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jiminrings · 4 years

Text

homebound

pairing: yoongi x y/n

glimpse: race car driver!yoongi is a tiny bit fond of pit stop crew!y/n, grumpy crew chief!jimin will be the bANE of your existence, and jungkook is ur saving grace for bumper stickers whenever u wanna surprise yoongi :D

wordcount: 21k

notes: ok if u know charlie leclerc from F1, he was the inital reason why i wanted to write this au with yoongi!! think of this as an au with a mix of F1-level type of class and racing, but with a NASCAR type of pit crew that only has five members instead of formula one’s twenty!! i also asked my close friend for info since she’s an avid f1 fan to add on to my prior knowledge!! this is a work of fiction and accuracy does nOt always result to fun so pls just enjoy this!!! i also made a poll to what i should write next and this was one of the options and tHEN d-2 dropped and i was !!! ok it’s settled then // pic is from pinterest but i just edited it since it looked like it was shot with a 3210 hihi

also: you can talk to my characters!!! send in an ask anytime :D

(๑>◡<๑)

jungkook, as a person, is an excellent one

he’s talented, he’s kind, he’s driven, he’s gonna buy you your meal when you don’t have enough cash on you and would say “yA PAY ME BACK LATER” but in the end, he’ll just wave it off and say “nah i was kidding it’s my treat :D”

he’s also h*ndsome but you won’t say that again and again because his ego?? his bragging rights?? what then

jungkook, as a friend, is a fun, attentive, food-inhaling and money-draining carebear that can be pERSUASIVE if he needs to be

he lets u have the last slice of pizza!! or the last pringle or the last pearl in the massive cup of milktea you split with two straws and a giant butter croissant

he holds the umbrella up for the two of you when it’s raining and you’re sharing it

if he feels extra kind then he’ll be in the side in which there are more splatters and puddles to go through

if he feels like a sAINT then yes he may piggyback u but only if u hold up the umbrella because he’s a saint not four-arms from ben ten

7/10 times that he screenshots what’s in his cart but wouldn’t checkout, he genuinely just wants to show you because he’s excited and when you dO decide to get it for him, whether it was an actual shock or he just kept sending you screenshots until you got the hint, he makes sure to hug you until you physically can’t breathe anymore

he once saw this you liked that didn’t become your boyfriend because it turns out you were just a bet and you’re only worth a month of fucking gatorade

you’re not the most confident person ever in the worls but you’re sURE

you are worth more than month’s supply of glacier freeze for a no thoughts, head empty football jock senior

jungkook was sure too

if ur gonna be an asshat that he’s gonna hate anyway, aTLEAST make it cool blue because that belongs to top tier

he made sure he went to TOWN on that punching bag while looking at that dude

whatever he did, jungkook did with much more power and intensity and he is still maintaning eye contact after the airhead caught on and recognized him

HE NEVER SAW THE DUDE IN THE GYM AFTER

jungkook, as an athlete, is a beast and u gotta admit that

he played basketball in college while u played softball!!!

you were handpicked by your coach if you wanna try out for this once in a lifetime career opportunity aND it was sketchy at first

u kept asking on what was it about but all she said was “that’s for you to know.,.,., if you wanna accept the offer :))” and you were eventually driven to the edge because you wanted to know so badly

and then it turns out u were the ONLY one in your softball team to be handpicked as she said and then u were instructed to go to the gym in which there were chairs lined up

oh god is this a cult

there were a couple other people too and you could recognize some of them from the swimming team and this girl from weighlifting and that dude from football

they too did not have any idea at aLL

you just decided to sit by the last row... y’know... just in case....

and then jungkook strolls in confused as fUCK but in the same time excited and he sits beside you because he’s thinking the same thing of what if this was sketchy shit!!

you just knew him then because he looked familiar and you may have seen him asleep in your calc class a couple of times

and also because his hair was peach

how could u possibly forget that aha

“oH i like your uniform!!”

jungkook immediately spoke what was on his mind and pointed to your softball uniform u were still in and then your response was to freeze

ok that might have been too forward and-

“i know right?? oH MY GOD!! i signed up for softball in the first place because the uniform was sO COOL!!”

“bro i joined basketball because i heard that tHE WARMERS WERE SO SOFT”

and then a friendship was born

the both of you were not thinking anymore about the fact that you’re both in a gym with no instructions whatsoever bc you’re too excited to be talking about what’s happening!!!

you joined a sport jUST for their uniforms?? oh my god i did that TOO

turns out that jungkook was actually great at basketball and he just knew then

also turned out that u were a gifted natural in softball even if you didn’t fully grasp the mechanics at first

“but when do i oH IS IT MY TIME TO RUN??? no?? not yet?? oh aha yeah i guess i run that fast :D”

the two of you bonded so good that it was immediately decided that u are really meant to be friends with each other

sometimes people mistake the both of you as a couple and u know what,,, sometimes the two of you take advantage of that because a fREE DESSERT?? ice cream on the house?? celebratory cake because jungkook one time jokingly went down on one knee and proposed a ring pop to you that he just saw LYING on the ground???

don’t mind if u do :)))

jungkook, as a fellow pit stop crew member, is a really comforting (and sometimes annoying) presence

he doesn’t question when you get whiney from the fatigue settling in and instead? he just whines with you!!

the impromptu meeting in the gym? it was actually an orientation and introduction to try out for a pit stop crew program for this really really popular racing organization :D

athletes were in-demand because the discipline and the speed and the skills were needed

and you were filtered furthermore and it just ended up with only the handful of you

of course you could opt out but if you do pursue to go through, and if you do exceptionally good, then you might just be one of the two people they’re gonna hire as a part of the pit stop crew after you graduate!!

god training was rigorous and the practical test was even more nerve-wracking

you were put in pairs and in groups to see how the camaraderie and teamwork would show and bEST BELIEVE THAT YOU AND JUNGKOOK.,.,.

exceptional

breathtaking

best work

not to toot your own horn or anything ://

aha and those two positions? of course it went to the two of you!!

but jungkook, as a fellow pit stop crew member but for your oPPONENT TEAM is beyond irking

you see...

it was guaranteed that you and jungkook would be accepted into the organization

what wasn’t guaranteed, however, is that the two of you would be a member of the same pit crew

u found that hIGHLY confusing because what for... you guys saw how kook and i work together.... don’t you want that idk intact?????

“hobi-hyung’s gonna win this time. i guarantee you that. i bet you HALF of my food allowance”

hobi aka jung hoseok is a force to be reckoned with

you always see him in races and u know enough about him because jungkook just won’t shut up about how great he is!!

he’s a very giggly and joyful person and sometimes you just can’t help smiling when you see him getting interviewed over by their spot

kook’s introduced you to hobi a couple of times eagerly now and hobi does not!! forget!! names!!

it’s a lil conflict of interest for you and jungkook to be openly best friends while being in oppositing teams, but that doesn’t seem to stop heh

hoseok shook your hand firmly and eVEN added another hand so your hand is sandwiched by his and he has a permanent :D on his face

u immediately got why jungkook was so fascinated and happy to be working with him

“i mean nO offense to hobi, kook, and he’s like a rEALLY really great guy and a great driver and i have tons of respect for him also i totally get why you’re whipped for him bUT-“

“ᵒᵏ ʰᵉʳᵉ ʷᵉ ᵍᵒ ᵃᵍᵃᶦⁿ”

“he’s great, but not min yoongi great!!”

he already had that coming

how can jungkook not anticipate that when you have said that to him a million times already

that guy barely even talks to you but he’s so chatty with literally Everyone But You

he has a theory

theorieS actually

ok first one is that ur a guardian angel for yoongi

WAIT NO HEAR HIM OUT FOR A SEC

you just gravitate towards him!! you wanna be around yoongi as much as you can in non-stalker way but rATHER in guardian angel ways

you and jungkook are almost always in the same place at the same time given your jobs

also sketchy for kook because it could be seven in the evening and you’d call him using the hotel phone and go

“eY JUNGKOOK do u wanna come with me to this pub :) to celebrate yoongi’s win today :) do you :) please :) say yes pls :)”

“y/n baby hOW many time do i have to remind you that i am yOUR team’s opponent,,, jung hoseok is the OPPONENT of min yoongi,,,”

“... how many drinks do u want”

...

“fINE i’m gonna wear a hoodie again and i’ll get a cab to tail your team’s car and i’ll come inside the pub five minutes after again and tHEN i’ll pretend to bump into you. a g a i n”

plus you always have the heart eyes for yoongi no matter how blank he is with you or frustrated he gets after a sucky race

second theory: you’re not a guardian angel; you probably just have a crush on yoongi

wait does th is mean that lovers are like angels, and angels are like lovers?

goddamn

omg he should’ve just become a poet or something

get those hands busy with typing up the same message but in different wordings and nOT lifting up cars under time pressure or change a wheel like your life depended on it

lmao maybe he should become a singer or something

“but it is true!”

“you use his name as an adjective now!!”

“lol true the sunset was yoongi today”

god jungkook’s thinking if it’s possible to drown himself in this glass of water because eW you’re so in love and for WHAT

“what’s tHAT supposed to mean??”

“beautiful!! c’mon jungkook think every now and then!!”

yoongi just isn’t a name in the game

he is the name of the game

his dad was a famous racer up until his retirement

and then his grandfather set the family name into racing because boi is he a legend too

AND THEN HERE HE IS

yoongi’s been karting ever since he was like what?? six years old??

ultimately ever since he was a kid, he knew he wanted to do racing too

he just didn’t want his family’s reputation preceding him

(he was also thinking of wAIT do i actually have skills oR do i just have “skills” because it’s expected from me)

plot twist he did have skills

he tried out and just had his name as suga

and then when he knocked out those officials and got them sTANDING up from their seats because they really needed what was happening to sink in, that’s when he just dropped the truth bomb

“oh aHA actually i’m min yoongi!! nice to meet you!!”

he was just talented like that

so talented that he almost went with moto racing instead because he knew how to drive motorcyles!!

rode a bike twice and he immediately went pSH give me a motorbike nOW PLS :((

one time he fell out of balance and dislocated his shoulder and yoongi then decided that will never do that again lmao

the thing is, you haven’t had a proper lengthy conversation with yoongi that had some substance to it

it’s your default congratulations and you’re “oMG you killed it out there you were a bEAST!!” and him just going “thanks!” and then walking off

you wanna call him nicknames

if it’s not yoongi, then either it’s sir or it’s mr. min

and it’s no fun :((

how come jungkook can call hoseok HOBI

you really just wish you were as close

sometimes if you’re lucky, yoongi gets your name right!!

it’s okay!! yoongi’s just a little bit reserved with you!! that’s all!! :)

it’s a race day anyway and you all just headed out to the circuit fairly early

yoongi’s sitting by himself wearing a white shirt underneath his racing suit and uWu he looks so comfy :((

normally in practice days and practice drills, he’d be also sitting by himself as he looks wistful staring out

but no not really

he would pull out his phone a couple seconds later oR pass out and wake up when he feels like falling because one of his talents was to fall asleep sitting

sitting.,.. the seat doesn’t even need to have a backrest.,..,

the season is about to end and you dON’T want to pass another season without atleast attempting to invoke some reaction from him with how much you interact with him

you smiled at him more than a hundred times already but he just goes :] and then walks off AGAIN

you’re gonna be proactive!! you’re gonna do these moves!! yOU’RE GONNA OWN IT :D

you’re striding very confidently to where yoongi’s sat and he doesn’t take notice because his back’s turned to you and you’re walking too fast and motivated that he probably doesn’t hear you

wait maybe you need to back-track a little

“am i — am i supposed to know why you’re giving me a pill and what is this pill?”

maybe you should have done a better way to do this aHa

“w-what?? oH nO NO it’s not — it’s a caffeine pill!!”

yoongi’s mouth forms into a lil :O and he tilts his head, trying to register and find your face in the memory bank for his pit crew

“i just — i just noticed aND uh y’know it’s not only me?? it’s just that i- we know that you drink coffee a lot and you aren’t allowed to drink it when it’s an actual game and not practice, because it’s gonna make you pee-“

maybe you shouldn’t be talking about pee

this is the longest (one-sided) conversation you’ve ever had with yoongi without him walking away and you’re talking about body fluids!!!!

it’s okay it’s cool

he probably knows what you’re talking about anyway

everything he wears is heavy-duty fire-proof material from his undies to his racing suits aND so does the pit crew

it’s gonna make you sweat a lot!! it was a given

yoongi doesn’t drink much water in the first place and he only gulps down liters of it when he’s officially done with his race

he doesn’t drink coffee before an actual race either because it just does these things to him

caffeine makes him focused but the particular one that he favors makes him tOO focused

and also coffee makes you pee more than any other!!

plus yoongi swears too that he’s nEVER peed in his racing suit ever and he’s gonna stand by that no matter how much stoopid questions he gets or teases

“point is, you can be a liTTLE bit out of yourself when you don’t have your fix a-and i mean absolutely nO offense yoongi sir aha mmmmh just!! here!! a caffeine pill!!”

he’s looking down on your palm and he takes into detail that the pill was lying snugly on a bed of pREMIUM tissue paper

hmmm this looks like those soft tissues from his hotel room???? is it just him???

you put it there not oNLY for presentation, but also because giving it to him with your bare hands that are gettin sweaty with how nervous you are is unhygienic

god ur struggles

“jungkook is this tissue tOO crumpled?? like does it look intentional crumple, or like an effortless cUte crumple???”

“are u out of your fucking mind?? oh my gOD no it’s too crumpled!! let me do it”

y/n!!

that’s it!! that’s your name!! you’re y/n!!

yoongi can’t believe that there’s this girl from his pit crew that is giving him a caffeine pill because-

“this is nice of you. very considerate.”

did yoongi just talk to you

u have officially lowered your goals in life!! you can nOW perish peacefully knowing that yoongi has said something else to you besides “thanks” :D

he snatches your lil napkin bed and takes the pill and your other hand is a bit lonely because you’re holding a bottle of his special water and-

did he just

did he just swallow a pill dry

people who swallow their pills dry SCARE YOU

they are to be feared honestly

however there are exceptions hehe

tHIS ONLY MAKES YOU WANT TO KNOW YOONGI MORE!!

although you really can’t

not when you can literally hear your crew chief’s footsteps towards you and you’re just smiling through :D

you don’t know a park jimin

no you don’t aha :D

sometimes denial is the key!!!

“y/n, go do some stretches with your crew.”

sometimes u really really just wanna rattle jimin back and forth

he’s a grumpy crew chief!! a strict one!! one that wouldn’t let an ice cream man give out treats, because in his words, it is completely unnecessary

vernon got assigned as ice cream man and his feelings were HURT

jimin’s exceptional, no doubt about that

his strategies coincide well with yoongi’s and it contributes to the winning formula

what you just don’t like is how he’s grumpy with almost everyone else, but he’s extra grumpy with you

you offered a piece out of your packet of gummy bear ones

jimin just stared at you up and down, eyes narrowed as he looks as if he’s been offended big-time

“are you trying to woo me with your citric acid obsession?”

woo wHAT

yOU WHAT????

“jIMIN-“

and then he crossed his arms across his chest as you’re trying to reason out that you were just being considerate and nOt trying to woo him!!!

“aish. if you’re gonna woo me, atleast go for a proper attempt. a granola bar. that’s good. i’m gonna deny you anyway, but atleast that one isn’t laughable.”

you cannot

you seriously cannot comprehend wHY is jimin like this

he has this habit of clicking his tongue and shaking his head and THEN walking away

people walking away from you is a trend apparently

“but jimin i already stretched aND warmed up today”

he hums at that but you have a feeling that your words are just going through one ear and out of the other

you just love being chastised by your crew chief in front of yoongi <3

“with jungkook?”

wait who is jungkook

yoongi suddenly has more interest into this conversation because uh who is jungkook and why does the name itself kinda intimidate him

he’s kinda familiar with the name but nOT the face

is this your thing

is your thing giving out caffeine pills?? this is just a normal occurrence and he shouldn’t feel this AWED at the sentiment??

“yeah!! and we did both our warm-ups!! tWICE if i might add!!”

jimin knows about jungkook tho

he knows how you’re best friends and opponents in a technical sense

he’s a little wary of that still but he guesses that it just can’t be helped???

there’s a lot of talk on the field with how great jungkook is as a pit crew member anyway!! they were surely a bit confused too on with how the two of you were separated but it’s for the better (?) anyways considering that you’re both aces

good for hobi

good for yoongi

bAd for jimin!!! and you’re his favorite

his favorite when it comes to scolding even when you particularly haven’t done anything

tough love

“.... hmmmm”

“mmmmmh”

yoongi feels like he has to add on to the conversation because he’s gotta admit that it’s somehow entertaining

he’ll ask jimin later about this jungkook guy anyway :))

“i didn’t see it though. do it again.”

smile thru da pain :)))

yoongi placed second in this race though and although that isn’t entirely bad, he is still kinda upset because that just means he’s second best :((

hobi placed first!!

he’s all cool about it and yoongi doesn’t wanna be bitter but he iS mad at himself for not getting pole position for this race

so for every race for the season, there’s three qualifying sessions to determine your position in the grid!! if it all adds up and you’re the one with the fastest times, then u become the pole-sitter

acquiring the pole position aka being the pole-sitter puts a driver at an advantage because they’re first in line!! aND they don’t have to weave in between cars at the back and fight for getting ahead

it’s cool that’s cool :))) yoongi’s got pole position more than a handful times anyway :))) he’s just giving out chances for the others :)))

he’s kind like that :)))

[ yoongi is bURNING in the inside tho ]

there’s what?? like eight more races in this whole championship season?? yeah he could make this work no pressure

the caffeine pill,,, however.,.,.,,

“well?? how did it work out??”

jungkook is beyond impatient now because you keep getting into telling the story of how it went with yoongi but you jUST kept getting distracted

it’s only fair because yah the race just ended and you and jungkook didn’t opt to go back to the hotel with your teams so you could eat out from the stalls here after a really tiring day!! you deserve it!!

“okAy so like i was really nervous, yeah?? so i walked and then oOOOOOH CHEESY BEEF FRIES!! jungkook look omg cHEESy beef fries!! hold on lemme-”

you are aging jungkook and he swears by that

“nO no!! here!!! i already bought them!!! can you just oH my god!! y/n please stand STILL”

he’s holding you still with both of his hands grounding your shoulders wHILE his hands are still holding up his food and drinks and none of them are spilling?

that’s: talent

he’s been antsy ever since you texted him before the race started that you’re diving in head-first without a proper plan!! he was writing an elaborate plan in bullet points on his dotted notebook and tHen you’re telling him that you’re gonna dive straight in??

first of all how dare u

second of all pLEASE just tell him how it went

“five bites of fries, two minutes of telling how it went.”

ok he is a really great negotiator and also you’re already shoving like three in your mouth so this is more favorable than what he bargained for

jungkook does find you a pain in the ass sometimes like there is nO denying that absolutely

but he can attest to the fact that you are a GREAT storyteller

like damn your emotions?? hand gestures?? how you’d eVEN switch positions so he could get visuals of how it went down?? perfection like so good that jungkook feels so flustered because omg?? so tHIS is why you have a crush on yoongi aha

you’re not gonna lie,, jungkook sometimes decreases your lifespan for a solid seven months at the least

but you’re lying too when you say that he isn’t a dAMN good listener/audience

his doe eyes get even bigger and he is dang expressive and he’s never insincere and doesn’t exaggerate tOO much to the point that it’s obnoxious!!

and he doesn’t pick any story of yours!! he is vERY genuine!!!

[ sputters while drinking his iced tea ] “jimin cockblocked aGAIN???”

[ crouches to the floor when you went out to the mall alone because he didn’t want to and ended up meeting owen wilson, the guy who voiced lightning mcqueen ] “WHAT??????? YOU WHAT????? YOU’RE TELLING ME WHAT???????”

[ sobs because he didn’t meet owen wilson ] “i’m just so *wails* i’m just rEGRETTING every *heaves* single decision i made a-and *fans tears* i should’ve just went with you :(((”

[ giggles and shrieks continuously for ten minutes and keeps hugging you because you bought him those big boots that you call romper stompers for his birthday ] “you did nOT!! oh my god they’re really mine?? MINE??? you’re telling me that these are mINE now??? omg omg i could die rn y/n i swear i LOVE YOU!!! i’m not gonna step on u i swear :(( thank you thank you :(((”

yoongi couldn’t be anymore smiley

like sure enough, his mind should only stay in the game when he is in the game

he can’t think about what he wants for dinner later that night or let his thoughts drift because otherwise, hE’S the one that’s going to drift

but maybe

just maybe when he’s at the last stretch and hobi’s already crossed the finish line and the closest driver behind him is like lmao a kilometer away

he just can’t help thinking about you!! and the napkin bed you made for his caffeine pill!! and how he doesn’t get why he’s never talked to you before because like you’re cute n all :D

he’s never seen a pit crew member talk back to jimin like that before and yeah sure you’re playful but not overstepping it ya know

“so jimin,,, y/n, amirite?”

jimin’s a lil bit confused because uhhh yoongi has never talked to him

about you before but he’s not that bothered

“... yeah?”

...

“jimin this is the part where you tell me about y/n”

“how was i supposed to know? you only said her name!! is that like a signal or wHAT??”

“couldn’t i be anymore obvious??”

the bottom line is that yoongi got a crash course when it came to you and he couldn’t be any more grateful for jimin

he’s also confirmed that jungkook isn’t ur boyfriend but that’s kinda debatable because jimin added an “i’m not eNTIRELY sure though” and yoongi hates him for it!!

there’s just something about yoongi that you can’t shake off

and you don’t wanna fall that deep because it’s just a crush!! just a harmless crush and u know you aren’t probably gonna stand a chance :((

although you’re just gonna keep that to yourself because kook will probably lecture you for five minutes and THEN smack you in the head because you’re bringing yourself down again

jungkook knows you’re a natural ace like c’mon yoongi’s just gonna be a piece of cake!!

yeah sure yoongi doesn’t initiate conversation with your or barely holds eye contact and can barely remember your name, only recalls you as part of his team, and can be ignoring the things you’re doing for him bUT I MEAN THAT’S NOT ALWAYS THE DETERMING FACTORS, RIGHT??right??

pls say right

jungkook’s convincing himself as much as you’re convincing yourself that u have a chance with yoongi

you can’t help it :((

you love that smile!! that smile when he knows how good he’s done that he automatically could tell that he’d be getting an extra point since he’s the one who was the fastest on that lap!or that laugh when he pops out a cork of champagne once again and he’s getting the hang of it

his calm demeanor looks so cute even when he isn’t even doing anything in particular and how it could be so hot especially when his stare’s just rigid

you’ve been in celebratory going out parties in bars with your team to know that yoongi’s just boisterous and chatty when he gets drunk

he even gets cLINGY to whoever’s sitting beside him and it’s usually jimin and he can even make jimin yield to having oNE more shot with him :((

in meetings too!!!

yoongi’s personal style is just mostly black and sometimes when he’s feeling spicy, he’d add in some random pastels or perhaps even a small nEON detail

his cheeks tooyou just wanna kiss them so bad :(((

they’re so plump and full whenever he pouts and smiles and you have to gRIP your fist just to get rid of the l*nging in your system

YOONGI HAS PIERCED EARS TOO

MULTIPLE PIERCINGS!!!you’ve never seen him wear earrings tho and that’s saddening

jewelry, most especially on drivers, is just a big no-no because just in cAse the driver catches on fire or not, it’s still a big hazard

you once saw yoongi walking in the hallway just as you were about to exit the elevator to go to ur hotel room and he was wearing a wATCH

u almost went feral goddamn

you see yoongi again after your caffeine pill advance on him? a necklace, maybe? those thick chain bracelets like the ones jungkook wears? him wearing rings? it could be a blinged-out diamond band or a heart-shaped plastic ring from a kinder egg and you would sTILL GO FERAL

“i just wish — j-just wish that red string lovers exist in real life, y’know, kook?? do you get what i’m saying?”

jungkook wishes that was a real thing too

you’re just a bit vulnerable because u have some alcohol in your system

a little bit emotional

meanwhile jungkook is just straight up bland and is up for no fun

three-drink jungkook is boring

you should see five-drink jungkook!! hE’S A WILD ONE that could backflip with a 70% success rate of not throwing up after

“i do. i wish that red string lovers do exist. kind of like that movie, kimi no nawa. i love that movie.”

...

“... jungkook. omg a-are you saying i should like, tie a red string on my pinky and tHEN on yoongi’s pinky!! in this way, i could always be connected to him and we’re like never gonna stay away from each other!!”

...

“i believe that would be called stalking.”

“no i meant fIGURATIVELY”

this three-drink jungkook is no fun

what you’re gonna do is get him to drink more because the motto for pit crew members is “drink as if it’s your last because it IS!!!”

drinking kinda messes up workout routines and the semi-strict diet the members are put on to ensure you’re all strong and enduring

so drinking is just reserved for wins or when the crew chief allows it and MAYBE just maybe when you and kook decide to get a lil sip and sharing a can won’t hurt :D

“okay, okay. another one!! drink another one!!”

you have to physically make jungkook drink because he doesn’t wanna hold the shot glass claiming that it’s too dirty and before he gets iffy even more, you just bring the glass to his lips and even put a hand underneath his chin because you are tHAT great of a friend

sometimes you just need to credit yourself for being a really great best friend to jungkook

four-drink jungkook is a BUNNY

he’s starting to ascend to his five-drink state and therefore through the process, he’s crinkling his nose more

the nose crinkle and the smile that highlights his two front teeth has always been in effect but this one’s just more persistent

he doesn’t hop like a bunny tho or like even stand because that’s six-drink dance bot jungkook’s moves

instead

he just-

cHOMPFS

jungkook’s just biting down on your shoulder SOFTLY

the same gentleness of a golden retriever with an egg on its mouth!!he’s not nibbling or biting down or anything!! he’s just oMPH :D

there’s no rhyme or reason to why he’s doing this and you’re unsure either lmao you’ve told him before what he does drunk when he’s sober and he goes?? lol what i do tHAT???

you don’t mind honestly

you’re thankful that you’re wearing a black hoodie and it’s made with a fluffy cotton material!! it’s a win-win and u can even feel jungkook smiling

the alcohol isn’t hitting you JUST yet but u. r aware that you’re getting a tad more chatty now and then suddenly you’re telling jungkook a summary of this sugar stars episode in which they were supposed to make cupcakes for this luxury jewelry brand and in oNE of the cupcakes there should be like a necklace worth thousands of dollars bUT THEY FORGOT IF THEY ALREADY PUT IT IN THE BATCH AND-

“hey, is this guy bothering you, y/n?”

you hear a velvety voice interrupting you and it’s oddly familiar

said person extends his hand to put on your shoulder and you kinda jolt at the sudden contact and it’s just goosebumps“.... yoongi?”

yoongi’s on your left side and u could clearly see him nowhE LOOKS LIKE HE’S ABOUT TO SQUARE UP

i mean truth be told he wASN’T supposed to be here because after placing 3rd he just didn’t wanna go part because for wHAT and he wanted to go to bed instead

but them jimin called him and asked if he was sure because like... the entire team is here and the owner of the bar is a FAN and all drinks are on the house so,,,

he jUST got here and while he was looking for jimin, the first thing he sees is the back of your head (he’s memorized it hehe) and a guy bITING DOWN ON YOUR SHOULDER and yours hands are gesturing and shit

and so he’s beyond confused to see you confused over seeing him all confused and perhaps protective

“yoongi!!”

u practically squeal and ur not gonna hide that

although he just ignores that because he’s focused on some more pressing matters at hand

“man, seriously, what the fuck? can you just back off-“

yoongi is literally about to pull jungkook away from you because up to now this dude is NOT reading the room and the fact that he is 2 seconds away from decking him

“no nO yoongi!! it’s okay lol he’s my best friend! he’s not-“

there’s a delay on words sinking to jungkook’s ears so he’s just now reacting lmao

“mfhsIR thif if mY EMOFYONAL FUPPORT MFFSHOULDER”

jungkook’s angrily lifting his eyes but not his face with it so he’s-

oH THAT’S YOONGI :D

“this is my friend who’s kinda drunk and bITES my shoulder when he’s drunk aha jungkook!! say hi, gguk”

“hI YOOMGIIII!!! i’m jungmkook :D”

kook takes a quick second to lift himself off your shoulder to give an eager wave to yoongi

oH that face is familiar

jungkook?

jungkook jungkook oH THIS IS THE JUNGKOOK HE ASKED JIMIN ABOUT

whew

honestly he was kinda scared because when yoongi got a closer look when he was fuming, jungkook looked like a big buff guy and he was a little scared because-oh jungkook just went back to biting your shoulder ://

“i thought you weren’t gonna come?”

“i thought i was gonna fight sOMEONE”

hehe

you can’t help but feel a lil bit happy that omg yoongi cares for u

and although he’s mistakened jungkook as a pervert whose modus operandi is to bite at shoulders, it’s still the thought that counts!!!!

your right shoulder that has kook attached to it feels indifferent and your left shoulder that yoongi touched for a second is ON FIRE

be still, be calm. be still, be calm. be still, be — OMG YOONGI IS SITTING BESIDE YOU FUCK

“it’s jungkook, right?”

he, for sure, knows that it is jungkook alright but he just wants to ask u know

just to be sure

although you’re kinda oblivious to the fact that he’s directing the question to you more than to jungkook himsELF bc you’re very much swayed by his gummy smile

“yeah!! he’s jungkook, alright :D”

“this might be a stupid question to ask but uh i’ve just never seen him oR like maybe it might just be my memory but jungkook’s in our team, right??? or like nO?”

