#but another sim i had already made had the same hair

[molar-bear-sims]

day two on the job: back with the gang

[deityofhearts]

I actually can’t complain about characters not like, realizing or accepting that someone love or cares about them (be it in a friend way, familial way or romantic way) because Same

[yeonzzzn]

numbers up: sim jaeyun

part three of chilling & killing 🔪 | spotify playlist

pairing: jake x afab!reader word count: 15.3k

synopsis: with the imposter ghost face on the loose and your life being threatened, jake makes preparations to keep you safe and track down the copycat. you also make preparations with the heads of the film and investigation departments to bring down the imposter. trust no one and remember…everyone is a suspect.

genre: established relationship, ghostface!jake, journalist!reader, smut.

warnings: swearing, jake is fucking insane (as always), blood & m*rder, dry humping, reader gets stabbed, multiple unprotected sex scenes, shower sex, hair pulling, if I missed everything please let me know!

You’ve never seen Jake this paranoid before, or well, paranoid ever. Paranoia wasn’t an emotion Jake had ever had to feel and deal with, that was until you. Until this copycat ghost face made threats to your life and drove Jake to hold you close and always double-check over his shoulder. 

That phone call made Jake scared—truly, genuinely, scared. Which was another emotion he’d never felt. Jake usually lived on the thrill of it all. The thrill of someday being caught by law enforcement. The thrill of someone finding out his identity and challenging him. But he has you now. You changed everything. 

Which drove him to make this decision. To move himself and you across town into another apartment, leaving everything behind. 

You sat on the brand new couch you and Jake just finished moving up the stairs and into your new apartment, looking up at him on the ladder he stood on, drilling the new security system and camera into the corner of the living room. 

Your eyes wandered around your new home, to all the boxes and new furniture and new bags of clothing. You thought Jake was joking when he mentioned moving out and leaving every single thing in your old apartment behind. He clearly wasn’t. 

Jake paid for everything, the new lease for this apartment. Bought you and him new phones that had new numbers on a completely different phone plan than your previous ones. New bank accounts. New laptops, new emails, and new tablets. Books, journals, clothes, cameras, watches, literally everything. Jake even ditched his previous car and got a new one. Jake’s paranoia wasn’t a joke, and he fully went through with everything. 

He even tried to convince you to move into another town, hell a new country even, but you refused. The two of you were way too close to finishing your majors to just up and leave. You had duties here, the major one being to catch the imposter ghost face. It surprised you at the desperation Jake had to up and leave this life behind, all in the name of keeping you safe. 

Jake glanced down at you for a split second, seeing how you took in the new apartment. The blank stare on your face as you looked over every inch of this place. It hurt Jake, honestly. Up and dropping his old life wasn’t easy on him either. But it was all for you. For you, he’d do anything. That’s why he buckled and agreed to stay at the same college and town. He truly wanted to catch the imposter as much as you, but nothing was more important than keeping you alive. Keeping that pretty blood of yours flowing through your veins and keeping that heart beating. Jake wouldn’t know what he would do if something happened to you, and he honestly didn’t want to find out. 

He finished screwing in the last screw of the new security system and let out a sigh. He glanced back down at you to already see you staring back up at him, “What’s up, honey?” 

You softly pouted, debating if you wanted to ask the question that’s been making circles in your brain, “Where did you get all this money from? To do all this?” guess you decided to ask it anyway. 

Jake leaned on the ladder, smirking down at you, “I’m a serial killer, baby, you think I didn’t save money up in case something like this happened?” 

You figured that was what his answer would be and you didn’t want to admit you were terrified that he went and robbed a bank or random people. Or stolen from his victims. Jake did have a job, way before you even met him. He saved up every penny from each paycheck into a savings account that wasn’t connected to his main account and was under a different name. Jake wasn’t stupid to keep all his money in his main account. It would raise way too many red flags. That account wasn’t just his money from his job, but from earnings he got growing up. Money from birthdays or when his parents felt like handing him money. He would use some of that money to donate to charity, to make that bank account look less suspicious. 

You shrugged up at him, and made yourself comfy on the couch, laying down and stretching out. Jake climbed down from the ladder and walked to your side, “What are you thinking about, my love?” 

You sighed, staring into those beautiful brown killer eyes, “That I want to catch whoever is making our lives difficult.” 

Jake smiled, climbing onto the couch and laying on top of you, nuzzling his face in your neck, “We’ll catch them, don’t worry baby,” he placed a few kisses to your neck, his hand slowly sliding up your shirt, fingers brushing against your skin, “And once we do, we’ll have a guaranteed spot in our respective fields after graduation.” 

You knew he was right. If the two of you managed to catch the imposter you would no doubt have no problems getting your detective jobs. It would be so easy and the town would be stupid to not give you and Jake those positions. You sigh then, realizing that once the imposter is caught, they would be trialed for every crime they have committed—including Jake’s. 

Jake and you never discussed it, about what would happen to whoever it was behind the ghost face mask and what crimes they would go to trial for. But deep down, you knew they would take the hit for both theirs and Jake’s. It only made sense. You refused to let Jake go down. You needed him. You’d…kill for him. 

His kisses on your neck deepened, his teeth nibbling at the skin and tongue licking up your neck. His hand now made its way up to your breast, squeezing the plush between his fingers. 

You softly moaned, tilting your head to give him more access to you. Your eyes fluttered closed and back open, spotting Jake’s duffle bag in the corner of the kitchen. 

“Thought you were going to get rid of that?” you asked with a shaky breath, too deep in the pleasure of his touch to sound serious. 

Jake chucked against your skin, his breath sending goosebumps and chills down your body, “I will tonight baby,” he pressed his hips to yours, his clothed hard cock rubbing against your heat. He removed his face from your neck and brushed his lips against yours,  “How about we stop talking and break into the new couch, shall we?” His hand slid from your breast to the band of your shorts, slipping his hand inside, “Have to make sure the couch won’t break from how hard I am about to pound into you.” 

You pushed his duffle bag off to the back of your mind and embraced his lips to yours. 

Needless to say, the couch indeed held up from the rough sex Jake gave you. 

—

Jake dropped the duffle bag to the ground with a sigh leaving his mouth. He pulled the matches from his back pocket, debating if this was something he even wanted to do. But it wasn’t up for debate, he knew it. This was for you. All for you and the future he wants and will have with you. 

Plus he didn’t travel out to this small shitty countryside town for nothing. 

Jake has traveled here before to take care of some…things. He knew the town and knew how easily he could slip in and out without a trace. 

The town had a small farmer's market and an alleyway where they kept barrels of hay to sell to customers for their farm animals. Jake was in luck to see one was still here and had enough hay in it to catch fire. 

He pulled a match from the box, striking the red tip to the side, watching how the flames rose and lit up the alleyway then tossed it into the barrel. It didn’t take long for the fire to spread. 

Jake looked back down at the duffle, kneeling down and opening the bag, his ghost face mask staring right back at him. He smirked, rubbing his fingers over the curves of the mask, “It’s been a hell of a ride.” 

Without another thought, Jake tossed the black cloak, gloves, and then the duffle bag into the barrel. He took one final look at the mask before tossing it in. 

Jake didn’t know how long he stood there staring at the barrel, watching the flames tear a part of him into pieces. He wasn’t sad, no no, he stood there with a smirk on his wash, watching how the white of the mask burnt and crumbled away. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, his crazy smile only growing wider. 

He finally walked away, feeling the heat of the fire against his back, “I’ve always loved playing with fire.” 

—

“Absolutely not!” Jake said with a stern voice, his eyes glaring at you over the top of his laptop. 

You shift your weight to one side, crossing your arms, “You know I am the head of the journalism department, right?” 

Jake raises a brow at you, “Okay, and?” 

You thin your lips in a line, narrowing your eyes, “Excuse you?” 

Danielle sat diagonally from Jake to his left, her eyes wide as she looked back and forth between the two of you, “I hate seeing mom and dad fight…” she whispered before standing up quickly, “I’m going to head to my next class…” without another word, Danielle slowly walked out of the office. 

Jake waited until the door fully closed before darting his eyes back to his laptop screen, “I said no, end of discussion.” 

You understood Jake’s worry, you really did. But without the other department's help, you wouldn’t catch the imposter. Earlier this morning, the dean of your college sent you an offer to pair up with the film and investigation departments to cover more ground for the ghost face cases. It would benefit you to have that help so it’s not just on your and Jake’s shoulders. Mostly with the recent cases. 

The imposter went on a killing spree over the course of a week, killing six students on campus, and two random strangers on the street on the edge of town. That’s EIGHT victims within a WEEK. What made these cases so major was the imposter started leaving specific items at each crime scene, clearly in a way to taunt Jake. Another ghost face mask was found at one scene, then a glove at another. The cloak was found at the next crime. A pair of bloody shoes at the next, the exact same knife type Jake has used was found at another. Then another ghost face mask. The other crimes were repeats of gloves and other items. The case was growing bigger and becoming too much for just you and Jake to handle, so when the dean gave you that offer…

“Well, I already said yes, so…” you hummed, not taking your eyes off your boyfriend. 

Jake chuckled, “Well, again, I said no. Cancel it, tell them you changed your mind,” He didn’t look up from the screen, typing something. You roll your eyes, slamming the laptop closed. Jake glared at you, “You’re on thin ice, honey.” 

You placed your hands flat on the table, leaning towards him but still being far enough away, “I run this department and you’ll deal with this choice whether you like it or not, understand?” he narrowed his eyes at you, “And you can look at me like that all you want, I’m not scared of you Jake.” 

You lifted yourself off from the table, barely turning to face away from him before he was on his feet and in front of you, hands on your waist and lifting you onto the table. He pushed between your legs and brushed his lips against your ear, his hands now flat on the table on either side of you, “It turns me on when you talk like that to me, baby,” he rubbed his nose against the shell of your ear, “It’s so fucking hot when you put me in my place.” 

He kisses your neck, one hand lifting to the other side to tilt your head, giving him more access, “It’s all true though,” you mumble, barely being able to get the words out. 

Jake chuckles against your skin, pressing his growing hard length to your cunt, “I could kill you at any moment, honey, don’t forget who I am.” 

You place your hands on his shoulders, pushing him back so he can look at you, “You wouldn’t,” you smirked, moving your face inches away from his, noses touching, “I don’t care who you are, Jake Sim, you can’t live without me.” 

Jake smirks, pushing his tongue past his lips and licking a stripe against yours then taking your bottom lip between his teeth, giving it a soft pull before releasing it. It was true, he couldn’t live without you. “Keep running your pretty mouth and I’ll take you right here on this table.” He bucked his hips against yours, brushing his lips over yours, “I’d fuck you so nice and slow and hard,” he whispered then connected his lips to yours. 

You don’t know how much time has passed, but Jake had pulled you to the edge of the table, rocking his clothed hard cock against your heat in a slow but hard motion, his hands running up and down your back as his tongue pressed in and out of your mouth. Jake was so ready to unbuckle his belt and tear your jeans apart to feel that sweet pussy of yours wrapped around him, that was until a knock on the door sounded, and the door was opening. 

Jake dropped his face into your neck, backing his lower half away from you and releasing a groan, “Did I interrupt something?” 

You quickly push Jake away and drop to the floor, “No, Jay. Everything is fine.” 

Jay stood in the crack of the door, his laptop in hand, eyes darting over to Jake, “Nice seeing you again, Sim.” 

“Woof.” 

Jay rolled his eyes, looking away from him and back at you, “Put your dog on a leash, ya?” 

Jake took a few steps forward but you stepped in front of you, “Jake, we aren’t doing this,” you snapped, “Sit down, please.” Jake didn’t take his eyes off Jay as he pulled the chair out and sat down. 

Jay smirked, letting a whistle escape his lips in a way of saying “Good dog.” Jake wanted to growl and bare his teeth and bark, showing him what kind of dog Jake could really be. 

“Please, come in,” you said, waving your hand to the free seats, “Is Jungwon coming too?” 

Jay was the head of the film department. His team mostly covered sports and weather, but occasionally would show up and film crimes, sending your department the footage later to write the articles and publish both to the campus’s website. Jungwon, Jay’s second, as if on command, popped out from behind him, carrying their camera, “I’m here, just fell behind.” You could tell the younger was nervous, giving him a small smile as he walked in and set the camera on the table. 

Jake kept his eyes on Jay, studying his every movement. Not liking the way the blonde-haired male would look and smile at you. Jake was against teaming up with the other departments for more than just not wanting Jay around you. He didn’t trust him. Or anyone, for that matter. Jake didn’t care if having extra people around made finding the imposter easier, having these people around put you in danger. 

You pinched Jake’s bicep, giving him a look to behave and relax. Jake just shrugs, leaning back in the chair and wrapping his arm around your waist, and pulling you close to him, resting his head on your hip. You ruffled his hair, loving how cute he looked as he scrunched his nose and batted your head out of his hair, fixing what you messed up. It still amazed you how this man was a serial killer. This soft puppy sitting in front of you was secretly insane and committed so many murders but was so soft when it came to you. It was cute, truly. 

Another knock and the door slowly slid open, “Am I late to the party?” 

You smiled, “Nope! Just in time.” 

Heeseung slowly walked into the room, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “Good, was worried I might be.” 

Lee Heeseung, the head of the investigation department. The poor guy was appointed the department head because the previous one was murdered last week…a victim of the imposter. You’ve met Heeseung a couple of times before, or well, have seen him a couple of times before. Anytime you went to the investigation office for results or photos of the crimes he always sat in the back with his lab coat and goggles over his glasses, as he worked on pieces of evidence the police department let the school borrow. 

You could tell he was also nervous, but he had plenty of reasons to be. One was the daggers Jake was sending at him, second, the man was just appointed the department head after his was murdered, and lastly, this was his first major job as the head, having to completely take over the ghost face case and deal with you and Jay on top of it. 

Heeseung sat down across from you and beside Jay, running a hand through his hair, “Sunoo should be here soon, he was printing off some extra photos from the murders a few days ago.” 

You nodded, finally sitting down beside Jake, “It’s nice to finally talk to you,” you said, leaning your elbows onto the table, “You were always so busy in your little corner anytime I was on that side of the campus.”

Heeseung smiled, “Yeah, I’m in my own little world sometimes. You could probably have imagined my surprise when I was picked to fill in the shoes. I basically had to beg Sunoo to be my second for these cases.” 

Sunoo you’ve worked with a few times before, he was shy but such a beautiful ray of sunshine. Had a sparkling personality and always brightened the room with his smile. He was super smart and would make a killer investigator one day. 

Jake listened as you, Jay, Jungwon, and Heeseung spoke back and forth. Eyeing their movements and facial expressions, noticing how Jay and Heeseung kept their eyes on you a little too long. Jake knew you were the department head and they were more than likely just being respectful, but Jake couldn’t forget the crush Jay has on you, or clock out Heeseung was basically undressing you with his eyes. 

Or maybe Jake was just getting jealous he had to share you with other people. That was probably it. 

Sunoo finally showed up, handing everyone their own folders of the photos. Jay opened his laptop up, connected the camera then blue toothing the laptop to the projector in the office to show footage they’ve taken along with footage from the security cameras around campus. You passed along articles and pulled the corkboard out. 

Hours passed as the six of you discussed the cases and exchanged information each department had. It surprised you how calm Jake was for the most part. Only getting sassy during specific topics. Jake was all-knowing of ghost face for his specific cases, knowing next to nothing about the imposter. 

The meeting finally came to an end and you were very much ready to go home and take a warm shower. 

Jake and Jay sat at the table still discussing one of the murders, meanwhile, Jungwon, Sunoo, and Heeseung prepared to leave. 

You held the door open for them, thanking Jungwon and Sunoo for attending, ready to do the same for Heeseung but he stopped in front of you. Jake clocked it immediately. 

“Thank you for welcoming us into your space,” Heeseung said with a tilt of his head, “It was finally nice getting to work with you.” Heeseung was trying to keep himself calm, shoving his hands into his pockets so you wouldn’t see how badly he was shaking. He found you extremely cute and incredibly smart. He was blown away at today's meeting because of you. 

“Likewise,” you smiled at him, “Hopefully this partnership does all of us some good and we catch this ghost face.” 

Heeseung pushed his glasses back up, “We are the department heads for a reason, we’ll catch them.” 

Jay noticed how clocked out Jake was, pulling his eyes over to you and Heeseung, “You going to bark at him like you did to me?” Jay teased. 

“Just might fuck her in front of both of you so you’ll be reminded who she belongs to.” 

Jay rolled his eyes, “She’s allowed to have friends, you know.” 

Yeah, she is, just not friends with males who want to fuck her and look at her like I do. Only I can look at her like that. Only I can fuck her. Point blank. 

Jay signed, crossing his arms, “Listen, Heeseung is a good guy, a little shy, but he’s new to this, don’t bark at him.” 

Jake patted Jay’s shoulder, “Okay, buddy,” and with that, Jake was walking towards you. 

Heeseung pulled his phone from his back pocket, “I was thinking since we are all working together, we can exchange phone numbers,” he smiled awkwardly, his glasses falling down his nose and him quickly pushing them up, “We can have a group chat as well.” 

Before you could answer, Jake wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you to him, “We don’t exchange numbers.” 

Right…because you both had to get new phone numbers. No one had your new numbers, not even Sunghoon. “Everyone is a suspect,” Jake said once you got your new phones, “trust no one.” 

Heeseung glanced over at Jake, “I’m n-not trying to steal her or anything,” he stuttered, “I just figured it would be easier for us to contact each other so we aren’t running across campus.” 

Jake smiled, “We can exchange school emails and our school chat IDs, that should be good enough, ya?” 

Heeseung looked at you and all you could do was shrug, apologizing with your eyes. 

“Jay,” Jake called, “Come over here, the four of us are going to exchange chat IDs.” 

You knew Jake was doing this to protect you and him. He wasn’t going to just hand over your phone numbers that easily. He was playing smart, having to be one step ahead in this game he’s playing with the imposter. The chat IDs were Jake’s only plan to not make it seem suspicious completely, mostly since the IDs were from the college and connected to the college emails. Your numbers were safe.  

You all exchanged the IDs and made the group chat, Jay saying he’d add Jungwon later and Heeseung agreeing to the same for Sunoo. 

Once the boys left, Jake slid the door closed and locked it, staring at you with hooded eyes, “I’m fucking you on this table like I said earlier.” 

You giggled as Jake picked you up in his arms and laid you down on the table. Jealousy was cute on him. 

—

You tied red strings around the pushpins on the corkboard and then took a few steps back, resting your body against the kitchen counter. You crossed your arms and let your eyes wander the board. Stopping at each photo of the imposter's crime scenes, and at each item they have left. Looked at the school’s articles and the official news articles that were pinned by each photo. Your laptop sat on the kitchen table, replaying the videos Jay filmed and was kind enough to send to you. 

Trying to wrap your mind around these cases was making your brain hurt. Mostly since Jake was stuck at soccer practice for the next couple of hours, you’ve been taking this head on by yourself. 

You rubbed your fingers to your temples, needing a much-needed break. So you splash some water on your face from the kitchen sink and gently dab your face with a towel. You pulled a bottle of water and an apple from the fridge, sat on the couch, and propped your feet onto the coffee table. The apartment was quiet and you honestly hated it, wishing Jake’s laughter was echoing off these walls. Jake hasn’t left your side since all this bullshit started happening and the only time he wasn’t with you was his soccer practice. You always offered to go with him and sit in the bleachers, but he always refused. Mostly because he wouldn’t be able to completely focus. He barely was able to focus when you were at the apartment alone, but he knew you’d at least be safer there than at the campus. You’re just instructed to not leave the apartment at all if he wasn’t with you. Which was fair. Jake was able to hold his own because ya know, being a serial killer and all. But you? You were barely a challenge for Jake when he had you pinned to the floor and a knife to your throat after you figured out he was the ghost face. You could barely dominate Jake in the bedroom, he could hold his own. You?? Ehh.

You finished the apple and water, threw away the trash, and got back to work. You sat at the table, flipping through more photos Heeseung sent over and rereading some of the articles Danielle had written. The more you look over everything, the more your brain hurts and that small break did nothing. You sigh, reaching for your backpack in the chair beside you, digging for the documents and articles Jake has created and written, only to not find them there. 

“That’s fantastic,”  you mumbled, standing from the table and walking to the bedroom, finding Jake’s backpack on the floor by the closet. You bent down and opened it up, digging through his textbooks and folders but not finding the one you were looking for, “Fuck!” you sat on the floor, covering your face with your hands, “This is so fantastic.” 

You wanted to call your boyfriend, but you knew he was busy with practice and wouldn’t answer. But you doubt he would even have the articles to begin with. You shot back to his backpack, thinking hopefully his laptop would be in there and sure enough, it wasn’t. Meaning he left it in the office on campus, where the extra copies of the articles would more than likely be. You debate leaving the apartment, knowing you shouldn’t and Jake would be pissed off if he finds out…but he would be gone for hours and wouldn’t even know you left unless he checks the camera footage in the apartment. You tuck your lip between your teeth, ultimately deciding to leave. You’d be there and back before Jake even returned home. 

You slipped on your shoes and threw on a hoodie, pulling the hood tightly and comfortably over your head and double checking the door was locked before rushing down the stairs and making your way to campus. Thankfully it wasn’t a far walk. 

You quickly made it to the campus, unlocking the door to the office and closing it behind you. The campus was empty and quiet, being that it was the weekend. Made it perfectly for you to slip in and out quicker. Jake’s laptop sat on the table in his spot, just like you figured it would be along with the folder of the copies sitting on top of it. You grabbed both and hurried back out of the office, locking the doors. 

You made it to the first floor of the building when your phone started ringing. Your heart sank. He’s going to be so mad. You pulled your phone from your shorts pocket, expecting to see Jake’s name on the screen but instead seeing Unknown Caller. You tucked your lip between your teeth, locking the phone to ignore it. It’s probably just some spam call. You walked out of the building's doors, your phone ringing and the same caller ID popping up. 

You looked around the campus, not seeing anyone in sight. You dismiss the call, taking two steps down and your phone rings again with the same ID. You quickly dismiss it and with shaky hands, you dial Jake’s number. 

The caller you are trying to reach is unavaila—

“Shit!” you curse, redialing the number and getting the same message. 

Fear filled you, hands trembling as you stared at your boyfriend's number then the screen showing the ID calling again. 

You locked your phone and quickly went down the rest of the steps, making it halfway away from the building and parking lot when your phone once again rang. You stopped walking, looked around the campus, and finally answered the phone. 

“Hello, YN,”

You gripped your phone as it was pressed to your ear, “Hello, imposter.” 

“It’s been a while since I last spoke to Jake.” they chuckled, “I wonder why that is?”

“Yeah, crazy.” you whipped around behind you, looking back at the building you came from, then turned back towards the parking lot and looked at the buildings beyond it. 

“Isn’t it rude to change your numbers without telling anyone? Jake must have been desperate. Mostly after the very attractive photos I’ve taken of you at your…old apartment.” 

You swallowed. Whoever this was, they knew your numbers had changed and that you moved. You kept looking around, trying to find anyone near only to find no one. 

“What do you want?” you asked, starting to quickly walk again. 

“Like I told Jake, you’ll know soon enough.” 

You scoff, picking up your pace. 

“Where are you going in such a hurry, YN?” You stopped walking again, heart nearly stopping, “Don’t you know it’s rude…” 

You had a bad feeling, body shaking and trembling, “Rude that what?” you asked, but then the line hung up. 

You barely had time to realize what was about to happen. They had their arm wrapped around your neck and their knife piercing the skin at your waist just above your rib cage. 

“Don’t you know it’s rude to walk away when someone is speaking to you?” 

You tilted your head to the side and up, seeing the ghost face mask you were all too familiar with. 

You swallowed again, trying to form words but nothing came out but gasps. 

Jake slouched against the bleachers, taking his towel and wiping the sweat from his face and hair. Sunghoon sat down beside him, “Practice was hell today.” 

“Ain’t that the truth,” Jake sighs, “I’m ready to go home.” 

Sunghoon glanced over at his best friend, “You still not going to tell me where you both moved off to? Or your new number?”

Jake sat still, not looking at his friend, “I have my reasons.” 

Sunghoon moved closer, “Did something happen? Jake, this isn’t like you.” 

Jake wanted to snap at him that he didn’t know anything about him besides what Jake allowed him to see. He loved Sunghoon, truly did. But with the imposter…he couldn’t trust anyone. Not when his girlfriend's life was on the line. 

“Let’s just say it’s a long story, one you’ll know soon enough.” Jake hoped he would accept it and leave it alone. And thank god he did. 

Sunghoon sighed and just stood up, “Time to head home, see ya tomorrow?” 

Jake stands up too, reaching out for his friend's hand, “Yep, see ya at the skating rink at two pm.” 

Sunghoon took his hand, “Make sure YN joins too!” he said as he walked away. 

Jake nodded and picked up his bag, heading for the changing room. 

Once he was out of his sweaty soccer clothes and cleaned himself and in cleaner clothes, he left the locker room, finally pulling his phone from his duffle, seeing your few missed calls. Jake waited until he was in his car and heading back home before calling you back. The line didn’t even ring and went straight to voicemail. Jake raised a brow, “Okay, weird.” He redialled your number, and it once again went straight to voicemail. 

Jake at this point was parked at the apartment, calling you one more time, it rang twice and then ended. Jake quickly got out of the car and ran up the stairs, stumbling with his keys to unlock the door and stepping inside. 

“YN!” he yelled, seeing the apartment in one piece and no sign of forced entry. He rushed to the bedroom, still not seeing you. “YN!!” he shouted, still no answer. 

Jake was starting to panic. It wasn’t like you to ignore his calls. To leave without telling him or to even just leave. He paced around the living room, pulling up the camera footage on his phone, and seeing you leave the apartment. 

“Goddamn this woman!” he bite his tongue, redialing your number once again, “Fucking pick up…please god let her pick up…” 

Your phone rang again, and you didn’t have to look at it to know it was Jake. 

“Kind of rude to keep ignoring your boyfriend’s calls, isn’t it? Answer it.” 

You took a deep breath, feeling your knees going weak, continuing to ignore the imposter. 

“I said fucking answer it!” he yelled into your ear, pushing the knife in further. 

You grunted out in pain, praying someone was on campus to witness what was happening to you. It was broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon, where was everyone? 

