him. It hurts you to look at his face, because the memories wash over you like waves, yet you do it anyways. You want to show him that you’re strong without him, not weakness and vulnerability, “and I told you two years ago that I want nothing to do with you.”

Jaehyun’s no good for you, you know that. You know that all he’s ever wanted to do is get inside your pants, that he’s never cared for you. So why are you tempted to hear him out?

No, you refuse, you will not let nostalgia win you over. That’s all it is. You miss what you had, but you don’t know if you miss him as a person.

“At least let me help you dry your shirt, it’s my fault that it’s ruined,” he tries again, but you’re hell-bent on making him feel as miserable as he did you.

“No.”

“Y/n—”

“No means no, Jaehyun,” another voice cuts in, and while it isn’t the one you’ve been looking for, you’re thankful nonetheless. Beside you stands Kai, tall, angry, and intimidating, “you gonna make her tell you to fuck off?”

Jaehyun glances at you, and you see the emotion in his eyes, but you don’t fall for them. Not anymore. He’s already caused your heart to feel enough pain that you can’t bother to try and carry the burden that is his own. So he gives up and walks off, finally leaving you alone.

And you let out an exhausted breath.

“Show’s over, mind your business,” Kai tells the audience you hadn’t even known formed, and not willing to risk going against him, everyone returns to their previous activity. He looks at you, and all the anger is washed with concern. “You okay?”

Are you okay? You don’t know anymore. Nostalgia is kicking your ass, and though you try not to think about him, you can’t help but reminisce.

“Yeah,” you say, but you’re not too sure. “Thanks. A lot.”

Kai shrugs, “No biggie. Do you think you and Yeri match sizes? You can use the bathroom in my bedroom to change because no one’s dumb enough to go in there.”

You sigh in relief. Chivalry isn’t dead. “Yes. Thank you.”

Kai leads you upstairs to Yeri’s room, or at least the one she stays in when she’s here, and let’s you choose a shirt. It isn’t an easy decision with Yeri being the epitome of fashion, but you pick quickly to spare Kai’s time, even though he tells you that he doesn’t mind. He then takes you to the bathroom in his room because according to him, Yeri’s one is under repair.

Even though Kai is guarding the door with his life and you know he wouldn’t just barge in there without your say-so, you lock the door. You meet your gaze in the mirror, eyeing yourself closely. Everyone is insecure sometimes, but after things ended between you and Jaehyun, you were extremely self-conscious for months.

To anyone who had never been in your shoes, it might’ve made more sense than anything for you to feel better about yourself knowing that even though Jaehyun had a girl, he kept coming back to you. Yet who’s to say you were the only one? To this day, you’re still convinced that the only reason he keeps trying to win you back is because him losing you plus you being the one to end it put a major dent in his ego.

You hate that he had that kind of power over you, to the point where he made you hate yourself. You hate that a man like him made you cry so many goddamn tears and now he expects you to dry his own.

Reminding yourself that Kai is waiting, you tear your gaze from your own before tears have the chance to spill, and wipe yourself dry so that you can put on your - or Yeri’s - shirt. Now that you think about it, it’s too cute to return. You might take it. She’s too rich to notice, and even if she does, she’s still rich. She can easily replace it.

Kai greets you with a smile as you step back inside his room, and you find yourself smiling back at him. He’s been treating you so kindly this whole time, and now that you think about it, you’ve never heard a single bad thing about the man. Yeri clearly doesn’t mention him very often, but it’s never been anything bad when she does, and even when Jaemin was telling you about his roommates, he described Kai as “the funny one that called his mom a lot.”

“Ready to join the party?”

And then you frown. “I don’t know.”

Kai quirks a brow, “Well don’t tell me you look this good just to not show yourself off.”

Amused, you scoff. Kai’s been smooth from the beginning, yet now he’s unabashedly flirting with you. “Are you flirting with me, Kim Jongin?”

Confusion spells itself out on his face. You have never once said his name tonight, and the one time you do, it’s his government. “How do you know my name?”

“Yeri,” you shrug, “but if you want me to just call you Kai then I understand.”

“Well, usually I reserve my real name for my close friends and family,” he grins, and God he looks devilishly handsome when he does, “but it sounds so nice on your tongue that I’ll make an exception.”

It’s painfully obvious that you don’t know how to react, eyes a little round and your lips parting, yet nothing coming from in between. It makes Jongin laugh.

“And yes, I was flirting with you,” he winks, “but anyways, if you really don’t wanna go back out there, which is totally fine, we can just chill in here. You seem like a nice person, and I’d like to get to know you.”

“Get to know me?” You quip, finding enough balance to play into his game after being knocked down by his charm briefly, “or my body?”

He arches a brow in amusement. “That feels like a trick question.”

You shrug. “Be honest. I might feel the same way.”

Maybe it’s a good thing that tonight didn’t go as planned. Kai’s had you since the moment he introduced himself, and it seems every five minutes he gets better.

“Well, I don’t see why I can’t multitask,” He purrs, taking your words as an invitation. An invitation that he was accepting.

You giggle. He eyes you gently, noticing the way you slowly inch closer to him, “I like you.”

It’s an initiation, turning the keys and putting the car in drive, and you want to see if Jongin will take the wheel. And it seems that to your fortune, he does.

“Guess it’s a good thing I like you, too.” Jongin chuckles, and he’s so close. You can feel his breath on your skin, tickling your neck, and it makes something in you crawl with arousal.

And the gap between you closes.

You already liked Kai last night, but you definitely like him this morning.

You woke up to the smell of pancakes and bacon, and not just any kind of pancakes, but chocolate chip pancakes, your favorite. If anything can make you like someone, it’s chocolate chip pancakes.

“How’d you know chocolate chip was my fave?” you giggle, not expecting a serious response, but after the whole scenario with him yesterday, you should have already known he would have one.

“Yerim’s told me about you, too, you know,” Jongin replies, “It wasn’t even too long ago, it was winter break. We were all staying at my dad’s house for a couple of days, and she invited you over one morning. Everyone was gone but me and her when I went downstairs, and I saw her making chocolate chip pancakes. It blew me, because she’s an avid hater of chocolate. Then she told me they were for her best friend, because you love them, and after last night I learned that the best friend in question happened to be you.”

You and Jongin learned a lot about one another last evening. After you had sex, you didn’t expect to hit it off like you did, yet you spent a great deal of the night talking on his silk sheets. For starters, he’s a wonderful man. Funny, polite, respectful, thoughtful, caring, and he has an amazing personality. The sole flaw you could find in him was that he likes Hawaiian pizza. What kind of sick person enjoys Hawaiian pizza?

And you fell asleep in his arms. It was perfect, almost too good to be true. You considered the possibility of a relationship with him, you enjoyed his company and he was shameless to admit that he enjoyed yours. And yet still, you couldn’t help but think of Jaehyun.

The way he had also made you feel the same way, all those years ago. How he never fucked you and then shoved you away, but he talked to you until the sun came up, or spooned you to sleep. It was ridiculous, and you can’t believe that one encounter with Jaehyun had you acting like a teenager in love for the first time again. Not to mention the encounter in question was horrible. Jaehyun isn’t good for you, but for some reason your heart seems to still want him.

“If you want know so bad, just ask.”

“What?” Kai blinks, unaware that you’ve noticed the way he looks at you, not just now but ever since that encounter with Jaehyun. The longing in his eyes to say something, yet he resisted.

“I know you’re curious about me and Jaehyun,” truth be told, it isn’t just for him, but for you. Maybe if you remind yourself of what Jaehyun’s done to you, hear it aloud, you’ll snap out of it and shake this weird feeling. “So go ahead. Ask.”

Jongin’s surprised at how well you read him, and you can only hope that he doesn’t read you just as well.

“I figured you didn’t want to talk about it, and I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.” How utterly Kai of him. And honestly, he’s right. You don’t want to, but at this point it’s a need.

“It’s okay,” you assure.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, then that’s okay, you know. I understa—”

“Kim Jongin,” you say, and he pauses, a part of being because he still hasn’t gotten used to you calling him by his government name, yet he loves it when you do, “I am not about to beg you to ask me. I promise you, it’s alright.”

Jongin hesitates, but gives in reluctantly, “Okay, so… what happened for Jaehyun to be so intent on talking to you last night? Break-up?”

“Not really,” you say, trying to keep your voice level and flat. You weren’t the girl Jaehyun was in a relationship with, “It wasn’t a romantic relationship. Just sex, no strings attached.”

Jongin nods, “Ah, so a fling?”

“Mm-hm. I met him when Yeri invited her best friends to your dad’s beach house for a fun summer vacation during break. We hit it off well and it wasn’t much longer that he had me in his sheets. It really was fun, so we agreed to keep fucking around. And then some months later, I found out he had a girlfriend the whole time.”

He makes an understanding face, familiar with Yeri’s Pal-Cations (as she likes to call them.)

“Yerim didn’t tell you he was dating someone?”

“No one knew about us. He wanted to keep things secret,” you chuckle softly, “and that’s when I found out why.”

Silence falls over Jongin, and you sit there and let him ponder. Being able to say it all like this makes it seem so simple, and perhaps it should be. Jaehyun fucked up, and you owe him nothing. If he broke up with his girlfriend, maybe things would have been different, but he didn’t and that’s why he should leave you alone.

“Do you think he’s changed?” You shouldn’t ask. It doesn’t matter what Kai thinks, he doesn’t know Jaehyun like you do and he hasn’t known him for nearly as long. His opinion doesn’t matter.

Kai blinks. “I mean, you know what they say. Once a cheater, always a cheater.”

“But I’m asking for your opinion.”

You’ve never seen Kai so speechless. He’s always had something on the tip of his tongue, always. That’s when you consider that you’re probably dumping a shit ton of unwarranted info on him, especially since you had to practically coerce him into even asking you about Jaehyun. Before you have the chance to apologize, he answers.

“I don’t know him nearly as well as you probably do, but from what I’ve seen in the past 2 weeks, he’s nothing like some stupid, immature fuck boy. He carries himself well, cracks his jokes but he’s respectful and doesn’t push his limits, and I’ve never seen him with a girl,” Jongin says. “Come to think of it, he’s single. The boys discussed our dating situations and relationship statuses just so that we wouldn’t be surprised if we got up in the middle of the night and saw some stranger. Said he was single and wasn’t looking for sex.”

And you sigh in defeat, because the only thing that’s changed about Jaehyun according to that description is that he’s apparently single now and isn’t looking for sex.

Or maybe he was some stupid, immature fuckboy. You don’t know. And ever since you found out about her, you haven’t been sure if you’ve ever known him like you thought you did. You haven’t been sure about anything.

“Do you want him back?”

The questions catchs you off-guard. It isn’t exactly new, but you’ve never had anyone ask you this other than yourself. It’s all that you can think about. Do you really want him back? Or do you just miss what you had? What if it’s both?

“I don’t know,” you answer. And trust, you’ve been thinking about it since that whole ordeal at the café Monday. Even if you do, you shouldn’t. You don’t know Jaehyun’s motive, and there are plenty of other guys that can provide you everything he was giving you. One is literally looking you dead in the eye. He’s replaceable, you tell yourself. You don’t need him.

But that sure as hell has nothing to do with you wanting him.

“You don’t know?” Kai lifts his brow, “Or are you simply in denial?”

You feel like he’s your therapist, and the thought almost makes you laugh. Everything reminds you of Jaehyun. How sometimes, you’d play therapist for each other after you had sex, either directly afterwards or in the morning like now. It was so much more than sex, you think. To you, anyways. And that’s likely how you caught feelings.

Oh, dear god.

Even after two years, maybe those feelings you had for him still linger.

“I realized something,” you really don’t have to say anything, it’s written all over your face.

Jongin makes the conclusion, “You want him.”

Slowly, you nod. You think that you shouldn’t, but you do, and Jongin was right about you being in denial. You guess he really does read you just as well as you do him.

“I’m not gonna sit here and tell you what you should or shouldn’t do because it’s your choice to make at the end of the day, but let’s take everything into account,” Jongin starts, voice sterner than it’s been all morning, “I’m not saying age is an excuse, but he was eighteen. All eighteen-year-old boys are stupid. Take it from someone who’s been there. But he’s twenty-one now, and it’s been years. That’s plenty enough time for him to grow and change.”

You nod along. That’s true, and while you could never be too careful because who’s to say he’s changed, who’s to say he hasn’t?

Kai adds, “If you want to take the risk, take it. If you don’t, then don’t. He made an inexcusable mistake. But he’s human, and all humans make mistakes. You dont owe him anything, especially not forgiveness, but be a little open-minded.”

The decision is yours. You can hear Jaehyun out and try to salvage your relationship, or you can continue to shut him out. You don’t owe him a second chance, but god, you must admit that you’ve always secretly longed to give him one, just so that you could go back to what you had.

Whenever you contemplate giving him a second chance, you think about her. You try to put yourself in her shoes, wondering how she must’ve felt, if she ever knew that the man she loved was fucking around with another woman. Maybe that’s how they broke up. Days ago, the thought would have made you run further and further away from him. But now, it’s almost like you’re rooted in place, bumping into dead-ends.

If you were her, you’d be unforgiving. But you’re not her, you never will be her, and that makes you want to be a little more selfish.

That makes you want him.

“Thanks, Kai,” you say, truly grateful to have his unbiased opinion. Usually you wouldn’t trust people you met less than twenty-four hours ago with your personal business, but all the shit you and Kai exchanged last night makes you willing to permit an exception. And then, you feel bad because even after the kind things he’s done for you since last night, he’s still sitting here advising you on your complicated you-problems. “And I’m so sorry for dumping all my problems on you, you’ve been so sweet and the least I could do—”

“Hey, no worries. If you ever need to talk, I’m here,” Kai interjects, “and if you want me to do a bit of snooping around…”

You shake your head. “No way. You’ve already done enough for me, and I don’t want you to get caught up in my drama. I can handle it.”

“Sure, you can. But I don’t want a girl like you to wind up heartbroken, especially over a possible jackass, and at very least you should see if you can trust him before you, well, trust him,” As though he can sense you about to object, he adds, “No buts. I’m going to keep a few tabs on him and alert you if there’s anything suspicious.”

You sigh, and don’t argue because it’s obvious he isn’t changing his mind. You’re grateful.

You smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course. And if he breaks your heart, I’m here.”

You scoff, “Flirting with me again, Kim Jongin?”

“Oh, baby,” he growls, “Keep saying my name like that and I’ll make you forget he ever existed.”

Ten minutes ago, that would have been tempting. But now you know what you want, and you’re determined to have it.

Yeri thinks it’s a bad idea.

Taeyong thinks it’s terrible idea.

Jaemin thinks you’ve had better ideas, but he’s willing to cooperate nonetheless.

“I don’t get it,” Taeyong shakes his head, “That guy broke your heart.”

“He wasn’t trying to,” you mutter.

“And he still did, that’s the crazy part.”

“It was two years ago. To be fair, all of us were stupid at eighteen.”

“Not all of us were cheating on our partners with a girl we met on summer break, though,” Taeyong quips, incredulous that he’s even having this discussion with you. You’ve always been on the same page, what changed?

You groan, “God, Taeyong. Sure, he cheated. Duh, he was in the wrong. But it wasn’t me that he cheated on and it’s not like we were ever in a relationship. He couldn’t have known how I felt about him when I did everything in my power to hide my feelings. And what if he’s changed?”

“And what if he hasn’t?” Taeyong retorts quickly.

The silence in the room is deadly. Taeyong can’t believe that he’s having to talk some sense into you, all while your other two friends sit quietly observing your argument. Is he the only one thinking around here? Why aren’t they helping?

Then, Yeri speaks up from the other side of the room, “Instead of arguing, let’s just put Jaehyun to the test.”

“And how do you plan on going about that?” Taeyong grumbles.

“Letting her talk to him, dimwit, how else?” Yeri rolls her eyes, “I know that you probably think that allowing him within a ten-foot radius of her is going to break her heart, but you’re greatly underestimating my best friend’s strength. She isn’t stupid, she can identify red flags.”

“Ease up on the fighting words,” Jaemin chuckles, “but I dunno, Yeri’s right. The only way she’ll know if he’s changed is to see for herself. If she notices anything odd, she can give him the boot. It’s not rocket science.”

You glance at Taeyong. Truthfully, you don’t need his permission, and both of you know that. But it would be nice to feel validated by your best friends, especially the overprotective one.

Taeyong glances back at you, and his expression softens. He’s always had a soft spot for you, and it’s hard to tell you no. Plus, he doesn’t want to be the token villain when everyone else is telling you to go for it. To chase what you want.

And in all honesty, Taeyong wishes he could chase what he wants. But the last thing he is is selfish, so maybe now is the time he lets you go.

Finally, he groans, “Alright, fine. Whatever. Talk to Jaehyun, see if he’s really ready to commit. But if this guy breaks your heart, I’m going to quote-unquote accidentally spill the hottest coffee on his face, just to give him a taste of the fire that is hell, where he will burn for eternity.”

Jaemin shivers, having flashbacks to the first time he spoke to Taeyong, “You love a good coffee threat, don’t you? So many fighting words.”

Taeyong doesn’t reply, just glares at Jaemin sharply.

“Hostile, but I’m with him,” Yeri nods, “Mark my words, that man will die a slow, painful death if he makes one more mistake.”

“Yep!” Jaemin agrees, “Don’t worry, babes. We got your back.”

At that, you smile. Your friends are on your side. Now, here comes the real trouble.

Mustering the ability to talk to Jaehyun.

Fortunately, Yerim’s annual Pal-Cation was right around the corner, and would extend until the end of the week.

Last year, Jaehyun didn’t attend.

Correction: he wasn’t invited.

Yeri and Jaehyun haven’t been on amazing terms since she became aware of everything, which put a dent in their relationship. This year, she’s invited him in favor of playing Cupid.

You’re a little nervous, anxious about being in the same space as Jaehyun for more than three minutes after all these years. You’re scared and you’re not sure of what, because if Jaehyun’s really as changed as he implies he is, the result should be predictable.

Then again, you don’t really know Jaehyun’s reason for wanting to talk to you, and that makes you all the more panicked. Of course, he wants you to hear him out, but what does he want to come out of that? A second chance? At what?To you, your relationship was so much more than sex. But what if it wasn’t to him? What if he just wants to get inside your pants?

“Girl, please,” Jaemin scoffs, crashing against your hotel bed like he owns the place. He’s in comfortable awe, and probably wouldn’t think twice if someone told him the beds were made out of marshmallows, “you were defending his life choices like yesterday—god damn, these beds are soft—and now you’re having second thoughts? Since when do you back down from things?”

You throw a pillow at him, “I was not defending him!”

“I talked to him earlier, when he asked me if I was sure about wanting him here,” Yeri states, sitting on the seat in front of the mirror. “Told him that there’s no way in hell he’d be here right now if I didn’t want him to be. He laughed and promised me he wouldn’t do anything stupid, and I told him know, because if he does do something stupid it’s off with his motherfuckin’ head.”

Jaemin smiles, satisfied, “Yeah, that should do it. I’d be scared half to death, you could probably pay someone to kill him and no one would suspect a thing.”

“Enough about killing him,” you grimace, “I’m just, I dunno, nervous, I guess. What if he just wants to get in my pants?”

“Guess you better go found out, and tonight is the perfect opportunity. I reserved the pool, so we have the entire area to ourselves until midnight.”

“Yeah, and that wouldn’t be too bad anyways. When was the last time you got laid?” Jaemin adds.

You sneer and flip him off, “For your information, I got laid at that party Friday night when you left me for dead to go get drunk. And that’s why your ass was hungover. And Yeri, you never told me that your step-brother was so fucking hot.”

Yeri exclaims, “You slept with Jongin?”

“You slept with her brother?”

And that’s where you conclude that you’ve overshared, and it’s time for everyone to have some time to themselves, “Alright, everybody out,” you push and pull them both out, until they’re standing outside your door, “I’ll see you guys tonight.”

Then you shut the door, and lie on your bed, sighing with comfort. Jaemin’s right, the beds really are comfortable. You’re feeling drowsy already and decide to rest your eyes. There’s hours until it’s Pool Time.

Pool Time comes faster than you wished.

You’re antsy, but Yeri has SHINee’s Punch Drunk Love playing, so you feel more at ease. It also serves as a reminder that you’re going to need a drink or two to get through the night.

It doesn’t help that you had a dream about Jaehyun while you were trying to rest your eyes, about the night when you first you met him. You were at Yeri’s step-father’s beach house, and the dream was specifically when you made out in the middle of the pool. I’ll never let you drown, baby. You shake the memory away.

You glance around, and see everyone’s here. Yeri’s talking to her friend Mark who obviously has a crush on her, Jaemin’s engaging in conversation with Taeyong who for once doesn’t look like he wants to rip Jaemin’s head off, Yeri’s other friends are playing in the pool, and—Jaehyun.

Jaehyun’s seated at the bar, looking dead at you, which is exactly where you need to be but your lunch and your stomach seem to not be getting along suddenly. You tear your gaze, and glance back at Yeri. You need her help, one last push or words of encouragement, but you’re not selfish enough to interrupt Mark’s attempts at flirting with your friend and getting some.

Well fuck, you groan. You’re all alone this time, and deciding you look stupid standing there by yourself, you march to the bar and hoist yourself on the stool beside Jaehyun, ignoring the increasing speed of your heartbeat. It doesn’t help that this place only has two barstools.

“What can I get you, sweetheart?” The bartender asks you. She’s pretty, got long dark hair and a nice face. You wonder if Jaehyun flirting with her is the reason she’s been smiling so hard since before you sat down, trying to stifle a giggle.

And you frown at your own thoughts. Leave it to you to automatically assume the worst.

“No idea. Suprise me,” you sigh, and with a nod she gets to work.

It’s difficult, more like impossible to ignore Jaehyun’s presence beside you. He isn’t saying anything, isn’t doing anything as far as you can tell without looking at him, but the knowledge that he’s there has you on your toes.

The bartender brings back your drink, tells you to enjoy and you say thank you before having a taste. You need this before you dare say a word to him.

And then he dare speaks, “Hi.”

You can feel your heart racing and you don’t know why, but you do know that you don’t like it. There’s no reason to feel like this, you heard Jaehyun talk at the party. You somehow manage to chirp back quietly, “Hi.”

“Aren’t you gonna look at me?”

It feels like he’s challenging you, almost to say you’re too much of a pussy to look him dead in the face, and you know you’re more than likely making that up but Jaehyun’s the first person to know that you’re last person to back down from a challenge, so you do turn to look at him.

It takes everything in you to stay rational when you do. You get the chance to look at him, to really look at him, and you’re taken aback by his features. He looks the same, but different all at once, obviously a little older.

Beside you is no longer the teenage boy with the cute, high-pitched voice, but a man with a deep and matured sound to his voice. He’s smiling a little wildly at you. It’s the first time you’ve seen him smile in years.

You take a sip from your drink so that you don’t smile back and say, “I’m looking.”

“See something you like?”

“Nope,” you lie, as though you weren’t obvious checking him out seconds ago, “just you.”

“Aww, don’t be like that,” Jaehyun grins playfully, “smile a little, won’t you?”

“Let’s cut to the chase, Jaehyun,” you change the subject. You refuse to let his little games work on you. “Didn’t you want me to hear you out? Hop to it or I’m leaving.”

He blinks. “Here?”

Well no one can hear you other than the bartender, but it’s a personal issue that deserves the utmost privacy and it’s not like you’re willing to share your personal business with a stranger, so you agree to walk around the pool with him. Close enough so that you’re not bumping into walls, distant enough to not be overheard.

You glance at him, “So?”

Jaehyun sighs, “Rather than defending myself, I think I should apologize. For not telIing you I was in a relationship, for risking dragging you into drama, it was selfish. I was selfish.”

It was selfish. He couldn’t have been thinking of your feelings, or even her feelings.

“There’s no excuse for what I did, and I can’t imagine how belittled it made you feel. You don’t have to forgive me, and I know you’re probably gonna hate me forever for this and I don’t blame you. But I want you to know that I’m sorry,” he gives you those emotional eyes, the same dejected gleam in them, “Sincerely. And if there’s anything I can do to make it up to you…”

“Tell me why,” you want the answers that you’ve been searching for all these years. Not exactly closure, but you don’t want to live in doubt, wondering maybe you were never enough, and that’s why you were always the side piece.

“Why I did it?”

You nod, and he’s silent for a moment.

“I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know why eighteen-year-old me did the shit I did, but I know that I did it and I can’t take it back. I’ve looked back so many times and I still can’t fathom…” Jaehyun trails off, then starts shaking his head, “you know what? Maybe I do know why.”

Don’t cry, you tell yourself. You’re stronger than this. You’re blinking back tears, attempting to keep your voice level as you whisper, “Why then, Jaehyun?”

“It’s not the shocking, life-changing reason I always thought it would be,” he chuckles sadly, “it’s because I was stupid. And careless. I wasn’t thinking, but at the same time I thought I had the world at my feet, and I guess I did but then I…” Jaehyun stops to take a breath after he realizes he’s rambling. “But then I lost you. And that’s when I realized that this, the lying, the cheating, the going behind your backs—it was stupid.”

“It was stupid,” you agree, and he laughs a little more. “But let me ask you one more thing…” you say. He doesn’t reply, but his eyes tell you to go ahead. “Did you love her?” Or did you love me?

Jaehyun nods lazily. “At one point.”

You bite your lip, unsatisfied.

“Did you love me?”

That catches him off-guard. You almost expect him to stop walking the way he’s frozen, and you feel your stomach churning in regret.

“Nevermind, forget I asked that—”

“When you first left, I was unaffected,” Jaehyun interjects. “Like I said, I thought I had the world at my feet, so I thought you were replaceable. I tried replacing you. But it wasn’t the same, no matter how many times I tried, it was never, ever the same,” his eyes muse at you, “No one looked at me the way you did, no one talked to me all night and made me laugh like you did, no one ran circles through my mind like you, no one was like you. So I knew I needed you back, but by the time I realized you were already gone. And that’s when I knew I had fucked up.”

He adds, “So, yeah. I did love you. Maybe it was at the wrong time, maybe it was too late for me to love you, maybe I wasn’t supposed to, but I did and I don’t think I’ve ever stopped.”

Jaehyun’s thumb runs over your eyes, wiping a string of tears that you hadn’t even know you cried. He doesn’t say anything about it, just pulls you closer to his chest.

“What about you?” He asks.

“What about me?”

“Did you love me?”

Now it’s your turn to freeze, and then you almost laugh. Of course, you loved him. You were in love with him. Hopelessly.

“Can I be honest?”

Jaehyun nods. “Mm-hm. That’s what this is all about, right?”

You exhale a sharp breath, preparing to tell one of your deepest, darkest secrets to the one person that was never supposed to know, “When I told you the reason I wanted to end things was because of you cheating on her, that wasn’t the whole truth. It was part of it, and though I’m no homewrecker, there’s another reason. I was in love with you—hopelessly, helplessly, utterly—and I couldn’t stand the thought that you never felt the same, that I was just a plaything to you.”

“Y/n—”

“Let me finish,” you order, “I left to take care of me. I thought it would have been disrespectful towards myself to stay in that position, when from my understanding, I loved you yet you loved her,” you feel another trail of tears coming, and wipe them away before they have the chance to spill. “At that moment, when I found out you already had someone, I felt like I didn’t know you anymore. I thought that maybe you never really cared, and I was the only one that felt it.”

It, the love. The spark. The connection. The butterflies in your stomach when he held you close, or called you cute pet names. The emotion whenever he was deep inside you.

“It felt like I had given my heart to a stranger,” you laugh humorlessly, “because for all I knew, who’s to say I was the only one you were fucking behind her back? I felt so, so stupid. Like I was never enough. And when I first saw your face again after all these years, all of that hurt came back. But at the same time,” you look him in his eyes, “all my feelings for you came back, too.”

It’s silent for a moment, but it isn’t awkward. You’ve just confessed your feelings for one another, not only now, but for the you of two years ago. For the you of eighteen who never thought you’d ever have this chance.

And you can’t believe Jaehyun’s actually had feelings for you, too. It always seemed like some fairytale thing, but hearing one another out like responsible adults instead of immature teens changes things.

“Wow,” Jaehyun whispers in surprise, “Wow. I was such a fool. I made a simple thing so fucking complicated. Imagine where we’d be if I would have just broken up with her and realized my feelings sooner.”

Together. You’d be together, as one.

“Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve, didn’t,” you say lightheartedly, “There’s no use in worrying about that. You’ve apologized. And I forgive you.”

“You forgive me?” Jaehyun gawks. “Why? I thought you’d hate me forever or something.”

“I kinda still hate the you of two years ago, he’s an asshole,” you giggle, “but the you standing next to me right now, today, is a changed man who knows his mistake and won’t do that shit ever a-fucking-gain. Or else.”

Jaehyun snorts. “Of course not. I wouldn’t dare.”

You smile, “Good.”

“Good. So do we address our relationship too, or…”

“Later, please,” you groan. “Come sit by the water with me.”

Jaehyun agrees, and so now you’re sitting at the edge of the pool, your head resting on his shoulder.

“Is SHINee still your favorite band?” He asks.

“Yeah,” you mumble, heart warming at the fact that he even still remembers that.

Then he teases, “Do you still swoon over Lee Taemin?”

You give him a very, very icy glare, “Shut up. I’ll push you into the pool right now.”

“You wouldn’t,” Jaehyun challenges.

Wrong move, you smirk. You love a challenge.

So in one swift movement, you do push him into the pool, and the sound of him yelling and the water splashing is like music to your ears. You giggle, watching as he comes back up, hair heavy and soaked as it sticks to him like a second skin. You also take notice of his white t-shirt, or his abs through the soaked cotton. Six pack. Toned. Stupid dumb crazy hot. Damn, sometimes you forget why you kept coming back to him.

He sneers, unamused. “Not funny.”

“It’s a little funny,” you disagree with a smile.

“Oh yeah?” he says, “Look, Lee Taemin!”

You turn without fully processing his statement yet, “Wha—agh!”

In an even swifter motion, Jaehyun’s pulled your ankles, and now a distracted you falls into the pool with a splash. Not to mention, your bikini cover-up is still on. This, unfortunately, is karma. Inconvenience aside, you’re getting deja vu, a distant memory seeping back into your mind.

You whine, “Not fair.”

“It’s a little fair,” he mocks, and you can’t help but roll your eyes.

“You’re lucky I know how to swim,” you wringe out your hair, “You would have had an lawsuit against you if I didn’t.”

You wonder if he’s taken the hint, if he’s gonna say it. You remember that exact moment, being so close to his face and feeling so warm. I’d never let you drown, baby.

And like a rehearsed line, he says perfectly, “I’d never let you drown, baby.”

“You remember.” Your tone is like a question, but it’s a statement.

“I remember a lot of things about you,” Jaehyun states, and perfectly timed, the current song fades into your all-time personal favorite—SHINee’s 1 of 1. “For instance, is this still your favorite SHINee song?”

One glance in Yeri’s direction confirms your suspicion that this is all her doing, as you see her giggling at you, phone in hand. It was already suspicious of her to play SHINee when she’s an Ariana Grande girl, but now you definitely see her her crystal-clear intentions.

“Yeah,” you mutter, but as you turn back around you notice he’s definitely close enough to hear you. Your noses are almost touching, and you can feel your heart racing. You feel like a teenager in love all over again, blood pumping, your heart beating in your ears. Deja vu.

Jaehyun must be feeling it too, because he asks, “Can I kiss you?”

Yet again, you blush. “Sure.”

And on cue, his lips are against yours. Jaehyun’s still an amazing kisser, he feels gentle yet he’s so fierce, gripping your waist as your fingers tangle in his hair. You know for a fact he’d be even rougher if you weren’t inside of a pool.

His lips feel better than you remember, and then he bites your lip. You moan, lips parting and he darts his tongue in your mouth. You can taste his drink on his tongue, faint remnants of whatever he had in his cup.

Fuck, you forgot how high kissing him makes you feel. It’s like an addictive drug, and you can feel nothing but your heartbeat and his lips on yours. You don’t want him to stop.

And then, to your misfortune, he does stop. You whimper, not really taking notice of how out of breath you are as you’re overcome with greed.

“Why’d you stop?” You frown.

“You need to breathe, babe. You wanna almost drown in the pool like Taeyong?” He laughs.

Speaking of Taeyong, you check on him with your eyes. To your surprise, he’s still talking and laughing with Jaemin, the pair obviously hitting it off and super into one another. It makes you smile. That boy’s had a huge crush on you that you both know you can’t reciprocate for years, and it’s time he lets you go.

“Hello… Earth to y/n? You look like the cute puppy eyes emoji.”

Your eyes snap at Jaehyun, “Shut up,” you reply, “And kiss me.”

“Bossy,” Jaehyun teases, but he must like that about you, because moments later he’s kissing you again, even more passionately than before.

“Oh, c’mon!”

Yeri giggles, “Sorry, y/n. The majority rules!”

For the second day of your California vacation, Yeri’s decided to take everyone to an amusement park an hour out from the hotel. You asked her why she didn’t do Disney Land this year, but she said it was reserved for her first Bae-Cation.

You roll your eyes. What happened to chicks over dicks?

The point is, you wanted to separate into groups, considering it would be easier to keep up with everyone. However, everyone else wanted to do pairs, arguing that there was more freedom and it’d be easier to come towards a mutual decision instead of arguing over what to ride.

So everyone grabs their partners, and you’re shocked when you see Jaemin and Taeyong step beside one another. You’re incredulous. Jaemin’s just been abandoning you left and right ever since he came back.

“You two in love or some shit now?” You fold your arms, eyes pointing at them accusingly. “What happened to those coffee threats, Yong? I thought you said Jaem was annoying. And Jaemin? You said he was scary!”

Jaemin shrugs coolly. “He was, but then I realized something. Taeyong’s like an egg, he has a hard shell—” Taeyong glares, “—nevermind, he doesn’t like that comparison very much. Taeyong’s like a smore, hard on the outside yet warm and soft on the inside. Oh, and very deli—ow!”

Jaemin holds his stomach dramatically, looking at Taeyong who stands with a satisfied grin on his face. Perhaps, Taeyong still is a little scary.

“Jaem! Yong!”

“Ooh, that reminds me,” Jaemin eyes twinkle, “I think our ship name should be Jaeyong.”

Taeyong disagrees, “No way. It should be Taemin.”

“First of all, you two will never be Taemin,” you interject with a scowl. “Anyways, you two figure that out. I’ll go be with my partner.”

And you stomp away to spot Jaehyun waiting for you with a cheeky grin. You’re optionless, you suppose. Yeri’s with Mark again, Taeyong and Jaemin are obviously a thing now, Seulgi’s with Winter and Jennie’s with Nayeon.

It’s not even like last night ended poorly. Last night couldn’t have been better, you spent your time making out and drinking with Jaehyun in the pool until midnight. It was too good to be true, you felt like Cinderella, having to slip back into her normal life by the time the clock struck twelve.

Now though, you have to be alone with Jaehyun. Okay technically, you’ll be surrounded by hundreds of people, and depending on where you go your friends may or may not be accompanying you, though still. It isn’t that you don’t trust him, but isn’t it natural to feel uneasy?

Jaehyun calls, “C’mon, princess! Let’s go get hotdogs. I’m hungry.”

“We ate at the hotel,” you snort.

“So? That was an hour ago. Plus the time it took for us to get through that crazy ass line. If you’re not hungry, I’ll buy you a lemonade or something.”

A lemonade does sound good, you ponder. It’s summertime, and no amount of sunglasses and mosquito-repellent sunscreen is going to help you beat this heat. It’s ninety-something degrees.

“Fine,” you give in, and an eternity later (curse these never-ending lines) you’re sitting down at a bench, you sipping on your humongous cup of lemonade and Jaehyun eating a hotdog.

To be honest, you really didn’t need the largest size that they had. You were just testing his reaction for the fun of it, expecting to have a giggle or two, but he totally surprised you, buying it and insisting you should have it even after you told him that you were just playing.

The Jaehyun you knew three years ago was many things, and rich was not one of them.

“Let’s talk,” he says after discarding his hotdog in the bin. Oh of course, Jaehyun’s brain cannot function when he’s running low on food.

Playing dumb, you ask, “About what?”

“Us,” he answers simply.

“In the middle of an amusement park?”

“It’s important,” Jaehyun grins, “You don’t trust me.”

Perplexity is written all over your face. You trust Jaehyun on the basic level, you feel safe around him and in his embrace. But you’re not sure if you trust him with your heart just yet, and after everything he did, you have the right to be scared.

“And I understand why. I hurt you once, you’re scared I might do it again. So let’s start over,” he concludes, and you blink. “From scratch. Past aside. I want you to get to know me, and I wanna get to know you. I’m sure there’s plenty of things I don’t know about you now.”

I mean, you know the gist. You didn’t say that aloud, of course. Through a discussion last night, he still knows your favorite color and your undying love for pie and SHINee, especially Taemin, your birthday, your mom’s birthday, even your dog’s birthday—okay, maybe he knows too much. Or you overshared. Who knows.

And you still remember a lot of facts about him, but at the same time, there’s still so much you don’t know about one another.

“Right,” you agree, “So by starting over, you mean…”

“Completely,” he answers quick. “Let’s re-introduce ourselves.”

Your lips don’t quiver, drawn into a line. “You gotta be kidding.”

“I’m serious!” Jaehyun claims. “C’mon, I’ll even go first.”

“Jaehyun—”

“Aht, aht! You’re not supposed to know my name,” Jaehyun chides. “Hi, my name’s Jaehyun, I’m twenty-one, and I like Cigarettes After Sex. The band, I mean. I don’t smoke.”

