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masteryminutes · 10 months

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Optimize Your Time: Proven Prioritization Hacks for Mastering Task Management

Part 1: Understanding the Basics of Task Management Introduction Hello there, task conquerors! Ever feel like your to-do list is longer than the plot of a Game of Thrones episode? Fear not! Task management is here to save the day, and we're about to dive into the juicy secrets of mastering it. Task management isn't just a fancy term your boss throws around; it's the superhero cape your productivity wears. In this article, we're not just going to talk about task management – we're going to give it a makeover Hollywood style. Get ready for prioritization hacks so good, even your coffee will be caffeinated with excitement. So, why should you care about task management? Well, besides avoiding the chaos of misplaced priorities and the horror of forgotten deadlines, it's your ticket to a stress-free, organized life. Intrigued? Buckle up; we're about to make your to-do list bow down in awe.

2. The Fundamentals of Prioritization Alright, my fellow task-tacklers, let's get down to brass tacks – prioritization style. Imagine you're a wizard, and your to-do list is your magical spellbook. Prioritization is like casting the right spells to make sure your day doesn't turn into a chaotic potion-making class at Hogwarts. Defining Prioritization – Because Sorting Hats Are Overrated Prioritization isn't just a fancy term; it's the Gandalf of task management. It's about deciding what needs your attention now and what can chill in the Shire for a bit. Think of it as creating your own VIP section in the club of tasks – some get front-row seats, while others wait for the after-party. Now, we're not saying your tasks have feelings, but if they did, prioritization is like giving them a ranking on the VIP guest list. It's the art of telling your to-dos, "You, my friend, are the headliner tonight!" The Importance of Setting Clear Goals – Because Goals Are Like Treasure Maps Setting clear goals is like having a treasure map to your dreams. You wouldn't embark on a pirate adventure without knowing where the booty's buried, right? Goals give your tasks a purpose, a direction, and a shiny 'X marks the spot.' Imagine your goal is the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow – sparkly, tempting, and worth the journey. When you're clear on what you want to achieve, your tasks suddenly become eager little minions working together to help you reach that pot of gold. It's like having your own productive army, but with fewer swords and more sticky notes. So, fellow task-masters, sharpen your wands (or pencils), because we're about to cast the prioritization spell and set some clear goals. Your to-do list will thank you – and maybe even give you a round of applause. 3. Top Task Management Strategies Alright, time-travellers in the task galaxy, let's teleport into the realm of Google's top-secret strategies for conquering your to-dos. Spoiler alert: no Google algorithm was harmed in the making of these strategies. Discussing the Top Strategies - Because Google Said So According to the intergalactic council of search engines, there are task management strategies that make Jedi-level prioritizers jealous. First up, we've got the 'Eat That Frog' strategy. No, it doesn't involve slimy amphibians, but it does involve tackling your biggest, ugliest toad of a task first. It's like saying, "I'm the boss, and you, task, are my first victim – I mean, victory." Next on Google's hitlist is the 'Two-Minute Rule.' If a task can be done in two minutes or less, do it right away. It's the equivalent of swatting away annoying flies before they turn into full-blown mosquitoes. Quick, easy, and you feel like a superhero with a fly-swatter. Bonus points if you make a 'whoosh' sound while doing it. Now, let's talk about the 'Pomodoro Technique.' Sounds fancy, right? It's Italian for 'tomato,' but fear not, you don't need to speak Italian to master this strategy. It involves breaking your work into focused intervals (usually 25 minutes) followed by a break. It's like the power naps of productivity – short, sweet, and you wake up ready to conquer the next task. Highlighting Key Takeaways Now, these strategies aren't just mind games; they're your trusty sidekicks in the battle against procrastination monsters. The key takeaway from 'Eat That Frog' is to face your fears head-on – like a knight facing a dragon, but with fewer scales. For the 'Two-Minute Rule,' the lesson is simple: Don't let tiny tasks gang up on you. Deal with them swiftly, like a ninja in a room full of passive-aggressive sticky notes. And for the 'Pomodoro Technique,' remember that breaks are your superhero cape. You're not lazy; you're recharging for the next mission. So, my task-wizards, grab your magic wands (or mouse) and let's cast these Google-approved spells on our to-do lists. May the productivity force be with you! 4. The Art of Saying No Ahoy, fellow navigators of the task seas! Let us unlock the ancient scrolls of 'The Art of Saying No.' No, it's not a lost chapter from a ninja manual, but it might just make you feel like a task management ninja. Emphasizing the Importance of Setting Boundaries - Because Even Batman Has a Bat-Signal Off Switch Setting boundaries is like creating a force field around your sanity. Imagine your energy is a superhero costume – you wouldn't wear it 24/7, right? Boundaries are like a superhero costume changing room, reminding you that it's okay to hang up the cape and chill in your civvies. In the world of tasks, saying no is your superpower. It's not about being the task-villain; it's about being the hero of your own story. Remember, even Superman took breaks from saving the world to binge-watch his favorite TV shows. Setting boundaries is like telling tasks, "Not today, my friend. I'm on a break." Tips on Gracefully Declining Tasks - Because We're Not Shooting Down UFOs Now, gracefully declining tasks isn't about summoning your inner James Bond with a martini in hand (unless that's your thing). It's about being honest and kind. Picture this: You're the Captain of the S.S. Task List, and you're steering through choppy waters. When a new task tries to jump aboard, a simple, "I appreciate the offer, but my ship's full," will do the trick. Remember, saying no isn't a rejection; it's a redirection. You're not closing doors; you're guiding tasks to the right entrance. Think of it as task Feng Shui – arranging your workload for maximum harmony. So, my task-time travelers, practice your superhero stance in the mirror and get ready to wield the mighty power of saying no. Your sanity will thank you, and your to-do list will learn to respect the force field of boundaries. 5. Mastering Time Blocking Let us dive into the mystical realm of time blocking – a technique so powerful, it's like having a TARDIS for your schedule. Buckle up, because we're about to make time our trusty sidekick. Detailed Explanation of the Time Blocking Technique - Because Time Isn't a Banana, It's a Puzzle Imagine your day as a jigsaw puzzle, and time blocking is the master plan to make all the pieces fit seamlessly. It's not about turning your day into a military operation; it's about becoming the choreographer of your own time ballet. Firstly, pick a chunk of time – let's call it a 'time slice.' Pretend you're slicing a piece of cake, but instead of indulging in frosting, you're indulging in productivity. Assign specific tasks to each slice. Voila! You've just created a schedule that's as organized as Marie Kondo's sock drawer. Tips for Implementing and Optimizing Time Blocking - Because We're All Artists of Our Own Schedule Implementing time blocking is like learning to ride a bike – wobbly at first, but soon you're cycling through your tasks like a Tour de France champion. - The Picasso Approach: Just as Picasso approached art, approach your day in blocks of focused work and brief rest. Your schedule is your canvas, and each block is a stroke of genius. - The Sherlock Technique: Channel your inner detective and analyze when you're at your peak Sherlock-ness. Schedule your most demanding tasks during your 'mind palace' moments. - The DJ Mix: Like creating the perfect playlist, mix up your tasks. Alternate between the high-energy beats of challenging work and the smooth vibes of more relaxed activities. Remember, time blocking is flexible, not a straitjacket. Life happens, emergencies pop up – it's the jazz improv of scheduling. Roll with it, and you'll be the Miles Davis of task management. So, my time-wizards, grab your scheduling wand and start blocking your way to a more organized and surprisingly entertaining day. Time waits for no one, but with time blocking, you'll be the one doing the waiting – for your tasks to bow down to your well-orchestrated schedule! 6. Eisenhower Matrix Demystified Next let us unravel the secrets of the Eisenhower Matrix – a strategy so tactical, even James Bond might want to take notes. Prepare for a journey into the matrix; it's not about dodging bullets, but tasks. In-depth Explanation of the Eisenhower Matrix - Because It's Not a Code, It's a Quest The Eisenhower Matrix, named after the master multitasker himself, Dwight D. Eisenhower, is like a quest to discover the Holy Grail of productivity. Picture a 2x2 grid – simple, right? Now, let's sprinkle some magic on it. Quadrant 1 (Do Now): These are your dragons, your urgent and important tasks. No time for a coffee break; grab your sword and face them head-on. This is your battlefield, and victory brings the sweet taste of accomplishment. Quadrant 2 (Schedule): Ah, the golden meadows of not urgent but important tasks. Plant your seeds here, water them regularly, and watch your productivity garden flourish. It's like tending to a plant, but with less dirt under your fingernails. Quadrant 3 (Delegate): The land of the semi-urgent but not important tasks. Don't be a lone hero; delegate these to your trusty sidekicks. Batman had Alfred, and so can you. Quadrant 4 (Delete): The graveyard of time-wasting zombies. These tasks neither bite nor contribute. Delete, erase, wipe them from your schedule like you're swiping left on a dating app. Practical Tips on Applying the Matrix Effectively - Because We're All Task Ninjas in Training - The Jedi Mind Trick: Use the force – or in this case, your intuition – to decide which quadrant a task belongs to. Trust your instincts, young padawan. - The Sherlock Shuffle: Prioritize like Sherlock solving a case. What needs your immediate detective attention, and what can wait for the next episode? - The Gandalf Move: If a task is too big, break it into Hobbit-sized pieces. Gandalf didn't tackle Sauron in one go, did he? Remember, the Eisenhower Matrix is your sword in the battle of tasks. Wield it wisely, and you'll emerge victorious, with a crown made of completed to-dos! 7. Mindfulness and Task Management Let us transform your daily tasks into a Zen garden of productivity. Get ready to breathe in, breathe out, and channel your inner task whisperer. Incorporating Mindfulness into Daily Tasks - Because Tasks Deserve Hugs Too Mindfulness isn't just for yoga mats and mountain retreats; it's for your to-do list too. Imagine each task as a tiny Zen monk, patiently waiting for your attention. Before diving in, take a moment to acknowledge the task's existence – a virtual pat on the back. It's like giving your tasks a group hug before the productivity party begins. Techniques for Staying Present and Focused - Because We're Not Jedis, But We Can Master the Mind Trick - The Breathing Breakdance: Take a breather before tackling a task. Inhale confidence, exhale doubt. Picture your stress doing the moonwalk out of your mind. - The Panda Stare: Ever seen a panda focus on munching bamboo? Channel your inner panda – stare at your task like it's the most delicious bamboo shoot in the forest. - The Mindful Mingle: Give your tasks the VIP treatment. Focus on one at a time, like you're at a task party. Don't let FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) sabotage your Zen vibes. - The Zen Reminder Bell: Set a gentle reminder – a Zen gong, a bird chirp, or even a quacking rubber duck. When it chimes, it's your cue to come back to the present moment, task in hand. Remember, being mindful isn't about turning your to-do list into a meditation retreat. It's about infusing each task with a sprinkle of awareness and a dash of attention. So, my mindful mates, let's turn our tasks into a Zen masterpiece – one breath, one task, one moment at a time. 8. Automation for Efficiency Let us dive into the futuristic world of task automation – because who needs a personal assistant when you can have a robot sidekick? Get ready to witness the magic of productivity without breaking a sweat. Overview of Task Automation Tools and Methods - Because Robots Are the New Productivity Gurus Meet your new best friends – task automation tools. They're like wizards, turning mundane tasks into rabbits out of hats. From Zapier to IFTTT, these tools are the secret sauce to making your to-do list disappear faster than a magician's coin. The Copy-Paste Wizards: Imagine copying information from one app to another is like casting a spell. Automation tools can do it with a flick of their digital wands, sparing you the tedious copy-paste dance. The Reminder Genies: Tired of setting reminders manually? Let automation tools be your magical reminder genies. They'll pop up exactly when needed, like a friend texting you the pizza delivery has arrived. The Social Media Sorcerers: Automate your social media posts like a social media sorcerer. Schedule your tweets, posts, and updates while you're sipping your favorite potion – I mean, coffee. How to Leverage Automation Without Losing Personal Touch - Because Robots Need a Bit of Heart Too Now, you might be thinking, "But won't automation make me seem like a robot?" Fear not, my human friend! Here's how to keep the personal touch intact: - The Customization Charm: Personalize your automated messages. Add a touch of your personality, like sprinkling glitter on a robot to make it sparkle. Your recipients will appreciate the effort. - The Check-In Hug: Use automation to check in on your tasks, but don't forget the human follow-up. It's like having a robot vacuum clean your house – it does the heavy lifting, but you're still the master of the domain. - The Emoji Enchantment: Emojis are the modern-day hieroglyphics. Use them liberally to inject some emotion into your automated messages. It's like giving your robot a smiley face – suddenly, it's friendlier. - The Surprise Spell: Occasionally break the automation routine with a personal touch. It's like throwing a surprise party for your tasks. Everyone loves a good surprise! So, my efficiency sorcerers, embrace the automation magic but keep the human touch alive. Your tasks won't even realize they're being handled by a digital wizard – they'll just marvel at how effortlessly you juggle it all. 9. Pomodoro Technique: Time Management with a Twist Let us unravel the mysteries of the Pomodoro Technique – the time management hack that's more tomato than time. Ready to turn your workday into a series of mini tomato fiestas? Let's dive into the saucy world of productivity! Understanding the Pomodoro Technique - Because Tomatoes Aren't Just for Salads The Pomodoro Technique isn't a fancy pasta dish; it's a time management method that makes your tasks as ripe as a juicy tomato. Here's the recipe: - Set a Timer (Pomodoro): Pick a task, set a timer for 25 minutes (a.k.a. one Pomodoro), and work on it until the timer rings. It's like a productivity cooking show, but with less drama and more focus. - Take a Short Break: Ding! Time's up. Take a short break – 5 minutes to be exact. Stretch, dance, or practice your dramatic Oscar acceptance speech. This break is your intermission. - Repeat and Add Marinara: After four Pomodoros, treat yourself to a longer break – around 15-30 minutes. It's like letting your tomato sauce simmer to perfection. The secret sauce here is the focused burst of work followed by a sprinkle of break time. It's like a pizza-making assembly line for your tasks, and you're the master chef. So, my tomato tamers, grab your kitchen timers and get ready to Pomodoro your way to task-taming greatness. Before you know it, your to-do list will be as organized as a well-stocked pantry. Click here to view detailed article on Pomodoro 10. Task Management for Teams Hey team superheroes! Let’s dive into the dynamic world of team task management – where tasks are like villains, and you, my friend, are the avenger. Grab your capes, because we're about to unleash some teamwork wizardry! Strategies for Managing Tasks in a Team Setting - Because Avengers Have a Plan In the team universe, coordination is the superpower that gets tasks done faster than the Flash on an espresso binge. Here are some strategies to lead your team to victory: - The Avengers Assembly: Gather your team for a quick huddle. Discuss tasks, priorities, and potential roadblocks. It's like planning a superhero mission, but with less spandex. - The Task Delegation Dance: Distribute tasks like superhero assignments. Consider each team member's strengths – after all, you wouldn't ask Hulk to finesse a delicate negotiation. - The Daily Stand-Up Shuffle: Hold brief daily stand-up meetings. Everyone shares their progress and challenges. It's like a team dance-off, but with updates instead of moonwalks. Collaboration Tools and Communication Tips - Because Even Batman Needs a Bat-Signal - The Slack Signal: Use collaboration tools like Slack for real-time communication. It's like sending out the Bat-Signal when you need your team to assemble pronto. - The Trello Tactic: Trello is your superhero HQ for task tracking. Visualize tasks, move them through stages, and feel the satisfaction of checking off completed missions. - The Zoom Zinger: Virtual meetings on Zoom? Make them engaging. Use superhero backgrounds, share screens like a tech wizard, and keep meetings shorter than Spider-Man's witty comebacks. - The Email Evasion: Dodge the endless email onslaught. Read the full article

#Advancedtaskprioritization #Efficienttaskprioritization #Goalsettingforproductivity #Organizationalskills #Personalefficiencymethods #Procrastinationsolutions #Productivitystrategies #Stress-freetaskmanagement #Timemanagementhacks #Timeoptimizationtechniques #Workflowmanagementtips

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jvnghxope · 4 years

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jamais vu; memory

part one;

◦ pairing: Hoseok | reader | Taehyung

◦ genre: vamipire au, smut, angst

◦ word count: 13.9k+

◦ warnings: dark themes; mentions of blood and death; vampire compulsion and manipulation; blood consumption; alcohol consumption; hallucinations; strong language; dry humping (sort of), this chapter doesn’t have smut but the next one will!

◦ abstract: In a time when vampires are the most despised creatures in the world, Jung Hoseok finds himself falling in love with a human. Would his love be enough to protect her from the war that is about to begin?

⇥ Sequel to Dalliance; part of the In the Shadows universe.

↳ chapters: prologue | memory | remedy | melody

Jung Hoseok stared at the invitation far too long.

The reason? It had his name and his name only. Which was surprising. He is used to standing behind the shadow that is the Jung Family. He is the youngest son after all, with only 215 years old.

He has a mission. A mission that was assigned to him by the Elders, which is a great honor. There is a rumor flowing around the Shadow World: a group of humans knew about the existence of vampires (if they knew about the existence of other shadow folks, it was a mystery) and they are slowly uniting to hunt them down. The Elders didn’t give it much of a thought at first. Vampires are stronger and faster than any human after all. There was nothing to worry about, they thought. Not until they found dead bodies of their kind. That is concerning. There are more humans in the world than vampires. Now that they knew how to kill them, their chance to win a fight was not impossible.

His mission is pretty simple: infiltrate inside the organization, investigate their plan and ruin them from within. How? The rumors say Lord Kim was behind all of it. It is his job to know if that piece of information is true and get to the good side of his younger daughter.

The journey to the Kim Manor from his Family's old home is relatively short, as both of the families lived in the same area of the city. The moment his carriage clattered into the ground of the entryway of the manor, his eyes widened. The Victorian building is surrounded by beautiful Italian gardens and greek gods in statues.

The vehicle stops with a jolt. A well-dressed servant opened the door to ease Hoseok out of the carriage. He thanked the peon with a nod. The main entrance is displayed before him. Enormous marble stairs led to a hallway, illuminated with lights made of silver and glass. The natural light of the sun was going down as the dawn took place. It is a beautiful sight, he has to recognize that.

The carriages drove away, led by a horseman, to a place they could wait for their masters.

Hoseok follows the people towards the entrance. The excited whispers of the attendees arrived in Hoseok's ears. A ball at the Lord’s Manor is something worthy to remember and the event of the year. Everyone is wearing their best clothes. Dresses made of taffeta, silk, and velvet, and tailored suits.

It’s the first time he is surrounded by a big crowd of humans. All their emotions come colliding towards him. It took a little while for him to shut them down. His powers are one of the main reasons he enjoyed being in solitude every once in a while. For some reason, human emotions are stronger than any other shadow folk. Being surrounded by a big quantity of humans is exhausting, to say the least.

Two corpulent men opened the big wooden doors and one by one, the guests entered the manor. In the entry, a group of men is slowly forming a line near a small room, where two young men received their coats, hats, and canes and gave them a label with a number.

A beautiful lady with a red dress led the guests through a corridor to the ballroom. It is the biggest room in the manor. Big golden chandeliers illuminated the room, giving it a golden light. Three of the four walls had large tables with white silk tablecloths, full of delicacies and the most exotic drinks.

Upon his arrival to the city, he made some of his peons spread the word that a new wealthy bachelor was in town. That’s how he got his invitation. As he strolls around, Hoseok could hear how the people are whispering about him. They don’t recognize his face, but they know who he was. The town is not relatively small, but wealthy people knew each other. Hoseok is a foreigner in their world.

A round of applause sounded when the Lord made his entry, his beautiful wife clutched by his arm and his firstborn, Kim Namjoon, walking behind them. The Lord gives a speech, thanking the attendees at the 22nd birthday of his daughter, the smallest of his children. To be honest, Hoseok didn’t pay too much attention to the Lord, instead choosing to finish his tasteless champagne and let his eyes wander around the room, rather bored. Then, his eyes fell on you, and wow.

And he’d be damned. You are the Lord’s daughter.

The Elders mentioned something about your beauty, but seeing it with his own eyes is something else. It is impossible to believe you are a mortal. Any in the Shadow World could easily mistake you for a vampire. Maybe even a fairy too. You are standing there, with your head held high as all the eyes in the room are laid on you. A smile bright enough to illuminate an entire city and a beautiful green dress hugging your frame. Hoseok couldn’t help but stare in pure awe at you. And he was not the only one. You had the power to draw the attention of everyone in the room. Subconsciously, he notices you opening your mouth. You are saying something. Words that don't reach Hoseok’s ears, too immersed in you.

Hoseok shakes his head the moment he saw people approaching you. To clear his mind, he takes one of the snacks that looked somewhat tasty and ends in one gulp of the contents of his glass.

“Jung Hoseok.”

He is surprised to hear his name and surprised even more to see a familiar face behind the voice.

“Taehyung," he greets.

His old friend grins, “I know I will hate the answer, but I’ll ask anyway. What are you doing here?”

“I’m guessing I am not the first one the Elders sent, right?”

Taehyung chuckles. “They sent me a month ago,” he confesses.

“What did you use as cover?”

“I used compulsion. They believe I am the son of a distant family friend that just returned to the city,” Taehyung replies with a sly smile. “I suppose I am not doing a good job if they sent you.”

Hoseok snorts. “They are getting desperate.”

“And they should. Things are worse than we’ve imagined.”

“Did you discover something new?” Hoseok asks, taking another cup of champagne.

Taehyung scans the room as he feigned drinking from his cup, making sure there was no one in ear-shot. “They have new allies,” he informs.

“Who?”