You didn’t want to answer the call. Didn’t want Jake to hear what he was about to. Didn’t want the imposter to kill you and have Jake hear it. You knew what Jake would do… 

The imposter hisses and pulls your back to their chest, removing their arm from your neck and reaching for your phone, accepting the call and putting it on speaker. 

Jake nearly dropped to his knees at hearing the call answer, “YN!” he snapped, “Where the fuck are you?!” 

“Hello, Jake.” 

Jake’s heart stopped, almost stumbling to the floor before catching himself on the kitchen counter, jaw clenching at the sound of the voice changer, “Where is she?” 

The imposter chuckled, “Right here in front of me, say hi, honey,” 

Jake tensed at hearing the imposter use the pet name he’d given you, using it as a taunt. 

“It’s rude to not say hello to your boyfriend, don’t you think?” 

They pushed the knife in further, you gasped in pain. 

Jake was already out the door at the sound of your pained gasp, “I swear to god if you—“ 

“If I what, Jake Sim?” he taunted, “If I kill her? What will you do?” 

Jake ran a head through his hair, “I’ll fucking kill you myself.” 

They laughed, “Sounds about right coming from a serial killer.” 

Your moans filled Jake’s ears, the way you were gasping for air…he needed to get to you. Jake placed the call on speaker and with shaky hands opened the app he installed to find your location, “That makes two of us doesn’t it?” he said, stalling time to find your location, finally pinpointing you at the school. 

“I know you’re stalling, Jake,” they whispered, “To find our location.” 

Jake snarled, “What do you want?” 

Silence, and then, “To see you suffer.” 

They pulled the knife out of your side and shoved it back in, creating another wound. Your cries filled Jake’s ear and now he was sprinting to the school. 

Your body was shaking, feeling your blood pool out of your skin and down your body and to the sidewalk, “You look even prettier with your blood leaking out,” they laughed, “Jake might be too late.” 

Jake ran faster, “Leave her alone!” he screamed completely out of breath. 

“Goodbye, Jake Sim.” 

Then the call ended. 

The imposter tossed your phone off to the side, twisting the knife deeper, pulling it out and back in, making another wound. 

Your hands became weak, letting go of the laptop and folder in your hand, dropping to the ground beside you. Your head flung forward, too dizzy from your blood loss to stay upright anymore. You barely felt the knife being removed from your body and their hands letting you go. 

You fell, your temple hitting the edge of the sidewalk, blurring your vision even more. The imposter knelt beside you, lifting the knife and wiping your blood on their cloak, the black sleeve falling down, revealing a watch at their wrist. They chuckled, staring at the now clean knife, “It was fun, YN, this time we spent together today.” You stared at the mask through your blurred vision, watching as they stood and walked away. Leaving you to bleed out. 

You blinked a couple of times, too weak to try and move, eyes looking up at the blue sky. This was it. This was your end. You thought about Jake and how you wanted to feel his touch, hear his voice. Kiss his lips for the last time. You felt your heart slowing down. It would be any minute now. 

“YN!!” you heard from a distance but muffled. “YN!!” it was closer now, still muffled. You closed your eyes and then felt hands on you, “YN, baby, please open your eyes.” 

It was Jake. He was here. 

You forced your eyes open, barely being able to keep them open for long, but it was enough to see him leaning over you, tears filling his eyes. 

Jake pulled you off the sidewalk and into his arms, resting your head on his chest, panicking at the wound on your head, “Oh my god, baby, please speak to me, keep your eyes open.” His warm hand wiped the dripping blood from your face, starting to rock back and forth, “YN, I need you to open your eyes for me, okay baby? Say something to me. I am right here.” 

You fluttered your eyes open, but closed them again, opening your mouth to speak, but only gasps coming out. 

Jake saw your blood staining your hoodie, carefully lifting the fabric to see three stab wounds and the blood that continued to pool out. Jake pressed his hand to the wounds as hard as he could, feeling you jolt against him, “Shh, I know baby,” he cried, the tears finally falling, panic rising more and his rocks becoming faster, “I am so sorry my love, please stay with me. Hey, open your eyes please, YN. I can’t live without you, please.” You were fading, you knew it. Jake’s cries became more muffled and everything went black. 

— 

Your eyes fluttered open, the sounds of a heart monitor echoing in what you were assuming was a hospital room. The last thing you remembered was hearing Jake’s screams before passing out. You looked down at your body, seeing all the IVs connecting to the veins in your arms and the hospital band around your wrist. You looked to your right, seeing the hospital door boarded up with chairs. You looked to your left, seeing Jake sleeping soundly against your bed in the chair he pulled up close. His hair had fallen over his eyes, lips parted slightly, hearing his breathing. One hand rested on your thigh, and the other was under his head. 

You swallowed, feeling how dry your throat was. You tried to sit up, but Jake felt you shift on the bed, waking him up. He slowly sat up and stood to his feet, standing closer to you and cupping your face, “YN, honey, how are you feeling?” 

You blinked a few times, once again trying to sit up, “I’m thirsty,” you said, struggling to speak. 

“Here, hold onto me so we can sit you up, okay?” Jake rested his hands under her arms and you gripped onto the sleeves of his shirt, pulling as he used his strength to help you shift up, “Be careful,” he whispered. 

Once you were sitting up, Jake helped balance you so he could raise the head of the bed and then help you lean back. He adjusted your pillows helping you feel more comfortable. 

“Thirsty,” you said with a raspy voice. 

Jake nodded, cupping your face once again, and rubbing his thumbs against your cheeks. His eyes glossed over, trying hard to not let the tears fall again, you were okay. You were safe and alive and breathing. You were here with him. He glanced up at the bandage atop your head, “Does your head hurt?” 

You nodded, the pain in your head and your waist fully kicking in, “Both do.” 

Jake placed a kiss on your forehead then went to the bedside table, grabbing the bottled water and the pain meds the doctors said to give you once you woke up, “Here, my love.” 

He handed you the meds and water. You swallowed to the best of your ability and chugged down the water, handing the bottle back to him. He set it back to the table and sat back down in the chair, pulling it closer. 

You stared back at him, watching as he reached for your hand, his fingers twisting at each of yours, before finally clasping his hand with yours, the other covering the top of your hand, “What do you remember?” he softly asked, trying to keep his breathing steady. 

“Everything,” you sighed, looking away from him and to the door, “Was that necessary?” 

“Of course it was,” he scoffed, “I’m not risking you getting hurt again. Trust no one.” 

You tilted your head at your boyfriend, reaching up with your free hand and cupping his face. Jake leaned into your touch, eyes getting glossy again. 

“I was scared I lost you.” Jake didn’t ever want to feel what he felt ever again. Seeing you almost lifeless on the sidewalk, your skin cold and your blood staining the grass and concrete. He screamed as loud as he could until finally another student came out of nowhere and called an ambulance. He didn’t leave your side. He paced the halls back and forth at your room until the doctors came out saying you were stable and your wounds were stitched up and bandaged. “I don’t want to ever go through that again.” 

You slid your hand down to his shirt collar, pulling him towards you, or well attempting to. You were still too weak, but Jake knew what you wanted. So he carefully stood and inched his face closer to yours, pressing his lips to yours. 

He kissed you a couple more times, then sat back down, “What were you doing at the campus?” he finally asked, “I told you to stay home.” 

You softly smiled, “I wanted to get your laptop and the articles you wrote.” 

Jake sighed, looking down at the bed, “Baby, I had a flash drive at home in the drawer.” 

You felt stupid, not even thinking he had other backups, “I’m sorry…” you whispered, tears filling your eyes. 

“Shhh, no,” he said, cupping your face, “Don’t cry, it's okay, I am not mad. I was worried about you.” Jake was more than worried. He was terrified. He didn’t know what he would have done if he found you dead. He’d probably hunt down the imposter, get revenge for what he did to you, and then kill himself. This world wasn’t worth living in if you weren’t living in it. 

You leaned into his face, kissing the palm of his hand, “I shouldn’t have left.” 

Jake just smiles at you, “Tell me everything that happened, from start to finish.” 

So you did. Giving him every detail possible. 

—

“YN,” Jake sighs, pushing your hands off him, “You need rest.” 

All Jake did was come into the bedroom to check on you and give you the pain meds the doctors prescribed to you and you didn’t waste a chance to jump his bones. 

You cross your arms over your chest, rolling your eyes and pouting. Jake smiles and tilts his head at you, “Stop pouting and take your meds.” 

It’s been a week since the incident. A week of laying in this bed and Jake taking care of you while also doing what he could to piece together and solve the imposter ghost face cases. The imposter has been quiet since you encountered him, no phone calls to either yours or Jake’s phone, or even any more murders. Whoever they were, they weren’t radio silent. 

Except for Sunghoon, Heeseung, and Jay of course. Sunghoon arrived at the hospital after hearing the rumors being spread around campus of Jake crying and screaming for help because you were hurt. Heeseung and Jay spammed the group chats you all had for the investigation, asking if you needed anything and of course Jake answering for you saying no. 

Sunghoon now officially knew where the two of you lived, Jake forcing—and threatening—him to keep his mouth about the location of the apartment and to never come over unless he was told to. Sunghoon finally understood now why Jake was being the way he was, all to protect you. 

“I’ve been resting for a week,” you scoffed with a click of your tongue, “I can walk perfectly fine and even use the bathroom and shower on my own.” 

Jake blankly stares back at you, refusing to answer until you take the water and medicine from his hand. So you did, swallowing the pills down with the water. You set the water bottle down on the nightstand, glaring at him. 

He glared back, “If I give you a kiss will you rest?” 

You relaxed your face and nodded. To say you’re deprived of sex would be…silly to say in the least. Jake normally fucked you any chance he could get. But after you got hurt…he didn’t want to risk hurting you or your stitches coming out. He’s told you this, but the more time that passes, the more you crave him. 

Jake sat on the edge of the bed, leaning down and connecting your lips together. Jake held your lips a bit longer, giving you a few more kisses then slowly standing up. You sat up reaching your hands for his shoulders and pulling yourself to your knees and reconnecting your lips to his, pressing your body to his chest. 

“YN,” he said between kisses, hovering his hands over your hips and then shoving you back down to the bed. He was quick to put his hands on your shoulders and push you back down in a lying position. He kept his hand on your shoulders as you glared up at him. Jake wanted to fuck you, oh how badly he wanted to fuck you. He was tired of fucking his cock with his fist the past week, but you needed rest. At least until your stitches were safe to be removed. But that still didn’t stop you from trying to fight against the hold he had on your shoulders. 

“YN,” he sighs, “You’re fucking insane,” he slowly removed his hands from your shoulders, “You were stabbed three times and hit your head, stay the fuck down.” 

Hmmm. Nah. 

You grabbed him by his shirt collar, using your slow returning strength, and pulled him down onto the bed and climbed into his lap, “Funny how you call me insane,” you start to tease him, removing your shirt from your body, exposing your bare chest, “When you’re literally a serial killer.” 

Jake was hard. His hands settled onto your hips and looping his fingers into the thin fabric of your panties, “You’re dating a serial killer, my love. Doesn’t that make you just as insane as me?” 

“What makes you insane,” you whispered, sliding your hands under his shirt and lifting the clothing up, “Is not giving your insane girlfriend what she wants,” you pulled his shirt off his body, running your hands down his broad chest and abs, stopping at the waistband of his shorts. You brush your lips against his, watching how lustful his expression was becoming, “Fuck me, Jake.” 

Jake tore his fingers into your panties, tearing them in half and tossing them to the floor, “Lift up for me, baby.” 

You held onto his shoulder as you lifted yourself up, your breasts now eye level with his face. Jake leaned forward, placing his face between your breasts, kissing them down the middle, his hands cupping them, squeezing them to his face, and taking your skin between his teeth and sucking gently, slowly working his way to your nipple and taking it in his mouth. He sucked on the sensitive nub, hands flying to his shorts and pulling them off him. Jake bit your nipple and pulled slowly, letting it slip from his teeth. He reattached his lips to it, licking and giving it one final kiss before looking up at you, “I need you on my cock, honey.” 

Jake lined his tip to your entrance, one hand on your hip as you slowly slid down him. 

“Fuck,” Jake breathes, resting his head on your shoulder as his tip kissed your cervix, “Fuck you feel so good.” 

A week without your pussy was a week too long and it took everything in Jake to not fuck his hips up into you, letting you completely take control. 

You started off slow, letting yourself adjust to his size and working up your speed. His cock felt so fucking good rubbing against your walls. You’ve craved this, craved him and his touch. You were already losing yourself on his dick, bouncing on him as if it were the last time. 

“Jake,” you moaned out his name, wrapping your arms around his neck, “Oh, fuck, Jae.” 

He bit his lip, flinging his head back and squeezing your thighs, using every ounce of self-control he had to not fuck you senseless, “Fuck, baby,” he moans, “Keep going, oh fuck please keep fucking yourself on my cock.” 

You bounced faster, his tip hitting all the right spots. 

Jake groaned, sliding his hands carefully to your waist, trying to be gentle to not irritate your wounds more than what they probably already were. He was starting to lose himself to your cunt, becoming a moaning mess each time you clench around him, “YN, I’m going to cum if you keep clenching me like that, honey.”

You kept moving, sliding up and down, up and down, rocking your hips as fast as you could go to chase your climax, “I wa-wanna cum,” you gasp, legs getting tired but still pushing nevertheless. 

“Yeah?” Jake whispered, wrapping his arm carefully around your waist, “Baby wants to cum?” You nod, biting your lip. Jake pressed you to him, flipping you over and lying you down on your back, “I’ll make you cum, honey, make you feel so fucking good.” 

You gasped as he fucked into you, using his knees to push your legs further apart, giving him more access. 

You dug your nails into his back, moaning his name repeatedly each time his tip hit your g-spot. You are nearly a second away from cumming. Jake pistoned his hips against yours, hands gripping the bed sheets between his fingers, “Cum for me baby, let it go.” 

Jake thrust hard into you, pushing his cock as far as it could go the moment he felt your cum wrap around his cock, “Jae,” you breathed running your hands up into his hair, “Jaeyun.” 

He kept pushing into you, groaning when he finally pulled out and pushed back in, rocking his hips so fast, “Going to fill this pussy so full of my cum,” he places his lips onto yours, “Fuck, going to cum so deep in this cunt.” 

Jake’s movements got sloppy, breathing becoming uneven as he kept his lips pressed to yours. Jake wanted to cum so bad, it’s been a week since he’s been able to pump his load into your sweet cunt, to feel you clench around him at the feeling of his cum filling you whole. Oh, he couldn’t wait, knowing he could burst at any moment…

“I’m cumming, oh fuck I’m cumming,” he moans against your lips, thrusting a final time and painting your walls, his cum leaking from your pussy. 

Jake rode out his high, slowly catching his breath. He pulled out of you with a grunt, shifting to your left and lying beside you, pulling your face to him to kiss your cheek. 

You smiled and softly laughed, feeling satisfied and so full. Jake was happy seeing you smile, his eyes rolling down to the bandages on the right side of your waist. His smile slowly faded, his fingers tracing over the bandage. He almost lost you. Almost was never able to see your smile and hear your laugh ever again. His blood boiled. 

“Jake,” you whispered, seeing him lost in thought, “Babe,” 

Jake looks into your eyes, “I’m going to kill them, for doing this to you.” You frown, placing a hand on his face. He leaned into your touch, “I’d set this world on fire for you, ya know,” he whispered, his facial expression relaxing, “I’d let it burn and tear apart into ashes and nothingness. Let it completely burn for you.” You leaned into him, laying your head against his chest, his arms pulling you tighter to him. Jake kissed the top of your head and stared up at the ceiling, “I’m going to end that fucker for what they’ve done to you and burn this fucking world down.” 

—

Jake stared down the other two males in front of him, burning holes into their bodies. 

Jay stared back, brows furrowed. Heeseung only glanced up every few seconds, trying to keep his eyes glued to his laptop, pushing his glasses back up his nose. 

“Say some shit,” Jay said with a cool calm with irritation. 

“Some shit,” Jake smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

You just roll your eyes, “Can we not today? We have work to do.” 

Jake’s smirk turned into a frown, body relaxing and leaning into you, resting his head on your shoulder. 

“He really is like a dog,” Jay scrunched his nose, “No wonder he barks so much.” 

“Woof.” 

You drop your head into your palms, rubbing your eyes, “Jaeyun Sim, please.” 

Jake has been overprotective of you ever since returning back to campus. Your stitches were removed, but the scar and irritation were still present. It hurt to breathe at times or move certain ways, but you wouldn’t let it affect you. You needed to catch the imposter, after all. 

“Anyways,” Heeseung mumbled, eyeing Jake one last time before looking at the laptop, “The police report finally came back from your case, YN. And the photos my team took are pulled up here as well.” Heeseung sent both files to the group chat. 

“I’m uploading the…” Jay started saying, quickly glancing down at his phone, his jaw flexing then flipping the phone over on the table face down, “Anyways, I am uploading the news report we filmed on top of the official news report from the town,” Jay typed away at his computer, the files popping up in the group chat. 

The four of you looked over the files and reports. Five minutes turned into an hour, and an hour into two. Yet nothing stood out in your case. 

The imposter didn’t leave or take anything at the scene of the crime. They even left Jake’s laptop and folder. Which was odd, considering the imposter would want to take that information? Right? Nothing was adding up. Nothing made sense. Whoever this imposter was, they were thorough, and clean, only left behind what they knew couldn’t be traced back to them. This was a game to them. And they are somewhere laughing their ass off right now. 

Heeseung leaned back in the chair, flinging his head back and pushing his glasses up onto the top of his head, pulling his dark hair up with it. His fingers rubbed at his eyes, “Is there anything any of you can think of that we are skipping over?” he sighed, “Not just with YN’s case?” 

Jay also sighed, his phone buzzing and him looking back at it, carefully lifting it up, then setting it back down, “Not that I know of,” he looked at you, “Is there anything you remember that happened when you were attacked?” 

Jake traced his eyes back and forth between you and Jay and Jay’s phone, tuning out your story, not on purpose, of course, he’s heard you retell your attack multiple times now. The more he hears it, the more pissed he gets. Jay’s phone buzzed again, “Are you going to answer whoever it is that’s spamming you?” Jake said, tilting his head, “It’s been going off nonstop since you’ve been in here.” 

Jay thinned his lips, “I apologize, there’s stuff going on with my family and the arcade.” 

Jake chuckled, “Ahh, the fun arcade.” Jay glared at him, clearly remembering what Jake did in his arcade. 

You rolled your eyes again, tapping your fingers on the table, “This is irritating.” 

Heeseung sat back right in his chair, looking over at you and giving you a small smile, “Hey,” he whispered, leaning closer to you and placing his hand on top of yours, making Jake’s blood boil, “We’ll catch this guy, yeah?” 

Jake swatted Heeseung’s hand off yours, “Hands off.”’

Heeseung blankly stared at Jake and gave a soft nod, pulling his glasses back to his nose, “I apologize.” 

Jake held both your hands in his now, protecting them from being touched again. Eyeing the fuck out of Heeseung. 

You pushed aside your boyfriend's jealousy, staring at your laptop screen, looking over every piece of evidence, “Wait!” You said, pulling your hands out of Jake’s and typing away at your computer. 

“Find something, honey?” Jake asked, peeking over to your screen. 

“I forgot I put in a request for some specific reports and evidence from all the ghost face cases from start to now,” you could feel Jake shift in his chair, not because you are pulling his murders, but all of them combined. It was genius. It would be an easier way to read each of them and find the differences instead of just looking at the pictures and the news reports and articles or trying to piece each puzzle together on your corkboard. This all-in-one combo could give the advantage needed. Jake could fuck you right here in front of everyone and not give a damn. “I put in the request while in the hospital, they should be ready by now.” 

Heeseung was now towering over your laptop to get a look, but quickly sat down after a glare from Jake. He’s way too easy to fuck with. Jake smirked. 

“They are ready!” You stood from the chair, going to take a step. 

“Woah,” Jake said, grabbing your arm, “Where are you running off to?” 

You looked at your boyfriend, then the other two males, “The police station?” 

“Like hell you are!” Jake snapped, “You aren’t going anywhere!” 

Heeseung looked up at you with pleading eyes, “YN, he’s right. You literally got attacked two weeks ago, you shouldn’t be going anywhere alone.” 

“Heeseung gets it!” Jake pointed a finger at him, “Sit back down.” 

“We need those papers!” you retort, trying to pry your arm out of his grasp. 

“I’ll go get it,” Jay said, looking back down at his phone again, “I have to stop by the news office anyways and get something from Jungwon before heading out, I’ll bring the reports here right after.” 

You wanted to protest, but with the three of them, you knew you’d lose. So you just nodded, giving him a small “Thank you, Jay.” 

He shoved his phone into his pocket and smiled back at you, reaching over to ruffle your hair and walk to the door, “No problem, stinks.” Then he was out the door. 

“Stinks?” both Jake and Heeseung said in unison, both side-eyeing you. 

You shrug, “He said I reeked of dog—aka Jake—the other day before Jake’s cologne was strong and rubbed off on me, then he started calling me stinks.” 

Jake scrunched his nose, “I don’t ever want him calling you that again.” 

Even Heeseung scrunched his nose, “It’s an odd nickname to give someone.” 

You rolled your eyes, “He’s being a big brother, kind of.” 

Jake shook his head, “Nope. We aren’t doing this.” 

“Anyway,” Heeseung said, looking at you with his heart smile, “Want to get some lunch from the cafe on campus?” 

“Absolutely! I’ve been craving their coffee and wanting to try that new raspberry pastry!” 

You pulled out of Jake’s grasp and piled your belongings together and shoved them in your backpack, tossing them over your shoulders. Heeseung did the same, noticing Jake’s glare, “Are you coming as well or?” Heeseung asked. 

“Oh? I’m invited?” Jake scoffed, “You weren’t trying to just get my girlfriend alone with you?” 

Heeseung’s glasses fell down to the bottom of his nose as he continued to pack up his things, looking away from Jake, “Considering you don’t let her have any friends, yeah guess you’re invited too.” 

Jake stood to his feet, not liking that Heeseung was talking back to him right now, “Considering my girlfriend had her life threatened and was stabbed three times, excuse me for not letting her out of my sight,” he counters. 

Heeseung pushed his glasses up, “I get it, but I wouldn’t hurt her. But I get it. That’s why I am extending an invitation to you too. You also could use some friends besides Sunghoon.” 

Jake raised his brow. You looped your arm with Jake’s and Heeseung’s, pulling him out of his thoughts, “Come on you two, let’s just get some food. We can invite Jay and Jungwon too, even Sunoo! Where is he by the way?” You asked, “I know Wonnie had an exam and project to work on from what Jay said, what about the sunshine?” 

Heeseung smiled and shrugged, “Sunoo had class and work later, but don’t worry I’ll get him caught up on everything we talked about today.” 

You nodded, pulling the two boys with you towards the doors, “I’m starving!” 

Jake and Heeseung glanced at each other, allowing you to pull them both towards the cafe. 

—

Jake crossed his arms, staring up at the corkboard here at the office. It’s almost two-thirty in the morning, and nothing but the moonlight peeking from the windows lit up the room. Jake was thankful you had two exact copies of the corkboard for both the apartment and the office, making it easier than carrying the big damn thing back and forth all the time. 

He glances down at his phone propped on the corner of the corkboard on the railing, all the cameras in the apartment pulled up on the screen. His eyes shift to the one in the bedroom, seeing you fast asleep in your shared bed. He didn’t want to leave you alone, but he didn’t want to wake you up and drag you here either, all because he couldn’t sleep and needed to wrap his head around this case. 

Jake pulled the papers you requested from the police station earlier out of his backpack, reading over it. It’s been the fourth time he’s looked at this, rereading over his ghost face cases and the imposters, trying to find the fine line that would point to who this imposter was. But the more he looked over it, the more his brain hurt. 

He tossed the papers to the table, running his hands through his hair. Jake had a mental list of suspects, trying to match each person to the cases, but nothing added up. 

Jake assumed it was someone close, not specifically close to him, but close in a way they’ve known about his crimes for the longest time. Known who he was. Jake’s first suspect was Sunghoon, since his best friend was the one who planted it into your mind of the possibility Jake was the ghost face. But Jake continued to keep tabs on Sunghoon, and he hasn’t done or said anything out of the ordinary for Jake to really actually keep him on the list. So he was shoved out. The others? Full game. 

Jake’s next one on the suspects' list is Jay. Jay had always had a small crush on you, and that hasn’t changed even after working with him on the cases. Not to mention he oddly kept checking his phone today and was so quick to offer to get the papers for you. Either he really was just being a protective brotherly figure to you, or he’s the imposter. Jake also didn’t like the attention Jay gave you, still wanting to string Jay’s body from the ceiling of his arcade. 

Heeseung was the third on the list but also the least of Jake’s concerns. Heeseung was skittish and very shy. Very much in love with you, it was obvious. Heeseung looked as if he was about to crawl into his turtle shell and never come back out. He only spoke when spoken to really, unless he had something to say and even then it was quiet and not munch. His department head was also murdered and he was forced to step up, the likeliness of Heeseung being the imposter was slim. 

The rest Jake had on the list were Danielle, Jungwon, Sunoo, and a few others on his soccer team and people in his classes. 

Jake kept rotating the suspect list, trying to pinpoint exactly who would have such a grudge against him to become a copycat murderer. Someone who clearly wanted to watch him suffer, as the imposter said. 

He ran the statement you told him at the hospital over and over in his head, then looked back at the reports, looking at the corkboard, and then pulled up all the files Jay and Heeseung have shared with everyone on his laptop. 

Something clicked in Jake’s brain. His eyes widened. He quickly typed away at his computer, fingers rushing across the keys and eyes darting over every piece of information that was laid out in front of him. 

He smirked, the corners of his lips curling as a laugh escaped his lips, it echoing against the quiet walls of the office, “No fucking way,” he leaned back in the chair, throwing his hands behind his head, “I got you, imposter.” 

Jake wasn’t one hundred percent sure he figured it out, but he knew. He just knew. All Jake needed was the full solid proof. And it was his mission now to figure out a way to get it. 