You roll your eyes. There was no need for him to explain, because literally everybody knows Jaehyun likes Cigarettes After Sex, the same way everyone knows you like SHINee. But for the sake of placating him and getting this over with, you refuse to make any comments.

“This is so corny.”

“The longer you wait the longer it takes.”

Reluctantly you give in, but not without a groan. “Hi, Jaehyun. My name’s y/n, I’m also twenty-one, and I like SHINee.”

Jaehyun claps dramatically, “Bravo! Was that so hard?”

“Yes, actually.”

He giggles, tells you to stop being dramatic and you two begin your mission to ride every ride that you can within the span of a few hours. You get more snacks in between, sharing a container of butter-y delicious popcorn and double-dating some rides with the other pairs (which unfortunately happens to lead to you witnessing Mark throwing up in a bush).

Unfortunately, time flies by fast when you’re having fun, and when Yeri texts the Pal-Cation Pals group chat to meet up by the first popcorn stand in fifteen minutes, you know you have little time remaining, enough for one last ride.

The Ferris Wheel.

Last but not least, the Ferris Wheel. You and Jaehyun have been saving it for last, agreeing the full experience is at dark night, when the colorful lights illuminate the indigo sky.

“Let’s go!” You pull him into a cart, and he laughs at your enthusiasm.

When the ride starts, Jaehyun holds your hand and you rest your head on his shoulder. It feels nice and comfortable, and you quickly realize you miss having him like this. Close to you. And it’s silent for a moment. You and Jaehyun have always had these moments together, where you’re not talking one another’s ears off, but holding each other in warm silence. You have always valued the other’s company.

You watch as the world gets smaller underneath your feet, how the Ferris wheel lights twinkle in vibrant colors, and shine on its surroundings. You see how the other rides glow in the dark, appearing so close yet so far away.

It’s beautiful. Your eyes flare different colors—red, blue, pink, green—as you gawk in wonder. If you could, you’d stay like this forever, watching this astonishing sight with Jaehyun at your side.

“You look pretty in the light,” Jaehyun marvels, snapping you out of your daze. The butterflies and their flapping wings come back, and he’s always been able to make you feel like this so easily.

Warmth fills your cheeks, and you turn around so that he doesn’t notice. “Don’t I always? Or are you saying I only look pretty in the light?”

Jaehyun rolls his eyes, “You’re still impossible. I’m trying to flirt with you.”

“Then do so,” you smile. “Keep telling me about how pretty I am.”

“Look at me,” Jaehyun whispers, but it’s loud and clear to you. Slowly, you do look at him, noticing the way his lips curl into a soft grin, and how the purple light casts on his gorgeous skin and features. “Your lips are pretty, too.”

Next, he’ll call your bones pretty and you’ll still feel your face flush with heat.

Jaehyun kissed you for hours last night, but when his lips collide with yours again you know that you’ll never get used to the feeling. Your fingers card through his hair while his gravitate towards your skin, cold hands sending a shiver down your spine as they mesh with the evening warmth.

You bite at his lip this time, wallowing in the sound of his moan as it tumbles from between his parted lips. He can feel you smiling, the corners of your lips spreading apart as you stifle a laugh.

It feels like fire consumes you, like you’re melting, melting into his touch, like candle wax as his fingertips trace your skin. Like a bomb’s ignited inside you, like you’re exploding, and the more you feel him the more you desire him. The more you crave him, the more your body yearns for him.

You know you have him when you move for his neck, marking a trail of red lipstick stains that look purple in the light. He takes it as a challenge, retaliating with a bite at your neck that makes you sigh in pleasure, and this is definitely why you get along so well—you’re compatible.

“When we get back,” you gasp, ignoring the complacent look he casts at you, “Meet me in my room.”

“What about the others?”

“They saw us making out in the pool, Jaehyun, literally nobody cares,” you roll your eyes. “No more sneaking around shit, right?”

He smiles, “Right. Can’t anyways, your lipstick is all over my throat.”

You giggle, and bring him back in for another kiss as the ride begins to slow to an end.

The next couple of days are equally eventful, yet fly by far too quickly for your liking. You hit the beach and unfortunately witness a woman being stung by a jelly fish, visit some museums, the zoo, and even hike near the Hollywood sign. You also make sure to spend Yeri’s money on some souvenirs, and Jaehyun buys you matching necklaces. You have his J, he has your first initial.

Today is Saturday—already. Tomorrow you will return home, and you’re not sure if you’re ready or not. You sigh as you scroll through your camera roll. You’ve had so much fun this week, there’s the pictures of Mark’s scared face on the roller coaster, Taeyong buried alive into the sand, Yeri and the girls trying on humongous sun glasses at the mall, and the video of Jaemin and Jaehyun arm-wrestling to determine who’s the better Jae to prove it (Jaehyun won).

Like a normal Saturday, today’s the one chill day. The whole week has been chaotic in a fun way, but Yeri had nothing else planned, so she told everyone to take a day to wind down and feel free to venture out to wrap up the vacation.

Which leads you to now.

Jaehyun and you agreed to visit the park, just walking around and talking, and perhaps doing some making out in between. You’ve been doing that a lot lately, and you’re pretty sure you’re addicted. It’s like there’s crack in his lips that cannot simply be fixed with chapstick.

“It’s hot,” you complain.

Jaehyun snorts. “We’re in California, babe. Imagine Yeri took us to Florida.”

You wince. You’re barely beating the Californian heat, there’s no way you’ll survive down south in Florida. It doesn’t even snow there.

“I thought you were gonna say some fake-romantic shit, like I’ll reach into the sky and throw the sun into the freezer, princess, just say the word,” you mimick his voice exaggeratedly.

Jaehyun rolls his eyes, but laughs nonetheless, “No can do, princess,” he teases, “but I can get us some ice cream from that stand over there. Stay put, I’ll be right back.”

“Wait!” You shout. “You even know what I want?”

He says your favorite flavor, and even your preferred container to consume it in, “Right?”

A smile spreads on your lips, and your heart flutters. He remembers. “Right.”

Jaehyun shoots you a smile then jogs over to the ice cream stand, pulling his wallet from his pockets. You gotta remember to ask him where he’s getting all this money from, this man could be a drug dealer for all you know.

Nonetheless, you sit at a nearby bench and pull out your phone. Nothing beats checking up on your Animal Crossing island while you wait.

You notice the presence of someone sitting beside you but don’t bat an eye, knowing without looking that it isn’t Jaehyun. And who are you to shoo away a stranger if they want to rest their feet?

“You must be y/n,” hearing your name, your eyes snap to the side instinctively.

And that’s when you realize that this stranger may not be as unknown as you initially thought.

Your eyes widen, “You…”

“I am, Jaehyun’s ex-girlfriend,” she, Victoria announces proudly, like it’s some achievement to be clipped onto the fridge.

You never met her, but you’ll never forget her name, or her face for that matter. It’s kind of stupid, how you found out. You were on Instagram, and you saw Jaehyun’s account in the replies of Yeri’s post. You clicked his profile, because you had never exchanged accounts before, and you quickly saw why.

He didn’t post her often, amongst all the flaunting images of himself, but when he did he made it crystal clear that she was his girlfriend, and what sole other woman would he continuously post onto his page?

“What are you doing here?” You ask, an obviously bitter edge to your voice. It isn’t she that you should be bitter towards, but you can’t help but feel slightly defensive.

“Relax, darling, I’m not stalking you on whatever summer vacation he’s had the courtesy to whisk you away on,” Victoria giggles. Of course not, that would be obsessive. “It’s actually a coincidence to see you, but since we’re here, let’s talk.”

Disinterested, you reply, “There’s nothing for you and I to discuss.”

“Of course, there is! You were fucking with him while he was with me, right?” she gives you a picture-perfect smile that makes you want to grit your teeth, yet you compose yourself. She sighs, “You know that, and yet you’re like what, dating him now? I’m telling you now, once a cheater, always a cheater. You might think he loves you now, but I promise you, he’ll stab you in the back the moment you aren’t looking.”

Victoria misjudges your silence as you giving her the go-ahead to continue, “I know that you know, and I know you’re trying to convince yourself that he’s changed, but he’s still the same old bastard he was three years ago. I mean just look at him, he’s even flirting with that lady now.”

With furrowed brows, you turn in Jaehyun’s direction, eyes finding that he actually is flirting with the ice cream lady. You can’t believe your eyes. Really? The fucking ice cream woman? He isn’t trying to be subtle with it, either.

She tilts her head as she speaks in your ear, “See? He doesn’t give a fuck. Not about you, not about her, not about any of us. You’re just yet another notch in his belt.”

And suddenly, all those doubts come back, the ones that you had pushed away and replaced with your growing feelings for him. Yet now that they’re existing within the same space, it’s even more terrifying, it’s exactly what you feared.

What if Jaehyun never really cared? What if all this is just some big act? What if he’s just been playing with your emotions this entire time? What if you don’t really know Jaehyun like you thought?

You want him, but what if he doesn’t really want you?

Jaehyun walks over, seemingly not noticing his ex-girlfriend’s presence, “I got the ice cream. Who’s th—Victoria?”

“Hello, Jaehyun,” she waves, offering him a smile. “We were just talking about you.”

“What the fuck did you tell her?” Jaehyun scowls, taking notice of your silence and the empty, unhappy gaze you shoot him. You don’t even smile, hardly even blink.

Victoria shrugs. “Nothing she doesn’t already know.”

“I’m walking back to the hotel,” you announce, sliding your phone back into your pocket and peeling yourself off of the bench.

“Wait!”

He calls out your name.

For the third time, you turn and walk away.

This time, though, he’s not letting you walk away. Not without putting up a fight first.

“Why are we doing this again?” Jaehyun yells. “Why? Did I do something? We can just talk this out, you know. What happened to no more secrets?”

You retort, “You fucking tell me, Jaehyun! How am I supposed to know that you don’t have secrets?”

“The same goddamn way I know you don’t have any! Trust!” And the realization hits him hard. He knows that it’s only been some days, but what could Victoria have said to make you back out so hastily? “Is that what it is? You don’t trust me?”

Tears sting your eyes. “Trust you? You want me to trust you? With you being the kind of person you are? You’re out of luck.”

That burned Jaehyun. After all of the bonding you’ve done lately, he would’ve thought that you would trust him a little more, but he sees clearly now. He sees that he’s done all he can do, and now it’s time for you to do your part.

“What kind of person am I, y/n?” He asks coldly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

You spit, “You’re an asshole.”

“Yeah?” Jaehyun laughs tonelessly, “Well frankly I think you’re an asshole, too. So when you’re ready to be assholes together, let me know.”

And this time, Jaehyun’s the one that walks away. This time, you understand his pain, as you have those tear-stung eyes and that quivering voice. That empty feeling inside, the pang in your heart. The way it’s killing you inside, but you don’t have it in you to move, to chase him. All you can do for now is let it eat at you slowly.

Maybe Victoria was wrong. Maybe you’re planting the knife in your own back.

Sunday comes slowly, and you’re glad you didn’t ride the same van as Jaehyun. You still have to deal with the curious stares your friends shoot you, but it’s better than confronting your emotions, or at least you think it is.

You’re not ready yet.

When you get home, the first time you do is order Panda Express via Uber Eats so that you don’t starve as you rot in your room. The next thing you do is flop against your bed and and sob.

A few days go by like this, in pure brutal agony. You drowning in your thoughts, the maybes and the what if’s. You feel like a teenage girl experiencing her first break-up, lost and confused and unsure of how to deal with the hurt. It’s no one’s fault but yours though, and it’s your job to fix it or forever hold your peace.

Love is hard. You know that. You accept that. If you couldn’t, then it would be wrong of you to try be in a real relationship. But loving, as a verb, is easy. Too easy. So easy, to the point where sometimes, you don’t realize you’re doing it until it’s too late. What’s harder is accepting the fact that love isn’t a choice, but a feeling. If it was, you would have chosen to stop loving Jaehyun years ago. You would have chosen to fall in love with Taeyong, or maybe even Kai.

But your heart chose Jung Jaehyun, and it must have a mind of it’s own, because no matter how much you tell it to let go, it doesn’t listen.

That’s why as the days go by, they’re slow and empty. Because Jaehyun’s not there. Not with you. And a little voice in the back of your head is saying he’s with another girl, but your heart is telling you to have faith. You are severely conflicted.

Just when you think you might just spend the rest of your life rotting here, you’re quickly proven wrong by the dedication and genuine care and concern of your best friends.

“Hey, bitch,” Jaemin strolls in casually, as though this is his room, “New guy already?”

“What?”

“Some guy opened the door,” he replies, flopping against your bean-bag cough.

You blink, gears turning in your mind as you try to decipher what man could possibly be inside of your house—oh. You roll your eyes, “That’s my roommate’s boyfriend, you dumbass.”

“Oh,” Jaemin mumbles, then his eyes twinkle as he makes a move for your desk, “Ooh, Panda Express.”

Suddenly, Yeri storms inside your bedroom, flickering on the lights inside your very much dim and deprived of life, sunshine and happiness room, chanting vigorously the lyrics to Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj’s The Light is Coming, “The light is coming to give back everything the darkness stole!”

You groan, yanking the sheets and comforter over your face to block out the light like a vampire, “You guys, please leave me alone.”

“Nope,” says Taeyong, who follows suit after your other friends, venturing into your room. You fight, you tugging the covers towards you while he attempts at pulling them off. It’s a quick battle which you lose, and you soon accept defeat. “You’ve been suffering in silence—and darkness—for far too long. So, fess up. What did that punk do? Do I need to prepare the coffee?”

You sigh, Saturday seeping back into your memory. “He didn’t do anything.”

Jaemin blinks. “What do you mean? Why else have you been sulking in your bedroom for the past four days like a divorced man who’s ex-wife took the kids and the TV? Shit, all you’re missing is a bar and some alcohol at this point.”

You roll your eyes, “I mean, I was the one that fucked up this time.”

“What?”

“What?”

“What?”

They all gasp involuntarily, and if you had it in you, you would roll your eyes at the chorus of what’s.

That day rewinds in your head, how it was so warm then so cold within a matter of moments. Your eyes water as you recall everything that happened, Victoria, your public altercation, walking back to the hotel alone while it felt like there was a rain cloud above your head, despite the piping hot conditions outdoors.

It isn’t like you don’t want to let Jaehyun in. You do, but you’re terrified of granting him that permission, of giving him your heart when he’s broken it before. But this way, you’re only breaking your heart more, and breaking his, too.

“I did something stupid. I assumed the worst when I shouldn’t have, and then I got scared. So I ran,” you want to bury yourself underneath the covers and sink into the earth to be forgotten, but you have to deal with your mistakes. “And I broke his heart. Now I need to fix it, but I don’t fucking know how.”

Yeri thinks you’re dumb.

Taeyong thinks you’re stupid.

Jaemin thinks you’re out of your fucking mind and an absolute fool for letting your thoughts destroy you, but he’ll do whatever he can to help.

“Talk to him, duh,” Yeri says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, and it is, but easier said than done.

“How? I bet he doesn’t even want to see my face.”

“Are you kidding?” Jaemin gawks. “He’s been moping around the apartment like literally all week, and me and Jongin haven’t said anything because we thought it was his fault! He also has divorced man syndrome!”

Oh. You feel extra stupid now, and you can’t believe you let Victoria get in your head. Collapsing onto your pillow, you groan, “I really am an asshole.”

“Maybe, yeah,” Taeyong agrees, “but so is he, you guys are a match made in heaven.”

“Or hell,” Jaemin chimes in.

Taeyong glares. “With that being said—and I mean this in the friendliest way possible—get your head out of your ass and go talk to him.”

And you smile softly at that. If Taeyong’s giving you the push, you know that everyone’s right and you need to do something. Now.

You nod and whip out your phone with a sigh, opening iMessage. Can we talk?

(Delivered.)

(Read.)

Sure.

Antsy, you’re fidgeting. Your anxiety is spiking and you can feel your heartbeat directly in your eardrums, but this time your fears won’t scare you off. You wait for Jaehyun, feet tapping against the ground restlessly, until you see him nearing.

He walks over to your side, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets and you feel your heart wrenching a little when you notice that he doesn’t give you his wild grin he usually shoots whenever he sees you. His face is inscrutable, and you bite back the urge to run, because you know now that no matter how fast you run, you’ll never be able to hide from your feelings.

“Hey,” your voice is giving up on you, but you refuse to let it. Get a grip.

“Hey,” Jaehyun whispers back. His eyes are dark and empty, and that’s how you know you cut him deep. There’s always a gleam to his eyes, whether sad or blissful.

You can do this, you tell yourself. You’ve talked to him about much worse before, this should be nothing. But still, it’s never been quite like this. You’ve never made this bad of a mistake.

“About Saturday,” you begin, still fidgeting but managing to look at him, “I’m sorry. I jumped to conclusions instead of asking you, instead of trusting you, and I let Victoria get in my head—”

“Yeah, what the hell was that about?” Jaehyun interjects. “Sorry for interrupting you, but I’m still confused. Did I do something?”

“She pointed out that you were flirting with the ice cream lady. What was that?”

Jaehyun blinks, processing your statement, and when he does he begins shaking his head, “Seriously? You’re telling me this is all over the fucking ice cream? I was only flirting with her to get free ice cream! You know they was trying to charge me fifteen dollars for 4 scoops?”

“It’s not just that!” You exclaim. “Like, yeah, that triggered it, but—fuck, Jaehyun, I was scared, I was so fucking scared. I was overthinking, and all my doubts and fears came back, that what if you never cared, what if you don’t want me like I want you, what if I don’t know you like I think I do? I was scared to trust you, scared that I love you because I don’t want to lose you again—”

If Jaehyun was a dog, his ears would perk up. “You love me?”

“Yes,” you answer boldly. “I love you, Jaehyun. I’m in love with you, and up until now that scared me half to death, because I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to know that you love me, too,” and especially enough to stay. “But now I know. I trust you, Jaehyun. I love you, I want you, and I’m gonna be honest, I’m still a little scared. But that’s what love is, trusting someone to not break your heart. It’s a risk I’m ready to take for you.”

Jaehyun is silently stunned. He doesn’t have much to say, taken aback by your confession and the fact this actually happening. “You mean that?”

You nod, smiling. “Every word.”

In seconds, Jaehyun has you pinned to the wall, his lips against yours. God, you missed this feeling. The feeling of his plush lips against yours, his hands on your body. You miss kissing him irresistibly, every hour of every day, for moments at a time until you were breathless.

Jaehyun seems to have missed it just as much, kissing you with a passion—hungrily; greedily. He kisses you like he can’t have enough, like his lips have an insatiable hunger.

And you can’t believe you’re making out with him behind your apartment, but you’re willing to try new things for him.

Jaehyun taps your thighs, and by now you know that that meets to jump, so you do, shrieking a little, yet he doesn’t let you fall. “I got you,” he whispers in between kisses, breath tickling your skin, “and I won’t ever let you go.”

It’s been five days. You’ve been trying not to think too hard about the label thing, maybe Jaehyun is planning something, he wouldn’t just forget to ask you to be his girlfriend.

You’re walking back to your apartment when it happens.

“Excuse me,” a stranger with an oddly familiar voice calls at to you, and when you whirl around, the last person to see is…

“Taemin?” You nearly scream. He points his index finger to his lips, gesturing for you to be quiet, which makes sense because you’re in public but there’s literally no way the man standing before you is the Lee Taemin. You’re dreaming.

You even pinch yourself, much to his amusement, and come to the realization that this is very much real. You could faint. Taemin? Lee Taemin? From SHINee? There’s simply no way.

“I believe this is for you,” Taemin holds in his hands your all-time favorite SHINee album, The Misconception Of Us. You take it, staring at the album in disbelief. You’re gawking. “And one last thing. Come with me, please?”

Okay, what the hell. He has to be trying to kidnap you or something, it’s perfect bait. Who wouldn’t agree to follow their favorite artist after they randomly pop up behind you and offer you your favorite album for free? You’re lucky it isn’t some kidnapping scheme, because you ultimately end up following him despite your doubts.

He takes you to the cafe, which, to your surprise is empty. At least you think it is, until Jaehyun slips out of hiding, walking up to you with a smile.

“Jaehyun,” you can’t help smile back, “What the?”

“Flip it over,” he says, gesturing towards the album, and curiously, you obey. To the back is attached a sticky note that says, To my 1 of 1 girl, will you be my girlfriend? It’s cheesy, but it has you smiling so hard your cheeks hurt.

“Yes!” Instantly, you crash into his arms. “Yes, yes, yesyes yes—” he has to cut you off with his lips, and you melt into kiss.

You pull away the second you hear the intro to your favorite song, 1 of 1, and look onto the cafe stage (yes, the cafe has a stage for Friday through Saturday night performances) to see Taemin beginning to sing and cover the other members parts.

You’re mind-blown. A part of you is still convinced that this is a dream, because how the fuck did Jaehyun get a man as busy as Lee Taemin to do this? You forgot to ask him who he works for, but do drug dealers have Lee Taemin money?

“How did you—”

“Shh,” Jaehyun pecks your lips, “Taemin’s singing.”

You roll your eyes, yet giggle. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Jaehyun engulfs you in a warm, comfortable hug, “And only you.”

When he says it, you trust him. You believe him. Because the Jung Jaehyun you know and love today is a man of his word, and that means you get to love him with no fears, and no worries.

Love is a challenge. And in this moment and the next, it’s safe to say you’ve won.

[fangirlika]

Hello! I don't know if you're up to writing smut (if not you can just ignore it haha), but maybe you could write something about reader not being very experienced and Charles, for teaching purposes, offers her some private lessons/tutoring, letting her do whatever she wants to him? Not in super kinky way, just getting to know his body and kind of exploring it ^^

sweet and hot at the same time, we love to see it! Loved the “for teaching purposes” hahaha Thank you for your request, I hope you like it!

Learning Hours

MASTERLIST

pairing: Charles Leclerc x female!reader

summary: you and Charles have been friends for a long time, however, the sexual tension between the two of you was there pretty much since the beginning. It was just that Charles, in contrast to you, was a lot more experienced. Time to share the knowledge, right?

warnings: nsfw, smut, porn with a little plot lol, oral (m receiving), typos probably

a/n: I got carried away with this ahhh I hope you enjoy it

“Oh come on, Y/n!”, Charles said as he sat on your bed, his head leaning against the headboard. “When was the last time you got laid? Last weekend?”

For context, the two of you somehow ended up in a conversation about how often the other one had sex over the past year. It was a joke, a lighthearted conversation between you guys.

You and Charles had been friends for what felt like a lifetime, hence, you were comfortable with him no matter what topic you were talking about.

In Charles' case it was no secret that he had his fair share of one night stands, girls he was seeing for a longer time and also two actual relationships over the past years. You couldn’t blame any of the girls he was with, that man is too gorgeous for his own good.

You on the other hand, never participated in the so-called hook up culture. You never blamed anyone who did, in fact you couldn’t care less, but you never felt comfortable enough to just go home with someone after a night-out or to meet someone online.

You’re not a virgin though. No, you had that one boyfriend, he later turned out to be a total douche, but for the time being, he was good enough to show you the basics in bed - never something crazy or actually anything but boring missionary sex where you’ve almost never really gotten off.

Sometimes, your inexperience made you a little shy and talking about your sex life has never been a preferred topic for you. So you just scoffed in fake annoyance and replied: “Sure, and I assume that you just came back from yet another poor girl's house?”

Charles put his hand over his heart to feign hurt. “Wow, ma chérie, that was personal”, he said but couldn’t help but chuckle a little. But then he looked at you again and the look on his face was nothing but curious. “But seriously, when was the last time? You never went home with someone after we went out together and as far as I know there are no dating apps on your phone…”, he thought out loud.

You didn’t like where this conversation was going. The last thing you wanted this afternoon was to admit to your guy best friend that you haven’t gone further than kissing a guy at a bar ever since you broke up with your ex-boyfriend, Charles never liked him anyways.

“So?”, you simply replied and tried to look as indifferent to the conversation as you possibly could.

Charles seemed to be able to connect the dots on his own, one could practically see the gears turning inside his head. “You’re telling me you haven’t had any sex since that excuse of a boyfriend?” Charles looked almost shocked.

You just rolled your eyes, really wanting to end this conversation. “I never told you anything like that”, you hugged out in annoyance.

“But, I’m right, am I not?”, Charles said, now there was a cocky grin on his face which just annoyed you even more. Of course he would find humor in this. It’s not to humiliate you, you know that, but between you two and also Pierre and some other friends teasing comments like these were very common.

You don’t know why but today you did not want to be on the receiving end of these remarks. “Okay, you are”, you said and moved your eyes down to the strings of your hoodie you were absentmindedly playing around with. “Are you happy now?”

Charles immediately noticed the shift from your relaxed and sarcastic state to seeming uncomfortable in the situation you two were in. Quickly, he stumbled out an apology: “N-no, I didn’t mean it like that. There is nothing wrong with not doing it often, nothing wrong with being inexperienced or… or-“

“Just drop it, Charles”, you sighed. “I know that I could go home with someone when we go out, but quite frankly, I don’t really want to.”

“That is fine! There is no shame in that, really, please, I didn’t want to make you feel bad about yourself”, Charles continued to ramble. He always did that when he was nervous or embarrassed, you couldn’t deny that it was kind of cute.

“No, it’s not that. I think it’s just that my inexperience keeps me from doing it, or something like that”, you said quietly.

“How does that make sense?”, Charles asked in confusion but put his hand up in defense when he saw your annoyed glance at him.

“I don’t know…”, you danced around the answer. “My ex and I we never really did anything… new in bed.” It took everything in you to admit the truth to Charles. “I guess I just don’t want to embarrass myself when I’d actually end up in bed with someone…”

Charles listened attentively and turned his head to look at you with a smile. You still avoided his gaze and casted your eyes downwards but he still noticed the faint reddening of your cheeks. God, you were so cute.

“You can practice on me if you want.”

Your eyes widened and you abruptly turned your head to look at Charles. “What?”

Charles didn’t really think before he said it. It just came to his mind. But when he took a second to actually think about it, he just shrugged. “Why not? We have know each other forever and I promise you won’t embarrass yourself.”

You also thought about it. Was it really a good idea? Definitely not. But then again, why not try it?

“I don’t know, Charles…”, you sighed. “I wouldn’t want it to ruin our friendship, you know?”

Charles nodded understandingly. It was the last thing he wanted as well. He knew it was a thin line they were moving on but if it could help her, he would do anything. “It doesn’t have to”, he said. “We only go as far as you are comfortable with, nothing more.”

You listened and nodded slowly.

“It’s only for learning purposes”, he smirked and when you saw his face you couldn’t help but smile too, shaking your head a little. This was insane, wasn’t it?

“I’ll teach you how to make a man feel good and you can try anything as well, okay?”, Charles searched your eyes for permission.

“Okay”, you whispered and looked him in the eyes.

The two of you stared at each other for a long time but then Charles slowly leaned his head forward into your direction. He held his gaze onto yours as to look out for any sign of hesitation from you.

But there was none. So, he closed his eyes and when his lips were just mere centimetres away from yours he stopped for a second. You on the other hand didn’t want to wait any longer so you closed the remaining gap between you two and connected your lips.

Kissing Charles felt different from kissing any other guy you did before. And you weren’t sure if a best friend was supposed to make you feel like this with just a simple kiss.

He moved his hand to your neck and the other one around your back to pull you even closer. You obliged immediately and leaned into him.

Charles swiped his tongue over your lips and you opened them just a little bit so that he could slip his tongue into your mouth. You involuntarily moaned a little which caused Charles to smile into the kiss.

“Keep making those noises, chérie, that’s a great way to turn us on”, he teased but there was truth behind his words - he wanted to hear more of those little sounds from you.

You couldn’t help the heat rising to your cheeks when he said this. “Quit being a smart-ass and take your hoodie off, Leclerc.”

You don’t know where this sudden confidence came from but you somehow wanted to show him that you can make him feel good.

“Bossy, are we?”, Charles continued and only laughed a little at your warning glare. Nevertheless, he leaned away from you a little to take off his hoodie.

His next words were a little muffled because he struggled to get the hoodie over his head for a second: “Don’t worry, it’s ho-“

As he was busy taking his hoodie off he failed to notice that you were doing the same so when he threw it somewhere behind him and turned to look at you again his words got caught in his throat.

You were sitting in front of him only wearing a black bra to cover your boobs. In all of your years of friendship he has seen you wearing a bikini plenty of times and even sometimes he saw you in your underwear, but never in a context like this. He couldn’t help but stare.

You however failed to interpret his staring correctly and so you felt your insecurity rise up back again. You were about to bring your arms up and around your chest to cover up a little again but Charles immediately took ahold of your wrists.

“Non, none of that, you look beautiful”, he muttered and tried to reassure you with one of his gorgeous smiles. You were sure you would melt if he kept looking at you like that during all this.

“Can I kiss you again?”, he asked but already pulled you into him by your wrists. You simply nodded before your lips were on his again, this time a little sloppier and less sensual. But still, it knocked the air out of your lungs.

Maybe you would regret it later but there was no space in your mind to think about the consequences of your current actions right now. Everything you though or felt in this moment, was him.

Charles laid down and pulled you with him so that you were now laying on top of his upper body. You moved one of your legs over his waist so that you were straddling him. Your lips stayed connected the entire time.

The confidence came back to you as you pulled away from his lips only to press a soft kiss to his jaw, then just below his ear and a few on his neck. This wasn’t new for you but it still gave you reassurance when you heard Charles letting out a shaky breath and a quiet moan.

Charles moved his hands down your back to your hips, squeezing the skin there lightly.

“Are you okay with taking off your sweatpants, let me see you?”, he muttered when you continued to litter his neck with soft kisses.

You nodded and felt his hands make their way past the hem of your pants. You lifted your hips slightly to help him get them over your ass and down to your knees. You sat up to pull them off completely, causing you to sit on top of him in nothing but your black underwear.

The movement caused you to grind a little on his crotch, which you didn’t even take notice of until you heard him curse some word in French under his breath and felt him tighten his grip on your hips again.

“Oh, sor-“, you were about to apologise but Charles cut you off by shaking his head at you. “Don’t, it feels good but I really need you to do something about it”, he said with a smirk on his face. He tried to make you more comfortable and confident.

Charles moved his hands up your back a little to pull you down to his level again. “O-okay”, you just replied hesitantly. Charles noticed, looked at you and brought his right hand up to caress your cheek. “We can stop here if you don’t want to, continue some other time or we just forget about it but-“, you cut him off.

“No”, you said and shook your head. Smiling at him before you leaned down to his lips again. It was rough, both of you moving your lips against each other messily.

“Can I suck you off?”, you asked him between kisses, the sheer innocence in your voice making him crazy. “Shit”, he muttered under his breath, “yes, okay, yes.”

You grinned and gave his lips a quick peck before you lifted your head away from his and dragged your lips down his chest. “But, you have to guide me, I- I’ve never-“

“I got you, mon amour.”

You felt a jolt of heat rush down your body at his words. You knew Charles was sweet, he was a good guy but somehow you always thought that when it came to sex, he was more rough and rushed. But you appreciated him reassuring you.

You got off him for a moment so that he could take off his sweatpants as well. What you weren’t expecting though was that he also took off his boxers in one go, freeing his cock from its restraints. It was already semi-hard.

He was big. Were your first thoughts. Sure, you only had your ex for reference but you were pretty sure he was above average.

You looked at him briefly and he was still smiling reassuringly at you. “Start with stroking it a few times, okay?”, he said.

You nodded and did as he said. Sitting across his legs this time you bent down a little, licked your hand and loosely wrapped it around the base of his cock. You observed his reaction; another breathy moan at the contact. You moved your hand up and down once, twice, and with the third time you swiped your thumb over his tip, eliciting another shaky breath from him.

“Good?”, you just managed to ask and he nodded, “Yeah, use your mouth now, okay baby?”

You tried to ignore the nickname, amour or chérie were a regular by now but this was new. In this context, however, it really turned you on.

You hummed in agreement and slowly moved your head down to his cock, darting your tongue out to lick along the shaft.

“Keep going, use your tongue like that, yeah”, he mumbled. You did as he told you, licking up his entire length a few times before you swiped your tongue along his tip, giving it a few kitten licks.

Your shifted your gaze to look back up to him, your eyes connecting. Charles swore he could have died then and there. For a brief moment the thought of how they were supposed to go back to friends after this crossed his mind. He was unsure if he would be able to do that.

The sight of you like this in front of him sure burned itself into his mind for the rest of his being.

“Feels so good”, he moaned. When he felt your lips wrap around his tip it hit him unprepared, causing him to thrust his hips upwards a little into your mouth.

It caught you by surprise, your eyes widening for a moment. “Shit, sorry”, he started to apologise but you just continued to suck his tip a little.

“You are evil, Y/l/n”, he whispered with a smirk and you smiled back at him, as best as you could with his dick between your lips.

“Can you move down further?”, he almost pleaded. You wrapped your lips back around him and moved them down inch by inch. It wasn’t even half way in but you felt as if you’d start to gag around him if you’d go any deeper.

“So good, use your hand for the rest, if you can”, he said and moved one of his hands to your hair, gathering the strands that fell in front of your face and pushed them behind your ears.

You brought one of your hands around the base of his cock again while simultaneously continuing to take as much of his length as you could, trying to build a rhythm with your movements.

Charles leaned his head back against the headboard, the feeling of both your lips and your hand on his cock almost too much to take.

Sure, he had done this plenty of times before but for some reason this was a lot different, and much more intimate.

You didn’t stop your movements until you felt him twitch inside your mouth, causing you to look up at him through your lashes again.

“Merde, I’m close”, he muttered.

“Cum in my mouth, okay?”, you asked with a hoarse voice, pulling him out of your mouth for a moment.

Charles looked at you for confirmation. “Really?” Instead of giving him an answer you just wrapped your lips around him, sucked harshly once and then went down to take him until he almost hit the back of your throat.

Charles let out a groan and moved his hand to the back of your head, pulling on your hair slightly. This caused you to moan around him, the vibrations of it giving Charles the rest it took for him to release himself into your mouth.

You swallowed all of it without really thinking about it. You licked up his length another time before pulling off him.

Charles tried to control his breathing and when he looked at you again he smiled. “I don’t believe you when you say you never did that before”, he said with a cocky smirk back on his lips.

You let out a chuckle, not sure what to answer. It was true though, this was your first time doing that.

“Well, like I said, my ex wasn’t really experimental in bed…”, you said and looked down again. Charles sat up slightly and lifted to lay on his chest again.

“Well”, he begun as he smirked at you, “he sure missed out on something.”

You couldn’t help but smirk and shake his head at him. “You’re a menace, Leclerc.”

Charles hummed and placed one hand back on your cheek, his thumb caressing the soft skin there for a moment.

“I’m sure you won’t say that again after I returned the favor to you.” There was a questioning tone to his statement and you just lifted your head from his chest and raised an eyebrow.

“I guess we will have to see about that after…”

—————

Part 2 is up!

As always, feedback and reblogs are dearly appreciated <3

[greynatomy]

falling for mccabe

lia wälti x reader

don’t really know how to feel about this

———

You and Katie were like two pease in a pod. Growing up, you had different interests, but that didn’t stop you from supporting one another. You moved away from Ireland first, wanting a change in scenery, be more independent. So when you got hired at a hospital in London, you accepted right away. Telling Katie was the hardest part of leaving home.

Just two years later though, Katie signed for Arsenal, the choice was a no brainer for her. She got herself her own apartment but came over to yours as much as she can. Her team, once they were all comfortable and got to know each other better, would tease her, saying that she needs her big sissy cuddles. Katie, however, was never once embarrassed by the teasing. She loves to be able to call her her big sister.

You never really got to know any of her teammates from Arsenal until after the lockdown. Katie’s teammates told her to invite you over to the club. You got along with the team, some more than others, and maybe got to bring one of them home with you.

The same person you brought home was now your very secret girlfriend. You were going to tell Katie the moment it became official, but you found out from your girlfriend that your sister’s girlfriend was her ex-girlfriend and became stuck.

You and your girlfriend were still fast asleep, your arm slung over her waist, holding her close that you didn’t hear your front door opening and steps coming closer to your bedroom. 

“Rise and shi—WHAT THE FUCK!”

You shoot up from the bed, falling over the side, bumping the side of your head on your bedside table. Lia gets out of bed just as fast.

“Ow.”

“Oh, baby.” Lia crawls over the bed to you, her hand replacing the side of your head that you were rubbing.

“Baby?” Caitlin speaks for the first time.

“Couldn’t you fucking knock. Fucking almost killed me you cunt.”

“Oi! I don’t appreciate that tine, missy!”

“I’m older so I can talk to you how I want.”

“Woah. Okay, sassy.” Lia covers your mouth with her hand. “Why don’t you both wait in the living room while we put some more clothes on.”

Caitlin drags Katie out to the living room by her arm. A minute later, Lia comes out and Katie walks back towards the bedroom, leaving the two exes by themselves.

“Would you like something to drink?” Lia asks.

“A coffee would be good. One cream—”

“—Two sugars.”

“You remember.” Lia gives her a tight lipped smile, not knowing how to reply. “So… how long has that been going on?”

“Uh, a year or so ago now. Since that time at the bar after lockdown.”

“No way.” Caitlin states in disbelief.

“What?”

“That’s when Katie and I started seeing each other.”

“Wow.” Lia whispers, shocked with the information. “Who would’ve thought we’d fall for a McCabe at the same time.”

“Don’t sound so shocked baby. I’ll have you know that I am quite the catch.”

“It’s the Irish genes I tell you.”

Both of the sisters’ girlfriends roll their eyes at their cockiness.