Taehyung turns to his friend. Hoseok doesn’t need to use his ability to understand how bad this. He can perceive Taehyung’s worry behind his perfectly collected smile. “Werewolves.”

With his eyes, Taehyung points to one of the guests. Hoseok follows, only to find a young man talking to no other than Lord Kim himself. Hoseok’s jaw clenches, “The Jeons.”

One of the oldest werewolf families and an enemy to vampires.

“Have you informed it yet?” Hoseok asks. The Jeon boy is now talking to Namjoon.

“Not yet. I am close to being invited to the group. My every move is being monitored.”

“The dog didn't recognize you?" Hoseok mocked.

At that, Taehyung laughed. “We haven’t crossed pads. But he is young. I don’t think he could recognize a Pureblood if he wanted to.” They share a laugh.

Hoseok manages to keep his eyes out of you for almost an hour, talking to Taehyung, making fun of werewolves, and catching up. It is like a little escape from the reality they are currently living. Like the old times, when things were less complicated. But you are a magnet and his eyes can’t help but look at you every once in a while.

"Should I introduce myself?" Hobi asks his best friend out of nowhere. He takes his 15th cup of the night (or was it the 16th? He can’t tell) as he waits for an answer. Human alcohol is not supposed to affect him, but he feels a little tipsy.

With cheeks flushed, Taehyung turns to look at him, “Who?”

“Ms. Kim.”

“Ahh,” Taehyung nods. “If you want to… Be my guest. But be careful. There are eyes and ears everywhere. But there’s something a need to tell you first-"

"Mr. Jung," a voice says.

His heart jumps at the sound of his name, and when he turns around, you are standing in front of him.

Hoseok never stood up too fast (humanly possible, of course), "Ms. Kim."

Wow, you are more beautiful up close. Your eyes look so bright the stars would be jealous. The color of your dress and the candlelight make your skin glow beautifully. Then, your scent fills his nostrils and his throat goes dry. Intoxicating and addictive. It makes his head spin. He gets why Taehyung wanted to warn him: you are dangerous… and somehow he doesn’t find himself to care at all.

“I believe we are not properly introduced,” you add with a smile.

“My apologies,” Hoseok bows slightly and outstretches his arm. Taking your hand in his, he gives it a little peck. Your skin feels so soft against his palm. “My name is Jung Hoseok.”

“Is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jung. Thank you so much for coming to my ball.”

“I guess I should thank you instead, for inviting a total stranger.”

You giggle and it is a melody he doesn’t want to forget. “There are a lot of strangers here.”

Hoseok opens his mouth, the perfect retort in the tip of his tongue and-

“___?” Kim Namjoon interrupted. “Father is looking for you.” Namjoon didn’t bother to look at Hoseok’s way, which he finds incredibly offensive. But wait, why does he care?

You nod at your brother but your eyes never leave Hoseok.

“Well, Mr. Jung, it was nice to meet you. I hope we can talk again sometime. Maybe over a cup of coffee.”

“It will be my pleasure,” Hoseok replies with a bow.

And you disappear with your brother through the crowd.

You hate these types of parties. They are full of shallow people. They give you the attention you didn’t want and being your birthday is the cherry on the cake. People are there more because of your father rather than because of you. It is something you are used to. People surrounding you because of your father’s power.

Your brother isn't of help, either. According to the girls your mother made you drink tea two times a week, he is handsome and the best gentleman they could ask for. And as much as you believe every word, you are also sure they only wanted him because he would inherit the royal title of the family and a couple of millions. They are nice to you only because you were his sister.

"Are you using your mountain ash necklace?" Is the question of your father the moment you arrived where he was and you reply with a nod. "Good. Those bloodsuckers could be anywhere."

“Dad...”

“Also,” it is like you didn’t talk at all. “I made some pawns fill the champagne with mountain ash, too. Open your eyes for the symptoms.”

“What symptoms?”

“This is like poison to all the monsters out there. If you see something suspicious –”

"–Honey, we're celebrating your daughter's birthday,” your mother grimaces. “Keep that stuff to your reunions." Then, she turned to you, "Sweetie, it's time to open the dance floor." She delivers a kiss to your cheek and urged you to enter the dance floor, where the guests are waiting with inquisitive stares.

It is a tradition in the royal families when a lady turned 21 to dance with all the bachelors. Like a greeting to society, the part you are anticipating the less. You are about to dance with a bunch of strangers you are not interested in at all.

With a forced smile, you compel yourself to walk across the room to the center of the circle the guests just made for you. A man is already waiting for you. The heir of the Jeon Family: Jeon Yongmin.

Great. He is currently the favorite of your parents to bethrow you into marriage. You can't complain, though. He is attractive (really, really attractive), he will inherit a fortune of his own and he is nice to you for being you and not because you had "Kim" attached to your name. He praises you and says how beautiful you look tonight. It is safe to say you enjoyed the few minutes you danced with him. You are finally enjoying the ball.

But the pleasurable feeling doesn't last. The other bachelors made you feel like you didn't matter, like you were a simple object, asking questions related to your family or not talking at all.

Dizzy and in desperate need of an escape, you fantasize about kicking some of them and run for dear life. But before you could put your plan into action, a familiar warmth spreads inside your body when no other than Kim Taehyung takes your hand. The smile of your best friend is enough to alleviate the pressure in your chest.

"You look gorgeous today. I didn't have the opportunity to mention it earlier."

He always knows how to soothe your nerves.

"Thank you. You look handsome today."

A smirk rose on his face. "I always look handsome."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. The girls in here are either drooling for you, for my brother, or both." He giggles. “I didn’t know you were close to Mr. Jung.”

Taehyung clears his throat, “Yeah. Our families have a business together. I haven’t seen him in 5 years.”

You hum. “He seemed… nice.”

Taehyung raised a brow. He couldn’t comment on your statement and the next bachelor arrives. The next two gentlemen are just as boring, with nothing to say and lacking a good personality. You wonder how many more you need to dance with. Then, a tingle runs down your spine as the other man grabs your hand. You are face to face with Jung Hoseok.

“Mr. Jung,” you greet, suddenly out of breath.

“Milady. We meet again.” He looks stunning. Dark brown hair parted effortlessly over his forehead, dimpled smile, and honey skin. He holds your body tightly against his chest and your cheeks flushed. Even when you have danced with at least 20 men in the course of the evening, no one has held you like this. So…intimate. Not even Yongmin, whom you'd soon are to become his fiance. Not even Taehyung, who you already knew and have a friendship with.

To distract yourself, you attempt to make conversation with the man. “What brings you to our little Hylia, Mr. Jung?”

“My family has some properties here and I wanted some fresh air,” he responds, all his attention devoted to you. His eyes are intense and alluring. He smells like sandalwood and musk. He dances effortlessly, not paying attention to the steps. You? You are repeating the steps in your brain so you wouldn’t screw up in front of everyone. He is that distracting. He swirls you again and when your eyes return to his face, his eyes are red. You blink and it’s gone, a pair of chocolate eyes looking at you.

You smack yourself internally. Your dad is driving you crazy. Just because he sees vampires everywhere he goes, you don’t need to follow that path.

“I hope we made a good impression,” you say before you embarrass yourself further.

“You did,” he smiles and squeezed your hand, reassuring you.

The music is slowly fading, coming to an end, both relieving and disappointing. You wish you had more time to talk to him. A round of applause echoes in the room and you and Hoseok bow to each other. Before you could leave the dance floor, a new song starts playing. Panicked, you observe how other couples enter the dance floor, and if you desire to get out of here, you have less than 10 seconds to run or -

“Do you want some fresh air?” Hoseok whispers against your ear, stopping your meltdown. Without so much thought, you agree and let him lead you out of the crowd. He intertwines his fingers with you so naturally. Like they belong together. Your hand and his. You giggle all the way to the hallway.

“I don’t know where to go,” he turns to look at you, embarrassed. You can't help but laugh at that. He looks cute, all flustered.

“Follow me.”

It is your turn to draw him through the maze of rooms, doors, and corridors you call home. There is a series of small balconies facing the backyard and protected from sight by a large curtain. The moment you step outside, you let go of his hand and take a deep breath. It is nice to feel the chilly air against your skin. You relax both arms in the cold metal of the fence and watch the stars that are slowly rising in the sky as the sun fades away.

"I hope the ball was not boring to you, Mr. Jung,” you mumble and when you look at him, his eyes are already on you.

"Of course not. It was… pleasant."

There were very few candles on the balcony and most of the light is provided by the moon. The moonlight makes his features sharper, especially the curve of his jaw. Then, your breath hitches in your throat. His eyes are glowing. Perhaps you drank more than you remember, because the next time you blink, the glow is gone.

It is official. You are slowly losing your mind.

“So beautiful,” he murmured.

“P-pardon?”

He clears his throat, “The view of the garden is… quite majestic.”

Your cheeks flushed. For a moment, you thought he was talking about you. “Yes. It is my favorite place in the whole manor.”

He takes the final steps and stands next to you.

"Excuse me if I am noisy, but you don't seem to enjoy the ball that was made especially for you, Ms. ___."

“What made you think that?” You raise a brow, waiting for his answer.

“Well, there’s a bunch of people that came for you and you are here, talking with a stranger.”

A dry chuckle leaves your lips and you shake your head, “It may be my birthday, but it is just another ball with the same people, the same food, the same music and most of the guests are here because of my father. I don't tend to sound like an ungrateful child, but sometimes I get tired of this world. Does that make sense?"

You play with your fingers to avoid looking at him. You feel really comfortable around him. Like you can tell him anything and he won't judge you.

"I don't have many friends. Taehyung is one of the few to be around me because of me and not because I am the Lord's daughter. I have known him for a while now." You finally summon the courage to look at him. He gives you a sympathetic look, "I am sorry. I didn't mean to burden you with my problems, Mr. Jung."

“On the contrary, I am glad you trusted in me,” he says with a smile. “I hope that from now on, you can consider me as a friend, too.”

He leans closer, making your heart beat a little faster.

“Then, we should drop the formalities. Don’t you think?”

Something unreadable crosses his expression, but it is gone before you can pinpoint what it was. Instead, he beams at you. “You must call me Hoseok, then.”

“Well, Hoseok,” you enjoy the way his name rolls off your tongue. “I enjoyed our little time together. But I must return. My mother is probably already looking for me.”

“I hope we can meet again sometime.”

You walk to the entrance of the manor but before you get in, you turn around. Your heart jumps inside your chest. His eyes are still fixed in you, the air ruffling his hair in the most endearing of ways. He is breathtakingly beautiful.

"Good night, Hoseok," you murmur and open the door to get inside.

"Good night, ___," he whispers back.

You don't see the soft smile that stretched across his lips.

Hoseok never understood humans.

They are weak and fragile yet they enjoy living their lives to the fullest. They don’t care. Some vampires despise humans. They are shallow, greedy, and easy to compel. They only served for two things: make them do your dirty work and feed on them if necessary. But not all vampires are bad. Some of them chose to be in the world, surrounded by humans. They understood they needed them to survive. They make subjugates and sometimes turned their couples into vampires.

Love is not a common word to vampires. Blood is the most important thing. Blood means power.

Some vampires have 'special' abilities and they got stronger generation by generation. For example, his father has enhanced speed and was stronger than a normal vampire. His mother can feel other people's feelings and emotions and manipulate them in some way. He and his brother inherited both abilities, but the increased speed and strength are stronger on his brother, and the ability to feel emotions is stronger in Hoseok.

Hoseok never understood humans and was never interested in them. That changed when he met you.

You are different. He doesn’t know how to explain. You are like a magnet and he will happily follow you around. He is intrigued. He never met someone who felt as strong as you. He remembers the annoyance and the sadness you felt when you trusted him with your thoughts. It was like the emotions were his. Not even the shield is enough to keep them away from him. He was surprised by the force of them and he found himself wanting to make you feel better. The mission and the reason behind his presence in that ball forgotten since the moment he touched you the first time.

And he wants to see you again.

Dear Ms. Kim ___

Ever since we met, I'm not able to stop thinking about you. I hope this doesn’t seem too presumptuous, but I would like to see you again. I'll take a walk at the park on 5th Avenue this Friday. I'll be honored if you join me.

I'll wait for you at the fountain at 4pm.

JHS

His desk is full of balls of paper and letters stained with ink. It's a mess. He had been writing the same message for the past hour with no good results. He has never sent a message to a beautiful girl before. He is well known inside the Shadow World and women approached him first many times. He is relatively new at this. What he is supposed to write?

His main manservant is with him all the time and he has been laughing at his expense rather than being of any help the entire morning. After an hour or so, he managed to write a decent enough message. He lets out a sigh in satisfaction. The letter seems perfect. He reads it again a couple of times before placing the family seal in one corner and hand it to a servant that will deliver it as soon as possible.

That Friday, Hoseok arrives at the park a little early. He feels a little uneasy, his stomach churning, his palms are sweating and he can not standstill. These sensations are what humans describe as butterflies in their stomachs. Why they enjoyed it so much? It feels awful!

And then you arrive. Looking as gorgeous as the last time he saw you. You are wearing a light blue and pretty day-dress. Four men accompany you, not living your side for a split second. Guards.

His heart may or may not have stopped the moment your face illuminated when you see him.

"I must say, I was surprised by the invitation," you murmur when he was at ear-shot, stretching your gloved arm that he happily receives and kissed in welcoming.

"Would your guards let you take a walk with me?"

You grin.

"So, tell me more about you,” you ask, clutching your arm around his. He can feel the excitement pumping through your veins.

“About me?”

You nod.

“I feel like we only talked about me at my birthday ball. I want to know more about you."

Hoseok remains quiet for a while, pondering on what he could tell you. As you keep walking, the trees start to be closer to each other and the sunlight is slowly fading. The darkness on this part of the park adds a mysterious aura and it is a little chilly. You hug your shawl closer as you wait for his answer.

“I used to live with my parents and older brother. We left Hylia a long time ago, but I wanted to come back. I have good memories of this place. The manor we used to live in is not so far from yours, actually. I've been preparing to take over the… family business. You know, appointments with business associates and clients.”

You hum, “And all your family is a vampire or just you?”

Hoseok chokes on his spit and stops on his tracks. You eye him curiously, a hint of a smile on your lips. You know his secret and you don’t seem to fear him. You were blunt about it and asked him directly. That takes courage. You are not nervous. Not even scared. That confuses him by no means. He can’t tell if that is a good sign or a bad sign.

“What?” you ask, a little impatient because he hasn’t confirmed your suspicions yet. “Do I need to pretend I don’t know what you are?”

Hoseok had three options: one, feign ignorance and take it as a joke (even when he was sure it is not); two, use compulsion to make you forget this day; or three, go with it.

“Since when do you know?”

Yep, he chose the third.

“The day we met,” you confess, leaving Hoseok surprised. If you already knew what he was, why you accepted his invitation? Why not send men to catch him and lock him down? You were not walking anymore but your arms were still clutched together. You don’t seem uncomfortable and your emotions are anything but negative towards him. It is so confusing.

“Can I ask how you figured it out?” He says after a while.

Your eyes narrow. “I don’t if I can trust you. You could be the enemy…”

He is the enemy. At least to your family.

“Yet, you are still here,” he points out with a smile.

He now sensed the uncertainty –and fear?– slowly creeping inside your body. He can hear how rapid your heartbeat is. A part of him is relieved you were having a normal human reaction after all. The other part of him is… disappointed.

“I am not going to hurt you,” he says, wanting to place his hand over yours to assure you but choosing to not doing so.

“I-I know,” you manage to say, eyes glued to the ground to avoid looking at him. “If you wanted to hurt me, you already would have.”

He raises an eyebrow. You are smart. He never doubted it.

He is not proud of what he is about to do, but he has no other choice.

“Come,” he calls and leads you to a bench so you could sit down. You follow his lead without much trouble. As subtle as he can (so you don’t notice your sudden behavior change), he eases your nerves, listening to how your ragged breath slows and how the erratic thump of your heart decreases to normal levels.

“I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine,” he offers. “Deal?”

Then, you finally turn your face to him, “How can I know you would not go and tell our secrets to your vampire friends? We are not entirely hopeless…”

“Fair enough,” he concedes, “I guess you just need to trust me, ___.”

He does what he does best: being charming. It is not a difficult task as allure practically drips from his pores. Being a Pureblood, the allure is twice as strong. He doesn’t need to use compulsion to get what he wanted from a human. At least most of the time. His natural charming personality, incredibly good looks, and vampire-allure aura doesn’t do the trick with you. So, he does a little cheating: he enhances all the good feelings you have for him. Trust, comfortableness, all the emotions that could make you trust him.

It passes several minutes before you take a deep breath, your mind made up.

“Ok,” you agree. You fidget on your seat and chew on your lower lip. Hoseok can sense the uncertainty. It is still there, but not as strong. You take your time. That story had been in your family for generations. It is hard to tell it to someone from outside. Foreign. It is prohibited. You take a deep breath. “My family… Well, specifically my grandfather, formed a group with the sole purpose to eradicate the evil of this world. He was attacked by a vampire and left for dead when he was 20 years old. A warlock saved him. Since then, he decided to study your kind and hunt them down.

“On his studies, my grandfather found something vampires were weak to mountain ash. Since then, my family has built an entire business from it. They created jewelry with it so vampires couldn’t use their mind control on us.

“That day, at my birthday ball, my father sprinkled some mountain ash over the champagne in hopes it would reveal vampires within us.”

Hoseok frowns. That would explain the buzz he felt during that night. Oh, he is in trouble. Humans know way more than they expected. Humans have leverage against his kind. He needs to find out how strong this leverage is.

“Are you wearing a mountain ash necklace right now?”

You nod, “I always wear one.”

He hums. He could use his powers a moment ago just fine. Maybe the amount of ash is not enough to shield you from his powers or it doesn’t work with Purebloods at all. Is he going to reveal that information to you? No. It is not the end of the world. Yet.

“So, how did you notice?” he urges.

“Your eyes. When we were dancing, they turned red. It was just for a second. I thought I was hallucinating. But it happened again when we were on the balcony. My father a long time ago told me that vampires have crimson eyes as the color of the blood that runs inside our veins. That is how you recognize a monster.”

You definitely are smart. “You are something else, Ms. Kim,” he praises and your cheeks feel warm. “If you knew already what I was, why didn’t you tell your father?”

You shrug. “I don’t know. I was curious about your kind. My father always says vampires are bad, but when we met, you had an opportunity to hurt me and you didn’t. Curiosity got the best of me,” you laugh, embarrassed. “It runs in the family.”

Hoseok can’t help but smile. Is it wrong to feel honored because you trusted him enough to come? “To answer your previous question,” he says after a while. “I am a born vampire. All my family is.”

You look at him with wide eyes but there are no signs of fear in them. Only genuine curiosity. “How old are you?”

“I stopped physically aging when I turned 24. I am 215 years old,” he confesses with a tiny grin, watching carefully for your reaction. You do not disappoint. Your eyes bulge out of your orbits and he let out a soft chuckle.

You clear your throat, "That is a lot…"

Hoseok wonders how you would react if he tells you his parents have been alive for over millennia.

"Do you have more questions?" He teases and you pout.

"I have a lot. Can you handle that, Mr. Jung?

"I thought we agreed to call us for our first name, ____." He leans forward, looking directly into your eyes and enjoying how you flush.

“Fine. Do you sleep in covens?”

He lets the loudest laugh you have ever heard of and you do your best to not look beyond offended.

“Is that really your question?”

“Well, excuse me. We don’t know much about your kind and I am sure what we know is wrong,” you pout and his heart flips. He can feel your embarrassment and frustration.

“No, we don’t sleep in covens,” he responds at last.

“Do you sleep at all?”

“Yes, in beds where you can do more than sleeping," he flirts shamelessly.

You ignore him.

“What about mirrors, garlic, and holy water?

“Do you people really believe that?”

You nod and start chuckling because if he put it that way, humans were not that clever. It is the first time he heard you laugh and he is fascinated.

"My bathroom is practically made of mirrors. Garlic is my favorite condiment and Holy water is just… water."

You snort, "See? What we know is all wrong…"

He wants to take your hand, but he knows it won’t be appropriate.

“What about the sun?” you continue. “You are literally under the sunlight and unbothered. Does it affect you at all?"

Hoseok grins, "No."

The rest of the evening you keep asking him all your doubts and he is happy to respond. By the end of the evening, you know more about vampires and the Shadow World than any of your family or the Association.

"I believe I have kept you long enough, Ms. Kim. Your guards are probably worried."

"Oh, dear," you notice for the first time how dark this part of the park is. "Time goes by so fast when I talk to you, Mr. Jung."

And you giggle.

He leads you to your carriage and is funny the look of relief your guards have the moment they see you.

Before you get inside, you turn around. "Will I see you again?"

He nods, "Soon."

You are used to your life. Is all kinds of boring. Every part of your daily life is a routine, a schedule to follow. You can't make decisions concerning yourself by yourself. They always have told you what to do, what to wear… and there were tons of rules on how to walk, stand, eat and talk properly. It is exhausting.

Not everything is bad. You have your brother, Namjoon, Taehyung, and your friends. Their presence made your life easier and a lot more bearable. But they don't always provide the break you needed and craved. They are still part of the world you sometimes hated. They have their own schedules and rules to follow. It somewhat consoled you (and you hated yourself for that) that it seemed their lives were not under their control either. At least you are not totally alone.

The first breath of fresh air was when you first met Taehyung. He was new, funny and so, so charming. He is the first man to notice you. He is different.

And then, you met Jung Hoseok.

He is a vampire. In the words of your father, a monster. He can suck your blood and leave you dry. He can corrupt your soul.

Then, why do you feel more alive since you met him?

With him, you were not Kim ____, the daughter of Lord Kim, with tons of responsibilities to fulfill. With him, you are just ____. A normal girl hanging out with a normal guy. A normal guy who also happened to be a vampire.