Jake thought about how he found you two weeks ago, how close you were to death, how close he was to losing you. Jake never was so terrified in his life. Seeing the love and light of his life passing the line of life and death, it killed him. Drove him into a frenzy of wanting to murder every single damn person in this town and the next one over to make sure he got the imposter. But alas, that wasn’t an option. But that didn’t matter now, you would be avenged soon. 

All Jake had to do was make his preparations, which he did before finally heading back to the apartment.  

—

Jake pressed your body against the cool wall of the shower, your face connecting to the wall with a moan. He wrapped your hair around his hand, pulling your face from the wall, his mouth brushing against the shell of your ear as the hot water spilled between your bodies. 

He slid in and out of you with such ease, pulling and yanking at your hair, teeth biting your ear, tongue sliding up and down your ear, soft moans escaping his lips with each thrust and kiss of his tip to your cervix, “Fuck baby, can’t get enough of you.” 

You balanced your hands on the wall, slightly pushing yourself down and lifting back your hips so Jake could pound into you easier, “Jaeeee,” your whimper, “Gonna cum soon.” 

He smirked, “Yeah, babe?” he slowed his thrusts, yanking your hair and forcing your back to connect to his wet chest, “Wanna cum? And make a mess of my cock?” you nod, reaching your hands up and into his wet hair. 

Jake wanted to ruin your pussy. Wanted to fuck you so good you wouldn’t be able to walk for weeks. Fucking you slowly was driving him crazy but oh god it felt so damn good. His breaking became uneven, his moans getting louder. He wanted to cum. To fill your cunt to the brim with his seed and hear your pretty little moans once you feel it seeping out your hole. 

He removed his hand from your hair, sliding his hands down your arms and to your breasts, tracing their outline and flicking your nipples then continued down to your belly and sliding to your waist. 

Jake looked down at your body, loving how it moved with his cock sliding against your walls, eyes taking notice of your stab wounds. Jake locked his jaw as he traced his fingers over the still-healing wounds. Your stitches are gone now, but the scars will now last you forever. A remembrance of what happened to you. A reminder to Jake of what was done to you. 

You felt Jake was disconnected, in some faraway land as he stared down at your wounds, “Jake,” you whisper, tilting your head up to look at him, “Look at me,” Your hand touched his cheek and his eyes looked to you, worried filling them, “I’m alive. I’m here and I’m alive thanks to you,” you slid your hand to the back of his neck, pulling him down, your lips brushing over his, “You��re literally balls deep in my pussy right now, focus on me.” 

He smirked against your lips, then kissed you hard. Your chest was now back against the wall. One of his hands was on your clit, and the other was on your hip. His hips fucked up into you harder and faster than before, your knees buckling, “Hmm what is it, babe?” He coos in your ear, “You said you wanted to cum, so I’m going to make you cum.” 

You moaned his name on repeat, fingers trying their hardest to grip to the wall and praying your knees don’t give out on you. You just wanted to take a nice warm shower before cuddling with Jake on the couch and watching movies, he obviously had other plans. Pulling back the curtains already naked and cock hard in his hands, eyes leading with you as he stepped into the shower with you, “Baby, I need you to take care of this. Need you so bad.” You weren’t complaining, shower sex then cuddling afterward? Still a win-win. 

His finger of your clit with the help of his cock buried deep inside you, your orgasm approached, coating his cock, “That’s it, such a good girl for me, making such a pretty mess on my cock,” he kissed your temple, “I’m fixing to cum, squeeze me tighter, honey.” You clenched around him and he gasped, whimpering out as his breathing became more unsteady. Heart racing as he felt the build-up, cock twitching, “I’m cumming, I’m cu-cumming.” 

Jake shoved his cock as far as he could into your pussy, hips pressing hard against your ass as his white ropes shot between your gummy walls. Jake already knew he came a lot, he could feel it seeping out your hole and physically see it was dripping down your leg. 

“I came so much,” he whispered and chuckled, slowly pulling out and cupping your cunt with his hand, shoving his fingers inside, “Can’t let it go to waste, wanna breed you.”

You leaned back into your boyfriend and smiled. You wanted to tease him that you were on birth control, but let him smile and kiss you as he continued to fuck your cunt with his fingers. 

You finally were able to convince Jake that it was time to finish the shower and get out, mostly now that the water was cold. Jake stood behind you with nothing but his basketball shorts on, running a brush through your hair as his other hand held the hairdryer. He stopped every couple of minutes to place a kiss on your head and whisper he loved you. He even gave you one of his favorite sweatshirts and a pair of his boxers for you to wear to be comfy. You figured his actions were all the cause of you getting stabbed. Hell if this is what it took for him to be this sweet, you’d get stabbed again(totally not, because that shit sucked. You’d never want to go through it again). 

Once your hair was dry, Jake pulled you into the living room, “Want popcorn, my love?” 

You smiled, giving him a nod, “Of course! Can’t have movie night with…out…” your smile faded. Causing Jake’s smile to fade as well. 

Your eyes widened, everything happening way too fast before you could tell Jake to move. 

Jake felt something was off when he saw how you looked behind him. He quickly whipped around, being met face to face with ghost face, their knife sliding into his chest just below his collar bone. He grunts out in pain, but uses the strength he had to push you away from them and onto the floor, then quickly grasping their wrists. It’s not there… Jake pushed the ghost face back, sending them back a couple of steps away. 

Jake took a few quick deep breaths and pulled the knife from his chest, tossing it across the living room. The ghost face was moving back towards Jake, swinging his fist but missing as Jake ducked down. 

Blood was gushing down his chest, making him lightheaded, and once he was low enough to the ground, his knees betrayed him and gave out, connecting to the floor and hands gripping his wound. 

The ghost face came prepared, pulling another knife from their cloak pocket, and walked up behind Jake, grasping a handful of his hair and yanking his head up. Jake gritted his teeth as he stared up at the mask, the knife resting against his throat. 

“Goodbye, Sim.” The voice mod said with a shake in their voice. 

Jake just smiles up at him. 

Time seemed to have slowed for you just then. Your heart racing as you see the imposter hovering over Jake, panic filling you. You were going to watch him kill Jake. They were going to kill Jake then kill you. Your breathing became uneven as you stared at him, watching as he smirked and laughed at the person standing over and about to kill him. How could he be laughing with a knife to his throat? The knife. Where was the knife?

You looked where Jake tossed it at, seeing it near the couch, his blood staining the blade and the carpet it sat beneath. With shaky legs, you stood to your feet, moving as fast as your legs would carry you, picking up the knife. 

The ghost face tilted his head, “What is so funny?” 

“You’re not the ghost face, Park.” 

Before he could respond to Jake, you plunged forward, pushing the knife into his shoulder, his screams filling the apartment and his blood coating your face as you yanked the knife out. With all your strength you pulled at the cloak, digging your foot into the back of his knee and sending him to the ground. 

The moment his back touched the floor, you straddled over his abdomen, the knife piercing into his chest, pushing it further in into the hilt touching his skin. 

“Wait! Fuck please wait!” 

You snarled. He just stabbed your boyfriend and nearly killed you weeks ago and he had the guts to beg? Fuck. This. 

You pulled the knife out and shoved it back in, “You think you can just beg for your life now?” You snapped. 

“It’s Jay!! Please, YN, STOP!!” You sat still, feeling Jay’s hands on your thighs. He gasped for air and you went back to panicking. 

You quickly pulled the mask off his face, seeing the sweat build up on his forehead and blonde hair sticking to his face. Blood dripped out of his mouth and fear covered every inch of his face. 

“It’s…you…” you whispered. 

Jay shook his head to the best of his ability, “I’m not the ghost face.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Jake said, standing behind you, eyes burning into Jay, “How the fuck did you find out where we lived?” 

Jay gasped more for air, more blood spilling from his chest and shoulder wounds. 

“Jake, call an ambulance!!” You snapped, pulling the knife from Jay’s chest and pressing your hands to the wounds, “NOW!! You need help too!” 

Jake held the pressure still to his chest and repeated, “How the fuck did you find out where we lived, Jay Park.” 

Jay took as deep of a breath as he could, squeezing your thighs, “I didn’t. The real ghost face called me one night, telling me he knew who I was, and who my family was, saying he had a job for me.” 

Jake narrowed his eyes, “Keep fucking talking.” 

“I laughed and ended the call. A few days later a duffle bag filled with money appeared on my front porch, with a note telling me to answer my phone, so when it rang, I answered, hearing that stupid voice mod on the other end,” he gasped for air again, “They mentioned the job again, and that the money was my payment. I asked what the job was, and they told me to kill you, Sim.” 

Jake’s face was unchanged, but your heart was racing. You stared at Jay, his eyes looking back at you, his thumbs rubbing against your skin. 

“I declined at first, I couldn’t take him away from you, YN. No matter my feelings for you I couldn’t do it. I donated the money to charity and went on about my business. The next day you were attacked.” 

You kept the pressure on his chest, tears now filling your eyes, “Jay…” 

“After that I tried calling the number over and over, figuring it was a burner phone. But once you returned back to campus, I started receiving text messages,” You recalled the memory, Jay’s phone constantly buzzing and Jake snapping at him to answer it, “The texts told me that if I didn’t kill Sim, they would kill not just YN, but my family. They sent me photos of my parents at their jobs, photos of my friends in their homes, and photos of Jungwon in the new rooms. Photos of YN the day she was stabbed walking into campus and then photos of her bleeding out on the sidewalk and the last photo of you Sim, from the journaling office, wearing the exact clothes you did the day I received all those texts, meaning the killer had to be nearby.” 

Jake processed the information and then kneeled down to Jay’s face, “How did you find out where we lived?” 

“They sent me your address,” he swallowed but then coughed, the red liquid now dripping down his neck, “They gave me a time frame on when I had to do it. Told me the password to the gates of the apartment complex, which building, floor, and apartment number.” 

Jake tilted his head, narrowing his eyes, “And you thought you could just walk in here and kill me? Don’t you know who I am? That I’m fucking insane. Mostly when my girl's life is on the line?” 

Jay closed his eyes tightly, releasing a groan, “Trust me, after the day you fucked her in my arcade I knew you were fucking crazy.” Jay’s words were now shuddering, his voice becoming softer, “I was…scared. I couldn’t…lose my family and friends.” 

“Who is the ghost face?” Jake tested. 

“I…don’t…know.” 

You looked up at Jake, begging him, “Call an ambulance, Jake. Please!” you started crying, blaming yourself for if Jay died, “Jake!” 

Jake stood, taking a few steps back. He understood Jay’s desperation. If some wack ass killer in a white mask and black suit told him to murder someone or else they would kill you, he’d do every task they asked of him. 

“Where is your phone?” He asked Jay.

Jay couldn’t form words, but nodded to his pocket. You let go of his chest for enough time to pull the phone from the cloak, Jake taking it from your hands, the phone soaked red. 

You continued to beg Jake to call an ambulance, tears staining your face as more of Jay’s blood stained the carpet and Jake’s eyes started to unfocus. 

—

You sat on the table in the office, kicking your feet back and forth and fingers gripping the edge of the table. A knock hit the door, and you looked in its direction, “Come in.” 

Heeseung popped his head in, glasses falling to the tip of his nose, “You called a meeting?”

You smiled and nodded, “Come on in.” 

Heeseung fully walked in, taking a look around the room, “Where is everyone else?” He asked, raising his brow. 

“They should be here soon,” you leaned back a bit against the table, “It’s just you and me for right now.” 

Heeseung awkwardly nodded, fingers playing with the straps of his backpack and looking down to the floor. 

“Why don’t you come over here?” You playfully said, “Set your stuff done and come here.” The corners of his lips pulled into a small smile. He nodded again and dropped his bag to the floor. 

Heeseung stood across from you, leaning against the filing cabinet, pushing his glasses back up his nose. 

You look him up and down, “Jake told me you had a crush on me.” 

Heeseung’s eyes widened, ears burning red, “H-He what? That’s silly, YN.” He looked away from you and back to the floor. 

“You don’t have to lie to me, Seungie,” he looked back up at you. You spread your legs apart, “What if I told you I felt the same way?” Heeseung swallowed, eyes trailing down to your bare legs, shorts riding up your crotch, “Come here, Hee.” 

Heeseung pushed himself off the cabinet and walked up to you. 

You tilted your head, “Come closer.” You shot your eyes down between your legs and back up to his face. 

Heeseung took a step back, “No, we can’t do this.” 

“Jake won’t find out,” you whispered, reaching up and grabbing the collar of his tee shirt, pulling him between your legs. 

You wrapped them around his hips, locking him into place. You kept your fingers on his collar, pulling him closer, “You’re so cute when you’re flustered,” you teased him, blowing your breath onto his glasses, watching them fog up. 

Heeseung shot his hands to your thighs, “Don’t tease me,” he whispered, the fog lifting off his glasses, revealing his blown-out eyes. 

You scooted yourself closer, your ass barely hanging off the table, and pulled him even closer with your legs, his hard length now pressing to your stomach. You smirked, “A little excited, are we?” 

Heeseung’s hands slid up your thighs, squeezing and yanking you closer, shifting himself to press his length to your heat, “I told you to not tease me.” 

You snaked your hands up to his neck, playing with his hair, “I have to be honest, I didn’t call a meeting. Only you.” 

Heeseung cutely giggled, thumbs rubbing the plush of your skin, “Only me?” 

You nodded, “Come closer.” 

Heeseung leaned in, his lips brushing against yours, “I want to kiss you so bad…can I?” 

You brushed your lips back, “Can I tell you something first?” 

He rocked his hips against you, “Anything.” 

“How did it feel?” Heeseung moves away a few inches, looking at you in confusion, “How did it feel to stab me three times and leave me for dead, Mr. Ghost face?” 

His hand was now in your hair, pulling your head back and a yelp escaped your mouth. 

Everything about Heeseung changed. His body straightened out, face from relaxed to hard, jaw locked and eyes piercing. You looked up at him in fear, and he just laughed. 

“You finally figured me out huh?” even his voice was different. It was no longer the cute bubbly tone, but now it was chilling and cold. He pulled your hair back further, giving you no choice but to look at him, “Or should I say, the original figured me out.” 

You swallowed, “Why did you do it? I trusted you.” 

“Oh, sweetheart,” Heeseung smirked, lifting his other hand from your thigh and caressing your face, the watch you’ve seen before sitting on his wrist perfectly, “Why did I do it? Do what? Gotta be more specific.” 

You’ve done this dance before with Jake, “Why did you commit those murders? Why did you stab me?” 

He smirked even wider, “Because it was fun,” his voice sent chills down your spine, “And for why I stabbed you?” he leaned forward, brushing his nose to your jaw, “Because I wanted to watch the love of my life bleed out.” His breath formed goosebumps on your neck and he chuckled, gently planting a kiss on your neck, “It was so easy to convince Jay to break into your apartment,” he stood back up, “All I had to do was threaten your life. You have a lot of crazy people in your corner, don’t you, sweetheart?” 

You took a few deep breaths in, trying to stay calm, “You wanted Jake to suffer, why?” 

Heeseung leaned back inches away from your face, “Because he has something that I want, a few things, actually.” He ran his hand back down to your thigh, snaking his fingers under your shorts, “Where is he, by the way? Does he know where you are right now? He is a crazy fucking dog after all.” You glanced over Heeseung’s shoulder. 

“This crazy fucking dog is right behind you,” Jake hissed, a knife now pressing to Heeseung’s throat, “And I suggest you back the fuck off my girlfriend before I start barking and slit your throat.” 

Heeseung released his hands off you, slowly backing away with Jake, “Where the fuck did you come from?” 

Jake chuckled, patting Heeseung’s back, “This is my office, you don’t think I don’t know every inch of this room from top to bottom to hide in? For a serial killer, you’re fucking stupid.” 

Heeseung gritted his teeth, “Go to hell.” 

Jake pressed the blade more into his skin, “It’s crazy how you were able to mimic everything I did, even down to the weapon and clothes, stalker much?” 

“Had to learn somehow,” Heeseung countered with a smirk, “At least I succeeded in almost killing YN, versus you folding the minute her legs were spread.” 

“Watch your fucking mouth!” Jake barked, “I will spill your blood so fucking fast don’t try me.” 

The rage Jake was feeling at this moment, the rage that was boiling, and every instinct telling him to slide Heeseung’s throat for the hell he’s put him through. For hurting you. 

Heeseung laughed, “Your buttons are so easy to push when YN is involved.” 

You pierce your eyes into him, “If Jake doesn’t kill you, I will!” 

Heeseung tilted his head back, “Like how you almost killed Jay?” 

That statement was enough proof to show Heeseung had access to your cameras, he was watching the entire thing unfold. 

“Anyway,” Jake clicked his tongue, “Where is your sidekick?” 

Heeseung chuckled, “My what?” 

Jake sighed, “Should we ask Sunoo about it instead? I know he’s outside that door. Ain’t that right, Sun?” 

The door opened and a smiling Sunoo walked in, “Figured us both out that easily?” 

“We figured Heeseung had help,” you said, pushing yourself off the table and picking up his backpack and placing it on the table, “Jake and I discussed this plenty at the hotel room we’ve been in the last couple nights, that he had to have help. Heeseung was too calm while Jay’s phone was getting spammed. Heeseung didn’t even have his phone out. How did he receive those texts?” 

You opened the backpack, seeing a laptop, one textbook, and the ghost face mask. You looked at Sunoo, “You’re the one who sent the texts to Jay and helped Heeseung track us at all times. You have your own mask too, don’t you? Hiding it in the investigation room?” 

Sunoo kept his smile, “It was there,” he shot his eyes to Jake, “But I’m assuming it’s no longer there.” 

Jake smirked, “You think I’d let some fucking copycats steal my thunder? Nah.” He removed the knife from Heeseung’s throat, and pushed him away, quickly grabbing you and pulling you to his side, “Besides,” Jake chuckled, wrapping his arm around your waist and looking down at the knife, “All the evidence I have against you was already turned into the police. Sunoo’s gear too. And now that we have your gear,” Jake tossed the knife to the table, “The cops have everything they needed.” 

The sounds of running filled the hallways, enough proof that the police had finally arrived. Heeseung and Sunoo didn’t loosen their glares off you and Jake even as their wrists got cuffed and they were dragged out of the office. 

Jake pulled you into a hug, his breath hitching, “It’s over,” he whispered in your ear, “It’s finally over.” 

You hugged your boyfriend tightly, “I’m proud of you for not killing him.” 

Jake chuckled, “Trust me, honey, it took a lot to not.” 

A few investigators questioned you and Jake, then sent you on your way. You and Jake were able to walk home freely with no worries. 

Heeseung and Sunoo were on the news that night, video footage of them being pushed into the police cars and being hauled off, the newsman discussing each murder case, including the ones Jake committed. Each victim is named in tribute to the killer finally being caught. 

You laid on top of Jake on your shared couch, the bandages from his stab wound Jay gave him peeked out of his hoodie. You traced your fingers over it, “Does it still hurt?” 

Jake shifted his gaze from the TV to you, “Not as much as what it felt like when I thought you’d died.” 

You traced your fingers over his face, stopping at his lips, him kissing the pads of your fingers. 

“You won’t have to ever feel that feeling again,” you reassured him. 

Jake nodded, wrapping his arms around you, “I know. I won’t let anyone harm you again,” He pressed a kiss to your forehead and softly chuckled, “I am proud of you for how you lured him in, his shyness and awkwardness might have all been fake and an act, but the way you reeled in him and played with his feelings? Those were so true. You should be an actor, for real.” 

You roll your eyes at him, “I want to be an investigative journalist, don’t have time for acting.”

Jake cupped your face and kissed you gently, “And you’ll make one hell of one too.” 

The kiss went from passionate and soft, to deep and hard. Jake pulled your and his clothes off until you were both bare and you straddled his lap, riding his cock and pinning his hands above his head against the armrest. Jake was a moaning and gasping mess as you continued to ride, letting you have full control. 

You smiled down at your serial killer, watching as his brows furrowed and eyes shut tightly when he came. 

Everything was perfect and how it should be.

— perm taglist: @alvojake @ikeuverse @woniebae @shawnyle @kangnina @jwnghyuns @in-somnias-world @zyvlxqht @aaa-sia @wonniethepoo @addictedtohobi @eneiyri @sparklovespink @skzenhalove @fakeuwus @cherry-park @vousty @ladyartemesia @psh9 @cmoundiamante @enhaverse713586 @wondipity @lhsvibez @jaeyunq @rikizm @kaykay11sworld @pockettwinzz @zeeloveshee

— taglist: @secretlyapartofthisfandom @wonheartz @ggukkyu @liwugy @hoondrop @jentlecoeur @yawnzzhoon @vixialuvs @ericluvs @qoeqe @hanjisunginc @jaeyunsbimbo @ksnooppy @immortalvee @criminaluvr @kookify @aileeeeeeeeeeeee @sunpov @topichoon @brownsugarbaybee @lilyuwon

[all4yoi]

was it just a game to you?

𝑒nhypen x fem!reader ⚹ cw. hyung line , 2nd pov , ︎ poor attempt on angst , lowercase intended , hand holding ( not w u! xd ) , karina mentioned on heeseung's & wonyoung on sunghoon's , not proofread ! part two here !

catching them holding hands with another girl after they accepted your confession 

confessing to them was already on your monthly bucket list, but them accepting it and liking you back certainly wasn't. feeling ecstatic, you walk towards your university's glass doors only to find him holding hands with a female that certainly isn't you.

★ LEE HEESEUNG

eyes trained on their hands clutched tightly on to one another, you watch silently as the girl smiled up at him shyly, tucking a strand of her hair with her empty hand.

doubt began overtaking you. right, who would choose someone like you over someone like karina? she was everything you weren't. perfect face, perfect body, she's kind, and absolutely beautiful. if you were heeseung, you would choose her too.

you flinched as you made eye contact with the girl holding hands with someone who should be yours. she sent you a smile, a genuine one. not mocking, nor insulting. she didn't have any idea about the conversation last night you shared with the man she's holding hands with.

she didn't know about how he smiled at you brightly, didn't know about the hug you two shared, and absolutely didn't know about how he said he liked you too. so how could you hate and blame her?

before you could even send a smile back at her, heeseung turned around and instantly took his hand back when his gaze landed on your stiff body.

instead of making a scene, you showed them the best smile you could muster despite the quiver on your lips before quickly walking away towards your first class.

heeseung panicked, turning to karina.

"you're a great friend karina, but i don't feel the same. i'm sorry."

with that, he ran after you hoping you would hear him out and let him explain.

other members utc!

★ PARK JONGSEONG

you felt your mood instantly drop. yesterday he promised he would prove to you how much he liked you back too, now he's holding hands with a pretty girl.

your eyes quickly met his and the way he quickly took his hand back from the girl made you even more upset. you watched as the female said something incoherent to him before he approached you hastily.

he stood infront of you, worry written all over his face. your frowned deepened, betrayal making your chess heavy.

"it's not what it looked like, i promise." jay whispered that only you could hear. he didn't want you doubting his feelings for you, he was merely helping the girl up after he had bumped into her. she insisted on shaking his hand after telling him her name, it was such wrong timing that you saw.

he didn't mean to hurt you.

"it's okay. i'll see you later jay." was all you said before walking away with a small smile. he watched your figure become smaller and smaller until he lost your figure to the students crowding the halls.

despite the smile on your pretty face, jay knew he had hurt you badly and he intended on fixing that. for now, he'd give you space.

★  SIM JAEYUN

his hand was instantly removed from hers as soon as you saw it. you didn't know what to feel. were you supposed to be glad that he immediately let her go as soon as your eyes met his? still, you don't know for how long he has been holding her hand before you even saw.

but then again, you two weren't together. so who were you to be mad? he liked you back sure, but he wasn't your boyfriend. he could hold hands with anyone he'd like. but was it bad to hope that he'd only do those things with you?

you couldn't help the tears falling down your cheeks. immediately, you felt ashamed. ashamed for crying about something so stupid like this, so you did what everyone would've done.

you ran, ignoring his desperate calls for you. and even when he caught up with you and brought you to his chest, the tears didn't stop. you mentally cursed yourself for being so sensitive.

pushing yourself away from him, you wiped away the tears.

"i can explain, please."

"it's fine jake, really. i just wish you would've been more honest with me." lips wobbly as you attempted a small smile, jake's heart broke as he watched you walk away from him again.

★  PARK SUNGHOON

you didn't know what to do. there he was, holding hands with the prettiest girl in campus with other students fawning over them. exclaims on how good they looked together echoed through your ears.

maybe he only said he liked you back to make fun of your reaction with his friends. maybe it was a lousy bet between him and his friends to make you believe he actually liked you back.

"don't they look absolutely good together? seriously, sunghoon and wonyoung, literally everyone here expected them to get together at some point" a random student told you, her smile wide as she observed the two, who were still holding hands.

the way he stiffened and dropped her hand as soon as your eyes met his brought you back to reality. blending in with the crowd in the halls, you attempted to escape his line of sight, desperate to leave before the tears in your tear ducts escape.

you were forced to halt when you felt a strong grip on your forearm. sunghoon turned you around to face him, his brows furrowed whilst he bit his bottom

"y/n.." he gulped as he saw how your eyes got teary immediately. "i'm sorry, it's not like that at all."

"so why were you holding her hand? with the biggest smile on your face?" he kept his mouth shut, unable to form an answer. this only made you frustrated even more.

pulling your arm back, you cleared your throat and looked down on your shoe. "you could've turned me down instead of making me hope- nevermind.. see you around."

sunghoon watched you walk away from him helplessly, mentally beating himself up for not clearing things up.

[coff33andb00ks]

Rule Breaker - Pt 4

max Verstappen x single mom!reader (with logan sargeant)

{masterlist}{prev} {next}

warnings: cursing, minimally proofread, masturbation (m), lando gives wisdom Summary: Max has it all...right? Besides, he's too busy collecting trophies and completing side quests for anything else. Until... You moved across a whole ass ocean to start over, uprooting you and your son's lives to become social media admin for cars that drive in circles. word count: 5682 auth.note: logan girlies frighten me but i love y'all :) spotify: i made a playlist

The alarm started ringing and Max sighed, reaching over to turn it off. It wasn't as though he was asleep. Sitting up on the side of the bed he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, groaning when Jimmy gave a sleepy mew and jumped off the bed. "Ja, early morning," he sighed, switching on the lamp and getting to his feet. His cat didn't care, already slipping from the bedroom with his tail high. Sassy glared at him from the foot of the bed and he sighed again, grabbing his phone and turning off the lamp.