“Know what’d be funny?” Katie looks at you and you smirk in understanding.

“What is it?” Caitlin asks impatiently.

“You and Lia are still friends right? No hard feelings?” You ask.

“Yeah…” They were both now skeptical.

“Why don’t we mess with your fans for a bit.”

“What do you have in mind?” Lia wraps an arm around your waist, now very curious.

“Nothing too crazy. Just start interacting more. Be best friends. You’ll be in-laws sooner than later anyway.”

The next few days, the fans have been gong crazy over all of the Caitlin and Lia interaction they were seeing. Walking out of the coach together, walking to the locker room together, walking out to the pitch together, celebrating goals together, signing/taking photos with fans together. Are they together? Everyone was confused, including their teammates and national teammates, but they both simply ignore all questions.

You had a very rare day off from your job which lined up with Arsenal’s off day, so what better way to celebrate than to stay home and get drunk. Katie has been known to be a crazy drinker and knowing you just a short time, its safe to say where Katie got it from.

You and Katie were drunk, at the phase where everything is funny. Lia and Caitlin are a bit tipsy, still in control of themselves. Ever since catching you and Lia in bed together two weeks ago, the two became close again, like before. No romantic feeling left for each other and care now very good friends, you and Katie being a common denominator.

Caitlin and Lia were in the living room when they no longer heard the two of you. A silent McCabe meant something was wrong, but two silent McCabes… they knew you were up to no good. They slowly crept into the kitchen, hoping to catch what the two of you were up to, going unnoticed. They were both greeted by the sight of the siblings focused on something on Katie’s phone, identical furrowed eyebrows on you faces.

“What are you two up to?” Lia asks cautiously.

“Hey!” You perk up from the sound of your girlfriend’s voice. “Katie is doing this instagram thing and I’m just a bit confused.”

“Yeah, cause you’re old and don’t know how to use social media.”

“Well, what would I post? “‘Hey, instagram! I’ve just finished fixing up this person’s brain for ten hours.”’ You like have to be on it.”

“Are you allowed to take pictures while you’re in the operating room?”

“I’d probably have to get some consent forms signed.”

“You should facetime me sometime.”

“Wait. What is it you don’t understand?” Caitlin now asks.

is that caitlin? did i hear caitlin’s voice i heard lia’s earlier caitlin and lia together again??

“It keeps saying your names now. How does instagram know your names?” You were very confused now. Your drunk self couldn’t make sense of anything.

“Give me that.”

Lia grabs the phone off the table, Lia looking over her shoulder to take a look herself.

“Ohmygod.” Caitlin was quick to move the phone away from her face, setting it on the table face up. “Katie!”

“Yes, sugarplum?” Katie answered at the same time you asked, “Did you figure it out or not?”

“You’re on instagram live!”

People watching the live are now freaking out. Some confused, but most are freaking out at the quick sight of Caitlin and Lia together.

“Okay, um, we have to go. Bye guys.” Lia quickly ends the live.

Just second later, both Caitlin and Lia’s phones are ringing from calls and messages from their friends.They looked at each other and silenced their phones, making sue to turn off the tracking privileges for some of their friends. No one would be able to find them as you were all at your house.

“Want to just post something to freak people out more?’

“Great idea.”

———

liked by leahwilliamson, caitlinfoord and 48,738 others

liawalti from exes to in-laws

view all comments

leahwilliamson huh?

kyracooneyx PARENTS!

katie_mccabe11 hi sister in-law

↳ caitlinfoord how’d you get your phone back?

↳ katie_mccabe11 a magician never reveals their secrets

ynmccabe hi, honey!

↳ liawalti since when did you get instagram?

↳ ynmccabe right now. katie did it for me

user now that’s gold

user not everyone freaking out that they got back together

↳ user me… i was everyone

user not you two falling for sisters

[thebeast-dennis-etcetera]

Dance With Me

Prompt: You ask Gibbs to be your date to a friend’s wedding.

You’ve known Gibbs almost as long as Tony has and you two had grown to be very close friends and colleagues over the years but that still wasn’t enough to calm the anxiety pooling in your gut as you gathered up the courage to ask him to be your date to your friends wedding.

You didn’t want to show up alone and you also didn’t want to show up with one of the girls, knowing your friends would make fun of you for not being able to snag a man. McGee and Jimmy had their wives and you weren’t close enough with Torres to ask him, although you’re not sure you’d be able to handle his egocentric attitude anyways.

Going with a stranger just seemed tacky so Gibbs was your answer. You just needed to suck it up and ask him.

“Got that BOLO out yet Agent L/N?” you heard him ask you, pulling you out of your thoughts. You hadn’t realized you had been staring at him the entire time, your face getting hot in embarrassment.

“Uh, yes. Sorry Gibbs. It’s been sent to local authorities and agencies. He won’t get far.”

He just nodded and went back to typing on his computer, shaking his head in confusion.

————

It wasn’t until hours later once the whole team was gathered at a crime scene that you went through with it.

“Gibbs, can I talk to you for a second?” you asked , finishing up the photo snapping. McGee and Bishop were talking with a witness and Torres was getting information from the local authorities.

“Go for it L/N.”

“Um. A good friend of mine from high school is getting married this weekend and I just know all of my friends will give me so much shit if I don’t show up with a date and-

“Are you asking me to be your date to your friend’s wedding Y/N?”

You fumbled for words as he waited. “Uh, yeah. I guess I am.”

“Is there a dress code?”

You weren’t expecting that as his next question but didn’t challenge it.

“Just a suit. I’ll be wearing a dark blue cocktail dress.”

“What time?”

“Gotta be there by 5. It’s about a 40 minute drive from my house. Hoping to be out of there by 8ish.”

“I’ll pick you up at 4.”

You were at a loss for words at how fast and easily he agreed to everything and you thought you should say something but he was already walking away to join McGee and Bishop.

————

The sound of your doorbell ringing almost had you jumping out of your skin. The last half hour, your mind was racing with questions. Was it a bad idea for to be taking your boss as a date to a wedding? What are you two going to talk about for 40 minutes on the drive? What if you make a fool of yourself?

Having no choice but to push all those thoughts to the back of your mind, you walked over and opened your door, seeing Gibbs standing there looking dashing as ever. He was dressed in a crisp suit, all black pieces except the navy blue pocket square and tie tied perfectly around his neck.

“Wow Gibbs. You look amazing,” you couldn’t help but blurt out.

“Ah, it’s just a suit,” he downplayed. You smiled and grabbed your clutch and keys before leaving.

The car ride wasn’t too bad, the both of you managing to make enough small talk in the traffic until you arrived at the place. Gibbs parked and you both walked into the cute little industrial style venue.

————

“We just wanna say thank you and enjoy the drinks, music and food!”

We all raised our glasses in cheers and drank. Almost immediately, everyone scattered. Some headed to the dance floor, others to the bar.

“You don’t seem like a champagne kind of guy. Why don’t we get a real drink?” you asked Gibbs. He gave you a look and you knew what he was getting at.

“We’re not gonna drink all night Gibbs. Just one. I’ll make sure we’re both good to drive by then.”

You got up and he followed you to the semi crowded bar. Looking at your options, you chose whiskey for Gibbs and a vodka soda for yourself. While waiting for your drinks, you noticed a man constantly glancing over at you. You weren’t in the mood to be flirted with, that was one of the reasons you brought a date.

Gibbs hadn’t noticed what was going on so when you intertwined your arm with his and leaned into his firm frame, he looked down at you with questioning eyes.

“Just keeping the vultures away,” you explained, grabbing your drinks once they were ready and giving Gibbs his. The two of you walked over to the little outside area that played the music from inside, softly out of speakers. The DJ went back and forth from slow and steady to fast upbeat rhythms but nothing had caught your attention so far.

“So why me Y/N?” Gibbs asked, taking a sip of his whiskey. You knew he was asking why you asked him to be your date instead of anyone else.

“You don’t believe you were my first option Gibbs?”

He let a small smirk appear and you couldn’t help but smirk back.

“More like only option,” he replied.

You looked at him with a tilted head, him staring right back at you, giving slight goosebumps. You wish you knew how to stare into people souls like Gibbs did. Every time he looked at you like that, you always had one of two thoughts. One was to spill all your secrets big or small and two was to just kiss him. Luckily, you’ve never resorted to either one of those.

“My only options really were you, Torres, or a random man online. I’ve known you for years and feel the most comfortable with you so it was a no brainer.”

Before he could say another word, your all time favorite slow song came on. Putting your drink down on the little table, you reached out your hand to Gibbs.

“I don’t dance,” he stated, taking another sip.

“C’mon Gibbs. Live a little. There’s no one around. They’re all inside. Just one dance.”

He stood there as you gave him your best puppy dog eyes until finally he finished his drink and set it down on the table. When he took your hand in his, you practically squealed in joy. You couldn’t believe you were about to dance with your brooding boss.

He showed off his secret dancing skills quickly as he pulled you in close, one hand wrapped around your waist and the other holding your hand up as his feet led you two in a slow paced sway.

The butterflies in your stomach fluttered as you focused on your feet, making sure you didn’t step on his toes. The close proximity between the two of you was suffocating but in a good way. You hadn’t felt like this since your first kiss with your ex-husband.

“Don’t look down,” Gibbs instructed softly. You decided to look at his tie instead but that quickly became a dumb idea as you let out a nervous laugh and defeatedly rested your forehead against his chest.

“I can feel your heart pounding. Are you nervous Y/N?”

You closed your eyes and took a breath.

“A little.”

You felt him release your hand and tilt your head up to look him in the eyes.

“Me too.”

This was it. This was the moment. The moment you thought about from time to time while working with him. Never in a million years had you ever thought it would actually come true. Your hands moved at their own accord and wrapped themselves around his neck, gently caressing the back of his head, his eyes occasionally glancing down at your lips.

“I’m glad you agreed to come to the wedding with me Gibbs. I honestly thought you’d say no.”

He chuckled and licked his lips, now causing you to glance at them.

“You really think I could say no to you?”

You could’ve been hallucinating but you swear he stepped closer to you, holding you just a little bit tighter. No words were spoken as he slowly dipped his head down and you met him halfway for a kiss that made your body numb. All the what if questions and the terrible scenarios you had created in your head just dissipated and in the moment it was just you and him.

When you pulled apart, his face was apprehensive as if almost expecting you to take off running but you did no such thing. Instead, you smiled and pulled him in for another kiss which he willingly reciprocated.

————

Parking on the street, he walked you into the lobby, into the elevator and down the halls to your apartment door.

“I had a great time Gibbs-

“You can call me Jethro when we’re alone,” he offered which made you smile.

I’ll see you at work tomorrow Jethro?”

He just nodded with kind eyes and waited till you were in your apartment before turning to leave. Going over the whole night in your head, you eventually came to a conclusion. He might not have said anything but there’s no way he didn’t feel something for you. He wouldn’t have kissed you like that otherwise.

Unlocking your door and opening it, you stepped out into the hallway.

“Jethro, wait.”

He stopped and turned to you.

“Do you want to come in for a little bit?”

He walked back over and stepped close enough that it wouldn’t have taken much to lean in for another kiss.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

His tone was almost teasing as you got lost in his icy blue eyes.

“I don’t know..what do you think?” you asked honestly, not sure how this would all work out.

“I think whatever you want to do, I won’t deny you it.”

A few seconds of thinking and you had your answer. Opening the door a little wider, Jethro stepped into your apartment.

Note: Ahh! The angst! I love it, sorry. 😝

[breedtheseed]

So I got this idea that I don’t think I’ll be able to finish but here is the brief description and the first chapter

Imagine Adam dies right but the trauma of how he died and his whole like keep him from remembering everything in his life so he is turned into Eden Adam who hasn’t experienced heart ache

So Lucifer locks away his memories after seeing them first hand, he wants to start over with Adam.

Sometime later he tells Adam he’s the reason Adam died because Charlie told him he had to it wasn’t right to keep lying to Adam and when Lucifer tells Adam.

Adam is too in love to care and hugs Lucifer holding him tight as he says “I don’t care I still want to be with you” (I was watching Hotel Transylvania) but Lucifer hugs him one last time before snapping all of Adam’s memories back for Adam

Chapter 1 (I still want to be with you)

“Luci?” Lucifer froze as he heard the voice, he quickly turned and say Adam. A gasp left his lungs as he was quickly embraced by the taller man, but something was different. The devil frowned as he slowly accepted the hug, he had just beat the shit out of Adam and watched the angel die how the fuck was the man even standing. Lucifer pulled away, pushing Adam away by his shoulders and looking up at the guy. The devil's eyes grew wide as he took in the man’s appearance, he wasn’t a demon but he didn’t look like his angel form either. He didn’t have his beautiful gold eyes anymore and he was smiling sweetly, almost longingly it made something stur uncomfortably in the kings stomach.

“Adam? Wait, you aren’t supposed to be here?” The devil said as he examined the person in front of him, his outfit was the same with angelic blood stains everywhere and yet Adam didn’t seem bothered.

“What are you doing?” Adam giggled while Lucifer turned him around, “wow what is this place? It looks awesome.” Adam cheered as he quickly walked away towards the hotel, Lucifer may have panicked when he saw Adam was heading towards the hotel. Quickly sprouting his wings and forcefully picking Adam up, maybe a little too hard because Adam yelped in pain.

“Sorry,” Lucifer said as he fixed how he held the man, getting a better look at Adam he really did seem different. It felt familiar.

“What’s wrong?” Adam asked with concern as he let the fallen Angel hold him like a bride.

“This is wrong Adam you died,” Lucifer said, he had meant for it to be flat but there was a ping of sadness to it. “Do you remember anything?” Lucifer questioned as he gently set the man down. Adam held his chin and bit his lip while he thought, it was something Lucifer remembered the man would do back in Eden.

“Well I remember me and Lilith had a big fight. Is that something?” Well it was something that’s for sure, Lucifer did a quick scan of everything around them before opening a portal to his mansion.

“Yeah that is something come, follow me I need to check something” Lucifer said as he held out his hand, Adam was quick to take it and followed the king into the portal before it closed behind them. Adam scanned everything awe painted his face as he pulled Lucifer around the devils room. Despite the situation watching Adam look so amazed by everything made the devils heart flutter a bit. However Lucifer shook his head out of his thoughts and brought the man to the bed.

“Wow Luci I didn’t notice how pretty your eyes are” the comment made a blush form onto Lucifer’s pale cheeks.

“Thanks I always preferred your beautiful brown ones if I am being honest,” Lucifer gave a soft smile to Adam, he took note of how the other blushed and fidgeted. He really did look like he didn’t remember the last nine thousand years. “Anyways hold my hands,” Lucifer requested, he was hoping to see if he could access Adam’s memories, maybe even restore some if he could.

“Ok,” Adam said happily holding Lucifer’s hands waiting patiently for further instructions.

“Good now close your eyes and relax I’m going to test something,” Adam nodded and did as he was told, Lucifer then followed and allowed his consciousness to inhabit Adam’s mind. Sure enough Lucifer found some bits and pieces of Adam’s whole life both Heaven and earth.

Lots of emotions flowed through the devil as he rewatched Adam’s whole life, felt how the man was feeling. His joy of meeting Lucifer for the first time, the love he had felt when Lucifer made love to him in the garden, even the horrible sorrow Adam felt when Lucifer left him. It took everything for Lucifer to continue to watch how Adam broke and reformed into something harder something that kept him from breaking again. He watched as the first man lost more and more of himself, trying to run away from the pain he felt so long ago. Lucifer frowned when he got to the emotions the man felt during the fight, there were so many and above all there was heartbreak. The first man’s heart was breaking each time Lucifer poked at him each time he touched him, punched him. Till eventually he felt nothing, till everything was shrouded in black.

Lucifer sighed and mentally scratched his neck as he looked at memories, he could make them all disappear if he wanted. Let himself indulge in the Adam he had fallen for years ago, maybe even fix his mistakes. Fuck It, Lucifer thought as he snapped his fingers and locked Adam’s memories behind a angelic mind barrier. It was all he could think of before leaving Adam’s mind and returning back to himself. When he opened his eyes and looked down at Adam, the man was slightly snoring while sitting up. He must have been so tired.

Lucifer let out a sigh as he picked Adam up once more and placed him laying down in the bed, snapping his fingers he gave Adam a set of pajamas.

“What am I going to do,” the king groaned as he walked into the hallway, as if on que he got a call from Charlie. “Yes my little girl,” Lucifer tried to put his mask up as best he could.

“Where did you go?” Charlie questioned on the other side.

“Something came up, I’ll tell you about it tomorrow and let’s just say it’s something I can’t say over the phone.”

[sehnsuchts-trunken]

Something with Riven from fate, like its first day of school and everyone get to know each and there is this pretty y/n thath turns out to be Ric's girlfriend which no one from winx expected.

Just a little thought 😅. But feel free to do anything you want.

I really do like this, and since I will be hyperfixating on fate again anyway, already am almost, let's go

also I changed your prompt up a little, because I liked this idea better, but hopefully you can still enjoy it as I did!

"So, you're from where, exactly?" Aisha tilted her head to the side and smiled, but you were still nervous enough that you grabbed onto your books until your knuckles turned white.

"Your hair looks really pretty, how do you get it to look that healthy?", Terra interrupted before you could answer, also grinning, but only making your anxiety even worse. You smiled again nervously, readying yourself for the answer to her question, before Stella butted in.

"Why are you transferring in the middle of the year, anyway?"

You bit your bottom lip, your books daring to slip out of your hands, forcing you to hold them even tighter now. You had arrived here maybe an hour ago, gone into the headmistress' office, taken all your new books with you and made your way to your dorm, and been stopped by the girls you'd be sharing it with in the middle of the hall before you could even take two steps further.

"Guys", Musa sighed, and your eyes snapped to where she was leaning on the railing next to you. "Give her space to breathe. She can't answer any of you if you talk over each other."

You smiled gratefully at her and she smiled back, which lifted the weight on your shoulders a bit, and the ache in your chest and the one in your stomach just the slightest as well.

The others mumbled their sorrys, still all eyes fixed on you.

But then you heard your name being called from the other side of the hall. And for the first time since you had got here, you turned without pondering what everyone else would think of you. A huge grin spread on your face.

"Riven", you breathed.

He was coming towards you, quick and smooth, and his arms were around you almost a second later, and you saw his smirk for just the blink of an eye before his lips were on yours.

He kissed passionately, he always did. But he also kissed slowly. Deliberately. He kissed like he wanted to savour every moment, every touch, every single time.

When he pulled back, he was chuckling. He pressed a kiss to your jaw and one to your neck before you managed to open your eyes again. And even then you were blinking hazily up at him, waiting for another kiss and another and another. Usually, he never stopped. But you supposed this wasn't usually.

Oh.

Oh, no this was not usually. This was "standing in a hallway in the middle of a new school and snogging your boyfriend". Oh, wow.

The blush that spread on your cheeks was one comparable to barely any you'd had before. You turned back around quickly, biting your lip, then realising that was probably the wrong thing to do, so you let out - something, yeah, some kind of sound. Not a word, definitely not a word. But something indeed.

Bloom was the first of them to recover. She raised her eyebrows and looked at you, then at Riven, then back at you.

"So when we did that introduction thing, you simply forgot to mention you were dating- him?"

Her tone was teasing, but still laced with confusion and shock, so much that she could not hide it. You chuckled, that nervous tingle raising in your stomach again.

"I didn't know it was that important", you muttered, almost choking on your own words as Riven slid his arms around your waist from behind and rested his head on your shoulder. You knew just from his gesture that his grin was unmatchable in this moment. It normally made your chest swell with pride, but right now, your anxiety had the upper hand.

"I just- I can't believe you are dating him", Bloom went on. "I mean, we don't know you well yet, but you just seem..."

She trailed off, obviously not wanting to hurt your ego. You bit your cheek.

"Different?", you offered. She nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, people are always surprised", you admitted.

Riven started planting kisses on your neck, working his way up to your jaw again. You kicked him in the shin, but he only chuckled into your ear.

Bloom looked disgusted, but her expression was nothing against Musa's. Who looked like she would vomit in a second.

"Riven, that's fucking repulsive", she complained, straightening her back and already taking a step back. Heat rushed back to your cheeks. Well, you were doing a fantastic job at a first impression.

"Not my fault you're reading my fucking mind", Riven countered. You scoffed at him.

"Yeah, we're still gonna leave you guys to it", Aisha interrupted. Even she was looking somewhat put off. "Uh, introductions have been made, and you've got some days to settle in so- just. Please keep to his room. We have a strict no boyfriend rule since some... things happened."

You noticed the look she gave Musa and had to hide a smile despite your embarrassment. The friendship these girls had - you thanked whatever gods there were for being put right in the middle of it. You already had taken a liking to the lot of them.

They said quick goodbyes and left, chatting and waving at you until they rounded the next corner.

"Riven, you bastard", you laughed when they had disappeared, turning around to him, pushing your books into his arms as he grinned at you.

"I love you so much and I missed you more than you could ever imagine, but couldn't you have waited five more minutes instead of interrupting me? I have to live with these people for quite a while!"

He only chuckled and pulled you back in with one hand, holding your books in the other, kissing you as you raked your hands through his hair and cupped his cheeks and crossed your arms behind his neck and lost any sense of time or place you'd had before. Yeah, you were indeed dating him.

[morgana-larkin]

First of all I live for your writing!!

And second I have a chessy prompt!!!

Basically r is a poet but doesn’t really talk about it and r decides to write a poem to chessy explaining her feeling for her but doesn’t write her name on it on purpose to have a clear state of mind or something idk😭

Anyways chessy find out that it was r from her handwriting and confronts her about it and r starts rambling and chessy shuts her up by kissing her and says something hot after the kiss then r kisses chessy back and you can go on from there!!

Hi! You’re so sweet! Thank you for the compliment 🥹❤️ . I thought this prompt was so cute. Now, I’m no poet so the poem might be terrible but I tried. I would have had this out earlier but I watched the new episodes of Bridgerton finally and got distracted. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I made Chessy a bottom as I heard someone’s favourite is a bottom Chessy. I’m still taking requests and prompts for every character on my masterlist.

In Writing

Warnings: Smut, Bottom Chessy, Top Reader, lots of fluff

Words: 3.8k

You glance up from your journal, you’re on one of the lounge chairs in your bikini with a see through cover up robe on. You see Chessy playing pool monster with the twins and it’s adorable. The way they swim away from her in a fit of giggles, and how she spins them around and then throws them in the water when she catches them.

You’ve found yourself admiring Chessy a lot lately, just something about her that grabs your attention. You met Chessy awhile ago when the twins were first born. She watched over you a few times as you were 12 years old when the twins were born and you loved spending time with her then, she’s a lot of fun, and it seems that hasn’t changed. Chessy sees you staring and smiles at you.

“Wanna join us y/n?” She asks and the twins both look at you with big smiles.

“Yes! Join us please?” Hallie begs.

“Yes please! It would be so much fun!” Annie said, agreeing with her sister. You loved watching Annie grow up. They were both your nieces, as you were Elizabeth’s younger sister, but you will always feel closer to Annie. When her and Nick split, you didn’t understand why they separated the twins but you respected their decision, even if you didn’t agree with it. Elizabeth made you and the family swear to never tell Annie that she has a twin sister.

As soon as everyone reunited again, Elizabeth invited you to come and meet Hallie, which you agreed to quickly. Here you are 2 years later and you’ve been living with them for a year now. When Nick and Chessy saw you again, they almost couldn’t believe it, the last time they saw you, you weren’t even a teenager. Now here you are, 24 years old, all grown up.

“Wow, y/n, you’ve grown up.” Nick says, still a bit shocked.

“Ya, time has a way of doing that.” You joked with him. You always liked Nick, he was a good guy and good to your sister.

“Everyone! I made some…” Chessy trails off as she sees you. “Y/n?” She asks and you smile and nod. You then run over and hug her.

“Good to see you again Chessy!” You exclaim when you pull back from the hug.

“Ya, it’s good to see you too. My, how you’ve grown.” She says and looks you up and down. “Are you still a little trouble maker like you were years ago?” She asks and you laugh.

“Not a lot of time for trouble but it seems my nieces are picking up the mantle. My sister told me everything that happened.” You say to everyone and the twins smile. “Btw, it’s nice to meet you, Hallie.” You tell her and she waves at you. “I never understood why you split them up.” You say and the twins look at you.

“Wait, you knew?” Annie says and you nod.

“Of course, chess brought me to the hospital to come meet you guys when you were born.” You say and you don’t see Chessy blushing at the nickname.

You and Chessy spent weeks catching up on what you’ve missed. You were able to bring your work with you as you were a designer like your sister and she hired you as soon as you graduated. You were both happy to have it as a family run company.

Besides designing, you also liked to do poetry. It’s a hobby you took up in high school as a way to get your feelings out. Being someone who liked girls when it wasn’t acceptable was hard. You often felt like there was no one to confide in, to talk about it with, so instead you wrote down your feelings, in the form of poems.

You were usually seen writing down in a journal in your free time. And if you weren’t then you were hanging out with someone in the house. I mean there are 6 people plus Sammy in the house, there was always someone there.

“Y/n?!? Are you gonna come?” Annie asked, breaking you out of your little walk down memory lane.

“Oh alright. I’ll join.” You said getting up and putting your journal down. You took your transparent robe off and then walked to the pool. Unknown to you, Chessy was checking you out the entire time. When Chessy used to watch over you when your family visited the twins, she always thought you were special, an adorable kid with an eye for mischief. You remained that little girl to Chessy for so long that when she saw you again, she was shocked. It took her a little bit to stop seeing you as the 10-12 year old girl she knew all those years ago, and start seeing you as a woman. And when she started seeing you as a woman, feelings started with it.

“Alright, what game are we playing?” You said as you jumped into the pool.

“How about Marco Polo?” Hallie suggested and everyone agreed.

“Alright, who's gonna have their eyes closed first?” You ask and the twins and you look at Chessy.

She sighs and then huffs. “Fine, but y/n is next.” She says and you wink at her. She closes her eyes and counts to 10.

“8…9…10! Marco!”

“Polo!” You all say in unison. Chessy swings around and walks a little bit, trying to find and catch you guys. You then get an idea, you haven’t played a trick on her in years. You dive under the water and swim to her.

“Marco!”

“Polo!” The twins say, very interested in what you’re doing.

Chessy notices that your voice is missing and says it again. “Marco!” She says and you get to the bottom where her feet are and you tickle them and then come to the surface, giggling. “Ahh!” Chessy yells and then hears your giggling a couple seconds later. “I see someone is up to their old tricks again.” Chessy says with a smile.

“Once a trickster, always a trickster.” You say and then dive underneath the water again. You do your best to emerge silently and you're right behind her.

“Marco!”

“Polo!” You all say in unison. And Chessy jumps and then spins around and catches you. You tried to flee from being caught but were a second too late. Chessy opens her eyes with a smile and sees your pout and she laughs.

“You tried but I’ve had years of practice with a trickster kid.” She tells you and she beams at you.

It was now your turn to try and catch one of them. “8…9…10! Marco!” You shout.

“Polo!” They all say in unison. You hear Hallie being close by and you turn around and jump forward and miss her.

“Marco!”

“Polo!” They shout back and they’re all at the other end of the pool. You turn around and start walking to the other end.

“Marco!”

“Polo!” They shout and they’re all closer but not close enough. You were about to shout it again when all of a sudden, you feel hands pull your arms to your side and then have arms wrap around your waist.

“Omg!” You shout in surprise.

“You’re not the only one who can do tricks!” You hear Chessy say and you can tell she’s smiling.

You end up switching games and you each have a twin on your shoulders, trying to knock the other one off. You have Annie and Chessy has Hallie.

Nick and Elizabeth were watching from the door and they’re smiling. It was so nice watching you all play together. They know Chessy loves having you back after years apart as you two were close. They see that you’ve gotten close with Hallie as you two were trying to find things in common to bond over in the beginning. As it turns out, you and the twins all have quick wit and a sense of humour. Nick, Elizabeth and Chessy love hearing you banter with the girls as it’s often entertaining.

“You and Hallie are going down!” You tell Chessy and she laughs.

“No, it’s you and Annie who are going down.” She retorts back. It turns out that both twins fell at the exact same time and it was a tie.

That night, you write down your feelings, and it all happens to be about Chessy. How you feel about her. You think you might have had a small crush on her back when you were 12 but you weren’t sure. But now you know for sure that you’re attracted to her and have a crush on her.

You rip the piece out of the book, you were about to crinkle it up and throw it away but then decided to keep it instead. You put it in your journal and then you put the journal on your nightstand, and then you go to sleep.

The next morning, you were going to accompany Hallie to see her horse and pamper the horse with her. You walk out of the house with your journal, unknowingly dropping the piece of paper where you declared all of your feelings about Chessy on. The piece of paper fell to the ground and no one noticed until 10 minutes later when Chessy comes back into the house with Sammy and picks it up. She turns the paper over and instantly recognises your handwriting. She then sees that you wrote a poem and she can’t help but read it.

What one could say except I like you

I love everything about you

Who you are, how you look, how you act

How could one not fall for you

In your presence I feel myself wanting more

More than a friendship with you

For I know we are two women

When I’m with you, I simply don’t care

All that occupies my mind is thoughts of you

Of us holding hands in the field

Us cuddling together on the couch or in bed

Going to the market or cooking together

Or to be able to finally know

What it’s like to have your lips on mine

Chessy reads it and smiles. It was beautiful and heartfelt. She had no idea you were good with poems. She wonders who it was about and then she hears you coming back with Hallie. She folds the piece of paper and puts it in a pocket to ask you about later. Then she gets started on lunch.

“Hello girls!” She greets you both and you both smile at her. “I’m just getting started on lunch, hope you’re hungry.” She says.

“Starving.” Hallie says.

“Well how about you go get your sister and bring her over here.” Chessy says and Hallie bolts off to find her sister. You then turn your attention to your journal and notice the piece of paper missing and you look around you. “Something wrong?” Chessy asks when she turns around to face you.

“Um ya. I had a piece of paper in here and now it’s gone. Have you seen a piece of paper on the floor” You tell her. She knows exactly where it is, it’s in her pocket right now.

“Uh no. Didn’t see anything. Was it important?” She asks and you stop in your search for it.

“Oh um, not really. Well yes, important to me anyway.” You say and she smiles at you.

“Well I hope you find it.” She tells you and goes back to making lunch.

That night, Nick, Elizabeth and the twins all go upstairs to get some sleep. You and Chessy remain on the couch and you yawn.

“I should probably get some sleep too.” You tell her and she looks at you.

“Can I ask you something first?” She asks and you look at her.

“Of course, you can ask me anything Chess.” You tell her and she smiles then frowns again. She reaches into her pocket and pulls your poem out.

“I found your poem.” She says as she unfolds it and shows it to you and your eyes widen. “Who’s it about?” She asks you and you snatch it from her.

“Nobody, it’s about nobody.” You say really quickly.

“Really? Cause it seems to be about a woman that you have feelings for.” She tells you and you look at the floor. “Y/n, I already knew you were into women. I figured it out when you were 12.” She tells you and you look at her confused.

“How could you have possibly known then? I was 12. I- I didn’t even know until I was 19.” You tell her.

“I recognize the signs that I saw in myself when I was that age.” She tells you with a shrug.

“Wait? What? Wait, are you…”

“Into women?” She finishes for you and you nod. “Ya, I am. I was hoping I’d be around for you so you have someone who’s like you, to talk too. While it’s more acceptable now then it was when I came out, I know it’s still frowned upon.” She tells you.

“When you came out? How old are you? You look no more than 35.” You say and she laughs.

“You think I’m only 9 years older than you?” She asks and you shrug. “Hate to break it to you but I’m 39.” She says and starts twirling your hair in her fingers. “You always had such beautiful hair.” She tells you. “So want to tell me more about that poem you wrote?” She asks and you stare at her.

“Well yes it’s about a woman. I may have feelings for someone. I wouldn’t put much thought into it if I were you. Not interesting at all. I mean it is someone you know but still not anything interesting. Just me and a crazy crush on-” and she cuts you off by putting her lips on yours. It takes a second before your brain processes that you’re not talking at the moment and you’re kissing, kissing the person the poem is about. You kiss her back and she smiles into the kiss. She pulls back a few seconds later.

“Was the poem about me?” She asks and you nod. “If I recall correctly, cause I obviously read it multiple times, you wanted to know what it's like to have my lips on yours.” She says and you nod.

“I did say that yes, and I like it.” You tell her and she hums.

“Well would you like to know what it’s like to have my lips on other places of your body?” She asks and you short circuit. You respond by kissing her again. Chessy eagerly kisses you back, wanting to kiss you for a while now but she had no idea if you were out yet. When she read the poem, it gave her hope that you figured it out and she could finally take the chance. She wasn’t blind, she knew about your feelings for her but didn’t want to do anything in case you didn’t know you were into women yet.

Chessy pulls back after a few seconds. “Is that a yes? Cause as much as I enjoy…kissing…you.” She says while giving you little pecks. “I do need a verbal confirmation.” She says and gives you another peck and you hum.

“I want to feel more than just your lips everywhere. I want to feel your lips, tongue and fingers.” You tell her and she smiles. Where did that sudden boost of confidence come from? You’ll never know. She was about to comply when a sudden thought strikes her.

“Wait, y/n. Are you a… a virgin?” She asks and you shake your head.

“I’ve already had sex with a guy. But never with a girl.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Well I’m going to make it memorable for you. Just not here. Let's go to my room.” She tells you and she gets up and extends her hands to you. You take both of them and she pulls you up and to her room.

She closes the door and starts kissing you again, only this time she deepens it by putting her hands in your hair and doesn’t pull away any time soon. You put your hands on her hips and pull her body closer to yours. You move your hands to the buttons of her shirt and you start undoing them one by one until you are able to yank the shirt off of her. “You wear far too many clothes.” You tell her playfully as you see her in a tank top and pants still.

She looks at you with a soft smile and hums. “Well what are you going to do about it?” She questions and you smile then push her down onto the bed. You quickly take her pants and tank top off and look at her body in just a bra and underwear and you lick your lips. “See something you like?” She teases as she sees your reaction to her body.

“Not something but someone, with an amazing body.” You tell her and straddle her lap as she sits up to hold you.

You kiss each other again and you trail down to her neck and she moans. “Oh god! Y/n.” She moans out as you suck her neck. You unclip her bra and tear it off her and go push her down onto the bed. You then go and suck a nipple and she tries to buck her hips under you, but can’t as you’re straddling her lap.

After you're satisfied you’ve teased her nipples enough you pull back to look at her and put your hands on her boobs and massage them. “Chessy, I just love your breasts, they’re so big and perfect.” You tell her and she smiles at you. She then gets impatient as you’ve teased her quite a bit.

“If you’re done admiring them, could you shift your attention downward.” She tells you and you quirk an eyebrow at her.

“I’ll obey this time but next time you complain then I’ll make you wait longer.” You tell her.

“Already wanting to do this with me again?” She asks cheekily as you slide her underwear off.

“Of course, I’m really enjoying myself, learning about what you like and what sounds I can get out of you.” You say and spread her legs. You climb on top of her and settle yourself on a leg then lean forward so you can kiss her lips. At the same time as you kiss her, you slide a finger inside her and it goes in easily. “Wow, you’re really turned on, it just slipped right in there.” You tell her and then add another one and she gasps out. You then begin pumping in and out of her and she’s moaning and gasping underneath you.

“Oh god! Y/n, I’m so close.” She almost yells and you go to kiss her again so she doesn’t wake anyone up, much less your sister. She then comes a few seconds later and she gasps into the kiss. You pull out of her and then just stay there until she’s ok with you to move.

“Sit on my face.” She tells you and you look at her.

“What?” You ask as she said it quietly.

“Sit on my face, I want to eat you out but I don’t think I can move. You really know how to finger a girl.” She tells you and you smile.

“I still have all my clothes on though so give me a minute.” You say and before you move, she takes your top off and unclips your bra before it goes flying off. She then quickly unbuttons your jeans then she pulls them down as well as your underwear, you then take them off the rest of the way.

“Wow, you really are beautiful.” She tells you and you blush.

“Thank you.” You tell her and then you climb up to her face. “Wait shouldn’t we do this near the headboard in case I have to -” At that moment she pulls you down to her mouth and immediately starts licking you and you get cut off. At one point you fell forward and you stayed leaning on your hands the rest of the time. “Oh god, Chessy. I’m close.” You tell her, trying to stay quiet. When you do come, you accidentally gasp out a bit loud and you hope you didn’t wake anyone up. You take a minute to catch your breath before you get off of her and flop down on the bed.

Chessy goes to clean herself up and when she comes out, you ambush her and pin her to the wall. You get her worked up again and she then just noticed you’re wearing a strap. You then slide it into her and you cover her mouth with your hand when she begins to gasp loudly. You start pumping in and out of her when it’s all the way in and then you go faster and faster. Chessy wants you to go faster when you’re already going as fast as you can in this position. So you pull out of her and bring her to the bed quickly and she gets on her hands and knees so you can pound into her from behind.

She ends up grabbing a pillow so she can muffle her sounds when she’s close. She gasps into the pillow when she comes and you come right after as the strap was rubbing your clit. You pull out of her and take the strap off and you both catch your breath.

“You couldn’t have done that before I cleaned myself up.” She tells you while trying to catch her breath.

“Are you complaining?” You ask her and she giggles.

“Only because I have to clean myself up again.” She tells you and you go to get a cloth for the both of you.

The next morning, she’s making breakfast for everyone when you come up and hug her from behind. She leans into your touch and you begin planting kisses on her neck and she giggles. She turns the stove off then places a hand in your hair as you continue to kiss her neck. You then hear someone clear their throat and you pull away from each other quickly and see everyone standing there.