And you are in trouble.

Behind closed doors, the members of your family are self-proclaimed vampire hunters. They built a secret association with their ideals. They reunited at least once a month to talk about weapons and the best way to kill vampires. At least that’s what Namjoon told you one day and he refuses to tell you more because you're a woman and you don’t need to know these things.

You may or may not have told him a couple of words that are inappropriate for a young debutante.

“What color of dress would you want for tonight, Mrs. Kim?” Lisa, your lady in waiting, asks as he finishes the last touches on your hair.

Looking yourself in the mirror, you sigh. “I think I’ll go with the blue one, with details in silver.”

Lisa nods and motions the other ladies to bring the dress. It is still inside the box, newly designed for you. 20 minutes later, you are waiting for your family in the hall near the staircase.

The Social Season started a couple of weeks ago and tonight the Lovelace family is throwing their annual ball. All the elite in Hylia has an invitation. A part of you hopes you’ll see Mr. Jung there.

Your brother arrives 5 minutes later.

“Father won’t come with us,” he says, using one of the mirrors on the left wall to adjust his already perfectly styled hair. “He has matters to attend.”

“You mean matters of the Association.”

He turns to you with a tight smile, “Yes. Mother is on her way and we can go.”

“Ok.”

The Lovelace Manor is not that far from yours, so the moment your mother is ready, the ride doesn’t take long. It is still early, but there are already a lot of people in the entranceway. Namjoon leads you inside. All the eyes are on you the moment you enter. You know your brother is handsome. He is. You resist the urge to laugh when almost all the debutantes at the Lovelace ball room break their necks to have at least a glance of your brother. He is a good match. He will be the next Lord Kim. All eyes are on him.

And you? Besides being under Namjoon’s shadow, the pins holding your hair place are stabbing your scalp, you can’t endure standing on those heels any longer and your face hurts from the fake smile you were taught to always wear in public.

But other than that, it can be worse.

“Would you be okay if I leave you for a while? I want to have a dance with Mrs. Lovelace,” your brother questions and he has these sparkly eyes that make it really hard to say no.

“Go.”

He grins, showing his killer dimpled smile. He gives you and your mother a quick peck on the cheek and disappears through the crow, with a couple of eyes still glued to his frame. It seems that Ms. Lovelace is the lucky girl. She is nice. A year older than you. Her family meets all your parent’s standards and she is beautiful. The perfect sister-in-law.

You spot a red-head near the dance floor. You wave your mother goodbye and walk toward your best friend.

She beams at you the moment she recognizes you. She is wearing a white dress with gold details.

"My father wants me to marry that Lightwood kid. Can you believe it?" She says in greeting.

"Joseph? He is cute."

She scoffs, "Please. We grew up together. He is like my brother," she dismisses with a flick of her hand and takes a cup of champagne from one of the trays. "What about you? I heard the date of your wedding with Jeon Yongmin is already set."

You snort, "He hasn't proposed yet. Our parents are still… talking."

"Your wedding is going to be pretty. Big and pretty."

"Shut up."

She giggles. She has the perfect retort ready, a retort that dies on her tongue when someone clears their throat behind you. Joseph Lightwood is standing behind you, with a lopsided smile tinting his lips but he looks a little nervous too.

“Would you join me for this dance, Ms. Carstairs?” He offers his hand.

Despite all her rant and ‘he is like my brother’ thing, she blushes. You gnaw at your lip to avoid the smile. They would look cute together. You observe them walk to the dance floor.

You don’t get to spend much time in solitude after your friend’s departure, as one bachelor asks you to dance too. Mr. Morgenstern (or was it Morgentain?) is a tall man with hair so blonde it is almost white and rigid facial expressions. Like a statue, chiseled by the best artist. He is attractive, but he is not your type of attractive.

When you know the steps like the back of your hand, it is easy to get lost in the dance. You don’t need to put all your attention on it to do it right. You flutter your eyes shut. You get lost in your thoughts. You imagine that the skin of the hand that twirls you around is softer. The shoulders where you place your hand are a little less broad. You can imagine that the man dancing with you is not blonde, but brunette. The eyes crimson as the color of blood…

You open your eyes.

Hoseok is here and he is watching you.

The world stops. You can no longer hear the music. The people around you disappear. It is only you and him. You both stand there, watching each other. He is so captivating. You have the urge to go to him, to touch him but he is so far.

Inhale. Exhale.

Once. Twice. Three times.

The next time you blink, he is closer. Looking at you with his crimson eyes and a tiny smirk on his lips… Are those... fangs?

The world resumes and it is turning upside down. You are falling but before you touch the ground, a pair of arms grab you by the waist.

“Are you okay?” Mr. Morgenstern asks as he helps you on your feet. He looks worried and you offer him a smile.

You are still on the ball. The music is still playing. People are still around you but they stopped dancing. Now, they are watching you.

“Yeah. I guess all the twirling and the champagne are not a good combination,” you laugh awkwardly. "Thank you."

With a smile, he leads you out of the dance floor to a chair. You look around, searching for Hoseok, but you don't see him. Was he a product of your imagination?

"You okay?" Namjoon appears out of nowhere when you sit down.

You nod, "I am just a little dizzy."

There is no point to try to calm your brother. He is already worried.

"I have arranged a room for you if you want to lay down and rest for a bit," Ms. Lovelace is behind him. "You look a little pale…"

You open your mouth to deny the offer because you are fine but before you can say something, Namjoon is grabbing you by the hand and sliding an arm around your waist to help you stand up.

"Come on," he says and there is no room to fight.

He leads you through the ballroom and you want to comment on the fact that he knows his way through the house pretty well. He opens then one of the many doors in the hallway and urges you inside. The room is pretty, with a single bed and a small couch in the corner.

“You can stay here until you feel better,” Namjoon states. “If you feel worse, call me and we will go home.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

With that, he leaves you alone and sends you a smile before closing the door. Once you are alone, you let out a sigh. After some deliberation, you choose to sit on the couch instead of the bed. Your legs feel weak and you are not sure why. You go over the events of the night. Does some vampire use compulsion on you? If so, why you? You are the daughter of the leader of the organization that will fight against vampires, but you don’t know anything. You can’t go to meetings and Namjoon barely tells you anything. You will be no use if they try to use compulsion to get information and you are supposed to be protected by the mountain ash in your necklace. But someone is trying to mess with your mind and is working. Doesn’t the ash work as your family always thought? Does that mean that you don’t have protection against them anymore?

You don’t get to dwell on the matter much longer, because someone is knocking on the door. With a sigh, you stand from the couch and open the door.

You gasp. It’s him. With messy hair and slightly agitated, Jung Hoseok is standing in front of you. To make sure it is really him, you take a step forward and place your open palm against his chest. It feels solid and warm.

“Are you really here? Is it really you?” you ask, in a trance.

“Are you okay? What happened?” he looks concerned and that calms you a little bit.

“Nothing, I…” you start, and then you notice that your hand is still pressing against his chest. You remove it immediately. “I’m sorry.”

He chuckles, dismissing the matter like it's nothing. “May I come in?”

You nod and move from the door.

“Are you feeling better? I saw you faint earlier.”

Your eyes grow wide, “You saw that?”

Then you didn’t imagine it. He was there. You start to giggle, relieved. You are not losing your mind, after all. “I’m fine. My brother exaggerated. I had too much champagne to drink and danced a lot. That’s all.”

He raises his brow, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Are you sure?” Out of nowhere, he takes a step forward and cups your head with both hands. “You still look a little pale…”

He is so close you lose the ability to think, talk, or breathe. His fingertips caress the skin softly. Before you know it, he is pushing you inside the room again and closes the door behind him. All without taking his hands from your face. Your eyes are glued to his. At some point, his eyes stopped being the chocolate color you know, and started to morph into a crimson color. It is both exciting and terrifying. Then, his eyes fall to your lips and your heart jumps.

“What are you doing to me?” he whispers.

You are about to ask him what he means, but suddenly you are knocked off your feet and your body is pressed between his body and the nearest wall.

“You are distracting me. I have a responsibility to my kind. I had a mission and the only thing I can think about is you.” He emphasizes his words with a gentle caress to the skin of your neck, earning a gasp from your lips. He uses one of his arms to hug you by the waist and pull you closer (if that is even possible). "Your scent is intoxicating. Your skin is so tender," he murmurs last words with his lips pressed against your jawline.

Your body feels like it is in overdrive. Every fiber is on fire. He takes his time to worship both sides of your jawline with kisses, licks, and nips. You rest your head against the wall to give him more access. It is clear where he wants to go but he moves slowly, taking his sweet time with you, nibbling at your earlobe and moving through your cheek. He is giving you the time to ask him to stop if that's what you want. But your mind is full of him, full of the feeling of his lips against your skin. You want more.

With his free hand, he raises yours to rest them on his shoulders.

"You are so beautiful," he murmurs. "Can I kiss you?"

You nod and he presses his lips against your own.

There is a moment when everything stills as time stopped. He is allowing you to push him away and when you don’t, he cups your face with his free hand and deepens the kiss. This is new territory for you. You only have kissed a man in your life and it was nothing like this. It was a year ago, with a man you thought you loved. It only lasted a second. It was just a press of lips and nothing more.

This is different.

Hoseok is kissing you with slow, languid strokes, taking his time to savor you. Fingers digging your skin, he presses his body tightly against yours and you hug him, not wanting to let him go. He tastes like champagne and something inherently his. It’s the sweetest thing. He swipes with his tongue your lower lip and you grant him entrance. He explores the crevice of your mouth as a man starved.

You have never felt like this, so overwhelmed and full of emotions you can’t comprehend. He bites your lip and tugs it with his teeth and you gasp in pain. With his tongue, he licks the wound and when the only droplet of blood reaches his taste buds, he groans.

“You taste divine,” he murmurs against your mouth and proceeds to kiss you fiercely, almost bruising. And then, he stops. He rests his forehead on yours as you both regain your breath. “You don’t understand how much I want you, how much I desire you…”

He takes your left hand that is comfortably resting on his shoulder and kisses your knuckles. When your eyes flutter open, it's like a bucket of cold water washes over you. His eyes are crimson red and his fangs are exposed. He is staring at your wrist like it holds all the answers. He is lost in his bloodlust and desire. He leans in, his fangs just mere millimeters away from piercing your skin…

“Stop,” you say and he does. His crimson eyes meet yours and you hold your breath. “Please, don’t.” Your voice is just above a whisper.

The next ten seconds of your life are the longest, but he finally puts your hand down.

“Don’t worry. I promised I wouldn’t hurt you.”

He caresses your cheek with his thumb. If he notices the shiver when he touches your skin, he doesn’t mention it. In a blink, he is on the other side of the room.

“I think we should return to the ball,” he says while arranging his suit. His perfectly styled hair is a mess now and you blush. It’s because of you.

With a nod, you walk to look at yourself in the mirror. You don’t recognize yourself. Cheeks flushed, messy hair and lips swollen. Even your dress is untidy. Now that you are not distracted with Hoseok’s lips on yours, you notice the sting of the pins against your scalp. It takes you a few minutes to look decent again. When you finish, you turn around.

“Do I look okay?” you ask him. He is laying on the couch, with his eyes fixed on you.

“You always look beautiful. Should we go?” he stands from the couch and offers his hand. You hesitate for a few seconds but take it anyway. He leads you out of the room to the ball, where you will dance all night, drink more champagne and have the best night of your life.

Time's perception is something different for vampires than it is for humans. Ten years for vampires are 1 year for humans, and as time goes by, the longer you live the less you care about the simplest things.

Hoseok has traveled all over the world, read thousands and thousands of books, met all kinds of people… and yet, he hasn't fallen in love at least once. He doesn't know how it feels.

He has had partners, yes, but only for feeding or sexual releases. There was not any type of intimacy and he didn't care.

And you?

You are the first human he feels attracted to. You are the first thought he has every morning when he wakes up and the last he thinks when he goes to bed. You are the female lead on every book he reads and he finds himself daydreaming about you all the time. He wonders every day what are you doing or if you are doing okay. All those nights, when he holds you close as you dance all night, are graven inside his mind for all eternity.

It has been a little over a month since the incident at the Lovelace ball. The night when he first tasted your blood. It was just a tiny droplet and still, it drove him mad at how divine it was. But as good as that was, it is still printed in his mind the way you flinched when he touched you after. He almost lost control and you were afraid of him. For the first time in a long time, he felt embarrassed to be a vampire, the monster you and your family proclaimed he was. He didn’t want you to fear him and as selfish and shameful it was, he used his powers again to take your fear away and make you feel better. At first, he was using his powers to get on your good side for the sake of the mission. Now, he wants to be on your good side because he is slowly falling into you.

"Excuse me, my Lord," his main butler interrupted his thoughts. "Mr. Kim is here and wants to talk to you."

One of his favorite books of all time is resting on his lap, but he hasn't been able to concentrate enough to understand a single word, so he closes it.

"Let him in," he replies with a sigh, placing the book on the table as he stood from the couch he was comfortably seated. The butler nods and disappears through the door.

Ten minutes later, Kim Taehyung enters the room.

“Long time no see my friend,” Hoseok greeted him with a smile he didn't return.

“I think we can skip the formalities.”

Hoseok frowns. "Okay, then. What are you doing here?" He walks to his mini bar and places two ice cubes inside two glasses. “Do you want something to drink?” he asks his friend as he pours a dark gold liquid. Maybe a drink will ease his nerves a little.

"No, I am okay. Thank you,” he dismisses with the back of his hand. “I came to ask you to stay away from ____."

“Straight to the point, I see.”

He turns to look at him. His face is impassive, not letting anything slide. He tries to read his emotions with no luck. A long time ago, Taehyung learned how to hide his feelings when he was around him. He hates it so much, especially when he is uncertain of the situation, which only concerns him further.

“Why?” he asks, annoyance slowly growing inside his chest.

“It is best for her not to be caught up in the middle of a war.”

Hoseok downed the content of his glass in one gulp and stared at his friend in confusion. “She is the daughter of the leader of the association. She is already in the middle of it.”

“Yeah, but how do you think her father would react if he knows his daughter is courting with a vampire?”

“He won’t know about…-”

Taehyung snorts. “He is already suspicious and we are this close to getting caught.”

“How do you know?”

Despite his angry exterior, Hoseok can tell Taehyung is really worried. He patiently waits for his friend to continue, seated on the same couch he was before he arrived. Hoseok can feel his mortification. It is faint, but it is there. He watches with amusement how Taehyung approached the bar and poured himself a drink.

“I thought you didn’t want something to drink…”

“After I told you what I know, you’ll want to refill yours,” he says and takes the contents of his glass in one gulp.

Hoseok raises a brow but stays silent. After a few minutes, Taehyung speaks.

“I’ve been using compulsion with servants to figure it out if they know or have heard something about the Lord’s anti-vampire group.”

“And?”

“Werewolves are not their only allies," he confesses. "The Lord managed to find a warlock willing to help them.”

Hoseok frowns. “A warlock? I thought we had a peace treaty with the magic community.”

Everyone thinks being a vampire is full of benefits and perks but they are all wrong. Vampirism brings along a lot of enemies.

Taehyung chuckles dryly. “Theoretically? Yes. But this one is obviously in favor of humans.”

“What would they want with a warlock?”

“Well, they know how to kill us now and that’s not the worst of our problems.”

“What could possibly be worse than that?” Hoseok asks.

“They are trying to empower a human with magic to match our strength and speed during fights,” he gulped loudly and Hoseok’s heart drops.

This couldn’t be happening. Taehyung lets the information sink in and takes another drink. Hoseok rubs his temples with his fingers. That’s definitely bad. Humans had a slim chance to fight against vampires because of their higher number and vampires still had leverage: their power. Now, if humans have powers of their own, vampires are screwed. He is screwed.

“Any results?”

“Not yet.”

Taehyung’s worry was so strong that he couldn’t hide from Hoseok anymore. It was exhausting and the feeling hit Hobi with the force of a truck. Now, his body was full with the worry of two individuals at the same time and his stomach churned painfully.

"I need to inform my father. If humans want to fight, he will fight back."

Taehyung nods, "I know. Now, do you understand why I want you to stay away from her?” his voice sounds hoarse and Hoseok doesn’t remember the last time he saw pain glistening in his friend’s eyes. "Something could go terribly wrong."

Hoseok understands. He knows things are messed up and not for the first time he wishes you were a vampire. Things will be simpler like that.

Would you want that? If he offers you a life of eternity with him by your side, would you take it?

“I can’t,” and the words are like punches to Taehyung's gut. "I don't want to. I will protect her. I want to protect her."

“Do you love her?”

Taehyung closed his eyes as if he feared what his answer might be.

Hoseok never realized until then, too caught inside his own world, fears, and hopes, that Taehyung has feelings for you, too. He couldn’t blame him for it, either. Hoseok himself was falling for you. Fast. You were extraordinary, beautiful and the most selfless person he knew. It was too obvious, actually. The way Taehyung’s face illuminated when you were in the same room as him; or the way his eyes helplessly followed your frame wherever you went.

Taehyung was one of the good ones.

He had never killed a human to feed. Enjoyed surrounding himself with humans because he wanted to be as normal as possible. He didn’t like being a vampire, but he was born like that and couldn’t change that. He took suppressors to weaken his ability to manipulate others' will. His power was so strong he even could use compulsion on other vampires –something no other vampire could do– but he respected the vampiric hierarchy and didn’t want to use it to his convenience.

He is that kind.

"I don't know," Hoseok answers. "I might."

As if he didn’t want to act like a normal human anymore, Taehyung moved in the blink of an eye and seated on the couch, burying his face between his hands in the most vulnerable state Hoseok has ever seen him.

“Hobi, she is human. Mortal. She can die. You understand that, right?” His voice was muffled but to Hoseok's ears was loud and clear.

Of course, he knew that. The last few days, he has been having nightmares. Horrible dreams where you die between his arms, bleeding out. Your blood smearing his hands and clothes as he desperately tried to keep you alive. Every time, he woke up with shallow breathing, his heart hammering furiously against his chest and the biggest lump on his throat. He had never felt that type of agonizing pain in his 200 years of being alive as he felt it at the mere thought of you being ripped off his side…

...and Hoseok is surprised by the nth time by how quickly you managed to get under his skin.

"I know," his voice sounds strained. "I will stay away from her."

Maybe it is for the best. He would hate himself if something happened to you because of him.

Taehyung stands up from the couch with clenched hands, "You better because if something happens to her, I'll personally kill you with my bare hands."

The Jeon's annual party is one of the most important and biggest events of the year during the social season. The invitation made of lush paper and gold is personally delivered to every guest. If you were invited, that meant you are important.

It is also the event Hoseok had chosen to say goodbye to you. He wants to have one last dance and give you a final kiss before he disappeared from your life.

Weird thing but what you loved the most about this world are the parties. Ironic, I know. Those parties are the perfect excuse to display the family fortune and elicit other’s envy. You hate that. No, what you love the most is when the hosts, to impress the guests, order the most exquisite pastries and drinks that make your taste buds tingle in pleasure. You love food.

There are also clothes. Despite yourself, you enjoyed dressing up in those dresses that are made especially for you and getting your hair and makeup done for the occasion. It makes you feel like you are inside a fairytale.

Tonight, your only companion is your brother. Your father had something to do and your mother is kind enough to not come without him.

This time, the Jeon ball had a theme, Fire and Ice, where the gentleman comes in white and the ladies in red. Lisa excelled herself with the makeup and the hair. You look absolutely stunning.

Since you arrived, you made a beeline to the food. Shrimp canapes and diverse seafood in appetizers are displayed before you. You are not a big fan of seafood but the canapes are pretty good. You are about to take your second one when you feel a hand being pressed against your lower back.

"Did my mother choose the appetizers well?”

Jeon Yongmin is behind you with an amused smile on his face.

"O-oh! Mr. Jeon,” half of the canape was already inside your mouth, so you are struggling a little while you swallow it.

"Please," he sends you a boyish smile and hands you a cup with bubbly golden liquid, "I told you to call me Yongmin."

You smile back. “Yongmin,” his name rolls off your tongue and his smile widens.

Well, you guess he will be a good husband. He is kind and attentive. He comes from a wealthy family. You will be taken care of and will not have to worry about anything for your entire life. Plus, he is really handsome. Your kids will be pretty. Yet, you can’t picture yourself with him. When you imagine yourself in the future, another man is standing beside you.

"The appetizers are really good," you finally respond.

Strangely, he is here talking to you. Even when he is around your age, he spent more time hanging out with your brother and his friends than you. Thus, you are not close.

"I'm glad you liked them. My mother was really nervous about it," Yongmin says as he takes one for himself.

"How is the training going?" You ask him and giggle at his confused expression. "My father is the leader and my brother an active member. Of course, I know about your little group of vampire hunters."

“It is weird to talk about it with someone out of the group,” he chuckles nervously and rubs the back of his neck. Then, he leans in closer to you so no one can hear what he is about to say. “We’ve been training with a warlock. He is giving some the power to fight against them. The other night, we went hunting and your brother killed one. It was impressive.”

Your blood runs cold. Namjoon killed a vampire. You stare at Yongmin horrified but he is too busy telling you the epic story of your brother to notice the change in your expression. He seems excited and why not? This is what your family has been looking for: a way to eliminate vampires from the world. You should be happy. Instead, you feel nauseous. You can't help but imagine Hoseok being tortured by Namjoon.

"We may kill some tonight. You can see if you want. I'm sure your father would let you," he adds casually.

What?

"H-how?"

"They added a bigger dose of mountain ash to all the food and champagne. If a bloodsucker comes to the ball, we'll know."