“o-oh aHA about that yoongi,, sir,, actually jungkook isn’t in our team, ya know? but he DOES support us and is like whoosh a fAN of you :))”

he is having too much fun with this one

“really? but i saw him in the box before, with you, i think? lol u silly goose if you have a boyf-“

“jUNGKOOK ISN’T MY BOYFRIEND! he never was!! yoongi trust me i am very single right now i mean it!! 100%”

“are you sure? like-“

“he’s just my best friend ever since college and we’re not a thing i sWEAR!! you see him in the box sometimes because he just needs someone to buy him nachos from the stalls aND he’s a pit stop crew member for jung hoseok-“

you’d like to think that you are diffusing this situation very well

“-and that tOTALLY doesn’t matter because pfft?! i don’t even know jung hoseok like wHAAAAAT does he uhm race or sth?? whew am i right lmao can i get an amen? ᵖˡˢ ˢᵃʸ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ ᵖˡˢ”

yoongi already knows this bit of information and his eye does twitch at the mention of hoseok like how mr. bean is with mozambique but it’s COOL seeing you flustered is getting a really cheesy smile out of him

“do you rap?”

“no but do you want me to”

yoongi snorts and giggles at that and meanwhile you are getting THE nervous sweats because obviously you weren’t prepared for this

damn it :( you should’ve just kept jungkook sober so he could “wingman the fUCK out of you” in his own words

the only thing you could do that’s the closest to rapping is have jungkook beatbox in the background while u go bow chicka wowow bow cHICKA WOW :((

“you’re funny.”

yoongi’s still kinda dying at giggling throughout the whole interaction but he really means it sincerely ok

QUICK IS THAT A COMPLIMENT OR AN INSULT

“thanks :))”

fUck it you should’ve just said a one-liner or something, not a timid thanks or would that be trying too hard

you are getting too panicked and nervous now and the only out you see is-

“ggukie!! you want another drink?”

bless up

bless jungkook’s soul for immediately agreeing and before you know it, you’re lifting another shot glass to his lips with a hand underneath his chin

you’re gonna help him with his hangover tomorrow because he’s saving yOUR ass by easing the tension of how pATHETICALLY nervous you are with yoongi

yoongi’s persevering too because this jungkook guy has hands.. what?? does he drink his water from a formula bottle??? DOES HE NEED MILK

chile why is he getting jealous

it’s not like he’s become fond of you nor got attached to this girl that gave him a caffeine pill placed on a napkin bed after much observation of him and the sentiment behind it just makes him mushy

lol

couldn’t be him :))

...

....

SIKE IT’S HIM THAT’S HIM :(((

“YOOOOOOONGIIIIIIIIIII!!!”

oh god

oh no

it’s a drunk jimin :(

a drunk, happy, gIGGLY JIMIN

“Y/NNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!”

you’re quite surprised at the sight because uH you’re used to jimin the grumpy crew chief

nOt jimin the giggly person who’s giggling at the little rainbows ur bracelet makes when the light hits it and who’s complimenting your hoodie sO HARD

mom come pick me up im scared

“y/n O-M-G where did you get those earrings because they r the bomb dot COM”

“jimin what did u drink because i am LOVING it”

“a pomelo gin mix or like fOUR of them.”

yoongi answers for jimin because he knows all too well

woop jimin’s hugging him now and his grip is tight o-okay i guess i’ll... keep you... still?

it’s not jimin’s fault :( he just likes pretty drink i mean could u blame him :(((

“aish those pack a punch for sure. you could barely taste the gin because of the juice-“

“-but it gets you drunk nonetheless no matter how much you drink it.”

you and yoongi are straight up CONNECTING right now vibing if u will

“yeah and some light it up on fire then take it out so it would taste smoother and seamless!!”

that’s it he’s had enough yoongi will propose to you rIGHT NOW he thought he was the only one who knew that fact

oR KNEW THE DIFFERENCE

or knew the reason for it that isn’t just to make it look cool

oh man you feel so sorry for pegging yoongi as just one of those “all beers taste the same” dudes in senior year :’’’)

“jUNGKOOOOOOOK!!!”

jimin kinda ruins the moment by opening his mouth being all excited as he points excitedly to look at who’s beside you

“YOOOOOOOOOONGIIIIIII!!!!”

“oh oh! shh!!! you’re not supposed to be here but it’s ok jungkooooook!!! i’ll just close my eyes!!!”

“h-hey guys *hiccup* have you seen jimin? because i can’t see him!!”

that’s not... that’s not how it works...

jungkook is giggling so hard and jimin’s gonna roll over anytime if it isn’t for yoongi holding him

“omg jungkook’s earrings look like windchimes :D”

“y/n omg jIMIN’S RIGHT! they do look like windchimes :D”

“i bet they also sOUND LIKE WINDCHIMES :D” jimin’s leaping out of yoongi’s hold eagerly and the both of u just know that this is gonna go bad

he’s about to faceplant because he’s slipping the moment he decided to break free

it’s a good thing you’re catching him and jimin’s embracing you now while

his legs are slack on the floor and jungkook the drunk dumbass thought it was an emergency

and in times of emergency apparently, jungkook’s move is try and hop on your back for a piggyback ride“okay, okay, time to get off y/n now!!”

yoongi chuckles as he pries jimin off of you and onto himself instead

jungkook sTILL won’t give up into having a piggyback ride from you hmp

“hey, wanna split an uber?

”you like that idea very much :D“who’s gonna sit with them at the back, though?”

“you can give me your number and i’ll volunteer tribute :))”:D

that’s good

this is good

yeah sure yoongi might’ve had to sit in the middle of jimin and jungkook that are messes

and has to endure it when young, wild and free by wiz khalifa came on aND

jimin went owo “young sound like yoongi omg”

and jungkook went and followed and the whole lyrics were yoongi wild and yoongi free

but that’s ok

that’s okay!!!

he had to say goodbye to you two floors early because that’s where jungkook’s room is and u need to tuck him in

the most he could do was walk you to the door while having a sleepy jimin use him as a crutch

all worth it though :))

“thanks for tonight, yoongi :))”

and there’s just this tentative silence because the both of you kinda felt dejected because you didn’t want tonight to end, truthfully

you press a tentative lil kiss on his cheek and

“good night.”

yoongi’s cheek is tingling aHHHHHH HE’S ABOUT TO BURST

that’s so precious

YOU’RE SO PRECIOUS

alcohol doesn’t fix everything bUT ON RARE OCCASIONS IT COULD BE A BRIDGE

jungkook woke up with a killer headache because apparently when you and yoongi weren’t looking, jimin let him have a sip of his drink and he was immediately :O

but you did lessen it to an amount!!!!!

he could barely register what happened last night but what he did remember is yOONGI

just yoongi

aND THAT MEANS HE COULDN’T REMEMBER UR LITTLE CHEEK KISS :D

eventually you’d tell him but not now

jungkook’s all smiles when you were telling him on how you tucked him to bed and eVEN caved into giving him a piggyback ride

your explanation of you making him drink a full bottle of water and then some more is the reason to why he felt bloated and every time he moved in his deep sleep he was just sLOSHING around

although you didn’t get to do his skincare routine on him because he likes tapping his face

and tapping jungkook’s face while he’s drunk is like choosing death because he’d think that there were little ants on his face and he’d freak the fUck out

so you just took a makeup wipe to get the dirt off his face and put on a face mask!! minimal effort!! maximum results!! efficiency :D

yours and jimin’s dynamic is chANGING FOR THE BETTER he’s getting warmer to you now!!!

you did tease him one time about the pomelo gin drink and he glared at you

but then you whispered to his ear

“if it’s between your choice of pomelo pink gin and yoongi’s whiskey? i’d pick pink gin all the way :D”

jimin gasped out loud

friendship? bUILDING

you and yoongi??

safe to say that you’re on the closer side :D

i mean tECHNICALLY you aren’t on the commitment boat yet or like… you haven’t had a date yet…. or held hands…..

but you’re getting there!!! iT’S A PROCESS

you’ve always been his supporter in the sidelines but now u r a full-pledged cheerleader for him in the moments that you aren’t tending to his car or tending to work

practice sessions are held starting two days before the race

it’s literally just for practice and it’s for the driver to get familiar and to test out some things that may need to be tweaked furthermore

this is the only time the drivers get to drive the cars besides the actual race itself

and the race is held on sunday!!!!

two practice sessions on friday that last one and a half hours each

and a final practice session on saturday that lasts for an hour

obviously you’re there

bUT when you’re not in use, you just completely revert to cheering for yoongi by the barrier!!!“GO YOONGS!!!!!”

jimin sends you a look to keep it down because even though he has his headphones on he could sTILL hear you

you shut up of course but not without waving your hands in the air whenever yoongi’s car comes into your view :D

in qualifying sessions too!!! these are to determine the driver’s grid positions in the actual race

and eVERY driver’s goal is to earn pole position, the front-most and most advantageous position from the starting line!!!

pole position doesn’t automatically mean that you’re the winner but it does help the driver to ace at that closer!!!

you shut up in qualifying sessions because in fact, you’re nervous too there are six more races to this whole season and each one is important because yoongi and hobi?? they’re just neck-to-neck with their scores and although yoongi’s on the lead, he could nEVER BE COMPLACENT

yoongi’s pole-sitter undoubtedly with his performance and then could you breathe a sigh of relief :))

he’s stripping his racing suit slightly and by that he means taking off the velcro and getting the zipper undone and taking off his balaclava and

oBVIOUSLY his helmet

fact: race suits are extremely light but are sO HOT

yeah sure there’s been upgrades to it and that it has cooling properties now but u can’t exactly feel that when you’re gonna be in it for atleast an hour doing a proper race

his routine lately is going sTRAIGHT to you after he finishes whatever he’s doing

“you didn’t cheer me on :((“

“that’s because i was too busy rooting for you in my mind :))”

“well then root for me with your mOUTH”

“what”

“wHAT??”

yoongi’s just being a little petty and cranky, that’s all

it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t give much affection, he automatically doesn’t want to rECEIVE it :(((

admittedly, you’re kinda cutting off from the physical affection with yoongi lately because jungkook quizzed you and you’re pretty sure that you were in a default :O after

“who texts first?”

“me!! our schedules don’t exactly match up because he has a different trainer than our pit crew does but i just wanna wake up extra early to send him a text :))”

“who sleeps earlier?”

“yoongi!! lmao he loves resting whenever he can aND he even brings this diffuser with him whenever we gor from hotel to hotel!!”

“who goes to who more frequently?”

“oOoOhhh i love visiting yoongi!!! whenever i surprise him he just looks so shocked and eventually it sinks in to him”

“who exerts more effort?”

“kook i — oH.,..,.”

of course jungkook is so happy for you because look at you!! you went from admiring yoongi from afar to hanging out with him actively and even going so far as to have him kiss your cheek once!!

but no matter how supportive he is, he jus wants to be as realistic too because he doesn’t want you hurt

yes he admires how you are with him but like mAYBE you’re far in too deep and yoongi is not on the same level

and so you just came to the conclusion that maybe you were just being too enthralled in it to not see that yoongi doesn’t find the concept of you

and him together as desired as you found it to be

:((

and so maybe you’ve been detaching yourself lately

you stay in bed sleeping for as long as you’d like, and the only alarm clock you have is jimin ringing the bell on your door to let you know that training

was to start

jimin quickly catched on to what you were doing because he’s seeing less of you around yoongi??? surprisingly???

and he just couldn’t keep it in to not know what was happening so he asked jungkook

then jungkook was positively surprised and happy because jimin???? coming to him personally to ask???? omg he is gonna spill of course and so jimin was like eh… it’s the least i could do i guess….

five rings of the doorbell to wake you up

seven rings to let you know that training’s gonna start in ten minutes

ten rings to oPEN YOUR DAMN DOOR

you didn’t linger around yoongi unnecessarily and you weren’t sending those specifically niche templates you see on instagram that make you laugh

he doesn’t receive the “you’re a daughter of an astronaut and a swimmer and you’re not sure which aesthetic to pick because you’re too dizzy from accidentally inhaling chlorine in the big-ass man-made pool since you intern at nasa and u just need to lie down” lookbooks :(

he thought of it as nothing at first because eh they’re just little things!!! he barely notices anyway

WRONG

yoongi feels so devastated because why :(( won’t :(( you just :(( hUG HIM OUT OF THE BLUE LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO

these days he feels so on edge because aHa!! anytime now, y/n’s gonna hug me :D

but then you dON’T

yoongi put on extra perfume because you like burrowing your nose to his neck whenever you hug him and wHY aren’t you hugging him

wait maybe it’s the perfume that’s throwing you off??

nevermind he’s gonna buy another hundred-dollar bottle of a different perfume it’s ok nO WORRIES and sometimes you don’t join the team breakfast and yoongi’s all lost

because hMmM??? i got u these pancakes a-and i already put the butter and the syrup….. why aren’t you here…

you’re with jungkook and his team knows about your friendship and how it came to be and they’re all just eH it’s okay y/n’s cool anyways :))

hobi’s so kind

jungkook sits in the same table as hobi and therefore that means you sit beside kook and u have no choice because he WILL insist

not because you’re his friend but also because he’s too lazy to stand and get another serving so he’ll just steal some from your plate

hobi eVEN offers to refill your glass with orange juice because his is gone too and he’s gonna get more anyway :))

yoongi can’t go over it though and he’s just wallowing because first, hoseok’s aiming for his title that he wants to retain, and nOW HOSEOK’S COMING FOR HIS Y/N???

ok his might be a little bit of a reach because he hasn’t asked you out yet but he iS getting there

he swears that he feels so lost without u :((

and so yoongi’s persistent and he vouched his day-off to be aligned with your gym day aaaand he’s here now :D

he’s right behind you!!

“hiii.”

yoongi squeezes in on the space left at your side

well you dIDN’T expect yoongi today clearly“hi pls back up a little i mAY accidentally kick you :D”

you’re doing pull-ups at the moment and you’re getting the hang of doing them!! even if this used to be the bane of your existence in your workout program and you’d sell your soul just for jungkook to call you and cry on the phone and pretend he stubbed his toe or something to get out of training

so tHAT’S yoongi’s greeting??? :((

“i haven’t seen you lately”

“hmm? i see you everyday, yoongs”

“rEALLY??”

you’re only discovering now that while doing pull-ups, you can aLSO make and maintain conversation!!

yoongi’s a bit sarcastic because your full attention isn’t on him and he guesses that it’s a given when you’re working out bUt are you even hearing what he’s saying :((

“doesn’t feel like it, though.”

ok that one made you falter a little bit

“how can you say??”

he practically huffs at that and that also goes noticed

how can you not know that???

he’s a patient person but with you, he just gets sO eager and whiney and now he just can’t cope!!!

just when he thought you were finally go down because you were slowing your movements, you were oNLY doing that just to regain your momentum for another set AND!!!

fine then :))

yoongi’s jumping up and his hands wrap around the higher bar snugly, his body pressed to yours

he’s so close oh my god yOONGI’S SO CLOSE TO YOU

you’re suspended in air and a bit breathless and yoongi’s just hanging slack and he’s about to burst into a smile because uH success!!!

his lips look so kISSABLE and his cheeks are plump and his eyes are v enchanting and wHEW you’re sweating at this point and it’s nOt from working out

yoongi only tilts his head as he earns the reaction he wanted and more :D

“who’s your trainer? sehun?”

“y-yeaHh???”

“m’kay.”

he’s not content just yet and for a split second, yoongi tilts his face to the side of yOUR face and his lip barely brush to the shell of your ear

“i’ll pull you out of this one. eat lunch with me.” the sound of yoongi dropping back down to the floor makes you jOLT because oh.,., oh that rEALLY DID JUST HAPPEN HUH

what a menace

your heart is too weak for yoongi

you are sO whipped :’’’)

so whipped that you cave into jungkook’s demands

jungkook’s aLWAYS been your sticker guy

he just has stickers… that he either makes or acquires but he isn’t telling where from… and either gives or sells them to u

he has this label maker too that could print your name on or whatever you want to put on your stuff

he would even input little stars or little hearts or even lil dinosaurs if you want him to!!!

you don’t know how and why but wHEREVER you go, jungkook always has stickers on him

AND THIS IS REALLY SPECIAL OK

you specifically told jungkook to curate like a ten-pack out of the things you told him about yoongi

he has the reigns aS LONG as he thinks (and it better be) that it screams min yoongi!!

it’s just that you wanna give gifts to yoongi and you don’t need aNY occasion just to give presents

you were deep in thought and your head blanked and then went…

stickers…. get him stickers

snickers???

…. stickers ….

sNEAKERS???

…. stickers dUMB BITCH i said stickers!!!! …..

lol u love ur mind

and when you said that to jungkook, he fell both honored AND pressured like what if yoongi decides not to like you anymore because of your (his) sticker choices

what then

damn ur wrong for this

jeez jungkook’s becoming the backbone of your blossoming relationship ://

sigh but it’s cool,, jungkook’s used to becoming a fundamental part to society

jungkook’s ringing your bell so early in the morning because he just got done last night with completing his collection!! and you iMMEDIATELY need to see it as per his insistence

ok they r pretty cool

there’s yoongi’s name in a really cool yet sophisticated font that just screamed yoongi to you!!

there’s Agust D in a big bold formal font!! you remember that story of how yoongi was born and raised briefly in daegu then they had to move and he misses his hometown

he was about to use Agust D as his name when he first tried out for racing but the name itself made so many heads turn so he was just,,, too spicy,,,

i’ll make it suga

OMG YOUR INITIALS

jungkook’s wild for that one but omg you’re giggling because wow u like that

“clouds?? and the sky’s purple??”

“i think eVERYBODY likes clouds”

“well some pilots don’t”

“what makes them think that clouds like them back?”

wait

“a cat??… flipping me off???”

“lol ok funny story but yoongi flipped me off once LMAOOO”

“… he did what”

“i’ll tell u the story later but this, THIS — okay i don’t know if it’s just me, but yoongi looks like a cat, y’know?? like i sWEAR i could see cats in him, and then i see him in cats. do you get me??”

“gguk-“

“and he wears headbands, right? LOOK I EVEN DREW HIM A HEADBAND!! :D”

ok you aren’t gonna lie

this ten-pack goes pretty fucking hard if you may say so

“how much do i owe you, kook?”

“that would be fifty dollars :D”

“fifty wait wHAT?? FIFTY DOLLARS?? WHAT??? JUNGKOOK SAY SIKE”

psh atleast it was worth a shot

“fine. tHIRTY dollars.”

“THIRTY DOLLARS?????”

you know for a fact that these ten stickers aREN’T worth tHIRTY DOLLARS

the highest jungkook’s ever charged you is $10 for a pack of ninety-nine he even took one from the sticker booklet and he only said that after he sold it to u

you both know that these aren’t $30 :((

it’s always a take it or leave it situation because you know hobi is a sucker for stickers :((

“…. fine.” you pull thirty dollars from your wallet and that’s thirty dollars ur never gonna get back

jungkook’s a bit frazzled because wHAT

you actually gave him tHIRTY dollars??

they don’t even cOST _____ dollars!!!

it’s just awkward now when he tries to take back what he said

“… as a special gift.,.,. i’m gonna put them.,.,. in a nice envelope.,., that i uh doodled hearts on…”

quick if jungkook was a seller on redbubble, how many stars would you rate him

this better have a gREAT PAYOFF

spoiler alert: it did!!!

YOONGI LOVES THEM

“i mean i’m not saying you should put these on your race car because i kNOW every gram matters on it and like — sTICKERS!! u can stick them anywhere am i right :D”

“do you uh,, do you like it? ˡᵃʸ ᶦᵗ ᵈᵒʷⁿ ᵍᵉⁿᵗˡʸ ᵒⁿ ᵐᵉ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ”

“y/n bABY ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? i love them sO MUCH!! like look aH OMG IT’S ME THAT’S — I’M SUPPOSED TO BE THIS CAT RIGHT???”

it went great!!!

above and beyond than what you expected

“thank you thank you dO YOU KNOW that you’re the best eVER :(((“

yoongi is so touched and awed over a pack of sTICKERS and it’s the little joys and you that make him the happiest

he’s so excited and pumped because he can’t pick on where to put them because they’re so precious and in the same time he doesn’t wanna use them because they’re tOO precious

yoongi’s about to kiss your cheek in the same time you wanna explain some of them and-

he’s kissing the corner of your mouth

he only realizes when you squeak a little and he feels just so unexplainable with pure bliss that’s going through his body omg

and then yoongi pulls away to gauge your reaction because he was iNITIALLY gonna go for a cheek kiss but now that’s out of the bank because he wants more and-

oh god his cheeks are already on fire and tHIS WAS JUST A KISS TO THE CORNER OF YOUR MOUTH ACCIDENTALLY

it’s time to clear his throat and attempt to clear his mind“is uHhH sehun?

sehun the trainer today?”

“yeaH it’s sehun…”

yoongi please say what i want you to say

pleathe

“i can — i cAN bail you out, if you want.,.. you uH ˢʰᶦᵗ do you wanna go karting with me?? like, right now??? it’s okay if you don’t wanna bUt i mean ᶠᵘᶜᵏ uhHhH-“

“yeah :)) i wanna go karting with you :))”

yoongi’s a mess and hE’S the nervous one now and he keeps scratching the back of his neck and he can’t maintain eye contact

he was about to explain that he’s not pressuring you wait dID YOU JUST SAY

“yes?? yeah?? oH that’s cool :D”

“do i need to get changed or-“

i mean you’re still in your workout leggings and a big black shirt jungkook has an aBUNDANCE of so u just stole one and tried out embroidery!!

it’s not the best aha

kinda ugly because it’s massive on you and u just take it off whenever the workout progresses to be harder

“no!! no!! don’t worry!! i’ll bring my backpack!! just take yourself, y/n, i’ll take care of you ʷᵃᶦᵗ ʷᵃᶦᵗ aHA!!! i’ll pack my shirts for you and water and like snacks omg i will be back in fIVE minutes!!!”

there’s kinda no protest since yoongi’s already dashing out of your hotel room and into his… and he’s leaving you alone and he swears that this will only take fIVE minutes

he’s a nervous wreck

but yOU are too

because wait

this is your first date!!

THIS COUNTS AS YOUR FIRST DATE

oh god you are gonna cOMBUST

it did take five minutes and perhaps even earlier!!

yoongi’s managed to even get a cap for you and sUNBLOCK

he has a driver hired and that’s kinda ironic because hE’S the driver but he doesn’t mind!!!

he’s sitting with you at the second row and you’ve never really properly been out the city ever since you got here because leisure trips aren’t exactly in your schedule

the buildings and the scenery are so cool and authentic and yoongi’s just staring at you as you stare out :(((

why are you so beautiful :(((

he’s envisioned taking you out for go-karting as your first date but nOT NOW

yoongi’s accidentally kissed you once on the corner of your mouth and he is now forever a changed man

his mind immediately went wOOP take y/n karting nOW

yoongi has a pinterest board with ideas for a first date

picnics are cute but there’s just so much aNTS and mosquitoes and flies would go to ur food when you turn away for a single second!!!

not to mention that he never checks the weather reports lmao

and grass with how soggy they could he eVEN if it didn’t rain???

disgusting

there’s always the option of dinner dates too

but sometimes they could be just SO boring and it’s a hit or miss whether you’d like the food because you don’t like overly fancy restaurants y’know

not to mention that they r overrated and the food isn’t that good to your taste bUT maybe that’s just you

he’s searched this place up a couple days ago and look!!! they have karts that have tWO seats on them

maybe he could rent out the place or pull out the “no it’s MIN YOONGI” card and he can drive you around and stuff :D

it’s postive to say that you’re vERY excited

“last one to cross the finish line buys the winner gifts for a whole week bYEEEE”

wait

that’s not-

tHAT’S NOT HOW THIS IS SUPPOSED TO GO

apparently this is how yOU want it to go

the idea of yoongi driving you around in go-karts didn’t cross your mind once

you thought that you were gonna race against him and gOD ARE YOU SO EXCITED

you work on cars not drive in cars

the closest you’ve ever went to karting is going on bumper cars when jungkook took you to the amusement park!!!

it’s not racing because all you and kook did was bump the other as mUCH as possible to the point that the attendant was :/// are they ok

you know how to drive!!!

not to flex or anything but u dO have a professional driver’s license aha :D

although that doesn’t mean shit if ur kinda being honest

do you know how to drift a car like what they do in fast and the furious?? probably yes

jungkook was “breaking in” his car and he took you to the dealership with him and the car just felt so sTIFF and then he saw an empty parking lot….

and well you didn’t exactly STOP him because it isn’t your car

how could you stop someone from doing something that you yourself wANT to do

can you drive as fast as yoongi?? possibly yes

will it be as clean and as easy as he makes it to be?? heck no

yoongi’s chasing after you because oh you are dEDICATED now to racing against him

you’re even scrambling to put your race suit on iN FRONT OF HIM and it makes him all flustered as he tries to keep up by turning and putting on his own

“now don’t go easy on me, okay???”

yoongi’s a bit confused because what did u just say

not to fuel his ego or anything but madame he is a race car driver and it runs in his blood and the skill is in his name

he loves u (although he hasn’t said that yet) but he doesn’t want to ruin all your hopes and dreams

“just race as what you normally do and i’ll do my oWN!!! :D”

o-okay

you’re fast!!!as fast as go-karts could go!!!

you even turned down yoongi’s offer of a ten-second head start because wHERE’S THE FUN IN THAT

you are as happy and as giddy as you could ever be

yoongi, on the other hand, is worried a ton

you’re still a bit cautious when it comes to curves and to turning and

yoongi’s heart physically stops whenever you go through them because now you’re starting to pick up the pace around them

you’re getting used to the curves as you go on and you’re starting to maintain speed aND go through curves smoothly

he’s happy that you’re happy but god he’s just tERRIFIED okay

the list of what could possibly go wrong is evading his mind and for god’s sake, he’s a rACE CAR DRIVER HIMSELF!!!!! with custom top-speed cars and not go-karts!!! and not once did this list cross his mind whenever he drives

it’s just now hitting him that his profession’s dangerous

but your profession tOO is dangerous!!!

you may not be the driver put you are a part of the pit stop crew that tends to the car the driver’s racing!!!!

fIRES!!! pneumatic torque guns that are sO DANGEROUS!!!! wheels!!!!! gas!!!!! the driver himself when he’s in a rush and could possibly injure people along the way!!!!!

yoongi’s going down on a spiral so harsh that he didn’t even notice that not only did you pass him, but you’re also farther away from him sIGNIFICANTLY and before he knows it, you finished first!!