He grabbed jeans and a white t-shirt to put on before leaving the room, wondering again why he'd agreed to do this. It was stupid. No one cared what a day in his life was like, he was sure of that, no matter how many comments y/n had shown him on Checo's video asking when they'd get one of him. But it was too late to back out now—

His phone screen lit up and he stood in the bathroom, staring at her message.

-Good morning, I'll be there in ten minutes.

Crisp and professional. Just as it was supposed to be. Just as she had been for a week. When he'd messaged her the day before to bring Kevin over for another Disney movie she'd said yes, and had sat as far from him as physically possible while still being in the same room.

-I'll be ready. I'm up. Ok.

Eight minutes later she was at the door, looking maddeningly well-rested and relaxed and he didn't know why but that only annoyed him even more. He took the camera bag from her, noticing she was wearing baggy pants and an oversized sweatshirt instead of the usual jeans and Red Bull team shirt.

"I'll change before we go to the track," she told him.

He hated that the first few moments he was around her now were a little awkward. "What do you want to get first?" he asked, reaching up to smooth his hair and freezing when she moved to stop him. "What?"

"A day in the life, Max. Let your hair be messy. And you said you have coffee first thing right? So we'll do that – I've got the list you made." She took a sip from the to-go cup in her hand and he smelled coffee. "Kevin said to tell you good morning, have a great practice, and he had fun yesterday."

"I did too," he said. It was the truth. They'd watched a movie, and when that was over y/n had still been working on her laptop so he'd given Kevin a tour of his game room, letting him see and hold his trophies and helmets and even giving him a couple laps in his racing sim. She'd joined them, and for a little while it had been comfortable and easygoing, with her teasing him about his fridge of Red Bull within reach and having so many trophies he was running out of room to put them. He'd been about to suggest dinner, the words on the tip of his tongue, when she'd said it was time for them to get going.

She had the camera out, and so he started his day, answering her questions about trying to keep to a routine. The sun was coming up and she joined him on the balcony, asking about daily habits that stuck with him from childhood. He drank his coffee, watching out the corner of his eye as Sassy, his antisocial cat, jumped up into her lap and settled in for a cuddle.

"She's sweet," y/n said, and though there was a gap of at least six feet between them he could hear the cat's purring.

He made a face. "She hates being held."

Y/n looked at him, then down at Sassy. "Is that true?" she asked softly, running one hand over Sassy's fur.

As though intent on making him a liar, Sassy let out a squeaking purr and stretched, headbutting y/n's chin. Max scoffed, finishing his coffee. "She usually hates being held."

"Maybe you just don't know how to hold her properly," she said, turning her attention fully on the cat.

"I hold her just like I hold Jimmy," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"But you're not Jimmy, are you, darling?" she cooed, rubbing Sassy behind the ears and kissing the top of her head.

Max waited, knowing how much Sassy hated that sort of attention. And, traitor that she was, Sassy leaned into the touch, purring almost ecstatically. "You're making me look bad."

Y/n snorted, lavishing Sassy with affection for a few more moments. She set the cat down and stood, and the cat stayed close to her throughout the rest of the morning, calling and winding between her ankles as she got shots and video of Max doing his morning stretching.

"You do this every morning?" she asked, and Max exhaled with a nod while she got on her hands and knees next to him.

"It keeps me focused," he said after leaning on his knees. "Plus this is just a warmup. I'll do training with Rupert before lunch."

"Strength and cardio, right?"

"Will you be doing that with me too?" he asked, resuming his plank.

"Only if I'll get tequila at the end of the day like I did last week."

He chuckled. "I can do a gin and tonic."

"I've never had one of those," she said, trying the plank again.

"You have to lift your hips up a bit more," he pointed out. "And keep your back straight."

She tried again and he pushed himself back, turning to kneel next to her. His hands were on her hips, guiding them up, one hand moving to rest on her back, before he realized what he was doing. Hearing her shaky breath he paused.

"Sorry—"

"No, you're fine, I want to do it. Or at least be able to say I tried."

He nodded, adjusting her form, somehow able to focus on the exercise and not the sudden fantasies that were flashing in his mind. Swallowing hard, he wondered if they'd start invading his daily life and not just his dreams now. "Keep your head down, otherwise you might strain your neck."

"How long do I hold it?"

"It's your first time?" he asked, finally moving his hands from her.

"Doing a plank or having a guy manhandle me?" she huffed.

"Y/n—"

"Sorry, haven't had all my coffee. Yes, it's my first time."

"Then as long as you can."

"How long do you hold them?"

"Two minutes usually."

"Fucking showoff," she muttered, stretching out her arms and relaxing completely.

"I've been doing them for years," he chuckled. "C'mon, time for breakfast."

He was glad she ate with him, glad he'd picked up a few things from the shop the evening before that he'd remembered she liked. It seemed so normal, chatting with her while he cooked, Jimmy by his feet and Sassy by hers. But it made him homesick, nostalgic for something he'd never had.

"I only cook when I'm home," he said. "During preseason I have my meals prepped for me to get me back on track – turn on the kettle?"

She reached over to switch it on. "If you could have anything for breakfast without worrying about training or meal plans, what would it be?"

"This is where I say a cold Red Bull," he joked. When she rolled her eyes and laughed, he grinned. "Waffles. A stack this high." He held his hand several inches above the plate by the cooktop. "With bacon, the kind you can only get in America. And a large glass of milk."

"Butter and maple syrup?" she asked.

"Lots of butter, and the good maple syrup." Looking at the eggs on toast he was plating, he sighed. "I'll have it during our summer break."

"Two weeks off, right? Do you already have plans?"

"Last year I went to South America. I think this year I'll go home, yeah? Spend some time with my mum." Seeing that she was already fixing their tea, he carried the plates to the table and then fed Jimmy and Sassy. "What about you?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping to get to go home for a few days." She handed him a cup of tea and sat down. "My family usually gets a cottage at the beach for a couple weeks in the summer, and the break starts the second week they're going this year. Kevin misses his Nana, so I've got to get him back for a visit."

"You're close to your mum?" he asked once they'd started eating.

"Pretty close. We had a falling out when I graduated high school. She wanted me to stay near home and go to the local college, but I wanted to go to a school that had a good program. That led to a fight, especially when I was accepted and announced I was going halfway across the country…" She sipped her tea. "Then I graduated and came back home and… It was weird for a little while? But we both apologized and then Kevin came along, and well. She would have forgiven anything, I think, to be able to be in his life."

He nodded, understanding what that was like. Hadn't he done the same with his father? "Can I—" he stopped when her phone buzzed loudly on the table.

Y/n picked it up with a murmured apology, smiling slightly at the screen before answering. "Hey…"

Max's toast turned to cardboard in his mouth when he saw the name on the screen.

"Yeah, I'm at Max's. Day in the life thing. Yeah." She laughed.

He forced the last of his food down his throat and drank his tasteless tea, carrying his dishes to the sink while she talked to Logan.

"No, Ellie's bringing him. Probably around noon?" She paused and he knew she was smiling even though his back was to her. "You're sweet. I'll see you in a little bit? Yep. Okay, I promise. Bye."

"All good?" he asked, forcing himself to sound as casual as possible. Taking her plate when she brought it to the sink, he saw she was still smiling.

"Yeah, it was Logan. He wanted me to bring Kevin to the track. I'll do the dishes since you cooked," she insisted, waving him away.

He stepped aside, opening his mouth to point out the dishwasher but, knowing she would just wash them by hand anyway, he closed it. Leaning against the counter, he folded his arms over his chest. "How was your dinner with him last week?"

She looked at him in surprise. "It was nice."

He nodded. "About—" The timer he'd set on his phone went off and wanted to send his phone through the window. Snatching it up, he silenced it and ran a hand over his face. "I've got to shower, then we can head to the track."

"Sure thing." She tipped her head. "Alright if I change in your room while you shower?"

"Of course." He pushed away from the counter. "No photos of my closet."

She laughed at that, and he felt the awkwardness drift away. "No photos of the closet, promise. But I can get one of the Red Bull pillow on the bed?"

"Absolutely not," he snorted, her laugh following him from the kitchen. He went to the foyer to check his backpack, making sure all his necessities for the day were packed in it. Leaving his phone beside it, he thought about the upcoming practice, mind on the adjustments made in anticipation of the race. He pushed open his bedroom door so he could grab clothes, lurching to a stop at the sight of the nearly nude woman by his bed.

Y/n whirled around, one arm crossing over her bare chest, eyes wide.

"S-sorry," he blurted, quickly looking away even though it was too late for that. "Just need to grab something."

She turned her back to him, and he saw her hand shoot out to snatch her hoodie off the bed, holding it to her. "I thought you were showering."

"I had to get my things ready," he explained, wondering why he felt the need to defend his movements in his own home. "I thought you were washing dishes."

"It was a skillet, two forks, two plates, two mugs, and a spatula. Hardly a big job."

He quickly grabbed clothes, muttering a few more apologies. About to leave, he saw her turning to look over her shoulder and felt his knees weaken. His hip slammed into the corner of the bureau and he winced, cursing, snatching his gaze from her bare skin and leaving the room as quickly as he could, making sure to close the door behind him.

"Fuck me," he groaned, nearly tripping over Sassy, who was of course waiting right outside the door. Stepping around her, he went straight to the bathroom, trying with all his might to focus his mind on practice. The car. The track. Anything but her, because if he let himself think of her he would only think of how badly he'd wanted to—

No. Not allowed. He couldn't kiss her, he damn sure couldn't lay her down in his bed and learn all the secrets of her body. Couldn't find out how her lips tasted, whether she preferred to be held gently or grabbed roughly. Would never learn if she moaned and gasped or whined and squealed. Could never have the taste of her on his tongue or know how wet she could get.

His body craved her like water and he felt nothing but intense desire as he stood under the showerhead, not even trying to deflect his arousal. Giving in, he set the soap down and grasped his cock. He closed his eyes, letting the fantasies run wild. His hand was a sad substitute for what he truly craved. His mind replayed the split second view of her breasts he'd gotten over and over and he was almost ashamed of how quickly he came, gritting his teeth to keep from moaning loudly while his cum splashed on the tile.

Panting, still craving her, he washed himself, trying and failing to push thoughts of her to the back of his mind. Mad at himself for not being in control of his own body, he dried off and dressed, realizing he was taking more concern with his appearance than usual when he smoothed the pomade Charles had given him months ago through his hair. Cursing, he ran a comb through it, scowling at his reflection as he sprayed cologne. "Stupid," he muttered, pulling his shirt on and snatching the bathroom door open.

"No team shirt? I thought you weren't allowed to wear anything else," she teased when he entered the living room.

He looked down at the white tee, unconsciously smoothing it. "I don't live in team clothes," he muttered. He finally looked at her, clenching his jaw to stop his eyes from dipping to her chest.

She'd put on a bra. Pity.

"It looks good. Jeans and a white t-shirt are classic. Very James Dean."

"Who?" Was that some other idiot asshole talking to her? He knew about Logan—

"Actor from the 50's. According to my grandma, all the women wanted him and all the men wanted to be him." She smiled as she zipped up her camera bag. "I watched his movies. If I'd been alive back then I'd have wanted him, too. Ready?"

He nodded, grabbing a jacket. Said goodbye to the cats and watched her get more affection from Sassy in thirty seconds than he had in all the time he'd owned her. Another fantasy formed, and he wondered what it said of him that he was imagining her in his bed. Instead of a sexual slant, the fantasy was her cuddling his cats. Not used to the warmth it filled him with, he let the fantasy play out while they gathered their things, liking the mental image of Kevin and a faceless little girl joining them for morning snuggles.

The elevator ride was interminable, cramped, and he tried to remember what normalcy was while he breathed in perfume and shampoo and pretended she wasn't touching him.

"Are you wearing cologne?"

"A little." The doors open and he breathed clean air with utter relief. Did she like it? Did it bother her? Had he put too much? Should he—

"Smells nice," she murmured as she stepped into the lobby.

Max exhaled harshly, letting his head fall back against the wall, glancing up at the ceiling. "You've got a terrible sense of humor," he muttered to whatever gods might be listening.

"Did you say something?" Y/n asked.

"No," he lied, pushing away from the wall and exiting the elevator. "Just thinking about practice."

She asked him more questions, about the track, if he considered it at least a little his home track since he lived there. Nodded and listened to his answers as they walked to the dock. And it was all almost normal on the boat ride over, her filming clips to post later and getting photos. Then more normal once they stepped onto the trackside dock, surrounded by people now.

Once they reached the paddock she touched his arm to get his attention, not that she really needed to.

"I'll meet you at the garage? I'm gonna run see Kevin for a minute," she said.

"Of course." He reached for her camera bag and backpack. "You can bring him back for a visit—"

"Mama!"

He swung his head around, smiling at the sight of Kevin through the crowd. His expression soured when he saw who was carrying him, but he managed to keep the smile on his face as Logan walked up, greeting him with a nod.

God, he hated this. Hated the way she smiled up at Logan, hated their easy, familiar conversation while he handed Kevin over and told her Ellie had stopped to chat with Oscar. He hated that he hated it and cleared his throat. "See you in a bit, I've got to meet with Christian."

She nodded, and he made sure to speak to Kevin before walking off. Barely two seconds later Lando fell into step next to him.

"Aw, look at 'em. Like a family, yeah?"

Max had nothing but respect and admiration for Lando, but he would have gladly shoved him off the dock if they'd been close enough. "Who?"

"Your social media girl and Logan." Lando grinned, glancing back. "Should've seen her kid like thirty minutes ago. He worships Logan."

"Of course he does, the guy has the mindset of a three-year-old," Max muttered.

Lando exploded with laughter. "The fuck?" He followed Max into the Red Bull motorhome. "Is that jealousy I hear?"

"No."

"Ah c'mon, it's me. Your buddy. Your mate."

"Don't you have things to do?" Max muttered, waving to people milling about as he made his way to his driver's room.

Lando was close on his heels, and the door hadn't fully closed before he started in again. "So you like her?"

He set her bags down and shrugged off his backpack. "Who?"

"Y/n."

"She's my colleague."

"Colleague. You sound like a pretentious dickhead." Lando dropped into a chair and shoved his feet on the corner of the table. "Tell Lando about it, mate. I'm your friend, I won't judge you, just give you advice."

"I don't need your advice," he snorted, kicking Lando's feet down.

"But it's good advice!"

He groaned. "What is it?"

"First you need to tell me the problem." Lando leaned forward, looking far too excited. "You're down bad for her, aren't you?"

Max stared at him, unblinking.

"She gets you all fired up? Got you picturing her doing nasty, freaky things with you? Leaves you bricked and fighting for your life?"

"Jesus," he muttered, looking away.

"Oh, you're desperate," Lando said.

"I am not desperate," he scoffed.

"You're all dressed up. Isn't today when she spends the whole day with you?"

"I'm not dressed up." He wasn't sure what was worse, how he was feeling or hearing Lando describe them in his ridiculous way. "And yes, for the day in the life."

"You did something to your hair, you're wearing your pussy magnet cologne, and you're not wearing Red Bull." Lando ticked off his fingers. "You. Are. Desperate."

"And what if I am?" he asked.

"Mate… Just fuck her and get it over with it."

He laughed. "Life changing advice, mate, I never thought of that."

"See? I'm good—"

"I can't."

Lando's face twisted in confusion. "What do you mean, you can't?" His eyes widened. "Are you – You know you can get medicine for that? No shame in it nowadays. Happens to a lot of guys. Not me, but—"

"What the hell—" Max groaned, throwing a Red Bull at his friend. "I'm not impotent, asshole."

"Oh. Good, because really I'd be worried. You're not that old—" Lando sent the can back. "So why can't you? Because of Logan? They're not official. Just a few dates. He went to see her at her place, but I think they're just friends."

"How do you know all this?" Max asked, checking the time.

"He tells Osc everything and I have a knack for finding out by asking leading questions."

"You mean you're nosy."

Lando waved one hand. "Yes."

"It's not because of him," he finally said after opening a can and taking a swig.

"Then…" Lando threw up his hands and let them fall dramatically. "Why aren't you putting kids in her?"

Max almost choked on his drink. "Mate—"

"She's a fucking milf—"

"Don't say that—" Max held up a hand. "Stop. I can't."

"Again, why?" Lando gasped. "Mate," he whispered. "Did you try and she turned you down?"

"No, she didn't – I – we work together." He rolled his eyes when Lando snorted. "It's in the contracts, mate."

"You're joking."

"Do you want to see a copy?" he finished the drink and crumpled the can.

"No, I mean, you can't be serious? That kind of stuff is only for doing shit in public." Lando shook his head. "It's an easy workaround. Just do it in private."

"What, like I'm ashamed?"

"No, no, c'mon! Stolen looks? Carefully brushing her hand when you're walking together? Sending her a filthy text before an interview? Then as soon as you're back home you bend her over and fuck—"

"Stop."

"It'll be your dirty little secret. You'd have to make sure the kid doesn't notice but as long as you keep it to hotel rooms and when he's asleep that wouldn't be a problem." Lando smiled, expression smug, as though he'd just solved all the world's problems. "As long as you don't say in an interview that you're fucking her, you're good."

"You're insane," Max muttered with a shake of his head. "I can't—"

There was a knock on his door. "Mister Max!"

He was opening it in an instant, grunting when Kevin ran into him. Y/n was behind him, gently chastising him for being so impatient, and Max waved off her concern, catching the boy and lifting him up for a hug. "You having a good day, kleine maat?"

"Yeah! I got my scooter! Can we ride?" Kevin asked hopefully.

"Of course we can." He met y/n's eyes over the boy's head. "Just a little ways down the track?"

She looked ready to say no, but finally nodded. "I've got to get some posts up. Ellie's getting a migraine so she'll probably want to leave soon—"

"Well then we can have fun without her, can't we mate?" he asked Kevin, who giggled. Ruffling his hair, he set him down and looked at her. "Go ahead and do your work, yeah? I'll keep an eye on him."

Her eyes softened and he knew she wanted to insist he didn't have to. That Kevin could go back to the hotel with Ellie. But she smiled. "Thank you."

"Let's go get your scooter, mate," Lando said suddenly.

"Stay with Lando, yeah?" Max told Kevin, looking at his friend. "Don't let go of him."

"He's such a dad," Lando sighed to the boy, taking his hand and leading him from the room. "Does he tell you to eat your vegetables?"

It's not contagious. Just her migraines are bad right now. I think it's the change in environment. She's not used to the English weather.

She's going to a doctor tomorrow?

Yeah but I don't think they'll have a miracle cure.

Just bring him, y/n. The whole team loves him. We can keep an eye on him when you have to work, and he can stay in the motorhome when it's busy.

Christian said the same thing.

Sometimes he's smart.

You're terrible. Okay, I'll bring him.

Good. Tell Ellie I hope she gets some relief. Is she getting rest?

She just went to bed even though it's only 7. She took a pill that doesn't help the pain but helps her sleep.

She'll be okay, y/n. They'll have something to help her.

Thanks, Max. See you in Montreal.

Safe travels, y/n. Give little mate a hug for me?

Every day. :)

Y/n smiled over the messages and then returned to the messages with Christian. After telling him she would have Kevin with her for the Montreal and getting his assurance that it was okay, she locked her phone, sighing. "Well, buddy, looks like you're coming to Canada."

Kevin looked up from the hot wheels he was lining up on the rug. "Really?"

"Yep. But Mama's gonna be working a lot so we'll be at the track all the time." She hoped this wasn't a mistake. There were countless ways he could get hurt. "You'll have to stay where I tell you."

Kevin nodded. "Okay Mama." He rubbed his nose. "Is Mister Logan coming?"

The duality of child, she thought with another sigh. "Yeah, he'll be here soon. Remember to keep it down, though. Ellie's sleeping." She got to her feet and stepped over his cars so she could get the popcorn ready. "Can you get the movie ready?"

"He said Cars is his favorite," her son reminded her.

"He did."

"Mister Max likes it too. But his favorite is Aladdin."

"I thought his favorite was Tiana?"

"His favorite princess." Kevin followed her into the kitchen, pushing his stool to the counter and climbing up. "But he loves Aladdin."

"Why does he love Aladdin?" she asked, taking down the packets of microwave popcorn.

"He says the genie."

"Well, he has a point." She put a packet in the microwave and moved to get a bowl.

"He likes Tiana because she works for what she wants." Kevin spoke slowly, and y/n knew it was because he wanted to make sure he repeated Max verbatim. He even, probably unintentionally, copied Max's slight lisp.

And so it was that when Logan arrived, she and Kevin were in a debate over the work ethic of Disney princesses.

"I'm not saying she held down two jobs, but Cinderella worked," she insisted while she opened the door. "She cooked and cleaned and dealt with everything in the castle – Hey, c'mon in – and you need to remember it was set like two or three hundred years ago, of course she didn't have a job"

"But she only danced," Kevin said as he greeted Logan with a hug. "Tiana turned into a frog, Mama."

"Are we arguing?" Logan asked with a chuckle.

Y/n rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to defend my girl Cindy and he's showing misogyny."

"Am not," Kevin huffed. Tugging on Logan's shirt, he waited for him to lean down before whispering. "What's miss… That mean?"

"I think it means when a man expects a woman to stay home and cook and clean and raise babies," Logan whispered back.

"That's stupid."

"There's my sweet boy again. Go pick up your cars," she told him, laughing when he ran off to do so. Taking Logan's jacket, she draped it over the hook by the door. "Hey."

"Hey," he murmured, smiling.

His kiss wasn't unexpected. He'd kissed her plenty of times since their dinner in Italy. But there was something added in, something she couldn't quite identify but knew she liked. Leaning into him, she hummed softly when his hand lightly cradled her neck, pulling back at the sound of Kevin throwing his cars into the bin.

"Date in Montreal?" Logan asked.

She opened her mouth to say yes, then bit her lip. "I don't know. I have to bring Kevin with me."

"Oh. I thought he was staying here with Ellie?"

"He was, but she's been having really bad migraines since Monaco. She's going to the doctor tomorrow, but I can't just expect her to deal with him and all that."

"We'll still do something fun."

"We will," she promised, leaning to kiss his cheek. "Go on, I'll get the popcorn."

They parted, and she heard him talking to Kevin while she got the popcorn and drinks. When she brought it out he was already on the couch, remote in hand and following Kevin's directions to find the movie, like he hadn't used their TV half a dozen times by now.

"This is his favorite movie that he watches every other day, so he'll be talking along with it," she warned him with a smile once they were settled and he'd hit play. She could already tell that Kevin would be out before the movie was finished, recognizing the way he rubbed his eyes as he snuggled between her and Logan. Picking up her phone so she could check her email, she half paid attention, frowning when a text from Ellie popped up.

Is your boy toy here? I want water.

She rolled her eyes.

He's not my boy toy but yes. I'll bring you some.

"Be right back," she whispered to Logan, pushing herself off the couch and going to the kitchen to fix a cup of water for her friend. Slipping into the bedroom, she closed the door and approached the bed. "Hey," she whispered, setting the cup down.

Ellie groaned, slowly sitting up. "Thanks."

"Pill hasn't kicked in yet?"

"Almost. Logan here?"

Y/n smiled. "Yeah. Watching Cars."

"Romantic." Ellie breathed deeply. "Water?"

Handing it to her, she sat on the edge of the bed. "You're drugged so you'll be honest…"

"Yes, I think you should sleep with him."

She blinked, pressing her hands to her face. "Thanks, El."

"Welcome." Ellie pushed the cup to her. "He's cute and he likes you. And it's been years since you had some good dick. Sleep with him."

She stood and leaned to kiss her friend's head. "Go to sleep, babe."

"Loves you," Ellie mumbled sleepily.

"Love you more." Leaving the cup on the nightstand, she tiptoed from the room.

She didn't want to sleep with Logan, did she? Just because he was cute – which he was, but she preferred the term handsome – and liked her? She did like him. He was good with Kevin, and he was nice. He hadn't been pushy at all since their not-a-date dinner date, but she wasn't blind. She could tell he wanted more than the quick, stolen kisses.

Just as she'd known he would, Kevin was asleep before the movie was halfway through, and she pried him from Logan's shoulder to go tuck him in. When she returned, he'd turned off the movie and put on Netflix, and she reclaimed her spot.

"Is it okay for me to hang around?" he asked, pushing the popcorn bowl onto the coffee table.

"Of course." Smiling, she laughed when he flopped back, one arm draping around her and dragging her close. She barely paid attention to the show he'd turned on, letting herself enjoy the physical closeness. His hand rubbed her arm and she shifted closer, resting her head on his chest.

"Y/n?"

"Hm?" She tipped her head back, surprised – but not really – when he took the opportunity to kiss her. His arm tightened around her, other hand coming up to cup her cheek and she sank into the kiss, whining a little when he pulled back. "Okay?"

"Y-yeah," she breathed, nodding, shifting so she was kneeling, hands gently grabbing the front of his shirt as their lips met again.

"So we can be more than friends?" he asked between kisses.

Y/n exhaled shakily, wondering how he could ask that question when his hand was sliding under her shirt. Or was he expecting her to determine their relationship? "I mean… Yeah? We can just…" It was hard to concentrate with his hand creeping closer to her breast. "Figure it out as we go?"

"I like that," he whispered.

His fingers brushed the outer curve of her breast and her mouth went dry, feeling the flames of yearning in a long time. "I like that, too," she whispered, threading her fingers through his hair. She pulled back just when her lips brushed his again, slightly panicked at the thought of having sex on the sofa. "B-but we don't have to go all the way tonight, do we? I don't—"

I don't want to tarnish the couch my son naps and watches TV on.

"No, no, it's okay. I'm good with just kissing you," he promised.

"We can make out," she suggested, because she needed a little more than kissing. Just the training wheels until she remembered what to do and what she liked.

"Hands above the waist?" he asked while slowly guiding her down.

"Good idea." She had the distinct impression that if his hands went below her waist she'd be begging for more. And she wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

Maybe not ever, and as she started to lose herself in his kiss she wondered if he'd be okay with that, too.