No. You need to tell Hoseok.

"Has it ever occurred to you that not all vampires are bad?"

He turns to look at you, surprised.

"Are you kidding? They only want one thing. Blood. They'll do anything to get it," his tone is stern and you wonder if he has a story with vampires that made him hate them so bad.

For the past few months, you have wondered if he was a vampire, like Hoseok. There is something odd about him. But now you are certain he is not. No one hates his own people that much.

You excuse yourself, telling Yongmin that you need to go to the dresser. You can't be around him any longer. He offers you a smile that you no longer perceive as charming. You start walking as fast as you can. You need to warn Hoseok–

Suddenly, you bump into someone’s chest, too caught up in your thoughts to notice where you were going.

“I am so sorry. I didn’t see you there… Oh, Hoseok.”

All the concerning thoughts vanish from your mind the moment you meet his eyes.

“Ms. Kim,” he greets you with a grin. “You look stunning tonight.”

He takes your hand and kisses your knuckles.

You blush at his words. “Thank you.”

He looks really handsome too. The white of his suit accentuates his dark hair.

Hoseok leans in and whispers against your ear, “Red is my favorite color.”

You try so hard not to react to his words but your heart bumps hysterically inside your chest and you know he can hear it. It is clear by the smirk that tugs the corner of his mouth.

There’s something you need to tell him, but right now you can't remember what it was. Maybe it is not that important. You'll remember later.

At that moment, the string quartet started playing, filling the room with music.

"Can I have this dance?"

With a small bow, he offers his hand. With butterflies flying in your belly, you take his hand.

He tugs you towards the dance floor where more couples are gathering and preparing themselves to dance. The steps come easy to your mind as you place your right hand over his left one and your left hand over his right shoulder. You feel warmth spread across your body as his right hand snaked around your waist and pulled you closer, his cologne filling your nostrils.

Every time you dance with him, the world disappears. It is just you and him. Nothing else matters. You lose track of time. You dance until your legs feel weak and your feet hurt. You dance until your mind is dizzy and your throat is dry. Unbeknownst to both of you, a pair of eyes follow you through the crowd.

The current song finished and a round of applause filled the room as the dancers bowed to their partners.

"I have something to talk about with you," Hoseok says as he draws you out of the dance floor with a playful smile. Giggling, you follow after him.

Then, something really weird happens. Hoseok stumbles over his feet. Hoseok, a vampire with enhanced reflexes, fell to the floor. He groans in pain and you let out a gasp. Something is wrong.

“Are you okay?”

He looks paler than he was just five minutes ago. Almost all the golden glory that distinguished his smooth skin is lost, leaving a pale, almost sick, color behind. But this is not the most shocking thing. His eyes fluttered open, a bright, crimson red has almost overtaken the chocolate brown of his irises.

“Your eyes…” you whisper.

“I don’t feel so good. Please, help me out of here.”

With a nod you help him to his feet, urging one of his arms around your shoulders for support. A small crowd has gathered around you, their eyes observing with interest.

“Is he feeling alright?” a woman, Lady Penhallow, asks.

You offer her a tight smile. “Yes, thank you. He just drank a little too much,” you giggle awkwardly.

You take Hoseok away before she could formulate a reply. You manage to make it out of the ballroom without much trouble, the people around them too busy to notice something out of the ordinary. However, when you arrive in the hallway, someone is waiting for you.

Hoseok’s grip around your shoulders tightens as you recognize the man standing in front of you.

Jeon Yongmin. The same Jeon Jongmin who was also an active member of your father’s Association and knows how to kill a vampire. The same who told you they were using mountain ash to hunt vampires at the ball…

Suddenly, everything comes back to your mind. How could you forget something so important!?

“Is everything alright? What happened?” Yongmin asks, perfectly collected and face inscrutable. His eyes fall to Hoseok’s arm around your frame and he clenches his jaw.

Perfect.

Just perfect.

You open your mouth to give him an answer, but Hoseok beats you.

“Everything is alright, Jeon. I sprained my ankle dancing with her and Ms. Kim is kind enough to help me get into my carrier. Do I need to explain myself further?” To your surprise, Hoseok looks somewhat normal again. His eyes are brown again and he is doing his best to not use you for support to stand on his feet. Hoseok holds Yongmin's stare like he is challenging him to say something. The tension is palpable.

"Okay…" Yongmin says after a while, his eyes glossy. He turns to you. “Come to see me when you finish. I need to speak to you.”

You nod and watch him re-enter the ballroom. What just happened?

The moment Jongmin leaves you two alone, Hoseok sighs in pain, and his body weight falls on your shoulders. He can’t stand on his feet anymore. With all your strength, you lead him towards a small balcony. Hoseok lets himself fall against the nearest bench once the door closes behind you.

“I don’t know what is happening,” he musters between gritted teeth. He looks worse than before, small puffs of air coming out of his lips and beads of sweat all over his face, his hair sticking to his forehead.

"Hoseok, I am so sorry! They put mountain ash on the champagne. They are looking for vampires!"

You run towards him, on the verge of tears.

“But… the mountain ash doesn’t… affect me,” he breathed out. His loss of breath was what concerned you the most.

"Yongmin said they increased the dose."

Hoseok coughs, “Well, that explains it.”

“What does the mountain ash do to you?”

He coughs again and you wince. “It only weakens me. It suppresses my powers and my strength. I wouldn’t be able to defend me if someone attacked me.”

Of course. It is the only way they have to fight against them.

"What can I do? Let me help."

"I just… I just need to recover my energy. I need blood. I have some spare at my manor…"

He makes the attempt to stand up but he is too weak and fails.

"If blood is what it takes, then take mine."

Hoseok raises his head, his wide eyes meeting as if he couldn't believe the words that came out of your mouth. Yeah, you are offering your blood to a vampire. Something you were taught to avoid at all costs. It is something you never imagine yourself doing. But it was Hoseok, a vampire you've been developing feelings for. And now that you put it like that, if you could save his life, you don’t mind at all.

"No, of course not," he quickly dismissed your idea. “I wouldn’t ask that of you.”

“How much time do you think you’ll last like this?”

“I… don’t know…” another cough. “Probably not much longer.”

“Then you need to feed fast. Your manor is not close enough,” you try to reason with him.

"I'm not strong enough to resist the blood lust. I could kill you," he sounds tired.

"You won’t, I trust you.”

He groans.

"Don’t. I don’t even trust myself."

"Hey," you say, taking his head with your hands to make him look at you. He looks… sad.

The chocolate brown of his eyes had faded away almost completely, now a pair of crimson eyes staring at you. It doesn't freak you out as much as it did just moments ago. Now that you understand they were a part of him, it is easy to leave the uneasiness behind.

You press your mouth against his. The kiss is barely a peck but charged with emotion.

"Let me help you."

The last words are practically whispered against his lips. He squeezes his eyes shut. It feels like an eternity passed before he replies...

"Okay. But not here. This place is full of hunters looking for me. It's not safe."

You agree. "Let's go to my place."

"Yeah," he deadpans. "It would be safer in the House of the family that put me in this position in the first place."

You offer him a smile, "We don't have much of a choice, do we?"

He sighs, "I guess not."

---

Helping Hoseok out of the Jeon manor is a challenge itself because of two reasons: one, it is full of guards; two, you need to carry Hoseok’s weight all the way. Still, he managed to act as normal as possible. Once outside, he loses his energy again. His chauffeur looks concerned when you arrive at Hoseok’s carrier and helps you get him inside.

The ride to your manor is quiet. Hoseok doesn’t have enough energy to talk and you don’t know what to say so you don’t say anything. He is resting his head on your lap and you gently caress his hair. You are anything but calm. Adrenaline is pumping inside your veins and your palms are sweaty. The ride only lasted 20 minutes. At this time of the night, the road was almost empty. Two maids are waiting for you at the main entrance. They help you take Hoseok inside.

"Hello Sophie," you greet one of them. "Are my parents home?"

She bows at you, "No, miss. They went out a couple of hours ago."

You nod. "I'll take mister Jung to my room. He is not feeling well… Can you prepare us something to eat?"

"Of course, miss." She disappears through the hallway.

You help Hoseok walk towards your room, which is located upstairs on the left-wing. The moment the door is closed behind you a new wave of nervousness washes over you.

"Are you sure you want this?" he asks as you help him to take a sit on your bed. You place your purse on your night table. "I could feed on one of your maids… They would not remember a thing…"

"No, I'm fine.” You reply quickly. For some reason, the idea of him feeding on someone else isn’t appealing. Hoseok, who is practically dying on your bed, dared to smirk. “Now what?”

“Come here.”

His voice suddenly smoother, like honey. You gulp loudly, fidgeting on your spot. You take a step towards him, your heart pumping inside your chest furiously. When you are at his reach, he takes your hand.

“This is your last chance to say no.”

“I-I won’t.”

He hums before tugging you closer with a last spike of energy. With a yelp, you fall over his lap. He caressed the skin of your neck with the tip of his nose and you shudder.

“Hmm, you smell amazing,” he whispers against your neck before sinking his fangs on the flesh.

You gasp and out of instinct, your arms are placed over his shoulders for support. It is not what you have imagined. It definitely hurt. You feel like your skin is burning. You whine and try to push him, but he is too strong. Hoseok’s arms snaked around your middle to pull you tighter against his body. And then you felt the bliss. It was not something you’ve experienced before. The burn fades, leaving a warm feeling behind. You hear yourself humming in content. It is like nothing bad could ever happen in this world. If this is what happiness feels like, you don’t want it to stop…

Your hazy mind merely registered when Hoseok pulled off your neck- You don’t know how, but his lips find yours.

The kiss is gentle and slow, both of you moving your mouth lazily.

You stay like this for what it seems like hours, kissing and nipping until your lips bruised. There is no rush. Both are content just kissing each other’s lips until your lungs hurt due to the lack of oxygen. Hoseok pulls you tighter against his body that earns him a gasp and he takes the opportunity to slide his tongue inside the seam of your lips. Every brush of his lips, every swipe of his tongue is driving you crazy.

He groans in impatience when he tried to make you straddle his lap with your legs around his hips but failed in the process. Your gown was obviously an impediment to do so. You chuckled against his lips.

You lift your dress so you could slot your legs around his hips and straddle him the way he wanted to. He groans in approval and pulls you for another kiss, his hands cupping your face. This time, it was sloppy and more passionate than before, the desire and tension between you growing with each passing second. Tugging his hair, you make him crane his neck so you could kiss him there, nibbling and licking the soft skin.

“What are you doing?” he asks, clearly affected. His hands fall to your hips, fingers digging your skin.

“What do you think I am doing?”

“Ughh, you’ll be the end of me…”

You can’t help but smile at that. When you found the soft spot on his neck, his hands around your hips tightened, causing your body to squeeze harder against his own. You gasp. It is the first time you feel his already hardening member pressing against your clothed core. You rock your hips again, out of curiosity, and a soft moan leaves your lips. It feels so good. You set a rhythm, slow but strong, as you keep exploring the skin of his neck.

Soon, you feel that it is not enough. You need to feel more of him, so you try to take off his jacket but his hands stop you midway.

“Baby,” your heart flutters at the pet name. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Why?” you whine.

He smiles at your pouty lips. “You are intoxicated with endorphins and you just lost blood. You are not in your right mind to make decisions. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret tomorrow.”

“But I want you.”

“And you’ll have me, tomorrow.”

He brings your face to him to give you a kiss. “Besides, I think you need to sleep,” he says as he looks intently into your eyes

You yawn. Suddenly, you feel very tired and you are having a hard time trying to keep your eyes open.

“I think I should sleep,” you say, agreeing.

He helps you lay in your bed and you sigh. This feels so comfy and soft.

“Don’t leave me,” you mumble.

“Don’t worry, love. I’ll be here when you wake up. We still need to talk.”

You nod, your eyes already closed.

He admires your sleepy form for a few minutes, deciding that maybe is not a bad idea to get some sleep, too. He stands from the bed to leave his jacket on one of the chairs you have around the room.

Then, out of nowhere, his breath hitches in his throat and he's having trouble bringing oxygen to his lungs. His chest hurts again and he starts coughing violently. There is blood in his hands.

What is happening?

He just fed. The mountain ash shouldn’t be affecting him anymore. Then why he feels like shit again?

The energy leaves him completely and he stumbles over the floor.

Then, the sound of the room’s door being opened reaches his ears. Footsteps.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” a man’s voice asks.

Hoseok raises his head to look at the newcomer and it shouldn’t be surprising to find your brother, Namjoon, standing before him. No, what is surprising is that Taehyung is standing behind him.

Son of a bitch.

“I took you long enough to find me,” Hoseok says, mockingly.

Namjoon only smiles sardonically. His eyes find your frame lying on your bed and his jaw clenches, the smile disappearing.

“It was not a good move to feed on her, vampire. My sister has mountain ash in her system. We’ve been consuming it every day for the past month.”

Well, that explains a lot. Hoseok looks at Taehyhung but his former friend is avoiding his gaze. Instead, he is looking at you.

Hoseok coughs again and Namjoon is enjoying his suffering a little bit too much.

“Don’t worry. We will take good care of you,” Namjoon informs him. “Gentlemen, get him out of here.”

Two corpulent men enter the room and walk directly towards him. They pull him off the ground and use ropes to tie his hands behind his back. The moment the material touches his skin, he winces. It is probably enchanted with some anti-vampire spell. He doesn’t see the point though. The mountain ash has weakened him enough to keep him docile.

The men tug him out of your bedroom. With the last strength he has, he tries to look at you. But Namjoon is blocking his view. The last thing he sees before the door closes behind him is Taehyung’s bottomless expression and the hem of your dress in the bed. Red, as the color of the blood that ruined everything.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!

#hoseok #jung hoseok #bts scenarios #bts vampire au #bts smut #hoseok smut #bts fanfics #hoseok x reader #taehyung #kim taehyung #taehyung smut #taehyung x reader #story: jamais vu #jvnghxope

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lorelylantana · 4 years

Text

Savageries of the Heart Chapter 1: Courtship

SFW

Zelda always hesitated outside of the King Daphnes’ door. Bracing herself for the twinge of disappointment that always came when she entered the room to find her father’s chair occupied by her uncle, she straightened her spine and stepped into the room with a schooled expression and a head held high.

“You called for me, your Majesty?” she asked, folding her hands in front of her abdomen as she stood in front of his desk. He didn’t acknowledge her for a moment, signing off one last document before looking up at her with a radiant smile that sent a chill down Zelda’s spine.

“Excellent news, my darling Zelda, I’ve found a husband for you.”

She sucked in a breath, “My husband?”

“Yes, my dear, at long last you're getting married! It was a challenge, mind you, but I’ve arranged for you to marry quite the accomplished Zonai warrior.”

She was speechless. As the first born of the royal family, Zelda harbored no false hopes of marrying for love, but she had at least hoped to stay within Hyrule’s borders, where she could at the very least continue her research.

“The temple will never allow it,” she insisted with a voice that shook in tandem with her beating heart. The smile on his face spread wider, though his eyes grew colder.

“The temple has always put too much stock on a bloodline bedtime story. Your mother was a gifted mage, but if present company is anything to go by,” he stood to walk around his desk and loom over her, “it was hardly a divine inheritance.”

“Zonai authority is established through combat prowess,” Zelda pointed out, “I fail to see why they would be interested in marrying me for my blood.”

“It doesn’t matter why they want you!” he snapped, the pleasant veneer of politeness cracking. He took a breath before placing heavy hands on Zelda’s shoulders, forcing them down into a slouch.

“What you don’t understand, Zelda dearest,” the King pushed through his teeth, “Is that we are vulnerable. Our military has been in shambles for an age, and ever since that wretched coup we have been surrounded by factions that refuse to fall in line. With the Zonai on our side, those other races will think twice before moving against us.”

In the ten thousand years since the continent was fractured there was never one incident that pointed to ambitions of conquest from any of the other five nations, but that didn’t matter to Zelda’s uncle, who had moved to a map of the continent. He stood in front of the east portion of the map, where the Akkala, Faron, and Necluda regions were painted Zonai green.

“My fool of a brother didn’t see the threats, but I do,” he whispered, frowning. He spun around to face her once again, “All you need to know, sweet Zelda, is that in a month’s time you will cross the Bridge of Hylia and make your home in the quaint woodlands that were once a part of our great nation.”

Zelda opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off.

“Everyone wins!” he proclaimed, “We get the support of the largest nation on the continent, and at long last you can finally do something to help your country. As princess.”

Zelda sighed at her defeat, “I don’t know their language.”

“A month should give you a decent enough head start,” he insisted, sweeping a hand towards the door, “I suggest you get started.”

Zelda rushed out the door, desperate for a moment to process. Her plan was momentarily foiled by the arrival of Nohansen. The young prince was an unfortunate reflection of his father made all the clearer by his sinister smile.

“Ah! Have you heard the news, dear cousin? You must be ecstatic! The biggest day in any young woman’s life is her wedding day, and yours is a mere thirty days away!”

“I fail to see how we’re to organize a royal wedding in one month,” Zelda muttered. Nohansen’s smile sank into a smirk. He ruffled her hair, knocking her tiara off in the process.

“Oh, the wedding won’t be held here” he laughed, twirling the gold in his hands, “Of course not, we can’t have those barbarians running around our castle now, can we?”

Zelda took a breath to speak-

“No,” he said, holding up a finger to stifle whatever she was about to say, “We will be taking you to them. Your glorious wedding shall take place deep in the savage Zonai wilds. They even have a little spring said to be protected by a goddess. Does that not please you, O Daughter of Hylia?” he ended with a sneer.

Zelda snatched her crown back, the gold biting against her grip as she pushed passed him to rush through hallways stained burgundy with banners bearing her uncle’s crest to climb her tower, rushing up stairs and crossing the bridge to her study, the most remote room in the entirety of Hyrule Castle. She slammed the door and locked it before kicking off her shoes and climbing her desk to open the window high above it. She lifted her face to the breeze that rushed in. It was here, away from prying eyes, that she could truly relish in fresh air. She stood there a moment to relish the stillness before lowering herself to the floor and taking a seat in front of her carefully cultivated collection of samples of Hyrule’s most elusive flower, the Silent Princess. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t get one to sprout within the confines of her study.

Her study was cluttered with several clay pots hosting their own samples. Stalks of Saffline and flowering Blue Nightshade gently glowing against the shadows. She also had several vials full of elixirs her uncle refused to consider implementing into the kingdom’s resources, citing a lack of reports backing her claims. Of course, any reports written by Zelda herself were disqualified because of a conflict of interest.

That didn’t mean her work went unnoticed. Zelda had built quite a rapport with servants and soldiers alike when she managed to concoct a working contraceptive elixir with ingredients common enough to distribute. From that point on Zelda became an unofficial medic to the people of Castle Town. Those employed at the castle had full access to the infirmary, but the same could not be said for their families. Since her activity outside the castle was heavily restricted most of her specimens were given to her by grateful family members who consulted her.

She was reviewing her notes on the Silent Princess when a knock at the door brought tension to her shoulders.

“What is it?” she asked, wary of her cousin coming in to gloat once again.

“You’ve been invited to dinner by his Majesty King Daphnes, he requests you come down immediately.”

“I’ll be right there,” she huffed, fixing the golden band on her head and straightened her hair before making her way down to the dining hall. To her aggravation, everyone had already been seated and turned to look at her as she walked in. Another one of her uncle’s tricks.

She sat at the last open seat at the head of the table. Her uncle intended to make a spectacle of her in some way, but she didn’t find out exactly how until dessert was served and the King knocked a spoon against his glass to call for the attention of the other nobles in attendance.

“It is my tremendous pleasure to inform you all as of today that our lovely Crown Princess,” he waved to a servant, who brought over a package “is officially engaged to be married!”

There was a round of polite applause before King Daphnes cleared his throat, continuing after they quieted down. The attendant placed a solid wooden box in front of Zelda after a maid cleared her unfinished cake away.

“In honor of this momentous agreement the groom in question was so kind as to send a gift to his beautiful bride to be and I thought it only right to share this celebration with you all by letting you bear witness to the first gift between our dear Zelda and her fiance!” the King turned to her then, laying another heavy hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t be shy now. Open it.”

At first glance Zelda thought the box itself was the gift. It was finely crafted, polished wood with a reddish tinge that she hadn’t seen before, and the various symbols and runes carved into it had her itching to go to the library. Zelda lifted the lid and reached in, pulling out a knife crafted by some creature’s polished jaw bone.

The room burst out in raucous laughter.

“My word!” a woman’s voice yelled, “I knew they were backwards, but to think they would present a young lady with the remains of some animal!”

“Well of course,” cried another, “If they couldn’t fashion a proper metal blade, what hope could they have of crafting jewelry?”

Zelda fingered the spiral carved into the lid’s center as she considered pointing out that the handle was made from silver wrapped in silk, but she doubted it would make a difference.

“Well she can always wear it about her neck if she wants to show off her engagement!” Prince Nohansen laughed.

Zelda did not wear the knife around her neck, but she did take to wearing it on a sash tied at her waist. The morning after the engagement was announced Zelda descended to the lower floors of the castle to reach the laboratory. Diplomatic relations between Hyrule and Zonai were nonexistent, but there was one researcher that spent a fair amount of time in Faron to study some of the plants there, and Zelda had gotten quite acquainted with him upon his return to the castle.

“Owlan!” she called, a smile growing on her face as the old man came into view, working diligently on documenting the fruits of his research.

“Come to glean Zonai secrets, your Highness?” he asked with a raised brow and his ever present gentle smile.

“You’ve heard the news then?” she asked.

“There’s not a soul in this castle who hasn’t. It’s the talk of the town,” he closed the book he was writing in and turned to face her, “Would you like a tutor in their language?”