“yoongs yoongs did you see me dID YOU SEE ME?????? :D”

you jump up to yoongi the moment he gets out of his kart and he instantly catches you and puts his hands underneath your thighs to secure you

your arms are even around his neck and you are incredibly close to yoongi more than you could ever wrap your head around

“mhmmmm ‘course i did!!”

he mindlessly hums and he just takes the time to see you up close like this before you realize and yelp later on because ur flustered

god yoongi’s never cared for anyone this much before

he’s falling in so hard

and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, right?

the moment you stop talking and gushing is the moment you realize that yoongi’s been awfully quiet all throughout, making you look down and-

yoongi’s kissing you

for rEAL this time

god he is putty in your hands and he’s extremely mushy

your lips are sO soft that he feels like he could die a happy man

you don’t know if your getting this adrenaline from the rush you got from winning or if it’s just the desire to kiss him for so long that’s fueling you but either way

yoongi feels a little tug on his roots and that instinctively makes him kiss you a little deeper

his kisses taste so gOOD TOO

although you DO need to breathe every once in awhile

yoongi has the biggest gummy smile on his face and his legs feel like giving out because he feels sO HAPPY

you don’t fight the grin on your face either because wow :D that was just wHoosh!!! the suspense built up to it was incomparable oh god the tENSION before

he doesn’t mind losing then :)

“one more? :D”

oh god u are rEALLY whipped for yoongi

and this puts the two of you on ANOTHER level okay

he’s gotten more affectionate and showy almost

jimin’s kinda concerned because sometimes he sees yoongi smiling out of the blue and he’s just…. what is this guy ON…..

jungkook’s so excited and happy for you!!!

he keeps pushing that this wouldn’t have happened if it isn’t for his overpriced stickers

he wants you to tell him EVERYTHING

“yeah?? and tHEN WHAT????”

he is a little jealous however because not all your time is spent on hanging out with him anymore

or how a particular someone would be joining your hangouts from time to time aka yoongi being a third wheel

…. or maybe jungkook’s the third wheel ….

lol impossible :)))))))

[ jeon jungkook continiously tries to deny the truth to himself as always ]

he could be nosy yes bUT he’s always curious

although

“so he’s finally your boyfriend?”

he makes sense most of the times

now that you think about it.,.,.

wait

wAIT YOONGI ISN’T YOUR BOYFRIEND

you aren’t sure either if there’s a label already set?????

because as far as you know, kissing someone doesn’t automatically translate to gREAT UR MY PARTNER IN LIFE NOW

oh no

it’s all good!!!

all good!!!!

you could open this up to yoongi later!!!

oh wait he’s busy

tomorrow then!!!!

uH nope he’s busy

the other day then :))

yoongi keeps getting busy and busy as he explains to the point that you’re in the same floor but you aren’t even seeing each other

he isn’t lying to you, right??

this isn’t about the kiss, right?????

goddamn you jungkook :((

the gears in your head are turning because oh god what if yoongi’s realized that he doesn’t want to commit to you

or that this is as long as a free netflix trial and your time’s up and you need to gO

it also feels oddly sketchy too because yoongi’s only become suddenly busy and almost unreachable ever since the kiss

it is, in fact, about the kiss

god yoongi himself feels that he’s an asshole

he’s suddenly second-guessing his decisions

he’s went down the rabbit hole of thinking that mAYBE you deserve better than him

his name’s kinda big and some rumors follow him too, whether it’s inside or outside the track

yoongi has a track record of ex-girlfriends as what the media wittily dubs it aND HE WON’T DENY IT OK

he does have some ex-girlfriends and his lovelife isn’t talked about within the team because they just treat rumors as rumors and it’s yoongi’s life anyway

but what if news breaks out that you and him are dating

and his track record is brought up once again

aND NOT JUST THAT

because yoongi also feels like he isn’t worthy enough for you :((

he could be bland and too blunt at some points

as opposed to you :(( who’s sometimes too kind and always tries to understand situations and won’t also take shit from anyone

he’s not as spontaneous or charismatic as jungkook

he can’t be as spontaneous as jungkook who’s willing to go to a halloween party with him as mater and you as lightning mcqueen aND PERHAPS IN THE LITERAL COSTUME KIND OR SOMEHOW CLOSE TO IT

he’s not as avid in things that you like as much as jungkook is

he’s just yoongi :((

and he feels like the whole yoongi for y/n thing isn’t enough :((

you haven’t seen yoongi though

and since today’s for the practice sessions, this is the time that you’re sURELy gonna see him!!!

that’s the problem though

because seeing someone doesn’t exactly guarantee that they’re gonna pay attention to you

in other words: you think that yoongi might be avoiding you :((

he wasn’t alone as he normally was and just when you were about to approach him, that’s when he left to go get changed

you have no choice too since he goes straight to the track and that was it!!

you’re sneaking in to reply to jungkook who’s asking for updates because he’s as committed to this scenario as much as you were

this is the last practice session anyway

you just want to get this over with so you could go confront yoongi and fix whatever is this that’s happening :((

it doesn’t help, really

doesn’t help when the practice session is over and what yoongi does the first thing when he finishes is not go back to where the team is

or perhaps just hop over the box like he usually does

he goes to kim dahyun,,

kim dahyun

she’s a heiress?? a socialite?? maybe both???

she’s someone who’s known to be always in the front seat when it comes to events

she’d be placed courtside in basketball games and in tennis tournaments and by the side of the runway when it’s fashion week

no one for sure knows why

but her most recent appearances have been banked in these racing weekends and wherever she goes is where articles follow :((

she’s just something else :((

she’s pretty and she’s rich and she’s kim dahyun

she’s wearing your team’s novelty shirt and she has it tied up in the front

dahyun has her hair up in a bun and she has this ribbon that corresponded with your team colors wrapped around it

she has these perfect-looking gel nails!! gel nails!!! you could see the shine all the way from here when she’s flashed at the monitor and is in fact a couple of feet away from you!!

the jewelry too :((

gel nails and jewelry are things you’ve always wanted to try out but could barely wear due to the nature of your job

and although they’re just little things, it kinda drives you crazy because you can’t help but feel like you’re having a burnout with your profession

the fact that yoongi’s going to her for reasons unbeknownst to you is enough to make your stomach drop

even puts his hand at the sMALL of her back and-

even does this lil cheek kiss and she does it back with him and they talk

they talk

min yoongi goes to talk to kim dahyun and greet her like that

when you can’t even get the bare minimum of even a glance from him

“aRE YOU SEEING THIS??”

jungkook texts you and it’s the only momentary relief you get because this way, your eyes aren’t focused on them and your heart briefly stops hurting

“yeah.”

you wanna go back to the hotel

you don’t even wanna look at yoongi

you retreat to the furthest area away and just sit there while all this fuss blows over and how there are even some cheers upon seeing yoongi and dahyun up on the monitor

cool

that’s cool

your cheeks feel wet and you’re just wordlessly setting up and putting back the things that were needed for this session

mingyu, the fellow pit crew member who’s aloft from you and the other ones for most of the times even noticed and he was just ???

“y/n, y’okay?”

you can’t even bring yourself to be in surprise that he spoke to you because you’re too busy being sad

“dust :)) it’s just dust :))”

but it’s not.,., it’s not even remotely windy.,..,

jungkook crashes to your room later that afternoon and stayed with you until you fell asleep

you’re not exactly cHATTY when you feel your heart breaking and kook’s well-aware

just wordlessly puts on whatever’s trending on netflix and puts it up for background noise :((

orders room service and nudges you until you agree to eat

even strokes your hair because he could see some tears pricking at the corner of your eyes and jungkook automatically presses you to his chest

damn yoongi ://

yoongi’s kinda missing the texts and the calls you’d usually bombard with him

but this time his phone’s silent

he knows at the back of his mind that this may be about dahyun awhile ago but at the same time, he doesn’t wanna entertain the thought because it’s harmless,,,, right??

dahyun was a friend before she became his girlfriend and tHEN his ex

and now they’re friends again

that’s not exactly harmful isn’t it

yoongi’s eyes keep going back to check his phone every two minutes just to see if there’s a notification from you

and if he gets one? he won’t ignore it he sWEARS

just atleast give him a text

even a passive-aggressive one that just has a single period on it

and hE knows that all of this is building up because of him :((

he’s not quite ready to admit that to himself though

oh my god is this the end for you and yoongi???

you haven’t even started with proper labels aND you’re already over???

this isn’t exactly the high road you always try to go through

but yoongi’s just beyond confusing and angering at this point and is being really uNFAIR

so if he won’t be open no matter how much you try to coax him at his won pace and decides to be immature about it.,.,,,

well you’re gonna stop adjusting :D

today’s the third to the last race and just like any other, it’s heated

you support yoongi the driver but you’re not in the best terms with yoongi the loVER

not a bad start honestly

yoongi didn’t get pole position but instead the third and he was a more than bummed because usually, when he didn’t get pole-sitter, he’d lean on to you for comfort and you’re gonna soothe him throughout

but no that didn’t happen yesterday

jimin just sighed and patted him on the back and said “just do good tomorrow” and how is tHAT gonna be on par with how you comfort him

he’s through about 3/4 into the race

and gOD it’s going seamless

but some things are just piling up and it’s making him completely confused

hobi’s already passed him and at this stretch, he typically wouldn’t be able to because yoongi knows hoseok’s pattern

yoongi’s only had a pit stop once and that’s the strategy that gets him winning most times

but god something just feels odd

jimin comes at the right times as he speaks through the radio and yoongi couldn’t be any more lost

“yoongi you hAVE to box now”

and box equates to him having anOther pit stop when he usually wouldn’t because this isn’t it!!

this isn’t the strategy!!!!

“jimin iF i box now then that means-”

“yoongi!! listen to me!!! jung’s gonna pass ahead wHETHER you box or not. if you wanna save face and finish this race ranking atleast within top 10, box. right. now.”

fuck

his tires are thinning and normally he could sTILL go through the final stretch without another pit stop but fuck is jimin ordering him with so much ferocity

he has no other choice

and yoongi’s angry

he’s sTILL heated up because these circumstance have never happened before

then he finished 7th in this race

and that’s the lowEST he’s ever placed this season!!!

yoongi can’t exactly control his anger when it comes to situations like these and jimin’s very well-aware

he has faith in yoongi and his driving but tHESE technical reasons are what made him to go through this last-minute strategy

jimin’s crew chief and he stands by his decisions and his strategies

there’s no denying tho that he kNOWS yoongi’s gonna be heated

yoongi marches off the moment he finishes

and he’s looking for someone

anyone

you’re there by jimin’s side

and of cOURSE you were shocked by the sudden strategy and you just can’t help going to him to discuss it

you know too that yoongi’s gonna be mAD but after analyzing the situation with jimin when he explained and when you visualized, jimin did make the right call

before you know it though

yoongi’s already there

“Y/N!!!”

this is the first time that yoongi’s speaking to you and you couldn’t be anymore shocked and confused at the same time

the two of you aren’t exactly alone,.,,

he’s had this sudden recollection of yoongi eating dinner with you in your hotel room and you kept asking him questions about racing and strategies and the philosophical aspect of it

and he delved into his strategies with jimin and retold them to you

you were in so much fondness too because he looks so focused and passionate when he was laying them out to you

“dID YOU TELL ABOUT THE STRATEGIES TO JUNGKOOK?”

what

wHAT????

yoongi isn’t level-headed right now and the story’s immediately flipped in his head of how this must have possibly went

jimin’s eyes are bulging at what’s unfolding, but even more so to the fact that you and yoongi aREN’T alone

and he’s here and the other crew members are here

and they can heAR YOONGI!!! loud and clear!!!

“yoongi wHAT are you talking about???”

“don’t play dumb!! you told them to jungkook, didn’t you???”

for a fact, you didn’t

you didn’t tell jungkook nor aNYONE else

what would you benefit from that??

what would yOONGI benefit from that??

“shut up!! you tOld about the strategies to jungkook and he told it to hoseok and nOW look at what happened!!! all of this, all of what i did, is gonna fall through just because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut!!”

jimin’s heart is dropping at this and he can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now

he knows to his heart that you wouldn’t do such a thing

or that all of this has to do with his decision and a series of coincidences that piled up for yoongi to mindlessly think that you’re the reason for what he’s pushing to be a leak

“yoongi, i would never-”

“dON’T TALK TO ME!!”

he’s burning

actually burning

so much so that he’s walking towards you and looking down on you

“you’re fired.”

wait

what the actual fuck

“yOU CAN’T DO THAT!”

“i can.”

jimin’s about to step in as he’s standing behind you and he’s already gripping at your arm

he needs to say something

and you know your standing with jimin isn’t the best but you’re just thinking about him

you know how he’s due for a promotion and a raise

and you know yoongi’s above and beyond gonna ruin his career if jimin dared to speak and atleast attempt to defend you and pin the blame on himself

“and i’m gonna get my father involved if i have to.”

that’s it

that’s the end of your career

you didn’t wait to get fired

knowing yoongi, he means what he says and so you didn’t waste a single second in packing up your bags and rounding up your documents

you already knew enough that yoongi’s dad have connections with the association and a single phone call could flip things over

so whether yoongi’s already made the call to his dad or not, you’re gonna leave either way

you’re making calls to your manager, the same one who came to your college and recruited you and jungkook, and had to explain as much as you can while pulling at all stops

said managers was saddened at the call and then she had to make that call to the ones in the upper positions so could aLSO explain as much as she can

honestly you don’t know either what’s gonna come out of this

either your name would be defamed wrongly, or nO one’s gonna notice at all and your sudden disappearance would have 99 versions and not one confirmed

they think it’s best to respect your decision of letting go and even if you’ve signed a contract, this “firing” is as good as official

also they think it’s best to relay the statement of you making an “indefinite leave” due to a “family emergency of grave importance” which translates to no this isn’t an indefinite leave but instead you’re leaving for good

it’s both a blessing and a curse that this happened far into the season

a blessing since there’s only two races left after this and that means less adjustments with the team dynamic and the news of your departure won’t be as focused on because yeah last two races

a curse since these last two races are critical and yoongi just couldn’t wait until the last one to blame you and then fire you

no worries though

there are always replacements

aka which just points that you’re despensable and it’s nOT helping your self-esteem

backups are there in case the event a pit crew member gets injured (or worse, incapacitated; and they’re familiar with the work and the dynamic so it would be just a seamless fit

and all of that got arranged in less than two hours :)) there was even a flight you managed to book within that time

you didn’t even get to say goodbye to jungkook :((

he had to know all of it by a short n simple goodbye and see you soon text you sent before boarding and by asking jimin what happened

he was cOMPLETELY bawling his eyes out because his best friend left him :(( and he counts on you so much and you help him stay sANE

he’s beyond angry at yoongi and didn’t even bother to bat an eye when he walked past him

jimin feels so guilty and sad

he was a shitty crew chief to you for the most part and after all that, you still went through this considering hIM and his job and his dIGNITY even if it means you lose all three things and you already did

jimin cried when jungkook’s lip started trembling and he lost it completey by then

yoongi’s lost and empty and oblivious to all of this

he figures that it’s better to let some hours pass so he could cool down and reflect

that’s his second mistake however

yoongi’s complacent

and three hours have passed and he knows that at this time you’re still awake so he walked over to your room and just rang the bell

he’s rung it three times now and uSUALLY you wouldn’t even let it pass two when it’s yoongi by the door

that’s weird

yoongi’s about to pull out his phone to call you to open the door but before

he could even press at your name, the door already opens

… it’s a middle-aged man …

“yOU’RE NOT Y/N”

…

“wrong door, kid.”

but that’s your room

yoongi knows you’ve left the circuit earlier than everyone because of what happened

that much he knows

but not this

yoongi dials jungkook instead because for sure he’d know where you are but then another door opens and that’s jUNGKOOK!!! leaving jimin’s room that’s a couple of doors from your room

“yA. do-…”

jungkook literally just walks past him and into the elevator

what

what is going ON

then yoongi’s jogging to jimin’s door that’s closing then he manages to wedge into his foot before it closes

“where’s Y/N?”

little did yoongi know that the answer would make him regret even asking you don’t have the slightest clue on how could possibly bounce back from this

maybe take a break; a week perhaps

get a job that’s for sURE

ignore yoongi’s texts and calls

reply to jungkook whenever he contacts you as much as he could in free time that he gets

assure jimin that you’re okay and he has nothing to apologize for

be eternally grateful for your friends that have your back no matter what and help you stay afloat and even giving you a job

bless the kim line

jin, namjoon, and taehyung were your ultimate friends in college besides jungkook

they are the most awesome and sWEETEST friend group you’ve ever had in your life

you didn’t get to hang out with them as frequently like you did with jungkook since the three of them were in the business course and you and kook on the student athlete side

but that didn’t change the fact that you give are inseperable and wHOLESOME

you and jungkook ended up being crew members for a famous and multi-million team in formula racing but you’ve retired wAY too early lmao

the three of them

well

not to brag

but they’re the proud owners and the brawns and the brains of kim kradle

KIM KRADLE!!

it’s a one-stop shop for everything that automobiles could possibly need

but why kim kradle do you ask???

well first of all,,, jin, namjoon, and taehyun have the same family name which is Kim so write that down

kradle? aha well :D

so for babies, there’s cradles, right??

they serve kinda like havens, right??

wHERE was ultron from avengers: age of ultron made??? the cradle. although their shop’s vision and mission are wAY WAY different from ultron’s

and like why name it kim cradle

when you can name it kIM KRADLE

they’ve had calls when they were starting out asking if they were selling baby cradles and the answer is N-O

it’s now a huge successful shop that’s like an open warehouse type!!

basically, the kim kradle is divided into three major operations

general services to intensive repair of parts and basically what goes on internally!! jin is in charge and heads that sector!!

he could see your car for two seconds and go “hey man, did you ever ace your karate lessons? lmao you have a broken fan belt not a black belt”

carwashes and waxing and all that good stuff!! namjoon is a beast at thus and your car could be like from 1997 and he’d clean it so good that it would look like it’s from 2030

customization!! from leather seats to metallic foils to coating!! taehyung has an instagram dedicated to his finished works and ongoing ones and like wHAT?? he has half a million followers?? no big deal

kim kradle is on the massive side and is therefore separated to three floors

namjoon and his carwashes are at the basement in which you’d still get sunlight in because there are inclined pathways on the side that lead out to an outdoor waiting area

jin is on the 2nd floor and basically in the same ground level where the civilization is because his section’s more critical and it’s the obvious option

taehyung gets the 3rd floor, and one part’s covered and the other is like a car balcony so when he finishes?? you could see that sunlight hitting the custom coat he did on your car

either kim kradle is so good, the placement and marketing are perfect, or the owners are just sO attractive and unparalled as to why so many people avail their services and most go through all three levels

maybe the formula is all three of those variables

you came home without knowing a sINGLE thing and being alone in your apartment is appreciated but it gets eerie and so isolating

and you called namjoon late into the night because he always knows what to say and you ended up having more than what you hoped for

you just wanted to have some comfort and ease because also,, namjoon’s voice is really soothing and u miss hearing it

not oNLY did you get some peace of mind

you also got a job without even actively looking for it at the moment and you couldn’t be anymore fulfilled

namjoon said that you could come in at kim kradle anytime at your own pace and they’d still welcome you with open arms

also said that jin and tae miss you sO much and it’s a good thing that namjoon is the one you called because if it’s either from the other two, you wouldn’t be able to sleep and perhaps you’d get visitors to your apartment at 2 in the morning

and this is it!!!

for once, you don’t want to confront a problem to the core

you’re just gonna distract yourself and make your way around it aha :D

two days later??? you’re working in kim kradle now!!!

and you know what??

you eVEN get the overalls

the only three people in kim kradle that wear overalls are jin, namjoon, and taehyung themselves

and it’s to kinda highlight the fact that they’re the owners and the heads of their sections

the rest wear boiler-style like suits

all their uniforms are cute

like sERIOUSLY

jin is in charge of the color and there are actually multiple ones!! a pale pink to a nice lavender and a dark navy blue!! the first two are kinda impractical because it’s impossible to not get dirty in this job but they ARE adorable and stylish though

namjoon pushed for this uniform and so he really searched and handpicked fabrics that won’t be tOO hot and in which u could actively move in them

but sometimes there are tasks in which involve the straps for the overalls sliding down so tHE next big thing????

namjoon sewing but actually it became tAEHYUNG’S job because he’s gonna poke himself with the needle multiple times before even getting to put a thread in

made a lil hook by the custom shirts down to where it draped by the shoulders and it could hook the straps so like wHATEVER the four of you do, the overalls won’t slip :D

innovation amirite :D

and then it was taehyung’s job to have kim embroidered in really cute cursive by the back and the initials of their first name in a lil formal font below it

and the first names are embroidered in the front!!!

tae was the one who wrapped the overalls into a large box and you genuinely didn’t expect that you’d be even given one

and it’s just that you’ve been so much on eDGE lately and every little thing turns you emotional these days ever since that incident with yoongi

“is she,,, she’s,,, is y/n sobbing??”

taehyung sputters because oh my god did his gift wrapping throw you off?? jeez he kinda knew at the back of his head that the bright neon green with some balloons saying “happy birthday” even if it’s nOT your birthday looks REPULSIVE and he didn’t have any other gift wrapper left but he didn’t know that it would be too repulsive to make you cry :((

“did we do something??”

jin looks worried because oh god maybe it was the joke he did awhile ago about you suddenly working here now

although namjoon eased their worries and oH you’re hugging the three of them!!!

“i-it’s just that-...”

you were only supposed to thank them for the overalls and the opportunity bUT it took some turns and it ended up with you telling them the story and namjoon having to fill in some gaps when you get too pouty and too sad to explain

tHEY GET IT NOW

anyways

it’s very easy to be thrown in the spur of things at the moment because you’re just grasping at every opportunity to distract yourself!! :D coping mechanisms!!!!

you’re with jin in his section because that’s your work!! that is your work before you got fired and you just got to continue it

but this time with all the time in the world

not really but an hour is a lifetime for you and you’re just used to repairing things in mere seconds

in mere seconds and you have to train for it like almost every second of the day sO this is a nice change :D

“a wrench?? i’m gonna replace the tires using a wrench??”

jin laughs at that because you’re holding it in disgust as you stare down the car that just got brought in

they don’t have a flat tire or anything!! they just wanna get new tires that are as exaggerated as their very-embellished and exaggerated jeep with their specs :D

“they don’t teach you that in racing school????”

://

you know how to replace tires with a wrench and a jack of course

but it’s just hitting you now that oh god this is very alike and different at the same time with your past job!!!

“you dON’T have pneumatic guns?? yeah sure they mAY be expensive but like work would be done quicker and you’d go through more customers?? oH my god jin??? you know what, i’m gonna call jimin right now. let me get you some things!!!”

well then,,,

actually,,,

jin mAY have a pneumatic gun lying around but they don’t use it because a) it’s not as fast and as efficient as what yOU use in the track b) what for honestly,,, c) this is not formula racing and most people aren’t in a rush

but you know what

this is going good for you!!!

jin’s learning new things from u and the other way around and you’re not wallowing in sadness tHAT much anymore :D

and you do feel that kim kradle is doing so much good on you!! you’re constantly with jin but sometimes you spice it up an transfer from floor to floor :))

pressure-washing with namjoon is very therapeutic and having excessive knowledge now about how to properly give your car the shiniest wax ever in your lifetime??

it’s excessive knowledge you wouldn’t trade for the world

you even go work with taehyung sometimes!!! you help him plan out color schemes and pick out fabric with him and go measure dimensions and eVEN do 3D mock-ups

watching and aLSO being able to mix custom coats to go on cars is very satisfying ok

tae even gives you the password to the instagram account :))

he gets you to do the close-ups sometimes and eVEN tells you a thing or two on how he edits these clips to be as satsfying and pleasing as possible

today’s just a slow day

only three cars have come to the shop and to your floor in the past hour nothing from the three of them needed that much TLC

two of them just needed to get their tires’ air pressure checked and have them pumped to match

the other one was just towed here because it’s the nearest shop and just has a dead battery :((

you don’t know how you and jin could pass the time because there isn’t any tv in the area since sOMEONE (jin himself) got distracted too much by watching sherlock and he jUST wanted to know how sherlock pulled off operation lazarus!!!!

it clearly wasn’t his intention to keep pumping up the jack and almost have the whOLE car tip over because he had it up all the way

that was an accident :))

he didn’t even notice that so many of his boys were dashing for the side of the car to keep it from falling and when one of them called out his name, jin had the aUDACITY to shush him because there goes the climax!!!

wOOpS aha oh no what happened to the car :D

the next big thing that jin could do? ask you and catch up about all the technical stuff in formula racing so he could learn too ya know

“what happens if a wing gets dented or like dEFORMED?? how would that be fixed that quickly??”

“ooh!! good question!! actually-...”

that sound

you miss that sound :((

someone’s driving in your floor by the sounds of it and you don’t even need to turn your head to know that it must be a rEALLY cool car :((

it reminds you of the sounds you hear on the track and it’s one that you dearly miss

the growl of whatever car this is loud but like nOT obnoxious of pricks that just wanna show off in traffic and rev up their engine, y’know??

jin could only be so happy because fINALLY

another customer and another task to do to pass this day and it’s nOT a prius!!!!!!!

fucking finally

jin stands up immediately and you immediately follow him and this car’s getting attention from the other workers at the floor because whew

they all know to back off and go back to working on previous and existing projects because aH they see jin smiling giddily and almost jogging and you’re in tow from excitement

it’s a nice car!!!

a maserati granturismo in sleek black!!! jin’s only saw one of these come in the shop driveway but only for them to pULL out and it’s just because they needed to maneuver to go back to a u-turn

what a prick ://

he was excited that day and for wHAT??? someone to use their driveway just so they could reverse their car???? that’s just rude

the owner in mystery comes out and is aLREADY TALKING and- wait

isn’t that yoongi?

yOONGI?????

“hey man, could you check on my radiator real quick? the airconditioning’s a bit wack and i’m not entirely sure if it’s the radiator but i don’t wanna tweak it, ‘cause maybe it’s the compressor too. not sure. can you-“

that’s

oh my god that’s yOU

the season’s wrapped up like a week ago and the last races were tough so tough than he could’ve ever imagined and it was even harder without you

yoongi won the season

but he lost you though :((

he was so enraged at himself the moment jimin told him about the verdict you took and how you quit before he could fire you — for good yoongi has no one to blame but himself and god he’s just so mad at himself

even up to now actually

his pride was so enormous that he didn’t even tHINK that he might be the problem as to why he placed 7th in that race

and instead, he just needed someone, anyone, for him to blame and you’re the fIRST person he sees and he immediately takes his anger and frustration out on you

you would never do such things and he’s disgusted at himself for even tHINKING that you’d ever betray him like that

he was regretting every bit of his words and actions that he said and did out of blind spite

if he could punch himself he would GLADLY do that and knock himself out yoongi was both panicked and livid

had a hard time breathing too because oh gOd he just can’t stop thinking about you and the things he’s caused that are too late to bring back and reverse :((

he kept pleading to atleast follow you home even for just some hours and he’ll immediately go back to the hotel as if he never left

but he can’t do that and he hATES it

god this wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t a big fucking aSSHOLE!!! throughout the whole week ever since you left the team, he was a gigantic mess

like he still is now

but he had dark circles under his eyes that were swollen from crying so much

his lips were set in a frown as a default

yoongi was doing well with the streak of not biting and picking at his fingernails and his cuticles but now tHAT’S broken alright

he’s tried reaching out to jungkook multiple times

he’s tried apologizing but he always gets a deadpanned response of how he isn’t the one he needs to apologize to

kook sees the sincerity of yoongi trying to apologize because he’s hurt you, his best friend, but that’s not the important issue here

you called jungkook unknowingly in the middle of his and yoongi’s conversation and the boy just almost jUMPS at jungkook to try and borrow his phone with his pleads and as much as his heart goes out (he still hATES yoongi ok), jungkook’s not gonna let him

he tries getting jimin to let him borrow his phone and call you and jimin won’t let him either because this is not his place and you’ve been through enough

the closest yoongi’s ever got to you??

jimin still feels so sorry and guilty to this day

and he’s conflicted and confused and a lil sad

but jimin did call you in front of yoongi on speaker :(((

and yoongi got to hear you answer with a chipped-out voice :(((

and he’s just so tempted to speak out loud but if he does that, then jimin will forever be mad at him too probably and he’s also promised that he’s gonna pretend he isn’t there

ask her if she already ate dinner

yoongi won’t stop typing in his notes tho and wave it frantically for jimin to ask you

and you’re responding truthfully because what’s jimin gonna do?? fLY to your home and cook you spaghetti?????

of course not

that’s what yoongi wants to do :(( if only he can :((

his win felt so empty and it just feels so dull without you here

also knowing that he’s drived out one of the only people that puts up with him and is always patient and is the reason to why he’s been so inspired lately

and one of these days

just one of these days, yoongi wants to drive to your apartment and camp out the door if he needs to just so he could redeem himself and earn forgiveness and try to mend what he’s broken

not today though

not today when the moment yoongi finally gathered the words and the courage to go to you, with the blessing of jungkook giving him his address but with a very sTRICT warning that scared the shit out of him.,.,.,

but also with his airconditioning broken and something just tells him that he needs to take it to a shop because it’s been awhile ever since he drove normal cars

and yoongi actually forgot the gravity of all this so he’s a bit nervous because maybe this is a more serious case with his car and it’s just the universe’s way of telling him to go to you tomorrow

or as soon as his car gets taken to the shop

maybe he needs to polish up some lines and try practicing them better from the heart

yoongi could go to jimin and have it fix it for him but like that’s tOO far of a drive and he just needs a quick fix

ooh

kim kradle!!! it’s the nearest shop to his place that has five stars on it

and he’s still a bit wary because his face and his name and win did land on the news and he’s been trending lately and like wHAT IF someone takes advantage of his car or scams him because they know who he is this car is his frequent and it holds a sentimental value to his heart ok

kim kradle is bigger than he’s pictured it in his mind

woah it actually looks cool and promising

christ it’s so hot inside his car god he needed to open up a little bit of his window but mosquitoes would creep in and tHEY’RE annoying and a real hazard to kill while you’re driving down the road

he wants to get this over with quickly

yoongi just needs to drive to your place and see you asap

that’s you

wAIT THAT IS YOU

“y/n?”

his hands are literally shaking right now oh my god

it’s been some twenty-seven days ever since he’s last saw you and here you aRE

here you are in a place he’s least expected to see you because he’s on the way to see you but actually yOU’RE HERE

“yoongi.”

you acknowledge him back and god you don’t know what to feel

jin immediately senses what’s happening and deep-down he is pANICKING alright

he’s been in contact with jungkook and in the back of their minds, they knew that yoongi won’t let this go without his ever-present persistence

and eventually like maybe yoongi’s gonna know that you work here and the last time that he checked, yoongi doesn’t even know kim kradle

bUT JIN DIDN’T KNOW THAT THIS TIME WOULD COME THIS SOON OK

he immediately steps in and insert himself in between you and yoongi that he’s trying to close the distance to you and that surprises yoongi completely

“airconditioning, right? keys please. i’ll check it out!!”

yoongi wastes no time in shoving the keys to jin’s hand and he couldn’t be anymore desperate to talk to you

he doesn’t wanna cross boundaries obviously even if jin’s already moved out of the way

you’re still glued to your spot trying to process the situation and your fight or flight response is not exactly working right now

is there a disbelief and yearning and standing in sadness and anger option in that fight or flight choice

“i haven’t seen you in so long.”

that’s what usually happens when you become an asshole yOONGI

god how are you supposed to react

“you too.”

there’s this awkward distance in between the two of you and it’s too deep to even get between

yoongi suddenly forgets the words that’s been in his mind for the longest time,, just brewing and evolving and always changing as he just wants to fix the damage he’s done :((

he’s about to get closer but

“the cooling fan’s just clogged. it could be finished within like fifteen minutes man :D”

jin doesn’t exactly know what he’s doing but he ‘s dOING whatever this is ok

although that is factual

the cooling fan is just a bit dirty and there’s some debris in there that could be cleared quickly

but he just needs to do it extra carefully because this is a nice car ok

i mean he sTILL cares for cars in the same way even if not every car he gets in the shop is a maserati granturismo

he’s just a lil bit nervous even thOUGH he’s an expert at this ok

“fIFTEEN MINUTES???”

yoongi’s freaking out and he’s gripping at his hair in panic because wHAT

THAT SHOULD TAKE AN HOUR

goddamn why does kim kradle have to be a five-star shop :((

“y-yeah.,, i can do it in ten if you’re in a hurry-”

“aha nO NO :D i’m not in a hurry at all!!! please, take your time!!”

oh god what does he do now

yoongi walks over to his car and that confuses both you and jin

because what

he has half of his body in the driver’s seat and it sEEMS that he’s fishing for something in his glovebox

it’s a lil swiss knife

bUT WHY

he kept it in the gloveboxes of his cars because seatbelts are not exactly fool-proof and you could be stuck in them and he’s scared of that

and also if he’s gotten a takeout of a burger and it’s too big and he’s driving with one hand so he’ll just whip out his lil swiss knife and cut haphazardly

“what’s your name, man??”