“Oh, hi guys.” You say and Chessy is too nervous to speak. The twins then go to the table as Chessy begins putting breakfast on plates and Nick and Elizabeth walk over to you both. Elizabeth speaks low enough so the twins won’t hear.

“While I’m happy for you guys, I didn’t want to find out from the noises last night.” She tells you and both your cheeks go red.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

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Let me know if you want to be added!

[femsolid]

French TV is just amazing. I don't own a TV so I only watch it when I'm at other people's place and the news channels are simply phenomenal. We're told a 16 years old guy was killed by the police again (and the police didn't call for an ambulance it's a neighbour who did -10 minutes later- because some kids came to tell him what had happened) so the journalist asks a police union representative to give us his opinion which is of course that if you try to run from the police you should expect to be killed. In other news today Marion Marechal Le Pen is campaigning to revive her nazi party because she wants to "protect her daughters from the anti-police riots and the illegal immigrants who rape french women". Think the journalists are going to address this quote? Nope. Then the journalists discuss the inflation in France and how the prices are so high that french people are struggling to feed themselves (in one of the richest country on earth). A journalist gives us a simple solution: we need to be more responsible and stop buying expensive food. Merde alors! Hadn't thought of that. This way the brands that increase their prices will lose money and stop doing so. Duh! Anyway back to the most pressing matter nationwide right now and for the last decades: should muslim teenage girls be allowed an education if they wear a veil? Survey says... non, apparently. A girl was expelled for wearing what she claims to be an opened black kimono but really is an outrageous religious symbol that threatens our great nation's secularism.

Wow. Not only did she deserve to be expelled but it's definitely worth talking about all day on the news. I'm traumatised just looking at this picture. Of course the great debate is back: how can we stop those provocative muslim girls who are obviously on their way towards islamic radicalisation and terrorism from trying to bypass secularist laws by claiming to be wearing some sort of kimono when really we all know it's just a facade and what they really mean to do is scream allah akbar with a machine gun in their hands? The journalists quickly ask a law professor who explains unironically that this outfit is illegal in much the same way that muslim girls who wear long skirts because they can't wear a hijab are illegal. Almost as if it's not about displaying your religion but belonging to a religion instead. Almost as if girls are forced to show their bodies to men. If I ever doubted selling my TV years ago here is the reminder as to why I did.

[saythenametotheworld]

Invisible String [1]

Genre: friends to lovers; slow burn; fluff

Pairings: Na Jaemin x Female Reader

Warnings: slow slow burn, lots of denial, fluff

Notes: 19.4k words, song prompt was Invisible String by Taylor Swift

Synopsis: Na Jaemin was an old friend who never became anything else other than that, a friend. But after a series of life decisions that led you to move from your small town to the big city, you slowly find out that maybe, after all these years, Jaemin was never just a friend.

The building stood massively right in front of you, a thirty-story condominium apartment where you somehow managed to snag a good deal in a unit owned by your friend who opted to rent out the place when she moved overseas. It didn't matter to you that you were a renting tenant in this beautiful residential building, you're just glad to have found a home and moved in smoothly.

You made it on time inside before one of the elevators closed. You got in clutching your bag's handle, giddy and excited to get home and get ready for the housewarming party your friends organized. You almost didn't notice that you were inside with another guy because you were too busy being all giggly while chatting with your best friend on your phone. You looked over his appearance, tall and slightly muscular. The height difference made it impossible to get a good look at his face without being noticed so you didn't. You wondered if he was a resident or if he was visiting someone. Not that you were even interested in it, your mind just randomly went toward those thoughts.

It was when you shifted your focus in front of you that you realized you could clearly see your reflection on the elevator door. You moved your head slightly on one side to check your hair only to find the guy's face reflected in the mirror, smiling at you.

He looks like Na Jaemin, you thought and then the realization made you gasp. You turned to him, one hand over your mouth and your eyes wide in recognition. "Na Jaemin?!"

Jaemin laughed at your reaction and lifted one hand for a small wave. "Hello."

"Wow, it really is you," you blurted out, a smile slowly creeping on your lips.

"You seem happy to see me," he teased, wiggling his eyebrows and making you chuckle.

"Are you kidding me? Of course, I am. It's good to see you!" you said, gently nudging your elbow on his arm.

"You too," he beamed. "What brings you here? Judging how surprised you were to see me, I can't possibly be the reason why."

There's the Jaemin you know, playful and acts overconfident for the sake of being funny. He was one of your friends from high school with whom you shared the rest of your teenage life. You kept in touch through the years but you rarely met because of obvious reasons.

"I just moved here. Do you live here too?" you asked and he nodded. "That's amazing."

"I know. It's a small world."

You both laughed and for a moment you couldn't think of anything else to say. You were just baffled by the coincidence.

"How about some drinks later tonight? We can catch up or something. That is if you don't already have plans," he offered and it felt as though a switch was flicked in your brain when you remembered something.

"Ah, that reminds me. You should come to my housewarming. Donghyuck organized it. Didn't he tell you?"

Jaemin appeared to think before fishing his phone from his jeans pocket. "Actually, he did two days ago. I just haven't read it yet."

You rolled your eyes. "You still ignore his texts?"

"Only because he nags all the time. If it's important, he can call me."

You laughed fondly, realizing how little has changed. "So are you coming?"

"Of course. I'd love to. Hyuck would drag me there anyway if I don't go."

"Knowing you live in the same building, I figured he would," you quipped.

Jaemin not only agreed to come to your housewarming, he also offered to help you prepare. Although you said he doesn't have to because your friends would be bringing most of the food, you didn't argue when he insisted. Jaemin had always been the type to extend a helping hand any time, especially to his friends.

It was still early so you did a little cleaning even though there really isn't much to clean. Then you texted your best friend Heejin to let her know Jaemin was coming. She was excited to meet another friend of yours from high school and said they'd be over as soon as possible. Jaemin then arrived and you opened up the door to him holding stacked containers of side dishes.

"Oh, wow. That's a lot," you commented, opening the door wider for him to pass through. "Thank you."

"I haven't prepared an actual housewarming gift so I brought you side dishes instead," he explained as he set the container to the dining table where you led him. "They're new. My mom just brought them yesterday. And you can return the containers after you've finished everything."

"This is enough, Jaemin. You didn't have to bring anything, but thank you anyway. And I love your mom's cooking. I'm sure these will be great."

"I'm glad you like it," he said, leaning his waist against the countertop as he watched you arrange the dishes in your fridge.

"She talks about you all the time when I go there to eat," you added, smiling as you remembered having late-night drinks and barbecue at their restaurant back in your town. "Always telling everyone about her handsome chef of a son."

A fond smile flashed on his lips. "She does that a lot."

You glanced back at him, mirroring his smile. "I know. It's adorable.

There is not much to cook since your friends were bringing food too and there's not much to talk about either because you're not really detached from one another. You and Jaemin were in a close circle of friends so you would meet at least twice or thrice a year to catch up and share significant moments of your lives with each other. Not to mention Thanksgiving when you would all be in your hometown and you would make sure to meet up. As for Jaemin, the last time you saw each other was at your father's funeral five months ago, which was sad now that you were reminded of it.

"Have you been well?" he asked after a while. You had been sitting in your living room after you were done with the preparations, both focusing on your phones to pass the time. "How's home?"

"Well, as much as losing a loved one sucks, we went on with our lives. The first few weeks were difficult but we got by. Eventually, we got back on our feet."

"Good for you," he smiled, setting his phone face-down on his thigh. He stared at you for a while and you couldn't bring yourself to look away. No words were shared between the two of you, just a comforting smile from him and an acknowledging nod from you. And then your doorbell rang, signaling what you assumed was the arrival of your friends. You both made a move for the door, stopping halfway to look at each other.

"I'll do it. It would be weird if you did," you said, sheepish.

He laughed. "Yeah, I realized that."

You made your way to the foyer just in time for the doorbell to ring again. On the door monitor, you could see your friends' faces, waiting for you to open up.

"Welcome to my house," you beamed at them as soon as you opened the door. Hyuck pushed through your cheering girlfriends and raised the champagne bottle he was holding.

"Welcome to the big city!" With a soft pop, the bottle was opened and he shook it with so much force that it squirted champagne everywhere within your space. You and the girls shrieked, running back inside to escape Donghyuck's champagne shower.

You were all giggling as you wiped the alcohol on your skin while Seola found Jaemin looking comfortable sitting on the long sofa.

"Oh, Jaemin! I didn't know you were coming!" She waved a hand at him and received a nod and a smile as a response.

"Well, coincidentally, he actually lives in the same building. Isn't it amazing?" you told Seola, guiding them from the foyer into the living room. The boys soon followed, laughing and pushing each other into the house with Hyuck still carrying the half-empty champagne bottle.

"Hyuck, I'm not gonna clean after your mess, you should know that," you chided as you helped Seola bring the food to the dining table.

"It was for you!" said Hyuck, following you into the kitchen. He stood behind you and ducked to place his chin on your shoulder, nuzzling affectionately. Then he showed you a nice bouquet of flowers. "Here, I got another one."

"Well, thank you, but I still won't clean it so..." You spun to face him and took the bottle and bouquet from his hand. Then you pulled him to the part of the house where you kept your cleaning materials. You opened up the small cabinet and took out a mop. "Get started on it now. We'll eat once you're done."

"Aw man," he complained but he trudged back to the doorway anyway. "So much for being the best best friend in the world!"

You looked around to see which of your friends came. There's Jaemin and Hyuck. Seola was present with her boyfriend, Minho. Heejin came with them too and you wondered if anyone else was coming.

You rounded back to the kitchen and helped set the table. "Is this everyone?"

"Yes. Did you want more?" asked Heejin, tilting her head at you and smiling before swooping in to give you a quick peck on the cheek.

"Not really but I kinda imagined you bringing Jinyoung along," you replied, referring to her boyfriend. Heejin snorted.

"Nah, he's on the night shift." She did a double take. "You know what, I think he's on the 24-hour shift. He never gets a break. Let alone sleep."

"I don't think any first-year resident doctor gets any sleep," you noted.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I just feel really bad for him."

You felt an elbow brush your right arm so you glanced that way and saw Jaemin placing cold cans of beer on the table. Your gazes met and he gave you a quick smile before leaving your side.

Heejin nudged your elbow and whispered in your ear. "Handsome as ever."

You shrugged, glancing at him to make sure he wouldn't hear you. In a low voice, you said, "I know. He was already good-looking back then, now he's even more handsome."

"You mean hot?" Heejin wiggled her eyebrows so you giggled.

"Yeah, I guess he's hot now," you agreed, giggling quietly with your best friend.

"Who's hot?" Hyuck's head popped between yours and Heejin's.

"Not you," Heejin snorted, pushing his face before walking away. You laughed at her antics. Hyuck and Heejin have always had a love-hate relationship. Heejin was your friend in the city before you moved to permanently live in your father's hometown. She would occasionally visit you there and that was how she met your friends. You remembered how Hyuck treated her so well that she fell for him only for her to find out that Hyuck was in fact, just trying to be nice. That's how their Tom and Jerry relationship began.

"It's good that you're here now. And it's even better that Jaemin lives in the same building. That means we can get together more often," Hyuck said as you all started to get seated for dinner. Conversations and laughter filled the table, with Hyuck and Seola bringing most of the humor.

When you moved to your living room for drinks, you found out that they had each brought housewarming gifts to bless you for your new home. The conversations soon turned to random accounts of the past, when you were all teenagers living in the moment and enjoying your youth.

You were reminded of the time when you were all in your small town, a bunch of high school kids trying to survive school. You were the new kid at the time, a fresh face from Seoul. Seoul was not that far from the town, but it was still a small town and everyone at school was interested in the new face, especially Hyuck who befriended you first. Like Heejin, you mistook his warmth for affection, but luckily for you, you weren't really considering any romance in your first year of high school so you let it pass.

Your friendship would go on for the next few years and you celebrated everything with them, birthdays, competitions, festivals, and even something as small as getting through the exam week. Your circle wasn't big, mostly just you, Donghyuck, Jaemin, and Seola. As well as Jeno and Eunbi, both of whom you rarely see now because life has brought you apart.

"Honestly, if it wasn't for Jaemin telling Hyuck to invite you to lunch, you would be hanging out with a completely different set of friends throughout school," Seola said while you were talking about the time you first came to school.

"Jaemin did?" you questioned, genuinely surprised. It was news to you because you had always thought it was Hyuck who was adamant that you became a part of their circle.

"You didn't know that?" Hyuck asked, surprised.

"No," you replied shaking your head. "I had no idea."

"Jaemin is the goat of this friendship," Hyuck told Heejin, then turned to you. "Remember when you won the silver medal during the swimming competition in the third year and we brought you flowers that made you ugly cry?"

You exhaled, rolling your eyes when the embarrassing memory flashed in your mind.

"Jaemin bought those flowers," Seola confirmed. You glanced up at Jaemin, who was sitting right behind you on the couch while you were on the floor. He just flattened his lips together, embarrassed to admit or deny the fact.

"That's actually very sweet," Heejin sang, tilting her head to the side for effect.

"Jaemin took care of her so well that we had a secret bet in 11th grade on whether they'd start dating or not," Seola confessed and that was the one fact that made you gasp audibly.

"You did? Why am I only now hearing about this?"

Seola smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, it was kind of the point of the whole bet being a secret, sweetheart."

You glanced at Jaemin again to inquire if he knew about the bet. Jaemin shrugged and shook his head.

Heejin turned to Seola and asked, "Who won that bet?"

"Hyuck and Jeno," Seola replied, grinning at Heejin. "But technically they both cheated because we had no idea Jeno was making a move on her and Donghyuck knew about it."

"To be fair, even Jaemin knew Jeno was into her," Hyuck defended. "It's you girls' fault for thinking Jaemin had a thing for her."

"You still cheated and haven't paid us back."

You suddenly remembered Jeno, the only guy you dated in high school. It was a pretty long relationship that lasted from the beginning to the end of your senior year. But like most first loves, that one never came back. Not that you wished for it to come back, anyway. To you, being a teenager and falling in love was both an embarrassing and beautiful thing to reminisce about.

You hadn't planned on getting anyone drunk at this party, but it just happened after Donghyuck took out his secret stash of alcohol that he kept hidden from you and you couldn't do anything about it. After all, what kind of housewarming party would this be if they all went home sober? By midnight, you were tipsy and dizzy, leaning your back on the sofa while Jaemin's arm was stretched on the backrest. You were almost oblivious of the proximity because Hyuck was flush on your other side, drunkenly singing a super sad rendition of Day6's Beautiful. Heejin was passed out on the other sofa while Seola and her boyfriend were nowhere to be found.

"Gosh, I hope they're not doing it in my bedroom," you joked after you pointed out their absence by asking if they left without saying goodbye.

"Actually, they went that way." Jaemin pointed in the direction of your bathroom.

"Oh, that's so much worse. I hope they clean up after themselves."

You laughed about it for a bit, only to be silenced by Hyuck's out-of-tune, sharp-pitched, high note. Your eyes met Jaemin's and you stared at each other for a while before you both burst out laughing.

"How is he so out-of-tune when he can sing really well?" you asked, nudging Hyuck so he'd stop getting sandwiched between the two men.

"Yeah, he is a good singer. Remember when we went to a karaoke room after the swimming competition?"

"I do. There was a singing contest and he registered at the last minute. Wasn't it you who signed his parental consent form?"

Jaemin nodded with a grin. "And he won."

"He did. Talented bastard." You paused, looking at Hyuck who is now mumbling inaudibly while resting his head on the armrest of the sofa. "Ah, about that. Is it true you bought the flowers that day?"

Jaemin shrugged. "It's common practice to give someone flowers to congratulate them on something."

"Was it also your idea to give me flowers when I ranked third in the exams?" you asked and Jaemin nodded, reaching forward to grab a snack from the coffee table. "How about those other times?"

He chewed on some chips before answering. "Most times. But the guys picked up on it after some time. Until it became a habit."

You remembered how the boys would give each of you a flower for birthdays, contests, and graduation. You remembered how Seola broke down crying when her parents weren't present during her cello recital but the boys in your circle each had one bouquet of flowers for her so she felt a bit better. You went to a karaoke room after that and sang your hearts out until you were told to leave before 10pm because you were all minors.

"It's cute how you influenced the boys to do something nice," you chimed, glancing at the vase where you placed the flowers Donghyuck brought tonight.

"I didn't really intend to, but I'll take the credit," he grinned. At that moment, the bathroom door opened and a giggling couple came out looking equally breathless and euphoric.

"You guys look cozy," Seola said as she lunged into you, making Jaemin move aside. You grimaced at her, pushing Seola's face away from you when she tried to hug you. Her boyfriend, Minho gave you a sheepish smile. He had always been shy and you felt bad that he matched with a force like Seola. At the same time, you were happy for him because Seola is the most loyal person you know.

Seola pulled away from you just far enough to kneel on the carpeted floor. Her eyes were focusing on your clothes then on Jaemin's. "Hey, you're coupling again."

"What?" you asked, looking down on your clothes. When you glanced at Jaemin, you realized that your cream sweater matched his cream pants while his grey t-shirt was the same shade as your grey sweatpants.

Seola let out a pitchy laugh. "You guys look cute."

"Okay, alright, time to go," Minho chided softly, gently taking Seola by the arm to help her up. To you, he said, "I should take her home. She has work tomorrow."

You gasped, standing up at once to help Minho. "Why didn't she say that? Gosh, she shouldn't have drunk too much."

"I know," he chuckled as you handed him Seola's purse. "Thanks."

You walked them to the door and told them to take care before they left. When you went back to the living room, Donghyuck was lying on the couch, his head comfortably resting on Jaemin's lap.

"I'll take him back to my apartment. You should rest now," said Jaemin to which you responded with a nod.

As you helped Jaemin drag Hyuck out of your house, you gave the mumbling drunk man a peck on his cheek before bidding them goodbye. Cleaning followed after closing the door but it hadn't been five minutes yet since Jaemin left when he came back.

"Need help cleaning up?" He asked but didn't even let you reply when he pushed through the door and went straight to the living room to clear the table. He made himself comfortable too quickly that you didn't even have the chance to say you could do it all by yourself, so you decided to just leave him to it.

Heejin woke up when you shook her, helping her up into your bedroom and telling her to change first before going to sleep. When you went back out, Jaemin had just finished putting out the last dishes from the coffee table and was about to start washing them but you stopped him.

"I'll finish up here. You should get some rest too."

"Are you sure?" he asked but he was already taking off the gloves, covering a yawn with one hand. You nodded. "Alright, I'll take out the trash then."

"Thanks," you smiled as he grabbed the trash bag. He walked up to you and mumbled his thanks too.

"Thanks for having me. And you're welcome."

"No. I mean, really, thank you for helping me out. I'm pretty drowsy myself so, you're a lifesaver."

He just stood there, smiling as he examined your face. Then he touched your cheek with the back of his hand. "You're welcome. Good night."

The next morning, you woke up later than expected and found the space next to you empty. A text from Heejin told you that she had to leave early for work so you scolded her for getting drunk on a weekday. As for you, you just got accepted into your new work and will begin tomorrow but you need to drop by the office today to set up your desk. So after a quick bath, you took your car to the office, making sure to pass by the coffee shop right in front of the building to pick up some coffee for your colleagues in the PR team of the Marketing Department. Your team leader has briefed you about your team so you know how many cups to buy. Much to your surprise, you found Jaemin at the counter, taking your order. He smiled upon seeing the surprise on your face.

"Did you have a good sleep?" he asked jovially.

"I did, thanks for asking. How about you? You seem energetic and fresh, it makes me jealous," you grumbled.

"Nothing a cup of coffee can't fix," he replied, repeating your order to you before he passed it on to the barista.

You were looking around when Jaemin got back to you. Amazement is evident in your eyes as you take in the interior of the whole cafe. Jaemin couldn't help but smile.

"What do you think?" he asked, prompting your attention.

"I think it looks amazing. Is this yours?" you questioned with a proud smile.

Jaemin shrugged but he nodded his head. You uttered a 'wow' that made Jaemin smile even wider.

"That's why the name was familiar," you noted, remembering that Jaemin's parents had set up the same cafe in your town less than a year ago. "It suits you."

"Because I love coffee?" he asked, stepping out of the counter to join you.

"Yeah. You're crazy for it," you laughed mockingly. "I think addicted may be the right term."

Jaemin raised two hands. "Arrest me, officer." You laughed at his lame retort and he did too. "What brought you to the area?"

"Here?"

"Not me, I assume. You're surprised to see me again."

You laughed because it was true. "No, not you. Actually, I'll start working there tomorrow." You pointed at the building across the street.

"The Marketing Firm?" he asked and you nodded. "That's great. Some employees there are regulars."

"I would assume so."

"Congratulations," he chimed before going back to the counter. You watched him move around while you waited for your order. After less than two minutes, he brings out the cups of coffee you ordered and a slice of cheesecake. "It's on the house. For good luck."

"No, no. I can't just take this for free," you insisted, taking out your card to pay for the cheesecake. But Jaemin crossed his arms over his chest to refuse. Seeing he would never take it, you stuffed it back into your wallet. "Thank you. I guess I could use some good luck."

"Just come find me here. I'll give you more of it."

You felt happy hearing that. For some reason, your worries about moving here slowly dissipated. "Thanks. See you soon."

At the office, your desk had a few balloons on it and the team welcomed you with applause. You had a little time to get acquainted with them before they resumed their work and you started setting up. After about an hour, you bade them goodbye and your team leader even walked you out.

Early the next morning, you headed out for work. Since you arrived a bit early, you decided to drop by the cafe to get coffee and hopefully say 'Hi' to Jaemin. He wasn't there though, but you didn't think about it too much and just got yourself a nice cup of iced latte.

Work was work. It wasn't very tiring, but you had quite a lot of tasks on your first day. At your previous job, you would have complained about the workload, but since this was your first day, you were pretty energetic. PR management was quite difficult and your role is mainly on social media management. As a newbie, you were assigned with only one client first, a food brand. But other than handling their social media, you also had to prepare presentations on your online promotion approaches and techniques to be presented to the meeting by the afternoon of that day.

At lunch, you got ready to leave with your colleagues, Yunseo and Jaehee, but a delivery arrived for you and it was a packed lunch from Jaemin's cafe.

"It's from the boss, ma'am," said the delivery guy who was a service crew from the cafe.

"Thank you. I appreciate it," you replied before bidding him goodbye and going to your cubicle.

Yunseo called your name as she headed to your desk. "Are you still coming?"

"No, actually, I think I'll have my lunch here," you replied, looking up at her when she was by your desk.

"Oh, Nana's Cafe? That's where we're going for lunch," she said. "It's right across the street."

It came with a note saying he heard you were looking for him that morning and enclosed his number for you to contact.

"Is that a note?" Yunseo asked but you were quick to put it away and give her an awkward grin. Yunseo gave you a teasing look.

"Just come with us, eonnie," said Jaehee. "It would be lonely here by yourself."

There was no reason for you to decline and it was true it would be lonely to eat alone. Besides the fact that you want to get to know your co-workers better, you also don't want to seem like a loner. With the packed lunch in your hands, you joined them at the cafe for lunch where the four of you found a comfortable spot to sit in.

"The food is great here," Jaehee commented just as you all settled down after ordering.

"Yes, and the owner is handsome," Yunseo added, giggling as she brushed shoulders with you. "He's quite popular online too."

"You know what, I tried to get him to work with XO Foods but he declined. I guess he knows he's popular enough and won't need the exposure," Jaehee shared while you just nodded.

"How popular is he?" you asked, taking an interest in the subject.

Yunseo pulled up the cafe's IG and sure enough, they were tagged in plenty of posts, with most of these posts featuring Jaemin himself. Sure you've seen the tags and insights about the cafe, but you had no idea the popularity was mainly due to Jaemin's visuals.

"It helps that he had several branches in the city and systematically works in one branch every day," Jaehee added. "On Wednesdays, he's here."

"Yeah, doesn't he have like, six branches all over Seoul?" Yunseo asked and Jaehee nodded in response.

"How do you know so much?" asked Woojin, your male colleague.

"Because I tried to get him on with XO Foods! I did a bit of research about him."

Yeonsu expressed that she had a crush on Jaemin and dropped by regularly every Wednesday to spot him. You found out that this place was dubbed Wednesday Branch because Jaemin is here on Wednesdays. He had six branches in Seoul and scheduled days for each branch. Yeonsu said he would probably be at the Apgujeong branch today. Woojin, on the other hand, joked that Jaehee and Yeonsu are simps for the owner and he's just here because the food is top tier.

"He's a dreamboat, any girl would simp over him," Yunseo said dreamily. You looked down at the lunch that was delivered to you a while ago and hoped they wouldn't start asking where you got it from.

You realized just how much you didn't know about Jaemin. You knew he became a chef and had a restaurant, but not to this extent. And you cannot say it was because you weren't interested, rather it was because he speaks less about himself in a humble, reserved kind of manner. You realized you should have believed Hyuck when he went on about how Jaemin is the richest among your friend circles today. He was right, it seems. And as you all ate, you also realized that the food really was great.

Jaemin wasn't much of a cook as far as you remember, but he always cooked when you were hanging out at Jeno's place. It was his mom who made phenomenal food. His mother owned a small restaurant in your town that you frequented. You hung out there to eat after exams or games, and stuff. You even remember that you had your very first alcohol there when his father slipped soju disguised as a water bottle on your table when you all turned 19. You got caught of course, but since you've finished up the entire bottle, Jaemin's mom can only scold you.

The week passed quickly and you have fully adjusted to your new work and your new home. On your way to work, you passed by the cafe. It has become a habit since you didn't own a coffee maker and needed coffee in the morning. You would have gotten yourself one, but you sucked at making coffee. An instant capsule is what you can do at best, but your taste buds just don't like it. A female employee was on the counter when you went to order and she gave you a buzzer. You found a seat and waited there as you realized the considerable amount of people in the cafe. It was more packed than usual, mostly with girls. Then you realized today was Wednesday and Jaemin would be here.

Come to think of it, you haven't bumped into him all week, which you thought was weird considering you live in the same building and floor. Maybe your schedules don't match so you didn't think much about it. Later, there were quiet gasps from the customers, followed by murmurs. When you followed their line of sight, you saw Jaemin carrying a tray with a smile. You realized he was looking at you and felt conscious of the murmurs.

He placed the takeout cup in front of you along with a fold of tissue papers and your receipt.

"Here you are." His smile was beautiful today, well to be fair, you had always thought his smile was radiant. "How did you like the food?"

"Sorry?" you asked, puzzled for a second. "Oh, from last week. Yeah, it was great. Top tier, even. Thank you so much for that by the way. And I actually had most of my lunches here."

You felt a little bad for forgetting to thank him. He even gave you his number but it totally slipped your mind.

"I'm glad you liked it. Come back more often, maybe you'll catch me here and I'll give you a discount."

"Like, on Wednesdays?"

Jaemin gave you a teasing look. "You know my schedules?"

"My coworkers do."

"I see, well I'm here on Wednesdays. I'll be expecting you."

Your phone buzzed and you checked it to see a message from Jaehee. You hurriedly grabbed the coffee and found a complimentary cookie with it so you thanked Jaemin.

"You're welcome. Enjoy your coffee," he said as you handed him the buzzer. "Will I be seeing you for lunch?"

"Sorry?" you questioned. He asked that right when you were at the door, making everyone hear him. For a moment, you thought he was inviting you to have lunch with him.

"With your coworkers."

Your eyes widened in realization and shame. "Oh. With them, of course. I think so. They would hate to miss you today."

"Alright then. See you later."

But you didn't see him again that day, and for the rest of the week. A lunch meeting had been scheduled for your team to meet up with a certain client so you all skipped Nana's Cafe.

Days seemed to pass quickly in the city. You woke up one weekend to find your mother at your doorstep with shopping bags in her arms. You let her in and she went on and on about how it's late in the morning and you're just climbing out of bed.

"Mom, I'm not late. You're just early," you reasoned, sitting next to her on the sofa and leaning on her shoulder to get more sleep.

She shook her body to get you off of her. "Go get a bath first!"

"Later," you grumbled, locking her in your embrace. She eventually stopped squirming and just let you hug her. She even had you lay your head on her lap. "How are you these days?"

"Fine. I've done nothing but work, but it's not that hard," you confessed, closing your eyes as she caressed your head.

"How about food? Are you eating well?"

"If you're so worried, you should have brought me food instead of clothes," you complained, although you both knew you meant it as a joke.

Your mother looked at the shopping bags. "What's the point of raising you when you can't even say 'thank you'?"

You just laughed, the familiar warmth creeping in your heart upon hearing your mother's familiar nagging. While most moms can bring homemade food and side dishes for their children, your mom brings you clothes and accessories. She grew up in a wealthy family and was pampered for most of her life so she never really worried about cooking. Even after she married your father, you still lived in comfort and your father is a great cook. You had come to accept that about her because, like your mother, you are also an awful cook. It was safe to say you were both spoiled rotten by your late dad.

"Jaemin's mom said you two live in the same building," she asked. "Do you see him a lot?"

"Not really. But I always eat at his cafe."

Your mother chuckled. "How nice is that? Back home, we get most of our food from their restaurant. Here in the city, you eat at their son's cafe. We rely on their family's cooking too much, don't we?"

You sat up and looked at her with a smile. "If you put it like that, it does sound funny."

She flicked your forehead, making you scream in pain. "Be grateful. Neither you nor I can cook! You should have learned a thing or two from your father if you wanted to survive by yourself."

"Mom, there are restaurants for a reason!" you clapped back and she couldn't even respond because your doorbell rang.

You glanced at it and groaned. "Why are you people barging in so early?"

As you stood up, your mom angrily scolded you for calling her 'you people'. But your loud gasp quieted her. She followed right behind you asking what happened. "Who's there? Why are you so surprised?"

Jaemin's face is clearly registered on your door monitor. Your mother beamed happily. "Oh, it's Na Jaemin. Open up."

"You open up. I'm gonna go brush my teeth," you declared, bolting towards the bathroom to freshen up.

You also changed into more decent clothes, remembering to wear a bra. After a while, you came out to find your mom and Jaemin in the kitchen, arranging containers in your fridge.

"What's going on here?" you prompted, making your way to them and grabbing an apple from the fruit basket on your table.

"Good morning," Jaemin greeted passively, eyes focused on his task.

"Jaemin brought side dishes," your mom said happily and you glanced at Jaemin who smiled at you.

"Again? Thank you so much. That's so nice of you," you chimed, helping them by taking out the old ones he first gave you about a month ago. Most of them were already empty.

"Mom came over yesterday. She brought more this time because I told her I shared them with you," Jaemin told you. Then he turned to your mom. "She just left this morning, actually. It's a shame you missed her, Auntie."

"It is. We could have gone to a spa together or something. You know, to thank her for including my lazy daughter."

"Mom!" you chided while you got ready to wash the old containers.

But your mother ignored that. "Ah, how about we set a schedule for it? We could come to Seoul together and bond."

"She would love that," Jaemin affirmed and your mother seemed happy to hear that.

"It's the least I could do. Your mother helped me a lot. And I'm thankful for you helping my daughter out here. We owe so much to your family."

You let them chat away while you wash the dirty containers. After that, you wiped them clean and packed them so Jaemin could bring them back to his house. While you were at it, Jaemin and your mother moved to the living room so you decided to slice up some fruit for them.

"So I heard. I'd go over next time I'm here," your mom told Jaemin. They were talking about Jaemin's restaurants when you joined them.

"You can go over today, Mom. Why wait till next time?"

Your mom turned to you. "I won't be here for long. I have plans with your grandfather today and then I'll go back home."

You just nodded, taking a fork to get a slice of peach. Your mom did the same

"That's a shame. But I also have plans today, so I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to entertain you anyway," said Jaemin, standing up from his seat. "I actually have to go now. I just came to drop the sides."

"You're leaving already? I sliced fruits!" you told him but he just chuckled.

"I brought those fruits. I can have them at home."

"Ah, right," you giggled. "Thank you, by the way. And thank your mom for me. I really appreciate it."

"I will. It was nice seeing you again, Auntie. Come visit me anytime."

"I will. Thank you, Jaemin."

You both walked him to the door, uttering more thanks until he disappeared. After that, you went with your mother to meet your grandparents. It was a hearty lunch with them who fondly showered you with compliments and kept telling you to go see them when you're free. You realized yet again that it has been a month since you moved here but you haven't really gone out to meet anyone. You made a mental note to go see them next weekend.

Heejin called you while you were on your way home. You had just parted with your mother after lunch with your grandparents and you had actually ignored Heejin's messages during that.

"I just got home, what is it?" you asked.

"This is crazy news! Crazy!" she said, sounding ballistic. You thought she'd deliver some gossip or exclusives like she always does. However, during those other times, she didn't act this excited. Heejin is a journalist in a big paper and she writes mostly about celebrities.

You stood in front of the underground elevator and it had just closed when you pushed it again, hoping it would open just before it ascended.

"Spill it."

"Jeno just got engaged."

At that moment, the elevator door opened and you saw Jaemin and Jeno staring right back at you. You were surprised to see them, but Jeno was more surprised to see you. He might have tried to hide behind thick sunglasses and a bucket hat, but you recognized him anyway. You hung up on Heejin and awkwardly entered the elevator with the two guys behind you.

You heard Jeno call your name so you glanced back at him and smiled. "How long has it been?"

"I'm not so sure. But it's been a while," you replied, eyeing Jaemin curiously.

"It's good to see you again," Jeno added, smiling underneath his sunglasses. You can almost see the way his eyes were smiling at you too.

"You too, Jen," you replied, genuinely pleased.

You remembered the time you started going out with the ace student, Lee Jeno. How you were both in the same friend circle and you had a crush on him the moment you met him. He was nice to you but didn't express interest until late into junior year. You dated for a while, innocently navigating young love. He was wealthy and had a good background. When his father got married, you all attended the ceremony to comfort him because he disliked the whole thing. But right before graduation, you remembered breaking up with Jeno after he said they were moving permanently to Seoul where his stepmom was working as an actress. You would have been fine with LDR, but he wasn't, especially after he said he auditioned to be an idol trainee and got accepted. You remembered crying, like the dumb teen that you are. And it was in the restaurant of Jaemin's family, surrounded by your friends that you were comforted by spicy tteokbokki.

You had long made peace with your break up. It was long ago and you were both young then. Heck, you have even dated three other guys since then. You were happy for him and he seemed happy too. He didn't become an idol, but he made a name for himself as an actor. The last thing you remember reading about him was that he had quit acting and was teaching at an art school. Now, it seems he will soon get married.

"Would you like to join us for drinks? We're celebrating my engagement. Donghyuck will be there too," Jeno invited just as you all got off the same floor.

"Thanks but I have work tomorrow. Congratulations, though."

"Alright. It was nice to see you again."

They headed in the direction of Jaemin's unit and before leaving, Jaemin turned to you to say, "Goodnight."

"Have fun," you replied before punching in your passcode.

Heejin called you after the articles were posted and gushed about how you dated an actual celebrity.

"Well, he wasn't a celebrity then and we were literal teenagers," you blurted.

"Did you kiss at all?"

Your brows knitted, glancing at her face on the video call. "Yes. But that's as far as we went. Don't get weird ideas."

Heejin laughed. "Wouldn't it be nice if it was you?"

You rolled your eyes, pausing on the typing you were doing on your laptop. "Are you interviewing Jeno's ex-girlfriends for an article? Why are you asking ridiculous questions?"

"No, I'm not. I'm just curious."

You thought about her question and then shuddered. "No. Can't even imagine myself there. We were just kids when we dated, Heejin. And I pretty much never thought about marriage at that time. Good for him that he's settling down though."

"What about Hanbin? You talked about marrying him two years ago."

"Yes and we broke up right after that because he wasn't ready but he got married a month later."

"Geez, why is everyone getting married?" Heejin grimaced and shuddered.

"Just so you know, we're at the age where our friends are all getting married.

"Not me. I won't." Heejin laughed maniacally.

You were working late at night on some edits in your publication materials when you suddenly felt hungry and decided to go to the convenience store. There was one attached to the building, so you didn't have to go too far, but you were disappointed to see that there was barely any food left and the convenience store guy said the new stocks would come in tomorrow. You should have gone grocery shopping that weekend, so stupid.

When you went to pay for some chips, you saw the man in front of you putting two packs of ramen on the counter. Those were the last ones and you thought about buying them from the hooded man.

"Excuse me, do you really need two packs of ramen? That's pretty heavy. How about letting me buy the other one instead?" you asked and then realized it wasn't the right approach. When the man turned to you, you saw that it was Jaemin. "Oh, it's you."

Jaemin grinned. "Wanna eat ramen with me?"

"Yes!" you replied without missing a beat and the cashier girl made a loud gasp. Only then did you realize the situation and the reason for her reaction. "No. I mean... like actual ramen. Not whatever type of ramen. Hey!"

The girl was startled when you hollered at her. From the looks of her, she seemed a lot younger than you are, probably a part-timing student. "Yes, ma'am?"

"How old are you? Why are you thinking weird thoughts?" you scolded despite feeling embarrassed to the point of blushing.

"I didn't say anything, ma'am."

Jaemin grabbed the chips from your hand and slid them to the counter. "Ignore her. She's just shy. We'll pay for these."

You hit Jaemin's arm when you recognized the teasing in his tone. He just laughed and turned to the cashier. After paying, you ran out of the store first while Jaemin followed.

"Should we walk some more? There's a convenience store two blocks from here," he offered as you walked back to the building entrance.

"I thought you were gonna give me the other one?"

Jaemin glanced at you. "I would have, but one pack is not enough for me and Donghyuck."