“I would, but that’s not the only reason I’m here,” Zelda set the box she’d received the night before on his workspace, “What do you make of this?”

He took the box in his hand, giving the intricately carved lid, “If nothing else, you know that he’s a gifted carpenter.”

“You think he made the box himself?”

“Rather than a ring, Zonai engagements are marked with a dagger. Typically the suitor in question will present said blade with a personal touch. A seamstress would wrap it in a sash for her beloved, a gardener might send flowers along with the blade itself, and your betrothed,” he tapped the box lid, “sent a carved box. Would you mind terribly if I took a look at the knife in question?”

“Go ahead,” she said, taking an empty seat beside him. She turned back to him holding the knife in question with a frown.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s common for particularly capable warriors in the Zonai nation to slay a beast and have a bone fashioned into the blade. It’s a way of showing off, you see,” Owlan said with a mischievous smile, “but I can’t tell what creature it’s from.”

Zelda took the dagger in her own hands, running a ringer across the large fang at the point. Now that she had a closer look, she could see etchings on the bone as well, depicting a long horned serpent curling under the teeth.

“What should I send back?”

“I’m sure a reciprocal blade would be appreciated,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.

Zelda left shortly after to visit the blacksmith to have a dagger commissioned before heading to the library. After consulting a librarian she had several books on the Zonai language sent to her room while she perused the shelves until she came across the tome she was looking for.

The Hylian Bestiary was one of the oldest books in the castle’s collection, the original copy was written back when the kingdom encompassed the entire continent. She hefted the book onto one of the empty tables and flipped through the illustrations of beasts both alive and of their remains. She rested her head on her fist, nearing the end of the section and still at a loss. She turned a page, a little discouraged until she scanned it’s contents.

There wasn’t much information on this beast, apart from reports of different colors and different regions it had been spotted in. There wasn’t a live illustration either, but there was a careful sketch of a skull. Zelda opened her box and took out the dagger just to be sure. She held it up to the page.

Her fiance had sent her a Lynel’s jaw.

If his intent was to impress, he’d certainly succeeded. She had never seen one herself, but there had been occasions where her uncle had dispatched knights to slay one that had wandered a bit too close to hylian villages. It was one of the few times the King would approve of Zelda’s assistance of the medical staff, because they always needed extra hands afterwards. Zelda returned the book to its shelf and entered her study. The books she’d asked for were stacked on her desk, but she bypassed them for her cabinet of finished elixirs. She opened the doors and considered, wondering which one she should send to her betrothed. She considered a poison she’d extracted to coat the dagger in, but decided against it. With the language barrier as high as it was, she didn’t want to risk him drinking it. She ended up making a defensive concoction that would give him an extra layer of protection, which he might need if he made a habit of facing Lynels.

She was called down to the blacksmith’s a few hours later to approve of their handiwork. The blade was serrated, as she’s requested, and a fair bit longer than the knife around her waist, but she gave her approval and had it shipped off with her elixir to her fiance before returning to her study and reading through the basics of the Zonai language.

A week after she sent her own engagement dagger she had received another gift from her fiance. Unlike the first, this gift was contained within a basket. Zelda had the good fortune to intercept the servant on the way to deliver her gift to her uncle. The maid in question was a regular consumer of one of her contraceptives, so it didn’t take much convincing before she was walking back to her room with the basket tucked under one arm. She sat on her bed, and somewhat excitedly opened the lid of the basket-

And slammed it back down again. She stared at the basket as though it might combust for a moment, heart slamming against her ribcage. Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, Zelda gingerly picked up the basket and placed it on her desk, ond once she put a few paper weights over the lid, paid Owlan a visit.

“Good afternoon your Highness! Are your studies going well?” he asked, looking up from the medication he was crafting.

“How do the Zonai feel about snakes?” she asked by way of greeting.

“Well I would say they’re quite fond of the little creatures,” Owlan explained, “Snakes in general are held in high regard due to their resemblance to one of their guardian deities. The Faron Python in particular is a common pet.”

“A snake is a common pet?”

“Contrary to popular belief, they can be quite friendly. The Faron Python is known for being affectionate and gentle, that coupled with their penchant to hunt pests earned them a spot in many a Zonai household.”

Zelda found herself in the library once again looking for answers regarding the nature of an engagement, and returned to her room with an illustrated guide to Faron Pythons and their care. Once she was once again seated on her bed with the basket placed in front of her. She made sure to turn to the page to a diagram of the snake’s physical characteristics to make sure she could verify her suspicion. Not wanting to spook the creature, she took the lid off slowly, giving the snake a moment to adjust to the light of her room before taking a closer look.

The serpent itself was shockingly beautiful, bright white scales with splashes of blue along its body that looked almost translucent reflecting the light filtering through her windows. After a few tense moments, Zelda carefully reached in the basket. The serpent didn’t shy away, so she felt secure enough to tuck her hand underneath a section of its body to gently lift it. First it was only a few inches, giving the sweet creature a chance to escape, but it only curled around her hand in an embrace that felt softer then it looked. The snake slowly turned to look at her. A tongue flicked out of an upturned mouth, and Zelda was lost.

From that day forward, it was common to see the Crown Princess of Hyrule walking through the castle with a serpent coiled around her neck. She liked the reaction her new friend had on those around her, even her uncle and cousin seemed to give her a wide berth whenever they caught sight of the python leisurely draped around her shoulders. She never mentioned the snake’s name because she liked the watchful respect she acquired and refused to undermine it by advertising that the intimidating serpent’s name was Noodle.

With this new edge to her authority Zelda made doubly sure that any gifts from her mysterious groom came directly to her hands. The benefits to this policy were two fold, the first being insurance that her uncle wouldn’t make a further mockery of her engagement or perhaps keep the gift if he took a liking to it. The second was the prevention of any diplomatic incidents. As much as she loved Noodle, Zelda was well aware that a snake in a basket could be interpreted as an assassination attempt.

As thanks for her new friend, Zelda sent one of her old journals she thought had a thorough description of how she made some of her earlier, more basic elixirs. She knew there was a chance he might not understand Hylian, but she thought it would be a good way to get to know her. She had tried translating the recipes, but gave up after the first few and sent the incomplete list rather than spend her remaining month translating a single journal. Her Zonai vocabulary was primarily conversational and sadly didn’t include scientific vernacular.

She must have gotten her point across, however, as just a week later she was delighted to find a few vials full of her fiance’s attempts to recreate her recipes.

Zelda was also surprised, quite a feat after Noodle’s auspicious arrival, to find a Silent Princess pressed into glass. At first she was perplexed, wondering if her fiance had simply ventured a lucky guess, but then she recalled the day she began researching the flower and attempting to foster it on her own was also the day she filled that journal, suggesting her fiance had read to the last page of her journal before preparing his third gift.

Her elation at this discovery was fueled by a torrent of relief. She had heard the stories of arranged marriages gone wrong. She had considered countless times in the past weeks that the gifts sent could be a ploy to gain her affections only to have such generosity evaporate as soon as the final wedding vow was spoken. Yet the Silent Princess in her hands whispered tales of a considerate husband, who took the time to read through all she had written and took the time to learn her interests. Deep in Zelda’s chest, she felt hope flicker, foolish as it might have been.

#zelink #zelink botw #botw au #link botw #the legend of zelda #the legend of zelda breath of the wild #zelda botw #arranged marriage au #zonai link #fanfic

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ohwereusingourmadeupnames · 4 years

Note

I'm sorry you've had a rotten day D:! If it's not too much to ask could you do Fireman Tony losing a bet and having to pose for a calendar set to raise money for a charity (perhaps Peter is the photographer and in charge of said charity)???

do the thing - send in all the prompts.

That’s very sweet of you, nonnie! This was the perfect way to cheer me up, so thank you for that, too! It got a little porny - I hope you don’t mind :P

warnings: NSFW blowies and firefighter Tony goodness

Around the firehouse, frat rules applied. Which meant that toilet seats were never safe and bets were ongoing and made frequently. As the Chief of the station, Tony got to be the facilitator of many of the things that went on around the firehouse. When he set up the calendar photo shoot to benefit the local children’s home, he never figured he’d be actively participating – but that’s what he got for being a hot head and betting on something he never should have.

It all started when Bucky brought UNO in during one of their lull shifts. It took a lot of convincing, because most guys hadn’t played the game in years – but once it got started, things got nasty very quickly. Give men the ability to get competitive and it’s fucking on. They were playing last man standing rules – so everyone with cards in their hands kept playing until there was an ultimate loser.

The round that Tony decided to sit in on was one of the biggest yet. They jammed together six decks of cards and let the game goes at it might. Steve had already bet Bucky that he wouldn’t give the crew a show on the pole, and Clint stood in his boxers for the rest of the night. Aside from all the laughs and the sore stomach muscles, Tony was starting to get a little worried. He’d been hit with three ‘draw four’ cards in a row, and the lack of organization of the cards in his hand made it hard to play quickly – or intelligently for that matter. He held so many cards, it was a wonder that most of them were total shit.

One by one, the guys checked out until it was Rhodey and Tony left – the two leaders of the station going head to head. There were shouts and cheers all over the place, both men starting to lose their cards quickly now that there were only two people and the deck was pretty small. “What’s the bet?” Tony heard when there were only four cards left between them. Looking up, Tony blushed when he saw the look in Rhodey’s eyes – the four years of college they spent together reminding him that his best friend could be ruthless when he wanted to.

Finally, Rhodey filled in the rest of the class – the room going quite when he lowered the deck and looked straight at Tony. “Loser poses for all twelve months of the charity calendar,” Rhodey said, a smirk on his lips. The two of them spent a couple hours planning out the poses just days ago – there were some a couple of very questionable ones that he all of the sudden regretted choosing. Sucking in a breath, Tony did the only thing he could and accepted, his head already hanging in defeat – he was sitting on two yellow 7’s.

It didn’t matter that Bucky slipped Rhodey a ‘draw four’ card in the end, Tony already figured he was doomed to his fate. The men broke into applause when Rhodey slammed down his last card – a triumphant look on his face. “I can’t wait to see this,” he exclaimed, his smile reaching the shit eating territory pretty fast.

Which is why, a week later, Tony found himself being fitted into the outfit and put into a chair that would inevitably lead to him being made up into a shiner, more glistening version of himself. Though he felt resigned to his fate, it would have been nice to be on the other side of this situation, laughing at the fool getting his picture taken – instead of being the one getting laughed at. Either way, he spent a little extra time in the gym over the last week, so he and his body were more than ready.

Walking out into the mostly cleared out station in just his suit and nothing else on underneath, Tony felt himself flush – there were less people in the room than he figured and the whole thing seemed way more natural than some of the other shoots that went down in the firehouse over the years. There weren’t any fancy lights or loud assistants bullying him into this position or that – simply a man, a camera, and the computer the images would manifest on.

For the first time, Tony noticed the younger man – and he was obviously younger, the shine of youth still diligently clinging to molten brown eyes. He was a bit on the shorter side and very lean – though he could immediately recognize the bulge of a bicep when he raised his hand in greeting.

His hands were big – like they were made to be wrapped around the priceless piece of equipment he was holding (or other things – but now wasn’t the time for those sorts of thoughts.) The most important thing for Tony was his smile, though – when it broke, his lips spread until they were practically touching his ears – and his cheeks colored, that fire engine red so beautiful; a swift reminder of the thing he loved the most.

“Hey, Chief Stark,” the photographer started, long legs carrying him over until they were standing face to face. “I’m Peter Parker – I’ll be doing your photos today.” He stuck a hand out between them, that smile on his face spreading a little bit more when Tony finally caught his eye. He carried an air of confidence that not a lot of people his age could even think to achieve, let alone project.

Taking his hand, Tony felt himself smile, too – his customary resting bitch face slipping for just a second. “Nice to meet you, Pete – I hope you’re planning on making me look pretty,” Tony replied, his brow quirking, the smile on his face shifting from soft to playful. He even let himself chuckle when Peter’s blush deepened – the red taking on more of a maroon tint to it now.

“I don’t think you need any help from me,” Peter remarked without thought, his own eyebrows raising in challenge. And who was he to fight with such a thought like that? Especially when it was being delivered from that of an beautiful individual. Nodding in answer, Tony let his thumbs slip under the suspenders of the fire suit, his eyes wide.

“Good answer, Peter Parker – good answer.” He shook his head, turning it after a second to give himself a visual break. It was going to be hard to focus on looking at the camera with anything other than hunger, this kid was too gorgeous for his own good. “So, where do you want me?”

The next hour flew by without Tony noticing much of anything other than the softly spoken cues and explanations of the poses that Peter wanted him to go through. He wet himself with the hose and leaned against the 141 engine, he climbed the ladder with one of the suspenders slid off his shoulder and his suit dragging down until it was almost too obscene – he even let Rhodey throw a bucket of sudsy water on him. Despite some of the humiliating catcalls he got from some of the guys, Tony enjoyed every single second of it.

At the end of it all, Peter finally came up for air, his eyes no longer seemingly like a secondary attachment to the camera in his hand. The kid was talented – there was no doubt about that. Tony didn’t need to see the photos to know just how good they were going to turn out. The natural way he took in the light and allowed Tony to be himself spoke of experience and understanding.

He caught a smile from the young photographer and saw his hand beckoning him over – the kid’s eyes wide with what seemed liked excitement. “You’ve got to check a couple of these out,” Peter proclaimed, his fingers already clicking through the digital roll on the computer. Tony watched them all pass across the screen in hyper speed – the poses moving from one to the next like a flip book. He settled on one and turned the computer so Tony could see it more fully.

Tony immediately recognized the moment – the water was just splashed on his face and he raised a hand to get it out of his eyes – his fingers were tangled in his hair and the water was flinging back off the strands, his face completely lit up from the shock and excitement of the moment. His jaw dropped a little – in all of his time participating in something like this, he never encountered a picture of himself he liked so much. His instincts were absolutely correct – Peter Parker was immensely talented.

“Damn, I look amazing,” Tony couldn’t stop himself from mumbling. Peter’s answering giggle had him turning his head, his cheeks on fire. Peter was looking at him funnily, a hand over his mouth to stop the further chuckles from falling out, probably.

“You’re the hottest person I’ve ever taken photos of, Chief,” Peter whispered. His hand moved from his mouth into his hair, the strands standing on their end after fingers were dragged through them. His bright eyes were mostly pupil and if Tony were reading the room right – it appeared that Peter Parker did in fact like what he saw.

Looking around, Tony noticed that most of the guys were occupied – half of the crew out on a call and the other outside in the gym or playing pick up on the court. He wet his lips and went for it – what could it hurt? “You’re smooth, I’ll give you that, Parker. Want to see the rest of the station? I can show you where the five-time fire station chili cooking championship winning chili was cooked, if you’re interested.”

Peter took the offer for what it was and followed Tony further into the station – the older man pointing out the couple things of interest on his way through the bunks into his office. There was no time for Tony to formulate his next move because his back was hitting the door – the force of impact closing it the rest of the way. Tony smirked when fingers gripped the still wet suspenders, Peter’s eyes totally taken over by the blown pupil now – the invitingly warm brown completely gone. He managed to drag in a chocked off breath before lips were descending upon his own.

How Tony ended up pressed against his office door with the photographer on his knees in front of him, he never would have guessed. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he didn’t spend too much time worrying about it, either. His fingers were tangled in the thick curls of Peter’s hair, his hips doing their best not to give in and thrust into the delicious suction. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep the moans from slipping from his lips – Peter’s attention on him too damn good.

The younger man’s hand was wrapped around the base of his cock, his fingers tight in their grip. His mouth slid down until his lips were bumping against the fingers there, his cheeks hollowing out to smoothly suck as Peter pulled his head back up and lavished the tip of his cock with his tongue. He would pull off every couple of passes and let the flat of his tongue run from root to tip, Peter careful to spend several agonizing seconds lapping at the ridge right at the head.

There was drool dripping from his chin onto the floor below them – the whole sight absolutely indecent. Tony let his head rest against the heavy oak of the door, his eyes squeezing shut tightly. “Pete – you have the dirtiest little mouth,” Tony babbled, his hips finally giving in to the temptation to press forward into the last couple inches of Peter’s throat. The slight gag had a bead of precum dripping from his length – the feeling a glorious prelude to the lewd pulse of orgasm. Peter moaned around him, the vibrations adding to the deliciousness.

“You were meant to choke on a cock, weren’t you? You look pretty doing it – your eyes a little watery, drool dribbling down your chin. It’s fucking filthy – wonderfully salacious. And you like that, don’t you? Dropping to your knees like this, letting me gag you with my cock.” Tony emphasized the words with a change in the grip of Peter’s hair and a sharp thrust of his hips.

At that point, Tony could do nothing other than hold on for the ride, his body moving on autopilot – mind so strung out from the suddenness of having his brain sucked out through his cock and the severely pornographic sight of Peter unzipping his pants and fisting his own raging erection. A part of him wanted to draw away and spend a little time watching the scene – but he was too far gone, his balls already drawing up with his impending orgasm.

“Fuck, Pete- I’m close. So close,” Tony panted out, his hips coming to a stuttering stop when Peter took him all the way down his throat and swallowed around him. Pulse after pulse of warm cum slide down the boy’s throat – the tension of Peter’s constricting throat muscles pulling even more from him.

Through the haze of his afterglow, Tony watched Peter pull back and gasp, his hand flying over his cock. Watching him cum all over himself and the floor had Tony’s belly clenching with renewed arousal – everything about what was in front of him absolute perfection. Leaning heavily against the door, Tony loosened the grip of his hand in Peter’s hair – his fingers moving until they were resting lightly against the back of his head, instead. “Fuck,” he muttered again, his entire body on the verge of falling over from too much stimulus and a whole lot of fatigue.

After a few minutes, Peter looked up at him, eyes shining – “Will you fuck me against the truck next?”

Suddenly, thoughts of sleep were the furthest from his mind.

#starker #peter parker/tony stark #tony stark/peter parker #peter parker x tony stark #tony stark x peter parker #firefighter tony stark #photographer peter parker #ironspider #ask prompts #bobbie writes #nonnie #anonymous

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delphinusbae · 6 years

Text

I Couldn’t Be More In Love (Becca x MC)

Pairing: Becca x MC (Paris)

Author’s Note: Requested by @kennaxval Valentines prompt 9. “Meant to be”. This turned loger than I expected akdbdk. Set around the wedding since yeah I COULD’T HELP IT. Hope you enjoy!

Summary: The big day is finally here and Becca can’t wait to give her speech. That is, if she remembers it.

——

There was just one way to describe Becca today.

She was the happiest woman right now.

Aside Paris, she hoped.

Her wife.

Wow.

They were married for real. She was Paris’ wife and Becca was hers.

A dream come true.

Before, marriage and starting a family weren’t really on Becca’s plans. She didn’t put much thought on it. That is, until her relationship with Paris got serious. Suddenly having a kid with her wife’s heart, creativity and her own smarts and sense of personal majesty didn’t sound crazy at all. But that step was still some time away, for now, she’d enjoy the rest of one of the most important moments in her life.

Becca right arm was very comfortable around Paris’ shoulders as they sat, drank and chatted with their friends, her fingers laced with her wife’s.

Unconsciously, the blonde’s eyes trailed down to the golden band on her free hand, the golden band on her ring shining with the lighting from the place as she lifted her head and looked around. Madison had definitely outdone herself. Becca’s best friend offered to organize the venue for the wedding and knowing how capable Madison was (and how much she actually knew them) the couple accepted in a heartbeat.

The venue was in a garden. The thin structure of a wooden house lifting in place a series of yellow string lights as well as many decorations made of fallen branches in the form small spheres lit by the same lights. The tables were squared and round, the beige linen being the only decoration on them aside the centerpiece made of a small arrangement of flowers as well as candles. All the dark from the wood contrasted perfectly with the green of the grass along the deco, and in the center, a big enough dance floor for everyone to party, excluding the small scenario on the front where the band seemed to be having a good time of course.

It had been a small gathering, just 150 people. Okay... maybe not ‘that’ small but it was all their parents’ fault. Becca had a list with originally 70 people she and Paris thought much about but apparently inviting EVERYONE was required. They were lucky they could cut it at 150.

Out of nowhere she felt a finger tap her shoulder. “As the best man of both and mc tonight it’s my duty to tell you I’ll be giving my speech now and you’re next”. Zack said, a big smile on his face.

Becca’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding? Right now?”.

“Yeah”. He shrugged, his brows frowning in confusion almost immediately. “Why? Is there a problem?”.

“If you forgot I, of all people forgot my vows hours ago then yes, we have a situation”. Becca whispered, not wanting to attract Paris’ attention.

“Don’t worry Becca. We’ve been practicing your speech for weeks! I’m sure you’ll do just fine”. Kaitlyn leaned on her right side, joining the conversation. “You even made me tear up”. The singer chuckled. “Aaand... I kind of have an emergency plan. Just in case”.

Kaitlyn leaned back and took her purse, taking out a small paper sheet. “I printed both your vows and speech if you needed to rehearse once again but if you’re too nervous, why don’t you take them with you?”.

“You’re telling me you had this with you all the time and you just stood there and watched me make a fool of myself at the ceremony?”.

“Don’t be so dramatic!”. Zack interrupted. “You were perfect. Did you see Paris’ face? I think the only person who noticed was Kaitlyn because she was the one that helped”.

“See? Don’t worry about it”. Kaitlyn said.

“Are you sure it has to be right now?”. Becca threw her head back and sighed.

“What happened with the “I cant wait to give my speech. You bet Paris will be crying by the end of it!“. Kaitlyn smirked, high fiving Zack as they both laughed at their friend. “Anyway”. Zack took a deep breath, steadying himself. “As you said, there IS a program so-”.