“jin!! kim seokjin :D you’re-”

wait

what the fuck is yoongi doing

did he just-

“also forgot to tell you!!! my tires are running flat and i tHINK they need to be changed!! so sorry man it just came up”

deadass

yoongi literally just slashed his four tires

jin’s sPUTTERING

and he’s looking back and forth to you and to yoongi and his car

“are you -- are you sEEING -- y/n tell me wait what the fuck iS YOONGI SLASHING HIS TIRES????”

whatever it takes

whatever to buy his time with you and so as much as he can

you’re quite taken aback because oh did yoongi just do that

jin has only known yoongi personally for like eight minutes and he could positively say that he is on aNOTHER level

yoongi’s approaching you again and it only hits you nOW

“have you eaten lunch already?”

your mouth is dry and you absolutely can’t look at yoongi because it just feels so unreal

“no. hEy uh-...”

“no?? oh my gOD hold on just stay still, yeah? i’m gonna get lunch hOld on-”

yoongi’s immediately scarmbling for the exit

he has no concrete plan but he sure is hellbent in getting you lunch even though his car’s tires are slashed and he’s gonna be walking in an area he’s unfamiliar with

you really haven’t eaten lunch

you were just about to say a half-assed reason of namjoon calling you just to exit this situation because you are nOT ready and yoongi’s already off before you could mutter it

jin’s gears are just on a frenzy

“oh so that’s min yoongi.,.,,. jusT slashed his own tires,.,,. that’s.... endearing.,.,,”

you’ve detached yourself from the situation and you couldn’t really stand seeing nor interacting with yoongi

you’ve cooped up yourself in jin’s office and the moment yoongi came back holding up take-out for boTH you and jin, his car’s already all-done

jin gives him a look that’s telling and yoongi gets it

“oh. that’s okay. just uh, just leave this for y/n, can you? there’s enough for the two of you. thanks, jin :))”

you need a moment

that one’s obvious

taehyung insisted that you come home early and you obliged because oh god you nEED a moment

you come into work the next day and sure enough, you’re all well-rested and this time they could ask about what happened yesterday

even hear jin’s point of view on how yoongi is just so wILD

taehyung is in alert and so in namjoon

they’re all ears ok

jin’s telling his story and tae’s nudging you discreetly and makes you look at a box!!!

a box he’s ordered online a couple days ago after he saw you breakdown and you’re looking in awe as you whisper because u don’t wanna disrupt jin

“gel nails???”

the same one you always wanted and it’s flashing back to when you saw yoongi talking to dahyun!!!

oh this is really happening???

“dO IT YOURSELF!!!”

taehyung’s grabbing your hand immediately as he opens the box and he’s sO pumped for this because he stayed up all night watching how to do gel nails yourself!!

he even bought a nice uv lamp for it!! he’s tHAT dedicated

this takes your mind off of yoongi for awhile

a car pulls up yet again and you’re getting the chills again bUt it just turned out to be jungkook

aND HOBI!!!

hobi finished second this season!!

they immediately flock to the lot of you and you’re not sure on who flocks who because everyone’s just genuinely happy to see each other

even the kim line meeting hobi for the first time is such a fun experience

jungkook immediately goes to you and he sEES taehyung doing something to your hand

he’s not sure what he’s doing

but he knows that he wants IN okay

he wants to these gel nails on your other hand

he doesn’t know shit on how to do them but he’s gonna learn along the way aND he is not backing down

taehyung wasn’t aware that this is a competition now but apparently iT IS NOW :O

it’s not ensured that your two hands will look the exact same because you think they’re going for the what looks better competition and not let’S DO THIS IDENTICALLY because these are y/n’s hands y’know

you’re about to fall asleep with how this is lowkey soothing

this is not the quickest manicure to do on anybody

especially if it’s someone’s first time and they’re really aIMING for it to be perfect

although it’s not easy because another car pulls up and you’re pANICKED that it might be yoongi

oh nah it’s okay that’s not his car anyway!!!

you sometimes forget.... that yoongi’s a race car driver....

and there’s a possibility.... that he has multiple cars....

that’s yoongi alright

he steps down in a hurry and makes a beeline for you because he could immediately spot you!!! even in crowds!!!

you’re somehow ensured that yoongi’s gonna decide against going to you because you’re not alone

taehyung’s on your left and jungkook’s on your right and they’re not leaving your side until they finish their masterpieces for like another half hour

oH HE’S GOING FOR IT

“y/n, hI!!”

coming in strong but that’s ok

“jungkook :]”

he acknowledges kook and you’re not exactly up-to-date with how these two stand with each other

but kook kinda just gives him a confused glance (jIN CALLED HIM LAST NIGHT) and nods back to yoongi

what

taehyung has his lips parted because what,,, why.,.,

yoongi’s about to open his mouth to talk to this guy that’s holding your hAND???

oh this is the part right

“i’m,,, kim taehyung.,.,.,”

“min yoongi. nice to meet you :))”

he sticks out his hand and tae blindly reaches for it and he doesn’t know wHY he shook it and he’s still confused up to to now

what is yoongi doing

wHAT IS HE DOING

you only realize now that yoongi has something in his hands and he’s looking dead straight to you and he doesn’t falter once

(he’s nervous on the inside trUST HIM)

“i know you’re not that comfy in seeing me and that’s tOTALLY okay!! i respect that!! it’s just uH i realized that uhm,.,., do you remember that time we were karting? and you won and we ki -- when you wON?? and you said that the winner gets one week of presents,,.,, and i just want to fulfill that.”

yoongi’s voice is wavering because oh shit this iS hard to swallow down

“even if i might be a little late.”

he wordlessly sets down a wrapped present by your feet, just in the middle of a sitting jungkook and taehyung who are listening all this time and have curious eyes on the neatly-wrapped present that’s been laid down

he leaves and stalks over to jin

“what happened now yoongi.,.,.,”

“my guess is that there are some rocks stuck in the wheel bearings. maybe even in the mags. four on the left, three on the right.”

....

hmmmm

“that’s nice, man. just a hunch??”

“yup :)) just a hunch :)) aLSO: can i have a stool?? i’m just gonna wait here, y’know :))”

yoongi’s not expecting anything from you

he doesn’t mind rejection or you ignoring him all throughout because he knows that he deserves it

he deserves it for sure

sometimes he sees you in the corner of his eye

or you helping out jin on fixing yoongi’s other car

or the other one

your own pace

your pace is what matters and yoongi isn’t gonna take any shortcut or undercut

this isn’t formula racing

this is yOU and him being patient until you feel like acknowledging him

of course he still apologizes

texts you even if you’re across the room

sees you open the text and you’d send him a look and you’d be giving him the slightest smile before you occupy yourself again

yoongi’s okay with that.

he keeps coming back

this is the third car and it’s nOT EVEN HIS ANYMORE

he’s just texting friends asking “yO do u need you car washed or fixed or something??? i’ll take it to the shop for you fREE OF CHARGE!!!”

he’s that invested in this and he doesn’t see himself giving up this is good for kim kradle of course but oh god this is aMUSING TOO throughout the week, yoongi hasn’t faltered either in continuing at giving you the gifts

the first one he’s given you?? a box full of trinkets he’s been collecting for every country that he’s visited ever since you gave him that caffeine pill!!

just random things he’s seen in malls or souvenir shops or airport boutiques that reminded him of you, all in a box with a single note

i miss you. - yoongi

you’re not gonna lie

you do miss yoongi too

but the things he’s done still make you wince when you’re thinking about it and even though he’s apologized in all ways but a face-to-face one

because you’re not that lax with him, the both of you know that this isn’t just a one and done thing

things take time and yoongi’s taking it at your pace and you’re grateful for it

warming up is always relative and so is forgiveness longing’s still there but it’s just a matter of suppressing it and yeah you dO miss yoongi

you’re lost without him too although you’re not gonna make that anymore obvious because that’s just devastating to think about you think he’s about to reach the end of his rope and it throws you in the whirlwind of oH

this is the sixth consecutive day that yoongi’s been coming to kim kradle yesterday was the first bIG interaction you’ve ever done with him

because since you don’t talk to him as much, he just takes his time as he waits for the services for the cars that he brings by making conversation with the guys

he’s gotten to know jin and joon and tae aND YEAH they like him but they do grill him separately though because they’re mad at what he’s done to you

but he’s also apologized to them and made promises that he’s gonna be keeping

jin doesn’t cook by the kitchen anymore because yoongi keeps bringing takeout or sometimes hE’S THE ONE WHO COOKS in his home and brings it to u guys

is it bad that he all bought you lunchboxes

is it bad that your lunchbox is the fanciest out of all of them and you have more portions and yours are always cut up like he did with the pork.,.,..

it’s not bad as lonG as you pretend to unsee the three kims stealing food from you and just go about to eating your food

but the big interaction did happen yesterday

and it was you suddenly calling out yoongi’s name as he’s sat by the car but he sTILL heard you and he swears he’s gonna cry

because oh god it’s been a long time ever since you said his name in that tone

“you’re not gonna eat with us?”

OH DAMN

he’s a mess

“uhm weLL do you want me too?? it’s oKAY uhm pls just-“

“don’t make me regret asking, yoongs.”

yOONGS

Y O O N G S

yoongi is instantly walking his ass to the little makeshift dining circle because oh my god YES

he doesn’t overstep tho and he just sits in between namjoon and

taehyung as he eats and every few minutes he sneaks a look at you and sometimes you look at him aND IT’S JUST LIKE the start all over again there’s the last piece of tteokbokki and everyone’s just feeling it out and looking at it

and yoongi

the bold man that he is

picks it up with his chopsticks aND

oh he’s putting it on your lunchbox

:))))))))

the night’s late and taehyung called yoongi to say that the car (it’s actually yoongi’s) he’s brought in for a ceramic coating and custom leather seats are all finished and wrapped up

and if he wants, he could go to the shop right now and pick it up since namjoon’s finishing up by the basement anyways and it would still be open then

and he does pick it up

he knows his way around the store

you could either take the stairs or the lift if you’re coming in into kim kradle without a car to go up and down the levels but he’s patient so he’ll just take the stairs

what he wasn’t expecting though

something that makes him cease his whistling as he goes up to the third floor to fetch his car

is you

rIGHT there

besides his car

and this is the only time that the both of you are alone and his throat is suddenly dry

you know this too though

you were intending to staying up late here just to finish on the car that’s been brought in two days ago with the broken engine that you think is worth salvaging

and you just wanted to see the view :((

reminisce to how you’ve been seeing yoongi in the flesh for six days straight and how you wanna tackle this conflict right to the head but you’re unsure to how :((

it doesn’t take a genius to know that yOONGI himself is right behind you

as you are aware too that this is his car that taehyung’s been working on thank u very much

“i want you to know that i’m not giving up on you.”

his words cut through the cold air and it surely gets your attention even if your back is still turned to him as you’re hunched over the balcony

“i’m running out of cars to bring, the one week of presents is ending, and

i’m so cLOSE to putting up a cot so i could sleep here.”

he’s serious about that one

seeing you just makes everything better no matter the circumstance it calms his heart and everything in him and he’s not gonna stop at nO matter what to try and make up for the things he’s done

“but you’re worth all this.”

yoongi dares to take a step closer and this time you could already see him by your peripheral vision

“you’re worth it,” and he needs a collective second to exhale the heaviness that’s sitting on his chest because oh gOd he was really an asshole huh

“i don’t know how long it’s gonna take, but i’m willing to wait.”

this is more nerve-wracking than any report card or championship results he’s been ever given and he’s not ashamed to admit that

“i love you, y’know?”

that’s the thing he’s been wanting to say for a long time he doesn’t know in the first place on wHY the hell was he scared because now that he says it to you, he feels like he’s never been more sure of anything in his life :(((

“good night, y/n.”

and the main purpose to why he’s here completely escapes his mind

he just misses you sO much that it’s so painful and all he could do is imagine scenarios and look back at all the pictures he’s taken of you half of it he’s sure that you never even noticed him taking

aND IT HITS YOU

something that hits you with the way that his car keys have the sticker of your initials on them

or the way when taehyung asked you out to help him with the leather interior for yoongi’s car and your scrunchie that you must’ve left is wrapped snugly on his handbrake

or how in the final checking for his car did you know that your playlist that you don’t even rEMEMBER mentioning to him is the one that’s on repeat in his radio

yoongi stops the moment that you call out for his name and god he’s closing his eyes because all the worst possible scenarios of you calling for him to stop this is enough to make him cry

you’ve also never been more sure of anything in your life

your hand just barely grips yoongi’s arm, staring up at him as you get to notice the features of his that you’ve always loved and missed all this time

yoongi’s hand’s open and so is your heart for all this

it’s the same keys that he’s went here for the first place, the ones with your intials on as he only realizes now that he’s done that

“drive me home.”

#feedback pls and thank u tHEY MEAN THE WORLD TO ME :D #yoongi #min yoongi #yoongi imagine #yoongi imagines #min yoongi imagine #min yoongi imagines #yoongi angst #yoongi fluff #min yoongi angst #min yoongi fluff #yoongi oneshot #yoongi oneshots #yoongi fics #yoongi fic recs #bts yoongi imagine #homebound #yoongi headcanon #yoongi headcanons

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zashamalkin · 4 years

Text

Hockey with the Malkins

Match TV interview with Geno and Anna below the cut.

The Match TV observer attended the filming of a touching family mini-film, in which Nikita Malkin, the son of Pittsburgh forward Yevgeny Malkin and our channel's TV star Anna Kasterova, made his debut as an actor.

If you only knew how much work it costs to shoot a one-minute clip for Match TV! A lot of TV cameras, an operator rolling on the ice on a segway - he must catch a good frame and keep balance on a hydro scooter. Producers, screenwriters, technicians.

This is the process I found myself in when I arrived at the skating rink in Maryina Roscha, where the Malkins were filming. We get up carefully at the side with Anna Kasterova so as not to get into the frame when Zhenya and their son Nikita are caught in the lens, who score a goal into the opposite goal. And we are streaming on Instagram @matchtv_channel . And the questions are not even from me, but rather from the fans. These questions come to us live.

- Anya, you recently returned to the big broadcast, you work for Match TV. What emotions?

- Even in the tenth year of broadcasts, I will say that before each release I feel some degree of excitement. This is normal and natural. And you also need to feed on information. One broadcast I have - the Football Champions League, the second broadcast - the Biathlon World Cup ... Everywhere you have to be in the subject to feel confident.

- Is this the first joint shooting of Zhenya and Nikita?

- Yes, except for my videos for Instagram ... And here is my child! - Anya reacts to Nikita passing behind the glass. - I think he keeps well on the ice for his four years.

- How do you teach your son to hockey?

- Dad and coaches teach. Individually. Nikita spends a lot of time on the ice, and this is the most important thing.

- Does Zhenya feel like a fish in water on the set?

- I think he is very comfortable. Moreover, Zhenya skates in the frame, plays hockey and does what he loves. But for Nikita, this is the first serious shooting. And I noticed that the kid was a little worried. A huge number of people around, a film crew. Everyone says something, sets some tasks.

- Is it hard to be a hockey player like Malkin?

- And what do you think? Of course, you have to work hard. Zhenya has training sessions almost every day. And in the offseason there can be two of them.

During the season, you get up at seven in the morning every day. Regular flights, matches, one day off every 10 days. You have to watch your health - the older, the more. Only healthy lifestyle, alcohol to a minimum. Eugene does not use at all during the season.

Plus, when you are a star of that level, there are always great expectations from you. And this also puts pressure on the psyche. And think for yourself whether it is easy to live like this.

- Even jet lag is not a joke when there are four or six flights a week.

- It is easier to fly around America, there the maximum time difference is three hours. This is if you get from Pittsburgh to California. But I think that Zhenya has already got used to such a regime during his career.

- Can you imagine in your family that Nikita Malkin will become a goalkeeper?

- No!

- Why?

- Well I do not know. The kid looks good with a stick and a puck. But time will tell. When he is only four years old, it is difficult to say something.

- Zhenya's parents look at Nikita ... They remember Yevgeny Malkin at the age of four - and they see Nikita Malkin at the age of four. Does the son look like his father in terms of inclinations?

- There are no such comparisons. And you understand that these are grandparents. For them, the grandson is a priori better. Plus Nikita has more privileges and opportunities with such and such a dad. Zhenya had fewer of them. What is better and how? Time will show.

Yes, the baby is only four years old. He has zeal, some kind of success. But everything will be clear only in a few years.

- We're talking the day after the official All-Russian Hockey Day. You probably don't celebrate this holiday in your family ...

- Well, we have arrived! Why not? Of course, we celebrate! I even gave my wife a gift, I prepared it specially. This is his professional holiday.

- What would you wish for your husband?

- The fourth Stanley Cup is understandable. And also - Olympic gold. This is real, and I really hope so.

Filming lasted about five hours. Maybe even six. When I caught Evgeni Malkin already in the corridor on the way to the car, the Pittsburgh forward looked like after an intense hockey game.

- What is harder, Evgeny - to play a hockey match or to have such an acting shift?

- When you are filming, it is very exhausting! And you feel out of place. Somewhere you need to show acting skills, somewhere to look good on camera. It is very difficult.

When you skate on ice, yes, it's mine. But shooting outdoors, indoors, not to mention the stage, is a completely different job. And she squeezes you out emotionally. What if you forget some words? You must always be mobilized. But this is also interesting.

- Nikita skates very well at the age of four. How do you teach your son?

- I'm working with him. Plus, on the set there was coach Dima, who also works with Nikita. And the son also goes to school with children on Saturdays and Sundays. That is, there are about five classes a week. And I am always on the ice when Nikita is engaged. Somewhere I give a hint, somewhere I consult with the coach what is the best to do. We can say that I am sharing my experience.

- It is also important for children which coach you get. And then there were recently scandalous cases when the coach knocked children with a club on the helmet. These videos were tearing the web apart. Although Nikita Kucherov and Nikita Gusev went through such a school ...

- Now there is a different world, different priorities. I will not let anyone bang my child on the head with a club. But I will not hide, I also went through this hockey school. There were moments that the coach could shout. Sometimes he treated us harshly.

You should understand that there is one coach and 20 players in the group who do whatever they want in training. Now I go to children's workouts and I see it all. These are children, they are naughty, they run in different directions. Sometimes the coach can break loose and even scream.

I urge you not to be aggressive. You have to be patient and control yourself. Although I understand coaches and teachers that it is difficult to work with a large group of children. And it is necessary not only to control them, but also the parents who are standing around and shouting from behind the side are completely different.

Of course, children need to be handled carefully. You need to love them and not discourage them from playing hockey.

12/16/20

#evgeni malkin #anna kasterova #nikita malkin #match tv #off season 2020 #moscow #12/16/2020

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fuckyeahalexedler · 4 years

Text

Alex Edler experiencing deja-vu as last of a generation of Canucks

VANCOUVER -- There are the changes you see coming, and the changes you don’t.

With 14 years in the NHL, Alex Edler had learned not to be surprised. And then 2020 came along. And between the first and second waves of COVID-19, the Vancouver Canucks defenceman also saw three good friends leave the team in free agency over the span of 24 hours.

While the 34-year-old was theoretically aware of his senior standing on the team before Oct. 9, the free-agent departures of Jacob Markstrom, Troy Stecher and Chris Tanev, his longest-serving teammate, made Edler understand keenly that he is the last of a generation of Canucks.

With Tanev following Markstrom to Calgary, the second longest-serving Canuck is 25-year-old captain Bo Horvat, who arrived in Vancouver as a teenager in 2014. Edler has been on the team since 2006.

Think about that -- eight years of his career, and not a single teammate remaining.

“Sometimes you see it coming, sometimes you get a little surprised over it,” Edler said Wednesday in an interview from his Vancouver home. “Those three players, personally, they’ve all been very good friends of mine. I played with Tanny a long time on the same team (since 2011), playing a lot together. So it was hard to see him leave. Also with Troy, we’ve built a relationship off the ice as well as on the ice. And then, of course, Marky, I’ve been very close with since he came here, and he’s close with my family -- my kids and my wife.

“You lose an all-star goalie and you lose two key defencemen, obviously that’s a big blow and a big void to fill. That’s three players I was really sad to see leave, and three key guys for our team.

“We’ve added some good players, too, and that’s exciting. I understand there’s a lot of thinking and planning and everything and it’s harder times now and it’s not easy to build a team and make all the pieces fit with the salary cap. I get that part that you probably couldn’t fit all three of them. But I was a little bit surprised that all three of them are gone. But that’s the business.”

Vancouver general manager Jim Benning was unwilling to match the hefty offers the Calgary Flames made to Markstrom (six years and $36 million) and Tanev (four years, $18 million), while Stecher, made to wait in free agency while the Canucks worked on other deals, chose to sign in Detroit rather than return to his hometown team.

Countering these losses, Benning signed free-agent goalie Braden Holtby, then landed first-pairing defenceman Nate Schmidt in a bargain trade with Vegas. The Canucks plan to replace Stecher on the third defence pairing with a player promoted from the AHL.

So, the Canucks are getting younger still, which, of course, only makes Edler feel older.

“Before the twins (Daniel and Henrik Sedin) retired a couple of years ago, I never felt close to being one of the older guys on the team,” Edler said. “It’s been a big change over the last few years and we’re so much younger, and now I feel I am so much older than most guys. They joke me about it every day, too.”

They're not the only ones. The Vegas Golden Knights could be heard chirping Edler as "old man" during playoffs in the Edmonton bubble.

Not only is Edler the only player remaining from the Vancouver team that made it to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, he hasn’t a teammate left who played for coach Alain Vigneault or even John Tortorella. Only six Canucks remain from the team current coach Travis Green inherited just three years ago.

A 2004 third-round draft pick plucked by Canucks scout Thomas Gradin out of a semi-professional league in northern Sweden, Edler made his NHL debut at age 20 on Nov. 4, 2006 in a road game against the Colorado Avalanche.

Edler played mostly with fellow Swede Mattias Ohlund that night, but the defencemen at the bottom of the Vancouver lineup were Rory Fitzpatrick and Luc Bourdon, who was killed in a 2008 motorcycle crash. The depth forwards included Jan Bulis, Tommi Santala and Josh Green. In goal, Dany Sabourin backed up Roberto Luongo, who was two months into his Canucks tenure.

“Honestly, I don’t have too many memories from that game,” Edler said. “But I remember being out there a couple of shifts against (Joe) Sakic, and that’s the only thing that kind of stuck with me.”

It was a fascinating time in Canucks history, as the improving team was transitioning from Marc Crawford to Vigneault. Veterans Trevor Linden, Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison joined Ohlund as holdovers from the previous era, but the Canucks were being taken over by rising stars like the Sedins, Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa.

“When you name all those great players, I feel like maybe we should have been better,” Edler said. “But when you’re young, you just kind of play and don’t think about it too much.”

In all, Edler has skated with 202 teammates in Vancouver, played in front of 16 goalies.

Pop quiz. Among the 65 defencemen, does he remember Lee Sweatt (three games in 2010-11)?

Edler: “He scored and then he retired.”

True. With an economics degree, Sweatt scored the game-winner in his debut but quit hockey for business that summer.

How about Alex Sulzer (12 games in 2011-12)?

Edler: “Yep, I do. German guy. I remember that we played in Tampa, we won a faceoff and he gave it to me and we scored.”

Derek Joslin (two games in 2012-13)?

Edler: “No.”

We admit we couldn’t remember Joslin, either, but the former San Jose Shark and Carolina Hurricane got two games at the end of Vigneault’s final season before taking his career to Europe, where he still plays in Austria for Salzburg.

Edler has logged another 872 regular-season games for the Canucks since his debut, plus 82 in the playoffs, 17 of those last summer.

He is Vancouver’s all-time leader among defencemen in games, goals (99), assists (302) and points (401). Edler remains a top-four blue-liner, last season logging 33 points in 59 games before leading the Canucks with 23 minutes of average ice time in the Stanley Cup tournament that saw Vancouver win two rounds -- the franchise's first playoff success since 2011.

“I think the team really came together in the playoffs and we showed people and ourselves, too, how good we can be,” he said. “It was a good, little playoff run. But I also think when you have a season like that or a run like that, you have to push even harder the next year because you can’t expect to take another step from momentum. You’ve really got to work hard to take the next step.”

Edler said the NHL is faster and younger than it has ever been, but he has a similar sense that this Canucks team is rising towards something, just like the one he started with 14 years ago.

“I’m definitely proud of what I’ve accomplished and what I’ve done, that I’ve been able to stay with the same organization and be an important player, an important part, of the team every year,” Edler said. “But you still want more. I still want more. I think that’s what drives everyone, maybe especially when you get older and realize you don’t have that much left. You want to be in the playoffs again, want to play those big games. I’m proud of what I’ve done so far, but I don’t feel like I’m satisfied yet.”

(Dec. 3, 2020)

#vancouver canucks #canucks #alex edler #dec 2020 #article #text

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lanaisnotwool · 4 years

Video

youtube

412 Should You Invest in a Franchise - Interview with Kim Daly

http://moneyripples.com/2020/08/06/412-should-you-invest-in-a-franchise-interview-with-kim-daly/

Chris Miles, the "Cash Flow Expert and Anti-Financial Advisor," is a leading authority on how to quickly free up and create cash flow for thousands of his clients, entrepreneurs, and others internationally! He’s an author, speaker, and radio host that has been featured in US News, CNN Money, Bankrate, Entrepreneur on Fire, and spoken to thousands getting them fast financial results.

Listen to our Podcast

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/moneyripples/2020/06/26/412--should-you-invest-in-a-franchise-with-guest-kim-daly

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris Miles (00:00): My fellow Ripplers. This is Chris Miles. Your Cash Flow Expert and Anti-Financial Advisor. And I welcome you out for a wonderful show. A show that’s for you and about you. Those of you that work so freaking hard for your money and you’re ready for your money to start working hard for you. Now! You want that freedom. That cash flow. That prosperity. Not 30 or 40 bazillion years from now, but right now. So you have that freedom, that time freedom, that money freedom to do what you love with those you love whenever the heck you want to do it, right? But on top of that. So much more than just having that comfort and convenience and having that free life. It’s about having a life of meaning and purpose. A life where you could be a Rippler. We can create a ripple effect to the lives of others, not just your family.

Chris Miles (00:50): And that’s awesome too, through generations, beyond you, but creating this real ripple effect of abundance, prosperity that expands beyond the community and the country and across the world. So guys, I’m excited to be a part of this with you guys, because, because of you, I can send my ripple effect for you as well. So thank you for tuning in for bingeing, for doing all the things you guys do. Thank you so much!

Chris Miles (01:11): As a reminder, check-out our website MoneyRipples.com There’s a great ebook on there called Beyond Rice & Beans, Seven Secrets. If you have cash today, if you’re looking for ways to find more money now, so you can put the money to use to make more money today. So check that out.

Chris Miles (01:24): Alright! So today I’ve got a special guest here, Kim Daly. Now, again, like you guys know if I bring on guests, it’s not done lightly. Like I keep deleting emails from guests being pitched at me left and right. And in fact, I actually was vowing. I actually had said to myself, the day I got this email, I said, I’m not going to take any more guests on. I’m already booked out about two months with the guest interviews. And then of course, especially with the one firm that I’ve used as well, they sent me an introduction then I said, okay, my listeners are going to want this. I can’t pass this up. And so, that’s where I have Kim Daly here. So Kim has actually spent the last 20 years helping people achieve financial freedom by enabling them to find the perfect franchise opportunities. I’m know there’s some of you out there have asked Chris, should I be buying a franchise? Like, is that the way to go? Could it not just be real estate or just being other alternative investments?

Chris Miles (02:17): Could I be buying into a business, right? This is the show for you. Her skill is really matching the client’s background, their interests, skills, finances, and the life goals to be able to match up to that ideal opportunity has made her one of the top franchise consultants in the country. Today, we are here to pick her brain and get some insight on that and then find out what exactly it is like, where can we find these right franchise opportunities? Is it the right thing for you? Who is it right for? And of course, if it is, if it is right for you, like how do you know? Like what’s the best opportunity, especially in a world like today. So Kim, welcome to our show!

Kim Daly (02:51): Thank you so much! After that introduction, I don’t know where we’re going to go, but let’s have at it.

Chris Miles (02:56): You’re like, all right! Well I’m game!

Kim Daly (02:59): My hand are this big now, Chris.

Chris Miles (03:01): Well, Hey, there could be worse things happening to you. That’s for sure.

Kim Daly (03:07): I’m a big fan of this show so, it’s really like, it’s kind of surreal to like be here. So that’s great!

Chris Miles (03:10): Well, I appreciate that. Well, tell us more about you. Like, what led you down this path?

Kim Daly (03:15): You know, and I didn’t wake up one day and go, Ooohhh! I want to be a franchise consultant!

Chris Miles (03:20): Yeah. It’s always in some of these little girls vision board, right? You know,

Kim Daly (03:24): Exactly! I didn’t want to be a motivational speaker. So, and that is sort of what I do every single day now is influence people’s lives and help them just make decisions that ultimately changed their lives. But I actually answered a classified ad in the newspaper. I was on my way to med school. That was my whole life was about going to med school. Always wanted to help people do something real, tangible, answered a classified ad in the newspaper that was for a franchise company and literally changed my life. And I’ve never looked back. I’ve been self employed since I was 25 years old. So you can do the math, but about 23 years. And I love to tell people that I am completely unemployable. Which I think you…

Chris Miles (04:05): I understand that!