"Hyuck again? He should just live with you at this point," you quipped. Donghyuck always went to hang out at Jaemin's place and often he would invite you guys in the group chat but most of you are busy.

"I thought you have work tomorrow?"

You nodded. "I'm making last-minute edits. Then I got hungry."

"How about joining us? There's fried chicken and this ramen too."

You sighed as you two stopped in front of the elevators. "I'd love to, but I can't hang out tonight."

"You don't have to. You can just eat and then leave right after. It'll take you only five or ten minutes max."

"Okay. Thanks," you replied. You were hungry anyway and you could use a break from staring at your computer.

You thought Jeno would still be there, but Jaemin said he had left an hour ago. Hyuck was playing video games while Jaemin worked on the food. There was beer next to Hyuck and he was screaming at the TV screen so you opted not to join him even though the sofa seemed inviting. You noted how Jaemin's home was clean and cozy, especially his kitchen.

He worked fast, all the while chatting you up on your day and teasing you about how your ex was about to get married.

"It's fine as long as I get an invite for being his first girlfriend ever," you joked, chopping up some spring onions that he surprisingly trusted you to help with.

Jaemin laughed. "That's funny because I actually need a plus one. You should come with me. We can laugh at their high society guests and meet celebrities."

"Laugh at their high society guests? I'm pretty sure my mom would be there too."

"Ah, right. She's friends with Jeno's Dad." Jaemin pointed the spoon at you. "And you're from high society."

You snorted and shook your head, taking the spoon from his hand. "Never lived that way. Not even once."

You tasted the broth and complimented its rich flavor. Jaemin laughed at you, "The flavor came with the pack."

"You're right. It wasn't from your talent," you quipped and you both laughed.

"Are you two dating? You seem in love and happy," said Donghyuck who popped out of nowhere.

"Shut it," you threatened, holding out the spoon as a weapon.

You and Hyuck basically inhaled the food as soon as it was served. It didn't wait long and Jaemin wasn't only a good cook, but a great chef. He had eggs with it and some leafy greens as well as delicious side dishes from his mom.

"This kimchi is great," Hyuck commented and you nodded in approval.

"If I went home with just the chips, I would have eaten the side dishes in my fridge," you said, taking more noodles from the pot.

"Is the restaurant still there?" Hyuck asked, referring to the restaurant owned by Jaemin's family.

"Yeah. The cafe was right next to it but their restaurant is more popular," you replied. "I still frequented the place when I was there. And I also got updates about Jaemin from his mom. She talks about him all the time."

"Were you so interested in Jaemin that his mom had no choice but to talk about him so much?" Hyuck snickered.

You slurped on the noodles and glared at Hyuck. "I'm not!" you insisted but somehow it came out a little too defensively even if you didn't mean to.

"She talks about you a lot too," Jaemin said to you. "When I go home, or when she comes over, she talks about you and what you're up to."

"Right, didn't she tell you about her and Hanbin going out?" Donghyuck laughed and Jaemin nodded, grinning playfully.

"She did. She also said Hanbin dumped you and got married one month later."

You rolled your eyes at them, taking their teasing in stride.

"It was a good riddance. Hanbin is a jerk," Hyuck spat.

"I agree," said Jaemin. "Remember when we graduated high school and he punched a classmate for taking a picture with her girlfriend at the time?"

Donghyuck scoffed. "Yeah, total garbage."

"How did you end up dating him, anyway?" Jaemin asked, his forehead creasing with how much his brows were knotting.

"To be fair, he stopped being a jerk. He wasn't a jerk even after we broke up. We talked about marriage and we agreed but he wanted to stay there. I don't. God knows I would never be content to stay in that town my whole life," you explained.

"Good for you. Our town was lovely, but you can't make a life of your own if you don't get out of there," Hyuck said and you were surprised that he was taking the conversation seriously.

It was ironic that you were the last to leave, considering you were the one who wasn't originally from that town in the first place. But you're happy now that you're out of there. It was a lovely town like Donghyuck said, but it hinders your endeavors. You know you are made for more than just a small-town marketing assistant. Heck, you even went to a big school just to make sure you find opportunities outside town. You ended back there and stayed for two years before you're finally out.

You remembered college graduation and realized even on that, you were with the same friends to celebrate. You came home after graduation and the town had a big party to congratulate you and the others who finished their studies. Jaemin was the one who handed you flowers at the time. And then you got drunk with your friends, singing your hearts out in a karaoke room like you always did when you were teens. You missed every second of it and loved looking back on it.

A few days later, you attended a meeting for the XO Foods' anniversary events. The main task was to hold a cooking competition and the winner will be an endorser for the brand. There was a long list of potential contestants and you weren't surprised to find Jaemin in that list. They picked the most popular, good-looking, and young candidates for the mini-show. Its main purpose was to promote after all so picking people with good visuals was vital.

After the meeting, you took it upon yourself to visit Jaemin's cafe to find him and talk to him about the competition. There was prize money and the feature can help his brand and help the company as well. It was a Friday, so naturally, he won't be at the cafe. Then you remembered you had his number so you texted him instead. But instead of replying, he just called you.

"I know you didn't wanna do it. My coworker has tried before, and you declined. But I just wanna know, maybe, if you changed your mind about working with XO Foods for a project?"

"XO Foods?"

"Yeah. They're the client I'm assigned to."

"Alright, sure," he replied without missing a beat.

That was quick and you haven't even explained the whole thing yet, so you did just that before accepting his answer.

"Yeah, I'll do it," he replied after your explanation. "I could use the exposure and the pay seemed decent."

You squealed. "Thank you! Oh, gosh. I thought it would be difficult to convince you."

Jaemin just chuckled heartily. "Anything for you really."

You gawked at nothing, confused by what he said but you kept quiet.

Jaemin added, "Just let me know when you'll need me for it."

"Yeah, I will."

"Alright, y/n" he smiled, followed by a proper enunciation of your name that seemed to roll perfectly on his tongue.

You weren't prepared for the random texts that you would get from him ever since he got your phone number. At first, it came the next morning, a picture of freshly made bread pulled out from the oven. It had a note that said, "Come try a piece before you get to work!" Then the next day at lunchtime, he asked if you had already eaten and whether you'd like to try the newest addition to their menu. The texts were mostly that and it almost felt like you subscribed to a food delivery service that sends notifications about food. You didn't think much of it but replied politely anyway. Sometimes you said the food looks good, sometimes you said you'd get a bite before work, other times you can only decline due to work. But it was fun so you just went with it.

The meeting with three competing chefs came and you felt proud of your team for a job well done. Everyone is engaging in your online campaigns and you managed to snag three competitive, handsome, and pretty, popular influencer chefs. It went smoothly and surely it did not slip your coworkers' notice when Jaemin approached you after for a quick chat. Nothing much was talked about between you. He just asked if you had lunch already and left after you said you did.

Jaehee and Yunseo started teasing you and asked how you two were so close.

"We're friends, that's all," you said concisely. It was the truth and there really isn't anything else to add.

"Why didn't you tell us? We've been to his cafe a lot of times! We even met him!" Yunseo asked, playfully hitting your arm several times.

"Well, it felt a bit obnoxious to say I know a popular person," you confessed which was true too.

"Is that why he always comes out to greet us?" Jaehee asked, bewildered. "And you got him to join the competition too!"

"Eonnie, if you guys aren't a thing, maybe you can introduce me," Yunseo suggested, batting her eyelashes at you and making you chuckle.

"We're not a thing and I'll introduce you for sure but how he reacts to it will be up to him," you told Yunseo who just squealed happily and said she'll be fine as long as Jaemin knew her name. "You're a cutie."

"Am I?" Yunseo asked cutely. "I hope Jaemin thinks so too."

Jaemin knocked on your door early that weekend and you opened up to see a box of pastry from him.

"What's this?"

"Oh, it's the cookie samplers I promised you last time," he said, referring to one of his texts.

You took it from his hand and noticed that he was dressed for jogging. "Thank you. Were you working out?"

"Yeah, I went for a jog then passed by the cafe for that," he replied, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Anyway, gotta go. I got work today. Enjoy your day off though!"

"Thanks again. Have fun at work!"

You didn't think you'd see him again that day, but you did. The brunch date Yunseo had set up with you and Jaehee happened to be at Nana's Cafe in a different branch.

Yunseo said Jaemin would be here today. She wasn't wrong because Jaemin was at the counter, taking orders. He noticed you and immediately switched with a staff to take your orders.

"These are my coworkers. You've met them before," you introduced. "Jaehee and Yunseo."

Yunseo stood up to shake hands with him. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Jaemin beamed. "What can I get you started with?"

After taking your orders, you chatted amongst yourselves and waited for it to come. Jaemin was the one who brought it out too when they were ready, even going as far as giving three small slices of chocolate cake to each of you. He said it was on the house since he was glad to meet your friends.

"Thanks, Jae," you sang before he left.

"He likes you," Jaehee chimed as soon as Jaemin was out of earshot. You shushed her but Yunseo joined in on the teasing.

"He does."

You rolled your eyes and sighed. "Jaemin is an old friend and he'd always been nice to me since high school."

"Then he must have liked you for a long time now! You sync so perfectly, even your wristwatch was the same colors!" Yunseo pointed out enthusiastically.

"How did you even catch the color of his watch?" you questioned, genuinely bewildered by her attention to detail.

Jaemin liking you was a ridiculous idea that you refused to entertain. But it lingered in your mind. As you went home, you wondered if Jaemin had always been that sweet and friendly. The answer was no. He was more of a subtle kind of friend, coming up with clever ways to make people feel special despite acting aloof most of the time. He must have gotten over his inexpressiveness and is now being openly nice and sweet to his friends.

To you, you thought he had always been aloof too. But he did make you feel his friendly affection in some ways.

Participants had an interview at your company on Monday and it was broadcast live online. You were there as part of the PR team and closely monitored interactions with viewers. Sure enough, a lot of people watched the Live, proving just how popular the chefs were. After that stint, Jaemin approached you for a favor.

"Anything within my powers," you quipped.

"How about coming over to the cafe to test new recipes?"

You had no plans tonight so you decided to agree. "Sure, but I'm not a food critic so I'm not sure if I can help."

"Can we come too?" asked Jaehee and only then did you realize that they were listening in.

Jaemin nodded. "Of course! I'd be happy to cater to you. But I can only take the three of you since the food is limited and I already have other guests coming."

"Oh, no worries. We won't be bringing anyone else," Yunseo assured, pushing Woojin aside when he was passing by you.

They chatted for a bit while you quietly observed, a little embarrassed that Jaemin had to cater to extra guests when he already had other people coming. But you decided he was probably alright with it since he agreed.

The cafe across the street was closed when you arrived. Aside from the staff, there was no one else in the cafe and you found yourself asking Jaemin about his guests.

"Oh, they canceled. It was actually just a friend from culinary school and his girlfriend. They said it was an emergency and I knew better than to ask," Jaemin explained. "I'm gonna go finish up in the kitchen. I should join you in a bit."

"Yeah, go ahead," your coworkers said.

When Jaemin left, Jaehee said, "It would have been awkward if only you and Jaemin were here."

"Or romantic," Yunseo argued. "I bet he'd prefer that too."

"Right? He's so obvious! I can't even!" Jaehee gushed and you can only shake your head.

Obvious how? It's either you're blind to it or they're making a big deal out of nothing. Well, sure, there were times he would randomly say cheesy stuff but he never expounded on that and you assumed he had been joking each time. Other than that, you were sure Jaemin was just being his usual self. Jaehee and Yunseo wouldn't understand because they weren't the ones who had been friends with Jaemin for a long time.

"Should we just give them the space?" Yunseo giggled.

"We should."

"Don't you dare." you threatened just as Jaemin was coming out of the kitchen.

He had got rid of his apron and you assumed he'll be joining you for dinner now. "Is the wine good?"

"It's impeccable. Good taste, Jaemin," Jaehee complimented but her eyes were on you when Jaemin sat on the vacant seat right next to you and then grabbed your glass to drink from it.

He must have noticed how Yunseo and Jaehee were looking at him because he cleared his throat and put the glass down. "She doesn't like wine. She hasn't even touched it."

"Ah, I see," Yunseo said before shooting you a teasing look. "You seem to know a lot about her."

Jaemin shrugged and then smiled widely. "Well, she's an interesting person. Don't you think?"

Food came one by one and you thought the teasing would end there but Jaemin took it a notch when he would place food on your plate carefully each time. The knowing looks from your coworkers did not miss your eye but you just gestured for them to be quiet.

You started eating after thanking Jaemin and you noticed how he watched your faces for reactions before starting his own meal. Yunseo and Jaehee uttered alarmingly specific accounts about the food while you can only say it was great and flavorful.

"You're lucky we're here then. We're quite the food critic, you know," Yunseo joked.

"Yeah. Your interesting friend can literally offer nothing but an affirmative nod," Jaehee teased and you blushed because it was true.

"In my defense, you didn't tell me I need Michelin evaluator qualifications to be here," you ranted to Jaemin who just shook his head with a fond smile on his lips.

"No, not at all. I invited you here because I wanted you to try the food, not because I need you to criticize me like I'm in Masterchef."

Yeonsu and Jaehee let out 'ooohs' and even whistled. Jaemin seemed proud and even encouraged the two girls but you weren't having it.

"Like a test animal?"

Leave it up to you to ruin a cute moment. Thank you.

There were more comments on the food with a few of your innocently worded inputs. Jaemin takes out another bottle of wine that you shared with casual conversations before it was time to go. Yeonsu and Jaehee left after Jaemin explicitly said you two can go home together since you live in the same building. You can already imagine the teasing you'll get the next day, but you just sighed. Jaemin noticed your dilemma as he poured more wine for himself.

"Are you okay?" he asked before taking a swig from his glass.

"Yeah, it's just... My coworkers think you like me or something," you began, trailing off on your words but he caught them just fine. "It's ridiculous, I know. But it's just because they don't know the kind of person you are, that's why they're saying those."

He tilted his head curiously. "What kind of person do you think am I?"

You were a bit taken aback by his question so you cleared your throat and straightened your back before replying. "Well, I think you're sweet and nice. Very gentlemanly and thoughtful too."

"Really?" He cocked an eyebrow at you.

You laughed derisively. "I knew you've always been nice since we were younger and even now, you're still considerate as ever. To Yunseo and Jaehee, they might think you're going the extra mile because you like me, but we both know you've always been a really good friend to everyone."

Jaemin straightened up and rested his back on the chair before sighing your name and glancing at you. "I'm not all that, you know."

"And you're very humble too," you chuckled, clinking your glass on his before taking a sip of your juice.

"It's the truth," he insisted. "I'm pretty laid back and didn't care much unless it involves me. And I'm the most passive when it comes to friendly relations. I'd say I'm a considerate man, but mostly just for my friends."

"Well, maybe that's what you think. But me and all your other friends sure know you're a really great friend. I'd know because you were very considerate of me too," you affirmed, worried that he might think so lowly of himself when he is in fact a great guy.

Jaemin just chuckled. "You don't get it do you, y/n? I know myself better than anyone. And I'm pretty sure I tried going the extra mile just for you."

You fell quiet. He must have been drunk to be saying all of that. Or maybe you were and you're mind is playing tricks on you so you're hearing things in your head. But you wouldn't be able to confirm it because he fell asleep on the table all of a sudden and you realized he just emptied the wine bottle and now he's passed out drunk. And here you thought he had a high alcohol tolerance.

Luckily, a staff was still cleaning in the kitchen and he helped you take Jaemin to your car so you can drive him home. It wasn't your best idea, and you knew you wouldn't be able to carry him up the building, but you drove home anyway.

You tried waking Jaemin when you reached the parking lot and he stirred in his seat, blinking as he focused his gaze on his surroundings. He glanced sideways at you and flashed the biggest smile you have ever seen from him. "You're very pretty."

"Thanks, I know that. Now come on, let's get you to bed."

He was basically zombie-walking down the hallways but you're happy that he can still walk so you just held him in place. You could tell he was terribly sleepy by the way his head would fall suddenly.

"Here we are. Can you enter your passcode?" you asked slowly, making sure he could hear you. With a drunk smile he reached for the door and started entering his passcode but he couldn't hit the right keys.

"Damn, why are the numbers dodging," he laughed before trying again. He kept going at it but he just couldn't get it right even as he shook his head aggressively in his attempt to sober up.

After several annoyed huffs from you, he laughingly pressed his nose on the side of your head and whispered the passcode before falling limp on your hold.

You were dumbfounded for a second, cradling Jaemin while you processed your thoughts. You tried to brush off the heat that resulted from the sudden contact and hurriedly entered his passcode. You couldn't even remember where you got the strength to drag him to his sofa and leave him there, but you were glad that you finally did. He mumbled incoherently but you were so focused on the warmth in your ear that you just stormed out of his unit and then hid into yours.

Jaemin woke up in a daze, blinking as the sun shone through the open curtains of his big windows. He recognized his living room and wondered why he wasn't in his room. He massaged his aching temple and rose from his uncomfortable position on the sofa and then groaned in disgust upon realizing he had slept in his outside clothes. Struggling with a headache and feeling disgusted by his own smell, he dunked an Advil in the bathroom and took a shower.

He recalled being at the cafe with you and your coworkers. Then he remembered how he finished an entire bottle and blacked out. He had bits of memories scattered in place as well as one where he openly told you you were pretty. He smiled idiotically at the memory, drying his hair with a towel as he downed a whole bottle of hangover tonic. He now remembered that you took him home and feels sorry for the trouble but he just can't stop smiling, especially after the doorbell rang and he saw your face on the monitor.

He cleared his throat first and kept a straight face before opening the door to greet you. You handed a small bottle of hangover drink to him.

You weren't looking at him straight and he could tell you were annoyed by the way your brows were knitted together. "You must be hungover. You were so drunk last night."

Jaemin didn't have it in him to refuse even after he had just finished a bottle of the same tonic. Besides, he's just happy to see you this early. "Thank you. Oh, and I'm sorry about last night. I don't usually get drunk but that wine was a fairly new addition to the menu. I had no idea it would be that strong."

You glanced at him briefly before looking away again. You didn't even move your head. "You finished an entire bottle by yourself, Jaemin. Surely you figured you'd get drunk?"

"Yeah, I did but it wasn't my intention really. Thanks for taking me home."

"Don't mention it. You did cook some delicious food for us, and it was free so this is nothing."

"If I wasn't a businessman, I wouldn't charge you for anything at all," Jaemin grinned, eyes shifting to your clothes and he realized that you were already dressed for work. "Do you need a ride? I'm going over there today."

You narrowed your eyes at him. "You left your car in Apgujeong."

"Oh shit, I did, didn't I?"

You just scoffed. "I can give you a lift but I'm running late so..."

"There's no need. Thanks for the offer."

"Okay, bye," you turned to leave and Jaemin panicked so he called your name. When you glanced back, he was unsure of what to say. In his mind, he was trying to find a good reason to be alone with you again.

Should he invite you over to the cafe again? No, he already did that. Maybe dinner? Just the two of you? Wouldn't it be too forward? How about coffee? Nah, you get coffee everyday.

"What is it, Jaemin?"

Your voice pulled him out of his musings. "Nothing. Have fun at work."

You chuckled. "Thanks. You too."

You bade him goodbye and he reluctantly waved at you then watched your back disappear into the elevator. Maybe next time, after all, he agreed to take one step at a time.

You expected Yunseo and Jaehee to tease you at work and they didn't disappoint. So now you're explaining to them how you two happened to just live in the same building. Yunseo was gushing about destiny but you laughed at her absurdity, then you remembered the way he whispered in your ear and felt your face flare. You saw him that morning and he seemed perky like always so you thought he must have no recollection of it. The Jaemin you knew would apologize for behaving inappropriately, especially in a drunken state. You decided it was best to keep it to yourself rather than bring it up and make things awkward. It was an accident, you're sure of it. Jaemin doesn't even seem to remember that.

The fact that you didn't see Jaemin at all for the next three days didn't help erase the memory of his lips on the side of your head. Why? Because his pictures are in every pubmat you were making, it actually felt more like he was right there with you the whole time. You now share your team leader's wish that you had a different person for the layouts and pubmats. He might have wanted it for efficiency, but you wanted it just so you could stop staring at Jaemin's handsome face.

The competition broadcast came. You sat on a desk behind the filming crew, where you will be monitoring the comments and interactions on the live broadcast. The chefs arrived after a short trip to the styling room and you liked how Jaemin looked in his chef uniform and the apron that bore his cafe's logo on the chest. You knew this was a leap in his career since he only ever got photographed by customers instead of actually using his visuals to promote himself. If it was a PR stunt, then you'd think he was smart enough to have branded himself a humble, handsome chef who relies on talent rather than his looks. But knowing him, you knew it was all a spontaneous occurrence that just happened to go in his favor.

The mini-competition started and while you tried to be neutral as a staff member, you couldn't help rooting for Jaemin. Two of the chefs were influencers with a fanbase. Jaemin was the only one who didn't capitalize on his physical appearance and as a PR person, you'd say he was dumb for that but as his friend, you respected him for it. Then again, more people were drawn to the mysterious 'It boy' who appears on the regular but kept a low profile from the internet.

The broadcast would go on for more than an hour since the challenge was to whip up a gourmet dish in less than 45 minutes. After getting the judges to taste the dishes, Chef Jisook ended up winning the grand prize, with Jaemin trailing behind her after receiving praise for his fusion dish that 'redefined Korean cuisine'.

After the filming wrapped up, Jaemin found you in the pool of busy people and skipped over to you with a big smile. "The CEO offered to have me in one episode of the cooking show."

"That's great! Good for you!" you cheered, nudging his elbow with yours. "That's because you're so talented."

The cooking show was an online thing that the company regularly does. It has a steady following and does well to promote the brand and the guests that star in it are usually famous chefs and celebrities. Being on that show would surely catapult Jaemin's name and brand. You were telling Jaemin all that as he drove his car to one of his cafes.

You caught him smiling at you like he was staring at you rather than listening so you stopped talking.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Because you stopped," you replied, looking outside to see where you parked. Jaemin said there's no need to rush but you shrugged and got off the car first. He followed soon after and you immediately spotted your friends inside the building.

You ran inside to greet your friends and explicitly noted how Seola was still with Minho. You said he must be doing the right thing since he's still around.

"Excuse me, my man is not a cheat," Seola defended, wrapping an arm around Minho's waist. "As a matter of fact, we're getting married."

"You are?" you exclaimed, covering your mouth in surprise.

Seola was satisfied with your reaction. "Yes. Why do you think we're gathered today? It's because Minho proposed to me the other day."

"Oh my god," you said, pulling her into a hug.

Hyuck was chuckling on your side. "She's trying to race with Jeno."

"No, I'm not!" Seola insisted, glaring at the guy. "It was a spontaneous decision."

Everyone disagreed because you all know that if the opposite of spontaneous is a person, it would be Seola.

"It's not, but we had been talking about it after Seola said she wanted to get married before thirty," Minho confessed. "We wanted children and getting pregnant after thirty is risky so the sooner, the better. We are financially stable and in love, so what's stopping there to stop us?"

"Yeah, well, I hope you don't end up getting divorced," Heejin jeered and instantly received a glare from Seola.

"Why are you cursing us already? You're mean," Seola pouted, hiding behind Minho.

You understood where she was coming from, after all, you have thought about the same thing before. You planned to get married before thirty when you were younger. Even today, you're still considering it. You still have four years before that, but that too could be considered a short time. And of course, you are yet to find a match who is worth spending the rest of your life with. Divorce is never an option for you.

Your eyes found Jaemin's. He had been staring and you caught him, but instead of looking away, he held your gaze with reassurance and some kind of comfort that you didn't quite understand the purpose of but you still appreciated. For some reason, you thought maybe you could consider him. That is if he was serious about what he had been implying these past few days—that he liked you before and he likes you now.

Jeno soon arrived with his fiancee and you were all happy to meet her at last. The night continued and you even got to bring up how Jaemin almost won the cooking competition. Hyuck said he saw it and watched it from start to finish.

"Donghyuck, why are you so interested in everybody's business?" Seola joked and only when she brought that up did you realize that Hyuck was indeed interested in everybody's business.

"It's because I love all of you, dumbasses," Hyuck announced, even standing up to raise his glass.

Everyone on the table cheered in agreement. Who's to say he was lying? None of you could ever because you all know it was Donghyuck who was always checking in on each of you, always making plans to meet, and keeping the friendship alive. Donghyuck is the foundation of this friend group.

You went out for some fresh air after hours of sitting there with your friends, laughing and going through bottles and bottles of alcohol. You were trying to sober up a bit and you were wondering if you should go home. Jeno joined you a little later, breathing in the cool air as he tucked his hands in his jacket.

"Hey," he greeted in a prolonged manner.

"Hey," you smiled back at him. "Congratulations again, by the way. She's such a lovely woman."

"I know," he chuckled. "I got lucky."

You just smiled, taking in more of the night air. The streets were bright but it wasn't as busy as it was earlier that night. You started thinking that going home would be smooth without any traffic.

"It's been so long since we last talked to each other," he pointed out and you nodded. Although he was present at your father's funeral several months ago, he didn't get the chance to say anything to you other than utter his condolences. "I wish I could hang out with all of you more often. On the rare times that I could, it's mostly just with Jaemin and Donghyuck."

"Well, you got busy and I had a lot of things going on in my life too, so..."

"Yeah, you're right," he chuckled. "At least we get to hang out like this. I'm sure I'll get more chances to meet everyone once I'm married. You know, I can worry less about being in public and live more like any ordinary person."

"Good for you, then," you chimed. "And I'm happy for you. We all are."

"Thank you. Will you come to my wedding? It's in three weeks and the invitations haven't been sent out yet but I'm inviting you in advance."

"I think I might," you said sheepishly. You were joking about going to his wedding with Jaemin, but now that he's inviting you, you feel shy all of a sudden. It would feel normal if you had kept in contact with him like the rest of your friends, but a long time has passed without any interaction between you. You were wondering if you should even be there at all.

"You know, I told Jaemin I'd invite you and he said you don't need a card because you can go as his plus one." You scowled at Jeno upon hearing that.

"He said that?"

Jeno just shrugged and nodded. You imagined being Jaemin's plus one and wondered how the two guys came to a conclusion that you would just agree on it. But then again, you had no reason to disagree or even refuse to go with Jaemin. It's not like you would hate to go with him. In fact, it would be fun to go with either Jaemin or Hyuck. "Is that why he brought it up before?"

"Maybe. You can go together, you know. You look great together. If I didn't know better, I'd assume you were dating because of the way your clothes don't match but kinda matched. Your vibes are just syncing effortlessly. It's adorable."

His implication was loud and clear but you just laughed it off. "I'll be there. Maybe as Jaemin's plus one, or maybe not. But I'll be there. You wouldn't let your first love miss the best day of your life, would you?"

Jeno laughed heartily and you felt proud about making a good joke. "Of course, my first love can't miss my wedding. You better prepare a hefty cash gift."

"Look at this chaebol ripping people off," you ridiculed.

"We're spending quite a lot on that wedding. Pay us back."

"Ugh, now I'm rethinking if I should go or not."

Jeno laughed, glancing back to the cafe when his fiancee called his name. "I'm kidding. You better be there, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," you said dismissively shooing him away but he was already running back to the cafe.

As you watched, you saw Jaemin make his way towards you. You were feeling drowsy, but you stayed standing as you waited for him to reach you. Then when he was within your reach, you said, "I heard you needed a date for the wedding and you picked me."

Jaemin chuckled, his cheeks were a bit flushed due to alcohol. "Nah, I'm pretty sure you're the one who's gonna do the picking because Hyuck is also dateless."

"Ah, so I still get to make the decision. Good to know."

"If you choose me, I'll pay for the wedding gift for you," Jaemin challenged and you nodded, showing an expression that told him you were considering it.

"Tempting. But I'll have to see what Hyuck is willing to wager."

"Probably a dress. I heard him say, but I'm pretty confident you'd like me more."

You scoffed. "Now I want to pick him just to spite you."

Jaemin fake heart attack and you just scoffed loudly as he pretended to fall over. He laughingly stood up. "Come on. Don't be mean to me."

"Stop copying my style! People are starting to think we're dating," you chided, but he just shrugged.

"It's either we both have good taste or stores are just selling the same colors everywhere."

You laughed as you both walked back to the cafe. Your friends soon left and as usual, you and Jaemin decided to go home together. The cafe was near the condo and you were both a little drunk so you decided to just walk there. You were clutching your bag clumsily as you staggered on the sidewalk so Jaemin offered his arm for you to hold on to and you latched on it like your life depended on it, uttering a soft 'thanks'. You felt steadier like that and warmer with his body close to yours. For a while, you just walked quietly before he started asking questions.

"How's your mom?" he asked, adding, "Mine told me they went to a spa last week."

You grinned. "Yeah, mine said the same thing. She's doing great. She still refused to leave town or sell the house, insisting that Dad's memory lived there. I'd love for the house to remain there too but I'm worried about her being alone."

"You can always visit her. It's not that far."

"Right. I should visit more often."

Jaemin sighed. "What about work? Anything new?"

"Not really. The anniversary events are what keep me busy these days. Other than the cooking show today, there's nothing noteworthy." You fished your phone from your bag when it started ringing. It was Heejin and you answered it right away. "Hi. Did you get home alright?"

"Yes, but this thing won't work," she grumbled and you couldn't see what was going on but you could hear her frustration in her voice.

"What is it?"

"My passcode. I forgot my passcode. My house is threatening to lock me out."

"It's 112799," you told her, rolling your eyes and silently judging her for forgetting it each time she gets drunk.

"Thanks," she muttered before hanging up. You just grimaced at the phone before chucking it back into your purse.

"Heejin?"

"Yeah, she forgot her passcode. It happens all the time."

Jaemin nodded. "It's amazing how you stayed close all these years."

"We literally grew up together. I'd say we don't have a choice," you said in faked indifference. It made Jaemin laugh. "I'm kidding. She's my sister from another mother. My apartment was actually her cousin's. She hooked me up with her and I was able to rent it for a good price."

"Isn't it amazing how out of all the apartments in Seoul, and all the floors in that building, we ended up being neighbors?" he asked and you nodded, unconsciously nuzzling closer to him when the wind blew.

"I know. It's a small world."

"No, it's actually a big world. A huge one. It's fate that brings things to cross paths at one point. Like an invisible string. In our case, our paths crossed so much that we became a part of each other's lives and by extension, a small part of each other."

You giggled. "It's beautiful how you worded things. You could be a poet." You saw him smile shyly at the compliment but then you added. "Yunseo has a nice way with words too. You two would get along well."

"We already get along."

"Yeah, but like, in a romantic way. She likes you and she actually asked me to set you up. You should go out sometime," you were blabbering so much and didn't even notice that Jaemin had stopped walking. You were holding on to him so you were forced to stop too. He took your arm off of his and took a few steps away. "What? It's true Yunseo likes you. She told me herself. I'm not just randomly making decisions for her."

"No, but you're making decisions for me," he said pointedly and the annoyed look on his face made you shy.

"Sorry. Alcohol unzipped my mouth."

"So you're saying it because you're drunk? You're not serious about setting me up with another girl?"

While you were confused about the purpose of the question, you still replied. "No, not really. I think I just said it because I have nothing else to say."

"Good because I'm not interested in anyone else."

His words confused you but you knew deep it inside that the message was clear. He is interested in you. Yet you told yourself that your drunk mind is giving you false signals. You saw that you'd stopped in front of your building so you pointed at it and started skipping to the entrance. Jaemin just followed you with an absent-minded smile.

You rarely bumped into Jaemin in the building because obviously, your schedules are different. When you do, it is often at the elevator which is still rare. Today just decided to be different. You stepped out of your unit at the same time and you had no excuse to avoid getting in the elevator with him. He didn't spare your conflicted feelings and you were sure it was because he had no idea you were even conflicted in the first place.

Especially after he said, "I finally caught you. Sometimes I try to leave earlier or a little later just to see if we'd bump into each other but we never did. It's been like four months since you moved here but we barely saw each other."

"We see each other a lot actually," you laughed after pointing that out.

"I know but I meant here in the building."

"You're right." You separate ways quickly, getting into your car as soon as you spot it in the parking lot and running off with a hurried goodbye.

To say you escaped was an understatement but you had to if you want to stop thinking about things that would make your friendship weird. Unbeknownst to you, Jaemin was in his own league of making sure you see each other at least once a day.

You walked into Nana's Cafe confidently on a Tuesday, knowing he wouldn't be there. But Jaemin's radiant smile welcomed you, accompanied by a nice piece of heart-shaped cookie. When you refused to go to the cafe on a Wednesday, he dropped by your office to hand-deliver lunch. You avoided going to the cafe at all but you found him outside your office building waiting for you to get off work. On the weekend, he knocked on your door early to give you a cup of warm coffee. It went on for days and you had gotten used to the teasing from your coworkers and the assumptions about him being your boyfriend. You wanted several times to confront him but you didn't want to be the first to bring it up, after all, you're still arguing with yourself that he is just being a nice friend like usual. But it doesn't help that the text messages that previously looked like a food promotion chatbox are now filled with selfies of him with updates on what he's doing that day.

"Oh my god. I knew it. He likes you," Heejin announced clapping her hands triumphantly. You had invited her and Seola over after days of taking unsolicited but appreciated advice from Yunseo and Jaehee. You never shared your part of the story with them because you don't think you're close enough for it. So you decided to seek Heejin and Seola and pour your heart out to them.

"But he didn't say that," you insisted.

"He was showing it. You know Jaemin. He prefers showing his feelings more than talking about them," Seola pointed out so you crossed your arms over your chest and turned to her.

"If he can say all these fancy things and subtle hints about liking me, I think he can very well say he likes me straight to my face," you retorted then Heejin and Seola comically nodded in unison.

"That makes sense. How about talking to him about it?"

You scowled. "What? Like, confront him?"

"Yeah."

"No. I can't. I don't want to. Confrontations scare me."

"Then maybe telling you he likes you straight to your face scares him too. You can't just think about yourself in this situation, y/n," Seola insinuated and it made sense so you slumped on your sofa, face first.

"Maybe he really likes you, you know. He could be in love with you too. It's not so strange to think about. You're a catch, don't you realize that?"

"Heejin's right. You're gorgeous. You're smart. You're cute too and you're very caring. Your sense of humor is not that great but you're fun to talk to. Also, although I know he doesn't care about money at all, you're rich and your family background is impressive. Any man would fall for you."

Maybe the idea wasn't so far-fetched. Despite your every attempt to deny it, Jaemin really did show you he liked you even before what happened on the day of Seola's dinner party. He would give you a compliment and a cookie with your coffee. He messaged you every day and would send you weather updates every morning. When you met outside the building, he always offered to give you a ride even when he knew you had your own car. He had always acted like that and only now are you seeing every sign, clear as day and you can't ignore them. He likes you enough to put in this much effort for you. It keeps repeating in your head. Jaemin likes you.

"What are you so worried about? Don't you like Jaemin?" Heejin asked.

Come to think about it, don't you? You liked his smile. You like how warm it makes you feel and how familiar he seems to you. You liked hanging out with him, laughing and fooling around, and secretly making fun of strangers. Ever since you got here, you shared all the good things that happened to you with Jaemin. Now looking back, it seems Jaemin had always been a part of everything that happened to you, good or bad. It's just like the invisible string he mentioned. Except that you have both become a part of each other's life; a piece of each other.

"Does Na Jaemin really like me? Like for real?" you mumbled to yourself, your mind drifting off to more thoughts of him. "Because if he does, don't you think he's too good for me? His smile is so pretty. He's very talented and he's a good cook. Damn, even his laughter is beautiful. His voice, the lines on his cheeks when he grins, the way he's always warm when I'm near him. The way he consistently took care of me and even went out of his way several times for me. He's too good to be true."

Seola and Heejin chuckled before clinking their shot glasses together and taking shots of soju. "She likes him."

You buried your face in your palms and let out a strained shriek. "I think I do."

[To be continued in Part 2]

[violetspots1]

Part 2 to that Welcome Home Incorrect Quotes post I made, like, a year ago. Wow how productive of me.

.

Poppy: Good morning.

Julie: Good morning.

Eddie: Good morning.

Barnaby: You all sound like robots, try spicing it up a bit.

Sally: MORNING MOTHERFUCKERS!

.

Barnaby, holding in their laughter: Hey, how do you ask a glass of water what it’s doing?

Frank: A glass of water is an inanimate object. Therefore, it's incapable of having a thought process or understanding basic human language.

Barnaby:

Barnaby: Water you doing?

.

Julie, peeling a banana: May I take your jacket, sir? Hahahaha.

Frank: Do you think other people can’t hear you?

.

Wally: Good. Thanks, dad.

Poppy: You just called Eddie “dad”. You just said “thanks, dad.”

Wally: What? No, I didn’t. I said “thanks, man”.

Eddie: Do you see me as a father figure, Wally?

Wally: No. If anything I see you as a bother figure ‘cause you’re always bothering me.

Howdy: Hey! Show your father some respect!

.

Howdy: *on the phone* Just snap his kneecaps and he’ll talk, I’m at a parent teacher conference.

Howdy: Anyways, you said Wally is enjoying finger painting! That's great.

.

Eddie: Shouldn't get stressed out, it's not good for the baby.

Wally: What baby?

Eddie, crying a bit: Me.

.

Wally: The shadow realm? No, I’m sending you to Ohio!

.

Howdy: Well, if you're not at least a little bit gay for your friends, then what kind of friend are you?

.

Frank, looking at a selfie of Wally's: I hate this photo.

Wally: I’m cute as fuck in that photo! I’m smiling kindly.