“Why are you two laughing at my wife?”. Becca’s scowl turned into a grin as the three turned to Paris, who looked at them with raised brows yet a smile on her face.

“Uh, nothing”.

“Yeah, sure”.

“I should get going now. Get ready blondie!”. And with that Zack was gone, walking to the center of the place.

“What was that?”. Paris asked, caressing Becca’s knuckles.

“Oh. Just speech time”.

“Niceeee. Are you ready to be crushed by my speech Mrs. Davenport?”. Paris smiled teasingly, leaning close to Becca’s face.

“You do know who you’re talking to right?”. Paris shrugged. “You’re on then, Mrs. Davenport”. Becca grinned, leaning in to leave a sweet and long kiss to her wife’s lips. (Oh god, she shouldn’t have bragged so much).

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that”.

“Get a room you two!”. Zack’s voice could be heard around all the place, pulling them from their moment. “Okay, now that I’ve got everyone’s attention-“. Paris’ best friend waited until in fact, everyone was looking at him.

“Good, now. As Paris and Becca’s best man and mc for the night I thought it’d be good if I started with the speeches myself”. Paris moved closer to Becca, leaning her head on her shoulder as Zack turned directly to them. “Now, if someone had told me two and a half years ago we’d be standing here I probably would’ve found it hard to believe. But things happen, these two ended up together! And I couldn’t be happier for them”. Everyone laughed. “Paris is-“

Zack’s speech was great. It wasn’t great, it was amazing! It even helped Becca relax a little bit but before she noticed, it was already over as everyone was lifting their cups.

“So please ladies and gentlemen, raise your cups in a toast for the newlyweds!”. The guests did as they were told, waiting for Zack to end. “Congratz guys. If Paris was already the mom friend then Becca is officially our Dad!”.

“Ugh”. Becca rolled her eyes, containing the smile that attempted to break out on her face.

Zack motioned to the stage, waiting to give her the mic. “The stage is yours our favorite Kappa queen, please give a round of applause for Becca!”.

“Here I go”. Becca drank half of her champagne down, kissing Paris one last time and hearing a ‘make me proud’ from Kaitlyn before walking to her friend, the paper sheet forgotten behind her. She was gonna do this right.

She reharsed a lot. It would go perfect, right?

As she accepted the mic she hit Zack’s arm playfully, turning to the front and making eye contact with Paris. The brunette wore the biggest smile Becca had seen in her all day, and that was saying much. Paris had been smiling since she woke up (or so she heard, Abby had prohibited the brides to see each other before time).

Suddenly Becca found herself breathless, her mind forgetting everything else but her bride’s expression. Paris was so, so beautiful. “Wow...”. Becca didn’t notice she had said that to the mic, earning laughs from the crowd yet again as Paris tilted her head, grin in place.

The blonde did her best to look into her mind but there was nothing. Screw it, she’d improvise. Back at the ceremony because all the exitement she forgot her vows and Zack said no one noticed. So if she improvised once she could do it again.

Becca shrugged, lifting the mic to her lips again. “So, for everyone who doesent know Paris and I went basically from enemies to lovers”. She chuckled. “The day of the dance at the end of freshman year something happened between us. Paris wasn’t in the best place and so was I so it served as a distraction from everything. But as morning came and we parted ways I found myself thinking about her quite constantly. Then during summer break the Aurora festival happened and she invited me. By the end of it imagine my surprise realizing I was opening up to someone and that someone was my nemesis”. Paris actually laughed out loud.

“By Paris being my nemesis I mean I literally threw a coffee at her the first time we met and made my best to make freshman the worst for her”. Becca grimaced. “Not my best move definitely. When I first saw her I actually thought she was beautiful so I might’ve been mean because I didn’t know how to express myself or what to feel. I’m still sorry about that by the way”. Even at a distance, Becca could see her wife will her eyes.

“It wasn’t until the start of sophomore that we bumped into each other by accident. f I was in a bad place before summer then I was even worse. I can say I was a total bitch to everyone-“.

“Not gonna stop you Beccs!”. Kaitlyn interrupted, giggling right after.

“Oh shut up!”. Becca snorted. “As I was saying, I was a total bitch but Paris didn’t care and didn’t give up. She helped me through it like no one did, she cared. And our “thing” turned more serious and serious. Now that I think about it, I can’t believe we dated in secret almost 8 months!”. Becca shook her head. “Anyway, the moment we told everyone I felt so relieved because I was finally able to call you my girlfriend in front of everybody”. She emphasized that word.

“Like any relationship we had our ups and downs, specially when we moved together in Junior year. We used to fight over the smallest things but I guess that made us stick together and straighten our relationship. No matter how irritating I could be you were there still. But when you were in senior year, the time we broke up... I felt so lost. I realized so, so many things. Even if I had a place in the university I wanted, even if I was about to start a new phase in my life, I couldn’t care about it. I wasn’t happy because you weren’t there with me. I was too focused on myself when I should’ve focused on us. So I decided to take the first flight to London I found and go to your place”. Paris was still smiling, but it was a small smile, listening attentively to Becca’s speech.

“The moment we got back together it was as if all color in my life returned. I was so happy were were together again. Not that I didn’t know it before but, it just helped me reassure you Paris... are the love of my life. So I just knew I had to propose. When you said yes I felt like my chest was about to explode, I even cried and you know that doesn’t happen often”. Paris shook her head slowly, her eyes starting to water. “And now that I finally get to call you my wife, it feels surreal. People say there’s a reason why things happen, you know? And you and I babe were meant to be”. Becca grinned, a tear drop falling from her right eye. “I can’t wait to start our life together in New York”. Paris’ tears were flowing now.

“So I want to make a toast in honor of my beautiful wife”. Becca raised her cup. “I couldn’t be more in love. For you babe, for us”.

“CHEERS!”.

Paris stood up, walking towards Becca in a quick step before pulling her in for a kiss, holding her face as Becca’s arms encircled her waist. “I love you Becca”. Paris smiled, looking up through watery eyes.

“I love you too, wife”.

#playchoices #becca x mc #becca davenport #choices stories you play #its been ages since I wrote becca x mc #its 4:34 am #hashtag: no regrets #lea writes #mc x becca

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thedeviltohisangel · 6 years

Text

How The Night Changes//8//Takes One To Know One

Duncan & Olivia face the idea that she might be pregnant.

masterlist in bio!

requested by @tickled--pinkmoodpoisoning love her so please go love her as well!

send any requests for these two my way!

“I feel like a literal whore, Duncan. Like you only have to pay a dime to get your dick sucked by me.” The man in question chuckled from where he was still lying in bed, watching Olivia struggle to put her heel from last night back on while balancing on one foot.

“You’d be a horrible stripper, my love.” The meaning behind the look she gave him was clear and required no clarification.

“I can’t get my hips to move sexier if you won’t let me ride you every once in awhile.”

“It’s very hard for me to not be in control.” It wasn’t that Duncan didn’t like the visual of Olivia’s breasts bouncing in his face as she rode him like it was a rodeo, he did like that visual, but he could never keep his hands from gripping her hips and flipped her under him as she began to clench around him.

“You’re making yourself hard with whatever it is that you’re daydreaming about,” she muttered as she sat on the bed and looked through her clutch to make sure everything from the night before was in there before she left Duncan’s.

“Thinking about your boobs.” That at least got a smirk from her. Sometimes Olivia found herself forgetting that, no matter how put together and powerful Duncan was, he was still a male. Just as same as the rest of them. “When am I gonna get to see you again?” He sat up and leaned over he could press kisses up and down the skin of her arm. Duncan was an addict. Everyday that they weren’t public was another day that he didn’t get to see her for nearly as much as he needed to in order to survive.

“I’m not sure. I have a recital tomorrow night, you should come.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She looked at him over the shoulder and he took the opportunity to lightly tap his lips against the tip of his nose. Olivia had started volunteering at a local studio and her little toddler ballet group was participating in tomorrow’s recital. Duncan didn’t have a particular proclivity to dance or to children but wanted to be there in support of her and this future endeavor.

“Okay, well let me go find a makeup wipe or something so my team doesn’t think I got gangbanged by raccoons last night.”

----

“Miss Olivia you don’t look so good.” Her dancers were always extremely honest with her, even when it was not appreciated.

“I’m just a little tired, Stella, but thank you for worrying about me.” Olivia cupped her cheek gently in thanks and smiled as she ran off to join the rest of the group that was chatting together at a table in the makeshift green room.

“Stella’s right. You okay?” She turned to see Lillian, the director of the studio coming up behind her.

“Yeah I’m getting my period soon so I am veering towards out of whack with every passing hour,” she replied with a chuckle.

“Well I just wanted to thank you personally before the show. I’ve heard nothing but rave compliments from the girls and their parents about how wonderful your classes have been. Not to mention your endorsement has made us sell out the dance hall!”

“I had some people invite some people and spread the word. I know you guys were struggling with the budget last month so anything I can do to help, you just have to let me know, Lillian. I want my platform to help the people who really need it.” Olivia looked to the table where her group of dancers were sitting and felt her heart warming. She would do anything for those little girls, absolutely anything.

“I’ll keep your offer in mind. Thank you, Olivia.” Lillian squeezed her hand gently before moving to talk to the next group of people that resided backstage. Olivia walked over to the table of mini ballerinas and took a seat in the middle of it all.

“What’re you girls laughing about over here?”

“Lorelai was saying that she thinks you’re a real life princess or fairy. Are you, Miss Olivia?”

“What made you say that, Lorelai?” Olivia directed her question at the giggling little brunette that was trying to shield her laughs behind her hand.

“You’re so pretty!”

“But where’s your prince, Miss Olivia?” That question had come from Juniper. It didn’t surprise her that she was the girl to ask such a question, her mother was the biggest gossip of the whole studio.

“He’s in hiding.” All the girls gasped and leaned a little bit forward as if they were waiting for the rest of the story. “He’s hiding because the wicked witch wants to find me and if he stays away from me, then she can’t find me.” It wasn’t that far off from the truth.

“Oh but, Miss Olivia, can’t he get rid of the witch? So you can get married?”

“One day will be the right time, Lorelai, but he has to wait for the perfect time.”

“We’d help him!” All the girls nodded in agreement that they would help her prince slay the witch so Miss Olivia could be with him and be happy. They were like her own little dwarves in a way.

“What if I told you that he’s here to watch you girls tonight? To make sure you’re good enough to help him some day?”

“We’ll dance perfect for your prince, Miss Olivia!”

“Promise!”

“Okay well, we have to stretch in order to do our best. Let’s group hug first though!” Olivia stood up and held her arms open, all the little girls crashing into her with giggles and squeals of excitement.

----

“I would like to welcome a very special guest to the stage, First Daughter, Olivia Underwood!” Olivia waved as she walked across the stage to accept the microphone from Lillian. She spotted Duncan easily, he was whistling from where he stood in the audience.

“Thank you for the warm welcome, everyone but let’s hear one last round of applause for all of our dancers tonight! Such beauty and talent at such young ages, I expect greatness from all of them.” She paused as the audience cheered, Olivia becoming acutely aware that there was massive amounts of press lining the walls of the auditorium and suddenly felt a wave of nerves hit her. “I want to especially thank all of you for coming helping us raise some money for a bunch of continuing education projects we have going on around the studio this year. Also thank you to Lillian for inviting me to participate not just in teaching classes but in the organization of this event...and...lastly…” The distinct feeling of needing to throw up was beginning to rise in her throat. She was afraid to open her mouth to finish the rest of her short speech, the room beginning to spin under the heat of the lights. It was when she became aware of Duncan standing in his seat and moving towards the stage that she realized she must be looking as bad she felt. Olivia quickly extended the microphone back to Lillian before sprinting off the stage, the sound of a thousand cameras clicking the only thing she could hear.

----

“You didn’t have to spend the night with me,” she murmured as she took a sip of her coffee the following morning, Effie curled in her lap and Duncan gently massaging her feet.

“Didn’t want you to be alone if you got sick again. I know what a horrible feeling that is.” Effie woke up and moved down Olivia’s legs to begin to nudge her head at Duncan’s hand, wanting his attention as well.

“Wow. What a betrayal,” Olivia griped at the two of them as Duncan answered her cat’s call for attention.

“Sorry babe.” Effie crawled under his chin and curled back up in her little ball there, falling back asleep with ease. “I wanted to stop by cause I’m going to Vietnam with my friends for the next two weeks, remember?”

“Yeah but I was trying to not think about it. What am I supposed to do with myself in that time?”

“Send me sexy Snapchats.” One of her throw pillows solidly hit his thigh. “I’m sure the time will fly by, Livvy. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

“Your friends aren’t really known for behaving...are they gonna be suspicious of you not flirting and fucking your way through Vietnam?” He opened his mouth to say that’s not what his friends expected from him on vacation but then closed it when he remembered that it was. And that it was warranted.

“I’ll think of something. I have my Master’s, Olivia, I’m pretty smart.” She cackled in spite of herself and moved she could rest her head on the little bit of his chest that her cat had left open.

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too...I’ll call you whenever I get some alone time.”

“Okay, Donut. I love you so much. Don’t forget that.”

“You’re my whole world, Olivia, don’t you forget that.”

----

Three days later, when her period hadn’t come, she started to think. She had PCOS which meant that she had had irregular periods before but birth control had been prescribed to her to fix that. And it had. Her period had come and gone like clockwork every month ever since. Except for this month. Something was wrong.

“Henry?”

“Yes, Miss?”

“Do you think one of your agents could run an errand for me?” And that was how she sat with every brand of pregnancy test that CVS carried laid out on the countertop in front of her. She didn’t know how long it would take for a pregnancy to show up on a test but she also couldn’t pinpoint the exact time she had had sex with Duncan without protection. So, just to be safe, she peed on all of them and then paced around her room in a loop until the timer went off on her phone. Three of them read positive...and three of them read negative. “Well, fuck you.”

She knew she couldn’t Duncan and tell him that she might be pregnant because the tests couldn’t agree. She needed a plan of action. He was always wanting to take control but this was her and her body and her health so she had to make it her duty. It was her doctor that she called first, explaining the inconclusive tests and asking if she could come in for an ultrasound or blood test to get a conclusive answer.

“How about we wait another couple of days, Olivia, and then I can have you come in for both?” Dr. Haines spoke. Olivia was always patched through directly to her doctor to prevent any lower level employees from hearing anything confidential and being vulnerable to media inquiry.

“Okay that works for me. I’m sorry I can’t tell you an exact date…”

“Don’t worry about it. We will get it all figured out, I promise.”

“Thank you. Dr. Haines, I’ll see you Wednesday.” Once she hung up she figured there was one more important phone call that she needed to make. Duncan. She dialed the number he had given to reach him at for his trip.

“Hello?”

“Duncan?”

“Hold on.” She heard his voice get muffled, something said to his friends about it being his mother. “Sorry. Wanted to be alone so I can actually say your name.” He chuckled.

“I’m glad you’re alone. You should sit down. I have to tell you something.”

“Are you going to break up with me while I’m all the way in Vietnam?” She heard him chuckle but knew a piece of him was actually nervous that was happening.

“No the opposite actually...I think...I might be...pregnant.” The silence sat between them for a few beats, Olivia biting her lip so hard that a copper taste began to spread on her tongue. “You don’t have to say anything or do anything. I’m taking care of it, I-”

“Have you...have you done tests and stuff?” It sounded like something was stuck in his throat. Like he was choking on the words as they were trying to come out.

“I wouldn’t have called you all the way in Vietnam if I hadn’t. I took six. They were split negative and positive.” He groaned in frustration from the other side. “I’m going to my doctor’s on Wednesday to get some more conclusive answers. I’ll call you then.”

“You get squeamish when you get blood work. Is someone going with you? You fainted last time.”

“I’ll have Henry or someone else on my team hold my hand. I won’t be fully alone.”

“Okay that makes me feel a little bit better...What do we do if you are pregnant?”

“I...I’d want to keep it. We can go public or...or we don’t have to and you can be involved as much as you want...or not at all.” They had only had one conversation about kids in their time together. Olivia didn’t want to assume that Duncan was immediately on the same page on her, that he wanted to be a Dad. It would break her heart to have him leave her life but she would do it for their baby...her baby.

“I would never...I would never not be involved, Olivia. A baby that’s half you and half me...How could I not fall in love with it? Do you know how cute our kids would be? Will be.” Her heart began to sing at his words and she wished he was there with her now. It should be a crime for the one you love to make you feel this way when they weren’t physically there to receive your affection.

“I love you so much, Duncan. You make me so happy and I...I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“You’ll never have to. I’m going to be with you forever, regardless of how it happens and who knows and who cares and...you drive me fucking crazy. I’m tearing up in a Vietnamese forest thinking about how much I love you.” She almost cried to when she heard his little sniffle.

“I’ll call you Wednesday after my appointment. Try to have fun and not let this distract you too much, okay?”

“Okay. Love you, baby.” For the rest of the day, Duncan found himself zeroing in on the children playing in the streets as he drove by them on his way to the next tourist site. His mind kept wandering to the fact that he might be having his own kid. And he kept thinking about how he already was in love with the idea of being a partner in this way with Olivia. They really were two halves of the same whole and his heart called to be with her for this journey. From start to finish. He feared he had already missed too much by not being there when she took the test. At dinner, while all his friends were laughing and drinking about deciding what bar they would haunt tonight he was thinking of Olivia. Of her growing round with his child. Of picking out nursery paint colors. Of learning how to swaddle. Of crying over a little prune faced baby calling him dada. He knew what he had to do.

----

Olivia hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before her appointment. She was too nervous of not only the result of her tests but of the fact that she thinks she’d be mildly upset if she wasn’t pregnant. The past couple of days had given her a lot of alone time to think about what she would do depending on each outcome that the day could take. If she was pregnant, then her and Duncan would have to speed up all the plans they had made. They’d have to go public. Come clean to those that were in power. Maybe he would insist they got married. But Olivia wouldn’t want it to be a big affair. They would have something small and intimate with just them and her Secret Service as witnesses. They were the only people who had supported their relationship thus far anyways. And then in nine months they would have their little bub. And they would be so happy. And they would be a family forever. And eventually have the massive wedding Olivia had been dreaming about her entire life.

If she wasn’t pregnant...then she would be sad. But she would get over it. And everything that would have happened if she was pregnant would eventually happen on its own anyways. She would just have to wait a little bit longer for all of her dreams to come true.

It was a knocking at her door that made her finally think to get out of bed. It must be one of her agents needing to use the bathroom.

“Nadim, I swear you have the bladder of-” But it wasn’t him when she opened the door. It was Duncan. A bit scruffier and his hair was a bit curlier and his skin was a bit tanner but it was him.

“Hey.”

“What are you…”

“I thought about it. And thought it would be pretty shitty if I missed an ultrasound this early on so…”

“Duncan,” Olivia took a deep and shaky breath as the tears began to run down her face. “You didn’t have to fly all the way home for this.” He quickly stepped into her home and shut the door behind him, placing both of his hands on her shoulders.

“Even...even if you are not pregnant, I’m doing this right. By you, by our child.” He let out a watery laugh as his own emotions began to get the best of him. “I never had one so I’m going to be one. I’m gonna be a good fucking father.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him like her life depended on it. And in a way, it did.

----

She managed to survive the blood draw without fainting this time, Duncan thinking she might have broken his hand from how hard she had squeezed it.

“That will be nothing compared to labor so you better start doing some hand strengthening exercises.” Duncan bopped his nose against hers from where they were waiting in an exam room for her doctor to see them. He was feeding her bits of a Hershey bar he had gotten from the vending machine, Olivia having not been able to eat in preparation for her blood draw that morning. “I’m gonna wet my pants if she doesn’t come soon.”

“Let’s think about something else instead then. Like all the cool ways we can announce our relationship to the public and really anger our mom’s and my uncle.”

“That’s evil, Mr. Shepherd, though it’s kind of turning me on.” Duncan hummed as he kissed her lips.

“All Shepherds have villainous blood, I thought your parents taught you that.”

“Villains don’t cut their vacation short to be with their girlfriends for doctor’s appointments.” She pushed a loose strand of hair off his forehead and then dragged her hands down to cup his cheek.

“I told you. I want to be here for every step of the way. No matter how inconsequential those steps might be.” He laced his fingers through his and then brought them to his lips. “We might be having a baby.” They both giggled.

“I’m glad we are in a happy mood.” It was Dr. Haines and to her credit she kept her surprise at seeing Duncan Shepherd in her exam room to a minimum.

“Trying to keep everything light. Don’t want our baby, if there is one, to be announced in a negative environment,” Olivia reason as she wiggled around to get in the right position for her doctor.

“Dr. Haines, I’m sure we don’t have to ask but-”

“You have my discretion, I promise.” Duncan smiled at her gratefully before turning back to Olivia.

“Hey, before this all starts, whatever happens, I love you. And if there is a baby, we’ll figure it out and be kickass parents and they’ll be in most loving home in history. And if there isn’t then know that one day, there will be. I promise you.”

“I’d like that,” she whispered back to him, feeling molten under the heat of his gaze. They kissed one last time, before everything changed forever. Duncan took his seat next to her head, hand still holding hers and eyes fixated on the screen like he was a little boy waiting up for Santa on Christmas Eve.

“Let’s take a look.” Olivia held her breath as the doctor moved around her stomach and the grainy screen came to life. “Well, Miss Underwood, Mr. Shepherd, I’m not seeing anything. And your blood work didn’t lead me to believe that I would have so I can say with confidence that you are not pregnant.” She smiled at the couple, beginning to pack up her things and wipe down Olivia’s stomach.

“Thank you, Dr. Haines. Have a nice rest of your week,” Duncan spoke as she patted him on the shoulder and left the room. He looked down at Olivia, who was looking vaguely shell shocked.