Kim Daly (04:06): Yeah. And people are like, and I’m like, Nope. And then people like, Oh, I can offer you a lot of money. I’m like, it’s not about money! Because I am not selling money. I’m selling freedom. Right? So I’m completely unemployable because my freedom has no price, but I’ll always be self employed. I’ll always own businesses. And I think at this point in my life, as much as I know about franchising, I can also say that I’ll probably never start another business from scratch. I’m fully, fully, fully believe that if you’re invested in the right franchise concept with the right people, and it’s really about the right people, because when you buy a franchise, that’s what you’re buying. A partnership. So if you find the right people who can mentor and coach you and who have enough track record to help you kind of take that and leverage that, there’s really no reason to start a business from scratch.

Chris Miles (04:54): I agree. That’s the only thing I think is so hard is that people say, should I start a new business? I said, well, if you do, I mean, it’s like trying to start a bicycle laying on the ground, right? It’s like, you gotta pick it up. You got to actually like sit on it, try to balance on it, get the pedals going, which takes almost all your energies to get that first little turnaround. And then it starts to build momentum over time. Right? And I always tell people too, there’s different personalities. Some people don’t mind starting things from scratch. Cause they just creators that way. While others loved us to jump into a system that’s already created for them and just, you know, turn the key in the ignition, so to speak and just let it go. Right?

Kim Daly (05:30): Right. And with a franchise, it depends on the time frame that you’re trying to build something. But even as sophisticated, you know, experienced entrepreneur or sophisticated business owner could turn to franchising for the leverage because how many entrepreneurs do you know, really ever get to get out from underneath what they built. Versus the investors that I’m helping are setting up from day one for multiple units. And they’re buying into the infrastructure of a location, a brand, the initial training, the just the foundation so that they can work on it rather than in it from day one. And that’s how they can open three, five, ten locations in a short amount of time. And when you step back and you look at how is the wealth really generated in a franchise it’s through that scale.

Chris Miles (06:19): Yeah. It’s funny. Cause like I remember, oh boy, this is years ago. This must have been like 15 plus years ago. There was a local battery franchise. Right? Well, I shouldn’t say local. Was a national brand, but battery franchise store. Right. You think, well, Hey, that should be good. The guy, the owner of the franchise was actually working in the store as the clerk. Right? And when asked he’s like, Hey, well how long does it take to make money? He’s like, Oh, I don’t take a paycheck really for the first two years. Which to me makes a franchise sound like a nightmare. Right? What’s your feedback on that? Like is that necessarily have to be the reality?

Kim Daly (06:52): No, that does not have to be the reality. Now let’s just step back because for some people they want to be in their business every day. And so great. And there are businesses that are designed for the owner to be there every day. But for those that are looking more for a CEO role or even for an investor role where it’s almost what we would call semi-absentee, it’s all about selecting the right business. And Chris, this is why I have a business. People come to me and say, I think I want to own a business, but I don’t really know what I want to do. I don’t know what I can afford. I don’t know what the right investment for my goals. I get to know them. I build a model and then I bring the ideas to them. And these are ideas that are not just based on, well, this widget matches you.

Kim Daly (07:37): It has nothing to do with that. I don’t care about widgets. I care about people. So my matching process is part science, but mostly part art and relationship. I’m bringing my experience. 18 years of relationships with these franchisors. Sometimes I’m matching a candidate or a husband and wife team based on Christian values, because I know that this franchise is a Christian value culture. And I know that they’re going to find people in that system that they can relate to. And when we step back again and we look at like, I’m trying to help people build wealth in their lives. It’s not just money. You know, I always say rich people have money, wealthy people have time to spend their money. And the other part, yeah. The other part of wealth and that lifestyle is being connected to people that you enjoy. Right now, I’m working with a couple of NFL football players and there are franchises where there are a lot of other NFL investors and they were very, their eyes were like, wow! And I’m like, I named dropped. And I was like, did you know? And they were like, we didn’t know! And I’m like, that’s your tribe. So when you get to go and interview those franchisees to say, how does your business work during football season? You don’t have to be talking to the franchisees. And this one particular come from the national football league. So they were just like, wow! But how would you know that on your own? You wouldn’t!

Chris Miles (09:01): It seems like almost every football player now either go into the restaurant business or a gym, right?

Kim Daly (09:07): Not these two. I got, I’m going to get them going down a totally different path.

Chris Miles (09:13): That would be good. That would be really good!

Kim Daly (09:13): I explained to them the leverage. And once I talked to them about fixed expenses, they came to me thinking the gym, but they got so far off of that gym thing so quickly. That’s what happens, people, and I love it when people come with an idea of what they think they wanted. It’s almost like a personal challenge, unless it’s a business that I feel that actually fits them. But most of the time, the options that people think are right. When we really start looking at what they’re trying to achieve, it’s not generally the right business. Could be. And you know what? A lot of times people think franchising is only food and retail. And there’s a whole other world out there that doesn’t require the construction and the fixed expenses of a real estate based business.

Chris Miles (09:56): Yeah. So who would it not be for?

Kim Daly (10:00): I think if you are really, really, really risk averse, now I’ve helped people in 18 years who are super conservative and risk averse by franchises. In fact, I had a guy yesterday, say yes, and we were laughing. Cause I read to him, he started the process April 7th. So yesterday was May 19th. And I told him in the beginning it was a six week process. And he said, and I was saying to myself, BS on that! I’m never going to buy a business in six weeks! But here we are. And on the initial form that he emailed into me through my website, he said, I’m going to tell you I’m super conservative. And I’m a self proclaimed scaredy cat. So yesterday I was reading back to him and I said, I want you to put this on your wall because you are not risk averse. First of all, you came to me in the heart of a pandemic. And second of all, you’re not a scaredy cat because you just bought, you are now a multiunit franchisee. You just signed a franchise agreement for three store yoga studio business in California. Like in the heart of pandemic. In 6 weeks! You know, just my normal time for working with people. So I just said, what it does is that my process works. So, you know, but some people are really too risk averse. You’re not financially qualified right now. I encourage everyone to reach out to me because I love the opportunity to educate people. Different money buys options. That’s all. There are low investments. There are big investments. But I think franchising can work for anybody that is willing to be coachable. The number one thing you’ll hear consistently across all franchise systems from successful franchisees is to do what they tell you to do. Follow the system.

Chris Miles (11:43): Right! You know, there’s one unique thing too, that sometimes will come up on a show is that you can actually use IRA money to fund a franchise. Correct?

Kim Daly (11:51): That is true. Yes. It’s called the Rollover For Business Start-ups. Or the ROBS program. So I, people that work with me know that I stay in my lane, I am the franchise consultant. I know enough financing to be dangerous, but I lead all my people to my amazing friends who all they do is fund franchise businesses. So they would give the specifics of that program and how it works and help people get started. But yes, using the 401k without creating a taxable event is one of the number one ways that people will finance their business. Because, you know, even with an SBA loan, the bank is typically going to require 20% or 30% cash injection. So where are you going to come up with that cash? If it’s 50,000 or a hundred thousand, or even, you know, 35,000, a lot of people don’t have that kind of cash sitting around, but they do have it in a 401k

Chris Miles (12:43): That’s right. Well, and here’s the unique thing with this year is even if you didn’t use that money to roll over, right. You know, so to speak, I mean, if you’ve been affected by COVID in any way, shape or form this year, you can pull out without the 10% penalty. And if you have the tax, the thing is, if you use it for business purposes, you kind of wash out the tax anyways. Right? So it’s a write off at the same time as the income. So ends up being like a, almost like a, you know, not exactly, but like a tax free exchange. You know, it’s almost like, Hey, I can just move this money over into a business. And boom! I’m done. Like, I don’t have to worry about whether I’m paying a tax bill because there isn’t going to be one.

Kim Daly (13:18): Right, right. There are special circumstances, which is why when people are like, why would I ever consider? Am I sane to be thinking about starting a business right now? And I’m like, I mean, yes, if you have the dream, why wait? Because nothing that we do today, when you say yes to a franchise today impacts your life tomorrow. I mean, right. Owning a business is about a one year, three year, five year, 10 year plan. So if you want to be open in six months or year, yes! The time to start talking about it is now! Right? And that’s what happened. Like April ended up being one of my biggest months ever in 18 years. And as you go to the beginning, I am blessed to help a lot of people buy a lot of franchises. And April was an amazing, amazing month for me.

Kim Daly (14:03): And May has been pretty fantastic as well. So, and the reason is because when I helped people see like number one, the financing options that are available, the government has created a nice little pile of money because the government loves small business, right? Small business stimulates local economy, creates jobs. And when people start thinking about, I have to hire people it’s like right now is a better time to hire people than February was. Right? There’s so much good talent available. And so there’s that part. But also because mainly the driving motivation for people was when I started having them ask questions about timing. So if I signed a franchise agreement today in a normal time period from signing to opening, how long is that? And all of those people in April, once they asked that question, came back to me and were like, I need to sign tomorrow. One guy was like, I’m six months behind. And I’m like, God, six months behind! Like, but the reality is, it’s just, if you have the dream, it’s go time now.

Chris Miles (14:58): Well, it’s perfect timing right now. I see. Because one, I mean, some people have been cash, they’ve realized two things, right? Those people have been risk averse. You know, those people have thought they’re conservative. One usually had a full time job. Right? And then that full time job realized that’s not, that’s actually highly risk, you know, highly risky. Right? They don’t have any guarantees with that. And then two, the money in the stock market, isn’t safe either. You know, that’s also all over the place and volatile, right? So you have two things at risk and you think about, wait a minute, if I’m going to invest anywhere, invest in myself or even invest my money in it. If I’m going to be putting mutual funds in everybody else’s company, why not put in my own where I can call the shots.

Chris Miles (15:38): I can actually manage that risk. You know? So instead of, that’s the thing that drives me nuts. When I get business owner to say, I’m going to throw money in the market. I’m like, why invest in everybody else’s business, but your own? That doesn’t make sense to me. Who do you believe in more? Obviously you don’t believe in yourself because you’re trying to throw it in something, just because people tell you that’s where it should be. It’s like, no, get that money out of places you don’t have any control, and invest in a real business. You know, invest something you can control and manage and monitor those risks and even amplify the returns. You know, based on what you’re doing.

Chris Miles (16:10): This is why I’m such a big fan of your show! Because we sing the same song every day. And you just said it so brilliantly. Exactly!

Chris Miles (16:19): Yeah. Well, awesome! So if people want to like understand more, like how would they reach out to you or what could they do to learn more about what you do for people?

Kim Daly (16:26): Okay, great! So, TheDalyCoach.com www.TheDalyCoach.com on my website. I’m very proud of my videos. I put a lot of time and energy into trying to create real valuable content for people I myth bust. I love taking those big misconceptions and myths about how evil franchisors are, and they’re just there to take your money and they don’t care about your success and, you know, help people understand where those myths come from and then give them the truth. But I have testimonial videos where I actually go in and I’m sitting in the Supercuts location of the person I held to. Was the self-proclaimed scaredy cat and using her life savings to start a business. And what am I crazy? And now I, and I interviewed her, you know, in this environment, I have 10 videos like that. And just hundreds of testimonials from people. So my website is a great resource to see like what I’ve been up to for the last 18 years and understand the depth of my knowledge and my experience. You can also contact me through my website as well.

Chris Miles (17:31): And the thing I love is that, unlike some franchises, you don’t have to be as hands on, right? Where some people might feel maxed out with time. Some people might have lots of time available right now, but others don’t. You have options for either don’t you?

Kim Daly (17:43): Exactly, Chris! I do. One of the people that said yes this month, both he and his wife are full time executives, but they have no children. And so they have a large pool of money that they really want to put in something other than the market. And they are investing in, what’s called a Salon Suite. And a salon suite, it’s sort of like being like the landlord of a mall. Where you, it’s a big construction project, right? Cause you’ve got to construct, you know, your individual salon suites, but then you rent them. And these salon suites are going, they were big before COVID. Now they’re going to be like, they’re going to explode! Simply because the stylists can now get out of, kind of the gaggle of girls and in a big salon. And they can control their own environment and make it safe for their clients to come in one on one.

Kim Daly (18:33): So, but really this is an investor’s dream business. It looks and feels very much like real estate, but it has more of a business ROI. So he said yes to that. And after it’s constructed, it’s probably less than five hour a week time commitment for him. So to answer your question, yes, we have businesses where people want to be consultants and they, like my business and they are their business. But then we have, you know, things like a laundromat or a car wash or a salon suite where it’s really leveraging your money.

Chris Miles (19:04): Right.

Kim Daly (19:05): And getting a business return instead of a real estate return.

Chris Miles (19:09): I love it! Wherever you go check out TheDalyCoach.com it’s TheDailyCoach.com. Right? I said that all right. D A L Y correct? Awesome! Yeah. Go check that out. Like, guys, if you’re looking for something different, I know some of you are because you’ve told me that this is the very thing you were considering, and you’re like, Chris, should I do this or not? You know, some of you have been asking me personally and I’m like, it depends. I don’t know. What kind of business do you want? Are you going to be hands on or not? And the great thing is you can get matched up with someone that actually understands the business and says here, here’s how you can find the right business for you. So guys, make sure you check that out. Check out Kim Daly’s stuff, TheDalyCoach.com.

Kim Daly (19:45): Thank you!

Chris Miles (19:46): Kim. Thanks so much for being with us today. I really appreciate it.

Kim Daly (19:49): I appreciate it too. One thing that I just wanted to add before we go is, my services are free. So I’m paid by the franchisors to basically prospect for them. So when you come to me, it’s not me pushing franchising onto everybody. As Chris has said, my role is to help you understand what it could mean to you, but to understand in proper context. So to educate you about what franchises cost and why. So if you decide now is not the time financially, you’ll walk away educated knowing when the right time is to call me back. And if we start moving forward together, then you sort of already checked these money boxes in your mind, which really, I mean, that’s 90% of the reason, probably why people who think about franchising, don’t do it. It’s because of the money. So right away, we’re going to talk about money and get it clear, kind of black and white. And then the rest of the conversation becomes a lot more fun, dreaming about the potential of quality of life and waking up and creating jobs and managing people and building inspiring teams and all the rest that, you know, owning a business can mean to you.

Chris Miles (20:55): Well, now there’s no excuses to reach out to you. So, there’s not even a point of entry guys. Like the biggest thing is just you showing up and finding out. So, Kim, I’m so glad that I did not delete that email.

Kim Daly (21:08): I’m glad you didn’t either, because I’m a big fan of the show and I’m so happy to be on here. So thank you so much!

Chris Miles (21:13): No, this is extremely valuable. I really appreciate it. And I know that, there’s gonna be a lot of interest from this because this is the perfect time. Right now is, I mean, what better time to look at things when so much is up in the air, than to find something that they can actually control and do? So this is perfect. So I appreciate your time so much today, Kim. It’s been a pleasure.

Kim Daly (21:30): Thank you. Same here.

Chris Miles (21:32): Everybody else. You heard it. You have no excuse. So if this is anything that’s been pinging you and saying, listen, I need to like find out more, reach out to Kim. Make sure you guys do that. Everybody I hope you make a wonderful and prosperous week. And we’ll see you later.

#Chris Miles #Anti-financial Advisor #Cash flow #Cash flow Expert #Debts #Entrepreneur #Financial Freedom #Money Ripples

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a-silent-symphony · 4 years

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INTERVIEW – MARKO HIETALA OF NIGHTWISH

Like any band, Nightwish has a story to tell. Full of ups, downs, frustrations, and triumphs, in reality, few can tell a tale quite like these Fins. Coming at a crossroad at the peak of their success, they made a bold decision, yet landed on their feet. Then a few years later they were faced with yet another difficult choice, and still righted the ship. A testament to comradery between the key members of the band, one of the steadying forces through it all has been Marko Hietala.

Joining up just prior to their 2002 Century Child album, Hietala has become a cornerstone in Nightwish not only on the bass, but also as a leading voice. A signature part of the band’s success over the last two decades, Hietala recently sat down to chat about his time with Nightwish, weathering the storm of challenging times, his other projects, plus a whole lot more.

Cryptic Rock – You have been an intricate part of the Nightwish family for nearly two decades now. Before going any further, tell us, what has your time in Nightwish been like?

Marko Hietala – Woah man! It will actually be two decades next year. It’s probably been the biggest, lasting part of my life that there has been. Of course, there is my older band, Tarot, which we started in the late ’80s and still did things in the 2000s. That was a long lasting thing, but as life goes, Nightwish has made my living. There has been ups and downs as well as joys and sorrows.

Cryptic Rock – You have certainly accomplished a lot with Nightwish. When you came on, you became a very big part of the band right off the bat, particularly with your voice. That addition of your voice added a new dynamic to Nightwish’s music. What was it like initially working with the band and utilizing your voice to the music’s advantage?

Marko Hietala – We started from a pretty good common background; the guys are Karelian and I’m Savonian. There was already that kind of country boy attitude with us. Then when we started, rehearsing and swapping ideas for Century Child (2002), it became really comfortable really fast. We just got along.

Of course, when you have humans, you get drama occasionally, and of course we’ve had those times. In the end we have been pretty honest about troubles and being understanding, and if need be, forgiving. We have a great personal chemistry with this bunch.

Cryptic Rock – It shows. The band has faced adversity and overcome it. Let’s look back for a moment. In 2004, Nightwish released the Once album, which launched the band into a new stratosphere of success. However, shortly after that release, the band parted ways with Tarja Turunen. Looking back 15 years after, was that a stressful time?

Marko Hietala – Yes, it was. Everyone was anxious, restless, and troubled all the time already. We had no connection and we decided, just as the band started to get bigger, we needed to take back our voice in the band. That’s why it happened. It was scary, but it was a thing where we were already eating so much of our own spine; in order to survive we had to amputate. We were already feeling bad about so many things, it was something that had to be done.

We survived until the next few years of troubles, and we still got through it. I said this already in the documentary, but I think we showed an exceptional persistence and group spirit through a lot of times. God damn, I cherish it!

Cryptic Rock – That unity is evident. It all just adds more to the story of Nightwish. The band has settled in nicely in recent years with Floor Jansen. A fantastic addition, what has it been like working with her?

Marko Hietala – She’s brilliant! She’s a powerhouse vocalist who wants to perform, sing, and loves doing shows. I’m pleased with how things are now. Of course some people have been complaining that I’m hanging a little bit more in the shadows now that she is there, but I’m not. I’m doing a shitload of vocals and background harmonies; there are just a good bunch of songs and we do them the best way they will sound.

Cryptic Rock – Understandable. It is about what the music calls for. If the music calls for you to be more upfront and center, then you will be.

Marko Hietala – Indeed. It’s not like I don’t have things to do. I have bass playing, which on some nights with hot lighting, is compared to shoveling in its calorie consummation. (Laughs)

Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) Well you have done a great job. Speaking of new music, Nightwish recently released the epic new album Human. :II: Nature. What was it like putting this record together?

Marko Hietala – There are certain ways we have gotten used to doing things. We had a month and a half of summer camp rehearsal sessions and then started recording. Kai (Hahto) went to a different studio to record the drum bottom tracks because our summer camp didn’t have the space with the proper ambiances for that to be recorded. We then put up the amps/vocal mics and we laid down all the other stuff for the album pretty fast and comfortably.

Of course there was this thing that we started to do, which is apparent on the album, where we had some pretty nice harmony vocal sessions. I have spoke about this a few times, but when we did the Decades Tour, we wanted to do something different for the oldies – so we figured with Troy, me, and Floor that we could do a bunch of live harmonies to beef them up. It sounded so nice that we figured that we could do them more on the album. Tuomas (Holopainen) wrote stuff so we could do those harmonies, and we ended up doing quite a lot of them.

A lot of our barbecue sessions at our summer camp there would be an acoustic guitar or battery-operated keyboard; we would try some lines out, figure out ideas and swap them. I would say Troy and I were writing that stuff mostly, but Tuomas and Floor were also always around so we could test things and see how they went. It was nice.

Cryptic Rock – The end result is quite good. It is a very well-balanced collection of heavier and more somber tracks. What can you tell us about the concept behind the album?

Marko Hietala – I guess if you take human nature, and either two words, separate or combined, the theme is a bit loose. All the songs on the album connect to those things – human or nature, or human nature.

Cryptic Rock – Very interesting. Then there is the second disc, which is predominately all instrumental. Were you apart of the second half of the album at all?

Marko Hietala – I didn’t really work on it. When Tuomas was writing it, he did ask the rest of the band if it was okay to have a classical orchestra for the second half of the album. Basically, the only people who worked there was (Troy Donockley) with some piping and Floor with some vocals.

Cryptic Rock – It is a great addition to the first half of Human. :II: Nature. You also released your solo album, Pyre of the Black Heart, earlier this year. What was the process behind that album?

Marko Hietala – It was a long time dream for a guy like me who writes a lot. When Nightwish had a sabbatical, I called a couple of friends of mine to work on the album; there was Tuomas Wäinölä on guitar and Vili Oillila on keyboards, who I have known 10-15 years. I had this idea this album was not going to drop into a straight Heavy Metal box, but that it was going to be more Prog Rock or Hard Rock with Metal in between. They helped me finalize the arrangements.

Tuomas Wäinölä also ended up recording and producing most of the album. It turned out to be an inside project with me and those guys. Then we ended up hiring a drummer who we also knew, Anssi Nykänen. As a result of the making of the album it started to grow into a band. We actually had a little tour in February before everything closed out. It was really great, a lot of people liked it and we had a lot of wide grins in the audience.

We also did a Finnish version of the album. About half and half of the songs were written in Finish or English. I just had to crisscross translating them to get both albums out.

Cryptic Rock – Very cool! It really turned out well. You have offered your talents to many other bands through the years. To name a few, you have worked with Eternal Tears of Sorrow, To/Die/For, Charon, etc. Do you enjoy collaborating with others?

Marko Hietala – Yea. When I was in my twenties I got to be an apprentice recording engineer. That is why I was sitting in the studio and helping people out. I was also doing a lot of studio vocal work; both coaching, arranging, and singing harmonies. It had been an interest of mine, but I do have to say lately I have been putting the brakes down. (Laughs) At some point in time I was doing so much work it started to lose its point. These days, I try to very basically keep it to projects who I am friends with and whose music interests me.

Cryptic Rock – Understandable, you do not want to spread yourself too thin.

Marko Hietala – Yes, but also, interesting things are interesting. A couple of years back, for the first time, I did a Modern Classical thing with Ayreon. There were a lot of words, melodies, keys, tempo, and time signature that was changing all the time. I have to say before the premier I was crapping my pants, but I pulled myself together and it went well.

Cryptic Rock – It sounds like that was an exciting new challenge. Obviously we are in the midst of this worldwide pandemic. It is hard to tell what tomorrow will bring, but is Nightwish going to resume touring when they can?

Marko Hietala – We have had cancellations for the summer festival. We were also supposed to go to China in April. We are trying to move some things to 2021. The Central European tour, it should be sometime next fall, it’s still open. With the summer festivals, it seems like we are watching dominoes fall.

Cryptic Rock – It is unfortunate. Hopefully we can return to some sense of normalcy soon.

Marko Hietala – I agree, but what can you do? It’s a god damn virus, you cannot reason with it. This is the situation. Although, we have the album out and hopefully people are getting to listen to it. Hopefully we get to see each other some time in the future. I love doing shows and I’m really bummed out that we have no shows. It would have been really great to go out there and start doing it together. After all, there are vibes involved when you build up that bubble for people, yourself, and your bandmates. When you do it together, it’s a vibe that you are hooked to… at least I am.

Cryptic Rock – Yes, a lot of people are hooked to those vibes. Last question. If you are a fan of Horror and Sci-Fi films, what are some of your favorites?

Marko Hietala – In Science Fiction, a film that went kind of under the radar was Predestination (2014). It has a brilliant time travel story. Of course everyone knows Interstellar (2014), which was big and great. Europa Report (2013) was also great as well.

Horror is more problematic for me, because I can’t be scared anymore. Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House was pretty good.

#marko hietala #nightwish #2020 interviews

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wematch · 5 years

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The Secret’s Out

Andrew’s team just won the Championship and now he has to attend the gala with a plus one. And to everyone’s surprise he shows up with Neil at his side.

***

A huge thank you for the beta to @tntwme who was kind enough to come to my rescue when I asked for help, all your feedback made all the difference!

You can also read it from the start on [AO3]

***

A few days after Andrew's team won the championship, their coach asks to see the whole team in the stadium. Once everyone sits down in their lounge area, he begins to congratulate the team once more for their victory and then he begins to talk about the gala that will take place Saturday night. He warns them to be on their best behaviour because investors and board members will be attending as well as a few reporters that will cover the event. He continues to speak but at that point Andrew stops listening. He would much rather stay at home than have to go to this stupid thing. When his coach dismisses them his teammates continue to talk about it as they slowly begin to exit.

Andrew gets up to leave and is annoyed when Kayla and Malory stop to chat near the entrance with a few others, half blocking the exit for those that want to leave. Steve stops by his side, waiting for the exit to clear out.

"Who are you going to bring with you?" He asks. Andrew looks to the side at him and merely stares. Steve continues, "You know you have to bring someone, right?"

Steve’s one of the few members of Andrew’s team that he tolerates, but when he begins to talk about anything remotely related to Exy he reminds him of Kevin with all his pestering and the only thing he wants to do is smash his racket on his head to shut him up. But he knows that he is right. He needs a date for this stupid thing, unless coach Lavin tells him otherwise. It was a long shot, but Andrew figures he can try.

He moves past his teammates near the entrance and walks the hallway to Lavin’s office. The door is open so he rests against the doorframe until his coach looks up from the computer. "Let me guess, you don't want to go to the gala." He pauses and when Andrew doesn't respond he continues, "Neither do I. But does it look like I have a choice? No. So neither do you.”

"In that case, can I go alone?"

His coach removes his glasses and starts cleaning them. "Don't ask me why this is a rule. It’s a stupid rule.” He puts the glasses back on. “But no, you need a date. And if you don't have anyone to bring, our PR team can find someone to accompany you."

At that moment, Andrew closes his hands into fists to try and control himself. Most days he doesn’t mind his coach. That’s why he signed the contract for another season just a few days ago, but right now he doesn’t want to look at him anymore. He won’t be forced to go with someone he doesn’t know, contract be damned. “I’ll find someone,” he tells the man and walks out the door towards the parking lot.

Later, when he’s in bed he thinks about asking Renee to come with him. He knows that she wouldn’t mind it. But he ends up calling Neil instead. “Can you come here this weekend?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I need you to bring a suit.”

“Okay?” Neil says unsure. Andrew can imagine him running his hand over his hair at that moment, trying to figure out what’s on Andrew’s mind. “What for?” Neil asks him.

“I need you to be my date for that stupid gala that I have to attend.”

There’s a pause. “Are you serious?”

Andrew takes a deep breath.“Will you do it, or not?”

“You are serious.” After another pause, Neil adds, “Yes, of course I’ll do it.”

***

They arrive late at the party, trying to avoid having to be stuck near the reporters for too long. And it works, everyone is already inside when they arrive so they have a clear path to walk. All eyes turn to them as they walk in but they both focus on walking towards the doors. The journalists start taking pictures and calling their names, and Andrew feels like he can’t breathe until they walk inside and the doors close behind them. Neil grabs his hand and squeezes it so Andrew glances at him by his side. He looks stunning in his suit, and Andrew wants nothing more than to shove him into a corner and kiss that stupid mouth of his.

“Come on,” he says, “let’s get this over with.”

They begin to walk inside and it doesn’t take long for his coach to stop in front of them. “What’s going on here?” Lavin asks, eyes fixed on Neil.

“Is there a problem?” Andrew interjects.

“Am I supposed to believe that you brought him as your date?” His coach asks glancing in Andrew’s direction. Then he glances at their joined hands and looks between the two of them for a moment. “If you didn’t want to talk to the media you picked the worst date, you know that right?” Andrew just stares at the man until the other sighs. “I don’t care what kind of deal this is, just behave.” Then he turns to Neil. “Nice to meet you, Josten,” and walks away from them.

“Your coach seems nice,” Neil comments while they both stare at Lavin’s back as he walks away.

“If you say so.”

“Reminds me of Coach Wymack.”

Andrew hums and they go find their designated seats. All his teammates turn to stare at them when they enter the room and some begin to whisper. He feels Neil tense by his side for a moment which is expected in a room full of strangers, but Andrew’s not concerned about his teammates so he tugs on Neil’s hand to keep him moving.

Jaime, who is sitting in front of Neil starts to speak. “Hey Josten, saw your game last week, sweet goal you did right in the last few seconds!”

“Thanks,” Neil answers. A few others start to talk to Neil about Exy and Andrew zones out, not really bothering to follow the conversation. Neil’s leg is pressed against his and it helps to distract him until the food comes.

Later, when they’re supposed to mingle around the room Andrew stops against a wall and watches everyone else. He keeps coming back to Neil’s back though, as if he was a beacon.

He soon becomes annoyed when he notices one of his teammates watching him. He looks Steve in the eye until he looks away. Then, Andrew returns to look at Neil’s back. Still there, still chatting about Exy safe in the same spot. Good, Andrew thinks. He better not make him run after him in these stupid shoes. It’s been a few years since Neil was kidnapped but Andrew still remembers the sinking feeling when he thought Neil was gone.