Taglist:

@spookystitchery | @halleest | @lyannesworld | @llando4norris | @kravitzwhore | @younxii | @silentreader128 | @samantha-chicago | @mrsbrxkkxr | @cmleitora | @jasons-little-princess | @toldyouitwasamelodrama | @aundercover | @kiwi43-81 | @awritingtree | @voidsfics | @manicpixiemom | @misartymis | (i think i got everyone)

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

be constantly in own world for me (level 2/3 autism) mean like. think pretty much only about self. understand only self. entire world just me n special interest, sometimes/often times not even include own basic needs, like “hair greasy clump body itchy need shower” (unconsciously feel bad sensory, n make very uncomfortable annoyed easily frustrated, but don’t consciously know am feeling extra irritated or that am feel this way because need shower). n world often limited to thing in front of me. n sometimes not even include thing in front of me. see it (as in physically capable of vision) but not see it. n thing, people, any that not put infront of me for while, stop realize they existed in first place.

n be in own world, only think only able know self, mean that, see self as normal, as norm. everyone (this abstract concept of other people that have memorized like you memorize history fact for test), everyone like me. not even “am like everyone,” but that everyone is like me. everyone same ability as me. everyone think like me.

“everyone think like that to extent”

right. to extent. thing is am far greater than that normal “extent”

to point that average day, ask me, n would only able explain that, “think everyone same ability as me, everyone think like me. everyone exist like me.” stay at vague generalization because not able think any deeper not able think of examples. to give example in this situation mean on some level need have ability understand “am think this normal but others may think it abnormal for them”. n. most times not have ability to second part, because in own world theory of mind.

sometimes try force it. try really hard force it. try really hard think, look at other people, try make sense try find what exact different. but can’t force something not have ability. so go back rely on scripting. sometimes advanced scripting n rephrased scripting.

special interest in something social-related let me cheat little bit. appear more capable. like break down complex autism community disability community dynamics. but am videotaping camera. computer analyzing research data. not participant. it thankfully happen, but it only happen because special interest allow it be part of own world, n it only part of own world because can only see these (supposedly very humanly n organic n messy) interactions as flow charts, maps, equations, inanimate objects. closest metaphor may be, with this special interest lens that allow these social dynamics enter own world, am looking at these “people” these social dynamics similar to regular person playing the sims n thinking of sims character made out of code that they control.

rare rare times able suddenly realization of outside world. usually happen in flash. n then end. n then left to chase that feeling trying so hard remember what it felt like so can memorize it like another history fact to memorize for test removed from source removed from emotion, to make self appear know what am talking about know more than am capable of, next time someone ask, “isn’t everyone like this?”

just had flash of that that lead to write this whole thing. but already gone. something about… “those funny ‘gen z fix up work force’ stories. they actually people same age as me?’” something about sudden realize what people my age my life stage expected do usually do. something about think am so normal but actually am missing out “so many” things (what things?).

friend tell me “by be young person who severely disabled you missing out so much on same age activities”. n. inside think, (i am but) “don’t know. …am i?” n for it be genuine question, or disbelief question.

n respond with “haha, yea.”

it not lying. it just script. am don’t know what my script means.

don’t follow up by ask me “so what you think you missing out on?”

don’t know. don’t have that script (a script am don’t know meaning to) yet that make other people think am understand, either.

[please don’t say you “relate” or “feel same” “this me” or similar unless am know who you are.]

[simjaeyvn]

best friend's brother 2

part 1

pairing: jake x reader

summary: who knew your bond with your best friend's brother was a lot closer than you thought.

warnings: literally smut umm, spitting, light choking, unprotected sex, pulling out method, idk

note: this is not proofread lolol nd i decided to use grammar cus docs tryna correct me pmo

It was 1:42am, but here you were, walking to your best friend’s house. You couldn't deny that it was cold, especially with the wind blowing against your bare arms and legs but you couldn't deny your excitement for the reason you were going there in the first place. Her brother. The night he had eaten out always lingers in your mind, you swear you weren't even able to cum without thinking about it, thinking about the way his tongue toyed with your cunt. Thinking about the past event had already gotten you aroused. 

It was difficult to meet up with him one on one, everytime you were at his house, you'd be spending time with your best friend, of course. But he wouldn't forget to give your ass light slaps whenever he seeked the chance. Your weekly smoke sessions were ruined too because of how busy the two of you were but tonight you wanted to surprise him. 

You open the window to a familiar room and as you step in you hear him, the voice you had been missing so much.

“Interesting way to come in.” He says, voice low and you can feel your heart pick up its pace.

“Missed you,” you say, before shutting the window behind you. He smiles at you and pats his lap, indicating for you to sit down. In which you do. You straddle his lap and his hands meet your waist but they slowly go down to cup your ass cheeks. He looks up at you with those damn beautiful eyes, he was so beautiful.

“Missed you too, pretty.” He replies, before giving you a small kiss. “Why didn't you tell me you were coming?” His face found its way in your neck and he leaves small kisses on the area.

“Wanted to surprise you,” you mumble and bring your hands up to his hair to play with his blonde locks. You felt him hum against your skin, a smile creeping on your lips. “I really missed you, Jakey.” You breathe out.

“Yeah?” You nod. “Missed me or my tongue?”

“Both.” 

You gasp when his lips are on yours but it doesn’t take long until you’re kissing him back. The kiss only made you realise how much you had truly missed his lips. You tilt your head to deepen the kiss, completely losing yourself just from kissing him. Jake was so perfect, that’s what you always thought but every time he’d step into the room it was always the same sentence leaving your best friend’s mouth. “Don’t even look at him, he’s satan’s reincarnation.” You thank the heavens each day that he walked in on you smoking or you would’ve been forced to admire him from a safe distance. You feel him tap your ass and you open your mouth allowing his tongue to make its way in. The kiss is now messy and it’s as if you're dancing with one another using your mouths but you love it messy. Your fingers tangled in his hair and his hands rested on your ass, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. You’re struggling to maintain your breathing but you really couldn’t care less as you were enjoying the moment too much. His small grunts were making you go absolutely fucking feral. It’s not long before he pulls away causing you to pout but he just chuckles. 

“C’mon baby, take that little top off.” He orders and your hands fly to the bottom of your shirt to pull it off in one go. The cold air meets your nipples and you shiver. “No bra?” You shake your head, biting onto your bottom lip. “Naughty fucking girl.” He whispers before attaching his lips onto your breasts. His mouth is on your right one as his tongue plays with your nipple and his hand kneads the left. You bring your hands back up to his hair whilst you let out small moans. Fuck, Jake Sim was incredible with his tongue. Keeping his mouth on your breast, he moves to lay you down on your back. His mouth moves down lower your body and doesn’t forget to leave small kisses each centimetre down. When he meets your shorts, your hips instantly jerk up urging for him to take them. Smiling at your neediness, he pulls off your shorts and panties in one go. “So wet, angel.”

“All for you.” You whine, eyes begging for him to touch you where you needed him most. His finger collects your slick and he brings it up to your mouth. You instantly open your mouth letting him put his finger in and you suck on it like your life depended on it. 

“Fuck, angel, I need you so bad.” He groans at the sight of you sucking on his finger as you don’t break any eye contact. You stop sucking on his finger with a ‘pop’. 

“‘M all yours.” His hands go back down slowly, as he caresses your soft bare skin. He slowly rubs your cunt, it’s not much but you were already a whiney mess. “Take off your pants, please Jakey?” You plead and you see his eyes roll back.

“Fuck, okay.” He pulls down his pants and boxers, your eyes widen and you feel even needier at the sight of his bare cock. He brings a hand to your mouth, “spit.” You do; and he uses it to pump his dick a few times before lining it with your pussy. He rubs himself against your clit for a mere couple of seconds before pushing the tip in. 

“Shit,” you whine. “You’re so big.” Although it was an ego boost, Jake didn’t want to go too far.

“I’ll go slow, alright pretty?” You nod, eyes shut as he pushes himself in more, little by little. When he finally bottoms out, the moan he lets out is a fucking melody to your ears. 

“Start moving, please.”

“Anything for you, pretty.” Jake starts moving at a slower pace but when he sees no sort of discomfort on your face, he starts thrusting faster and it is incredible you do not see stars right now. His hands were holding onto your hips a bit roughly but you didn’t care, the pleasure of his cock in you was taking over everything. “You’re taking me so well.” He grunts in between his thrusts. You want to reply but everything came out as a blubber. You look at him but his eyes were trained on the way your pussy was sucking in his cock. The sweat on his forehead made him look so much hotter. One of his hands was now wrapped around your neck, when he squeezed it with little pressure, you unintentionally clenched around him. “Oh? You like that?” You nod, not being able to comprehend any words. His speed was increasing and he was hitting your spot each thrust. His hand goes from your neck to your clit. His fingers rub on the sensitive part and you feel yourself approaching your high. 

“Jakey, I’m gonna cum,” you cry out. He continues to thrust as he feels himself reaching his own. His lips attach to your neck, sucking on the skin and just like that, you release. He continues sliding in and out of you before pulling out and you sit up to pump his cock until he comes as well. His release lands on your breasts and he fights everything in him to not get hard again. You both fall back on his bed and attempt to breathe at a normal pace. He gets up and goes to his bathroom, coming back with a wet cloth. “Open.” He says. You open your legs and he cleans up the mess from in between and from your chest. Once he’s done, he lays on top of you, his head in your chest. Your hands meet his locks once again, gently playing with his soft hair. “Please go out with me.” He whispers.

“Okay.”

“Really?” He asks, eyes looking up at you. Those eyes were gonna kill you one day. “I just let you fuck me, did you think I would just let you go?” You reply. He smiles and pecks your lips. It was a cute moment until you felt something poke your leg. “Are you fucking hard again?”

“Sorry baby, you’re just too hot.”

- iget bar u never disappoint

[imaginaryf1shots]

My Girls (||) | Max Verstappen

Words count: 3072

Driver!OC X Max Verstappen

Summery: Cecilia Hansson daughter of a Swedish billionaire, a race car driver, with a dream of making it big in Formula 1. However she has a few secrets that may hurt her as women are disliked in the sport.

Series Warnings: cursing, child abandment, absent father, drinking, car accidents, Jos Verstappen, misogyny, Christian horner (tell me if i missed anything)

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Max Masterlist

Previous || Next

A new beginning 

Both Max and Cecilia followed each other’s carriers.

When Cecilia then got pregnant with her ex’s, Mathew’s, daughter she watched as Max made it into F1, she was jealous yes, she wanted to race to reach her dreams, she wanted to be the first F1 female champion. 

“What do you want to do?” Her dad asked her as he watched his daughter hold his granddaughter. He never expected to have his little girl as a mother this young, her ex signing all his rights away before they baby was even born, leaving the father's name on the birth certificate empty. A single mother at the age of 18.

“Whatever you decide, we’ll support you.” Her mum told her holding her hand, her girl just gave birth after a long pregnancy, she looked tired but content. 

“I want to keep her.” She whispered looking at her girl, she had wisps of blonde hair, the same hair Cecilia and her father shared. Already looking like her, she whipped her tears away and looked up at her parents. “And I want to race.”

“It’s going to be hard.” Her dad warned her, she needed to know the challenges facing her, if she decided to do that then it’s going to be one of the hardest things she ever did. 

“I know, but I want to do it for her, I want her to know that she can achieve all her dreams, I want her to proudly say that I’m her mum, to never feel like any less because her dad isn’t in the picture, I want to do it for her.”

“And you will, we’ll work it out and help you as much as you need.” Her mum kissed her forehead and pushed her hair out of her face, her lovely daughter. Her sweet and strong daughter. 

Once Cecilia was given the green light by her doctors, she was back on track and in gyms. Her family’s home gym was upgraded, she had everything she needed there. The only time the girl used her uncle’s connections was when he helped her get back into competitions, getting into F2 was easy once she showcased her abilities that improved in her time off. Mclaren’s junior team snatched her up and she drove for them for a year before she was set as the reserve driver for them in 2018, she raced for the team in a free practice in the Germany, a track she hadn’t drove in her carrier, the woman was on the sim everytime she could as she prepared for the race, she wanted to impress not only Mclaren who had her on yearly contracts for now, but also everyone else, women belonged in the motorsport and she’s going to show it. She wants more skilled females racing, she wants her daughter and all the young girls growing up to see girls like them racing and winning. 

In 2019 she had her seat, driving for the first time in an F1 car that was made for her. Making it as the first female F1 driver since the 90s. Getting a place is one thing, keeping it is another thing, all the other females before couldn’t keep their seats for long but she planned to stay racing no matter what. 

When it was announced you better believe it turned into a media circus. The female had gone through grilling PR and media training, going through every question she could’ve been asked. She’s ready to face the fire.

The season kicked off in Australia, once the media saw the Mclaren making its way to the park at the entrance they crowded the area, wanting to get a glimpse of the female driver or even her teammate. Mclaren is doing a lot of unseen things with two new drivers this year. When Cecilia got out of the car she was given for the week, she smiled at the cameras, she was sporting Mclaren merch with a pair of blue jeans, wanting to be as neutral as she could until the media got used to her, if she wore any of her clothes the team speculated that they’ll focus on that and take away from her abilities. 

It’s media day and she had a lot of interviews to go through, making her way to the entrance. One of Mclaren’s press officers walked with her, there weren't that many fans of her around so she only signed a few things before she made it inside. Going to the paddocks where there was a quick meeting with her and Lando before they start their media duties.

Standing a little to the side she waited for the drivers doing the interview to finish before the new batch did theirs, her and Lando were split up for this section, thankfully she saw Charles coming her way, they both grinned when they saw each other, hugging the other tightly when he made it to her.

“Mon Dieu, tu m'as manqué.” She said in French, they pulled back Charles’ dimple evident on his face. (Oh god I missed you)

“Tu m'as manqué aussi, je suis si heureuse que tu sois là.” Charles replied to her they stood talking in French, Checo and Daniel walked in too they heard the pair talking in French they couldn't keep up with them so they left them talking after they greeted each other, the last to join is Max. (I missed you too, I'm so happy you’re here.)

When he saw her standing there he had to take her in, they’re no longer the teenagers they were when they used to Kart, gone the baby faced Cecilia and in her place stood a grown woman, hair longer and light makeup on her face, her hair loose, he only evers saw her in braids growing up.

It’s been years since Max saw Cecilia last, he knew she was the reserve driver for Mclaren, everyone knew, but they never ran into each other, both lived in Monaco but he never ran into her there either. He knew she’d make it into F1, it took her longer than he thought but she made it. His childhood rival made it into F1 to be one of his rivals, he can’t wait to race her on track once again.

There it is again, his heart speeding up, his eyes coming back to her every few seconds. He thought he grew out of his feelings for her, but evidently not. Once again she’s standing with Charles speaking in french his french isn't a match for the Monégasques. When Cecilia took her eyes off her best friend’s they fell onto the dutch driver.

“Max.” She called for him, he looked from Daniel to her, that smile she had when she was younger, he remembers the last time they talked and how rude he was to her, but that was years ago, a lifetime ago it seemed. “I haven’t seen you in years.”

They didn’t hug, like her and Charles, but her smile was enough for him. Cecilia couldn’t help but take him in too, she’s seen him on TV of course but the real thing is always different. She wonders how she hasn’t run into him before.

“Yeah, last time I saw you, you were almost as tall as I was.” Rolling her eyes at his joke, she’s taken her height from her mother, her father’s side of the family were all tall, leaving her the shortest of the bunch, she wasn’t that short but she always looked short next to her family members, she’s 165 not that short but whatever.

“Wow Verstappen, not all of us are born to be giants.” She joked back. “I’m not even that short, I’m average.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“You know Max is right.” Charles said with a teasing smile.

“Come on, not you too.” Cecilia groans and glares at the due. 

“It’s the truth, Cece.” Charles said and leaned down a little to be the same height as her mocking her height, she huffed and exaggerated rolling her eyes. The men laughed at her antics, she crossed her arms and walked to the two other drivers.

“I feel bullied, I’ll go talk with the nicer drivers.” She shook her head as she heard them laugh at her, her hair swinging left and right, they knew she was only joking with them. She could always take a joke.

Complaining to Daniel and Checo about the boys, they patted her back in comfort. A minute later they took their places on the sofa in front of the journalists. 

Cecilia got nervous once her feet hit the elevated platform, she’s been through all questions that could be asked, she’s trained until she could answer without a moment of hesitation. So why is it that the opposite happened, why is it that no one thought that the male filled room would agree to ignore her. They were all just too happy to take pictures of her walking into the circuit. It showed what they thought of her, she didn’t belong here, they didn't want her here, she’s only good to look at, a replacement for grid girls. The poor press officer tried to get people to ask her anything but they just ignored him. She had long since just leaned back and placed her microphone beside her, she was annoyed but she tried to act as if she wasn’t bothered. Was it working? Not 100%, people would debate whether she was bothered or not. They don’t know her well enough to go back for past experiences. 

“Cecilia, what are you looking forward to this year?” Charles asked once he answered the same question, he turned to look at the female next to him, it wasn’t hard to understand what journalists were doing. Picking up her microphone.

“I’m mostly looking forward to showing everyone what I can do.” She looked at Charles before her eyes met the main camera, looking straight on, no jokes. “I’m going to prove to everyone that women belong in F1.” She smiled then and looked at Charles. “But mainly I’m looking forward to beating you and Max like I used to do when we were young.”

This did it, both men started talking at the same time making her smile. She wasn’t asked any more questions but she didn’t mind after that, her and Charles were talking to each other when he wasn’t asked anything. She nodded along with some answers. After what felt like forever they were done. Walking out of the room she pressed the Mclaren hat on her head, an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“Show them what you’ve got, Cece.” Daniel said to the younger female, he hated how underrated she is and people already looked down on her. People were acting like they’ve never seen her drive, F2 was filmed and aired, she drove in a FP last year, and did well, not to say how good she did in testing. 

“Planning on it.” Cecilia said with a grin, how real it is, she couldn't tell you. 

Free practice, she didn't give her all, the team planned for her to surprise everyone on qualifying day. She was seen with Sebastian talking, the man was talking with her, giving her advice not about the race but about the media. He told her how the media can go from portraying you as a villain to a hero in a few seconds, telling her that once she gets in the car she should forget all of them and just focus on driving, the german driver had seen her drive before with his own eyes, he knows how good she can be. 

When Lewis joined them, Cecilia couldn’t look him in the eye. He’d seen her last year, and they’ve never talked about it, he never asked and no news came out, but she was still scared. Plus, she looked up to him, always admired him. 

“You were a badass on Media day.” Lewis said to the female, he knew slightly of what she was going through, F1 isn’t known for its diversity, while she had the money, he had his gender, both came into the sport at a disadvantage and Lewis knew she has big potential, Seb talked to him about her before, making him watch her races before. Hearing his words made Cecilia look at him, his smile made her smile as well, a look of understanding passing them. 

Getting P9 in qualifying wasn’t bad for a rookie, on their first drive. Her team is proud of her place, knowing that tomorrow she’ll start at a good position to do even better. Even if she didn’t finish P9 then that’s some points won in her first race.

Cecilia planned to do better, if not for the helmet’s visor then people would see how the look in her eyes change the moment she starts a race. Gone is the smiley girl and in her place a woman on a mission. 

At the first corner she went up to P7, her team encouraging her to keep the pace. Drivers know each other’s techniques and how to deal with them, but the new ones are always full of surprises, and Cecilia is indeed a surprise. The female is a skilled driver, no questions asked. Going up another position, she couldn't overtake Charles but she got the fastest lap, finishing at a strong P6 winning 9 points for Mclaren.

She may have not gained a podium but her team were shouting down the radio how happy they were.

Later that day Cecilia got a text from an unknown number, she was in her driver’s room, going over the race analysing every minute. A habit that she got, it’s one of the ways she got better, after a race she’d sit down, watch and analyse and try to learn from it and then never think about it again. She could tell from the number that it’s a Monaco based number.

Unknown number 

Hey, I got your number from Charles, hope it;s okay.

Cecilia H.

Who is this?

Unknown number

Its Max

Verstappen 

Cecilia H.

It’s okay

What's up?

Max

Lando said you’re still at the circuit?

Cecilia H.

Yeah, are you still here?

Max

Yes, mind if we meet up? 

Cecilia H.

Sure give me a minute and i’ll be outside Mclaren

Max

Okay 👍

Closing the laptop she had on, still in her team kit with the cap and all, she walked out holding her packbag deciding to just leave after her talk with Max. Max was already waiting for her. The sun was almost down, only a few stragglers still there, all the media and fans already left. 

“Maxy!” Cecilia cheekily called for the man, he turned to look at her, he looked like was about to scold his younger sibling or something, making her smile even more.

“Don’t ever call me that again.” 

“Sure whatever you say, Maxy.” Cecilia teased him again, this version of Max is her favourite, the one who could joke and take a teasing. Definitely better than younger Max.

“I take it back, I’m leaving.” He turned to walk away before Cecilia held his bicep to stop him.

“Wait, wait, I’m sorry, what do you want?” She asked him quickly, he gave her a smile showing her that he knows she’d just joking. Thinking about what he wanted to say kind of made him shy, his cheeks were dusted with a pink glow and he rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. “Come on, it can't be that bad.”

“It’s not, I’m just embarrassed.” His voice dropped when he said embarrassed, just admitting that he’s embarrassed made him even more embarrassed. “You know the last time we talked…”

“Yesterday?” She asked him, frowning, trying to recall what happened yesterday, admittingly so much has happened. Maybe she said something rude without noticing or something, but nothing was coming to her mind.

“No, no when we were young, I wanted to apologise.” He said and decided to just get out and get it over with. “When you just wanted to congratulate me and I called you stupid and weird, I'm sorry about that, I didn't honestly mean it, not then and not now.”

“You scared me for a second there Max, I thought I said something.” Cecilia adjusted her hat so it won't cover her eyes as much so she’d be able to look at Max without raising her head that much. “I honestly forgot about it, we were kids, a lot of things happened since then, and you kind of forget about those small instances.”

“Still I felt the need to say I’m sorry.” Max was glad she was taking it lightly, he knew that she most likely would she hadn't held it over his head, or acted coldly towards him when they met again. “So what are you still doing here?”

“We had a post race meeting.” 

“Lando left over an hour ago.” Max frowned; they both had their things and were slowly walking to the direction of the parking lot.

“Well, it’s just a little habit I developed. After a race I would watch the race and see where I went wrong, how I can improve and what the others, who did better than me are doing.” Max nodded to her simple explanation, that alone proved to all those haters online and misogynistic journalists who refused to ask her anything. On Mclaren’s promos and any pictures of the girl, it had a copious amount of hate under it, it’s baffling to see. 

“You did great today.” Max commented and even though she disagreed she took the complement. Nothing much was said the rest of the way, and they split up going to their cars, and driving to different hotels. 

Cecilia could only think about how much Max has changed, no longer the cold boy she met before. Yes on track he is the same, wouldn't want to piss him off on track but the man in a race wasn’t the same as he was talking to her now. And he wasn't bad to look at either.

Her phone rang, her mum’s picture popped up, answering the phone while she had it connected to the car, her daughter’s voice greeted her. Her little three year old voice met her ears, making her smile.

Next ->

[shina913]

Nothing | MYG

Pairing: Yoongi x Fem!Reader

Rating: PG-15; SFW

Genre: Established relationship; slice of life; just tooth-rotting fluff

Warnings: Some cussing

Word count: 639 words

Summary: Based on @novelbear 's writing prompt: "brushing their hair for them and smiling fondly as they just ramble about their day"

A/N: Yes, I'm still suffering from Yoongi brain rot. Also, thanks to Sim @/itdoesntmatterwhy and her "I want to cuddle with Yoongi" scenario, spurred by this photo. Happy to 🤡 around with you for this! The title is from Bruno Major's song of the same name, also tagging you, Miks @/miksancheese because we both love Bruno Major LOL

Just as you settle in for a quiet reading session, the tell-tale grinding of the garage door opening interrupts you. You remain on the couch, having received a text from Yoongi minutes ago letting you know he's on his way home after working overtime. You've already warmed up his dinner and left it on the counter for him to dig in.

A minute later, you hear the garage door close, followed by some muffled thumps by the doorway, where he takes his shoes off before entering.

"Hey, babe," you call over your shoulder once you hear the door latch click.

"Hi," he half-mumbles and grunts back. It's his sixth day working this week, and he's exhausted.

"I made you a plate, and there's some beer—" you say, but he barely lets you finish your sentence before flopping onto the couch. He gently nudges your free hand out of the way before proceeding to make himself comfortable on your lap. He lets out a long, deep sigh.

You stare at him comically. "Uhm... hi," you say to him with a soft chuckle.

He lets out another grunt, his long hair in a messy heap.

You put your book down and carefully brush the strands off him to reveal his beautiful face. His eyes are shut, but you can see a hint of a frown. He must have had a rough day, you think to yourself.

You playfully run your fingertip over the crease between his brows in an attempt to flatten it.

"So, how was your day?" You keep your tone light because you know your question will trigger Yoongi to vent about how one colleague screwed up and another had no idea what they were doing, leaving Yoongi to clean up the whole mess.

“Fuck, man,” he groans. "I knew today was going to be a cluster, but I had no idea it would be this bad." He goes on a rant about his two incompetent colleagues who should retire to make room for new people with fresh ideas.

As he angrily rambles about work, you run your hands through his hair, gently applying pressure to his scalp with every pass. Whenever he pauses, you ask follow-up questions, and his tone noticeably softens as he answers.

You nod and hum, validating his frustration with his coworkers. Slowly but surely, you feel the agitation in his voice dissipate with each stroke of your fingertips.

By the end of his venting, he tilts his chin up toward you and gently brushes your jawline with his thumb. "I'm sorry. I just went on and on about my day and forgot to ask you about yours."

"S’okay," you say, leaning into his touch. "My sister hung out for a bit before going out to dinner with Jae. I just kind of lazed around after that."

“Mm,” he hums noncommittally.

He shifts enough to reach over the coffee table and pick up the remote that controls your living room sound system. Mumbling something into the built-in microphone, he prompts it to play some lo-fi tracks.

“Aren’t you hungry? Why don’t you go eat?” you offer.

“Maybe later. I’m comfy here,” he replies. He readjusts himself on the couch and takes one of your hands, bringing it in front of him to brush the tip of his nose against your skin before he kisses it.

“Alright,” you giggle before taking your book and picking up where you left off before Yoongi pleasantly invaded your personal space.