“I just...I just really thought.” She didn’t have to finish her sentence, he knew. He understood. He had felt the same. “I’m sorry you took a plane just to be told I’m not…” Duncan shushed her gently.

“It was worth it, baby, you don’t have to ever worry about disappointing me.”

“Take me home?” She suddenly felt very exposed under the harsh lights of the room and cold under the flimsy gown that she had been given to put on. Duncan had to take a step back as she abruptly sat up and threw her legs over the side of the table.

“Of course. You hungry? We can stop for something on the way home.”

“Just get me out of this goddamn room, Duncan, please.” Angrily, she rubbed at her eyes and then pushed past him to where her clothes sat in a pile.

“Okay,” he was approaching her with a measured cautiousness, “I’ll go ask Henry to pull the car around.” She was quiet the entire care ride, he kept his hand open in between them and she didn’t take it. He just wanted to talk to him, to tell him what was bothering her so he could fix it. Smooth over all the worried creases in her forehead. Nevertheless, he kept his hand there and kept it open because he would always be there for her, no matter how long it took her to come to him. He’d wait forever.

When they were lying in bed that night, he was on his back staring at the ceiling while she had turned her back to him on her side and curled into a ball.

“I was stupid to think that people like us get to be happy.” His head whipped in her direction. It was the first he had heard from her in hours.

“We’re happy when we’re together, aren’t we?” She rolled over so she could look at him.

“We are. But we’re not always allowed to be together and that breaks my heart. I was so happy today. You were so happy today. We were so happy to think we could be parents. Right all the wrongs that had been done to us. Love a child who was made from our love but...but people like us, Duncan, people like us don’t get to be happy.” The words were coming out of her mouth like venom. He could taste the ashes of her tongue as the burning words entered the atmosphere.

“We do. We’ve earned the right to be happy, Olivia. You make me so happy. And, yes, being a secret sucks sometimes but it’s not forever. Just because it feels hopeless right now does not mean that it always will feel that way. I promise you with every breath I have left in my body that you will always feel loved and be happy because you fucking deserve it.” Almost harshly, he pulled her against his chest as if the force of crashing her against his chest would force the words to be absorbed into her. “I wanted the baby too but it wasn’t meant to be. One day it will be. And you’ll be the most amazing mom like I know you will be.”

“You’re gonna stick it out with me for that long?” she sniffled as she traced her finger in the shape of a heart where his would be.

“I don’t think you ever get to love someone like this more than once. It scares me sometimes but I would do anything for you, Livvy, be anything you needed me to be.”

“Well, right now, I need you to sing me to sleep.” He smiled at her, happy that she seemed to be back to her usual self. Duncan hated his singing voice but one night he had sung in his sleep and Olivia had found it to be extremely comforting.

“Get comfy, little one.” He released her from his arms for just a moment so she could adjust into their favorite spooning position, Duncan clasping his arms back around her once she was settled. To the sweet lyrics of “You Are My Sunshine,” her tears disappeared and Olivia drifted off to a peaceful sleep, visions of cherubs in her dreams.

Tags:

@avesatanormalpeoplescareme

@aveiangdon

@langdonslove

#duncan shepherd #cody fern #house of cards #michael langdon #jim mason

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makeste · 6 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 083: Your Hands Can Still Reach

Previously on BnHA: tHEY TOOK my SON. MY SON.

...oh god. yeah so. Vlad was a badass and so was Aizawa, but neither of them ultimately managed to stop Dabi and his group from kidnapping my child. Dabi bragged about how they were going to unravel society’s trust in U.A. after they let the students get attacked on multiple occasions. Back in the forest, Deku’s group tried to stop Dabi and co. from escaping, but Kurogiri’s appearance made that all but a foregone conclusion. Tokoyami was saved at the last second thanks to Aoyama’s intervention, but Kacchan literally disappeared right in front of Deku’s eyes. Like, they made eye contact, and Kacchan was all “stay away Deku” and like deadly serious because there was nothing else he could do, and then he was just. Gone. It was amazing omg

Today on BnHA: Everyone licks their wounds. It’s depressing. The U.A. faculty has a meeting to discuss how badly they fucked up (spoilers: a lot) and whether or not there is a traitor in their midst. All Might is particularly distraught, at least until Naomasa calls him to let him know the police have a lead on the League of Villains’ location. Class A visits Deku in the hospital. Kirishima tells Deku that he and Todoroki overheard Momo talking to the cops about the tracker she planted on the Noumu. Seeing where this is headed, Iida starts to protest, but Kirishima passionately says that because he was unable to do anything before, he feels like he has to do something now. He’s planning to go and try to save Bakugou, and tells Deku that it’s not too late.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 141 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

everyone’s just licking their wounds on this opening page. Aizawa and the kids who are still able to stand are dragging the unconscious and wounded kids out of the woods

jesus this is fucking grim

Momo please be okay oh my god. such a fucking hero. saved the fucking day and no one even realizes it yet

and Kendou’s dragging Tetsu and the unconscious captured villain because she’s also a fucking hero!! YESSSS GIRLS. YESSSSSS

Tsuyu and Ochako are catching up with the others, but they’re all just surrounding Deku who’s on the ground just screaming

someone needs to knock this kid out now for his own good. this is so far from on brand

JESUS CHRIST look at all this fucking collateral damage

fifteen kids in critical condition from the poison gas. holy shit. and 11 more injured, and one MISSING and POSSIBLY DEAD, although I know he’s not dead but THEY FUCKING DON’T AND HOLY SHIT THOUGH

and Pixie is also in critical condition from head trauma. realistic consequences!!!! now we’re getting to the point where not only is it more realistic than most anime, but most live action entertainment as well. someone gets banged on the head and doesn’t immediately recover?? holy fucking shit

and my girl Ragdoll is. probably fucking dead omfg. a large pool of blood and missing in action. wtf. realistic fucking consequences

holy shit I was wondering how the cops actually manage to contain these massively strong villains, and fucking look at this shit though

damn. I honestly don’t know how anyone has the balls to try and break the law if they know there’s even the slightest risk of them being wrapped up like an evil burrito and stuffed into a metal containment tube for the rest of their lives

can we give Tetsu and Kendou a round of applause. and Deku. and Tokoyami. not a single one of these villains was apprehended by the cops, or even the pros. this was all the kids. even class B was representing too for the very first time

I don’t know about you, but to me that could not have possibly gone any better. fanfic lodge, you lived up to your reputation and then some. more like canon domestic fluff and angst lodge. can I get a fuck yeah. holy shit

now we’re cutting to the next day at U.A.

the pros are holding a meeting

they’re saying they need to acknowledge “the disgrace” of allowing their students to be assaulted at a camp that was meant to prepare them for exactly this kind of thing

and they underestimated how far along the villain alliance had already come along. like, they were fairly sure there would be trouble soon, but these guys were already organized and making plans

yep. these are fast-paced villains for sure. y’all thought this was One Piece, but this is BnHA! we’ve already had like... four arcs. and it’s only chapter 83

okay Midnight’s bringing up something really important here

“ever since All Might came on to the scene...” but the thing is, he’s not on the scene any more. not really. and now we’re starting to see the result. he’s been trying to delay this as long as possible, but...

Mic is saying that the peace that All Might brought about made them complacent. it’s true, societies do have astonishingly short memories

All Might himself seems fucking devastated

please don’t beat yourself up, you couldn’t have foreseen this happening. you went and made the world better for a little while, and then you got hurt and now the world is starting to regress back. you were one man standing up against all the bad shit that was out there and you fucking did it somehow, even if just for a little while. and you fucking inspired a whole new generation to carry on that fight after you

okay and here is the biggest mistake they all actually made during this whole thing

yeeeep. big mistake. I know, hindsight and twenty-twenty, but. they were trying to seem strong and stable, but in truth they were anything but, and they went and put these kids out there in the spotlight and inadvertently made them targets. and on top of that, now it makes them look even more careless and incompetent by willfully ignoring the threat. while you were playing games, the bad guys were organizing their fucking shit

by the way, it’s so bland to see the Sheriff talking and not having it be in old-timey cowboy jargon. so I’ve taken the liberty of rewriting this:

“ta think we were fixin’ to giddy on up with the sports festival right after that first peck o’ trouble. reckon we got no choice but to yield this time. the abduction of a student is a real conniption. them there varmints didn’t just take Bakugou away -- they done took society’s trust in heroes away at the same time.”

(ETA: so I finally was able to read the Viz version, and. lmao. I don’t think I did a half bad job.

totally called the usage of the word “varmints.” )

Rat Principal says the media is already “ablaze with criticism.” can’t fucking blame ‘em

he’s also speculating that the villains targeted Bakugou due to the rowdiness he displayed at the festival. basically, if a U.A. student -- and not just any student, but the kid who won the sports festival at that -- were to end up going villain, that would pretty much be the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as the public’s trust goes

OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH

[SLAMS HAND ON TABLE] FUCKING SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK, MIC?? I’VE ONLY BEEN SAYING THIS EVER SINCE USFUCKINGJ. DON’T TRUST ANYBODY. FUCKING ANYONE. WHICH ONE OF YOU ASSHOLES IS IT?? Y’ALL BETTER SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN

so he’s saying no one outside U.A. knew where the lodge was. although I’ve been wondering about that. just how many forest lodges are there within reasonable distance of U.A. that could accommodate two classes’ worth of students for a week or two of training though? like, was this facility itself actually a secret, or was it just a secret that this was the facility they chose? because it could have just been process of elimination

but I like the traitor theory better :D

Midnight’s telling him to drop it but they need to fucking consider this though?? like, I get that the last thing they all need is to stop trusting even each other, but ALSO, if there is a traitor in their midst then they need to fucking address that shit though

at the very least, information flow needs to be much more tightly controlled from this point out. and they need to step up their own intelligence game. where my spy heroes at yo

anyway so yeah, now the Sheriff is saying that they can’t start turning on each other with suspicion because they’ll end up crumbling from within. exactly the point I expected them to make. but they still need to do something. maybe do the Tyrion thing from Game of Thrones where they feed different people different fake stories and see who takes the bait

(ETA: okay, so despite saying a few chapters ago that I wasn’t going to talk about traitor theories, I ended up going on a 1,500 word tangent about my top traitor suspects lol. it got so out of hand that I ended up cutting it from this recap, so I’ll actually be putting that up as a separate post. you can find that here.)

the principal is starting to say something about that topic, but he’s interrupted by a phone call

lmao All Might’s ring tone

heh

he’s walking outside and clenching his fist in dramatic frustration

who’s calling I wonder. Gran or Deku? or Nao maybe

yeah it’s Nao

he just finished taking Aizawa and Vlad’s statements and says there’s been a development

ha ha it’s Momo’s tracking device! isn’t it?!

okay whoa. I’m not even gonna try summing this up so I’ll just post and discuss

pressing pause on this for a second to smdh at the fact that they just initially dismissed this lead as being fucking irrelevant. why

so does this mean the villains are no longer using that hide-out? and did Momo not tell anyone about the tracker? has she also figured out that their location was compromised and that they don’t know who they can trust? is she still unconscious from the Noumu attack?

All Might is thanking Nao for the information and transforming into Muscle Might on the spot

now we’re cutting to the hospital

Deku omg. my poor fucked up son

holy shiiiiiiit the angst

Kacchan has been gone for three days holy shit

(ETA: actually by my best estimate it’s about 48 hours from the time he’s taken up until the time he gets rescued. we’ll say roughly 12 hours from the attack to the U.A. faculty meeting the next morning; then this hospital scene which takes place approximately 24 hours after that; and then finally the rescue which takes place later tonight. we’ll say another 12 hours later just to make it neat and tidy. Deku saying “for the two days that followed” is a little confusing, but this is the only timeline that makes sense, and the other translations seem to bear it out.

and yes this is important to me lol because it makes a big difference in Kacchan’s mental and physical state. 48 hours is a long time to go without eating or drinking or sleeping -- none of which I can imagine that he would have been able to do -- and three days would be pushing it even more, so yeah. I need to know these things or else the angst lover in me can’t stop speculating over them lol.)

he’s turning to look at a little bowl of fruit, or something, with a note from his mom

so now on top of everything else he’s feeling guilty about making his mom worry

your mom? like, what about Bakugou’s mom though?? how is she holding up

(ETA: omg. from what I’ve seen of Bakugou’s mom, probably a hell of a lot of people got screamed at over these past couple days. I love her ngl)

are you in shock. are you just trying not to think about it

ah! Kaminari’s popping his head in!

...nooooot just him!

awww

I wonder how many of the kids were here visiting their other friends too. and I don’t see Momo among this number so maybe she is still asleep. Jirou and Hagakure were hurt by the gas... not sure who else was hurt

how the fuck did they treat Hagakure though. that must have been difficult

Iida’s now summarizing exactly what I said

he says Momo sustained serious head trauma. omg. but I’m so fucking glad she’s okay. she was so brave and smart and composed in such a horrible moment

Todoroki ;_; I wonder if he feels guilty because he couldn’t catch the marble in time

and now Deku is having a crisis

Dekuuuuuu ;_______; [pats] YOU WERE HALF DEAD WITH TWO BROKEN ARMS NO FUCKING SHIT YOUR HANDS COULDN’T REACH HIM?!

and Kirishima’s just looking at him with a straightforward look and says “then let’s go save him this time around”

Kirishima you’re the fucking best. every young shounen needs a Kiri in their life. unless they are the Kiri. in which case they need a Tetsutetsu

he says he and Shouto came to the hospital yesterday and ran into each other

they were both like “what are you doing here” and then “I couldn’t stand being at home and doing nothing”

-- AND THEY HEARD ALL MIGHT AND THE POLICE SPEAKING WITH MOMO!!

IF THEY OVERHEARD IT, FUCKING ANYONE COULD HAVE HEARD, BY THE WAY?? EVEN NOW THESE GUYS ARE BASICALLY LEAKING CLASSIFIED INFO ANY FUCKING WAY THEY POSSIBLY CAN OMFG

BUT THIS TIME IT’S GOOD

CAN WE GET A STANDING O FOR MY GIRL MOMO HERE YOU GUYS

YAOYOROZU “GOAT” MOMO

so anyway. Iida is speculating that Kiri and Todo want to ask Momo to make another tracking device

and he’s saying that they should leave it to the pros. naw. fuck the pros except the U.A. faculty and All Might

and Kirishima can’t leave it to them omg

(ETA: the way he’s clutching his chest here is so heart-wrenching. it’s the exact same way Bakugou clutches his own chest in chapter 118 when he’s wracked with guilt over what happened to All Might. damn these kids and their overdeveloped sense of responsibility and reckless disregard for my feels)

he says he wasn’t able to do anything, he knew they were targeting his friend but he couldn’t do anything and he only stayed put and Bakugou got taken

Kirishimaaaaaa

CAN I GET A STANDING O FOR MY MAIN MAN KIRISHIMA “RIDE OR DIE” EIJIROU YOU GUYS

Kaminari’s telling him (a) to shush (this is a hospital!!!) and (b) that Iida’s right, even though he knows how Kiri feels

“I KNOW IIDA’S RIGHT” oh my god this man will not be deterred

ohhhhhhhh my heart omgggggg

YESSSS BOYS YESSSSS BRING ME MY KACCHAN RESCUE ARCCCCCCC

THE CHAPTER IS ENDING LOL BUT OH MY GOD

I’M SO FUCKING GLAD I DIDN’T HAVE TO READ THIS FUCKING ARC WEEK-TO-WEEK OR I WOULD HAVE LOST MY GODDAMN MIND. JUST SNAPPED. FUCK. SHIT’S LIKE FUCKING COCAINE

BONUS:

he’s the one Todoroki was carrying. was he not the same guy with the airbender quirk though?? or does class B have two guys who look incredibly similar to each other?

apparently he’s preoccupied with “a certain very big hero.” ?? don’t tell me it’s Mt. Lady

I’m gonna go look him up to see if he’s the airbender guy or not. surely with a class B minor character there is minimal spoiler risk

yep he is the airbender guy. I fucking love his quirk and I kiiiiiiinda wish he was in class A, actually. just, I’d really like to see how those air walls could be utilized in combat. they work for defense and for getting from place to place, and they’re just really cool

okay now I’m off to go read another chapter and inject that glorious angst deep into my veins

#bnha #boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #kirishima eijirou #yaoyorozu momo #all might #makeste reads bnha #let me tell you guys #if you ever want to do something that's both a challenge and a complete and utter waste of time #try translating paragraphs to over-the-top old timey cowboy lingo #I have new respect for viz now #that shit is a lot harder than it looks #good thing I've watched firefly so many times

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philosophronia · 5 years

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Ice Fantasia 2019

My daughter has been tucked into bed and taking a shower has jolted me awake, so I figured I might as well do my Ice Fantasia 2019 write up while the show is still fresh in my mind! I thought long and hard about how I should organize this write-up (long meaning the amount of time it took me to take a bath), and I came to the conclusion that it would be better for me to talk about each skater rather than each program, so that’s what I’ll do. I apologize in advance for the rambling nature of this review -- I’ll skim through it once after I’m done, but I probably won’t end up editing it extensively.

The show was divided into Acts I and II. I have the program to the left of my laptop as I type this, but the orders did change quite a bit from the time they printed these out and the time the show was performed. I’m sure they had their reasons for the changes, though, because overall, I felt that the skaters went with their “easier,” less energy-draining programs in Act I and showed off the power and energy they had in Act II. Good plan, in my opinion; it can’t be easy skating two programs + at least two group numbers!

I believe twenty skaters participated in this show. I say “I believe” because there was a group number with what I remember to be six young Korean skaters, but it might have been eight or nine -- some of them did a solo snippet in the beginning and I’m not sure if those skaters are the same as the ones that did the short group number towards the end of that routine. The young skaters were absolutely darling and just a bundle of talent. There were maybe… three or four girls that came out in the beginning and did a bit of their program. Every single one of them landed their jumps and got a huge round of applause from the audience, which must have been such a special moment for them. Junhwan popped out at the end and did a bit of the group dance with them before disappearing backstage again. That was adorable!

According to the program, it were the junior skaters that were supposed to skate first (right after the opening), but they changed it around so that Seoyeon Ji skated first. She did a program to River by Bishop Briggs and nailed it! She’s a pretty tiny skater, but she skated big and wasn’t afraid to hit the accents. I would’ve been a nervous wreck had I been the one skating after the entire main cast’s group number, but the thirteen year old didn’t make any mistakes and was just a joy to watch.

Ok, now I’m just going to talk about the skaters in no particular order…

Jason Brown

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Jason stole the show. He came out third in Act I and gave such a charming performance to Can’t Stop the Feeling that he had the entire audience clapping and hollering in no time (kudos to everyone there for clapping on the beat). He’s the type of skater that… you know how sometimes, you see a skater that maybe doesn’t have the best technique and maybe doesn’t win the medals but always has your eyes drawn to them? That’s Jason. He’s an incredible performer, and although I knew this through watching his performances through YouTube, it was even more evident when he was skating in front of my eyes. Most of the people around me were people that were invited to the show by LG (aka folks that didn’t know any of the skaters), and the instant they sent him off backstage with a deafening applause, they turned to each other and went “That was so much fun.” Also, the way he does a little hop as he waves to the audience is endearing. You could tell that he was having a blast and appreciated the support he was receiving from the audience. Also, his split jump (I don’t know if that’s what it’s called, but there was this move that he did a ton where he jumped into the air and did a side split) had an incredible height to it. I don’t even know how he got up so high.

Evgenia Medvedeva

Zhenya did two programs: one to Million Roses and another to 7 rings. Neither program had jumps in it, which was a bit surprising, I suppose, but it didn’t take away from her performance at all. The Million Roses program was executed with such beauty that it wasn’t until she picked up her rose and left that I realized that she hadn’t jumped at all. From where I was sitting, I could see her putting in the effort to make her arms elegant but not floppy. It was beautiful! 7 rings was the second one she did, and that program really showed off her sass. The absence of jumps meant that she had more time for dance steps, which I personally enjoyed. I just hope that she didn’t take the jumps out because of an injury! D:

Peng Cheng - Jin Yang

So, I’m not a huge watcher of Pairs figure skating, simply because it makes me so darn nervous, but I really enjoyed their performance. In the first program they did, they skated with a sword, which did make me nervous but was tastefully used. Like the other skaters, their first program was the one that to me seemed like might take up less energy. Their second one was packed, though, and was a delight to watch. I believe it was the third act of Act II (after the junior kids and a group number that didn’t feature Tessa, Scott, and these two. They made every element look effortless. The audience gasped when they skated past them while executing their lifts (as did I). As I said, it seemed like many of them weren’t into figure skating and came because they got an invitation from their company, so they were in awe and shock for sure. Such a beautiful way to be introduced to pairs!

Jin Boyang

First of all, I’m fairly sure that if you look up the word ‘glide’ in the dictionary, a photo of Boyang will be right next to the definition. All of the skaters were fantastic, of course, but when Boyang skated, you couldn’t hear the sound of his blades about 80% of the time. I’m not exaggerating. His act was in the second half of Act I, and all throughout the program, I was thinking, “Wait… was it this quiet when the other skaters skated as well?” He skated with such grace, and his smile lit up the arena. His jumps were executed beautifully as well. I think he popped one, but honestly, I doubt that anyone remembered that mistake, because everything else was done really well.