Andrew’s distracted when he notices out of the corner of his eye that Steve is walking his way. He decides not to acknowledge him. He’ll go away soon enough that way, but Steve stops at his side leaning against the wall and follows his gaze to where Neil currently is. Andrew won’t ask what he wants. He has seen the curious looks between his teammates through the whole night, it’s pretty obvious that they want to know what’s going on between him and Neil and he supposes that they might have sent Steve since he’s the only one that Andrew has said more than a few words to since he joined the team.

Minutes pass and Steve sighs. “Look man, I just need to ask ok? And I know that you’ll probably not answer,” he pauses, “is this a PR move? Because of all the shit with the media?”

“You could say that,” Andrew says without taking his eyes off Neil, who is still talking to Jaime and a few others.

“Whatever you need to do tonight, just know that the media is about to enter, so If you’re really supposed to be his date just pretend not to hate the guy for the next hour or so,” with that he gives him a sympathetic smile.

“That’s impossible,” he tells Steve and walks away towards Neil.

He stops near him but doesn’t say a word. Neil continues talking to his teammates until Andrew just says “auf der linken Seite.” Neil tenses and casually looks in the direction of the doors to his left where a few reporters are now entering. He notices his teammates looking curious between them but wisely none asks what Andrew had just told Neil.

However, It doesn’t take long for the reporters to spot Neil in the room and come to him. Neil grabs his hand. They don’t do it often, not around other people at least. Neil has a thing for his hands when they’re alone, he likes to trace imaginary lines around his fingers and hold them close to his chest at night, and Andrew won’t say it out loud but he likes the connection to Neil, to know he’s right beside him without having to look to make sure.

He squeezes his hand and slightly pulls him closer to him. He hasn’t told Neil what was his plan for inviting him here today but he’s sure that Neil must have an idea. Two reporters stop in front of them with their cameras behind. Andrew can hear the moment one of them realizes they are holding hands and asks his cameraman to focus his camera on it. He sees Neil roll his eyes beside him and squeezes his hand again.

“Neil, what brings you to the--” the first one begins to ask.

“Is this a confirmation that the two of you are dating?” the second one cuts in.

“Isn’t it clear enough?” Neil retorts. Andrew lets him do the talking and tenses when more reporters come in their direction.

“Well, yes but--”

“Then, there’s your answer.” Neil cuts in and steps closer to Andrew, they’re getting cornered by the reporters and he knows they need to move now before it gets out of hand. He puts a hand on Neil’s neck to ground him, like he has done countless times before and pulls him sideways towards the security already moving in their direction. They quickly make a barrier between them and the journalists and order them to step away. They were never supposed to be interviewing the same subject all at once.

He pulls Neil into the bathroom and after checking that no one else is in there he comes back to where Neil stopped, leaning against the door to block it for everyone else.

“I’m okay,” Neil says, without meeting his eyes.

Andrew steps towards him, feeling pissed. That shouldn’t have happened, and that wasn’t what he had in mind for tonight at all. He puts a hand on Neil’s neck again and tilts his head slightly down until their foreheads are touching. Neither says anything for a moment, and Andrew can feel Neil relax beside him. “Let's get out of here,” he tells him and steps back.

“Too bad we didn’t settle this today,” Neil says with a weak grin before he steps away from the door and opens it.

“There’s always tomorrow.” Andrew comments. They step outside and begin to walk towards the exit. He sees his coach starting to walk in their direction with a grim expression so Andrew brings two fingers to his forehead in a mocking salute that brings him to a stop.

Andrew is not surprised to find two reporters near the doors and continues to walk calmly in their direction. They come to a stop where the reporters are standing and he spares a glance at Neil. He’s tense but he’s looking at the reporters as if they were merely an obstacle between him and the goal that he needs to pass. If he had been on the meds he would have laughed at the uneasy looks the reporters share between them, but as it is, he only stares at the reporters with his blank expression and waits.

It takes them a moment, but then the woman steps towards them. “For over a year you’ve been fighting on social media and during games, so it’s a bit surprising that you came together today. Care to comment?” she asks, shoving a mic into Neil’s face.

Andrew closes his fists in an attempt to control himself. This, their so called rivalry that everyone has been talking about had started when Andrew joined his pro team two years ago. And at first he didn’t care much about it, it was a way to mess with Neil when he was still in college. But now he was just done with the whole thing. All the questions, the theories, the opinions of everyone on the matter was putting them on edge, and it pissed off Andrew to no end. People just needed to leave them the fuck alone.

“What changed?” The other reporter insists.

“Nothing changed,” Neil replies and bats the mic out of his face. Andrew takes that as a cue to pull Neil away from everyone and he doesn’t let go of Neil until they reach the car.

***

As soon as he arrives at practice on Monday morning his coach calls him to his office. Andrew follows him and sits down on the chair in front of his desk. He watches the man as he sits down and turns his pc on.

“Look, I don’t know what you were trying to do on Saturday,” Lavin takes a long sigh and turns his monitor towards Andrew. “But the media didn’t exactly buy it, okay? There’s an even bigger mess on social media because of you two now.”

He rolls his eyes at the title that has a picture of him and Neil leaving the party under it. Are the long time rivals really together? Keep scrolling to read our theories!

“There’s so much shit between the two of you for everyone to just think this was actually real.” He joins his hands and leans forward. “What was your idea with this?”

“It didn’t go as planned,” Andrew concedes. He considers for a second about telling him about Neil but he’s not in a good mood and just wants this day to be over. Andrew gets up. “I’ll take care of it,” he says.

“Andrew, I don’t know how you convinced Josten to do this. But maybe just try to figure something out with the guy, if not we can make the PR team figure something--”

“I said that I'll take care of it,” he interrupts. He turns his back to the man and walks out of his office. He definitely doesn’t need help from the PR team, they’re always trying to give him advice on what to say and what not to do. If he wanted to listen to that shit he could just call Kevin.

***

That afternoon when Andrew gets home, Neil is still there. He had taken the day off and was going back to his team the next morning. Andrew takes his phone from his pocket and contemplates his options. He could let this continue as it is, but he’s tired. They’re both tired from it. He scrolls down his contact list and calls Nicky. He puts the phone on speaker and it rings three times before Nicky picks it up. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Well, hello to you too.” Nicky sighs, “Is this because of the whole shit between you and Neil?”

“Yes,” Andrew answers, “I want it to be over,” he explains.

“Okay, what do you need me for?”

Andrew takes a deep breath. The easiest way to end this is for everyone to believe they’ve been together this whole time. “Can you post a few pictures of us or videos that can show that we’ve been together?”

“I don’t have--”

“And don’t say you don’t have anything because I know you do,” Andrew interrupts him.

“Fine I have a few things...Oh! I can’t believe you’re letting me post this! Wait until I tell Erik!” Nicky starts half shouting on the phone and Andrew closes his eyes regretting his decision already.

Neil, hearing Nicky’s voice, walks out of the bedroom and leans against the doorframe. “Allison has some videos too,” he adds loudly so that Nicky can hear him.

“Oh, hey Neil! You staying the week with your not so real boyfriend?” Nicky says and starts laughing.

Neil rolls his eyes. “It’s not funny, Nicky.”

“You have to admit that it is,” Nicky takes a deep breath to calm down.“Hold on a second, I’m going to add Allison to the call so that we can discuss how we’re going to do this.”

And with that, Andrew gets up from the couch and throws the phone at Neil who catches it easily. Neil takes the phone off speaker, grabs his laptop and moves to the bed.

Later that night, they’re in bed when Neil shows him the video compilation that Nicky has made. There’s a lot more footage of him and Neil than he was expecting. He should feel pissed that people were capturing these moments without asking but he can’t. Not when he looks at the idiot lying in bed half on top of him, smiling stupidly at his phone because he’s watching them together.

Andrew remembers every single one of those moments as if it was yesterday; them holding hands in front of Jake just to piss him off more after his fight with Neil; smoking together at Abby’s house after they won a game his last year on the team; Neil staring at where Andrew was standing and Kevin yelling at him to focus on the game and Andrew throwing a ball inches away from his face that made Neil laugh to everyone’s astonishment; Andrew falling asleep on Neil’s shoulder on the bus after an away game. Some pictures with other moments appear between the clips and then the video ends with a photo from Dan’s wedding last year. It had been taken when they were in the balcony, half hidden from everyone. Neil had wanted to catch some air so they went outside, and then Neil had asked Andrew to kiss him, so the picture must have been taken only a second before Andrew did it.

Neil plays the video a second time, occasionally pausing it to ask Andrew what had happened in that exact moment. Andrew answers him and when the video ends again Neil plays it once more and Andrew doesn’t mind.

Neil shares the video on twitter before they go to bed. And as expected the media explodes.

The following day, Andrew is called in again by his coach when he gets to practice. He enters the office and sits down without saying a word.

His coach puts down his coffee and clears his throat. “Well, now that everything is clear between you and Josten. I wanted to ask you something…” He pauses for a moment and rests his hands together on the table.“This conversation cannot leave this room for now, okay? But when I was considering you for this team, I studied the way you played in college and how you played with others and I noticed that you and Josten made one hell of a team, you had your own communication out there.” He pauses to take another sip of his coffee. “Anyway, this is to say that I’m now considering making a proposal for Josten to transfer to our team next season. I assume that that won’t be a problem?”

It takes Andrew completely by surprise. This was not what he was expecting when he was called here. A long moment passes until he says, “Bring him to the team.”

His coach smiles, seeming satisfied with his answer. “Okay, I’ll make him an offer.”

He considers calling Neil when he gets home and giving him a heads up. But ultimately he decides against it. He’ll wait for Neil to tell him the good news himself.

***

Translation: auf der linken Seite - On the left

#myfic #andreil #aftg #tfc #andrew minyard #neil josten #soft #pro exy players

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fullsung · 5 years

Text

Shapes // Winwin x Reader // Ch. 3

FYI I almost blew my brains out retyping this after it got deleted so I hope you enjoy!!

figure skater!winwin, ballerina!reader ; haters to lovers au ; slight angst, fluffy ending, smut (in next chapter) // wc: 1,296

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Chapter 3

tw: character insults other characters body, brief mention of family death, language

You’re standing outside the ice rink waiting for Winwin and his coach. You're supposed to see him perform his routine and correct him where he is lacking artistically. You felt pressured, since at the previous Olympics, Winwin fell short of the gold medal because the judges felt his performance lacked in artistic value, and if the same thing happens this year, it’s going to fall on your shoulders.

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t excited. Even though Winwin wasn’t the nicest towards you, you knew he was good at what he did, especially considering the fact that you might’ve stayed up until 3am watching every interview and filmed performance after realizing you might be in love with the asshole. Plus you’ve never seen figure skating live before, yet alone China’s best.

You turn around to see Winwin dressed in a long gray coat, a black fluffy sweater, brown pants and black boots, next to him a taller, plumper man, wearing a tracksuit, who you assume is his coach, but there’s a third person. A man clearly much older than Winwin and even his coach, dressed smartly. You can’t help but notice he has a slight resemblance to Winwin. “Hello Miss Y/L/N, it’s such a pleasure to meet you” the man extends his hand out for a handshake, which you respectfully accept. “I’m Winwin’s father” He beams at you. It finally hits you, that’s where the resemblance comes from.

You were standing by the door to the rink, ready to watch Winwin’s routine. You figured you’d record it on your phone, so he wouldn’t have to do it over and over again every time you pointed out something you wanted to correct, because if he was aiming for gold, the routine was probably hard. Music starts playing, and you shift your gaze to Winwin.

*psssstt watch this (I love Yuzuru so you know I had to do it. Okay moving on)*

You were shocked. Amazed. Winwin was already attractive, but as soon as he started performing he practically transformed into a god. His lean and strong body gliding across the ice, combined with the look of pure concentration and focus in his eyes made him look ethereal, but Winwin’s father clearly thought otherwise.

“Terrible! You’re an absolute disgrace! Not only was that repulsing, but you also embarrassed yourself in front of Miss Y/L/N! I want this routine perfect!” The old man stormed off and found a bench to sit on further away from the rink, you didn’t miss the flick of anger in Winwin’s eyes.

It had been about three hours of you pointing out areas where Winwin’s dancing was stiff or emotionless, and giving him tips to strengthen and improve certain ballet inspired movements, and even though you didn’t think it was possible, Winwin did even better than the first time. You tell Winwin you’re done and he heads over to the locker room to get changed. Just as you’re about to leave, Winwin’s father calls your name. “Miss Y/L/N, is that all for today?” He asks, you give him a respectful smile “Yes it is. He’s fixed all the areas there was trouble in, and with continuous practice he’ll perfect it in no time. The routine is almost flawless now” He nods at you “Don’t you think he should lose some weight? I saw some of the boys at your academy, they’re all so thin. Winwin was sick for a while and gained some weight, I couldn’t stand seeing him today, he looked like a whale on ice” He laughed. You were dumbfounded, how could a father say something like this about his own son? You catch Winwin behind his father looking at you, not failing to miss the glimpse of sadness in his eyes before he turns away and heads into the changing room. “I’m sorry sir but Winwin’s body is absolutely perfect. He needs to stay healthy to perform well. Now if you’ll excuse me” You give him a curt nod and head into the locker room after Winwin.

You see him on the bench, hunched over, almost inaudible sobs coming from his body. You quietly walk over to him and put your hand on his back, he looks at you, eyes red and puffy, tears still streaming down his face “Please Winwin, talk to me. I know you don’t want to but I’m not leaving you alone until you do” You tell him, concern laced in your voice. Winwin wanted to give you a snark remark and tell you to leave him alone, maybe insult you like he always did, but deep down he knows it's all an act. “I don’t even want to skate anymore. I’m tired of it. I skate because I love it, but after my mother passed away, my father made it seem like it was some sort of obligation. After i won silver 4 years ago he’s become even worse. At first he was proud, but then it turned into pressuring me to do better, saying that if I won silver I could easily win gold, and that I had to do it for my mother. I’m in my 3rd year of college, I just want to enjoy my life, relax, not have him breathing down my neck, so I’m quitting figure skating after the Olympics. I’m only putting up with him until then, but after that I’m cutting him off. I finally won’t have to hear him call me a whale on ice” He said the last part with a soft chuckle

You were shocked at his confession, but at the same time happy he confided in you. “You know, I used to hate ballet. At first I did it because it was fun and I liked the pretty costumes, but when all this word started spreading around about me being some sort of child prodigy, and I started making a lot of money from my guest appearances, it quickly turned into a chore for me. I felt pressured to maintain my “perfect ballerina” image, and the harsh comments I received from people claiming I was not worthy of anything I had received made things even worse. But as I got older I realized that it isn’t worth it living for other people. They had expectations of me and I realized I didn’t have to meet them. I’m happy where I’m at right now. I still have a lot to learn, but I’m content”

“I love you, you know?” Winwin said, looking at you with admiration in his eyes. “W-what?” You stuttered “I’m in love with you. I know you probably don’t feel the same because I was an asshole to you, but I just couldn’t deal with my feelings for you, even from the first day i met you. You’re too out of my league, too much of an amazing person. But you gave me strength. I was so close to dropping out of the Olympics lineup, but whenever it got hard I’d think of you, and your smile, and it made me want to push forward. Whenever I’m next to you I can barely even breathe, and I’m sorry I was such a dick”

You stared at Winwin, still mildly in shock, but smiling as you realized what he just said. You reach your hand out to cup his face and lean forward, pressing your lips to his. Winwin’s hands move to hold the back of your head, and in that moment nothing else matters. You both move your lips, perfectly synchronized, Winwin’s lips still slightly cold from being on the ice for too long. The kiss is blissful and puts you on cloud nine. After a while you pull away, smiling at him, “I love you too you idiot”

sorry if this was shit but I had to retype it and it’s almost 4 am so forgive me

#winwin #nct winwin #winwin fanfic #winwin fluff #nct winwin fluff #nct writing #nct writings #nct reactions #nct imagines #nct blurbs #nct scenarios #wayv reactions #wayv scenarios #wayv blurbs #wayv winwin

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eintsein · 6 years

Text

The College Application Process

A guide by Eintsein

College application season is just around the corner. As a survivor of the grueling task of completing the application process, I know exactly how daunting, overwhelming, and downright stressful it can be. I hope that by giving you a little ‘tour’ of the college application process, you’ll have a much easier time navigating it. and hopefully you’ll be able to craft a successful application.

Before I get right into it, I’d first like to tell you a bit about myself in the context of college applications. I just graduated high school (in 2018) and I’m going to attend Cornell University in the fall. I plan to major in Computer Science and Economics, but I remain open to other courses of study that I may find interesting as I progress through my college career. I applied to a total of 17 schools: I was accepted by 8 of them and waitlisted by 1.

Disclaimer: I am not a college admissions officer and thus I am not certain that everything I write in this post will work. This is just what I experienced with my college applications. Also, I will only be talking about college applications in the US, since that’s where I applied to, but perhaps some of the tips are adaptable to other countries’ college application processes.

Stage 1: Pre-application

Drafting a college list

(before summer break - start of senior year)

Doing college research

Before starting your application, it seems pretty obvious that you should have an idea of which schools to apply to. And in order for you to do that, you should do a little research to make sure that you’re applying to colleges that you actually want to attend.

One of the first things you should do is list different factors that you think will affect your decision. Do you want to go to a college in the city or in a small town? A large college or a small one? A chill school or an academically rigorous one?

You should also consider the major/area of study you’re interested in--it doesn’t even have to be super specific. Your potential major can then be used to choose your colleges. For example, if I wanted to study CS and Econ, I would choose colleges that are strong in both areas.

On a side note, I don’t think you should choose an area of study just because you’re good at a certain subject, e.g. just because you’re good at English, doesn’t necessarily mean you should study English or Literature. Instead, choose a potential major based on what you enjoy doing.

When doing your research about these different colleges, reading all of the information on their websites can be tedious and boring. As an alternative, I’d recommend watching youtube videos or talking to alumni instead. When I was applying, the most effective way for me to get to know a school is through those “A Day in the Life of…” videos as well as Q&A videos because you not only end up knowing more about the school but also about the student body and the student culture at that university.

What colleges?

I recommend that you apply to a good mix of safety schools, match schools, and dream schools.

Safety schools: you exceed their requirements and you’ll definitely get in.

Match schools: admits have similar academic credentials to yours. You have a good chance of admission, but there’s also a (relatively small) probability that you won’t.

Dream schools: your scores or credentials fall in the lower end of the school’s average range for the previous batch of admitted students.You’d be lucky to get in.

All the colleges you apply to should be colleges that you’d be happy to attend.

How many colleges?

You should start with 6 schools: 2 safety, 2 match, and 2 reach. Then you can adjust the numbers as you wish. If you’re applying to more schools, I’d say the optimum reach:match:safety ratio is around 3:5:2, so if you’re planning to apply to 10 colleges, that would be 3 reach, 5 match, and 2 safety.

How to classify colleges

Generally, people categorize their colleges based on statistics, so things like test scores, GPA, and rank. Perhaps the easiest method is comparing standardized test scores. A good way to do this is to look at the 25th to 75th percentile range, which shows you the scores obtained by 50% of last year’s entering class. If your scores fall between the 25th and 75th percentile, you may have just found yourself a match school! But hold up, the lower percentiles may be reserved for special admits like athletes or donors, so in reality, a match school would be one where your scores lie closer to the 75th percentile.

Aside from standardized test scores, it might also help to figure out what kind of student the college is looking for--such as by reading accepted supplemental essays--and seeing whether or not you seem like the right fit.

Resources

Once you’ve compiled your list of colleges, it would help to have a table with information about them. This might include information like deadlines, median scores, availability of scholarships, interviews, etc. Here’s a link to (the blank version of) the spreadsheet I used for my college application. Feel free to modify it according to your needs, but make sure to make a copy before changing things!

Recommendation Letters

What are recommendation letters?

Recommendations letters are letters written by your mentors to provide insight into what you’re like as a student, e.g. your behavior, positive qualities, interests, achievements etc.

Whom should you ask for a recommendation letter?

It’s good to ask teachers who know you very well, either someone who has taught you for a long time or someone who has a multifaceted view of you, such as a teacher who has also advised you in an extracurricular.

Some people would also suggest that you get recommendations from teachers of different subjects to show that you’re a well-rounded student. I think it’s better to ask teachers who can write about your different positive qualities, i.e. one teacher could highlight a part of your character that the other teacher would not be able to.

You might also want to ask teachers who can write well. In my experience, letters from teachers in the humanities and social science departments tend to be more convincing and well-written than those in the science and math departments (I know not all teachers are like this; this is just a generalization). But again, it’s definitely better to ask teachers who know you well and can write about your qualities.

The first recommendation letter I used was from my Economics teacher, who was also my MUN (Model United Nations) advisor - an extracurricular in which I was very active. My classmates and I also had a pretty good relationship with this teacher, especially since our class was only 3 students.

My second recommendation letter came from my Math teacher, who taught me for 6 years. Math is also my strongest subject, so that’s definitely a plus point (get it? :p).

Another letter that might be useful to submit is the additional recommendation. This is a recommendation from anyone other than your teacher, it could be your coach, another mentor, or even a friend. I think you should only consider submitting an additional recommendation if it highlights qualities that haven’t been covered in your other ones.

What do I have to do as an applicant?

Be prepared to answer questions your teachers may have about you so that they can write a more valuable recommendation letter. Compiling a resume or list of achievements and activities might help, or you could simply sit down for a conversation.

When should I ask for these recommendation letters?

Preferably before your senior year starts so your teachers have enough time to put some thought into what they’re going to write.

Standardized Testing

Do I really need to take standardized tests?

A lot of colleges recommend (read: require) you to take the SAT or ACT (and TOEFL if you’re an international student like myself), but remember that they are not your entire application. Just do your best in the standardized tests you take.

When should I take them?

I say whenever you’re ready, but no later than the deadline specified by the college (usually October of your senior year would be the latest to take the general SAT). I did my SATs in October during my junior year, my younger sister took it at the end of her sophomore year, and a lot of my friends took in October during our senior year, so again, it really depends on when you feel you’re ready.

How many times should I take them?

I don’t think you should do each test more than once unless you’re sure your scores will improve. Your application won’t look very good if you sat for the SAT 3 times and your scores decreased each time, assuming the college looks at all your scores.

Which scores do I send colleges?

Different colleges have different requirements for the submission of these test scores. Some only require the highest scores, while others would like to see all of your scores. On the CollegeBoard website, when you enter colleges to which you’ll send your scores, the site will also inform you of the requirements for those colleges.

How will colleges receive my standardized testing scores?

You’ll have to fill a form in the Common/Coalition App. In addition, some schools require you to send official score reports from the testing agency. I suggest that you send in your scores as soon as you know what colleges you’re applying to, just so that you don’t have to pay an extra amount to ‘rush’ your score sends (i.e. have it sent to colleges in 2-4 days as opposed to the regular 1-2 weeks).

The Rest of Senior Year

Take challenging classes and do well in them

Colleges look at the classes you take in high school and how well you did in them. You should consider taking classes that are both challenging and in the area of study you might want to pursue. Taking challenging courses allows college admissions officers to see that you’re taking initiative to further your education.

What if I catch senioritis?

If you’re a senior, you’ll definitely go through a phase where you don’t care about anything and just feel like having coffee and talking to your friends in class. I know I did. Senioritis is totally normal, but you should still try to put effort into your studies. Colleges can rescind your admission if they see a drastic fall in your grades, so keep your grades up and don’t overwhelm yourself with too many unnecessary activities.

Join extracurriculars

Extracurriculars show college admissions officers that you can manage your time well and that you have other interests aside from school. It also shows them that you are an active, contributing member of your community, and that you’re proactive in developing your passions and interests.

What type of activity counts as an extracurricular?

Well, it can be anything you do in your free time. It could be a school club, a club outside of school, an online activity, etc. Maybe you programmed an app in your spare time. Maybe you had a part time job. Or maybe you ran a blog that helps students navigate their academic lives. You just have to find something that matters to you and is significant and meaningful. It would be even better if the activities in which you participate can demonstrate leadership and commitment.

If you’re having a hard time picturing what that could be, I’ll give you a couple of examples. One of my friends expanded his love of reading by starting a hip hop literature club that has branches in Japan and in multiple states in the US. A junior of mine established a website that brings together people from all around the world, who are experienced in the MUN community, to give newer members advice and guidance so that they may thrive in the MUN world.

Stage 2: Completing the Application

The Application Form

Different Application Platforms

The first thing you should do after you’ve compiled a college list is to find out where you should complete your application.

1. The Common App

The most common application platform is the Common App, which is used by more than 700 colleges in the US. It’s super convenient if you’re applying to a lot of colleges, but the site does limit you to 20 colleges.

2. The Coalition App

Another common platform is the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success, which is a fairly new platform that has 132 members. It does have a cool feature I like, though: it allows you to compile a kind of portfolio by uploading documents and files to your “locker” on the website. Furthermore, the Coalition App is specifically aimed to help lower-resourced and underrepresented students, so the colleges listed there have substantial financial aid and scholarship opportunities.

3. Other Applications

Some colleges also have their own applications, such as the UCs and MIT.

Parts of the Application

You’ll have to fill in your

Personal information (This is probably the easiest part of the application, so even if you don’t have anything else ready yet, I recommend you fill this out just to get it over with.)

Extracurricular activities

Essays (the Common/Coalition App essay and supplementary essays)

Honors and awards

Disciplinary information

Standardized test scores

Your counselor will submit

Your high school transcript

Your mid-year and final transcript

The school report

The counselor recommendation

Your teachers will submit

Their recommendation letters

Now, even though you aren’t submitting every single thing on the form, you are the person responsible for the punctuality of these documents. Your teachers are busy and they might forget, so it’s your job to remind them.

For real though, one of my teachers forgot to upload his recommendation onto one of the external application websites. Fortunately, the university gave me and others in my position an extra 22 days to send in any missing documents.

The Essay (and other essays)

Ah, yes. The much dreaded Essay™. Probably the most challenging part of the application, and the one that sucks the life outta ya. There’s a reason for that, though. The essay is an important part of the application because it humanizes the applicant instead of merely showing them as a collection of statistics and facts. You should aim to showcase something about yourself that can’t be found in other parts of the application.

Planning

When should I start?

Ideally, you should start thinking about potential essay ideas over the summer, maybe come up with a rough draft if you can. But it’s really no rush, though. Sometimes the best ideas come later. I wrote my first common app essay over the summer. Completely scrapped it. Wrote a second one in like September-ish and used that for Early Action. Scrapped it again. The final essay I sent in was first written on December 17th. Sometimes life works that way.

How do I start?

One method that helped me is making a mind map about myself (my counselor recommended this to me). You’d start by writing down the things that define you: your personality, qualities, and values. Then, you’d think of activities, events, or other things in your life where you exhibited those traits or exercised those values. Since all college essays pretty much boil down to “What good qualities do you have?”, mind mapping your good qualities will help you answer all sorts of essays.

One important thing you should know is that your essay topic doesn’t have to be super deep or anything, just that it says a lot about you. And just because your essay is really personal, you shouldn’t divert your focus away from writing it well. You also shouldn’t write about something everybody experiences unless you can find a way to make it unique.

What next?

As soon as you have several topics for your essay, you can create outlines for each of them, and see which one would give a greater contribution to your application. If you’re not the outline type of person, start writing away, and see which one turns out to be more effective.

Writing

Start writing as soon as you have an idea. You don’t have to perfect it yet, just see where and how far the idea goes. You can always edit it or scrap it later. Or, if you prefer a more structured approach, make outlines for all the ideas you have.

How should I structure my essay?

When writing your essay, I would recommend using a narrative structure since people generally respond better to stories. However, if you think your essay would read better without the narrative structure, then use a different one.

What writing techniques are important?

Imagery is your best friend. You want your readers (the admissions officers) to be able to picture what you’re telling them so that they could understand more clearly and comprehensively whatever it is about yourself that you’re trying to convey.

Using an extended metaphor is also an excellent way to compose a memorable essay. Be aware that they’re fairly difficult to pull off, but if you have an idea, you should try and write it out first and see how that works out.

What are some common mistakes applicants make?

Some applicants make the mistake of sounding too preachy, you know, something like “We should make the world a better place!!” You might think, “but aren’t these types of essays supposed to be like that?” That’s what I thought, too, when I first wrote my essay. The admissions officers, however, are only there to get to know you, not to be preached upon. Instead, you should tie in the message you want to convey with your personal experience.

Lastly, you shouldn’t summarize at the end of your essay. It really isn’t as useful as you might think. In other words, you should write your essay so that it doesn’t need to be summarized in order for the readers to understand what you’re trying to tell them.

Revising

You should be prepared to write and rewrite and, like I said before, completely scrap essays. Don’t let yourself get attached to a particular sentence or phrase or even essay topic. Rewrite as needed. Write something else if you must.

After you’ve written your first draft, leave your essay for a couple days before coming back to it to edit. This is because right after you’ve written your essay, the ideal image of the essay is still the one you have written down, so you likely won’t make any meaningful changes.

What if I exceed the word limit?

If your word count is waaay past it, I’d suggest you write it from scratch without referring to the original draft. This helps eliminate the less important details since you yourself don’t remember them.

If you think you can simply cut down on a few phrases, there are several things you can do: delete redundancies, shorten your introduction/conclusion, simplify phrases, rearrange sentences, and use contractions, for example.

Should I ask other people to read my essay?

Somewhere along the road, you’ll also want to ask other people to read over your essay. I wouldn’t recommend asking a friend to do this for you since they might give a biased opinion. Plus, they know you too well. Instead, ask a teacher, your counselor, or even an acquaintance with whom you’re comfortable letting them read your essay.

Supplemental Essays

Honestly just refer to your mind map if you made one, or make outlines for each of your supplemental essays. Don’t be afraid to reuse essays, just make sure to change the name of the college if mentioned.