A few seconds later, you lean over and call his name a few times, but he responds with a couple of deep, throaty snores. You smile, content with the fact that you'll be spending another night curled up on the couch with him. At this rate, you might as well sell your bed.

Nothing Masterlist | Main Fic Masterlist

You’ve reached the end! Thank you so much for reading!

If you loved it, please comment, reblog, or send me feedback! 📩. I love hearing from readers! If you didn’t like it so much, I would still like to hear about it. Help me become a better writer! 💜

Tagging: @internetjunkdrawer @itdoesntmatterwhy @yoongukie-ff @miksancheese

[doiefics]

don't fall for the homeboy!

pairing: jihoon x afab!reader

prologue: jihoon was sure he wasn’t the type to catch feelings for his friend, but what happens when he is suddenly struck by the reality?

genre: fluff + friends to lovers

wordcount: 750

warnings: none

"Ding Dong!” your doorbell greeted you.

You went to answer, thinking who could it be at this hour? Certainly not your parents, who just left ten minutes ago.

“Hey, Y/N! Your mom sent me to look after you, now step aside and let me in.” It was Jihoon, your childhood friend.

Together, him and you went through everything. Including from being conceived and born around the same time to going to school. He became an inseparable part of your life.

It was not like you did not want Jihoon around.

You had been seeing him since you were born. You bitched about the people you hated together and were each other’s emotional support.

Many assumed the two of you were dating, but that was not the case.

By now, Jihoon had already seated himself in your living room. Of course, your mother did not assign him the babysitting, but he was her favourite anyway, naturally, he was like a family member.

“Stop standing like a sims character over there, and yes, don’t end up creating any more trouble,” Jihoon tried you boss you around.

“Park Jihoon, I am old enough. And you are just thirty-seven days older than me, for your weekly reminder.” You were quick to defend yourself.

“The last time you were allowed to be home alone, you let a stray cat enter the house and scrape away your mom’s favourite curtains.” Of course, he could not let you win this.

“Alright, Mr. Babysitter,” you surrendered.

“That’s my good girl. I need you to behave well for me now.” Jihoon blurted out without realizing what he had just said.

This habit had caused him trouble in the past. Luckily, this time, it was just you. Taking advantage of the situation, you decided to tease him further.

“Woah! Is this the beginning of a porn movie? What should we name it? Babysitter takes care of his little girl home alone?” followed by your roar of laughter.

To you there was no greater joy than seeing his agitated and irritated face.

"You’ve got such a filthy brain, where do you learn these things from?” Jihoon admonished you playfully as a shade of pink now adorned his cheeks.

A movie watching date was soon planned.

The lead couple was just slowly falling in love, offering cheesy compliments to each other and making unrealistic promises.

Best friends falling in love was a crummy genre for sure.

“Ahh, why do they always romanticize it?" The boy spoke.

"Who on earth falls for their friend like this?" He spoke again.

"Aghh, this is just ridiculous. Y/N how about we better watch-” Jihoon had started his timely rants again.

You were so used to it by know. He ranted about everything from overcooked meat to missed buses. Sometimes you really pondered what he was made up of.

“Men named Park Jihoon do. They do fall”. You answered his unasked question.

His mouth hung open, as if you had stolen his lunch money.

The jaw dropped. You wished you could capture this face to tease him about it later.

Despite his refusal to acknowledge it, Jihoon had some feelings for you. Well, you certainly did. He was decently attractive nd coming to think of it, who else could you even date?

"Stop reading those romance novels of yours." He did not even finish his sentence, but you had another response ready, yet again.

“Hoon, admit it.”

Jihoon shook his head at that statement. “No way, I could kiss you right now to prove I don’t feel anything about you.”

His eyes met with yours next and you nodded, granting him the permission.

Jihoon leaped closer.

Tucking your hair to the back of your ear, lifting your chin to meet his face. His hands were shaking. His nervousness was unprecedented.

Pitying your poor friend, you took matters in your hands and smashed your lips onto his.

He immediately responded back. Holding you by the waist now. His and your lips moved in a perfect sync, as though they were meant to be.

This felt like euphoria to you. You held his muscular arms for a better grip. It seemed as if you had been hungry for this since forever.

After what seemed like a good few minutes, you pulled out.

Jihoon’s gaze changed.

He wanted more, and so did you. Quickly after catching your breath, your lips retuned to where they were need the most.

Men named Park Jihoon did, after all, fall for their best friend.

masterlist please refrain from plagiarising, translating or posting outside of this platform

have a request? prompt fic game is OPEN!

[maxybabyy]

inspired by this gif

He shows her a photo first. It’s not the one that he ends up ordering, but it’s close enough; the same pleated skirt but the cut of the shirt is different, the colour scheme changed too. Max, half distracted by the sim race she’s trying to join, says, “This is of course very American of you, Daniel.”

“Yeah? Did you bring the ears from last year then?” He asks and makes her squeeze further into the corner until there’s almost no space between them. “Gonna be a kitty cat again, Maxy?”

“For this, I will need also the –“ she says after squinting at the screen. She claps her hands enthusiastically and throws them up in a high V, the controller left in her lap. “The sparkly things for my hands, no? I think this will be very important, Daniel.”  

“I will get you some pompoms, baby.” He says, pulls her into a kiss when her hands still haven’t come down. “Maybe then you can do a little routine for me, yeah? Show me who you’re really cheering for?”

In the end, Max is let into the discord call and is allowed to join the race – even if she is away from her sim set-up. Daniel sits beside her and looks through uniform options, tries not to lose himself in the images of her on her knees, skirt spread wide over her thighs as she sucks his cock.

Max has a last-minute shoot with Red Bull, so he meets up with some of the others for a drink or two before the party.

It’s fine, if a bit uneventful. None of them has put much effort into their costumes. Alex looks great, but only when his girlfriend stays close enough to add complexity to the otherwise bland costume.

Max has been live blogging the shoot in their texts, another fluff piece to take the heat off Checo’s race in Mexico. And then at the end, sent just over an hour ago, a picture of the pompoms Daniel had made sure to order resting on a wide shot of Max’s thigh in the backseat of a car.

Daniel hadn’t replied, didn’t see it until now, but. He goes, downs the cup of shitty but expensive vodka and makes his excuses to Lando, who hasn’t stopped staring at both Oscar and Carlos at either end of the room like he’s at a fucking tennis match.

Max has her own drink in hand when he finds her, straw sucked deep in her mouth as she nods at whatever Charles is saying. Her cheeks are flushed, and she’s obviously having a good time if the way she’s smiling is anything to go by. She must know he’s watching because she turns to look at him, eyes bright as she waves the pompom at him.

She looks fucking amazing.

The uniform fits perfectly, and even with the sensible white long sleeve that she’s wearing underneath, she looks fucking hot. When it came in the mail, he hadn’t told her it was a Chicago Bulls costume; the ‘Bulls’ on her chest the closest thing to Red Bull he could find. But he looks at her now and thinks, ‘Maybe they should do a rebrand.’

She’s wearing the same sneakers that she always is, black and practical, and her hair is tied back in her usual high pony, only this time with a striped ribbon instead of a beige hair tie. It shouldn’t be as hot as it is, but Max has always been in a league of her own. In racing, in life, in Daniel’s heart –

“Hey there, pretty lady,” he says and leans in close when Charles has escaped with a choked-up laugh. “I would offer you a drink, but someone already beat me to it, huh?”

Max lets out a laugh, shakes her head. “We are of course not in Austin anymore, Daniel.”

There’s a smushed ‘3’ painted on her cheek in red; the font unlike what is usually used for jersey numbers, and instead oddly reminiscent of what it would look like on the RB19.

“Did you come here from the big game too?” He asks instead and puts a hand on her waist, his thumb poking under the fabric to rest against her skin. “Bet your team won real easy with all the attention on you, pretty girl. Hardly any eyes on the ball, I reckon.”

“Daniel! It was only golf with Checo. Always, he was very interested in the game, I think, but –“

Daniel breaks her off with a kiss when he cannot help himself anymore, pulls her closer to his chest for a moment before he steps back. “Did you come here with a boyfriend? A friend, maybe?”

Max stares at him, teeth biting into a lip that must have been painted red once. There’s still a bit of lipstick left, maybe there’s something on him now too. She must see something in his face, because she says, flushed, “Tonight, it is just me from the – the big game, of course.”

“Yeah? No quarterback waiting for you at home? I bet you looked hot cheering for your team,” he says, looks at the hand now wrapped around his neck, the pompom resting loosely against his chest. Max gives it a little shake over her head, the rustle loud in their tiny self-imposed space.

“It was a very lovely game, that,” Max hums, rubs at the eye black on his cheek. “The team, I think, is very good this year. We can of course win the ra – “ she takes a sip of her drink to hide the stumble, glares at Daniel when he laughs at her. “I can do the pyramid very well, so we will win the next match also.”

Daniel does want to hear more about Max’s ideas of cheerleading competitions, of the trophies and championships she would have won in that too. But more than that, he wants to drag her into the bathroom and make her come; fuck her open and loose so when they get back to the hotel, he can fuck her right.

“That’s your type then? Athletes?” He asks. He doesn’t kiss her, but he wants to, knows she wants it too. But they’re so close, almost there.

“It is very hot, I think, when they are also into the sport,” she says, her breath hitching when his free hand finds its way under her skirt, to the almost non-existent thong she has on. “When they are very good, I think that is very lovely also.”

“Do you have a favourite? Someone you’re just dying to meet, to fuck?”

Max whines softly, presses against the leg Daniel has shoved in between her thighs, “You are so stupid Daniel,” she says, breathy and hoarse. “You look of course very handsome in your little outfit, but always race car drivers are the –“

He kisses her, doesn’t let her finish. 

They’ve strayed from the plan; from the loose script he had in his head. But Daniel doesn’t care, feels greedy with it that even in this – drunk and unserious as they pretend to be people they aren’t – Max still cannot pick someone else, someone who isn’t fully and completely him.

[iseos]

: CROSSROADS

wc. 734 archive. pairing. ex!sim jaeyun x gn!r genre. fluff, minor angst (?)

THE THUMPING MUSIC AND STROBING LIGHTS from the lively party reach you before you even enter the house.

  you had been looking forward to his party after being encouraged to come by your friend. it was the perfect opportunity to unwind after a stressful week of classes and dance the night away. as you walked into the bustling house, you couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement.

  you spot your friends near the living room, yunjin's vibrant orange hair making her easy to spot, and make your way through the lively crowd. they were laughing and joking and you easily joined in on the fun as they handed you a drink.

  amidst the sea of faces, your eyes caught a glimpse of someone familiar; you were expecting it though, considering he is friends with the host. but your heart still skipped a beat as you saw your ex-boyfriend, jake, across the room. even though you both had parted ways amicably, it had been months since you had last seen each other.

  you weren’t sure how to react, but before you could gather your thoughts or make a move to do anything, he disappeared into the crowd of partygoers.

  as you sipped the rest of your drink, you turned to your friends, "i think i'm gonna grab another drink from the kitchen. anyone wants to join me?"

  yunjin eagerly raised her hand, and you both pushed your way through the people dancing to get to the kitchen.

  the kitchen was much less packed, with only a handful of people in there the music continued to vibrate throughout the room. as yunjin started to make herself another drink, you reached for a bottle of liqueur, but your hand froze in the air as someone else took it instead.

  you should've expected it when you saw jake already in the kitchen, remembering you have the same taste in alcohol.

  "hi jake," you said with a tight-lipped smile.

  "y/n, hey!" he raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw you standing next to him, "how long have you been here?"

  "only like 15 minutes ago," you confess.

  "oh right, i think i remember seeing you walk in." you were taken aback by his observation, but chose not to comment on it.

  you both exchanged a few more pleasantries, catching up briefly, and he seemed genuinely happy to see you. you were relieved that the encounter was far less awkward than you initially anticipated.

  after a while, jake suggested moving outside to find a quieter place to talk. before you agreed, you turn back to yunjin who just gives you a thumbs up and a wink as she goes back out into the living room, sipping her new drink. you then made your way to the dimly lit backyard, the cool night air providing some much-needed relief from the intense atmosphere inside.

  you both continued to chat, reminiscing and sharing stories about your new relationships. it was strange how easy it was to talk to jake again; as if no time had passed since your breakup.

  the flow of the conversation momentarily lapsed; there was a moment of silence. you looked into jake's eyes, and for a brief second, you shared a knowing glance; a mutual understanding in your eyes. it was a silent acknowledgment of the feelings you thought you both buried, a hint of the past that had never completely faded.

  jake finally broke the silence, his voice barely above a whisper, "you know, y/n, i've missed this... i've missed you."

  you met his gaze, your heart racing, and replied, "i've missed you too, jake, but we've both moved on. we can't let the past dictate our present."

  he nodded in agreement with a sigh, acknowledging the truth of your words. you both had your own lives now, different paths that have led you away from each other. it was time to let go of the past and embrace your new future.

  as you both stood up, ready to rejoin the party, your hands brushed for a moment. it was a fleeting touch that sent shivers down your spines; a final reminder of the connection you once shared.

  the party continued, the laughter and music echoing in the night. you and jake went your separate ways, but the memory of your encounter still lingered in the forefront of your minds.

© iseos

[psblooms]

santa doesn’t know you like I do

jake sim x fem reader mini series smau

previous- masterlist - next

SIX

You were in the kitchen when you finally heard the noise of the door unlocking. Jaeyun didn’t really tell you about the thing he wanted to say, you just hoped it was nothing serious. While the tea you were making was being filled in the cups. You heard a sigh from the hall, and you could already imagine Jake getting rid of his thick coat and boots. You didn’t even need to see him to know he was feeling sadness and exhaustion.

Now, the cups were in your hands while you walked into the living room and the figure of jake sitting on the couch with his hands covering his face made you walk faster and sit right next to him after putting the warm cups on the coffee table. “What’s going on yun?” You whispered while rubbing your hand through his back. Another sigh left his mouth and he left himself falling against his shoulder. "I just feel so dumb". His voice sounded really worn out, and you just couldn't understand where this feeling was coming from. 

"Talk to me please, can I help you?" you told him while trying to get his hands in yours and out of his face. "I'm not going to keep seeing Minjeong" This time jake finally looked at you with sad-looking eyes. “Why is that? I thought you guys were doing great" those words were the only thing you could think off, you were curious to say the least. "I thought so too, but she said she didn't want anything serious at the moment and that we could only keep seeing each other if we were sure there would not be any feelings in the way..." he scoffed "which clearly couldn't happen because I already liked her, and she knew that" he still looked like he had more to say, so you just stayed there in silence "it's just that, if she had told me that since the beginning I don't think I would’ve agreed to see her and I would’ve saved everything that's going on right now".

"And do you regret it?" you said quietly, “I think so? At the start, she told me she was looking for someone to have fun with. I just wish I'd asked her what she meant by that" He said, matching your tone while still holding your hand, silence engulfed both of you while you were thinking of the right thing to say. "Yunie, you can't do that, I know you and I know you liked her and I think part of you always knew what she was looking for. You cannot put all the blame on her because she had told you what she expected by hanging out with you" "I just thought that I could change her mind" he said in a sigh, "and did you?", you asked him in the softest voice you could and felt him shake his head no; the hand that wasn't on his found home in his hair and as you played with it, you said "you must’ve liked her a lot Yun, but you can't always expect people to reciprocate the same feelings as you". 

"It's just that look at me ynie! I'm a total catch, don't you think? How could she not want to date me?" he said with a mix of comedy in him to try to bring up his mood, and that made you giggle "some people just don't want to face the commitment of a relationship at this point of their life, and I think you have to remember that for your next relationships" you said as you finally let go of him and gave him a small smile. 

"And do you?" he questioned while laying his back on the couch. "I what?" " You know, do you want a serious relationship?”; he asked a lot more. relaxed than a few moments ago. "I haven't really thought about it" (lies) “I think so? It's not like im seeing someone to know if I want a serious thing" you laughed and tried not to make a big deal of it in hopes he didn't see the nervousness you felt with that question. 

As if there was a divine call, your phone rang from the kitchen, which made you stand up and look for it. Texts and a call from Heeseung covered your screen, and it made you remember that you had to be out of your place 5 minutes ago to meet with him for your project. It relieved you when you read that he was running late and asked to meet you 30 minutes later, but you were wondering if it was alright to cancel him, you wanted to stay with jake, but this project was important, and heeseung was leaving to his hometown soon, so it would be difficult to reschedule; while you were thinking about it, you heard jake calling out your name and with your phone in your pocket you met him again in the living room. 

"How do you want to deal with your feelings, yun? Should we watch a movie and order take out? Or we can make some food and grab some drinks? What's on your mind?" you asked him trying to ignore the sound your phone notifications was making, "what's going on ynie?" he asked as neither of you could ignore the noise any further "sorry, its just that I had to meet a friend for a project and I forgot; but don't worry I can cancel it and spend the day with you" you said finally while picking up your phone to tell heeseung "no, no, don't worry, I can stay here while you go do your project, its important and don't worry I´m not that sad" he told you while standing up to grab your shoulders and push you to your room, "bu-" "no buts' missy, go get ready we can order dinner when you get back" he interrupted you "okay, but I´m calling hoon to see if he can keep you company, okay?" you told him looking for an agreement "I´m not a kid yn" "I know you aren't but I don't want you sad and alone, that's depressing" you finished while both of you giggled a little bit, with that silent acceptance you texted sunghoon and got changed to leave the place; after some minutes you said your goodbyes to jake and left as fast as you could, so you could just finish the damn project and you could go back to spending time with him.

note: another late update, it’s just that it’s my first written chapter and it honestly makes me really nervous

taglist: OPEN (@ghostiiess, @02zluvbot, @greenmilkyee, @addictedtohobi)

[grahamfolgersdeliciousnotebooks]

There were a lot of instances, really, that could be considered their "first kiss." A look at some moments that might, depending on your perspective, count as Jon and Martin's first kiss. For the Jonmartin week day 1 prompt "First Kiss" - Updates one chapter a day, every day of Jonmartin Week.

For day 5 of @jonmartinweek, I'm back with chapter 5 of my "first kiss" fic! This one's just a short little pre-Unknowing scene - what better time for a first kiss than the day before the end of the world?

The light was low in Jon’s office.

It was broad daylight outside – a hot and cloudless summer day – but in the windowless basement, with only the desk lamp for illumination, it might have been any of the endless nights he and Martin had spent here, reading in silence, desperate for any information that might prepare them for today.

Jon knew he shouldn’t linger. The others were already waiting for him outside, and his overnight bag was already tucked beside the case of C4 in the boot of the rental car. He couldn’t stall much longer. But he needed to say goodbye.

Martin spoke first.

“Good luck tomorrow.” His voice was a low murmur, as though he thought speaking too loudly might shatter something.

“You, too,” Jon said at the same volume. The moment felt fragile. If he spoke too loudly, moved too quickly, said too much, it might all come crashing down.

“Martin, I–” He cut himself off. He could stop there, retreat, leave it all unsaid. But if he didn’t say it now, he might never get the chance. “I should have said this ages ago, but I– I–”

“Don’t,” Martin whispered. “Not now. Tell me when you get back.”

Jon nodded.

He wasn’t sure who moved first – it seemed to happen in unison. One moment they were both stood still, the next they were reaching for each other, stepping forward, leaning in to close what space remained between them. Martin leaned down, and Jon leaned up onto his tiptoes. Martin’s hands came up to encircle Jon’s waist, and Jon placed one hand on Martin’s shoulder to steady himself while the other clutched at the side of Martin’s neck, fingers tracing the curve of his jaw while his thumb came to rest on his cheek.

And still, they both moved slowly, each waiting for the other to pull back. Every tiny, cautious motion was a question, answered in the affirmative. Yes, you can touch me, yes, I want this, yes, please, yes.

Jon finally tilted his face up to meet Martin’s, and their lips just barely brushed.

A sharp, decisive bang rattled the office door, and they broke apart with a jump.

“Get a move on, Sims,” Daisy barked from behind the door. “We don’t have all day.”

“I’ll just be another minute,” Jon called back.

Neither of them moved. The space between them seemed charged with a gravitational pull, or perhaps a magnetic one – some inescapable, physical force – and Jon had the sense that if either of them moved even a hair, they would crash back together, and they’d never be able to pull themselves apart.

And Jon needed to leave. The world might end if he didn’t.

“I’ll, uh. I’ll call you when we get to the B&B?” he offered. “Let you know we got there safe.” He huffed a laugh. “Wouldn’t it be just our luck to get into a wreck on the way there?”

Martin didn’t laugh. He just nodded. “Alright.” He bit his lip, then said, “Take care of yourself, Jon,” with a finality that made Jon’s heart sink.

“I’ll do my best,” he said, because there was nothing else he could say that was honest, and he wouldn’t lie to Martin now. “I promise.”

[guessimate]

For the purposes of this post I had to play 2 houses - the Tia and the Siew.

I rolled the Out with you, child scenario, but I already wanted to marry off the female teen in this family so I got an additional ROS, and naturally, it was a death roll. Jonah, the patriarch of the Tia family unfortunately wouldn't get to die a peaceful death of old age. He instead passes away because of shock and heartbreak.

Solely for story purposes and some drama, I temporarily added the pregnancy relationship mod. Zet lost his temper when he found out his daughter got pregnant by her acquaintance from Sim Asia instead of marrying into the emperor's family (or another patrician family).

Zet is a serious man and he honors the rules - no weddings shall take place on the grounds of the Sim Empire this season. People are mourning the dead, not celebrating, and his daughter was clearly not mourning enough.

The Tias gave Lovi a dowry of 6000$ and a maid servant. Should anything bad happen to Lovi in the Far East, the servant will come back home to let the Tia family know. The servant maid's name is Peregrina Flori. She's a shy popularity sim.

However, before any pregnancy of Lovi's is carried, one sadly is meant to end. The next 2 babies have blessed perfect rolls though. Unfortunately that's where her fortune ends.

~*~

Because Yong Siew was never meant to survive his teenage years, I'm going to say that there was something bigger that happened there, not a childbirth death... Lovi was not well accustomed to the local water and food, so she wasn't having a great time there in faraway lands, but what really got her spirits down was her husband's fate. He was attacked by a wild animal in a forest. I imagine his cat lead him somewhere in the forest and there was a lair of wild animals.

I realized that neither Lovi's mother-in-law nor her sister-in-law liked her very much. So I can see how her servant didn't feel comfortable leaving her kids there... Would that have happened in real life? I don't think so, but I'm taking kids home because I want to play them. It would have probably made more sense to move Lovi's ashes. Her relics staying in the Asian part of town could become a problem later on.

Side note: Sampsa Imago [Lovi's uncle] wants to make another zombie, naturally, this time he'd like to zombify Lovi's husband.

~*~

Before Lovi passed away, she had one outing with her friend, Tasuku Tian (who has an unrequited crush on her). He brought her a piano for their awesome outing. I sold it and replaced it with a Chinese instrument. I did roll a ROS for the Siews as well, but they were just supposed to get a kaching, so Lovi's 'dowry' and the instrument gift more than made up for it.

The Siews earned ~1900$. The business ranked up to level 4. I made them pay the tax on the money they earned so they are broke again. They had to pay 1450$. Overall I think the Siews have the best house because they have an instrument, a tea set... They have proper rooms now as well.

~*~

Rana Tia, the youngest daughter of Zet Tia, is a Libra. She's 1 Sloppy, max Outgoing, 7 Active (like dad), 5 Playful (like dad), and max Nice (like dad).

Lovi and Yong's firstborn is a baby boy, Tane. He's a brown-eyed brunette, like his aunt Yune, but he inherited his mom's darker skin tone. Tane is a Taurus. He's 6 Neat (like both parents), 6 Outgoing (like both parents), 6 Active (like mom), max Playful (like dad), and 4 Grouchy. He has the same zodiac sign as his grandfather Yutaka Siew. And he's into Games, just like his mom.

Their second child is a baby girl, Sen. She fully takes after her grandmother - she has brown eyes and brown hair, but she has her mom's skin tone as well. She's a Cancer: 7 Neat, 6 Outgoing, 6 Active, 5 Playful, and 8 Nice. For some reason Zet wants to teach her all the toddler skills. I guess he prefers his granddaughter, or he preferred his firstborn daughter, so he loves her offspring like his own. He was not interested at all in his youngest daughter Rana.

Yong's younger sister, Yune, also aged up and she's now a teen. She was rolled to be a Fortune sim. I love it because that's her dad's aspiration. So both siblings took their parents' aspirations. She got the Silver Gardening Badge, so she should be doing great at the Siews' business.

~*~

I know moving sims in together out of sync like this doesn't make sense to a lot of simmers, but I'm fine with that. I decided to add some days to Tane's toddlerhood, because Rana should age up before him. Rana is a special baby anyway because she was born only because I had to revive her mom.

I expected all of the toddlers to go into aspiration failure, but it's actually only Rana, Jonah's granddaughter, who cared. I guess great-grandkids really have no relation to their great-grandparents.

Zephaniah wanted to max out Arts&Crafts enthusiasm, so he painted his grandpa before he'd perish. He apparently played an instrument at school and got some pocket money for it. It makes sense with his 9 creativity points. Sadly, he totally neglected his schoolwork and got a D. Only after that did he and his dad want him to get good grades and get him some homework help.

Zet knows Zephaniah needs to do better at school to go into a good career. Zet will look for a job as well. I think this family could become knights [either athletic or military career].

[wildflower-otome]

[Translation] Clover on Kuni no Alice ~White Calling~ - Chapter 5

ACT 5 - Accelerating blue heart beat

Just as Boris had said, once she had experienced one assembly, she now understood all too well what they were like.

Watching Nightmare's flustered chairmanship continue even past the second discussion, she thought to herself that his aide Gray must be having quite the hard time.

The speeches he gave were faltering, and there were many occasions where just when she had thought he was doing a little better, he would vomit blood and end up having to be taken to the hospital.

However, it appeared that the pact was effective, despite the longstanding bad blood between Heart Castle and Hatter Mansion, no one took out their guns, despite being under the same roof together. It did not seem as if either Blood or Vivaldi intended to openly break the rules.

Even so, that strained atmosphere wasn’t good for her health. It wouldn’t be wholly unexpected for someone to say something careless that could become the spark to set off an explosive situation.