Frank: You’re not smiling kindly; you look like you’re up to something.

Wally: Up to kindness.

.

*at a zoo*

Julie: What are they in for?

Frank: Julie, this isn't prison.

Julie: So they can leave?

Frank: No, but-

Julie, pointing at a meerkat: I bet that one murdered someone.

.

Poppy: Fine! Judge all you want but...

Poppy, points at Sally: Married a lesbian.

Poppy, points at Julie: Left a man at the altar.

Poppy, points at Wally: Fell in love with a gay ice dancer.

Poppy, points at Barnaby: Threw a girl’s wooden leg in a fire.

Poppy, points at Howdy: Lives in a box!

.

Julie: Frank and I are so close we even share a toothbrush.

Frank: We what?

.

Wally: I never tell people off the bat that I'm gay. I wait. I wait until they say some homophobic shit and then I laugh and am like "you know I'm gay right?" and watch the look of terror on their face.

Barnaby:

Barnaby: I like you.

.

Eddie: I think I'm falling for you.

Frank: Then get up.

.

Julie: Why do you act like we’re three year olds?

Frank, exasperated: WHY?!?

Frank points at Barnaby: YOU TRIED TO HYJACK A CAR!

Frank points at Wally: YOU NEARLY JUMPED 20 FEET OFF A CARPARK!

Frank points at Julie: AND YOU ATE MULTIPLE DRIED LEAVES AND ROCKS OFF THE GROUND!

Frank: AND YOU ASK ME WHY????

.

Howdy: Just a minute. I need to go take out the trash.

Frank: Oh. We're going out?

Howdy: Wh…

.

Wally: *gets set on fire and screams in agony*

Wally: Nah, I’m just kidding. Fire does nothing to me.

.

Sally: I need 28 lightbulbs for 28 ducks.

Howdy: Ducks can’t eat lightbulbs?

Barnaby: I think that’s the point.

Sally: Exactly. I want my ducks to glow so I can find them.

.

Julie: Wasn't icarly that guy that girlbossed too close to the sun because he was down for Apollo?

Frank: ICARUS?

.

*at an awards show*

Poppy: Can I carry you on my back like Eddie did?

Wally: I don't think Barnaby would like that.

Poppy: *pouts*

*Later*

Poppy: *carrying Wally on their back*

Barnaby: What the hell??

Wally: What was I supposed to do? Say no?

.

Frank: I have very high standards, you know.

Eddie: I can make spaghetti...

Frank: Oh no! You're meeting all my standards!

.

Wally: I’ve been here in jail so long I think I’ve lost my mind.

Wally: The days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months.

Wally: How long have I been in here now? Almost a year?

Barnaby: This is Monopoly.

.

Wally: Could you guys at least try to see this from my perspective?

Barnaby: *crouches down*

Frank: *kneels down*

Poppy: *sits on the floor*

Wally:

Wally: I hate all of you.

.

*Sally is crying after a breakup*

Eddie: There there, Sally.

Sally, still crying: Thanks, but how did you get into my room?

Eddie: Great question—

.

Barnaby, knocking on the door: Howdy, open up!

Howdy: It all started when I was a kid.

Barnaby: That’s not what I-

Sally: Let them finish!

.

Julie, on a random band name generator: Oooo! They Might Be Depressed Horses! That about sums up my friend group.

.

Julie: War is heck!

.

Sally: What’s it like being tall?

Sally: Is it nice?

Sally: Can you reach comfortably for the cupboards?

Poppy: We live in constant fear of the short ones who, in my experience, will climb 4 chairs, 2 boxes, a small coffee table and 6 oddly placed stools to get what they want.

Wally: It was one time!

.

Howdy: Last night I found out Barnaby is a sleep talker.

Poppy: Oh, really?

Howdy: "The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell." Right. In. My. Ear. At 3am.

.

Wally: Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bakey!

Poppy: But I'm a vegan.

Wally: Wakey Wakey Vegetables and Sadness.

.

Howdy: Imagine if someone handed you a box full of all the things you lost throughout your life.

Sally: It would be nice to have my sense of purpose back...

Julie: Oh wow, my childhood innocence! Thank you for finding this.

Eddie: My will to live! I haven't seen this in years.

Barnaby: I knew I lost that potential somewhere.

Wally: Mental stability, my old friend!

Howdy: Jesus, could you guys lighten up a little?

.

Frank, looking over Wally’s shoulder: You can draw?

Wally, stopping what they were doing: You can speak?

.

Wally, near tears: Please, Neighbor, I don’t speak meme! I don't know what a 'yeet' is!

.

Julie: A party is a celebration of a life, bringing people together to let the guest of honor know how much they’re loved. Frank has done so much for us. This is our chance to do something for them.

Eddie: By forcing them to have fun at a party that they don’t want to be at?

Julie: I knew you’d understand.

.

Wally: Julie noticed only today that they can label their email inboxes, but they took apart their entire bloody laptop two weeks ago.

Sally: This reminds me of the Julie who couldn’t turn on the coffee maker, but remembers about 500 digits of pi.

Wally: I’ll be delighted to inform you that this is the very same Julie.

.

Julie: What do I get?

Sally: A night of fashion, mischief, mayhem, and possible death.

Julie: Ooh, check, check, and check; not sure about that last one.

Sally: It won't be you.

Julie: I'll get my coat.

.

Wally: My crush isn’t picking up on my hints.

Barnaby: What hints have you given them?

Wally: Well, I think about them a lot.

Wally: And sometimes I even think about talking to them.

.

Poppy: Don’t worry, I know exactly what I’m doing. Everything is going to be fine!

Julie: How can you still say that?

Poppy: Because sometimes, when things get tough, denial is all we have.

.

Julie: If you spell skeletons backwards, it still spells skeletons.

Barnaby, deadpan: Wow, I can't wait for Halloween to see some snoteleks.

.

Wally: I'm not a morning person. I'm barely even a person.

.

Julie, holding a scooter: Poppy! Can I go outside and play with this?

Poppy: Sure, whatever. I'm not your parent, okay?

Julie, running outside: Thanks Poppy!

Poppy, running out after them and screaming: NOT ON THE STREET! STAY AWAY!

.

Sally: ....Thou shalt not marry each other, for thy art both sinful...

Frank: I just wanna fucking marry Eddie!!

.

Eddie: My life is a little too much panic and not enough disco.

Julie: My life is a little too much fall and not enough boy.

Wally: My life is a little too much chemical and not enough romance.

Sally: My life is a little too much imagination and not nearly enough dragons.

.

Frank: Fuck capitalism. It's a rigged system that keeps us poor and it isn't fair. You shouldn't need to work three jobs to afford basic necessities.

Frank, playing Monopoly: Sorry, if you wanted to win you should have tried not being poor.

.

I did it :D

[sundropstories]

I Remember You

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Summary: Y/n remembers everything.

a/n: I hope you guys like this I had been working on it for a while but I really have no idea how I wanted to end it. But I hope the choice I made leaves it open for interpretation. Thank you for reading <3

˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊

I take my seat as I wait for the barista to let me know my coffee is ready. I come to this cafe every Friday morning.

I bring a book, and sit at the same table and wait...

There's this boy, his name is Peter Parker. About a month ago the news said that he was The Spider-Man. It was insane and everyone lost it. They were saying  he was a murderer because supposedly he killed Mysterio.

I don't believe it though. I know Peter Parker, okay maybe not like.. super personally. But, we've been going to school together since we were in elementary school. I can believe he is Spider-Man though I've had a few interactions with him and the personality I see. But, he's no killer.

Anyways...a weeks after his identity was released there were like these weird villains showing up. Then this huge thing was happening in the sky. It looked like it was almost...breaking in a way. I don't know maybe I just sound crazy..

Then, later that night, everyone just stopped talking about him. Literally..it was almost as if...he never existed. So I thought I was going insane, thinking I made it all up.

Till one day when I came here, Peter Pan Donut Shop.

I actually saw him come in, and he ordered a coffee. MJ and Ned acted like they had no idea who he was. When I am pretty sure him and Ned have been friends since..well forever. I'm also pretty sure him and MJ were like dating not that long ago, but I just assumed they had a bad breakup.

Until he LITERALLY introduced himself to her!! What?! I know! I was thinking the same thing. That's why I spent the last few weeks coming here.

Today I plan to make a move. Not like romantically. I just need to talk to him. I need to know I'm not crazy.

Okay yeah I definitely sound crazy.

—

"Y/n, Hot Chai, 2 shots espresso with whip!" I hear MJ yell my order. "Hey, Thank you." I say to her as I grab my drink and slip some cash into her tip jar.

"Of course!" We chat for a bit till I see him entre the cafe. MJ is actually really nice, if I'm being honest in high school I thought she was kinda intimidating.

—

I decided to gather my things and move to the bench outside. It's a nice day for this time of year so I don't wanna spend all day in there.

Almost immediately i hear the door ding as it swings open. I stand to see the brunette pass me. Immediately I try to flag him down.

"Excuse me, Peter." I say gathering my things to catch up with him. He almost immediately stops in his tracks at the sound of his name.

He turns and comes towards me so fast I barely have even left the bench.

"You know.." He whispered.

"That you're spi-" I'm cut off by him slapping his hand over my mouth. "No no no shhh.." using the other hand to hold a finger in front of his mouth.

" okay, okay.." I slowly move his hand off of me. "But, please can we talk."

He quirks an eyebrow giving me a questioning look. "Who are you?" He says it's less of a question though and more like he's demanding to know. Hurts my feelings a little though we did go to school together since kindergarten. "Y/n we've gone to school together...like our whole lives.."

He looks me over. "Okay, but not here."

—

We arrived at what I believe is his apartment. It's small but nice. Comfortable for someone living alone, and he barely has any furniture so I can tell he just moved in.

"Why don't you exist?" I ask. "Wow, straight to the point." He says moving through the kitchen. "Water?"

"No thank you, could you answer my question please." I smile. He lets out a breath, running his hand over his face.

"I did it to save everyone. The multi-verse was... Breaking? The only way I could fix it was to make everyone forget Peter Parker."

"Why do I remember? It was like one second. Your identity being exposed was all anyone could talk about, but then everything stopped. Within seconds." I take a breath. "Also what the hell is the multiverse?!"

" I don't know. And basically what it sounds like."

"I felt like I was crazy." I let out a small laugh. "You're not." He laughs with me.

—

We ended up spending the rest the night just hanging out. We played boardgames, got pizza, and ended the night watching movies.

"You know it's nice to finally talk to someone who...knows who I am." He turns to face me.

I turned a look at him, making eye contact and then looking away. "Is it true?"

"hmm"

"Did you.." I make air quotes. " 'Kill' Mysterio?"

He sucks in a breath. "Yes, but he wasn't good."

"I didn't think so." I look at him offering a supportive smile.

"He tricked me. I thought he was someone I could trust."

"How do you know you can trust me?" I shift in my seat to be fully facing him. "I have a..well my Aunt called it a 'tingle' about you. It's a good one though."

"Ew." I make scrunch my face in fake disgust. "No no not like that." He says slight panick in his voice. When we make eye contact we immediately burst out laughing.

[lowkeyremi]

𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝘼𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 -> Aizawa Shota x afab!reader

➼ Sum: In short, you're fired from your main job. The worry and stress hits you while you're ugly crying outside of the building of your old workplace. You happen to meet a man who can give you a job. The question is... should you take it?

➼ Chapters: 0, 1

➼ Content Warning: Implied fem reader, reader has fem parts, eventual sexual content, suggestive language, all characters are aged up, eventual relationships, strippers, reader is struggling. (I'll add more as time goes on)

Chapter One - A Fresh Start.

banner by: cafekitsune

Your week was very uneventful, meeting Eraserhead felt like a fever dream. He hadn't called or texted once which caused you to believe maybe he'd been lying about that job offer.

Your laptop was sitting on the coffee table staring back at you. It's tempting to look for a new job just in case Eraser is a sick liar who liked seeing people struggle.

Surely he isn't... right? Your thoughts get cut short when your phone starts to vibrate. Where the hell is your phone? You scramble around for it, tossing your blanket around. Wow, it was wedged in the couch.

"Hello?" It takes about two seconds to realize you didn't check the ID caller, even though it's probably Eraserhead.

"Good afternoon, L/n. How are you?" Eraser's deep voice asks and it gives you goosebumps.

It had been a long time since someone asked how you were feeling, "Tired, I really need to get out and do something."

"Well, the principal would like to have a brief meeting with you." His voice sounds so smooth over the phone.

"About what? If you don't mind me asking." You were already going to agree because of desperation. You just wanted to hear his voice a little longer.

"He hasn't informed me on why, but I'd assume it would be about your credentials and details on moving into one of the apartments our school provides." His answer is logical and makes since.

"Okay, when does he want to have this meeting?" You stare at last night's dinner on your coffee table, laziness has taken over you since you don't have much to do. You tried to take an extra shift at the coffee shop, but they insisted that they didn't need the extra help.

"It might inconvenience you, he said today works for him. Sooner rather than later." There's a moment of silence between you two. You break it, "Yeah today works. I'm not doing anything anyway."

"Alright, I'll text you the details. See you soon, Golden Kitten." You can hear the smirk in his voice.

The line cuts before you can even say some stupid remark to him.

'It’s golden tiger!’ You message him, you wait for a minute and your message is seen. He doesn’t even reply to it, that guy.

Now the most important question is, what to wear? You can’t show up looking like all you’ve done is played videos games day and night. At the same time you don’t want to look too preppy, there’s a chance you’ll be called a show off.

Ding! It’s a message from Eraserhead with all the information you’ll need. According to Eraser, you’ll be stopped by security on your way in. The principal will let you in though.

Motivation starts coursing through your veins. Your place needs to be cleaned and you need to find something to wear. First impressions are important in the work setting. What is Eraser's impression of you?

-------

Your music is very loud in your car, a little distraction is all. "I was a college student for two years before I dropped out," you recite for the seventh time.

Parking wasn't too bad, if you don't count the fact that you almost flipped someone off for taking your parking space. Your loafers reached the ground and you stepped out of the car. In the end you chose a cute beige sweater along with your favorite high waist pants and dark brown loafers.

As mentioned security stopped you, "Excuse me miss, you have an ID?" A tall woman asks her arms crossed around her chest. She's very pretty, her not so cute uniform looks good on her.

"-ello? Miss?" Her head tilts waiting for an answer.

"Oh, uh- I'm waiting for the principal?" All the confidence you gained on the way here is gone. It's easy to tell she doesn't believe you.

Your eyes watch as she grabs her walkie and brings it up to her lips, "Backup on standby. Potential intruder." She gets a few responses.

The silence is so thick and awkward. In your mind it feels like it's been hours when in reality it's only been a few minutes.

"You must be Miss L/n! Come in!" You look around to see where the voice is coming from.

"Down here!" Surely enough there's a talking- creature smiling at you.

"I am so- so sorry, I-"

"Oh don't worry about it, most people don't notice me the first time," he waves you off. The creature who introduces himself as Nezu.. Principal Nezu leads you to his office.

"You know, I was shocked when Eraser said he wanted you as his assistant, not because of your previous job but because I brought in plenty of professionals and he declined all of them. He sure does have interesting taste!" Nezu says his arms waving everywhere while he talks.

You always thought people like that would end up smacking someone by accident.

"I honestly have no clue why he chose me." You say quietly. Nezu pushes his office door open for you and you quickly bow and take a seat.

"He sees potential in you, is why. I know he wouldn't choose just anyone." Nezu smiles, he gets comfortable in his seat and begins unpacking the heavy stuff.

"So you majored in (dream major/current major) and dropped out. Any particular reason?" He studies your face. He can't help but notice the long sigh you release.

"I started hanging out with the wrong people, met this guy who convinced me to drop out and live with him, cheated on me, and left me to figure everything out on my own. One of his friends told me about the club. I was desperate so I decided to get a job there. Along with my coffee shop part time." Talking about it was never pleasant. It was embarrassing even, why the hell did you let some guy who didn't even love you convince you to drop out?

You could have graduated. "Wow, that's a lot." He takes a sip from his tea cup. When did he make a cup of tea?

"Yeah..." He's moving more papers around and quickly scanning what's on them.

"Do you think you're cut out for the job?" He asks it doesn't have any heat behind it, it's just pure curiosity.

"No? I mean I have experience with children, none with teenagers. I was one about seven years ago." Your nails just so happen to be very interesting all of a sudden as you pick at them.

Nezu chuckles, not a normal chuckle... something like maniac. "At least you're honest. That's always a good quality. Do you have a quirk?"

You could lie and say you do. Make up something dumb, but something tells you he already knows the answer.

"I don't, which I'm afraid makes me no use to the students." You worry you'll put them in danger by not having a quirk.

"Thank you for your honesty, but safety won't be an issue! Eraserhead is a very protective teacher and he's got a very helpful quirk. At most you'd need to report to someone about an attack." Those words are quite reassuring, you sigh a little.

Nezu goes on about how surprised he was about Eraser choosing you. Then he moves on to pay and moving into one of the apartments.

He has you look over some paperwork and sends you on your way with Present Mic to tour the school.

"Changed your life for the better?" He asks with enthusiasm about your situation. How the hell does he even know? Isn't your business supposed to be confidential?

"Must be wondering how I know, huh? I was the one who dragged Eraser to the club! It was his thirty-sixth birthday and I figured he should let loose! Didn't think he'd bring back a stray." The blond chuckles, hands also swinging all over the place as he talked.

Eraser doesn't look thirty-six to you. You'd thought maybe he was twenty-nine or early thirties. "You're young aren't you?" Present Mic asks.

"Twenty-six." You reply quietly. You scanned every inch of the school with your eyes. It's a very VERY big school and a lot to take in. Apparently, Mic is only showing you the part of the school you'll be in, but even that's huge.

"How cute! You're adorable and young! No wonder he's taken a liking to you." He exclaims. The hell is that supposed to mean? Without context that sounds creepy.

"I'm not 'cute' or 'adorable' I'm a grown woman." You clarify, he grins and waves you off.

"L/n." You pause upon hearing that mesmerizing deep voice.

"Eraser." You respond mimicking his comment.

"I'm assuming all went well, since you're being dragged around by this idiot." His voice is teasing and a small smirk rests on his face.

"Idiot?! Come on Eraser! We agreed I'm the smart and hot English teacher!" Eraser just shook his head.

"Whoever called you hot was trying to spare your dignity and feelings." Eraserhead responds and motions for you to follow him.

You do, without hesitation actually. "This is my classroom." It was just like some of the other classrooms, plain, blue, and boring.

"No posters or anything?" You ask playing with the apartment key in your pocket.

"Students are here to learn how to be heroes, not to stare at some posters." He walks over to his desk and looks through some papers.

"I just think it would make your class more appealing." You try to reason.

"I've been teaching for a good while, Kitten. I know what I'm doing." He sits down at his desk and sighs looking one of the papers.

"Kitten?!" Present Mic gasps dramatically.

"You don't get it." Is all Eraser offers him.

Present Mic turns to you expecting some kind of explanation.

"I should probably start planning this move." You change the subject.

"And I'm not a kitten!" You groan and he chuckles. You can feel the vibration of his laugh.

"I'll see you out," Mic offers and you accept only because you'd get lost otherwise.

_______

"Hello, yes. I'm calling about breaking my lease." The price for breaking it isn't as bad as you thought it'd be, with this new job you could earn that back in a little while.

Next on your list was to call the movers. It was an awkward conversation because you were nervous to talk to them. Once you got everything settled you ate some leftover food.

The movers are to come around nine a.m. on Sunday which is soon...

You probably shouldn't call him for something so dumb but you call anyway.

"Is everything okay, L/n? You're calling pretty late." You could melt, his sleepy voice is so sexy.. you shouldn't be thinking about him this way.

"I'm sorry to wake you but the movers are coming on Sunday and I need help boxing up my stuff." You explain.

"Right now?" He asks, you can hear shuffling over the phone followed by a little yawn.

"Um... now would be nice. It's Thursday night which means I only have the whole day Friday and Saturday..." he makes a little noise and clicks his tongue.

"Message me your address." Eraser yawns again.

You do as you're told and you hear nothing but static for a few minutes, "I'll be there in thirty."

"Okay, thank you." You sigh in relief, stress would have torn you apart and you'd be panicking if you had to pack all by yourself.

Eraser's pretty cool, you think. You give Present Mic a silent 'thanks' for providing you and Eraser the chance to meet.

➼ AN: Hey guys! I finally got the motivation to finish this chapter, rn I think I'm aiming for 10-12 chapters? Maybe some extra side stuff at the end, but as of now we're getting somewhere. I just had to add Aizawa calling you kitten it's too cute ;)

[our-aroace-experience]

ok so here's my ace/arospec story

ace:

i learned about being ace

oh i don't know

12 years old maybe

i searched it up after reading about it online

"aroace definition"

it went something like

"being both aromantic and asexual"

i searched up

"aromantic"

"asexual"

at first i thought it was a bit strange

i hadn't learned yet

to distinguish

between romantic attraction and sexual attraction

because i didn't know

people actually wanted sex

people actually saw someone and went

"wow"

"i want to fuck them"

i had a crush on a childhood friend of mine

at the time

(a guy. i am a girl.)

i'd always assumed i was cishet

grew up in a conservative christian household

slightly offtopic but honestly my parents were great

not stereotypical conservative christians

both allies

they had friends who were trans and gay

i'd checked out queer media from the library

and they were fine with it

anyway

back to the story

so since i had a crush on the opposite gender

i assumed ofc

i was cishet

well ofc i wasn't into sex, i was just a kid

but at age 13

almost 14

i was alone

in a hotel room, no parents, on instagram

that's the only time i could get that

late night phone time

when i didn't have parents around

i found @i.put.the.ace.in.disgrace on instagram

scrolled through every fucking post

on their account

and on the #asexual tag

i related to those posts

like

a lot

a suspicious amount for someone supposedly allo

even though i was just a kid

yeah maybe i'd grow into it

maybe i'd feel attraction one day

but not now

and who the hell was going to tell me

what i could or couldn't identify as

so i tried out the ace label

spent hours and hours

wondering if it was right

if i was really ace

if i wasn't too young

but going back to being allo felt wrong

so i decided to keep the label

the first person i came out to

was an online friend

they were so amazing and supportive of it

i love them so much for that

they said i'd been on their gaydar for a while

(a message i still think about

when wondering if i'm really ace)

felt sick the next day

i'd always been an ally

supported my queer friends

arospec aspec trans homosexual i supported them all

but it made me sick

to think about me

myself

being queer

it was sort of rough

but i got through it

later

came out to my friend and her mom

they were cool about it

i knew i'd be safe

they weren't ecstatic or super happy

but they accepted me

"cool"

that's what they said i remember it

i was a hot mess that day too

stuttered over all my words when trying to come out

and they still accepted me

i love them

later

i decided to hint at my identity to my mom

talked about not liking sex

i checked out a few ace books

from the library

my mom took me aside

i don't remember her exact words

it went something like

"it's natural to be curious

but you can't be ace at 14

you're not trying to be

are you?"

ofc

i managed to convince her i was allo

had to be more careful then

arospec:

i'd only had one crush.

one crush who i'd liked as a friend first.

you see where this is going, don't you?

well

i didn't

i'd heard that aces had not very many crushes

so i assumed i was just Really Really Asexual

and i couldn't be aro hahahaha

i'd been in love before!

aros cannot be in love!

oh by golly i was wrong

i started questioning

(only one crush?

my friends are all over their crushes

plural

and i've only had one??

maybe i'm not as allo as i thought)

i debated over gray-aro and demi-aro

picked demi

it described my experience more accurately

came out to aforementioned friend

then aforementioned online friend

they were chill about it

(fucking love them)

then i 3d printed a black ring

and a white ring

ace

and aro

and this is maybe the best part of the whole experience

i had friends who were stereotypical conservative christian

queerphobic

they complimented my aro and ace rings

and so did my mom

and that made me really happy for some reason

shit that was a long ask im sorry

thank you for sharing! i hope your mum comes around to you being aroace one day

also side note: this reads like a poem it’s so well written!

[n0v4t33z]

The Piece of Eight - Chapter of Provia

Pairings: Capt. Hongjoong X Female Reader , Crewmate San x Female Reader (Overall not chapter specific)

Genre: Pirate AU, Romance, historical-ish (not really), Action, Angst, Non-Idol AU

Word Count: 15.2k

Tags/Warnings: For Mature Audiences, Violence, Language, mentions of blood and gore, Highly Suggestive at times (This is a warning for the whole story overall)

Chapter specific: Some suggestive conversations?, straight up violence for some of it (HERE'S YOUR WARNING IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT KIND OF STUFF, SERIOUSLY), blood. Lots of it. ,cursing, war crimes , (let me know if there's anything else)

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!!

Spotify Playlist ⚓ | Masterlist 🏴‍☠️

Author's Note💌: Again, this is a very dark and gory series so please keep that in mind. It had been a while since I last re read this chapter and tbh I did add alot of stuff but I also cut alot of stuff from it too mostly Hongjoong's background because I decided I'm going to use it in later chapters instead. So anyway this chapter is going to be the last one before I go back to The Syndicate. I'm hoping you enjoy this in the meanwhile. (there's a few minor mistakes but I'll fix them at a later time) - N🌙

✦•·····································•✦•·····································•✦

The cold crisp air gently blows making my hat almost fly off my head stepping out of the ship and onto the deck but just in time I’m able to hold it on my head. “God, why is it so cold?” Wooyoung laughs rubbing both my arms trying to warm me up his soft black hair tickling my cheek from him leaning in so close “I thought you said you liked cold climates?”

I turn my face back at him pushing his hands off of me “I do but this is too much” I point over at the railings of the ship “Look, it’s so cold there’s literal icicles here.” I glance over at the horizon and groan looking at the mountainous terrain.

Although beautiful, seeing the snowy tops of the mountains, makes for one very hard and treacherous trip which makes me all the more nervous.

San walks up behind me and pokes my sides causing me to jump “Stop! It’s cold! You’re making it worse, skirt chaser!” San chuckles and when I turn back to face him I see his now bright pink hair slightly blowing in the wind while giving me his signature dimpled smile. “How’d you know it was me?”

I scoff and roll my eyes at how obviously dumb his question was “What kind of dumb question is that? It’s obviously because you’re the only one who does that..” San stuffs his hands in his pockets stifling a laugh and gently nudges my arm with his elbow “I know, I just wanted to annoy you one last time before you go.” I give him a small smile and roll my eyes. He’s so annoying.

“Geez it’s so cold, I always forget how cold Provia is until I actually come back.” Yeosang steps out rubbing his hands together and shoving them in the pockets of his blazer, his now black hair peeking out from under the wide brim hat he happens to be wearing.

“You’ve been here before?” He nods “Yeah, once years ago before I joined Hongjoong and another not too long ago with Hongjoong.” I slightly raise my eyebrow “Wow, that’s nice. It’s my first time here and so far it’s beautiful but the climate is a bit questionable seeing how ruthless it looks”

I reach for my gun to make sure it was loaded and I have enough ammo then let out a long sigh “It’s time for me to go..” 

“Well in that case, I’ll see you later yeah? Take care." Yeosang gently pats my back while I put my gun back into my holster “Sure thing. I’ll see you in a few days.”

Wooyoung walks over to me and puts me in a playful headlock knocking my hat off my head “Wow you’re leaving already? So early?” I pick up my hat and poke his side. He lets out a loud yelp and he lets go of me gently patting my shoulder.

 “Yeah, Captain wanted to go early so we reach Provia before sunset.” Wooyoung hugs himself trying to keep warm putting is hands under his arms “I wouldn’t be surprised it’s because he wants you to kill someone.” I shrug “I don’t know he didn’t tell me but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case, he just told me to get ready and be well stocked with ammo. I honestly don’t have a very good feeling about this since it’s just me and the Captain.” 

San furrows his eyebrows resting his elbow against the railing of the ship “Just you and Hongjoong? Seonghwa isn’t going? Are you worried?” I let out a small laugh “Uh yeah, I’m worried about the Captain since it’s my first time out with him and Seonghwa won’t be coming along to guide me.”

San gives me a small smile “You’ve got this.” Wooyoung smirks and reaches over to squeeze my cheeks together with one hand “ See ya in a few days.” I grab his wrist and pull it away from my face “That hurts, you weasel!” Wooyoung turns away laughing holding on to the railing from laughing so hard.

I nudge Yeosang "So where's everyone else?" He looks over at the icy landscape and says "Ah they're asleep. Seonghwa fell asleep in Hongjoong's room, I know this because he told me he wasn't going to sleep in the crew chambers last night."

Yeosang leans in and lowers his voice to a mere whisper "Hongjoong couldn't sleep last night and so he stayed up with him." I nod with a slight frown on my face. Is Hongjoong okay? Is he scared? Nervous?

“Ready?” I jump seeing Hongjoong standing there his notable all black trench coat ensemble complete with leather gloves and his wide brim hat. He stands there waiting for me at the ramp lightly tapping his boot on the deck floor.

I wonder how long he’s been standing there, how odd he didn’t even say anything.

“Ah, yes Captain.” I turn back to Yeosang, Wooyoung and San waving goodbye “I’m going, see you guys! Tell the others I said goodbye!” I speed walk over to Hongjoong and we both walk down the ramp “Our horses should be over by the city, I'm not risking any of mine.” Hongjoong muttered.

I nod and stay quiet for a few moments until I decide to blurt out “So what exactly are we doing here?”  Hongjoong walks in silence resting his hand on the holster of his gun while he walks .

“I need to know what I’m getting myself into. I need to know how to protect you Captain. My apologies for not dropping it but I can't be left in the dark.” He chews on his bottom lip then he slowly exhales resulting in his frosty breath making an appearance “I’ll tell you when we get our horses.”

“Why?” I ask slightly confused as to why he's become so secretive all of a sudden. Honjoong turns in my direction and sternly utters “Don’t question me, just listen. and be quiet.”

I look ahead and roll my eyes. Why is he being like this? I’m literally stuck by his side what’s his deal? I need to know what’s coming to prepare for my surroundings. I can't go in blind.

After walking for a little bit we arrive at the small city by the shore and we pick up our horses. Once we get on them we ride in complete silence through the frosty forest until I break the silence once again “Okay tell me what we’re doing now and why we’re keeping it a secret.”

He looks over at me for a few seconds then looks forward again hiding his eyes with his hat “It’s not a secret I just need you to help me get rid of someone for me. I couldn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure if you’d back out on me considering it’s your first time and I didn’t tell anyone on the ship simply because I didn’t think it was necessary.. ”

“Okay, so who is it?” He looks ahead onto the terrain ahead of us and without hesitation he says “Jaques Norwood, He’s an executive officer of the Provian military. A very problematic one at that.”

Intrigued, I raise my eyebrow “How come?” He stays quiet for a few seconds staring off into the icy trees ahead of us then answers flatly “I'm not going into detail but he’s one of the reasons I lost everything I had at one point in my life. ”

Hm, not going into detail? I wonder if it's because it's painful for him to remember or maybe he just doesn't want to come off as vulnerable to someone he doesn't know very well. Which I understand.

Unable to form any words I hum softly and Hongjoong continues “So I need you to assist me. Seonghwa being a male unfortunately I won’t be able to get as close as I want to, but you being a fresh faced woman and all I’m almost positive he’ll give in pretty easily.”

Ew, he’s going to have me flirt with a possible disgusting old psycho? “As much as flirting with an old guy sounds funny, is the point of this to distract him?”

He briefly glances over at me “Correct.” I nod then I suggest “How about I do the job for you and you can just go back to the ship? Sounds easier. Safer.”  Hongjoong stays quiet almost like he was thinking whether to stay or leave “Don’t worry, I will not disclose to anyone who I’m working with.” I give him a reassuring smile and he lets out a sigh.

“I’m not letting you go alone.” I furrow my brows and slightly tilt my head “Why is that?” He shrugs “Because I said so.” I roll my eyes. Isn't he stubborn. “Captain you’re making this more complicated than it has to be. Go back. I promise you I’ll get rid of this person. I just need to know you’ll be safe.”

He abruptly stops his horse. Did I finally get through him? It’s like he only listens when I make it obvious I care for him. How funny. He turns to me and softly chuckles “You’re very kind y/n, but I think it’s best this remains a team effort.”

Definitely not looking forward to hanging out with that old fart, but what Hongjoong says goes. I nod in silence gently biting the inside of my lip, unfortunately worry must have been written all over my face because then Hongjoong follows up with “Don’t worry about that man, I know what you’re thinking and he won’t get the chance. I promise you nothing is going to happen, I just need you as a distraction.”

I glance over at him reassuringly “I trust you then..” He curves his lips into a smile and continues “Good, that means you and I will part ways here and we will see eachother again in the city. Meet me at the Twelve Rabbit tavern.”

My eyes slightly widen “Wait, why?” He checks behind us as if making sure that it was just us “They’ve got eyes everywhere, and if they see you arriving with me they’ll know we’re up to something and it will be nearly impossible to get close to Norwood. ”

“Okay, but how else are you going to get to the main city?” He points east “I’ll have to take the long route since I need to pick up a few things on one of the outer skirts of the main city but I promise I’ll be there. In the meanwhile try to blend in as much as possible.”

I look over at Hongjoong and Salute “Aye Captain!” He chuckles and begins to steer his horse east and I yell out “Take care!” From a distance I see him nodding in acknowledgement with a smile. I sit there for a few minutes watching him until I decide to begin heading towards the main city to make it in time.   

After a few hours of a quiet ride to Provia I eventually arrive to the gates. There is some sort of ceremony or a public event coming up judging from the amount of people coming in and out of the gates. Which is quite alot, unfortunately I have another problem which is that I don’t know what this Jaques Norwood looks like.

I tie my horse onto a tree close by the main gate, now the problem is sneaking in. Ironically I happen to see a merchant wheeling in hay and I pretend to walk behind the huge cart full. I turn around to look behind me and notice there were two merchants behind this one. Dammit.

“Hello gentlemen, can I get a quick favor?” I give them a curt smile and pull out a bag of golden coins slightly dangling it in front of me. Both men stare at me then the younger one with the fur hat speaks “Depends, how much is that?” I look down at the bag then shrug “About 600 crescents..Probably more though.” The man on the left with the hat looks at the older man to his right with the long beard and both nod in agreement. The man with the long beard then speaks “What do you need child?”

I look at the line very slowly moving ahead of us and put my hands together “Can you please let the guards know I’m guarding your cargo?” The man with the fur hat furrows his brows then I continue “I just need to sneak in and see my mother is all, please..”

The bearded man sympathetically looks at me and nods “Alright, go ahead as long as you fulfill your part of the deal.” 

I quickly retrieve my horse from the tree near the entrance and ride my horse to position it behind the two men’s cargo. Just as we get closer I happen to look down and notice my hourglass pin on full display. Shit.

I awkwardly pull my hair forward and I let out a sigh of relief. I almost fucked that up big time, I really am very nervous and it shows. God, I wish Seonghwa joined us. Maybe then I wouldn’t be so damn clueless.

By the time I snap out of my thoughts it’s our turn and the two guards up by the gate sported the same uniform which was a dark blue thick jacket lined with black fur and a black fur hat with flaps covering their ears. The crest of Provia being on the front part of the hat.

On one of their hips they had a long needle thin sword and one of them also carried some sort of big gun, not one that I recognized though, must be new. The one with the sword holds a notepad and the other one with he gun walks up to the men’s cargo and begins to carefully inspect “What is this?”

The older bearded man then responds “It’s fish sir, we’re fishermen.” The soldier hums and begins to walk towards the back in my direction. He looks at me and narrows his eyes suspiciously then says “Are you with the fishermen?” I nod “I am, I’m guarding their cargo.”

The soldier looks under the tarp of the wagon then looks back at me while the soldier behind him writes stuff down. “What’s with the clothes?” I shrug “It’s all I could find in Shiva that was warm.”

He looks over at the soldier behind him and both exchange odd looks then stares back at me for a good while until he harshly taps the wagon and yells “Clear!” The soldiers keeps their eyes on me until we finally move past them and into the city. I then ride ahead and thank the fishermen for their help and toss the coins over to them.

While I ride around I see all the different shops from butcher shops to weapon shops. Hm, maybe I’ll go in there later. My eye is immediately caught by a beautiful blood red dress.

So pretty, unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to wear that for my meeting with Jaques. Or can I? An evil smirk appears onto my features then I shake my head.

No, I can’t because I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull it off considering it’s my first time doing this I shouldn't get cocky. I glance over at the window again and look at the beautiful red dress. I feel like if I appeal to this man I can bring Hongjoong a memento I just have to be close enough to be able to do that. Fuck it, I’ll do it. Maybe it'll work.

I enter the store and the store owner greets me “Hi, what can I help you with today Miss?” I make sure my pin is hidden and smile “I’m looking for a nice dress and a hood. I heard this place makes really good ones.”

The store owner nods and walks out from behind the counter “I see, is it for the pinning ceremony of Jaques Norwood?” I brightly smile “Yes, that one...”

She leads me over to where alot of dresses were and none of them seemed to catch my eye because I kept thinking about the one on the window. “How much is the one on the window? The red one, it’s gorgeous.” She smiles “Oh, that’s a new one! That’s 2,800 Crescents, a cape is included with it which is why the price is a little steep ”

Oof she’s right a little steep but I have enough money on me so I’ll be fine. Got to look my best so I'm sure Hongjoong won't mind me spending it. “I’ll take it!” She clasps her hands together excitedly “I’ll package it for you right away Miss.” before I head over to the counter another red satin dress with puff sleeves catches my eye.

This will be my going out dress. After paying for both dresses and a beautiful black fur jacket I manage to get a room in the nearby tavern Hongjoong talked about. I drop off my new dresses and my other stuff off and head over to the bar area of the tavern.