Some colleges also require you to write about an extracurricular. A guide to the extracurricular essay will be covered in the Extracurriculars section of this post.

Helpful links

College Essay Masterpost by @genericappblrurl

Prolly the most comprehensive guide to college essays bless u

Covers nearly all essay types

College Essay Masterpost (links) by @sootudying, includes

General essay advice

Each of the common app essay prompts

“Why college X?” essay guides

Extracurricular essay guides

Contribution essay guides

Influence in life essay guides

“Why major X?” essay guides

College Essay Masterpost (links) by @sequoia-studies, includes

General essay advice (articles + videos)

Ivy league essays

UC essays

Common app essays

Essay examples

How to Write a Bomb Ass Essay for College Applications by @education-tips

Extracurriculars

Colleges love applicants who are contributing members of their communities as well as those who are actively developing their passions and skills. The extracurricular section of the college application allows the college to see just that. As I’ve said before, an extracurricular activity can be anything you do in your free time, but one in which you hold a leadership position will pique the interests of the admissions officers.

How many activities should I list?

The Common App gives you 10 slots for extracurricular activities (the Coalition gives you 8). However, it’s completely fine if you don’t have 10 activities. For the most part, colleges prefer to see quality over quantity, so having a few activities you’re passionate about and to which you made significant contributions would be better than filling all 10 slots with activities that you don’t care about all that much. The best combination of activities would be 1 - 3 significant activities with a large number of hours and several others with a lower number of hours.

What if I have too many activities?

Choose the activities that you invested the most time in and gained the most experience from. You can also combine multiple activities into one slot. For example, I organized quite a few events and fundraisers when I was in the Student Council, so instead of writing “Organized and volunteered for sports cup”, “Designed and produced school merchandise”, and “Organized a charity festival”, I wrote them all under “Student Council”.

Note: Extracurricular activities aren’t the same as Honors and Awards.

What activities should I include?

As I’ve stated previously, colleges prefer quality over quantity. However, you can aim to be either “pointy” or “well rounded”. Some students have activities that are only in one area of study (”pointy”). This shows colleges that you’re focused and have an intense desire to pursue a single passion.

Despite this, being more “well-rounded” and having a diverse range of activities can also be beneficial since it shows that you’ve gained a lot of experience, and that you aren’t afraid to try different things.

Your activities don’t even have to be conventional extracurricular activities either. Two of the extracurricular activities I listed were 1) this studyblr; and 2) my instagram poetry page. I mean, I am a Gen X kid; I’m bound to spend large amounts of time on social media. Fortunately, it turns out I made a pretty significant contribution, I would say, and also learned a lot from the experience, so they definitely count as extracurricular activities.

Describing the extracurricular activities

This blog post from College Vine is super comprehensive and helped me a lot when I was writing about my extracurriculars. I’ll sum up some key points below:

Select extracurriculars that will present the best image of yourself

Use action oriented verbs (e.g. “facilitated”, “managed”, “maintained”)

Quantify your accomplishments as much as possible

Certain activities will look better if you emphasize the valuable skills you learned instead of what you did

Be specific

Some colleges will require you to write an essay in which you reflect upon a particular activity you did: what you learned and how you grew. This post from College Essay Guy covers pretty much everything I have to say about the extracurricular essay. Main points:

Use active verbs

Write a good clear sentence about what the activity meant to you

Show a little, but not too much

Start with a problem to be solved

Focus on specific impact

Write it long first, then cut it

But which extracurricular activity should you write the essay about? Here’s a helpful link that tells you just that.

Honors and Awards

The honors and awards section is another component of the application that can help you stand out from other applicants. These are basically any achievement, award, or recognition you’ve received in high school.

The common app limits you to 5 honors/awards, and I would recommend that you choose your most impressive honors, e.g. an international competition would be more impressive than one within your school.

Sometimes awards are directly tied to an activity, such as winning Best Delegate in an MUN conference. In this case, you should mention your award in the activities section. Awards that aren’t tied to an activity should be listed in the Honors and Awards section. These might include scholarships, academic awards, etc.

If you have too many honors to fit into the form (lucky you!), you might want to consider sending in a resume. Some colleges provide this option, while some merely have a section for extra information.

Interviews

Interviews are another way the college can see you as a whole person. Some colleges might provide you with an option to take the interview or decline it, but if given the chance, go for it!

What is the interview, exactly?

For me, this was probably the most nerve-wracking part since you’re practically telling things about yourself to a stranger (can you tell I’m not into socializing?) and it’s like you’re being evaluated and you don’t really know what to expect.

But honestly they’re basically regular conversations where you talk about yourself and the things you love. They’ll ask about your school, your family, your aspirations, your hobbies, but the conversation can lead anywhere--food, human rights, pop culture.

It’ll probably start with an open ended question like tell me about yourself and then branch off from there.

There might also be another type of interview where it’s more like a Q&A about the school and you get to know the college through an alumni (Cornell’s “interview” was like this).

A bad interview really won’t hurt your application, unless of course you fail to answer why you want to go to that university.

It really just gives you an extra boost and another factor to consider when the university decides whether or not to admit you.

Plus, you get to elaborate on things that you didn’t on your application.

Interviews can be anywhere from 15 minutes to 1.5 hours, so don’t worry if you think it was too short or too long.

General Tips

Arrive early. It helps to take a few seconds to breathe and take in your location and surroundings before you start your interview.

Wear something comfortable. I wore a plaid shirt and trousers to most of my interviews. In my experience, Western people tend to be more lenient with clothing, so if you wear a t-shirt, it’s fine. Indonesians (and some other Asians) kinda want you to dress at least semi-formally, maybe a button up and formal pants or a skirt.

If your interviewer asks if you want to order anything, go ahead, they won’t mind, and you’ll get free food or a free beverage. I would usually order coffee or tea.

What should I prepare?

How to answer the question tell me about yourself.

How to answer the question why do you want to go to this school?

How to answer other common questions. Don’t script your answers though. Just think about them so you know what the focus of your answer will revolve around.

Your resume, in case they ask for one.

Research the college and prepare some questions to ask the interviewer.

Research the interviewer, e.g. what they studied, what their job is, anything you think would be important to bring up, like one of their research projects or theses.

After the Interview

Send the interviewer a thank you note/email

Thank them for interviewing you

Recall something memorable from the interview

Relax. Then relax some more.

Helpful links

15 Questions to Know for College Interviews by @solustudies

The 14 College Interview Questions You Must Prepare For by PrepScholar

Other General Tips

Check and recheck! Everything! Like actually tho, I typed in my friend’s TOEFL score instead of my own on one application, and on one essay, I wrote the wrong name of the university. I fixed them, though. But yeah check, recheck, and have someone else check it for you too, if possible.

If you’re strong in the arts, send in an arts supplement! I sent in some poetry samples (although I don’t actually know if they’re good haha) to demonstrate my extracurricular interests.

Just be your honest self in all parts of the application. Don’t try to mold yourself to fit the university you’re applying to. I’m sure the admissions officers will be able to tell if you aren’t being genuine.

And some links…

A Masterpost for Applying to College by @science-is-golden

College Application Timeline by @applicantmusings

A College Student’s Masterpost by @eruditekid

Uni Application Masterpost by @study-early

Stage 3: Post-Application

Relax! You deserve it.

Enjoy your senior year, but again, keep up those grades. Don’t be consumed by senioritis.

Spend more time with your friends since it��s probably gonna be your last year together. Actually spend more time with everyone around you and join activities you normally wouldn’t. But again, don’t overwhelm yourself.

Even though you’re having fun, remember to check your email regularly. Colleges will update you about things, e.g. if you’re missing a component from your application.

Prepare to view your admission results.

Final Notes

College applications are tough, and you’re amazing for being able to put up with such a daunting task. It’s meant to be hard, so applaud yourself!

Also remember not to wear yourself out! Take breaks and revitalize because you’re going to craft a much better application if you have a clear mind and a healthy body.

And when announcement day arrives, be prepared for whatever result you’ll get. Congratulations if you get into your dream school! And if you don’t, that’s alright; maybe the school wasn’t a good fit for you after all.

That’s it for now. Hope you found this post helpful, and best of luck for your college applications!

#eintsein #mine #college #studyblr #studyspo #study hard #university #college app #application #applications #appblr #high school #mymp #masterpost #hey sareena #areistotle #academla

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dutifullypinkprince-blog · 5 years

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Choose Obtaining Digital Marketing Course

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darkisucksanditwrites · 6 years

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Emotional Support

me: ok! i’m done with wrting for the year! brain: here’s a cute kagakuro image! me: thanks aww cute haha brain:.... me:.... me:....shit

This is really my last fic for this year XD I am waiting to post the last 3 christmas drabbles which were gfts but it will be after new years probably. This is my Christmas present to anyone who sees it. Merry Christmas! :3

Taiga knew that by this point he was just rambling.

Every official NBA Christmas/end of the year party was the same. Big fancy event, people dressed up as if they were on a red carpet. Massive buffet (that Kagami couldn’t complain about).

Heaps of alcohol, cheesy Christmas music and journalists.

The last thing was what Taiga kind of hated the most.

Well, hated, was a bit of a strong word. They annoyed him, always prodding him about this and that (it would be fine if the questions were only relating to the team, but they often had to be nosy about his private life too. Besides he wasn't even the captain!).

They usually asked him if he was single too, when he’d get a girlfriend, when he’s marry yadda yadda yadda.

He also hated how he always had to get hit on by some random women there. Taiga wasn’t sixteen anymore and knew how flirting looked like, so at least that helped him avoid any uncomfortable situations.

He breathed a sigh of relief when Kuroko finally moved to the States to live with him. He could not so subtly flaunt his wedding ring in front of people and it would shut them up and he’d be left in peace.

For a time being.

Tetsuya agreed to attend the event with him this year and it made him feel more relaxed and less twitchy.

Plus he got to see him in a nice suit, so it was also a plus.

He answered another obvious question, trying to not look too bored and slightly annoyed.

“What are the team’s plans for the next year?”

What do you think. Taiga blinked slowly, trying to hide his eyes roll.

“Another championship I guess.”

The journalist nodded.

“Any personal goals?”

Taiga shrugged.

“Is your rivalry with Daiki Aomine going to continue into the new year as well?”

Taiga’s brow twitched.

“Yeah, I guess. We’re cool though.”

No they really weren’t. Aomine barely changed his juvenile behavior over the years and any practice or official match with the former ace of the Generation of Miracles put him in a foul mood, regardless of who was the winner.

The journalist asked a few more questions, Taiga answered them on autopilot. He do didn’t wanna be here.

Suddenly he stirred feeling a familiar weak presence next to him. He smiled to himself and reached with his arm, wrapping it around narrow shoulders and pulling the person closer.

Tetsuya made a small sound at the back of throat, but didn’t protest and let himself be pressed against Kagami’s side.

Taiga said something to the journalist and looked down at his husband, his blue eyes already peering curiously at him.

Taiga grinned.

“You having fun?” He asked in Japanese.

Before Kuroko could answer the journalist gasped, only now realizing that there was a third person there. Taiga wanted to laugh at her silly expression. This never got old. Even he sometimes got surprised by Tetsuya when he didn’t pay attention.

Other times he could sense him easily in a room full of people like now. What could he say? Years of practice.

“Are you-?” She asked, eyes boring into Tetsuya who just stood there innocently, pressed to Taiga’s side and holding a tall glass of champagne.

“My name is Ku- I mean, Tetsuya Kagami.” He said in slightly awkward English and Taiga noticed the pale blush coloring his cheeks.

He had to bite his lip not to laugh happily when he heard that. His face was probably red as well.

“I was just about to ask, how is your personal life Taiga.” The journalist’s eyes glinted as they always did when they found some juicy information and latched onto it like limpets.

Only this wasn’t a secret. Taiga was married almost for a year now and the only novelty was that it was the first time someone managed to catch the sigh of Kuroko.

They weren’t really hiding or anything.

“I’m good.” Taiga said, his fingers playing with his wedding ring, where his hand rested on Kuroko’s shoulder. He hoped it was visible enough.

But the journalist wasn’t looking at him.

She was looking at Kuroko.

Oh shit.

She opened her mouth, probably about to ask some lame ass personal question.

So Kagami swooped in.

“Sorry, he’s not really comfortable with his English yet.”

He could almost hear the pout and the glare radiating from Kuroko, even when he wasn’t looking at him.

“But-” The journalist started.

“Sorry. We need to go. Over there.” Kagami said and stirred his husband away from the woman and led them both away into the other side of the room.

“That was very rude.” Kuroko said when they were out of ear shot. “You were being interviewed.”

“I was being harassed.” Kagami retorted while Kuroko rolled his eyes.

“It was still rude. Besides you didn’t even let me reply on my own. And you lied about my English. I am getting better. My editor says so.” He finished with a pout.

“I was trying to save you from the claws of a harpy. You’re welcome I guess. It’s not about your English dumbass.”

Kuroko puffed out his cheeks.

“That’s because you dragged me into the spotlight with you. I’m not used to it like you.”

“Me?” Taiga laughed. “She was grilling me and all I wanted to do was to run away. Speaking of which, why was I the one to give an interview? Where is the goddamn captain?”

“I saw him in the bathroom. Not in the state to be giving interviews.”

“Huh. And the vice captain?”

Kuroko blushed a little.

“I saw him leave with someone.”

“And the coach?”

This time Kuroko shrugged. Taiga sighed.

“Just my luck.”

Kuroko chuckled.

“You’ve seem to be doing great.” Kuroko said with a small smirk.

“Yeah, that’s only because I had you there and-” Taiga bit his tongue when he realized what he said. Kuroko’s eyes widened for a second before turning fond and shimmery.

“Bakagami.” He said softly.

“Shut up.” He grumbled, avoiding eye contact. His gaze fell onto the tall glass of champagne his husband was still clutching in his hand.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t tell me you’re drinking this? This is fizzy.”

Kuroko looked mildly offended.

“Thank you, I would have never guessed that on my own.” He snarked back and then immediately turned sheepish.

“I thought it was appropriate and would look natural. I felt a little out of place with empty hands.”

Taiga was quiet for a moment before he snorted.

“Dork.” He said and took the glass from Kuroko’s hand. He downed it in two sips, put the glass on the buffet table behind them and grabbed Tetsuya’s hand.

Kuroko looked confused for a moment, when he was pulled away from the table, and then slightly surprised.

“Dancing?” He asked when Kagami wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer on the dance floor.

Taiga shrugged.

“Much like your English, my dancing has also improved.”

“When?” Kuroko asked, amusement coloring his voice.

“Shut up.” He dismissed his question and tucked Tetsuya’s head under his chin.

“Shh, it’s our song.” He said when a cheesy, Christmas ballad started playing, ideal for slow, comfortable swaying.

Kuroko laughed against his chest.

“No it is not.” He protested and Taiga snorted.

“Yeah, probably not. We don’t even have one. Your taste is weird and I have none remember?”

Kuroko chuckled and then fell silent.

“Then maybe.” He started after a moment. “All of them are ours.”

Kagami didn’t say anything but he smiled a little to himself.

Kuroko didn’t press for an answer.

Kagami heard a snap of a camera and could see the light flashing from the corner of his eye.

This will probably be plastered in the tabloids tomorrow.

Oh well, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He was too comfortable right now.

#kurobasu #kagakuro #p: kagakuro #f: knb #fluff #ficlet #1k+

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formerprincess · 6 years

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A tale written with fangs and claws || Chapter 48

Chapters: 48/? Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt Characters: Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken, Mason Hewitt, Corey Bryant, Nolan (Teen Wolf) Additional Tags: Alpha Liam Dunbar, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Dunbar Pack, Bisexual Liam Dunbar, Werewolf Theo Raeken, Alpha Theo Raeken, Canon-Typical Violence, Smut, Mates, Liam and Theo are mates, Top Theo Raeken, Bottom Theo Raeken, Top Liam, Bottom Liam Dunbar Series: Part 1 of Morning Dew Pack

Thanks to an idea from Mason, Liam becomes a volunteer for a school program. In the end, Liam gains so much more than he would have ever dreamed off and...steals a child?

A few days later, Theo and Liam sat with the rest of the pack plus Caden and ate their dinner. The room was filled with the delicious smell of their Chinese food and they all chatted with each other about their days and what they had experienced. Brett and Nolan talked about the meaning of flowers. Several days ago Brett had found a job in a small flower shop and he really loved it. It gave him something to do and was also useful for the pack since Brett brought his knowledge to their garden as well. And Nolan was amazed by what different flowers could say and what you could express through a bouquet. He asked question after question and Brett seemed happy to answer.

Liam had watched them but a sigh to his right made him turn away. Tim pocketed his phone and looked like he was in actual pain. He nudged his Beta. “What’s wrong, Timmy?” “My sister won another competition and she brags in the family chat and just asked me when the last time I won a gold medal had been.” “Your sister is a bitch.” Sometimes Liam’s mouth was faster than his brain and he said things he rather not have said. Right now was a perfect example. “I mean…Sorry.” “She is mean,” Tim concluded. “And she knows very well I have never won any trophy when it came to athletic tournaments. I’m just not good at sports.” “But you’re good at other things, shouldn’t that count?” Caden had listened to their conversation and now voiced his opinion softly. “Not for them.” Tim shook his head. “Huh.” Caden seemed baffled. “I can’t imagine having such a relationship with my siblings. I love them to pieces and they love me. They’re great.” “Lucky guy. I always thought it would get better when we grow older but it got worse instead.” Liam shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t get it. If I had a little sister or a little brother, I would try to maintain a great relationship with them and be proud of them, no matter what.” “That’s sweet of you.” Tim smiled slightly. Liam had always wanted a sibling when he had been a kid. Even when his mother and stepdad married, he had wished for a little brother or sister but sadly it never happened. “I would have loved to be a big brother,” he muttered. “You are our big brother!” Tim protested and Liam chuckled. “I know but I meant an actual little kid. Someone I can teach things and who maybe shares some of my hobbies. We could have gone to lacrosse games, for example, or go to the movies or draw pictures. That would have been awesome.” “Well, why don’t you become one?” Mason now chimed into their conversation. “There are programs like Big Brother & Sisters, why don’t you volunteer? That way you could also do a good deed. It’s not biological but the next closest thing.” Liam had never thought of this option but now that his best friend mentioned it, it sounded appealing. “You think I could volunteer?” “Why not? Mason shrugged casually. “There can never be too many volunteers.” “Huh,” Liam said, “You’re probably right. But what if I’m not the right person to volunteer?” “There’s only one way to get an answer to that question, Lee.”

The thought of volunteering didn’t leave him for the next days and he even went so far to research about some organizations doing this kind of stuff. Not all were for Liam though. Some had a higher age requirement or some asked for qualifications, so it was a bit tricky. One day he complained about that to Sadie after lacrosse practice when Rod overheard them. “Are you talking about those honorary Big Siblings programs?” The coach asked and peeked out of his office. “Yeah. I’m an only child and would have liked to meet a boy or girl I could be a big brother for, you know?” Liam explained. Rod pointed at him. “My son’s school has such a program. It’s not a big one, like those official things all over the country, but they do it to help some less fortunate children. Many of their students come from lower-income families and the school has many programs and activities to support them. I could ask my wife if she can give you the contact, she’s involved in chaperoning many of those activities.” “You would do that? Rod that would be amazing! Thank you in advance.” “I see what I can do, Liam. I always believed in charity and helping others. Maybe the team should do something for charity as well.” “Uh, that would be wonderful. Good publicity though,” Sadie declared. She was not wrong.

And Roderick stayed true to his words. Next training he gave Liam the number of the school and the name of the responsible person. A really nice teacher named Sonya Melrose and she was over the moon of Liam wanting to volunteer as a Big Brother. She talked non-stop for at least ten minutes about the program and the kids involved. It was announced as an after-school activity as the music club for example so the kids could choose if they wanted to attend or not and didn’t feel pressured. That they felt good was the most important thing and Liam could get behind that. He willingly answered the questions she then had for him and then stated his e-mail-address so she could send him all the documents he needed to fill out for his application.

“Jesus, look at all these forms,” he muttered when he printed what she had sent him. “I’m surprised they didn’t ask for my blood type.” “I think they’re just cautious when it comes to the children. Sure, you can lie on these forms but you need some sort of basic information about the people taking part in your program,” Theo said without looking up from his book. Liam glanced over. The older sat on the couch in the library, Aka next to him and his head on Theo’s leg, and the Beta read while he gently petted the dog every now and then. It looked domestic. “I get this. It’s still a lot and I hate filling out forms.” “It’s for a good cause. Just think of the little kid getting you as Big Brother. How happy they will be.” “You think they will be happy about getting paired with me?” Liam wanted whatever kid would be paired with him to like him and so he naturally worried about that not being the case. Theo often said Liam was likable but you could never be so sure. “They will be over the moon. You are a great big brother to our pack, even to me, and we learned in the past kids love you. Just don’t touch any finger paint and glitter, okay? Or if you do, don’t touch my truck.” “You are still traumatized by that, what?” “I see it in my dreams. It was a pain in the ass to clean it.” Liam just snickered and began to fill out the forms. The sooner he could send them back, the sooner he would get a Little Sibling.

****** It took a few days after Liam sent the forms back before he got the confirmation. The school had approved of everything Liam sent them and also mentioned that Ayla Mays, Roderick’s wife, had vouched for Liam being responsible and a good addition to the program so they would spare the interview usually following the application. Instead, they were happy to welcome Liam as Big Brother. Corey was the only one who witnessed the little victory dance Liam made when he received the email and for a moment Liam worried the other would split his face in half with the large grin he had on but Corey promised he would be fine. “If the program is as good as it looks, I might join as well,” he then added. Liam smirked. “I’m sure you would be an amazing Big Brother as well.” Corey shrugged. “You never know. I will consider it if they don’t kick you out after a week,” he joked and laughed at Liam’s piqued face. But then Liam’s phone announced another mail and he got all the details at what day the program would take part and when Liam should arrive at the school to meet Mrs. Melrose so Corey was safe of any teasing from Liam.

****** When the day finally came, Liam arrived a few minutes earlier than appointed and admired the colorful paintings on the walls, all undoubtedly made by the children attending the school. He heard singing from one classroom and music from another one. Rod had not been wrong when he said the school offered many activities after school.

“Are you Liam?” A black haired teacher in her early thirties had stepped out of a classroom and made her way over to him in large steps. She smiled and extended her hand to greet him. “I am, yes. Nice to meet you.” Liam shook her hand and smiled. “Perfect, perfect. My name is Sonya Melrose and I’m in charge of chaperoning the Big Brother – Big Sister program. I am always happy to welcome new volunteers. These kids deserve someone they can look up to and who goes out of their way to make them feel special. By the way, thank you for filling out all the forms I sent you. This makes it easier today and we can jump right into it. You would wonder how often people discuss with us if they have to fill out everything.” “I don’t get why. I hate filling out forms but I know why I’m doing it so there’s no point in discussing.” Liam shrugged.

“I agree, I never understand it either but that’s how it is. Now let me explain to you how this will work. From experiences, we learned the kids feel comfortable in the school environment while meeting new people, so for the first few weeks, the meetings would take place here. We can schedule it so it works with your plan as well. It’s also to make sure the kids are in good hands, I hope you don’t mind that. The forms are one thing but seeing how the children react to the volunteers is another thing.” “Oh, I understand, don’t worry. There are people without good intentions in this world, sadly. Meeting here is fine by me.” “You can paint, play or read, use whatever we have in the classroom and in the playground behind the building to have a fun time with your Little Sibling,” she explained. The big smile gave away how much she loved what she was doing and how much she cared for the program. It made Liam smile too. The world needed more teachers like her.

“Based on the questionnaire you filled out, I picked a child for you in advance and I’m positive you both will get along great. His name is Landon, he’s currently nine years old. He is a bit shy, don’t mind that, and sometimes he gets scared when he’s around people he doesn’t know well. But he is willing to participate in this program yet we never had the perfect person for him until now. I think you are a good match.” “I hope so. He sounds like a great little guy.” Liam was excited to meet the little boy. The shy part reminded Liam about himself when he had been very little. His friendship with Mason made him get out of his shell, but Liam remembered little him hiding behind his mother’s legs when strangers approached and barely talking to neighbors or old friends of his mother’s.

Mrs. Melrose now led Liam into the classroom. It was a large room with a little library and reading corner with bean bags in one corner, some colorful tables littered with paints, brushes, and other material to get creative, a spot where you could build with toy blocks, another spot littered with plushies and toys, a door across the room led outside and to the playground. Big windows soaked the room in sun and it was a happy place. A girl and a woman were at the tables and finger-painted with glittery colors. They laughed together and showed their hands to each other. A man and a boy were playing soccer outside. “He’s over there.” The teacher pointed towards the reading corner and Liam followed her over. In a red bean sack sat a thin boy wearing a grey shirt and jeans shorts with little red sneakers, completely lost in a book concerning the animals living in the ocean. “Landon? The young man I picked as your Big Brother is here. Would you like to meet him?” Landon looked up and the first things Liam noticed were his big blue eyes. Now, Liam himself had countless encounters where people gushed to his mom how pretty his eyes were and how many girls would kill for those eyes. It always made Liam blush and he didn’t know what to say. To him, his eyes were not the most striking feature about him (He didn’t know what the most striking feature about him was but nobody asked for it anyway, so thank you very much). Yet, Liam couldn’t help but notice the boys’ eyes. Seemed like the first thing they had in common, as superficial as it may seem. It was a start. Landon now looked at Liam with curiosity written all over his young face. His skin was fair, almost pale but maybe he had been sick before or didn’t like to be outside very much, and a button nose. His smile was shy, hesitant as if he was afraid to show emotion, but he couldn’t hide his curiosity. Liam crouched down so they were eye to eye. “Hey, Landon, my name is Liam, it’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand as he greeted the boy and Landon looked at it for a moment before he shook it. “You’re an L too, just like me. It’s nice to meet you.” His voice was still a bit hesitant but the usual child-like innocence came through. “I’m an L as well, yeah.” Liam smiled. Mrs. Melrose squeezed his shoulder and then excused herself so the two boys could get to know each other better.

Landon held the book up. “I’m reading about the ocean. Do you like the ocean? Dolphins and sharks live there.” “Oh, I like the sea very much. Turtles live in the sea as well.” “I like turtles.” Landon skipped a few pages in the book and showed Liam a large picture of a turtle swimming underwater. Liam sat next to him and admired the picture. “But my dad says they are weak compared to sharks. He likes sharks because of their teeth.” “And your mother? Does she also like turtles?” Landon shook his head. “I don’t have a mommy. She died when I was born.” He fidgeted with the edge of the book. “It’s my fault she is dead, you know?” “What?” Liam had not really expected a child to say that. “Who told you that?” Landon’s eyes widened in panic and he seemed to realize what he said. “No one. She went to heaven when I was born so I know that.” His chemosignals turned sour and sad. Liam made a face but then he tried to be positive. “I’m sure she is your personal angel and watches over you every day. My personal angel is my grandfather. He watches over me as well.” “You believe in angels?” Landon asked curiously and Liam nodded. “Sure. Why not?” “Because angels are dumb, says my dad.” “Hm, maybe he says that because he as never seen an angel before,” Liam thought out loud. “Have you ever seen an angel before?” Now Landon was all ears and completely excited. His eyes sparkled. “I have never seen an angel but I know there are some things on this earth most people don’t know about.” It was the most innocent description Liam could give. He sure as hell wouldn’t tell a child about werewolves and witches. “Liam, want to draw angels with me?” Landon pointed at the crafting tables. Liam nodded. “I’d love that very much.”

****** When Liam came home he and Landon had drawn for a while and then read the book about the ocean together. They also talked and learned some things about each other. Liam now knew Landon’s favorite color was yellow and he liked to play soccer. Liam promised him they could play soccer next time and the boy beamed happily at him. They parted on a very good note and Mrs. Melrose had also expressed how happy she was about that. “He really opened up to you. You two had an instant connection, a wonderful thing to see.” “Thanks for pairing us together,” Liam replied and then bid goodbye to drive home.

At the house, his pack was literally pouncing him and asking all kind of questions. “How did it go?” “Did you get a boy or a girl?” “What did you do?” “How are they? I bet they love you already.” Liam laughed. “It’s a boy, his name is Landon and he’s nine. He is the sweetest little boy I ever met in my entire life. A bit shy but his teacher said he’s always like this. He reminds me of me in elementary school, before my IED really broke through and all, and not only because he’s also blond and has blue eyes. We colored and then read a book and he asked me all kind of questions. His mom died during childbirth and so it’s only him and his dad.” “He sounds lovely,” Maya said with a smile. “A great match for you. When are you bringing him over?” “The school would like to keep the meetings in the school environment for the first few weeks so that might take a little while,” Liam explained while he grabbed himself a bottle of water and opened it to take a sip. “Next time we want to play soccer. He likes playing soccer.” “With you as Big Brother, he will learn to love lacrosse as well,” Theo teased lightly and kissed Liam. “Dinner’s almost ready, by the way. Maya and Lori were in charge.” “Ah, thank you, guys, I’m starving.”

****** “And that’s my best friend Mason, we’ve been friends since kindergarten. He’s like my brother.” Liam showed Landon pictures on his phone and told him who every single member of the core pack was. Landon was incredibly interested in learning more about Liam and his friends and he loved seeing pictures. Now he blinked up at Liam. “I’m your brother too, right? Your Little Brother.” He smiled. “Yeah, you are. I have two brothers now. You and Mason.” The more time he spent with Landon the more he liked the little one. Three weeks since they first met already and every meeting was still filled with lots of laughter and learning things about each other.