Despite her mental exhaustion, Alice did not stop attending the assemblies. Blood and Elliot had said that if it tired her out that much, it wouldn’t bother them if she were to skip out, but for now Alice’s perfect attendance continued.

‘.....I wonder if Peter is alright.’

What was on her mind was the White Rabbit, sitting in the Heart Castle seating area.

About ten time periods had passed since the attack. As she gazed at him from the Hatter Family section, Alice was unable to tell the state of the injuries on his body, hidden as it was by a thick coat.

The time she had spent in this world was not of short duration. She already knew that dirt and injuries would return to normal on their own.

But, even if she knew that in her head, whether her emotions had caught up to that fact was another matter entirely.

Perhaps he had already fully healed. Or maybe he was still wounded, but suppressing the pain.

Attending the assembly as a member of Heart Castle, Peter was having his usual war of words with Ace and Vivaldi. If she judged just from that, he was the same as always.

‘.....Maybe it would be better if I were to go and see him….’

Luckily, the discussion had finished just at that moment. There was still some time until the next one.

Back then, Alice had been in shock, and hadn’t been able to even say thank you. Even though he had protected her twice, she must have seemed so ungrateful. She couldn’t help but sigh with self-loathing, again and again.

Just as she had made up her mind and stood up from the sofa that her room had been furnished with, opening the door in order to go outside-

‘Big sister, big sister-! Where are you going? If you’re going out, come play with us. We’ve just started our break.’

‘Yeah…..we were finally able to see Big Sis, Brother. Hey, come play with us.’

‘-!?’

Just as she had opened the door, two young men had tumbled in, with the same kind of momentum as if they had broken through it. Alice, who had instinctively retreated, ended up backtracking into her room once more.

‘.....? Who are you?’

The ones before Alice’s eyes were two men with similar looking gazes. Both had black hair but eyes of different colours. The black suits they wore were alike enough to be mirror images of each other.

 However, it did not appear that they had heard Alice’s question.

‘We’ve been doing nothing but work…..It’s about time we just start ignoring the rules. We’re fiiinally on our break. We’ve been working hard because we wanted to play with you, Sis. You’ll praise us, won’t you?’

The young man with straight hair tied behind him spoke enthusiastically.

The other youth standing next to him listening also nodded his head and continued. His hair was short, his bangs held back a little by some hair pins. Arranged in a cross shape, the pins stood out against the black hair.

The faces of the two young men looked very alike. If it weren’t for their hairstyles and the way they spoke, they were similar enough she wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.

‘It’s not fair…..you gotta give us lots of special treatment, or we’ll have worked so hard all for nothing.’

And then, the moment they had finished saying what they had wanted to say, the two reached out their hands towards Alice.

‘Wh-.....wh-what are you doing!?’

The youth with the long hair wrapped his arms around the girl’s waist as the man with the short hair grabbed her hands as she tried to move around.

‘Hey-…..What are you doing?! Let me go!’

As the girl frantically twisted her body around trying to escape from the two pairs of arms that were touching her, the faces of the two men looked surprised. Though it was written on their faces that they didn’t understand why she was reacting this way, the whole situation was too much for Alice.

Two men she didn’t know had appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden and had clung onto her as if it were only very natural…..to fight back was an obvious decision. Considering the attack that had happened not so long ago, it was only a given she would have her guard up.

Nonetheless, it appeared they had taken her reaction in a different way.

‘Eh? Huh? Why are you struggling? Was I too forceful? Sorry, we became adults for the first time in a while, so I haven’t quite got the hang of my strength yet. If I hurt you, I’ll apologise, I’m sorry.’

As the long-haired one apologised, he slowly let go of her.

On the other hand, the youth standing next to him bent his head closer.

‘I’ll be gentle. I won’t hurt you at all. Alright? So don’t flail around so much.’

So speaking, unlike the young man from earlier, he embraced her gently. Although there was no feeling of pressure, it still didn’t change the fact she was being hugged.

‘-! Let me go-! …..Stop it!’

It didn’t appear that he understood the reason why she was trying to free herself. The two youths looked at each other, as if communicating through eye contact that they didn’t get what was happening. Alice couldn’t help but be more mystified by the fact that they were unable to comprehend why she was acting this way.

‘Huh-.....Does it still hurt, Big Sis? But I’m being so gentle…..’

‘I’m not struggling because it hurts-!’

She wondered if they thought she wouldn’t feel anything at all at being embraced by two men she didn’t know. The place she was living at was a mafia gang’s headquarters to be sure, but it couldn’t be anything but humiliating to have someone think her a woman so lacking in pride.

‘What is wrong with you two!? What are you playing at, coming into a person’s room and doing something like this!?’

The attack from that night was still very vivid in her mind. She would like to think that they wouldn’t point a gun at her since they were being all clingy like this, but in this world what Alice thought was common sense wasn’t always the case for everyone else.

She asked her question firmly, but at the exact same time, the two of them opened their eyes wide.

‘.....Big Sis, what are you saying?’

‘Don’t you know who we are?’

Hearing them speak as if she were the strange one, Alice at last snapped. She was exhausted from the assembly and now this unexpected situation and ended up shouting in a louder voice than usual.

‘I don’t know you, of course I don’t know who you are!’

When she yelled in a loud voice that was unbefitting of a lady, the two youths hung their heads, looking despondent.

Before she had realised it, the short-haired youth had let go of Alice as well. Still with sad looking expressions on their faces, they quietly looked down at Alice.

‘............Huh?’

Seeing their completely depressed looking faces, she at last stopped moving around.

Now that she thought about it, there was something familiar about their expressions.

They were faces she had seen any number of times. And when she had seen these faces, it was never just one of them. Always the two of them together, twins she thought of as little brothers—young boys.

In the past, Alice had scolded them whenever they had gone too far with the practical jokes. They were clever children, who could tell the difference between when she spoke to keep them in check, and when she was truly angry. And when they realized they had done something bad, they always had the same look on their faces as just now.

They apologized to her, with faces that looked sad, as if they’d had a shock.

‘Big sister is mad at me, brother…..was I really that rough? She’s mad at me because of that, isn’t she? Did it hurt, big sister?’

The youth with the hair tied up with a blue ribbon asked if worried.

At the same time, the shorthaired youth knelt down, lowering his gaze so that he was at eye level with Alice.

‘Big sister, are you alright? Where does it hurt? Tell me where and I’ll massage it for you.’

Timidly, not with the unrestraint of before…..the youth touched Alice’s body as if he were handling something broken.

‘Could it be…..are you two Dee and Dum..?’

It was impossible, she wondered if this was a good or bad thing in a Wonder World that didn’t follow ordinary common sense.

But, the red and blue eyes she gazed into belonged to the boys that she knew well.

Calling her “big sister” was also one of their habits.

As Alice nervously asked them, the youths again looked puzzled. It was obvious from their expressions that they were wondering why she would ask them such a thing.

‘? What are you talking about, big sister? Why would you ask that now?’

‘That’s right, big sister. Are you asking because you’re mad? Do you hate us now?’

Speaking one after another as they tilted their heads in confusion, they stared at Alice as if to guess the answer from her expression.

However, Alice also wanted to ask them a question in return.

‘…Why do you look like grown ups?’

She spoke so as to enquire the reason, and also to ask how they had done it, but those intentions half-heartedly ending up mixing together.

In Alice’s mind, they should have been shorter than her. With strength that didn’t suit their small bodies, they would innocently cling on to her, or get her mixed up in their dangerous games. A pair of twins who combined cuteness with the cruelty that only children had, that was Dee and Dum.

Seeing Alice’s surprise, the two blinked at the same time, again as if they had pre-planned it. The differently coloured eyes closed at the same time, and then opened again.

‘Why, I wonder why…..Big sister, don’t you know? Don’t you know without having to ask?’

Excitedly, as if enjoying himself, the long haired man opened his mouth, with a look on his face like that of a child planning a prank. From the fact that his tie was coloured blue, perhaps it was correct to see him as Dee.

And if that was the case, that would mean the other person, with the short hair and red tie, was Dum.

‘You see, we became adults so that you would like us, big sister. We thought if we became older, you’d fall in love with us.’

‘So that I’d like you…why?

Alice had already liked them to start with. Even when she got dragged into their dangerous games, she thought they were adorable, and even now she thought that she liked them well enough.

As important family members.

But she didn’t feel that way just towards them. Blood and Elliot, and even the servants who were the so-called faceless, all the people of Hatter Mansion were important existences to her.

‘But…..we heard you often go to the doors in the Forest recently. We were worried. That you might end up leaving…We don’t want you to go anywhere, big sister.’

‘Huh?’

‘If you come to like us more and more…..you won’t go to the doors anymore, will you? Right, big sister?’

Before she had realized it, the hand that had been rubbing her back was now holding Alice’s hand. It was a hand that was bigger than it had been before, and a sturdy looking one. It had once been about the same size as Alice’s, but now had grown large enough to envelop her’s.

‘We want you to like us, big sister, so we grew up. You like grown up guys like the Boss, right? So, what do you think? Do you like us more?’

‘If you like us big sister, we’ll stay as adults forever. Which do you prefer?’

To be asked to make such an important decision right here and now only put Alice at a loss. In any case, to suddenly be looked down on by gazes that up until now had always been at the same level of her own made her feel uncomfortable.

‘More importantly, how did you become adults? It must have been difficult right?’

As she changed the subject in a fluster, the twin gatekeepers answered as if it were no big deal.

‘”How” you ask…..We went forwards. We wanted to be adults, so we just went forward a little.’

‘”Just”…..you’re acting like it’s so easy…..’

As she tilted her head quizzically at Dee’s unconcerned answer, Dum, who had let go of her hand, continued to grin broadly.

‘It’s easy, you know? All we do is just go backwards and forwards. It’s not difficult at all. Should I go back?’

As quickly as he had spoken, he turned back into the form of a child. There were no flashes of light or smoke like there were in fairytales. Even though he had changed form in an instant, he didn’t act as if it were particularly anything special.

‘Simple, right? We can do stuff like this easily. So, we can always become whichever way you prefer.’

And then the blue military uniformed boy appeared. While at the same time Dum returned to adult form, he continued to grin.

‘It’s really easy, and something anyone can do. All of us role holders can. Whenever you wish it, we can change into whatever form you like. Hey, doesn’t that make you happy?’

And then once more the red military uniform wearer returned to boy form. The change was fast, like in a magic show or a slide of film, but without a trick or mechanism to it, just as they had said.

‘Which do you prefer, big sister? Adult form or child form, which is better? We can become either.’

‘…..…….’

‘We’ll become what you like, big sister. What’s most important is having you like us, after all.’

So spoke the twin boys wearing the different colours, as they swapped forms again. She somehow got the feeling that they enjoyed the changing itself.

‘Just as nonsensical as always…..’

Alice murmured her thoughts to herself, but they likely did not hear. They were amusing themselves by repeatedly changing, becoming adults, and then children, over and over.

Seeing that they were still the same whether in adult or child form, Alice’s shoulders at last relaxed.

‘…..But, they were worried for me.’

Even though she had never talked to them about the Forest doors before. She thought Blood had found out because of his good instincts, but she hadn’t thought that even they would have been able to see through her.

The twins were adorable and cruel…..but for all that, kind.

As she fondly watched over their playing, Dee in his adult form ran up to her as if he had remembered something.

‘Ah, and another thing, big sis. Thanks for the pudding you brought back for us the other day. It was really yummy! We ended up not being able to wait until our break and ate it straight away.’

‘Yeah…it was yummy. It tasted even better when I thought about the fact that it was from you. Thanks.’

When they received something, they properly gave their thanks. They likely remembered that Alice had previously said she liked well mannered children. She smiled happily back.

‘Really? I’m glad it made you happy.’

Even if they thought that they didn’t want her to go to the Forest’s doors, they wouldn’t stop her. They would let Alice do as she pleased.

But even so, so that she wouldn’t go away, to tie her here…..she hadn’t thought they would say that they wanted her to like them.

In this world Alice was a rare Outsider and therefore had the qualities to become easily liked.  It was because of that she was able to live in this world.

Unable to completely accompany the twins in their games, Alice was powerless and weak. But even so, the two of them had said they wanted her to like them. There was no way that wouldn’t make her happy.

‘Dee, Dum.’

‘Hm? What is it, big sis?’

‘Has something happened?’

Even though they were now bigger, the gazes that looked at her were exactly the same. They sometimes went a little too far with their pranks, but to Alice they were the kind twins that she treasured, and who couldn’t be replaced.

‘Thank you.’

‘? You’re being weird, sis. We’re the ones who received a gift, so why would you say thank you?’

‘Or could it be, we did something to you without realizing it?’

As the two of them tilted their heads as if puzzled, Alice repeated herself while continuing to smile.

‘I just thought to myself what good children you two are. That’s why I said thank you.’

As she reached out her hand to pat the heads of the youths who looked blankly confused, Alice quietly closed her eyes.

***

The assembly period continued on at a sluggish pace, even after that. The event holder was the sickly dream demon after all. And not just that, the gathering was made up of the fiercely individualistic role holders. Unifying them would already have been tough work, but since the man in charge was the kind of person to constantly be coughing up blood, things never seemed to get done.

To begin with, as Blood had said, it wasn’t as if the assemblies had any set topics of discussion. If the agenda was only going to be a hollow one anyway, Alice thought to herself they may as well not hold the event to begin with, but apparently that was something she could not say.

In this area, though the rules of this world might have a compelling force, and though she may want to do something about what couldn’t be changed, there was nothing to be done. The reason why was because the Hatter and Queen continued to attend, with seemingly no intention of breaking the rules, despite declaring that it was fine to do so sometimes.

But there was something else that was bothering Alice much more than that.

‘…..?’

All role holders stayed in Clover Town during the Assembly period. Of course, that meant it wasn’t out of the ordinary for her to meet with familiar faces while in town, but there was something different about this.

Alice felt a gaze on her different from the ones she had felt during the time she had spent walking around town with Boris before the Assembly. Whether it was a malicious one or not…..since it was a distant presence she wasn’t sure, but even so she knew that someone was following her.

It wasn’t the type of gaze she had grown familiar with due to being with the Hatter Mansion group which included Blood. Those gazes were ones of curiosity and fear towards the infamous Mafia. She never felt them when she was by herself.

However…..right now, although she was walking around the town alone, she knew that there was someone watching her.

It was likely she was being tailed.

‘…..…….’

There was no one who would feel comfortable being followed around by someone they couldn’t see. It was simply creepy.

It was likely that Blood and the others would take care of it immediately if she were to say something to them. However….she didn’t really want to think about what kind of result that would entail. If someone was following her with a clear malicious or antagonistic intent, Alice would act decisively, however if they were just sounding her out, she hesitated to be a tattletale.

Given the attack that had taken place not long before, it appeared there was something happening in the vicinity of Clover Tower. Apparently, it was not just a place for influential people to meet and hold discussions with no substance.

It wasn’t as if she had not thought of asking someone from the Mansion. However, Alice wasn’t sure whether it was something that it was alright for her to ask about.

Alice had never before pried deeply into the darker side of the Mafia. The things she knew were only inoffensive and surface-level, however she wondered if it was something that was really ok for her to deliberately involve herself with.

To begin with, she was just a free-loader. It hadn’t taken her long to realise even the fact that she had been welcomed as a guest at Hatter Mansion was in and of itself unprecedented.

Alice was happy that they had accepted her despite her powerlessness. She was grateful for Blood’s kindness in giving her a job, despite not being good with people in general. If she were to tell the man himself that he would likely look disgusted, but to Alice, the job he had given her was even now one of the things she could not lose.

She thought that she liked Hatter Mansion. She wanted to stay there forever.

Her place with them was where she had chosen to stay in this world, they were her family.

Even so—she was conscious of their world of shady dealings as a frightening one. She instinctively avoided it as something she didn’t want to see, and that she shouldn’t see. She was aware that this way of doing things was dishonest, but it was the only thing she could do since it was already too late for her to be able to put distance between them now.

‘If you don’t want to see it, there is no need to force yourself to. It is a normal reaction for a young lady like you. It isn’t necessary for you to feel down on yourself.’

She wondered how long it had been since she had been told that.

At that time, she was still in the Country of Hearts—having just returned from his “work”, Blood had had the usual lethargic looking smile on his face.

He had continued as he took off his coat, which was covered in sticky looking stains that were likely blood splatter from his opponents.

‘If you say that you don’t wish to know, you may stay unaware. For us, having you stay here is meaningful in and of itself.’

The words that the Hatter Mansion boss had quietly said even now whirled around and around inside Alice’s mind.

‘It’s been pretty dangerous recently….’

‘….Yeah. Apparently it’s a feud between rivals. According to rumours, two Mafia groups are fighting against each other…..and one of them is the Hatter Family.’

‘Huh?’

Perhaps because she had been lost in thought, she was slow to react. Hearing the familiar name, her whole body changed direction.

And before her as she turned around were the two women who had been whispering town gossip. They were normal people whose faces were difficult to see, those called the non-role holders.

As Alice drew nearer to them in a fluster, the two of them raised their voices saying, ‘Ah-’, as if surprised. She had walked around this area with Blood and the others before, so they likely knew who Alice was.

Alice did not plan on letting go of this opportunity.

‘Excuse me. Would I be able to ask you a few questions?’

‘Uh-…..um, that is-‘

‘We don’t really….’

Just because they had lowered their voices to a murmur, it did not erase their whispering from earlier.

To push her point, Alice smiled at the two of them and repeated herself again.

‘I’d like to ask you a bit more about what you were talking about just now.’

It appeared that in times like these being labelled as a member of the notorious Hatter Mansion came in handy. The two women looked around them warily before speaking in a wrung out tone.

‘No, we only know the rumours…..not really anything concrete.'

‘I’m fine with that.’

If I was Elliot I might have started shooting a long time ago, you know?

With those dangerous thoughts in her mind, Alice irritably urged them to continue.

‘Please tell me the rest. What’s happening with the Hatter Family?’

‘Um…..’

‘…..That is-…..We don’t know the details but…’

The women looked at each other, then as if they had given up, spoke reluctantly.

‘This is just a rumour, you know? We’ve heard that another Mafia group has started a feud with the Hatter Family.’

‘…..A feud?’

Not only was he a territory leader that vied for land, Blood was also a man who led a Mafia Family as its head. And speaking of Mafia, it was likely not an unusual thing for there to be run-ins with other organizations over material goods and information.

Although Alice had not been directly involved, it was likely there had been many such disputes up until now.

Seeing Alice’s expression look doubtful, the woman lowered her voice and spoke further.

‘Did you know that there have been some bombing incidents in Clover Town recently?’

‘…..Bombings…!?’

Hearing the dangerous sounding words, Alice’s voice naturally lowered too.

As the woman nodded, she continued to speak in hushed tones.

***

‘…..…..’

That night, Alice went to the café that she and Blood had gone to before.

As she was by herself, she was given a seat at the counter, not at a table. However, a certain type of black tea in hand, Alice was thinking about something else entirely.

Ever since the Assembly had begun, she had definitely had a strange feeling that something was off.

Back then, the now grown-up twins had appeared in front of Alice for the first time, but before then, she had never seen them attending the Assembly. This was despite the fact that as role holders, they had a duty to attend.

She wondered where they had been going during that time.

Supposing they had been participating in the Assembly from a spot where Alice could not see them, why would they have done so?

‘…..…..’

They had become adults because they had wanted her to like them. While remembering the blue and red gazes that had looked at her as they had said that, Alice sighed.

Perhaps they had been in the middle of “work” during those times too, and were late in arriving to the venue. As could be seen from looking at the other participants, Alice knew that the purpose of the Assemblies were not the discussions, but the fact that they had participated.

The twin’s empty seats during the discussions. Even since they had become adults, they now occupied them, but what had they been doing before that?

“It’s because the Hatter Family members have made their appearance due to it being an Assembly period. The reason the bombings began…..and pretty frequent ones at that.”

What the gossip loving women had said echoed in her ears.

‘…..…..’

Right now, she was unable to tell even if the steaming tea she had just taken a sip of tasted the same as it had back then.

Though the warm tea should have warmed her body, right now it was the bitterness spreading throughout her mouth that was on her mind.

What Elliot and the Twins had said regarding the Assembly period. The meaning of it had at last sunk in. She wondered why she was always so slow to realise.

The capable number 2 had let slip that things would get busy.

Hadn’t the Gatekeepers also said that they wouldn’t be able to take breaks anymore?

‘I’m such an idiot.’

If she had listened more closely to the information circulating throughout town, she would have been able to realise much sooner that the women’s gossip was not simply something they had made up.

During the Assembly period, though Blood had made it seem he was spending his time in the room allotted to him as temporary accommodation with the same languidness as always, he had secretly been planning his dealings with other organisations. There was surely no man as talented as he when it came to moving dangerous business deals and negotiations in an extremely advantageous direction for himself. She suspected he must be busy in a different way than when he had been at the Mansion.

‘…..…..’

She was the only one for whom it was different.

When she was at the Mansion, she had been able to work amongst the maids, but here at the Tower, there was no work for her to do. There was nothing she could do.

She felt pathetic and frustrated at the same time.

‘..Haah.’

Though they lived in the same territory and went to the same places, it likely couldn’t be helped that she remained unable to do the same things they did.

She wondered if it was really alright for her to leave things at that.

As she took a quick look around her, perhaps because she had come right at a time when not many people came, Alice realized she was the only customer.

Gazing at the cakes in the showcase, she remembered Elliot’s reaction when she had passed out the gifts she had brought back.

‘Wow….is this carrot cake from that cafe!? I’d heard they didn’t make many, so they were pretty hard to get hold of…..so you bought some for me, Alice!  I’m so moved-‘

His brown ears standing straight up, he raised his voice, not hiding his happiness. Even so, at least from the fact that he hadn’t crushed the cake through over-enthusiasm, it appeared he still had some reason remaining.

‘What…..what a lucky guy I am…..Blood, look at it! Here, right here, this delicious looking cake! Alice picked it out just for me-!’

‘Uh…..strictly speaking, Blood was the one that paid for it….’

Alice interjected thinking that at this rate, she would be the one made to take all the credit, but it appeared she had made a blunder.

‘Blood…..What…..what a great guy you are!! That you’d give me the delicious cake you must have wanted to eat yourself! You’re the best boss there is-! Nightmare hasn’t got a thing on you.’

His eyes shining like a child’s, Elliot was clearly moved. The purity of his emotion was to a level where it was hard to believe he was part of the Mafia, even if you knew that he was.

‘…..Ugh-‘

It was enough to make even Blood, who had been in a bad mood ever since the gun fight groan despite himself. That was how strong an effect it had.

‘That’s it, instead I’ll give you my carrot cookies! Cake is nice too, but these are pretty good. Here, take them-!‘

‘No, Elliot…..your consideration is actually a real pain in the-….wait, that’s not what I-‘

The strained excuses of the Hatter trying somehow to avoid the heartfelt gift from his trusted confidant went on for quite a while, she thought.

That time too, Elliot had also just returned from work…..he had just finished up with some complicated looking documents. She had thought they were probably written reports, but they were in the middle of a feud. She was unable to think they were completely unrelated.

‘…..…..’

As she drank the remaining tea, Alice at last began to move.

Nothing would come of it no matter how much she worried. She stood up decisively, paid the bill and left the café.

Her surroundings were enveloped in a pale orange light. It would soon be evening. Before this it had been night, and before that evening as well.

If she remembered correctly, the next discussion was in three afternoons, so she likely still had a bit of time.

She moved slightly away from the café and began to walk.

‘…..Huh?’

It was like a repeat of what had happened before.

‘…..!’

Men she had not seen before stood there blocking Alice’s way. They stood there silently, unnoticed by her until just now.

As Alice panicked and turned away from them, it was the same in the other direction. Except for the wall, groups of them stood side by side in each direction.

‘…..…..’

She was surrounded.

As a horrible feeling rose within her, one man brandished a gun.

The end of the gun was pointed at the left side of her chest.

‘You’re the Outsider from Hatter Mansion, right?’

‘…..What a rude way to address a lady.’

‘You’re coming with us.’

The men did not speak more than necessary. Not reacting to Alice’s provocation, their dispassionate movements as they moved to accomplish their objective seemed almost mechanical.

 At the very least, it did not appear they planned on doing anything to her here, but if she were to go with them, she was unable to think it would end well. This world wasn’t the kind of place for such optimistic thinking.

She took a discreet glance at the clothing the men were wearing, but as she had thought, they weren’t the same as any she had seen anyone at the Castle or Tower wearing. The fact that they were black suits was the only thing they had in common with the Assembly participants, but the emblems on them were ones Alice did not know.

 ‘…..…..’

There was no guarantee she would be safe if she went with them, but if she resisted here, she would likely just be shot. As Alice had not yet answered, the man’s finger was already stretching out towards the trigger.

‘…..Alright. I just have to go with you, right?’

She would likely be causing Blood and the others trouble, but it would all be for nothing if she got shot here. It wouldn’t just be herself in danger, she didn’t want to imagine her carelessness causing the feud with the Hatter Family to worsen.

Bang!

At the moment Alice had reluctantly been about to follow them, a shot rang out.

‘Huh?’

Before her as she turned around in surprise, were several men and women wearing familiar hats and black suits. All of them held guns and were shooting in an offhand manner as they drew near to where Alice and the men were.

 Their suits were adorned with monochrome card suit symbols. Their golden hair was decorated with crimson roses, feathers and also…..a black hat.

‘This really won’t do~’

‘You’re right. We cannot allow you to lay hands on our young lady.’

Their attitudes were really just like their master’s. Even in a situation like this, they were shooting in a languid sort of way.

They were Blood’s subordinates, who had accompanied him from Hatter Mansion.

‘This way please, young lady.’

‘Eh…..Ah-‘

Having come close to her before she had even realized it, a single maid grabbed her arm and pulled her along. As she skillfully fended off the men with a gun in one hand, she guided Alice towards the rest of her comrades.

‘Tch-…..Shoot! Don’t let her get away-!’

Taking that as their signal, the men who’d had their encirclement broken before their eyes began shooting all at once.

‘…Kyah-!’

To think she’d be attacked in the exact same place, picking up where they had left off before…..as she ran, her head bent down, bullets grazed the area near her feet.

Perhaps out of fear, or on reflex. For a single instant Alice closed her eyes and stood stock still.