Hmm I’ve never been to a tavern but I’ve heard about them from what my grandfather has told me I think I once heard him talk about him and his comrades getting a drink called the “corpse reviver” which sounded kind of scary now that I think about it.

As soon as I sit down a well dressed older man says  “Hello welcome to The Twelve Rabbit Tavern, is there anything that interests you?” I adjust myself in my seat “A corpse reviver please.”

His eyebrows slightly rise then gives me a soft smile “A hard day huh?” I shrug “Just exhausted.” He nods then hands me my drink, it looked a bit like lemonade. Maybe that’s why grandpa likes it so much “Please enjoy. Say, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you around here.”

I take a sip of my drink which surprised me how strong it was. I try my absolute hardest to keep a straight face “I’m just traveling.” The old man notices the awkward facial expression I make and says “Too strong?” I nod while my body shakes a bit involuntarily from how strong the drink was and the old man laughs “Don’t worry, I’ll get you something a little easier to drink.”

I don’t understand why my grandpa would drink something so disgusting it doesn’t even taste edible, then again I’ve never had alcohol in my entire life. Just never really interested me in all honesty why spend money on a disgusting drink when I can drink a delicious cup of coffee or juice.

The old man turns back to me and gives me a drink that was a beautiful orange gradient, it looked almost like a sunset which was almost too pretty to drink. “Here you go, this one should be much more palatable. I went easy on the liquor.” I take a drink then I nod and give him a smile “Thank you, it's perfect.”

The man begins to clean his work space with a rag “So, are you here for the pinning ceremony? It seems these days alot of people are arriving here for that. Including the Piece of Eight.” My heart stops and I look down and notice the hourglass pin on my chest was showing then I cover it with my hair.

“They’re looking for Kim Hongjoong as we speak. They know he’s here and they’re onto him.” My stomach drops and my hands get a bit clammy while the man continues “The thing is, that man is a man of the people. So if you need help with anything just let me know and I’ll be of assistance.”

This is still dangerous, what if he sells me out or something. What if he's lying? I’ll make sure to keep tabs on him. I take another sip of my drink “Did you meet with my Captain? Is this why you know we’re even here?” He shakes his head “No, but you’re proof they’re here. I can tell you’re very new to this so I’ll tell you now that the military will be very strict at the pinning ceremony. Which is why I suggest you fake being a socialite from a far away country to lift suspicion if you’re going to go. The more obscure the better.”

Ah, now I see why Hongjoong loves to be in good graces with the people. It makes things a hundred times easier, he’s smart. I look over at the other people in the tavern then look back at the old man “Why are you helping me?”

He dries a glass with another smaller rag and he smiles “Because thanks to your dear Captain my wife was able to get treatment and recover from a bad illness. So the least I should do is help you.” My eyebrows raise “Oh wow.”

I notice the old man looks behind me then says in an even lower voice than before “By the way, Jaques frequently visits the Ivory Bell tavern in the military district of Provia. You’ll know who he is when you see him, he sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest.”

He points at the pin on my chest and i turn around to see it was a Provian policeman then I carefully remove the pin and put it in my pocket and get up extending my hand “I’ll get going now, your name is?”

He smiles and shakes my hand “Theo.” I nod and hand him my money “I’ll see you later Theo.” I casually walk past the Provian Policeman and walk outside.

After a little while I find the Ivory Bell Tavern and of course it looks like something owned by the government, pretty pristine and expensive looking. As soon as I enter I notice a lot of military men, a few with some female companions.

By the bar chairs near the bartender I notice a man wearing a high ranking military uniform which was dark blue with his decorated medals and pins. His dirty blonde hair neatly put into a combover and icy blue eyes. He was wearing glasses that were silver rimmed and complimented his features very well which made him look very important and intimidating.

So, I’m guessing this is the guy I’m looking for. I sit down next to him and tell the bartender behind the counter “Hello, can I get a corpse reviver?” I need to look cool, luckily now I know what to expect. The blond man turns to me and smirks “You must have had a tough day.” I nod “Yeah, work has me like that unfortunately ”

  His eyebrow rises “Really? What’s your occupation?”  I turn to him and smile “I run my father’s tavern in Sheba. I’m here on a business trip.” He takes a drink from his amber colored drink “Maybe If I ever stop by Sheba I’ll stop by at your father’s hotel. What’s the name?”

The bartender brings me the dreaded lemonade colored drink “The Devil’s Cradle” I smirk and take a small sip only this time I manage to mask my disgust and manage to keep a straight face “Sounds very nice, I like the name. “ I trace my finger around the rim of the glass and smile “Yeah, it’s so nice you’ll sleep like a corpse or so that’s what our patrons have told us.”

He chuckles and extends his hand reaching for mine and gently kisses the back of my hand “How rude of me. I’m Jaques Norwood, what’s your name?” Got him. I push a strand of hair behind my ear and smile “Ah, so you’re the star of the pinning ceremony in a few days? I’m Scarlet Frost by the way, nice to meet you.”

He smirks, his blue eyes piercing into my soul. “You have such a beautiful name, something that’s very hard to forget.” I take a sip of my drink “Hard to forget indeed.” He pushes his glasses up “So are you being accompanied by anyone?”

I take another sip of my drink trying to concentrate on not spitting my drink out. I just hope I don't get drunk then I'll be fucked. “Nope, I’m here alone unfortunately. The attendant that usually accompanies me couldn’t make it this time due to his wife being in labor so I just told him I wouldn’t mind making the trip by myself.”

His cold blue eyes attentively look at me while holding onto his drink slightly making my hands a bit clammy. He was attentive to what I was saying but is he examining what I'm saying to see if it's credible?

“Father was hesitant about it at first but he eventually agreed since we kind of had no choice because he's sick.” He gives me a concerned look and says “Wow, you’re one brave woman to be traveling alone. Your father must be proud to have such a thoughtful daughter. Are you not afraid? Especially nowadays when the scum of the sea are constantly terrorizing and killing people”

I sigh and look down at my drink “I am a little bit but I’ve honestly have had my fair share of horrible people, so as scary as those seamen are it’s going to take alot more than sea bandits trying to rob me in order for me to stop helping my father.”

He chuckles “What a woman, you know. Not many are as hardworking and strong like you. Even so, part of me wants to protect you because you must have been through alot considering being a woman who travels alone isn’t usually very easy..”

I let my eyes lose focus and the man’s face turns into nothing but a blurred mess for a few seconds until I re focus my eyesight. God I feel weird, I think I'm getting drunk.. or tipsy?

"Oh Mr. Norwood you’re very kind-" he gives me a soft smile and says "I know, I'm coming off too strong. I'm very sorry about that Miss Frost, beautiful women are indeed one of my weaknesses."

“Alright, you win.” I giggle and gently pat his arm. He notices this and his ears slowly turn into a soft shade of pink. I think I've got him. That's good right?

After about an excruciating two hours pass by of sitting there and chatting with this man like my life depended on it I finish my drink and get up “I’m getting a little tired I think I should go, I’ll see you around Mr. Norwood.” He grabs my hand and gently pulls me back towards him “We should see each other again sometime? I really do enjoy your presence.” He gently strokes the back of my hand with his thumb. I smile, my ears turning red from the attention “Of course, I would love to meet you again.”

He brings my hand up to his lips and gently kisses the back of my hand and pulls out an invitation from his breast pocket and hands me the dark blue invitation with a silver wax seal on it the crest engraved in the seal being the Provian crest.

“Tomorrow at 2pm?” I nod pressing my lips into a slightly nervous smile and take the invitation. The man looks into my eyes with his icy blue eyes, the feeling being almost overwhelming knowing Hongjoong is not going to take this man lightly. “You need me to walk you back to your tavern? A pretty girl like you shouldn’t walk alone so late.”

I shake my head shyly covering my face with the invitation “Oh no, sir it’s okay I really don’t want to be a bother.” He gently rubs circles on the back of my hand ”Nonsense, a beautiful woman like you is no bother. The streets of Provia can be a bit frightening at night and it’s no place for a lady like you to be out.”

I smile and gently rest my free hand on his knee “I promise you no one will mess with me, I’ll head home quickly..” He nods understandingly without breaking eye contact “I understand but it still doesn’t take away that I’m a bit uncertain letting you go alone can I at least walk you halfway?”

Fuck.. Maybe I should agree just in case. I nod while I give him the sweetest smile that’s humanly possible. How was it this easy?  What the heck?! Maybe he knows!? “Of course Mr. Norwood.” He gives me a small and knowing smile almost like he was proud of himself. “Alright Miss Frost, let’s get you home so you can rest.” Jaques and I pay the bartender for my drink and step out.

Outside I look around to make sure no one weird was around since it was quite dark now. Jaques turns to me and reassuringly pats my shoulder “Don’t worry, I’m here. I’ll protect you.” He takes my hand and laces his fingers in between mine. It’s been a while since someone’s been interested in me , let alone held my hand so it felt almost foreign to me seeing a man be so gentle.

Suddenly I get this strong feeling that I’m being watched, how odd. I didn’t see anyone following me this whole time so why do I feel like I’m being followed? Is it perhaps Hongjoong?

As soon as I hit the halfway mark to our destination I gently tug on the tall blue eyed man’s jacket and come to a halt “Well, it’s time for me to go Mr. Norwood.” He pushes a few strands of hair and gives me a worried look “Are you positive you don’t want me to walk you back pretty girl?” I nod “I’m positive, you should really get going anyways because you’ll need that rest for tomorrow.”

He silently nods for a few seconds “I’m looking forward to seeing you again Miss Frost. Goodnight.” I smirk “Yes, I as well Mr. Norwood have a good night.” He gently kisses the back of my hand again and watches me walk away. I could feel his eyes piercing into my back giving me slight goosebumps, once I turn around again to wave goodbye I force a smile.

In return a small smile paints the blonde man’s face and for some strange reason I get slightly nauseous so I turn away terrified I might make a weird facial expression that gives me away luckily I'm almost positive he didn't notice.

When I arrive back to the tavern and head up to my room I sit on the bed and think about what exactly this Jaques dude had to do with the Captain. What is his connection and why does he want him dead?

I know he told me he was a reason why he lost everything but what I want to know is what that reason is but I guess it’s all in due time since Jaques never mentioned anything regarding his work in the military no matter how many times I pressed on the matter. 

On the day of the ceremony I get ready for it by putting on the beautiful red puff sleeve red dress with a sweetheart neckline and some drop ruby earrings and necklace. For my hair I settle for a pretty updo with red crystal flowers all over my hair. When I look in the mirror I smile “I’ll get you that pretty little medal Captain, after all it's you who deserves it the most.”

The pinning ceremony is in the main city square theater and there was a lot of people there, most of them looked important which makes me even more uncomfortable because I think it’s best I steer clear of them. So I sit at the perfect distance to where I could still see but not be too close.

Unfortunately for me this is when I realize how boring these things are and how lucky I am to at least be sitting in here and not outside in the cold. After about an hour of them blabbing on and on about Mr. Norwood’s accomplishments I hear one thing that sticks out to me and it was “Social Cleansing of inmoral people in possession of an illegal artifact” How are they glorifying that?! This is a crime, why is this being celebrated? This has to be related to Hongjoong.

Now I know why he wants him dead, it’s because instead of him getting punished by the government he’s getting praised for what he’s done. I stare at Jaques and the General up on stage I look around notice how happy everyone is, this has to be a sick joke.

No way in hell are people actually encouraging “social cleansing” regardless of what they're in possession of, unless they’re just blindly following their beloved military “heroes” thinking evreything they do is a good thing or they just straight up have no clue what it means. 

Throughout the ceremony I stand there contemplating if I should end them right at this moment, regardless of the amount of military personnel in the area. My mind is stuck in an endless loop of contemplation and anger where I completely ignore what is being said on stage.

After the ceremony I notice Jaques taking pictures with his new medal with the general of the Provian military. This time I reach inside my purse and clutch onto the gun tightly. What’s really stopping me from killing both of them right now?

It would be so much easier but not satisfying enough, besides this is Hongjoong’s kill and he instructed me to be a distraction not kill. “Scarlet! Over here!”  I see Jaques walking towards me so I let go of the gun and leave it in my purse.

He grabs my hand and kisses my knuckles “Wow, you look beautiful. Red really suits you very well.” I force a smile and smooth out my dress with my other free hand “Thank you Mr. Norwood.” He begins to pull me in the direction towards other military officers “Come meet my superiors.” I stop and shake my head “I want to be with you though not them, besides they kind of make me uncomfortable because of how i'mport they are. I don't want to accidentally say anything weird..”

He smiles and and gently caresses my cheek “You’re so cute, they can be intimidating at times but I understand. They make me quite uncomfortable too. We can be together for a little but then I have to go just for a bit because I have a meeting with the lieutenant colonel and the brigadier general about the Piece of Eight being here in Provia. Please do me a favor and hide if you see any of those nefarious pirates.”

I almost let out an audible gasp but manage to suppress it by covering my mouth. Hongjoong is here in Provia already? Is that why I felt like someone was watching me? Could it have been him? I slightly stutter “Pirates? Here in Provia?”

His face goes serious “Yeah, one of the Provian policemen saw Kim Hongjoong last night.” My heart stops and almost jumps out of my throat.  “What’s wrong Scarlet? You look pale?” I shake my head silently then he gently lifts my chin and looks into my eyes with those soulless blue eyes. I really hope Hongjoong is okay “I promise you’ll be okay. He won’t hurt you.” 

Of course not, but he'll hurt you. “Of course, I trust you. I’m just a bit spooked. I’ve heard many stories about him.” He presses his lips onto my forehead "You don't have to worry about him Scarlet dear, the military is looking for him as we speak. Not to mention you're with one of the best here in Provia so you're safe with me."

He pats my head and gently rubs his thumb on my cheeks “I’ve got to get going, I’ll see you at 8pm for the masquerade ball tonight okay?” I force a smile and nod “Of course, I’ll be there. Take care Mr. Norwood.” He gently kisses my forehead and makes his way in the direction of his superiors. I wait until I see Jaques completely out of sight and begin to walk back to the Twelve Rabbit.

When I arrive I look around for Theo and sit at the empty side of the bar where he walks over to me and just like every other time I meet him he politely greets me “Miss, hello. What would you like?” I sit there and think for a few seconds “Coffee?” He chuckles and turns towards the back “Right away.”

While he’s gone I make sure no one else sits near the bar area so when he comes back he gently sets the warm cup of coffee in front of me with a few cookies next to it. Immediately I lean in a little close to Theo “I need your help Theo.” He looks at me waiting for my request and I continue but this time in a lower voice than before “I found him, please cover for me once I leave tonight.”

He gives me a worried look and before he can say anything I shake my head “Don’t worry you won’t be in trouble. Just change the name of the log on my room, and if they ask you for a description throw them off by giving them one that looks nothing like me. That’s all, I’m sure the Captain will pay you for your help.”

The old man gives me a warm smile “There’s no need, don’t worry. I’ve already changed the name on your room’s log.” I smile and mouth the words “Thank you” I slide my payment onto the table and take a sip of my coffee and taking the cookies with me.

I need to see where this will all take place unfortunately I have to walk all the way back to the military district. It’s weird, that feeling of being watched comes back making me look around but to no avail I didn’t see anyone suspicious. Just Provian people minding their business.

This is honestly getting on my nerves now, this feeling is just unsettling because I don’t know if it’s an enemy or not. So when I walk past a sketchy alleyway someone pulls me by the wrist and covers my mouth pulling me towards them. I knew someone was following me.

My back rests against their chest so when my instant reflexes kick in I elbow and punch said person whom lets out a yelp and falls to the ground. I glance at the person and I realize it was Hongjoong. Oh shit. I gasp and help him up.

He was coughing quite hard and I felt bad so I kneel over and pat his back my hand gently resting on his chest “What the fuck are you doing here?! You told me to meet you at the Twelve Rabbit..”

He leans over and puts his hand over my mouth “Why were you at the ceremony?!” I give Hongjoong a surprised look then remove his hand from my face “So it was you following me?!” He shushes me and covers my mouth again “Just announce I’m here why don’t you, you never answered my question. Why were you at the ceremony? Did any of the military people see you?”

I stare at the ground for a bit then raise my gaze “Mr. Norwood invited me, and no, at least I don’t think so.. He tried to get me to meet them but I declined.” He looks at me shaking his head “If that’s the case why didn’t you kill him and the General? They were so close.” Did he-

“I’m sorry captain but there was too many people. Besides you said I was only the distraction, this is your kill and I respect it.” He sighs and rubs the side of his temples “Nobody was going to know where that bullet came from with that amount of people there but I understand you were obeying what I ordered you to do”

The surprise, I can’t ruin it. I bite the inside of my cheek and look down while he continues “I knew I should have come with you-” I put my hand over his lips and quiet him down “Look, go to the tavern and get everything ready for when we come back because after we do we’ll have to haul ass back to the ship. And I mean fast.”

 He furrows his eyebrows and slowly removes my hand from his face  “Wait you met Theo? He’s still there?” I nod and continue “Please Captain, help me in that sense I’ve already told Theo what to do I’m sure in the meanwhile it’ll give you time to catch up with him.” I give him a faint smile then I pull the invitation out of my purse and show it to Hongjoong.

“Look, I also have something I know will make you happy..” Hongjoong smirks and takes the invitation from my hands “How in the world did you get that?..” I smile and push a lock of my hair behind my ear “Mr. Norwood has a crush on yours truly.”

 Hongjoong lets out a quiet laugh gently patting my head “Thank you.” I nod and give him a two finger salute “No problem.” I start walking back to the main street out of the alleyway then glance back at Hongjoong “I’ll see you later Captain, please make it to the Twelve Rabbit safely. The military is looking for you as we speak.” 

Hongjoong’s response is simply a small smile which made me happy. Seeing him happy made me happy for some reason, I’m guessing this is how I know we’re close now. You’re happy when your friend is also happy and If I'm being honest I've always strived for my grandfather and father’s approval for as long as I can remember but I'm not going to lie when I admit that I really want Hongjoong’s approval too. I will go above and beyond so as not to disappoint him even if he has his questionable moments.

After inspecting the building where the masquerade will be held and looking at all the exits and hiding spots I head back to the Twelve Rabbit and head over to my room when I open the door I notice Hongjoong is laying on my bed his blazer was on the chair next to the desk in my room and his white dress shirt unbuttoned exposing his chest.

A glass of amber colored liquid on the nightstand next to my bed. Why is he half naked on my bed? Is he drunk? I check the time and it was 4:39 pm I don't want to wake him. He seemed to be enjoying his nap from the looks of it, I’m sure he’s exhausted. 

I'll just sit here and nap on the desk until it's time for me to get ready, besides I have plenty of time to spare. I take off my black fur jacket and sit on the chair where Hongjoong's blazer was hanging and lay my head down on my arms on the desk. Surprisingly it wasn't that uncomfortable so falling asleep was a piece of cake. 

I sleep for a while until I feel a gentle nudge followed by a whisper "y/n. Wake up, you should be getting ready for tonight." My eyes groggily flutter open and when I turn I notice Hongjoong leaning over with his hand on my shoulder and his shirt still undone giving me a full shot of his toned chest and abs looking at me with a small smile.

 I quietly hum and sit there waking myself up while he walks over to the bed and sits "Why didn't you sleep on the bed? You're going to mess your back up if you keep sleeping like that." I squint my eyes in slight annoyance. What kind of question is that? "Maybe because you were sleeping on my bed? That's weird if I sleep on it while you're sleeping on it too." 

His eyebrow rises "There's nothing wrong with it, you're just sleeping next to me." I roll my eyes and cross my arms in front of me "Yeah no, that makes me uncomfortable." Hongjoong chuckles "Fair enough, I respect that. Even then you should have woken me up and let me know you were going to rest a little bit." 

"I'm sorry Captain but I couldn't do that you looked exhausted, besides I think that’s going to be a regular occurrence of me sleeping on a chair while you sleep.. " He slightly tilts his head “How come?” I dryly laugh “What do you mean why? Because I’ll probably fall asleep while keeping watch sometimes.”

 He nods giving me a sullen smile and reaches over for his blazer and puts it on “Well, I’ll let you get ready. I’ll do that as well, I’ll meet you downstairs.” He walks over to the door and closes it behind him leaving me alone in the candle lit room.

I glance over at the pastel pink box with a white ribbon and pick it up gently setting it on the bed. After opening the box I gently pick up the dress and take in the beauty of the dress, this is probably going to be the first and last time I wear this gorgeous dress I'm afraid.

 After putting the dress on I stare at myself in the mirror and look at the beautiful dark red lace bodice beautifully accentuating the right places with the lace jeweled off the shoulder sleeves softly glistening in the soft candle light.

 I smile to myself and I let my hair down from my previous style and put my hair in a half up half down style with a hair stick in the shape of a dragon with red jewels as eyes. For shoes I settle with some black heeled ankle boots then I put on a black lace mask with red jewels and accents. Lastly I put on the beautiful red cape over my dress, the inside being lined with black fur making it very warm.

 After I head downstairs to the bar area to bid goodbye to Theo. I walk towards the bar area and see Hongjoong and Theo were talking, it wasn’t until Theo stays silent that Hongjoong turns and his lips slightly part. His expression is that of being in complete shock for a few seconds then he composes himself and clears his throat and stares at me waiting for me to say something.

 I look at both Theo and Hongjoong “I’ll be going now.. “ Theo smiles and says “Good luck Miss y/n. There’s a carriage outside waiting, Sir Hongjoong paid for it.” I slightly raise my eyebrows then Hongjoong says “I’ll catch up to you, arriving with you might be dangerous..” I nod and walk outside realizing there was indeed a black carriage with a beautiful black and white spotted horse.

 Once I’m helped into the carriage and I arrive at the location of the ball it was a complete 180 from earlier in the day and it looked gorgeous. Beautiful lights and decorations adorning the place making it look unreal.

 Straight out of a fairytale that mom and grandma used to tell me. When I step out of the carriage I show the guards my invitation, Immediately after entering I’m greeted with Jaques pulling me into his arms into a tight hug “Miss Frost, you’re looking gorgeous tonight. Aren’t you cold? You poor thing..”

I pull back and notice he was wearing an all black ensemble with a white half mask covering the right side of his face, despite the smile on his face his eyes still as soulless as before. It was honestly kind of scary in a way. “I am a little bit but Thank you Mr. Norwood you’re looking very handsome yourself.” 

He takes my hand and gently plants a kiss on my knuckles, and leads me inside the ball. At the entrance a military employee takes my cape and puts it in the back. I quickly glance over at Jaques and say worriedly “He took my cape..” Jaques chuckles and removes his coat handing it over to the military employee “No worries, they’re going to keep it safe for you they’re not keeping it.”

 I slowly nod feeling slightly embarrassed “Ah, I’m sorry I wasn’t aware.” Jaques gently kisses my temple and smiles “You’re so precious..” Way to make it known you’re that poor you don’t even know customs of the nobles and higher ups. 

I glance inside the huge ballroom and If I thought the outside looked gorgeous then the inside was immaculate because everything was perfect from the way the chandeliers glimmered in the light to the beautiful reflective marble floor. Never in my life did I think I’d ever experience something like this, a poor nobody from Eledonia feeling like a princess seems unreal but alas it wasn’t. 

Unfortunately it was something that’s brief and probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. The guests seemed to be either nobles or high ranking military officers which made things much scarier considering I’m not used to being in such formal situations. We walk past a few women who were whispering amongst themselves while staring directly at me almost like they were wondering who on earth I was. Unmoved by this action Jaques leads me into the dancefloor and smiles “Would you be so kind as to take this dance Miss Frost?”

 I curve my lips into a timid smile “I’d Love to” He slithers his hand behind my back and pulls me close and we dance a few songs together, the whole time I take small glances behind him to see if Hongjoong would show up. “You seem to be looking around quite a bit, are you looking for someone in particular?”

 Oh shit. He’s getting suspicious. “Oh no, I’m just still in shock from how beautiful this place is.” He looks around himself and nods “Ah, I figure you’ve never been to parties of this caliber?” I nod “Yes, this is my first time. I wish my father was here so he’d be able to enjoy a party like this too.”

 Suddenly from behind Jaques I see a man dressed in a white ensemble with beautiful golden embroidery, his hair that familiar shade of unnatural blonde pushed back. The mask he wears covers his eyes but very delicately accentuates his eye shape with the delicate placement and bordering of pearls along the mask, while a white fluffy feather adorns the top corner of the mask.

 With him he carries a white cane, the handle being some kind of sharp beaked bird. Suddenly it dawns on me, this is Hongjoong. His hair, the clothes, the confidence he carries himself with, he’s here. Hongjoong looks around for a little until he spots me, his gaze locks onto mine and smirks. 

By now Mr. Norwood notices my silence and leans in and whispers “Do you know him?” those words make my stomach drop but I try to play it off “What do you mean?” He chuckles while we dance “You seem to be looking at him almost like you know him,“ 

I nervously laugh and shake my head “Oh no such thing Mr. Norwood. I’m just admiring his ensemble, it’s very peculiar.” He smirks and gently kisses my forehead “I’m sorry I get a bit jealous, you’re just so gorgeous I don’t want you looking at anyone else but me...” My eyes look around for Hongjoong once again but to no avail he was gone. Where is he? This man touching me is really freaking me out now. Jaques looks deep into my eyes with his icy blue eyes “How about we go somewhere more private?” A knot grows in my throat and I nod pressing my lips into a forced smile. 

He gently pulls me away from the dancefloor and down a hallway leading to a beautiful courtyard in the back. We walk down a stone path to a soft ivory colored gazebo with beautiful thorned red flowers blooming alongside the entrance. It’s cold, how are those flowers blooming? I’ve never seen something like this before. We both look out from the gazebo and into the beautiful garden of similar red flowers being illuminated by the moon.

 The sight was to die for unfortunately Jaques had other things in mind. “Let me see those beautiful eyes of yours.” I turn to meet his empty blue ones and a small smirk grows onto his features then he leans in and pulls me into a kiss, only it felt like it was eternity before he pulled away. Gross, I feel sick..

“You know a Provian officer saw you talking to Kim Hongjoong by an alleyway earlier today. He said you looked very well acquainted.” Oh no. He knows, he knows! What do I say? Do I feign innocent? Is this why he lured me outside? He’s going to kill me isn’t he? “Kim Hongjoong was recently seen with unnatural blonde hair...”

 He gently puts his hand to cup my cheek and continues “Just like that man in the white ensemble you were looking at. It’s him isn’t it? Your Captain?” I thickly swallow and shake my head “Mr. Norwood what-” The man interjects while holding my face in his hand “It is isn’t it? Tell me.” I shake my head, trying to swallow the knot in my throat. 

He stands there staring at me waiting for me to say something until I muster up the courage to finally speak “Fine, you’ve caught me.” I gently run my hands up his chest, this causes his hand to slowly tighten “That doesn’t mean that I can’t like you though right? Or is that forbidden too?”

 His eyebrow rises in amusement “You’re telling me you actually like me or is this bluff so that you get away with it.” I try to shake my head feigning innocence “No, I mean it I do like you.” he loosens his grip again and gently strokes my cheek with his thumb “Such a beautiful thing…”

  He tilts my head back slightly and leans in only mere centimeters in front of my face and continues “What a shame you have friends who are not so nice.” Okay, why is he looking at me like that? I bite the inside of my lip and close my eyes until a familiar voice echoes in our direction, Hongjoong. 

 “Who says we’re not nice? Last time I checked all the money we robbed from Chesan was returned to their rightful owners, the people.” I hear the cocking of a pistol and turn to see Hongjoong pointing it at Jaques. Immediately without a second thought Jaques puts his arm around my throat pulling my back onto his chest.

 I remove my hair pin and aim to stab him in the neck only for him to tightly grab my hand re directing the pin into my shoulder causing me to let out a pained gasp knocking me to the ground in the process immediately afterwards Hongjoong shoots him in the stomach twice knocking him on his back. “y/n, are you okay?!” I nod reassuring him and he walks over to Jaques and stands above him pointing his gun directly over his face. 

In the distance we hear the guards making their way to the courtyard causing Hongjoong to grumble under his breath “You’re under my mercy now, unfortunately I don’t have as much time as I would like because of your big mouth.” I glance over at the guards. Oh no, this is definitely not how I envisioned any of this going. 

I get up and pull the pin out from my shoulder and grunt in pain “Captain, I’ll take care of this.” He nods and I run towards a hallway leading to a courtyard. One of the higher ranking guards spots me and I hide behind a bush in the courtyard while says through his teeth “Find her! She went into the bushes” 

LIttle does he know he fucked up asking his men to look for me. I see him walk around the courtyard and says “Here kitty, kitty” He makes mocking cat noises then I grab a pebble and throw it at the bush opposite of me. He hears this and walks back with his back facing directly towards me getting on his knee to check if I’m behind the bush. I smirk and take out a small blade from the leg holster next to my gun. 

I walk behind him and cover his mouth putting my blade on his neck then I whisper “You make a noise, I’ll turn you into my personal meat shield” I know he’s going to try something funny so with ease I slit his throat and let him fall back against the soft grass. He clutches his neck and chokes on his own blood.

From a distance I hear noises of struggle in the distance and realize it was Jaques and Hongjoong possibly getting into a brawl. I whistle causing the other guards to run in my direction, in the meanwhile I load my gun. 

Right when I see a few of them are in one spot I pop up from behind the bush and shoot a few of the guards dead. I look around for a small ledge to climb on to try and do an aerial attack. Once I climb the side ledge of the building via a small ladder on the side I start reloading my gun whilst avoiding the ricocheting bullets headed my way.

 When I walk to the very edge I take a deep breath and throw myself off the ledge while the guards shoot at me luckily only managing to graze my right arm and part of my thigh. I shoot 2 dead while up on the ledge and 2 more of the guards while jumping off the ledge knocking them down while I simultaneously shoot them dead.

 I hear commotion in the distance, I see a few guards are now cornering Hongjoong. “Are you serious?” I hiss in anger while I run I reload my gun again, only this time I drop two bullets leaving me with three. “Fuck..” 

I manage to shoot two of the guards except one. Hongjoong’s attention turns to that guard and shoots him in the face. That's when Jaques takes the opportunity to knock Hongjoong to the floor by kicking the back of his right leg. Jaques grabs onto the gun in Hongjoong’s hand and tries to turn the gun onto him. I try running as fast as my legs could take me then I hear the ricocheting of bullets behind me.

 I turn to see it’s the Provian General and more guards, fuck. Jaques being too busy struggling to get a hold of the gun I sneak behind him so that I get Hongjoong out of here. I stab him right in the neck then he lets go of the gun and falls back clutching onto his neck. 

I shift my gaze over to Hongjoong and I grab his shoulders “Leave! I’ll handle this! We can’t afford for you to get arrested Captain.” He looks down at Jaques choking on his own blood then back at me. He definitely got roughed up by Jaques, a busted lip, and his right eye was swollen from a presumed blow to the eye. 

His once pristine ensemble now covered in dirt and blood, his hair now ruined with a few strands of hair fallen to the front of his face. He sits there thinking for a few seconds and lets out a frustrated sigh and nods in acknowledgement. 

He reaches over and pats the back of my head pressing his forehead against mine, his lips being mere centimeters from mine. “You’ve got this, I’ll get everything ready at the twelve rabbit. Be careful.” Hongjoong runs behind the gazebo and climbs a concrete fence bordering the courtyard near the street. 

I kneel down and notice Jaques still wasn’t dead, yet his soulless blue eyes finally have an emotion to them, fear. I climb on top of him and smile “You were dumb calling your men and making such a big spectacle.” He chokes on his own blood struggling to speak “Look, I’ll cut to the chase. You took everything from my Captain and now you’re going to pay for it with your life. I hope your repent for all the hurt you’ve caused people.” 

While choking on his blood he smirks, painting a scary expression almost like saying he wasn’t remorseful. He was trying to taunt me. He then makes some terrifying gurgling noises with a full smile showing me his blood stained teeth, a sight that will forever be ingrained in my brain. 

That’s when a mixture of fear and anger washes over me, anger for Hongjoong knowing that this man feels no remorse for what he did and fear for myself because I didn't know people could be so unremorseful even knocking on death's door. Seeing that ugly smirk on the man's face causes me to snap and I begin to angrily stab into the man's face and neck, blood spattering and landing on my face and it completely soaking my dress.

Once Jaques’ gurgling noises eventually stop. I look around and see the general looking around for me. I let out a slight sigh and look down at Jaques’ decorated chest avoiding even looking at the aftermath and stripping him from his wrongfully acquired medals leaving his chest empty. He deserves the worst, he deserves the disrespect. Just the way he probably disrespected the many people he's hurt, including Hongjoong.

Before I get up and run away I cut off his right index finger with his military ring still on it and wrap them with the bloody handkerchief on his chest pocket and stuff it in an inner pocket in my dress the two other rings I put in my other dress pocket. From a distance I hear “We’ve found her General! Mr. Norwood!” 

I turn and look in the direction the yelling came from and notice the guards running towards me like their life depended on it. The Provian General staring straight at me not moving a muscle, seething anger painting his gaze. 

 Before I run to the door leading to the street in the courtyard I pick up the gun off a deceased soldier and shoot the General in the chest not knowing if it killed or injured the man just knowing that it definitely hit him. 

When I run up to the gate the door was locked. As expected, I shoot the lock and swing the door open running into the street. While running down the street i take a detour into an alleyway and take an opposite route to the Twelve Rabbit.

In this moment the harsh cold should be bothering me but the adrenaline pumping through my veins the cold ends up being nothing but an afterthought. Slightly slipping on the ice on the cobblestone roads I raise the front of my dress so that I can run as fast as my legs carry me trying not to fall.

When I enter the Twelve Rabbit completely winded from the running Theo signals me to the back and with the last strength that I have I walk to the back of the bar leading to the back alleyway of the bar that’s when I see Hongjoong waiting outside with 2 loaded horses Theo instructing “Make sure to head the alternate route I told you about.”

 Hongjoong nods then he grabs my cape from the horse saddle and drapes it over me. How did he get a hold of this? “Flip the hood on, you’ve got blood everywhere.” I nod and put my hood on then Hongjoong helps me onto my horse “Thank you for everything Theo, I’ll be sure to repay you.”

 Theo shakes his head “You have already, no need. Now, go on.” He waves at us goodbye then I manage to say “Thank you Theo.” He smiles and says “Goodbye you two.” Hongjoong clicks his tongue in order for the horse to go triggering my horse to automatically begin moving right behind his and we ride at full speed up until we reach the gate. 

 Hongjoong slows down his horse and points his gun at the guards, the same ones that I saw yesterday “let us pass or you die.” both guards stare at me for a moment then the one who questioned me last time spoke “It was you…the fishermen’s guard..” Hongjoong cocks his gun and impatiently hisses “I won’t ask you again!”

 Startled, they nod in obedience and open the huge wooden door leading us to the poorer parts of Provia. Without a second thought he shoots both of them dead and we ride at full speed back to the port. The whole ride back to the ship was silent mostly because it was me trying not to pass out from the pain in my shoulder and Hongjoong concentrating making sure we arrived as fast as we could with no further distractions safely. 

I could feel the blood running down my arm the whole ride back to the ship but it was during the last half when the adrenaline started wearing off and pain was beginning to get unbearable. I've never been stabbed before but holy shit I took it well for this being my first time and not freaking out as much. Maybe it was because In the moment my only mission was to kill Mr. Norwood and save Hongjoong that I threw every bit of reasoning out the window. 

When we arrive at the ship I hop off the horse and I wince in pain from my injury trying my hardest to walk it off. Hongjoong hurriedly gets off his horse and walks towards me and helps me walk up the ramp then he yells “Yunho! Get over here!” 

 Right as I make it to the deck I fall to the floor losing my balance while I clutch onto my shoulder. "Fuck.." Hongjoong tries to help me up but I’m in so much pain right now I can’t even walk right. “Look at me. Yunho’s coming, you’ll be okay.”

I look over at Hongjoong and smile whilst he wipes the side of my face from Jaques’ dried blood “I made sure he was dead Captain, I also shot the General but I don’t know if he’s dead for sure..” I pull out the bloodied handkerchief containing the medals and severed finger with the ring and put it on Hongjoong’s hand. 

Hongjoong looks at the small bundle in shock and before he could say anything Yunho runs up onto the deck and sees me on the floor with blood dripping on the ground and picks me up in his arms. His dark tresses being slightly messy over having just been woken up.

Everyone on the ship was now startled awake wondering what happened. Who knew a hair ornament would do such damage, at least I didn’t dip it in poison that would have been dumb. Then again I got desperate and me trying to stab Jaques was just dumb in general. Panic makes you do dumb things.

 Hongjoong turns to Yunho and says “take her to my quarters” He nods and begins to walk towards the captain’s quarters. I peek over Yunho’s shoulder and notice the last thing I see being Seonghwa’s worried expression trying to be disguised as serious in order not to startle the rest, I lower my gaze and let out a sigh resting my head against Yunho's shoulder.

 The next morning I wake up and see Hongjoong at his desk working on something. As I lay here watching him work I notice how much more comfortable the Captain's bed is, it’s so soft and spacious. The covers are a dark maroon silk embroidered in gold accents. Not to be weird or anything but it also smelled like him, like one of the many expensive oils he owns. He smelled so good, expensive.

 The whole room also seemed to have a very calm feel to it but of course it’s the Captain’s room so there were a lot of luxurious items in here as well like a few small golden sculptures, some expensive looking furniture, and from what I can see in his haphazardly opened dresser very expensive looking clothes. 