Liam continued to browse through the pictures and landed on one picture of him and Theo posing for the camera with their arms wrapped around each other’s waist. Landon pointed on it. “Is he like your brother too? You seem to like him very much.” To be honest, Liam had not called Theo his boyfriend yet and just said he was someone really important to Liam. He had no idea how to really breach the subject of bisexuality and same-sex relationships to a child and he didn’t know how Landon had been raised in this regards. Now he huffed. “Theo is my...boyfriend actually. I love him and he loves me.” Landon frowned. “Boyfriend? Love him like a mom loves a dad?” “Yeah, just like that. We kiss and hold hands and all that stuff.” “Hm.” The boy thought about this. “My dad says two men can’t love each other. It’s against nature. And two women can’t love each other but he still watches this with his friends.” “He watches it with his...Oh god!” The mental picture made Liam pinch the bridge of his nose. What type of parent watched those videos when your child was around? He groaned internally and Landon poked him. “Liam, are you alright?” “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” He decided to cover his horror. “Say, Landon, do you also think men shouldn’t love men?” Landon tilted his head. “I don’t. Is he nice to you?” Liam chuckled. “He’s very nice.” “Then I’m okay with it. Can you show me more pictures?” “Sure.” Liam smiled softly. Children were so innocent and it was proof how much some parents influenced their kids. He was happy Landon seemed to be too carefree to have any prejudices against Liam and his relationship.

They landed on a picture of Liam and his mom and Landon grabbed the phone to study it. He then studied Liam. “You look like her. She is very pretty. But you don’t have her eyes.” “I have my father’s eyes, yes. My mom is pretty, I agree.” “Do you have a picture of your father in your phone too?” Liam shook his head. “My father is not with us. He’s gone.” “Oh. Is he in heaven like mommy?” “No. You know, sometimes mommies and daddies don’t stay together and daddies leave. He’s somewhere in this world, I don’t know.” Liam waved it off. “But my mom married a few years later and he became my dad. That’s him.” He showed Landon a picture of Lucas. “What about dad, Landon? Does he helps you with your homework and plays soccer with you? Want to tell me something about him?”

A wave of sadness hit his nose and Liam frowned in response to that. He looked down at Landon. The blonde boy played with the seam of his shirt and moved his shoes on the floor. “He doesn’t like soccer and he’s mostly with his friends,” he explained sadly. “He doesn’t really play with me, he’s busy.” “I’m sorry.” Liam raised a hand and Landon flinched suddenly. The movement came so fastly and unexpectedly Liam was surprised and his hand lingered in the air ere he dropped it again. “It’s alright,” Landon said. “Are those your dogs?” He had clicked on the next picture in Liam’s phone.

Liam’s eyes lingered on the boy’s form for a moment. Something was strange about the way Landon talked about his father but he could not really name it. He could not shake these thoughts, not when he further talked about his friends and pack and not when he was at home and sat in the kitchen, eating a yogurt.

“I think Landon’s dad is a jerk,” he suddenly announced to Theo who had stepped into the kitchen, skateboard under his arm. “A part of me tells me I will regret asking but why is that so?” Theo grabbed a bottle of water. “He seems too busy to spend time with his son. He’s also a homophobe.” “Two very unfriendly traits, I give you that but so what? There are many parents out there who would never win a Parent of the Year award and yet they still take care of their kids. My father also never really spent time with me, you know that.” Theo stepped to him. “I also know this look on your face, little Alpha. You’re not interfering in that boy’s family drama!” Liam made a face of outrage. “I wasn’t going to!” “I know you,” Theo reminded him and kissed him. “You can’t save anybody from any bad experience. If there was something wrong, school surely would take action. Stay out of it,” he warned Liam and pecked his lips one last time. “Yeah, yeah, go to the skate park and stop patronizing me!” Liam shooed his mate away and Theo really left him alone.

He wasn’t alone for long when Tim came home. He unceremoniously dropped his bag on the floor. “Do we have any headache pills us weres can use?” “I’m afraid not,” Liam denied. “Classes that hard today?” “There was this group in the coffee shop and their laughter...Do you know those people with those loud and annoying laughs? The whole group laughed like that. I can still hear it. I’m the last person to make fun of anyone but my head hurts from their laughter so much,” he whined and rubbed his temples. “I don’t think pills will help you but maybe Ever has a potion she can give you. Just go ask her.” “She’s on a date with Caden. I think I will take a nap.” Tim dragged himself upstairs just when Brett entered the kitchen.

“What is this? Relay?” Liam asked sarcastically. The tall werewolf yawned and stretched. “I like working at the flower shop but today was insanely busy so leave me alone!” “Uh, someone’s cranky. Is this just because of work?” Liam questioned and continued to eat his yogurt. Brett dropped in the chair next to him. “I need sex again! Don’t laugh! I considered this and I came to the conclusion I need the physical activity. My hormones are in overdrive.” He gave Brett a strange look. “Just sex or do you want someone like Ever? Someone to go on dates and kiss and be cute.” “He gave her a teddy bear the other day. Who wants that? I’m not made for being a romantic.” Brett shuddered as if that was the greatest horror he ever saw. “It was an owl, not a bear. She likes owls,” Liam corrected and Brett rolled his eyes. “Also, I’m sticking with what I told you at the zoo. One day you will find someone and then it will come easily to you. And you probably get as much sex out of it as you want.” “Talking from experience, Dunbar?” “Hey, I have an amazing sex life.” Liam grinned. “Have you seen the man I’m sharing a bed with?” “I hate you so much right now!” Brett shook his head. “The thought of me being in a relationship just doesn’t work for me. I’m not made for that type of commitment.” “One day you will find...” “Shut up!” Brett grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and threw it at Liam’s head. Liam’s hand shot up and he caught the apple without missing a beat. Brett stared. “Fuck, I forgot Alpha reflexes are faster.” “I’d love to play lacrosse with you now,” Liam smirked again and Brett huffed. “I bet you would. But for now, I need a cold shower. Ice cold.” He spun around and stormed upstairs. “One day you will find your one true love and it will be wonderful!!” Liam yelled after him just because he could and he knew it annoyed Brett. None one ever said the Alpha was mature all the time.

****** “Hey, buddy, I made some cupcakes yesterday and brought some for you. Hope you like double chocolate?” Buddy had somehow become one of the nicknames Liam had for Landon. The younger always giggled when he heard it and this time was no different. But then he stared at the box full of cupcakes as if he was not sure if they were there or not. “You can bake?” “Yeah. I bake and I cook and even want to make this my career after college. Why is this so surprising?” Liam sometimes had a hard time to understand where Landon was coming from. “Dad says cooking and baking is the woman’s duty and it’s gay for a man to cook. But you are a man. I don’t understand.” He shook his head. “Hey,” Liam knelt down. “There are many women who cook and bake for their families, that is true, but I also like it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl; when you like something you like it. And nobody should judge that. This is important, okay? Never let somebody judge you because you do the things you like. Not even your dad.” Landon gnawed on his lower lip. And then he asked very quietly: “Well, can you show me?” “How to cook?” Liam inquired and Landon nodded. “I’d love to. When Mrs. Monrose says you and I can meet somewhere else, you come to our house and we cook together, okay?” Landon beamed happily and pressed the box with the cupcakes against his chest. “I’m so happy you became my Big Brother, Liam.” “I’m happy too, bud.” This time Landon didn’t even flinch when Liam raised his hand and ruffled his hair. Liam took it as a sign that the kid trusted him more and more.

“I also brought a new book about the wildlife in Africa. Want to read it with me?” “Uuhh, we’re currently talking about Africa in school. Did you know the Lion King takes place there?” “I had no idea. You’re so smart, buddy.” Liam smiled at the nine-year-old and Landon gave a shy smile back. “I like to learn things,” he simply brushed it off. It was a habit Liam had noticed a few times already. While his little buddy was usually a happy child, he seemingly had a hard time accepting praise. It again reminded Liam of himself as little kid, especially when he had been under the influence of his biological father. “You're not used to people praising you, huh?” Liam stated matter-of-factly. “The teachers tell me I do good.” Landon nodded. “What about your dad? Isn’t he proud of you and tells you that?” Landon’s face turned passive. “My dad is my dad. He takes care of me,” he said defensively. “Of course, of course. He does. I didn’t mean to insult his job as a dad. I’m sorry, bud.” He felt sorry for making the kid mad. His little friend just shrugged. “Can we read the book?” “Sure.”

And still, Liam couldn’t shake the thoughts off. He had a problem with how Landon’s father acted and he couldn’t get it out of his head, even when he was at home.

“Stop that!” Mason scolded when Liam voiced his thoughts. “Stop what?” Liam questioned innocently but his best friend flicked his nose. “You’re projecting. Just because you had a piece of shit as a father doesn’t mean Landon suffers the same fate. Yes, his dad might not be the greatest but you are comparing the two of you and that’s unfair. You went through totally different experiences than Landon himself. Stop seeing yourself in him!” “You sound like Theo,” Liam grumbled while he rubbed his nose. “Why do the two of you always have to be that rational?” “Because we can and somebody has to make sure you’re not completely losing your marbles. Because right now you’re obsessing about saving the kid from something that isn’t even there. Or has he ever gave you any reason to believe his dad abuses him?” “No.” Liam had to admit that. There were no unusual bruises or contusions on his arms or legs or in his face and he didn’t act like he was in pain. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am just comparing him with me at age seven. I should probably stop that.” “You can bet I am right and you absolutely stop that,” Mason confirmed with a firm nod.

****** Liam was running late. He had stopped by a coffee shop near Landon’s school to grab himself an iced coffee and a muffin for his Little Brother but the line had been so long that when Liam finally received his order, he had to run back to his car and sped towards the school.

How he managed to arrive on time was a minor miracle but it gave him time to chuck down a large gulp of his coffee. And just because life was unfair and the cup could, the lid opened and the liquid spilled down the front of Liam’s light blue shirt. “Son of a fucking bitch!” Liam cursed loudly and an elderly woman glared at him when she passed by his car. He paid her no mind and grabbed a tissue to wipe away on his shirt. He growled. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” The stain was huge and there was no way Liam would show up with coffee all over his shirt. He jammed the cup into the cup holder and then reached for his bag sitting in the backseat. It contained his lacrosse gear which he had washed and already packed in his car for the next training. He dragged the bag towards him and opened it, digging for his jersey. He found it and pulled it out with a triumphant yell. Liam didn’t care the slightest he was still in his car when he pulled his stained t-shirt over his head and put his jersey on. Not the best outfit but for now it would do and Landon surely wouldn’t mind. His second-favorite color was blue so he probably would like Liam’s navy blue jersey.

When he was finally dressed Liam dashed out of his car and sped towards the school’s entrance while locking the car over his shoulder. His sneakers squeaked on the linoleum floor when he dashed down the hallway. He almost ran into Sonya Melrose and she squeaked. “Shit, sorry, Mrs. Melrose.” The young Alpha stopped in the doorframe. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” “No, no. I’m alright,” she declared yet she put a hand over her heart. “But good that I see you before you speak to Landon today. He’s in a bad mood but won’t tell me what’s wrong. He seems distressed.” She pointed to the crafting table where Landon sat but didn’t craft and cuddled a plush octopus instead. His posture was sunken as if he wanted to curl up in himself and didn’t want anybody to see him. Liam immediately pitied him. “I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for telling me.”

The twenty-years-old made his way over to Landon and sat down on one of the chairs next to him. “Hey, thundercloud, who has eaten your bowl of sunshine this morning?” He asked light-heartedly. The scowl on Landon’s face didn’t disappear but he cast a look at Liam. “Nothing.” “Are you sure?” He didn’t even think about it when he reached out and put his hand on Landon’s naked arm. The boy was wearing a red t-shirt and so Liam didn’t even have to move any clothing, however, the minute his fingers came in contact with the skin, Liam saw black veins creep up and he hastily withdrew his hand. He didn’t even mean to but he had begun to take Landon’s pain. The little one was hurting! “Landon, are you hurt? What happened?” The scared look he gave Liam made the Alpha’s stomach churn. He had a flashback to seven-year-old him, scared and hurt from his father’s hits. “I fell. From the swing, yesterday after school.” Tears shimmered in Landon’s blue eyes and he blinked. “I fell on my arm. I’m clumsy.” “Shh, shh, it’s okay?” Liam gently rubbed Landon’s back. “Did you dad take you to a doctor after it happened?” Landon hesitated and his little heartbeat skyrocketed. “He said I should stop crying. Crying is weak. It would teach me how to be strong.” “Oh, baby boy,” Liam said, voice filled with emotion. “It’s okay to cry when you’re hurt. That’s normal, everyone does.” Landon wrapped his arms around himself. The movement made his sleeve lift a little bit and Liam saw the bruise on his upper arm. He stopped short. His childhood had been filled with falling from swings and other things on the playground and so Liam knew the bruises coming with those accidents. That didn’t look like a bruise from falling off a swing. It looked like someone had violently closed their hand around Landon’s upper arm...

“Landon, come here.” Liam moved closer so nobody could overhear what they were saying. “Look at me.” Landon did and there were still tears glistening in his eyes. It broke Liam’s heart. Physical pain he could take but he couldn’t take the pain from a hurt soul. “My biological father, he was very mean to me. He shouted and said very mean things and he liked to make me cry and then yell at me. But he also hurt me. Very often. I’m telling you this to show you it’s okay if you want to tell me something. I’m not going to be mad at you, it’s not your fault. But, buddy, does your father hurt you?” The child looked absolutely terrified at that and while he shook his head so fast Liam worried he would give himself whiplash, his heartbeat gave it away. He was panicking. “My dad takes care of me. He is my dad,” he repeated the same sentence from days before. Liam knew from experience putting pressure on the kid wouldn’t get him anywhere, so he grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the table nearby. “Okay. I’m sure he does.” He wrote down his address and his phone number and then he carefully folded the paper to hand it over. “Let’s do it that way. This is my address and my number. I want you to have it. You can always call me, no matter what time it is. Whenever you fall off a swing again, you can call me, okay?” Landon’s fingers trembled when he reached for the piece of paper. “Okay,” he said meekly. “Do you want to write down your address as well?” Liam gently prompted and Landon hesitated again, But then he grabbed the pen and scribbled down his own address. Liam took it and put it in the pocket of his jeans. “What do you think? Should I grab one of your favorites books from the reading corner and read it to you? Your little friend can read with us.” He pointed at the plushie and Landon pressed it against his chest. He nodded. It was probably for the best to give him something to take his mind off. Poor little guy.

Liam got up and walked over to the reading corner. He knew where Landon’s favorite book stood and grabbed it without looking. When he turned around and walked back to Landon, the younger boy stared at him, wide-eyed and shock clearly written all over his face. Liam had no idea what happened but his buddy looked like he saw a ghost. “Is this your last name?” He questioned and grabbed the seam of Liam’s jersey with his hand. “On my back? Yeah, that’s my lacrosse jersey. My name is Liam Dunbar.” They had never talked about last names since they met they always had been Landon and Liam. And now Landon stared at Liam and suddenly flung himself at the young Alpha. His tiny arms wrapped around Liam’s waist and he pressed his face against Liam’s stomach. “Whoa, hey, what’s wrong, buddy?” He really started to worry, especially when Landon began to sob quietly. Liam gently wrapped his arms around Landon as well and held him. It seemed like Landon needed someone to console him.

Their little moment was interrupted by some ruckus at the door. A man had arrived and argued with Mrs. Monrose. Liam’s sensitive nose picked up the smell of alcohol and he frowned. That guy stank like a whole bar but since he still stood on his own two feet and walked straight meant he was used to drinking a lot. Landon’s teacher tried to talk to him in a civil manner but soon gave up and made a beeline for Landon and Liam. “Landon, your father is here to pick you up,” she announced tightly and Liam felt Landon tense. And then his friend moved away from Liam as if he had been burned and wiped his face. “I’m coming,” he said and then walked over to his father. It turned Liam’s full attention to the man for the first time and he felt like the air had been knocked out of his lungs. He watched how the man grabbed Landon by the hand and dragged him out while chiding him for not coming home after school immediately. Landon said nothing and just took his father yelling at him while he led them out and Liam felt like throwing up. Blood boiled in his veins and his stomach twisted in so many knots, it hurt. His throat was dry and he couldn’t speak but even if he had been able to, Liam was at loss for words. A thousand thoughts in his mind and nothing made sense. This was surreal.

A car engine broke him out of his stupor and Liam ran outside, after Landon. Man and child were gone and it felt like a switch had been turned. Liam worked on autopilot when he got into his car and drove back home. Mind still spinning it was probably good that way since Liam paid no real attention to the traffic. Tears were burning in his eyes when he thought about Landon and how sad he had been. His heart ached and his stomach twisted in some more knots again.

Theo’s truck was parked in the driveway when Liam came home and he immediately called for his mate when he entered the house. Or rather yelled. “THEO!!! THEO!!!!” “Library!” Theo came running and they met in the hallway. “What’s wrong? Liam, what happened?” He gripped Liam’s shoulders and checked him for any superficial injuries. “Are you hurt? You’re shaking. Baby, what’s wrong?” “I need you because I’m about to lose it. I don’t know how long I can hold it in. Please, help me! I can’t.” He grabbed Theo’s wrists. “Calm down, deep breaths. Just try to focus on my heartbeat. And then tell me what happened. I’m here, everything will be okay.” But it didn’t help Liam, not this time. His grip on Theo’s wrist had to hurt but his boyfriend didn’t flinch. “Landon was sad today and he was hurt. There was a bruise on his arm and then I met his father. I know his father.” “Liam, Liam, deep breaths. You’re close to hyperventilating. Take deep breaths.”

Liam felt tears prickle in his eyes again when he now shouted at Theo. “Don’t you get it?? Landon’s father is the same man that tormented me for years! His father is Emmet Dunbar!” He felt the tears beginning to fall and he could do nothing about it. “And that means the boy a teacher in a program chose as my Little Brother...” “Is your actual little brother,” Theo finished the sentence and then frowned. “Are you really sure? Sometimes people look alike.” “I know my biological father! I know his voice, it’s etched in my memories. Besides, Landon said the same things I used to say. My dad is my dad. Crying is weak. Nothing’s changed, the man is still the same alcoholic he was back then and he still hits his son.” “Did Landon tell you that? That his father abuses him? I get why you’re thinking it but did he confirm?” Liam glared at Theo. “He didn’t have to. I know how a child acts when it’s a victim of domestic violence,” he snapped and Theo flinched. Liam felt immediately sorry for snapping at his boyfriend. “I’m sorry. I...I just don’t know...” He shrugged helplessly and wiped away some tears. He was way over his head with this and he had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to react. What was the protocol for this? Theo proofed how great he was at reading Liam because he didn’t even comment on the Alpha snapping at him but wrapped his arms around Liam and pulled him into a tight embrace. Having his anchor’s warmth and scent around him helped Liam feel more grounded than before, though his head was still spinning. He wrapped his arms around Theo’s waist.

“What is your plan? What will you do?” Theo inquired after they stood there for a while and just held each other. Liam shook his head. “No idea. I feel like I should drive there, to their house.” “And then? If you’re right, and I’m unfortunately pretty sure you are right, your father won’t be the right person to have a normal conversation with. You’re riled up, I don’t want you to make a mistake.” It was his mate’s logical way of thinking that Liam needed. He was impulsive and ruled by his emotions, he needed Theo to keep him in check. Running to the next fight surely was not the right solution to their problem. But really, Liam didn’t know what was...

He groaned and let go of Theo to lean against the wall and slide down until he sat on the floor. Theo sat next to him and took Liam’s hand in his. “This is so crazy. What are the odds? I mean, come on, who would have thought? He met another woman and had a child with her three years after my parents divorced.” Liam played with Theo’s fingers, it helped him stay as calm as he could at the moment. “It’s undoubtedly crazy but that kind of explains why you and Landon had such a connection right from the start.” “Hm, maybe. I don’t know if this brotherly bound is really a thing if you didn’t grow up together.” “Looks like it is,” Theo stated and gently bumped his shoulder against Liam’s. It made Liam smile weakly.

And then his phone rang. When Liam pulled it out of his pocket, an unknown number flashed on the screen and he accepted the call with a confused look. "Hello, it’s Liam.” First, there were just sniffles and Liam was inclined to hang up when a small voice spoke. “Liam, hello?” “Landon? Its that you? Hey, buddy. What’s going on?” He put the call on speaker so Theo could hear better. Landon sniffled again. “He got mad when we came home. It is really bad. He...he said he saw me hugging you and he didn’t like me hugging strangers. He got really mad and he punched me.” The child started crying again and it broke Liam’s heart. A powerful wave of the need to protect rushed through Liam. “Where is he now? Is he still around?” “No, he...went to his friend. Can you come and get me? He’s drinking again.” It wasn’t even a question, Liam was already on his feet before Landon had finished the question. “I will be there as fast as I can, buddy. Stay calm, okay? I’m coming.”

He ended the call, already on his way out and towards the car. Theo hurried after him and grabbed his arm. “You can’t drive, not in the state you’re currently in. Let me drive!” He said and unlocked his truck. Again, Liam was happy to have this man. “Thank you,” he said when he climbed into the passenger seat. Theo just nodded and turned on the ignition. The couple didn’t speak for the drive aside from Liam telling Theo the address.

The neighborhood Landon lived in consisted of small houses and trailers with parched gardens, trash on the brown grass and in the dusty streets. Liam had expected his little one to live in a sad neighborhood but this outstripped his concerns. Theo parked in front of a very small house with brown paint on the walls and a grey roof. The color looked bleached from sunlight and spalled. Cigarette ends and empty beer bottles and cans littered the yard and an empty camping chair revealed Emmet’s favorite place to sit. Nothing gave away that a child lived her, it looked sad and unfriendly. How could Landon play here and be a happy child? Liam’s stomach twisted again. “I’m happy you are here with me. I don’t know what will happen when I meet him,” he mumbled towards Theo. Theo hummed. “I’m your anchor. You won’t lash out on him, you’re better than that. And I’m here to remind you of that. Don’t worry.” It still felt better to have that one person by his side who could reign him in and had always been good at keeping a grip on Liam. It made the situation a little less overwhelming. Liam still knew he needed his anchor now more than ever.

The front door was crooked, paint also spalling down there. It made a rustling sound when Liam knocked. “Landon? It’s me. Are you there?” He listened for anything inside and heard nothing at first but then tiny footsteps came from inside and then the door slowly opened. Landon peeked out and when he saw it was just Liam (and well Theo but not his father) he wrenched the door opened. Tears were streaming down his face and his left cheek was red, already slightly swollen from undoubtedly Emmet’s hand. Anger boiled up inside Liam but he willed it down for now and knelt down. “He talked about you! Said I’m just as much of a sissy as his first failure of a son. He called you Liam, the weakling. Always, when he was really really drunk and angry.” “Shh, forget that it’s not important anymore. I’m here now and he will never ever yell at you,” Liam promised him. “Where did he hurt you? What did he do?” “He punched me and grabbed my arm.” Landon showed him the bruises on his upper arm. Theo growled behind him and Liam pulled his little brother in a protective hug. “I’m here now. He will never hurt you again,” he vowed to the crying child in his arms. Landon pressed against him and fisted Liam’s shirt in his hands. “Please. I’m scared. I don’t want to get hurt anymore.” “I know, I know.” Liam gently rubbed his back and kissed Landon on top of his head.

“Liam...”, Theo said but was cut off by: “What is going on here?” Liam’s froze. The slurred words behind him alerted him to the arrival of the person he really didn’t want to see. He had heard him approach and his wolf snarled inside him. He pried himself away from Landon and slowly got up to his full height.

“Landon, what are you doing with this losers?” gurgled Emmet. Liam turned around. He took his time accessing his father, the bloodshot eyes, the filthy appearance, and how he swayed on his feet. It disgusted him. The young Alpha slowly stepped closer to his begetter. “Don’t remember me? Come on, did you drink your brain away that much? I get that I got older but really, you don’t remember the face of a boy you last saw in court when he was seven years old? That’s bad, even for you.” Realization gleamed in Emmet’s eyes and he scoffed. “Would you look at that, my failure of a firstborn. I’d have never expected you pussy here.” He clicked his fingers. “Landon! Come here!” Except Liam blocked the way between his father and his brother. “He is not a dog! And he won’t obey anymore. I won’t let you abuse my brother any longer.” Emmet laughed scornfully. “How cute, the two brothers found each other. I don’t have time for that. Landon, go and buy me some beer at the gas station before I make you!” Liam growled and made a few more steps. Theo’s hand closed around his wrist and stopped him from inching even closer to Emmet. The distance was better to stay in control. But Emmet saw it and glared at the two young men. “Don’t tell me you are a fag. That is disgusting. You aren’t my son.” “Go to hell. He surely doesn’t want to be your son,” Theo coldly chimed in and if looks could kill Emmet would have died right then and there. But Emmet kept on drunkenly rambling. “This happens when you don’t have a real man in your life. I am ashamed. A weak sissy, nothing more. Fucking cock-sucker!”

Liam growled and was faster in front of his father than he would have imagined after he yanked his wrist out of Theo’s grip. One hand grabbed the front of Emmet’s shirt and pulled him in, the other raised as a fist and ready to strike. “You deserve to get every bone broken in your lousy body. You’re calling Landon and me weak? Look at you! You’re hitting innocent children, people smaller than you! Your life is so fucking miserable, you have to hate on others and you drink so much, you can’t stand straight anymore. There is nothing I want more than to ram my fist into your face and only stop when you have no teeth left. Do to you what you do to others,” he snarled menacingly. “But you know what? I have a mother and she made sure I never turn into the type of person you are. I have many reasons not to become like you, you little rat! If I were you I would thank my mother and my friends, especially my boyfriend, that you’re leaving this confrontation on your own two feet and not in an ambulance. Because they all made me better than you will ever be!”

Liam lowered his fist and then shoved Emmet back. He stumbled and fell over his camping chair. The man landed on the ground with a groan and glared at his son. Liam snarled again and pointed a finger at him. “Stay there and don’t you dare to get up or I will forget any reason I have and beat the living crap out of you.” He looked back at Landon who hovered in the doorway. “Go and grab your favorite things. There is no way I’m leaving you with him.” He glanced back at Emmet on the ground. “Stay or I will rip you apart!”

He turned around and followed Landon into the small house. A small kitchen with an old table and open living room area with a very small tv and a dirty old couch. Landon’s room was right next to the kitchen, barely big enough for the single bed. There were no real toys there or posters and Landon just grabbed a very worn donkey plushie and two comics and put them in a small yellow-red backpack. Liam helped him in stuffing a few clothes inside and lastly Landon grabbed a blue ball but then he nodded. “That’s all?” Liam asked. It was very little but this room was so empty and not right for a child. His father had absolutely not cared for his son at all. Landon looked around but then ran to his bed and pulled something from under the mattress. It was a photo of a petite woman with bright blonde hair sitting on an elephant’s back and waving at the camera. “That’s my mom. I stole the picture from a friend of hers.” “We will get you a nice frame for it when we’re home. Now, let’s go.” He took Landon’s hand and together the brothers left the house again.

Theo had guarded Emmet who still ranted about his weak sons and how much of a faggot Liam was but had not moved from his spot on the ground. He paid Landon no mind when they passed. “Come on, none of us should have to stay here any longer,” Liam exclaimed and Theo nodded. This time, Emmet had to have the last word: “You look like your slut of a mother!” He yelped in pain and when Liam looked over his shoulder he saw Theo had stepped on his hand. From the crunch of the bones, Liam knew the fingers had been broken. His mate looked down at Emmet. “Did that hurt?” Theo’s face twisted into the typical cold but menacing facade he could do so well. “Good. Let me tell you, Liam may have his reasons to not give you what you deserve but I don’t share the same sentiments. So if you keep insulting them, you will learn why they call me psychopath.” He left Emmet behind and joined Liam and Landon to the car and the man fell back on the grass.

When Theo unlocked the truck, Liam slipped in the backseat with Landon and Theo made sure they were soon on the road. It gave them a breather and Liam leaned back. “Are you okay?” He asked his little brother and Landon played with the strap of his backpack and then looked panicked. Liam smiled sadly. “It’s okay, you can tell me. Tell me when you’re hurt, it doesn’t make you weak.” Landon considered it and then he pointed at his arm. “Hurts.” Liam reached out and gently put his hand on Landon’s arm. He concentrated and the black veins began to crawl up his arm. Landon gasped. “How are you doing that?” Frankly, Liam had only thought about easing the pain, not about an explanation. “It’s an ability only good big brothers get. And you have the best big brother in the whole wide world,” Theo suddenly said calmly and glanced in the rearview mirror. Landon looked at him and then at Liam and he smiled for the first time that day. He inched closer and hugged Liam’s waist. Liam smiled and hugged him back while he searched for Theo’s glance in the mirror. “Thank you,” he mouthed and Theo nodded softly with a soft smile.

This day had been crazy. He just had found out he was a big brother and then he had more or less stolen the child from his begetter. But Liam had not been able to leave without Landon. The boy deserved a happy life and he couldn’t get it with Emmet. Liam had no idea how his life was now going to be but he had Landon and Theo and the others and together they would make it work. They always did.

Author’s note:

That’s Landon

I know this chapter focused heavily on Liam but it was an important chapter. I waited so long to write it, and now it fits perfectly with the rest of the story. It's another one of the things I wanted to write so badly and I was excited about it. It also adds another layer to Liam's personality and we will see how this goes from here. How he does justice to his new role. I cannot wait to see what you think about Landon and everything that transpired in this chapter. As always, tell me in the comments.

Have a great day!

#thiam #A tale written with fangs and claws #Morning Dew Pack series #My writing #alpha!liam

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