‘Young lady-…’

Noticing the hint of tension in the languid voice, Alice looked up. However, feeling something hard against the back of her head, she stopped moving yet again.

‘Don’t move, or I’ll shoot.’

‘…..…..’

‘Stay right where you are. All of you, drop your guns.’

It was likely an ambusher that had been lying in wait on a road that had been in a blind spot.

The maid turned around to look at Alice who could no longer move, a stiff expression on her face as she also stopped moving.

And then Alice’s bad premonition became reality. In response to his demands, the Hatter group had laid down their guns.

The clatter of the hard objects hitting the ground sounded like toys, but what would happen to them after this— it was plain as day.

Shaking herself out of it as her stiff body seemed about to start trembling, Alice raised her voice.

‘-! You musn’t! Hurry up and get out of here!’

‘If we did that, the Boss would kill us~’

‘That’s right. We couldn’t leave our young lady behind in a situation like this.'

The maid hadn’t been the only one to disarm. The subordinates had all thrown down their guns at once.

They were members of the Mafia. They had likely experienced similar situations before this. They had to know their lives would be forfeit if they were to give in to the man’s demand.

‘You guys!’

‘—Shut up. We want to take you with us, but keep making all that noise and we won’t mind hurting you a little.’

‘-‘

The hard feeling of the object pressed against her head went through her hair, reaching her skin. Biting her lip, Alice’s face twisted with a feeling of helplessness.

She knew that she was weak. And she knew the strength of the organization that she was part of.

However, to become a hindrance to them in this kind of way…..as she experienced bitter emotions, the man behind her instructed his comrades.

‘Hurry up and take the Outsider. The others are in our way. Take care of them here.’

‘Understood.’

And then another person pulled up Alice’s arm. Hard enough that it hurt.

But in this situation she couldn’t voice a complaint. As a small form of resistance, she glared hard at him but the men’s mouths twisted as if mocking her. They were likely thinking that even if she glared at them, there was nothing Alice, who lacked any special abilities, could do anyway. And they wouldn’t be wrong.

All the same—that single instant’s delay was fatal for them.

‘Alice. Please close your eyes.’

‘Eh-! …..-!’

Though Alice turned towards the cool sounding voice despite herself, this time her body listened to her.

As she obediently closed her eyes, a single shot rang out.

‘Bang-!’

‘Wha…..!?’

Despite hearing the sound of something heavy falling within her closed off field of vision, she didn’t open her eyes.

She didn’t even need to imagine what had just happened. There was no longer anyone restraining her arms.

Before her eyes, the dead body of that man was likely there, having collapsed bleeding to the ground.

‘Young lady!’

As if to say now was their chance, the maid closest to her pulled on her arm once more. In her other hand she gripped the gun she had at some point retrieved. Following in the direction she was drawn, Alice continued after her.

‘Looks like the shoe’s on the other foot now.’

‘Let’s hurry up and take care of them.’

The other servants all counterattacked at once.

On the other side, the men’s control of the situation had been disrupted from the suddenness of their attack. Just how much losing composure contributed to their slowed response….the end result told all.

***

‘It’s alright now~’

‘…..Ah.’

‘We’re all done here.’

Sorry for making you wait~, the familiar maids spoke in the same tone as always.

 As Alice came out from the nearby storage room she had been hiding in, just as they had said, it was all over. The people lying on the ground were mostly the wounded, and they had been tied up—she purposely decided not to think about the ones that were dead.

The redness of the blood spilt on the ground absorbed the red of the setting sun, gradually darkening in colour.

Doing her best to look away from it, Alice took a breath—and turned to face towards the sound of the footsteps behind her.

‘Ah…..’

‘Alice.’

The figure of the person who had quietly called her name did not belong to one of the Hatter Mansion servants. The golden clock he carried on his shoulder made a jangling noise.

‘Peter.’

The White Rabbit whom she had seen from far away at the meeting place where the Assembly was held was now right before her eyes.

And…..he did not seem to be in a good mood. It was rare for her to see him shaking his head at her as he sighed.

‘You really are-…..did Blood Dupre tell you nothing? It is too dangerous for you to walk around outside alone during the Assembly period.’

‘…..I’m sorry.’

Back then, in that moment when it seemed there was no escape, Alice had realised that the voice that had echoed out belonged to him.

She had been surprised, thinking that there was no way the Prime Minister of Heart Castle would appear when the Hatter Family were in a bind, but the fact he had saved them was the truth.

‘Thank you. Because of you…..we were saved.’

If Peter hadn’t showed up, her colleagues would likely have been in danger, and she wasn’t sure what demands the men would have made of Blood had she been made a hostage.

‘It was not you that was at fault…..it was those role-less cards.’

The glittering red gaze went towards the servants who stood behind Alice. It was the kind of intensely cold red that would never be directed towards Alice. The servants endured it in silence.

Hand on his pocket watch, the White Rabbit icily continued.

‘Really….. though you must have been sent out for her protection in preparation of a worst case scenario, I do not know for what purpose you are following her if you are not able to keep Alice out of danger. You’re all useless.’

‘…..Peter.’

‘No, it’s fine, young lady.’

‘It is as the Prime Minister says~’

‘But…..’

They had tried to protect her. It had gone wrong because she had stopped, it was her responsibility to bear. She could not agree that it was all only their fault.

However, they all shook their heads, as if to say, ‘Please don’t let it bother you.’ Continuing to argue would only be ignoring their feelings.

But Peter’s words of criticism were not yet over.

‘Having self-awareness is well enough, but ineffective guards are unnecessary. Ah, that’s it.’

With a faintly chilly smile…..the White Rabbit swung his pocket watch. The ringing sound of its chain echoed, the golden clock transforming instantaneously into a pink coloured gun.

Watching him, Alice had a bad feeling.

‘Wait, Peter…..what are you thinking!?’

‘Let us be rid of these good-for-nothings, Alice. Instead, I will stay by your side forever and protect you. I will never allow you to be in any danger. So, it's alright, isn't it?’

Seeing him point the gun towards the servants in a single flowing movement, Alice felt a real headache coming on. This man had no idea at all.

‘Of course it isn’t, stop this. Don’t do anything to my coworkers, please.’

‘Wha-! You would cover for these incompetents-?! I will protect you, so you don’t need them, do you-?’

It appeared the White Rabbit was confounded to see Alice step in between them. He hurriedly lowered the gun but did not yet return it to its clock form.

‘What happened this time wasn’t all their fault, it was mine as well. So, you mean to say you’ll get rid of me too, along with everyone else?’

‘Of course not-!’

She had asked the question while certain he would say no, but just as she had expected, he vigorously shook his head. The soft white hair swayed fluffily as if it were snow.

‘Then don’t shoot anyone from Hatter Mansion, please. If you say you’ll shoot even then, I won’t ever speak to you again.’

‘…..Alice…..’

Peter’s head hung despondently, and despite it being written on his face that he didn’t understand why she would say such a thing, at a time like this Alice could not compromise. This was Peter, if she lost focus for even a moment, it was likely he would carry out his plan before Alice could stop him.

‘—Your answer?’

‘Alright….I understand. I won’t shoot them.’

The words were reluctant.

He had not been convinced, but the fact that Alice was in earnest had likely gotten through to him. Once the White Rabbit let go of the gun, a golden clock took its place hanging from the end of the chain.

It appeared he had calmed down for the time being. Feeling relieved, this time Alice turned around towards the servants behind her.

‘By the way…..were you guys following me the whole time?’

Even though just a moment ago she had been backing them up, Alice’s voice now sounded a little severe.

The timing with which they had appeared was too convenient for them to have come across her by chance. Added to the fact she had also felt the presence of someone following her recently.

As she glared at them, while averting their gazes they muttered their answers.

‘…..Well…..During the Assembly period things are particularly unstable, you see.’

‘That’s right…..the Boss was worried too…..’

‘We wouldn’t normally do this kind of stalker-ish thing, you know?’

‘Yeah. Doing something so tiresome is a pain~’

It was a rare thing to see them mutter, without giving a clear answer.

However, Alice knew. To a certain extent, the servants of Hatter Mansion were all assigned a rank in proportion to their abilities. Those who protected the Mansion in its master’s absence, and those who protected him while he was out, they all had different roles.

These people were part of the top class of subordinates, who were allowed to travel together with Blood to the place where the Assembly took place. One or two of them acting on their own was one thing, but for so many of them to be on the move?

There was no way their master didn’t know of it, and no possibility they would act on their own without instructions.

‘…..…..Sheesh.’

They had likely been assigned to her in consideration of the recent attack, but if that was the case, he could at least have said a few words to her about it. The strange presence she had felt whenever she had gone out of late had likely been them. The fact that they didn’t deny it straight out was the proof.

‘Well, I guess it’s fine. I would have been in trouble if you guys hadn’t been there. It’s a bit late but thank you.’

Erasing her air of displeasure, she smiled at them, and they looked relieved.

‘Alice…..It’s not fair.’

‘Huh-…..Kyah-!’

Before she could guess at the intention of that low voice, arms had suddenly reached out from behind and wrapped themselves around Alice’s waist. Her body lost its balance, but whether luckily or unluckily, the arms around her supported her firmly, and she did not fall.

‘It’s unfair, Alice! You’re always so kind only to those role-less people…..why won’t you be even a little bit kind to me!?’

‘P-Peter…..-‘

When she looked down, perhaps because his head was hanging low, she couldn’t see his face, only the pure white hair close to her. Both his arms encircling Alice’s waist, the White Rabbit was clinging on as if stuck to her. The Mansion’s Twins were one thing, but for someone bigger than Alice, it was rather an odd posture to be in.

And not only that, since Peter was embracing her so as to envelop both of Alice’s arms, it did not look as if she could escape of her own power.

‘There you go, clinging on to me again regardless of where we are…..let me go please. I can’t move.’

‘Alice, why are you so cold to me? Ah, I see. You must be embarrassed! What a shy person you are!’

‘That’s not the issue here.’

The White Rabbit’s arms around her tightened to the point that it hurt— his hold was strong enough that it seemed she could almost forget about the injuries he had gotten from the attack from before.

‘Peter, now that I think about it…..how are your wounds? Are you alright?’

After all, his back had been wounded by shards of glass. It must have caused him a lot of pain.

However, separate from Alice’s worry, for some reason when the White Rabbit lifted his head upwards, he was smiling broadly. If Alice wasn’t mistaken, it was the kind of smile that could even be said to look happy.

‘To think that you would worry for me…..Ah, Alice! How kind you are…..You’ve been worried for me, your beloved, all this time! I’m so happy, Alice.’

‘…..Hey…..Listen to people when they’re talking.’

‘I am, I am listening, Alice. You were worried about my injuries, were you not? To have you worry for me…..Ah, how wonderful…..’

‘…..…..Seems like you’re fine already.’

Despite being exasperated by Peter’s tight hug, from the looks of things there really was no need to worry.

Even as she loosened a hand from Peter’s hold and stretched it out over his back to check, he just kept smiling even more, without seeming to be in pain even a little.

Although the amount of blood he had shed back then had been by no means a small amount.

‘You’re really all OK now?’

‘Yes. Injuries of that level are as nothing in the face of my love for you-!’

‘…..…..’

As she had thought, he didn’t listen to what people said at all.

Exasperation aside, it was true that she felt relieved. Blood had said there was no need to worry, but there was a big difference between hearing it from someone else and confirming it for herself.

‘It’s a bit late but…..Thank you, Peter. This time, and the time before that, you saved me.’

As she patted his back in a soothing sort of way, the White Rabbit looked even more pleased, his eyes narrowing. The gaze that had been so very cold and piercing just a moment ago had now softened completely.

‘I’m your White Rabbit, after all. I want to do anything I can for you.’

‘…..…..’

Hearing those words brought back to Alice’s mind the ones Peter had spoken previously in the Forest.

Badump, she had a feeling her heart had beat faster just like it had back then.

He had spoken the same sort of line. He said he would, and could, do anything for her.

But if that meant the price would be repeatedly suffering the same injuries as before…..Alice couldn’t simply agree with that.

‘Speaking of which, as thanks, why don’t we go out to eat together? I’ll treat you.’

‘Wh-…..What!?’

It appeared Peter was wholeheartedly surprised by Alice’s suggestion. The eyes that had been narrowed flew wide open to stare at her, the arms that had been so tightly wrapped around her loosening.

The over-the-top reaction was enough to make Alice smile wryly in response.

‘Alice and I having a meal, just the two of us-…..That is, a d-date!? To think you would invite me on a date, aah, I cannot believe it!’

‘It’s not such a big deal as a date though. What, do you hate the idea of going somewhere with me that much? If that’s the case, I won’t force you then…..’

Aware that he would deny it, Alice purposely questioned him teasingly, but he once again clung on to her and raised his voice.

‘I’ll go-! Of course, I shall accompany you-, there is no way I would not-! A date, just Alice and I…..Ahh-‘

‘…..Yeah, yeah.’

While exasperated at the White Rabbit getting worked up all by himself, Alice suddenly noticed there was a gaze on her, as if someone was wanting to say something, and turned around.

‘…..…..’

‘Young lady~’

‘Um…..’

The suit-wearing servants were standing there, looking as if they weren’t sure whether to laugh or leave.

‘Ah…..!’

As she realised they had been watching their entire conversation, Alice’s face all at once became a bright shade of red.

***

‘Here you are, thank you for waiting.’

A large plate with a steaming pie was placed onto the table.

‘Wah…..It looks delicious.’

As Alice’s eyes narrowed in appreciation as she took in the appetising fragrance, Peter briskly and efficiently placed a serving place in front of her. In his hands he already held a knife and fork.

‘I’ll cut the pieces right now, so please wait a moment.’

‘Huh? It’s fine, I can do it myself.’

Alice spoke in a fluster, but the White Rabbit did not listen. In a mild voice, he refused.

‘I want to do it. Alice…..This is a date after all, won’t you allow me to serve you?’

‘…..But this time, I want to be the one to show my thanks.’

‘Then all the more reason. You even showed me the way here, please allow me to do at least this much.’

The White Rabbit’s hands did not stop moving as he spoke. Skilfully dividing up the pie, he carried the food over to Alice’s plate.

This made Alice, who worked as a maid at Hatter Mansion, feel somehow embarrassed. It was as if she were being spoiled like a princess, or a woman being coaxed by her lover.

They had come to a restaurant close by to the one that Boris had guided her to before. Back then she had only passed by, but the delicious smell coming from it had remained in Alice’s memory.

Apparently, it was a restaurant that specialised in mushroom dishes, mushrooms of all different kinds were on display throughout the shop. The colours of some of them looked poisonous, but luckily the ones that had been taken to Alice’s table were the normal brown.

‘Here you are. Please get started.’

‘…..Thank you.’

‘Not at all.’

Fork in hand, Alice took a single bite—and her eyes involuntarily opened wide.

‘It’s good…-‘

The savoury smell and flakiness of the pie’s pastry, together with the smoothness of the mushroom were a perfect combination. As she chewed, soup oozed out of it, and that was delicious as well.

When she’d heard they served mushroom dishes she hadn’t been sure what to expect, but the menu had been more wonderful than she had thought. Alice continued eating with renewed interest, but suddenly noticing a gaze coming from beside her, she paused.

‘Aren’t you going to eat too, Peter?’

‘No, it’s just that seeing you enjoy what you’re eating so much makes me happy somehow…..I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.’

‘What are you talking about? You should eat too, no need to be considerate. My salary is good enough you don’t have to worry about my being able to pay.’

The master of Hatter Manson was a man who paid his subordinates a salary in keeping with the work they did. And Alice, who never wasted money on things she didn’t need, had a fair amount saved up. She hadn’t hesitated to use it for having a meal with a friend.

However, the White Rabbit quietly shook his head from left to right.

‘I cannot allow you to pay. I will treat you.’

‘…..All the more then.’

What kind of woman would she be, to be the only one eating, though she had asked for food enough for two, and to have him be the only one paying as well? At the very least, Alice did not want to have such a meal.

‘Ah…..could it be that you don’t like mushrooms, Peter? If so, I apologise…..’

‘No, it is not as if I particularly dislike mushrooms.’

‘Then, what do you like to eat? Maybe carrots since you’re a rabbit?’

He said that he didn’t dislike them, but for all that, the White Rabbit’s expression was not a joyful one. Even if he was also a rabbit, he was clearly different from the brown rabbit who lived at the Mansion.

‘I like anything. I can eat anything.’

‘Then you can have some of this mushroom dish, right? —Here.’

Using the serving fork, Alice placed some food on his plate. She was used to working as a maid in her everyday life, so waiting on someone like this was something Alice was more familiar with.

‘Ah, Alice. You don’t need to..-‘

‘It’s fine. Here, eat up, no need to hold back.’

‘…..Very well. It is food that you yourself have served me. I cannot be so rude as to not eat it.’

If he didn’t dislike the food, he would readily eat it. So thinking she had acted, but Alice soon had a feeling something was wrong.

Thank you for the meal, being especially polite, Peter carefully used the knife and fork to begin cutting. He carried one of the cut pieces towards his mouth.

It couldn’t be that he was acting the part of Prime Minister for show. Each one of his movements was refined, the very picture of correct table manners.

But there was something decisively different about the way he ate compared to Alice.

‘? Peter, are you sure you don’t dislike mushrooms after all?’

‘That is…..’

‘But, aren’t you forcing yourself?’

Alice knew well what a person’s face looked like when they were eating something they enjoyed.

It was certainly the case for the group at Hatter Mansion. Blood when he was drinking tea, Elliot when he was eating carrot dishes…..it was a normal thing for anyone with something they liked in front of them to enjoy the taste and be happy about it.

On the other hand, what would happen if they were given something that they disliked. It was something she knew from seeing her master trying to escape from eating orange coloured food. It wasn’t as obvious as Blood’s hatred for carrots, but there was a similar expression on Peter’s face.

‘You don’t need to force yourself if you don’t like it.’

‘It is not as if I dislike it…..’

The hand that been almost mechanically and dispassionately carrying food to his mouth stopped, and Peter looked troubled.

‘There is nothing in particular that I like.’

‘…..Huh?’

‘The truth is, I do not like anything…..after all, food does not particularly taste of anything, does it?’

‘…..…..’

Hearing him speak as if puzzled, Alice completely stopped moving.

Perhaps noticing her response, the White Rabbit let go of the knife and fork and tilted his head.

‘No matter what I eat, there is not much difference. All I need know is if there is poison in it or not.’

‘…..…..’

Hearing him talk, Alice felt as if the atmosphere around them had grown cold of a sudden. Even though it wasn’t as if someone was after her like before.

It was a wonder she hadn’t dropped her knife and fork. The taste of the mushroom in her mouth suddenly felt far away.

No, it wasn’t just the taste of the food. Even the noise inside the shop that had sounded normal until now felt somehow forced.

‘…..…..’

Gulp, she heard the sound of her throat swallowing, but even that…..felt distant.

A world without taste. A living being who, even though they ate, didn’t feel a thing.

There was no way all the rabbits who lived in this world were the same. There was Elliot, who truly loved carrot dishes beyond anything. It didn’t change the fact that he liked carrots the best, but it was not as if he didn’t understand the taste of food outside of carrots.

But—it was completely different for Peter.

‘…..…..’

No matter what he ate, it had no taste. It was simply something he did to take in the sufficient nutrients needed to keep his body moving.

It was probably for that reason his perfect way of eating and his reaction as he ate left an impression of disconnection.

She hadn’t noticed it at all up until now. If they hadn’t talked about taste just now, Alice might never have realised.

Even when he had prepared tea for her at Heart Castle, Peter had often accompanied Alice in drinking tea. He had been as happy as if it were himself when she had nodded saying it was delicious.

She had always thought his reaction was a bit much…..but at last she understood its meaning.

He had never provided her with anything that he himself felt tasted good. Just things that he thought Alice would like, it had been for no other purpose than to make Alice happy.

‘…..…..’

She took a sip from the cup of cold water on the table. It slid down her throat, which had become dry before she had realised it, with a cold and chilly sensation.

He had said things had no flavour, but that did not necessarily mean he had no sense of taste. If he didn’t, it would have been too difficult to judge whether or not something had poison in it.

However, Alice could not even imagine what his world, one where nothing had any flavour, was like. No matter what he drank, or ate, for it to simply slip down his throat into his body like the water she had just had…..she could not understand it all.

‘Alice, is something wrong? It can’t be, there was poison in the-…..’

‘N-no! That’s not it…..’

As she held back the White Rabbit who even now seemed about ready to brandish his gun and start shooting at the restaurant workers, inside of her chest was a jumble of questions.

—Is that not hard for you, Peter?—

Forcibly swallowing back down the questions rising towards her lips, she changed them into a sigh.

Eating was a necessary act for life to continue on. She thought that for it to just be a duty, something about which you didn’t feel anything at all, was just too sad.

She could understand it if he said that he disliked eating. But that he neither liked or disliked the action itself…..she thought that it must be a very lonely thing.

‘That’s not it. I was just…..a little surprised, that’s all.’

Restraining the White Rabbit from changing his golden watch into a gun, once Alice settled the bill and left the restaurant, the colours of the sky had changed yet again.

***

‘I think I put them in here, if I’m remembering right…..’

In her room at the Tower. Having returned to the room she had become completely used to living in, Alice was slowly digging around amongst the small amount of hand luggage.

And, having taken out a single case from the pile, she opened the lid.

‘…..…..’

Inside were the snacks the maids she was friendly with had wrapped for her when she had left the Mansion. Because they would last for a long time, it was mostly candy and chocolate that had been packed in.

She took into her hand a single small snack that had been wrapped in silver paper. Unwrapping it silently, she popped the small block of dark brown that appeared into her mouth.

Along with the snapping noise as she chewed, a familiar flavour spread throughout her mouth.

It was sweet. And also, bitter. It was chocolate. A person who had had chocolate before would know what it was immediately.

‘But….maybe Peter wouldn’t.’

As he had said himself, he was a clever Rabbit. He would definitely be able to identify that it was chocolate.

However—the taste alone was something he surely wouldn’t understand. If his basis for judgement was only whether or not something had poison in it, he would likely just decide that it was not poisonous and leave it at that.

And that….somehow felt lonely to her. She thought that perhaps one of the main reasons she felt that way was because Peter himself accepted it as a given.

‘….There’s something wrong with me.’

Their first meeting had been awful, no matter how often she recalled it, it should have been bad enough for her to wonder how they had even become friends.

But now….she was thinking about him so much.

Because she thought she was such a fool for not noticing in all the times they’d had tea together until now that nothing had flavour to him.

It had to be because she was worried for him as a friend. She would have liked for that to be the reason, but the emotions that were moving her now did not at all seem to be that of friendship.

Was it truly just that causing this stirring in her chest?

‘….Peter….’

I love you. You are the only one I love.

If you are happy, that is all that matters to me.

—Because I love you—

The White Rabbit’s love confessions were always one-sided. They did not desire an answer from Alice. Even if she were to answer, it wouldn’t be unusual for it not to reach those long ears. Only taking up what was convenient, in a certain sense, those ears were highly efficient.

‘You’re….so unfair….’

She had not planned on changing. Even when she had come to this world, she would always remain as she was….her cowardly, pessimistic, grey-coloured self, who was the furthest thing from pure white. Though she had planned on staying as the half-hearted Alice Liddell who was unable to become anything, right now she was wavering so much.

Over someone she couldn’t help but think about….Why did the man who did not understand what things tasted like say that he loved her?

Alice hadn’t done anything for him.

Even though she hadn’t done anything to make him fall in love with her. Even though she wasn’t the kind of person people fell in love with.

Why did you fall in love with me?

‘We’re friends, so that’s why it bothers me. It can’t be anything else….of course it isn’t.’

The more they come to know you, the more they will love you.

The words the dream demon had once said sprang back into Alice’s mind.

Their first meeting had been the absolute worst. A rockier beginning she could not imagine.

However, since their relationship had begun on the worst possible terms….she had been made to realise now that there was no way it would have become worse.

It would seem the relationship that should have begun from hostility had revised itself in a more positive direction before she had realised it.

‘It’s because….we’re friends. That’s the reason I can’t leave him alone….’

She was unable to hate him. On the contrary, there were aspects to him that she even found likeable.

His actions were one-sided, and many of the things he did were a bother. He would sometimes say stalker-ish things with no shame whatsoever.

She wondered how much he knew about her.

And, conversely, she wondered how much she knew about him.

She had lived at her place of residence for an amount of time that was no longer of short duration. But even there, the place she had decided was where she belonged, she remained unable to delve into the side of them that was Mafia.

The courage to draw near to the closest possible place to the White Rabbit….there was no way she had such a thing.

‘….-‘

Tightly.

She pressed her hands to her chest, to calm a heartbeat that seemed about to accelerate out of control.

—I hate this.

When it came to romance, Alice couldn’t help but become a foolish child again. Even while thinking she didn’t want to become conceited, another part of her thought that she didn’t want to be betrayed, and she became selfish.

‘No….that can’t be….why.’

Let it be something else.

The wrapper in her hand made a crinkling noise as she crumpled it into a ball.

She thought she had already had enough of love. Romance was a pain, and for all the effort it took, it was never guaranteed that things would go how you wished them to.

—You don’t necessarily want to be loved by everyone—

What came into her mind was the dream demon’s smile when he had appeared in her dreams in the country of red.

As if to say that he saw through her completely, there was a faint smile on his handsome face as he spoke.

—You just want to be loved by someone.—

Even now she could vividly recall Nightmare’s voice as he made that declaration as if it was only the obvious truth.

‘I won’t fall in love. Wanting to be by his side, is something I would never….’

As long as they could be friends, she was fine with that. She would not wish for anything more.

Peter had problematic aspects to him, but Alice had already let down her guard, and at this late stage, she would likely even feel sad if distance were to be put between them.

But….what if they ended up becoming even closer?

And when they did, what if he were to grow distant from her?

“Alice, I’m so sorry, I-….”

“I’m sorry, Alice, I’ve-….”

Phantom voices overlapped with the voices of the past that remained in her memory.

Just like back then.

He might grow distant, too.

‘….….’

Wordlessly, her mouth twisted faintly.

The bitterness that continued to remain as if stuck to the inside of her throat wasn’t just because of the chocolate.

Alice purposely pretended she hadn’t noticed it.