My thoughts are interrupted by my stomach growling so then I try to sit up and slightly wince causing Hongjoong to look up from what he was working on and walks towards me “Just lay back, Yunho says to take it easy.” He grabs a chair and sits next to the his bed. “How are you feeling?” I adjust myself a little bit “I’m in slight pain but I’m fine” He nods giving me a small reassuring smile “I’m glad you’re okay, Yunho said if you would have been struck deeper it would have been bad luckily the stab wound wasn’t deep. so it won't affect any movement so long you stretch.”

I could tell he wanted to address what I gave him but he was having trouble bringing it up until he finally musters up the courage “So, about what you gave me last night.” Completely intrigued in the conversation I sit up carefully and smile “You liked it?” He nods “I did, I appreciated the gesture. That finger with the ring was a very nice touch.”

 I did it, I made him happy. “But please don’t do something like that ever again. He could have seriously killed you.” I look down at my hands drawing shapes on the covers “I knew you’d say that, but for the time being don’t worry. I won’t get so hands on anymore not until I kill Miyagawa Masaki. For him- For him I need to feel his heartbeat stop.”

 He lets out a sigh “Fair enough but don’t let it end in you dying in the end.” My eyebrow rises with a silly smirk “Why? You don’t want to lose me?” He scoffs and leans back on his chair "I guess you can say that, but it's more of a you can't die yet because I'm not the Pirate King." I giggle "Ah right, and you think with me around it'll help?" 

He rests his head on his hand with his elbow resting on the arm of the chair "Correct." He gives me a reassuring smile then as quick as I see the smile it disappears “That reminds me, none of us wanted to change you out of your dress because you know, we’re all men here. So I’ve picked out and left your clothes right here so that you could change into them once you woke up.”

 He points at the edge of the bed where my clothes are neatly folded. I look down at my bloodied and dirty clothes "Oh, right." I glance over at them then I look back at Hongjoong slightly scrunching my nose. 

“Why are you always picking out my clothes? Why can’t I do that myself?” He raises his eyebrow “What? You don’t like my choices in clothes?” I shake my head “No, I mean I do but I’m just wondering why you do that. You don’t pick out anyone else’s clothes, so why me?” 

He lets out a soft sigh and sits down at the edge of his bed resting his foot on the varnished wood’s bed frame whilst the other rests on the floor.. Oh God did I just say something I shouldn’t have? Is he going to get onto me over asking something dumb?

“What do you think my reason is?” Embarrassed, I mumble “I don’t know I guess maybe you want us to match somehow? To make a statement of some sort?” For a few moments he looks at me with a smile threatening to show itself onto his features.

 “Well, you’re partially right. The reason is I wanted you to be one of the faces of our crew in a way. Something to capture the strength of our crew, like its respective Captain. I want everyone to know that fear doesn’t always come looking like a big, ugly man and that it can also come looking as a gorgeous and beautiful young woman. A strong femme fatale from a far away land who’s partnered up with one of the most feared men among the seas.”

I absentmindedly stare at him for a bit. Me? A femme fatale? I'm more of a shy, angry short woman who happens to know how to fight. "Wow, the way you put it makes it sound nice." He tilts his head “Is it not?” 

I slightly raise my eyebrow my face beginning to burn “So is that how you feel about me? You think I’m beautiful?” Hongjoong smirks “What woman isn’t?” I stare at the clothes and back at him stifling a laugh. I guess he didn't mean it like that. “You’re funny Captain. Now, if you’ll excuse me..” 

I try to get up from his bed and wince in pain and fall back to my original sitting position then scoots closer to my side “Hey, I told you to be careful. Do you want to change clothes?” I nod and he puts my arm around his neck and carefully helps me off his bed.

 Just as he helps me up Seonghwa comes into the quarters and rushes over to me “y/n, you’re awake!” Hongjoong steps away from me letting Seonghwa help me instead “I’ll be going back to my desk. Seonghwa, help her please.” He nods and grabs my forearm for support “Let’s take you to the bathroom so you can change into your clothes.”

He grabs my clothes and walks me over to the captain’s bathroom, it was small but it was nice none the less. After changing out of my bloodied dress and into the clothes Hongjoong picked out. When I step out with my bloodied dress still in hand Seonghwa smiles and says “Better?”

 I nod and he guides me over to the mess hall “Let’s get you something to eat now you must be hungry. I’ll take this and put it somewhere safe if you still want it.” I hold onto his sleeve while going down the stairs “Please, for memories sake.” That face, those souless blue eyes. Why do they keep replaying in my head? I thought these things would stop the more I do it but I guess not. 

“y/n! You’re up already?!” Wooyoung shouts causing me to get slightly startled then Seonghwa hisses “Wooyoung please, not so loud she just woke up.” He covers his mouth “Sorry, but you’re okay right?” I chuckle “Uh, yeah I mean I’m standing here aren’t I?” Mingi fixes his hair and walks over to me and gives me a dorky smile “Wah, the Captain did a very nice job picking our your clothes today. You’re so cute-” 

San walks up to me and pushes Mingi aside and leads me to the chair next to him “Shouldn’t you be in bed y/n?” Seonghwa smiles looking in my direction goes back up to the deck leaving me with the rest of the crew “Yeah, but I hate just sitting there taking up space.” He furrows his eyebrows “But you’re not, you literally got stabbed last night. You need your rest” 

I smile and put my hand on San’s shoulder slowly moving it to the back of his neck and gently squeezing “Look, it’s going to take a lot more to kill me so don’t worry I’m fine, besides the stab wasn’t even that deep.” He blinks then a soft flush creeps onto his cheeks and ears then turns his attention to the other guys to cover it up “I’m glad you’re doing okay, you scared us for a second there” Jongho passes me the bread basket. 

“Well, unfortunately my life wasn’t guaranteed the moment I joined this crew.” Wooyoung sets my food in front of me while Yunho says “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you put yourself in danger like that.” I roll my eyes “I still killed the man didn’t I? Besides, Hongjoong did most of the work I just finished him. I don’t understand why you’re so mad, besides you’re the doctor so that’s your job and mine is protecting the Captain.” 

Almost like a switch was flipped Yunho looks at me with a very unamused look “Just because I’m a doctor doesn’t mean I enjoy having to see my crewmates in pain. As our captain’s assassin and protector you need to stop being so reckless and think about your actions more thoroughly.” 

I giggle covering up my smile “You’re funny, seriously stop telling me what to do. I already got an earful from the Captain, I don’t need to hear it again.” Yeosang looks over at Yunho then back at me and says “Don’t listen to him, I know you did it to the Captain’s best interest.” 

I look over at Yeosang and smile “Thank you, at least someone understands.” Wooyoung sits in his chair “So anyways before Yunho decided to get upset over you doing your job, who was the person you had to off?” 

Yunho looks over at Wooyoung giving him an annoyed look then San smacks Wooyoung “Hey, maybe you shouldn’t be asking that.” I shrug “ Well, I don’t think It’d be a problem if I said anything considering I've already finished the job but it was Jaques Norwood, some military officer. I also shot the Provian General in the chest but I genuinely don’t know if I killed him or if I’ve injured him. ” A few guys choke on their drinks while the others give me a shocked expression. Jongho leans over the table towards me “There’s no way you killed that man and shot the Provian general..” 

I take a bite of my food nonchalantly and nod “I did, I saw it myself but like I said Hongjoong did most of the work. I just finished him off and made sure I saw the light go out of his eyes. What a shame such a handsome man could be so ugly on the inside. He introduced himself to me as well so I knew who exactly to get rid of from the source themselves. As for the General, that was just kind of something last minute before I ran off.” 

They all look at each other very confused then Yeosang says “How exactly though? That man is near impossible to get to not to mention extremely dangerous.” I take a small sip of my drink and smirk “I got to him through his heart. It seemed like he was pretty desperate too because I didn’t have to try very hard to catch his attention. Also oddly enough the only time he wasn’t surrounded by military men and soldiers was when he was at the military tavern which was where I met him. He seemed to have his guard down with me alot.”

 Mingi chuckles and says “That’s because you’re so tiny, I’m sure he never expected you to be able to take him.” I slightly frown looking down at the table. Problem is he did probably suspect it but he probably just liked me enough that he was willing to give me the benefit of a doubt. I meet Mingi’s eyes and force a smile “Yeah, he was completely blindsided. I mean the man literally stabbed my shoulder thinking he'd be able to get away with it.”

 Both Hongjoong and Seonghwa enter the mess hall and Hongjoong says “Alright guys enough with the questions let her eat.” everyone’s attention turns to Hongjoong immediately Wooyoung says “Oh, I didn’t know you’d be joining us today Captain.” He sits down at the head of the table “Yeah, I felt like it was necessary”

 Wooyoung gets up to get Hongjoong his food leaving everyone slightly confused. From what I heard Hongjoong didn’t really come down to eat with everyone very often. He usually eats alone in his quarters sometimes with Seonghwa but even then Seonghwa joins us most of the time. Mingi turns to look at Yunho slightly worried while San, Yeosang, and Jongho stay dead silent looking down at their food. This is weird, does this mean something bad is going to happen? Why is everyone so scared? 

Wooyoung comes back into the room and sets down Hongjoong’s plate in front of him along with an empty glass. Hongjoong serves himself some sort of booze then looks up at everyone silently eating and dryly laughs “Why is everyone so quiet? A minute ago it sounded so busy.”

 Everyone sits there in silence until Jongho says “Well Captain, evreytime you sit down and eat with us it’s always bad news. Like last time it was the execution of the Raisan people who helped us in the Raisan Kingdom, another-” Hongjoong sticks his hand out in front of him and signals Jongho to be quiet “Okay, that’s enough. I see where you’re coming from. I apologize for turning my presence into a bad omen.”

 I give him reassuring smile “How about you try to join us for more meals Captain, so that it doesn’t feel strange when you actually decide to step out of your quarters.” He nods and raises his glass “I’ll do that.” 

I look over at everyone else “Don’t worry, I’ll drag him here if I have to.” Wooyoung giggles “I’m glad the Captain has someone on board who’s got balls as much as he does.” everyone including myself burst out into laughter while Hongjoong sits there forcing a smile and scoffs irritatedly looking at Wooyoung.

After lunch I go to the crew’s quarters and sit on my bed and notice my blood stained dress was neatly folded at the foot of my bed. I grab the dress and check the pocket only to hear the small clinking of the rings in the pockets. 

I examine the two rings, one of them was a thick silver band ring with a cushion cut dark green jewel. The second was another silver ring but this one’s had an emblem carved on it, presumably the emblem of the Provian military I’m not sure but it looked cool. I reach for my backpack on the side of my bed  and put them in the front pocket where I kept my grandma’s ring.

 When I put my backpack back where it belongs I hear something fall over. When I check what it was I realize it was Hongjoong and Seonghwa’s weapons. I completely forgot to give it to them my first night with them. Maybe I should return it to them now, better late then never. I grab the bag and sling it over my uninjured shoulder. 

On my way to look for both Hongjoong and Seonghwa I run into Mingi “Hey, where’s Seonghwa?” He looks up from the map he was looking at and gives me a bright smile “y/n, hey. Seonghwa is with the captain in his work room in his quarters” I nod and continue walking then Mingi continues “Wait. What’s in that bag?” 

I blink “Oh, this is just the Captain and Seonghwa’s weapons. My grandpa refurbished them and I forgot to give it back to them.” He walks over to me and extends his hand “here, I’ll give you a hand. You shouldn’t carry anything right now" I step back out of his reach "oh no, don't worry I'm fine I can do it myself." Mingi chuckles and takes the bag from me “Too late, let’s go.”

 I frown glaring up at him “You’re lucky I can’t raise my arm right now.” Mingi walks ahead of me and pats my head causing me to roll my eyes and walk behind him. He sure is taking advantage of the fact that I can’t kick his ass. When we arrive at Hongjoong’s quarters I take the bag from him and knock on the door “Ok go now.” He pats my head “Not a thank you but it’ll do.” 

A few moments later Seonghwa opens the door and smiles “y/n, come in.” I walk in and look around immediately spotting Hongjoong already looking at me then I say “So, I have something for you both.” I put the bag on Hongjoong’s desk, he blinks and looks over Seonghwa not understanding the situation. 

Seonghwa then says “A gift?” I shake my head and gesture Hongjoong to open it “You could say that, it’s more like I’m returning these to you.” Hongjoong opens the bag and pulls out a shotgun causing Seonghwa to audibly gasp. Hongjoong pulls out a sword, the same one I wielded to protect them from Acatl only this time it was cleaned and sharpened. Lastly he pulls out his gun, the shot gun's wooden details was newly varnished and polished to give the guns a new feel.

 The metal parts of the guns were also cleaned to look pristine again. Hongjoong stares at the weapons on the desk in silence while Seonghwa looks over at me and says “y/n, you didn’t have to.” I shake my head and smile “It wasn’t me, it was my grandpa. He felt bad for the way you guys were treated when you guys first arrived at our village so it was his way of repaying your kindness towards us. Again, sorry I forgot to give these to you. I kind of forgot. There was too much going on.”

 Seonghwa pats my back “It’s okay, it’s better than never. Thank you.” I glance over at Hongjoong who had his gun in his hand and was still staring at the weapons “Captain, I’m sorry if you didn’t want your gun fixed. I honestly didn’t know my grandpa did this until the day I left.”

 Hongjoong raises his gaze from the weapons and looks at me with fondness in his eyes “No. Thank you.” I give him a small smile “I really do hope you both like them.” Seonghwa picks up his shot gun and twirls it aiming it out the window then rests it on his shoulder. 

I smile at Seonghwa looking so happy holding his gun “Wow, it looks and feels better than when I first bought it actually. It’s beautiful.” Hongjoong clears his throat “So, you’re going to stay here while Seonghwa helps Mingi.” Seonghwa and I turn to look at Hongjoong in confusion then he gives Seonghwa a look. 

“I’ll get going, thanks again for this y/n. I really do appreciate you returning these to us, it was very sweet of you and your grandfather.” I shake my head and pat Seonghwa’s arm “No problem, I’ll see you later.” He nods and exits Hongjoong’s quarters leaving me and him alone. 

I stand there awkwardly and look around the room “So, why did you want me to stay here?” Hongjoong shrugs “I don’t know, your job is to follow me around like my protective puppy.” I furrow my eyebrow taking that to slight offence “Excuse me? My job is to protect you from getting a bullet in your head not to be your caretaker.” 

He smirks to himself and absentmindedly nods “You’re right you’re not, but I’d appreciate if you helped me once in a while” What in the sea god is this man talking about? Help him? Help him with what?. I dryly laugh “Gosh Captain, I never realized how much of a child you are.” 

He scrunches his nose and gives me an annoyed look “What? I get tired sometimes..” I scoff and sit on his desk “Tired of what? Sitting here locked in your quarters for days at a time?” I see the leather journal in front of him and I pick it up “Oh, what’s this?” Hongjoong snatches the journal from my grasp before I’m able to even open it “Don’t touch that! Has no one told you not to go looking through anyone’s belongings?” I stifle a laugh “Geez, sorry I didn’t think it was that personal.” 

He rolls his eyes and puts the journal in a drawer in his desk “Well it is, next time ask before you look through something.” I nod biting my lip, stifling a laugh. I don’t know what it is about Hongjoong but seeing him get annoyed is so funny, oddly enough this is the first time I have the urge to tease someone. Wait. Oh no, I think I’ve just been hanging out around Wooyoung, San and Mingi too much. Their annoying antics are rubbing off on me. 

“Go get a chair, my desk is not a chair.” I hop off his desk “Excuse me? I should be able to sit anywhere I want? I’m injured, or did you forget that?” He points at the chair he used this morning near his bed “You know what? My shoulder is hurting really bad I’m going to sleep. Wake me up if you need something.”I roll my eyes and walk towards his bed.

“No, you said you wanted to be of use so you’ll sit right here and help me.” I stare at him “Oh yeah? And do what? Stare at you write for the next 6 hours?” Keeping a straight face he gets up “Yep.” He walks over and grabs the chair and sets it in front of his desk and gestures for me to sit down “Now, get to work.”

 I don’t know how exactly Seonghwa sits here all day with him. Hongjoong is cool but when he gets into his Captain mindset he’s a bit of a pain. I sit on the chair and look around the room eventually staring out the window. What happened to the friendly Hongjoong? I get he’s my boss now but come on, I thought we were friends.

 I started noticing this change about him about a few weeks after I got here, I wonder what his problem is. Maybe he’s just stressed? I don’t know, maybe. Why on Earth does he want me to be here? I get it if I was watching him if we were on land but we’re out at sea with no enemy ships nearby. So what’s the deal? 

After a few hours of me just sitting here in silence wandering in my own thoughts and being in pain Hongjoong finally decides to get up and stretch “You should stretch or you’ll cramp up.” I glance at him for a few seconds and go back to staring out the window “I’m fine.” He chuckles “Alright. Come. I need to go make sure everything is going well on the ship, it’s been too quiet and I need fresh air.” 

I get up and follow behind him to the deck “Remind me why I need to follow you around again?” he gives me a soft smile “It’s your job.” I’m starting to think he’s doing this as punishment for deciding not to rest. After spending all day by his side like his shadow, not speaking unless spoken to. Hongjoong little by little began to ask me more often to be by his side.

 It was kind of annoying because I wasn’t protecting him, it was basically me being his caretaker but unable to talk like friends just like in the beginning. Which wasn’t in the job description but then again I owe alot to that man so I just let it slide. Hongjoong has a habit of not taking care of himself and wholeheartedly lets his work consume him, Seonghwa told me that if someone doesn’t intervene he could go days at a time without eating or sleeping which is worrying.

 There were a few times when Seonghwa would bring his food and he paid no attention to it, even if he came by to remind Hongjoong to eat he’d brush him off and tell him “I’ll do it later” which happened quite frequently. Ever since I caught wind of that when I’m forced to be by his side I force him to at least eat once a day. I swear, this man will get sick and die before he’s the Pirate King if he keeps it up. I still think he’s brilliant though, even if he’s a stubborn hardass sometimes.

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Previous Chapter

[9stxrsan]

hey! can i request namjoon punishing his s/o because he thought she was flirting with yoongi? please and thank you!

I've Seen The Way He Looked At You ||KNJ||

Warnings|| slight arguing, choking (its a kink guys. De'ary likes it.), rough $ex, unprotected, accusations, jealousy ,cursing, dirty talking, edging, crying(satisfaction), begging, moaning, whimpering.

Rating|| 18+

Summary||De’ary and Namjoon have been married for almost two years. In that length of time, Both of them started working the same job along with two of their other friends, Jungkook and Jimin. Working in the office seems to be great and all, but De’ary’s co-worker/ office roomie(Yoongi) gets a little too close to her… And Namjoon isnt very fond of that. 

Authors note/ disclaimer || I am so sorry I've been gone for so long but enjoy.

The smell of chic perfume filled the bedroom, which made namjoon curious. Standing by the bedroom door, he inhaled the scent, sending shivers down his body, and slowly exhaled. 

“Wow,” He smiled, “Where are you going smelling like that?” 

The blonde haired turned around with a bright smile, buttoning her blouse, “What do you mean?” 

Namjoon shrugged, walking towards her wrapping his arms around her waist, “I just trying to say you smell nice.” 

“Well thank you,” She said chuckling, “But shouldn't you be getting ready too? I mean, You wouldn't want  to  be late again, Mr. Mullon will flip out.” 

:””I suppose you’re right,” He groaned, “He might just fire me this time.” 

As he let go, De’ary giggled as her husband playfully whined, putting hair braids up into a bun.

Just as Joon finished getting dressed and was about to walk out the door with De’ary. A sharp knock approached their front door. 

Confused, Namjoon looked at De’ary to see if she had any clue to who was at the door. 

De’ary rolled her eyes and scoffed playfully, “You know Jimin and Jungkook come over everyday to get a ride from us.” 

Namjoon palmed his forehead in realization, “Right.” 

“Im not getting any younger out here hyung.” Jungkook groaned on the other side of the door.

Shaking his head, chuckling Joon unlocked the door letting the guys in, “Hello to you too Jungkook.” 

“It seems like your house changes everytime i step foot in here.” Jimin said looking around, then looking at the blonde haired female, “Hey De.” 

De’ary waved.

“Anyways, are you guys ready to go?”  Joon sighed, “If I’m late one more time, he might kill me.” 

Jimin laughed, “Yeah right, you’re one of his best workers, firing you would be one of his worst mistakes.” 

“One of them?” Jungkook raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah, Firing me or De would be the other ones.” Jimin scoffed. 

“What about me?” Jungkook folded his arms. 

Jimin waved him off, “Let’s just go.” 

Namjoon nodded, grabbing De’Ary’s hand and walked out the front door, with the other two males following. 

As soon as they arrived to the office, De’ary parked the car, looking at her watch, “Shit..” 

“What?” Namjoon said, “What time is it?” 

“It's uh,” She sighed hesitantly, “Its 8:40.” 

All three of the males started groaning, and sighing as if they knew some bullshit was about to happen. 

“I’m pretty sure he won't be too mad at us?” De’Ary tried to look on the bright side of things. 

They all looked at De’ary like she just said the stupidest shit ever, and instead of responding, they just got out of the car. 

“Alright then, Guess my positivity didn't really help.” De’Ary shrugged and hopped out of the car. 

Walking to the doors of the office building, two ladies in very fine business suits greeted them kindly. 

The four greeted them back and walked inside. 

The sounds of employees laughing and conversations  filled the office, and the smell of fresh printer paper was everywhere. 

“Alright now,” Jimin sighed, “I’m gonna head to my office, I’ll see you guys later.” 

Jungkook agreed and followed Jimin to the office they shared. 

As they walked off, a black haired male walked up and touched De’Ary’s on the shoulder. 

De’Ary turned around to see who it was, and smiled, “Hi Yoongi, How are you?” 

Namjoon turned around and his face didn't seem to be very satisfied with who De’Ary was talking to. 

“Hi De,” Yoongi leaned to the side a bit, “Hello Namjoon.” 

“Hey,” Joon responded in a dismissive tone, “I’m gonna go to my office now, ill see you later babe.” 

“Oh okay, Bye I love you.” She said before passionately kissing him goodbye, thinking nothing of his annoyance seeing Yoongi. 

“Mullon, gave us a  lot of shit to do this week.” Yoongi chuckled, handing her papers.

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” De’Ary groaned, and slightly chuckled. 

Namjoon turned around, scoffing, and his face showed every sign of jealousy. 

All throughout the day, Namjoon watched as Yoongi and De’Ary laughed and giggled with one another. And during lunch time when De’Ary finally had some freetime, she sat with her husband to enjoy her meal and talk about their day, “Hi my love,” She said in a cheerful tone. 

Namjoon glanced at her for a bit then continued looking down, eating his food, “Hey babe.” 

De’Ary didn't appreciate this flat tone he had at all, “What’s up with you? You seem very grumpy.” 

Namjoon looked up, giving her a fake smile, “Nothing, I’m fine.” 

“Joon.” De’Ary’s voice got stern. 

He sighed, “You and Yoongi seem to be the best of friends, don't you think?” 

De’Ary’s eyes widened in shock, “I know you’re fucking lying to me,” 

Namjoon eyed her. 

“Do you- do you think me and Yoongi have something going on?” She scoffed.

“I don't like making assumptions, but lately I-” 

“Namjoon, are you fucking kidding me? Why would I even think about cheating on you?” 

“I’m not saying that you are.” He sighed. 

“So what's with this stink ass attitude you're walking around with if that's not what you’re thinking?.” She folded her arms. 

Namjoon got quiet. 

De’Ary rolled her eyes, “I’m gonna need you to fix your shit, and get your thoughts straight.” 

De’ary went back to her office and sat in her chair, rubbing her head in annoyance, how could her own husband think something that cruel of her? Does he not trust her? 

Suddenly a sharp knock approached her office door, looking up De’ary sees a black haired female standing at the door with a warm smile.

“You can come in Sana,” She sighed. 

“Are you okay De? You seem stressed out.” Sana said concerningly. 

“Yeah, me and Joon just got into a slight disagreement.” she said brushing the situation off. 

“Bummer..” Sana sighed, “Uhm well, I’m having a little gathering tonight, if you wanna come?” 

“Sure, I’m not busy. Who else is coming?” 

“Me, Julia, Yuri, and Soo-ah.” 

“Oh cool, I’ll be there.” She smiled, “I’m looking forward to our girls night out.” 

“Technically it's a girls night in.” Sana laughed, “Alright I’ll see you later.” 

De’Ary waved. 

Later on, when De’Ary and Joon got home, she went straight to her room and showered. 

Joon on the other hand went into the living room and sat in the reading chair, watching the television. 

As soon as she got out, She went into her closet picking out comfortable, but sexy clothes to go to the gathering Sana had invited her to. As she put the clothes on and sprayed her perfume, she looked in the mirror, making sure she looked presentable to step foot outside of her house. 

When she finished, she put her earrings on, and shoes, and headed towards the door. 

Joon noticed her and got up and walked towards her, “Where.. Are you going?” He said softly, with slight guilt, still hoping the conversation they had earlier didn't affect her. 

“Girls night out my coworker invited me to.” She said in a flat tone, still upset about earlier, “You know, Sana.” 

“Oh. Okay.” Namjoon said, “I'll see you later then,” he kissed her goodbye. 

She kissed him back, and walked out the door. 

When she got in the car, she drove to Sana’s house and knocked on the door. 

Of course, Sana welcomed her with open arms like always, “De! I'm so glad you could make it” 

“I told you I would come,” De’ Ary smiled. 

Sana let her in and she greeted everyone else. She saw a bunch of food and alcohol on the table, “Woah.. What kind of gathering is this?” 

“It’s a… ‘Let's have some fun and forget about our hardships in life’ type of gathering.” Sana shrugged. 

De’Ary giggled, “Alright then, lets get this fucking party started.” 

After many drinks, Sana hummed in realization, “Ah… I forgot to mention, Yoongi is coming over.” 

“Yoongi?..” De’ary stuttered, “Why would he want to be here with all girls.” 

“He doesn't know it's all girls,” She whispered secretively, “Plus, I’ve been needing a reason to get him to come over.”

De’ary gasped dramatically, “You- like, Min Yoongi, don’t you!”

“Shhh! No one knows that but you now, don’t ruin my shot please.” De’Ary  put her finger over her mouth and nodded. 

A knock approached the door, Clearly it was Yoongi. 

De’Ary got up to open the door, tripping over her own feet. Swinging the door open, she greeted Yoongi, “Hey buddy.” 

Yoongi shook his head in disbelief, “I’m guessing you’re drunk too? You sound worse than Sana over the phone.” 

De’Ary shook her head aggressively, “I’m only a little tipsy,” 

Yoongi giggled a bit, “Sure you are,” he patted her on the head. 

Sitting in the living room, intoxicated, all of them laughed and giggled. 

De’ary began to roll off the couch and sit next to Julia, letting out a loud groan, “Y’know, I’m so glad I came here tonight. I really needed space to clear my head. Me and Joon had got into this.. Altercation.” 

Sana patted De’Ary on her back, “No worries girl. You’re welcome to come over anytime for more gatherings.” 

De’Ary felt a buzz in her pocket, it was her phone. She removed it from her pocket and looked to see who was Facetiming her, it was her husband of course. 

“Hello,” She said in a bubbly tone. 

“Do you know what time it is?” Namjoon said skipping over her greeting. 

“Uhm,” She exaggerated, “It’s about, four in the morning.” 

“Right, and do you not remember that you have to be at work at seven tomorrow?” 

“Aw shit, I completely forgot,” She stuttered, “Oh well, maybe next time.” 

“De, why do you sound like that?” Namjoon said in a firm voice. 

“Well, the gathering Sana invited me to has drinks, and I took advantage of that opportunity.” She sighed. 

“Nevermind that babe, I’m on my way to get you,” He sighed, “Because you’re not driving home in this condition-” 

Namjoon suddenly stopped his sentence when he saw the black haired male sitting just on the opposite side of her, confused as to why he would be there. Instead of saying something he hung up the phone. 

De’Ary was shocked, Namjoon has never hung up the phone in her face before, no matter what she did. She ignored it and decided to just wait for her husband to come get her. 

About fourty minutes later, a small knock approached the door, which Soo-ah got up to open, “De, Joon is here to get you.” She slurred. 

De’Ary was completely wasted and couldnt even get up off of the floor, Namjoon walked over to her and attempted to pick her up. Suddenly Yoongi came out of the kitchen, Namjoon spotted him and slightly mugged at him. 

“De, get up,” He said firmly, “Its time to go home.” 

“I dont wanna, I wanna stay,” She whined, “I havent even finished my drink.” 

“No, you’ve had enough to drink, come on.” He sighed. 

“Do you need help?” Yoongi offered. 

Namjoon looked at him and scoffed, “No, I think I got it.” 

Yoongi felt the coldness in his voice and backed away, “Right..”

Namjoon finally was able to pick De’Ary up and put her on his back, “Alright time to head home,” De’Ary groaned, “My head hurts.” 

Namjoon rolled his eyes and walked out the door.

When they got home, Namjoon placed his wife on the bed, taking her shoes off, and her dress, placing a oversized shirt over her head, then handing her a water bottle and a ibuprofen, “Take it and lay down,” 

De’Ary looked at him, spaced out for a moment. 

“De,” he waved his hand, “Take it, it will help your head feel better, and your hangover won’t be so bad in the morning.” 

De’Ary took the water bottle out of his hand, and smiled, “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” He said placing the pill in her mouth, “Now swallow,” 

She giggled, “I heard that before.” 

Namjoon shook his head and laughed, “You are something else,” He laid her back onto her pillow and watched as she fell asleep.

The next morning, De’Ary woke up, confused as to how she got home, when she changed her clothes, and why she felt like her head was about to explode. She got out of the bed and walked down the hallway, when suddenly a whiff of breakfast food filled her nostrils. She rushed to the kitchen to see what smelled so delicious, and to see who the hell was cooking it. Heaven knows it wasnt Namjoon. 

As soon as she stepped foot into the kitchen, she seen her husband shirtless, taking food out of bags, walking behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist, she buried her fave into his back.

“Goodmorning,” He said turning his head a bit, “How did you sleep?” 

“My head is killing me,” She sighed. 

“I bet,” He placed the bag down and turned around to face her, “How was the little gathering last night?” 

De’Ary shrugged, “The hell if I remember, the girls probably don’t either,” 

“You know who might,” He said firmly, ���Yoongi.” 

De’Ary tilted her head, and frowned, “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“I mean, he was there wasn’t he?” Joon scoffed, “He didn’t seem to be as drunk as the rest of you.” 

De’Ary stayed silent. 

“Two questions for you, when did he become a girl?” He folded his arms, “And when the fuck where you going to tell me he was going to be there” 

“First off, I had no clue Yoongi was going to be there, Sana invited him last minute.” De’Ary defended. 

“Yeah right,” Joon scoffed silently. “What the hell do you have against him? What the fuck has he done to you?” De’Ary argued. 

“Come on De,” He rolled his eyes, “You cant be that clueless.” 

“What the fuck are you going on about?” 

“I’ve seen the way he stares at you De, and trust me I don’t blame him,” He argued, “I don’t want him around you,” 

“Do you not trust me?” She yelled. 

“It’s not you I don’t trust De’Ary, it’s him.” 

“I’m not dealing with your bullshit today,” She scoffed, walking away from him and going into her room to get ready for work. 

When she arrived, she put her stuff on the desk, and sat down. She got straight to work and did not allow any distractions to come her way. 

“Morning buddy’” Yoongi laughed. 

“Hey,” She sighed. 

“Did your hangover from those drinks yesterday stress you out?” Yoongi said concerned. 

“No, it’s my husband.” She scoffed, "It's very complicated right now."

"Yeah..." Yoongi said coming to sit on her desk, "It can get like that sometimes, but you'll get through it."

They changed the subject and continued to laugh, and yoongi told De'Ary to come closer, De'Ary did and he whispered, "Can you do me a favor and help me get with Sana, I really like her."

While Yoongi was whispering, Namjoon walked past De'Ary's office too see if she was okay, and from what he seen, Yoongi was kissing De'Ary.

Namjoon furiously went back to his office, packed up and went home.

Later on in the day, De'Ary came home and placed her stuff by the door and noticed how all of the lights were off, she headed to the bedroom and seen that her husband was sitting on the bed, waiting for her.

"Hi baby," She said flatly, "Whats up?"

"You tell me," He said getting up, "What's up De?"

"Uhm nothing I guess," She raised her eyebrow, "How was work? You left early."

"I wanted to ask you the same thing," He smiled sarcastically, "How was work?"

"Cool," She shrugged.

"What did you eat today?" He said untying his tie.

"I ate some chicken alfredo," She nodded, "It was very good."

"Hm," He hummed, unbuckling his pants, "Was it as good as Yoongi's lips?"

"What?" De'Ary shouted.

"You heard me," He got up and walked towards his wife, "I seen you two today,"

"Namjoon I don't know what-" He grabbed her by the neck softly and placed a finger over her mouth, silencing her.

"What is it about him that you like De," He said rubbing down her body slowly, "Clearly he's got something I don't have."

"Joon what the fuck.." She said slightly moaning.

"Tell me love, what is it?" He said placing his hand between her legs, gently moving his hand around.

"What are you talking about?" She gasped.

"It's completely fine De'Ary," He laughed taking his shirt off, "You refuse to answer the question, so ill answer it for you."

He crashed his lips onto hers, and started taking her clothes off, piece by piece. Gripping her breasts, and rubbing her clit through her underwear. Causing De'Ary to moan and drip through them.

"Joon I-" She stuttered.

"Quiet," He gripped her waist with one hand, and continued to rub her clit, "I'll be damned if I allow any man to put his lips on my wife,"

De'Ary finally came to realization, "Joon, I never kissed Yoongi!"

"What did I just say?" He tilted his head, with a sinister smirk his face, jamming his fingers into De'Ary, causing her to scream.

"Baby, Listen to me," She moaned, gripping the cover.

Joon ignored her, and he pulled his pants down, standing up beside the bed, "Lay on your back."

De'Ary obeyed, as much as she wanted to argue back, she knew she would never get the last word.

Joon proceeded to pull his boxers down, exposing his length, placing it in De'Ary's mouth.

He hitched his breath, and let out a satisfactory groan, De'Ary laid still as he, placed his hands by her throat and thrusted into her mouth.

"Now tell me love," He grunted, "Does his lips taste as good as my cock does?"

Not even allowing De'Ary to reply, he continued to thrust into her mouth.

Choking, De'Ary's eyes rolled to the back of her head, and Namjoon finally pulled out, leaving De'Ary gasping for air.

"Get up, I'm not done with you yet," Joon said flipping her over on her stomach, lifting her ass up in the air.

Spitting on two of his fingers and rubbing it around her entrance, De'Ary moaned, As soon as Joon got his satisfaction, he shoved his fingers back inside of her, without mercy.

"Fuck Joon," She cried out, "Please,"

"Can he do this De?" He laughed jamming his fingers into her, with more and more force everytime, "Can he make you feel this good." "Nu- No," She mumbled.

"Project your fucking voice De'Ary." He said as he continued to hit her G-spot.

"No!" She shouted, "No one can!"

Joon smiled, as he pulled his fingers and watched as his wife lost full control over her body, spitting on his fingers again but this time lubricating his cock.

He put De'Ary back in position, and started playing with her entrance again, "I don't even know if you deserve this satisfaction."

"Please baby," She whimpered, "Don't do that to me.."

"You don't get to tell me what to do after what you did today De," He said, continuing to tease her.

"But I didn't do it! I swear-" Before she could even finish he thrusted into her.

"Yeah right," He groaned, thrusting harder and harder, "I told you to stay away from him, didn't I?"

"Yes," She moaned.

"And you did you listen to me?"

"No." She cried out, "No I didn't."

"You're so hard-headed," He said gripping her ass, and roughly fucking her, leaving her with tears of satisfaction rolling down her face, "Fucking you clearly isn't a punishment that makes me feel better."

"I'm gonna cum," She whined.

"Ah," He snickered, "I know an even better punishment," He pulled out and flipped her back over.

"Stop, what are you-" She stuttered, "I was close,"

"I know, but you're not cumming until I say its okay to." He smirked.

"Don't do that," She shouted, "Please,"

"You're not the one in control here De," He said as he stuck his tongue her clit, roughly flicking it back and fourth.

"Baby, I can't take it.." She whimpered.

"I don't want to hear it," He snarled, "Maybe now you will think about your actions next time love,"

De'Ary's legs began to shake, Namjoon grabbed both and held them still, continuing to suck her clit, "Don't you dare cum."

De'Ary began to place her hand on his head, moaning uncontrollably, slurring her words.

"So I'll ask you one more time, "What does Yoongi have that I don't?"

"Nothing! Nothing baby!" She cried, reaching her breaking point.

"Uh-huh," he hummed, sticking his finger back inside of her fingering her again, "Who's pussy is this De?"

"Yours babe," She cried, "All yours.."

"You wanna cum don't you?" He laughed, pounding his fingers inside of her.

De'Ary nodded frantically.

"Tell me how bad you want it baby," He tilted his head lustfully.

"I wanna cum so bad," She cried, "Let me cum baby, please."

"Yeah?" He mocked her cries.

"Yes baby," She start shaking again.

"You're gonna listen from now on?" He smiled.

"Yes baby whatever you want," She moaned.

"If I let you cum, promise me you'll stay away from Yoongi." He said speeding up his movement, feeling De'Ary's walls slowly cave in.

"I promise baby, please just let me cum!" She yelled.

Joon laughed, "Then cum for me baby." He said as De'Ary start shaking, letting herself go all over him, "Good girl." He whispered, running his hands through her braids, kissing her on her forehead.