Rika Kihira

Out of her two performances, I definitely enjoyed the second one (which was a routine to Sia’s The Greatest) more. I’m used to seeing Rika perform more slow and elegant programs (she might have done routines of similar styles in galas and other shows, but I’ve only watched her competing), but this one had a bit of a punch to it and a ton of dancing. I loved it! She had quite a bit of jumps in her programs, all of which she landed with no problem at all. Her costumes, too, were exquisite. I think she was the only one who had a different costume for each number (some of the skaters stayed in the costume they wore for their second solo performance for the finale, while others changed back to the costume they wore for their first solo performance). They were all beautiful, but the one she wore for her first solo act and the one she wore at the finale group number was breathtaking. They were ones she wore in competition, I believe. She was an absolute joy to watch, and I’m so glad she decided to hop over here and perform for the Korean audience!

Vladimir Besedin - Oleksiy Polishchuk

In addition to singles, ice dance, and pairs, Ice Fantasia had two ice acrobatic routines. I wasn’t sure what I expected to see when I read their names on the program, but holy cow. They came out and did some crazy stuff. There were balancing acts (at one point, one man was balancing on top of the other man’s head), spins, and plenty of panic-inducing moments. For example, at one point, the man that was balancing on top suddenly just went limp and dropped to the ice (the other man caught him, of course, but it looked like he didn’t!), and I screeched internally. Their acts were a treat to watch and so very different from anything else I’ve watched. I don’t know if anyone had their camera on while they were performing (I think most folks were too busy gaping at them to film), but I really hope someone did!

Kaetlyn Osmond

Out of all of the ladies, Kaetlyn skated the biggest. She filled up the entire rink and seemed like one of those skaters who performs for the entire audience and not just those that are sitting in the first couple of rows. I bet audience members that were sitting up on the second floor could feel and see her performance as well as people that were sitting in the front row. I feel like I’m just repeating the same thing over and over again, but she just skates that… big. The fact that she’s got those huge, gorgeous eyes didn’t hurt. XD I feel that the height, speed, and ice coverage of the singles skaters’ jumps are better highlighted when captured on camera than when seen in person sometimes, but with Kaetlyn, that was not the case at all. Her high speed and the extraordinary height her jumps reached were visible to the naked eye. Truly a beautiful skater!

Elladj Balde

I can’t speak more highly of Elladj Balde. His two performances were absolutely extraordinary. I didn’t know of him going into this show, but the moment his first program started, I knew he was a skater that had the same star-like quality that Jason Brown has. His musicality is exquisite, and the way he carries his upper body on the ice is breathtaking. His first program was to The Sound of Silence. It got a huge round of applause from the audience. But it was his second program that I’m sure will stick with the audience members for weeks, months, years. It was the Michael Jackson medley, and it was… awesome. Elladj Balde is an amazing dancer and that strength of his shone through with this routine. At the end of the routine, the audience screamed and clapped like they were at a K-Pop concert. I think he got the loudest applause of the entire show, and no one -- literally no one -- there knew who he was. That’s how good he was. I know a lot of you will want to look for videos that people posted of Tessa and Scott (nothing wrong with that -- they were amazing), but I urge you to see if anyone posted one of Elladj Balde as well.

Now, before you start bashing the Korean audience for enjoying a performance to a Michael Jackson medley, please be aware that a lot of what goes on in the US doesn’t reach Korea. Korea’s got their own share of issues and scandals that take up their newspapers and news channels. It’s not because they don’t pay attention to the news or that they tolerate abuse that they were fine with two Michael Jackson routines being in the show. I guarantee that most of them genuinely didn’t know. I bet a lot of them didn’t even know that Tessa and Scott’s second performance was to a MJ song!

Tessa Virtue - Scott Moir

Oh boy, oh boy. Where to start with these two? Most of the people that came to the show were probably there to see Tessa and Scott skate, and I’m sure that every single one of them left satisfied and very glad that they rushed from school, work, home etc. to see them. In the group routines, the two of them just sparkled. I was trying my gosh darn hardest to pay attention to the entire group as a whole, but I always found my eyes being drawn to Tessa at some point. That’s not to say that the other skaters were bad! They were good as well, but there’s just something about Tessa that makes you pay extra attention to her. I’m fairly sure I would’ve been able to pick out Tessa from the sea of skaters even if I’d been sitting up on the third floor. In general, their programs had a lot of dancing and some beautiful lifts. For the audience members that were expecting a competitive-routine-quality routine, it might have been a tad disappointing, but I felt that they came out and gave an entertaining and strong performance. Everyone always talks about Tessa’s dancing (rightfully so -- she’s a fantastic dancer), but Scott stood out quite a bit during this show as well. He is very expressive. He had the Kaetlyn-like quality, where the quality of his performance could be enjoyed by any audience in the arena, regardless of how far back they were sitting.

Their first routine was to Dark Times and the second one was to You Rock My World. Both performances were lovely and such a joy to watch. As I said, there was a lot of dance content in both of their programs, so audience members that weren’t really into figure skating could enjoy it as well. In the program, it was stated that Elladj Balde would do his Michael Jackson routine in Act I and Tessa and Scott would do theirs in Act II, but in the end, they ended up doing theirs one after another (Elladj first, then Tessa and Scott). An odd decision (they switched up the orders quite a bit), but it didn’t take away from the experience at all. Elladj came out and nailed his program, Tessa and Scott came out and nailed theirs, and the audience was more than happy to enjoy both of them.

Junhwan Cha

And last but not least, the star of the show, Junhwan! First of all, the level of support he got from the audience -- figure skating fan or not -- was incredible. He was the front and center for the group numbers and the last solo performer of each act and every time his name was announced, the audience started clapping and cheering loudly for him. Both of his skates were phenomenal. I remember a couple of the older ladies sitting behind me kept going “Is he Korean? Is he really Korean?” because they just could not believe that such a beautiful skater could be from their country! He looked like an anime character, gliding across the ice to his Romeo and Juliet medley. His skates were probably the most jam-packed with content out of all of the performances of the evening. He was also part of all of the group numbers, which must have been incredibly tiring, but he came out and performed every single one of them with a ton of energy. He never once looked floppy or tired. His second solo act was with a singer singing live right behind him. That one was a treat to watch live in person. The singer’s voice and Junhwan’s skating complemented each other so well.

So, uh… I guess that’s about it! I could probably go on and on about the show, but I tried to keep it short and simple. I’m sorry if it sounded like I was rambling 99% of the time! I hope it helped the enthusiasm I had for the show shine through XD Overall, I was just extremely grateful that these skaters took the time to fly out all the way to Korea (especially when many of them have other shows lined up) and perform for us and that I had the financial means to purchase tickets to go watch the show. I don’t know how expensive tickets to skating shows are in general (this is the first one I’ve been to), but all things considered, it wasn’t outrageously expensive, for which I was very, very thankful for :)

Some other highlights from the show included…

Kaetlyn and Junhwan doing a little shimmying at the beginning of the opening of the 2nd act, where they were paired together.

Zhenya shaking Junhwan’s hand so hard because she was bouncing up and down in excitement at the very end of the show when they were all holding hands in a circle.

The audience squealing every time Jason skid up to them and wooed them with his charm.

#here it is!#finished it just in time #i wasn't able to proofread it extensively because i have to go to work soon but...#hopefully it's not too dreadful of a read!#ice fantasia 2019

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closetkpop · 6 years

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See You Again Pt. 2

Your phone alerted you a reminder that in in a week was the night of the Gala. That’s what he meant by he’ll see you again. He must know that you will be in attendance to the benefit. You take out the box that had the dress in it and decide to actually try it on. With much maneuvering to get the zipper up by yourself the dress had fit perfectly, it was just a little longer on the bottom but nothing some heels couldn’t solve. As you were appreciating the little details you noticed the slit in the dress was exactly where you were shot. It was a shame that such a beautiful dress had to be tainted by some unpleasant scarring. You tried covering up the scar by wearing flesh tone tights under it, but you could still see through it. You tried covering it up with makeup but it just made your leg look unnatural in one spot. Lastly, you took out your mini sewing set and tried to shut the gap just enough to cover the scar. Satisfied with your work, you hung the dress up to remove the wrinkles and air out until you had to wear it. The night of the Gala, you dolled yourself up and was about to head out the door when you got a phone call from the hospital. “Hello, Y/N? It’s Sunny, I was your nurse during your accident. How are you?” “Hi, yes, I’m fine! How are you?” “Good. When you were admitted you were asking about your friend. I believe his name was Evan right?” “Yes! Have you hear anything about him?” you ask worried “Nothing specific just that he is no longer in the hospital that he was transferred to.” “Does that mean he is healed? That he is going to be okay?” “I’m sorry I don’t have any details, were actually not allowed to give patients history out. I just know this from gossip around the clinic.” “Oh okay. Thanks so much for telling me.” “No problem. I hope this helps I know you’ve been looking for him for a while. If I find out anything else I’ll let you know.” “Thanks Nurse Sunny, that means a lot.” You said clutching your heart “Bye.” She said and hung up He’s out of the hospital. That could only mean one of two things: either he’s made a recovery and is coming back home, or he never made it. You prayed it was the first. The Uber had arrived and you were contemplating not going. Your mind was preoccupied, you didn’t feel confident in your dress, and no one would even notice that you were not there. Well no one except BTS, more specifically, Namjoon. You thought back to the night how fun it was having them over and how you genuinely was happy in Namjoon’s arms. You were snapped out of your thoughts when the Uber driver called asking where you were. As you travel to the hotel where the gala was taking place you could not help but take your train of thought to every corner of your mind. You are going to the fanciest party of your life and you couldn’t even get a date. Who were you kidding, there was probably thousands of people going to this event, what makes you think BTS will even hang out with you? The stitching you had done to your dress was becoming loose and you could slowly see a hole getting bigger and bigger, and you haven’t even made it to the venue yet. Evan just got out of the hospital, you should be out there looking for him, not attending a party. You kept talking yourself out of it and eventually were in no mood to party. Sooner than you had realized you were already pulling up to the hotel, well there was no going back now. It was just like how it is in the movies. There were photographers flashing pictures of all the celebrities. There was wine being poured and fancy hor d’ourves being served on silver platters. People from all over the world were mingling with each other. You noticed there was a theme and everyone was wearing a combination of black, white, or pink. You looked down on your midnight blue dress and hope that it passes as black because the last thing you wanted to do is draw attention to yourself. You find your name on the guest list and start making your way to the table. The number was in the middle of the ornate centerpiece that had glass letters that spelled out LOVE. In the glass L there were roses, the O had peonies, the V had tulips and the E had pluemerias in it. You were one of the last ones to arrive to the table and made small talk with the people seated next to you. You noticed on your queue card there was a matching midnight blue rose. “Looks like you have an admirer.” You neighbor next to you joked “Nonsense, I’m sure everyone got a flower.” “Nope, just you.” You didn’t know what else to say so you just sat back as the presentation and the speeches started. People from many different countries were present and they all spoke of what loving yourself meant to them. Finally the organizer/host of the event came up to do the closing remarks with a little exercise that involved the crowd. He asked everyone to stand up and although everyone was confused, everyone did. He asked all the new attendees to remain standing and everyone else to be seated. Less than half of the audience remained standing, including you. Then he asked for all the people that were living in the area to remain standing. More people sat down, and now only a handful of people remained standing; you being one of them. If you attended, the last BTS concert, please remain standing. Before you knew it, you were the only one standing. He looked directly at you and asked for you to go on stage. You hesitantly looked around to make sure that he was actually speaking to you before going up the stairs. “I’d like for everyone to know this is Y/N,” the speaker started. “She recently became a woman of great importance and I’d like everyone to give her a round of applause to welcome her.” You stood next to him on the podium, confused as people started clapping louder and louder. You felt the curtains behind you open but dared not to turn around while the host was speaking to you. What you didn’t know was BTS were standing behind you, all with matching blue suits staring at you with the biggest smiles in their life. “She risked her life, to save the lives of many others. And as a small token of their appreciation, they decided to donate part of the proceeds to you to help cover all your medical bills and time you had to take off.” He said handing you an oversized check. You were appreciative but when it was handed to you, your lips were sealed and couldn’t say anything, so you just bowed. As you did that the loose stitching by your scar finally came undone so you used the cardboard to cover it. “We all hope to be heroes for each other and heroes for ourselves. The world is filled with less than agreeable people but it is up to us to not allow them to put a damper on society and more importantly on ourselves.” The speaker continued. “Don’t say bad things happen to you because you deserve it. Learn, and grow out of the bad and look forward to being the best you can be. I hope everyone enjoys their night, Thank You.” Everyone started clapping at the closing speech, and the host directed you to the backstage area. You finally saw BTS out of the corner of your eye, but due to your stage fright, you couldn’t even acknowledge them. Staff took the cardboard from you and the host had his hand on the small of your back guiding you to the dressing room area. BTS was quick to follow behind you but the host really seemed like in a rush to get you alone. Once he had you in a private room he locked the door behind and turned to you. Your heart was pounding, what the fuck was even happening. “I’ve been meaning to finally meet you Y/N. I’ve heard a lot of things about you.” He said pouring himself and you a drink “What do you want from me?” You asked trying to keep you voice as confident as possible. “It’s cute you think I need something from YOU.” He said taking a long sip “If this is about the money, I had no idea about it. You can have it, I’ll look for another way to pay the bills.” “You think I need the money? Now that’s just insulting.” He said clinking his glass to yours. “Drink up. It’s impolite to refuse a drink from your elder.” “I’m not thirsty.” You said placing the cup down, “Why have you locked me in this room.” He approached you again and placed his cup next to yours. “Do you think it was a coincidence that after the accident, no one bothered you, not even the police? You didn’t hear about the guy who shot you and your friend. You have no way of reaching your friend. And out of all the homes in Seoul, BTS used your home to film. Oh and how can I forget the invitation to the gala and this dress. Did you think it was BTS who did that for you? Did you think it was just luck on your side?” “Obviously not considering I’m in this situation with you.” Suddenly you heard a knock on the door. It was Namjoon. “Y/N are you in there? I need to talk to you it’s important.” The host whispered. “Get rid of him, or I will.” “Yeah RM, I’ll meet you in the ballroom.” He was taken back that you called him by his stage name. “Y/N?” “Just go. I promise I’ll be there.” He didn’t say anything else, so you turned your attention back to the host. “There.” “I want you to trick them into my trap I have set up for them.” “I thought you didn’t need anything from me.” He grabbed your face and pulled it close, “You better watch that tongue. And you’re doing this in your best interest. If you don’t your friend Evan is going to have it harder than you think.” “What are you talking about no one has heard or even seen him.” “That’s because he’s been under my watch. I know if I want to hurt BTS, then it will have to be through someone close. Someone they trust, like you.” He got up and unlocked the door, “If you want to see Evan again, get BTS in room 2121 by the end of the gala.” “How do I know you’re not lying to me?” “You’ll just have to find out by the end of tonight.” He said opening the door “Why do you want to hurt them? What did they do to you?” you asked before exiting “They stole what was mine, now I want it back.” You made your way through the crowd looking for BTS. They were in the middle of talking to what looked like some important people, you waited until they were done and they made their way over to you as photographers took pictures of you all together. Once they were done and they had a moment to breathe, Namjoon took you aside on the dance floor. “What happened in there?” You didn’t say anything, just shook your head side to side. “Y/N you promised me to tell me if you’re ever in danger,” he said a little louder and pulling your body closer “I’m not in danger you guys are. The host he’s not as good as he seems. He wants me to take you to his room and if I don’t then Evan is going to get hurt. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.” “Y/N no one is going to get hurt. Where does he want to meet us?” Namjoon asked calmly “No I don’t want you to go there, I won’t tell.” “I can take care of this, please just tell me where that psycho is.” He said looking deep into your eyes “I’m going with you.” “The hell you’re not. You’re going to be as far away as possible. You’ve already gotten hurt by us once, I will never let that happen again.” “Namjoon, either I go with you, or I go alone.” He sighed in defeat. And took you to where the other members were. Unlike the host’s hand on your back, Namjoon’s felt more comfortable. He quickly informed the group about what was going on and although they were scared, they still followed their leader. You knocked on the door and you heard him say come in. “Let me go in first. If Evan isn’t there and it’s all a lie whatever happens, DO NOT come in until I signal. You guys will leave me and run to safety okay?” you said to the group “I’m not going to leave you.” Namjoon said “I need you to. There’s no point of loosing more people. The less casualties the better, plus your fans need you.” You said a tear slipping All members hugged you tightly; before you were about to enter Namjoon held your hand and pulled you close to him. He whispered, “Please don’t be mad at me okay?” “Mad why-?” Before you could finish he was already locking lips with you. It was a soft yet passionate kiss, the one that made your heart skip a beat. With one last hug you went into the suite. When you came face to face with the host he already had a smirk on his face. “I’m disappointed you’re here alone.” “They’re outside, but I need proof that Evan is okay or else one signal from me and then you’ll never see them again.” “Y/N?” a woman’s voice called. When you turned around it was Evan girlfriend and their son, “What are you doing here?” “You and your son need to leave! This guy is crazy and wants to hurt Evan.” You said trying to usher them out but they did not budge. “Why would we leave the man who helped save Evan?” she asked confused “I will tell you everything later just please get to safety anywhere away from that man!” you said pulling on her arm “Why would we leave our room?” Another voice asked, You turned around and noticed that BTS all walked into the suite, and there in all his glory was Evan in a wheelchair coming towards you, and you fell, deflated. “I can’t believe it’s really you! You’re okay! I’m so sorry.” You said weeping “No need to apologize. I’m happy you’re okay too!” You hugged and cried it out while everyone around you also witnessed the first time you smiled and was actually happy. After some time you both composed yourself and Evan went next to his girlfriend, and son. You look around at BTS, and then they host, and they were all smiling at you. The host took a step towards you and you instinctively stepped away. He noticed and put his palms up in attempts to soothe you. “I hope you are not mad at me. But this was all Evan’s idea.” “What?” you look around confused “I was too afraid to face you when I got out of the hospital, so I made it my mission for you to forget about me. It wasn’t until RM reached out to me and we set this entire thing up.” Evan explained, “I didn’t think you guys would take it this far but, surprise?” You scoffed and took the nearest pillow and threw it in his direction. “I can’t believe you made me go through all that!” you said rubbing your head and plopping down on a chair. “My heart was beating so fast I was about to pass out.” Namjoon wanted to comfort you but Evan got there first and placed his hand on top of your head. “I’m sorry.” Finally being eye level with him you could see he truly didn’t mean for this to spiral. “Are you really okay?” You asked quietly “Yes.” He placed a hand on your thigh and outlined your scar. Namjoon didn’t seem to enjoy that, and his members were holding him. “Are you really okay?” You shook your head yes and he hugged you. “So let’s celebrate! There’s a party downstairs and we’re missing it.” He said wheeling out The host approached you, “I’m sorry please don’t be mad at me. It was only a prank.” You still being a bit salty didn’t forgive him but accepted his apology. Lastly you approached BTS. “So how long did you know about this set up?” “What are you talking about? We had no idea.” Jin said “Really?” “Yeah no one told us.” Jimin said “So you guys came in here with out knowing that it was safe?” you asked in disbelief “We wanted to make sure you were safe.” Jungkook said “You guys really are idiots, but thank you.” You said in a group hug, “Come on let’s go downstairs.” “You guys go I need a minute with Y/N.” Namjoon said Everyone left the room and it was only you and him left, he ushered you to sit on the couch as he took a seat next to you. “Thank you.” You started, “Thank you for reaching out and letting me have this peace of mind.” “You don’t have to thank me. But I think there’s something that you need to know.” He said looking at your scar You became self-conscious and placed a pillow on your lap, which snapped him out of his trance. He took the pillow off and placed his hand on your thigh and traced over the scarring with his thumb. “I don’t ever want you to feel like you are any less beautiful because of a scar. It makes you unique and it brought us closer.” He looked straight into your eyes. ��I also think you should know that I knew about their plan so I repeat please don’t be mad.” “What? How could you?” you slapped his hand off of you and stood up angrily. “To be fair I was the only one who knew and I found out when he took you into the dressing room. I was about to knock out the security guard if he didn’t let me in.” “Namjoon I was so scared, you could have just told me. I don’t think my heart can take any more surprises. I am so close to passing out, you have no idea.” He took you in his arms and held you close without saying anything. You stayed like this until your heartbeat became regular. “If you ever think that I am going to let you walk into danger you have another thing coming.” He teased and let you go, “Come on there’s a party downstairs.” As you were waiting for the elevator, a question popped into your head. “Namjoon, how did you know something was wrong when I was backstage?” “You called me RM, I knew right then and there you were uncomfortable.” He smiled “Thank Y-“ he placed his finger on your lips “No more ‘thank you’ or ‘I’m sorry’ okay?” “So you’re not going to apologize for kissing me away to my death?” you teased He blushed, “I couldn’t think of any way else to reassure you that everything was going to be okay.” The elevator had finally reached your floor. And Namjoon never let go of your hand when you were together. “By the way you look amazing.” “Thank You. You’re the first person to say that tonight.” You said straightening out your dress “And if anyone knows what’s good for them they’ll keep their hands off you.” “Do you like me only because I was shot?” you asked out of the blue “What? No! I knew I liked you when we were stranded at your place and you did the best to take care of us. I knew then you were such a generous person and it made me become a better person too.” “And what of your fans?” “If they are my real fans, they’ll be happy for me,” he said as his hands slid down to your waist. You started giggling. “What’s so funny?” he asked pulling you closer “I was just amazed, BTS really is bulletproof.” You said looking up to him “It’s because we have army protecting us.” He said leaning down and kissing you. This kiss was different it was much more carnal and needy than the first one. He wanted to be a close to you as physically possible and never wanting to let you go. He groaned when he heard the chime of the elevator and stopped kissing you. As more guests entered you placed your self in front of him. His hands automatically pulled you into a hug and you leaned into his chest. You had never felt safer and happier in your life, and you were actually excited as to what the future would hold for you two.

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