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sercezgazety · 7 months

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There are times when it’s quiet. There are entire days when the fighting is going on somewhere else, so far away that they can only hear an occasional sound of an explosion, but none of the screaming. There are other field hospitals, and Dan assumes the wounded are being taken care of by someone.

There are even days when there are no moaning patients. You know, Herbert informed him cheerfully after less than half a week here, at some point, you either get better or you just die. He even made a disgusted expression at that last part, as if dying was a sign of some personal failing, an embarrassing lack of self-discipline.

Three times, there was no one in the tent besides Dan and Herbert, and that meant each of them was able to take a proper shower. Alone and without anyone yelling at them for wasting the water. In theory, on days like these, Dan could sleep for five, hell, six hours uninterrupted, and the notion was so luxurious, it felt just a tad too decadent to some.

There’s absolutely no reason whatsoever why Dan would not cherish days like these, except, of course, for the fact that he shares them with Herbert West of all people. In close quarters, when there’s no way to hide in a bedroom and you don’t get to leave in order to commute, mere breathing proves more difficult than trying to stop people from going septic. West turns out to be obnoxious and omnipresent, and he almost never sleeps, though the reason for that is no secret.

Dan decides to pick his battles. As long as they’re here and someone should be alert at all times, he’s not trying to convince West to give up his habit. The reagent takes care of all of Herbert’s needs, and judging by the way he cries out when a dose hits, it’s not just sleep that is being substituted with a shot. The problem is, West is not as empathic and compassionate as Dan, and so, he rarely acknowledges that the other party still does need to sleep.

And fuck, Dan needs to. Really, really needs to, more than he needs to fuck, mostly because it’s easier to take care of that second necessity. In both cases, you don’t actually need assistance, even if sometimes assistance would make it more satisfying. You can have a depressing and thoroughly mediocre quickie with yourself, hidden behind the curtains in a makeshift toilet, but you can’t take a four hour nap in there. Dan’s already fallen asleep on the can once, his pants still on and all that, just because it was a bit more peaceful in there. It was gross, everyone was angry about it, and Dan can’t blame them. If one lands themselves in a field hospital and is told they’re finally entitled to take a dump like a civilized person, in a separate room just for that — even if the walls are made of blankets and there’s no running water in there — taking away that simple pleasure is a crime. Not the most serious crime Dan’s guilty of, alright, but still. When he gets dragged out of the toilet, still groggy but already terrified, it’s by the man out of whose guts he’s dug bullets less than a week ago. The guy’s in his right, let’s be honest, but Dan’s been awake for the past fifty hours, not counting the five minute power nap between an amputation and a burn victim. His cot is occupied by a patient, so he collapses on the grass just outside the tent, and he would have probably gotten some shut-eye, had a landmine not exploded somewhere else entirely and some time ago, which means the wounded are being brought in right now.

Dan’s leaves scissors in a guy’s stomach that day. Actually starts stitching the abdomen up before he notices them missing.

So yes, the days when there are no patients and no bombings are really nice. He likes those. Just… would have liked them even more if they were actual days off, days without West going on and on about The Work. Because that’s how he says it. You can hear the capital letters falling into place with reverence and piety Herbert reserves only for the insane shit he does.

When the number of wounded is manageable, Dan has his entire cot to himself, and that’s not all. The peaceful days are more likely to include Francesca dropping by and interviewing him. At least they used to. She stopped coming that often, maybe because there were absolutely no questions left to ask, but more probably because of Herbert. People tend to react to him in this manner, and frankly, it’s impressive, for how long Francesca managed to stick around despite West’s presence.

She would sometimes have a seat next to Dan and they’d talk about nothing. Listing foods they would eat when they finally get back to civilization, discussing the luxuries such as fresh bed linen or hot water, laughing at their shared misery. She has a nice laugh, and when told the sad tale of Herbert using the last of mint toothpaste — a proper, actual, flavored toothpaste Dan’s been saving for a special occasion — she makes an endearing snort. At times, Dan thought they might have had something going on. Francesca’s hands liked to linger around his whenever she’d pass him some item, and once, their fingers actually touched. She was no Meg, of course, but nobody is and nobody’s ever going to be. Dan does feel guilty about entertaining this kind of thoughts about any other girl, but he’s been stressed out of his mind. It’s only natural, and Francesca’s an objectively attractive woman. Nothing could happen anyway, Herbert possesses some kind of sixth sense that allowed him to appear out of thin air whenever Francesca stared smiling at Dan for longer than three seconds.

Herbert has absolutely no bloody boundaries, especially for someone who is declaratively a private person. Never liked people in his room, yes indeed-y, but somehow doesn’t mind butting into every conversation Dan might have, especially with women. And he’s always managing to bring up something amazingly unappealing, like necrosis, amputation, or gastrointestinal stomata. Catheterization, if Dan’s really lucky, but he rarely gets lucky nowadays. That’s already been established.

Herbert has this weird way or popping up unwanted, and interrupting conversations with Francesca is not the worst part. It would be really nice if that were the end of the problem, but it’s actually very much not. He’s so omnipresent, he materializes in Dan’s mind even at times when there ought to be solely pretty women in there. It’s bad enough that Dan feels guilty about those, but he felt even worse when thinking about Meg, and, well, he needs to think about someone. Otherwise, the exercise becomes impossible, and if he didn’t perform it, he’d go insane. But that someone should most definitely not be Herbert West, and the last thing Dan wants to think about when taking care of his frustrations is another guy. Granted, he does look like a woman a bit, petite and soft, but, first of all, it’s Herbert fucking West. He’s the farthest thing from soft imaginable, and second of all — which is even more important, actually — he’s most definitely not a girl. Dan’s seen him pee, it’s virtually impossible not to see each other pee in this hellhole. He didn’t look, but he’s pretty sure there was a dick involved, and he’d really prefer not to think about it, especially with his own in his hand.

It’s nothing to seriously worry about. Exposure does things like that from time to time. It’s just like when you constantly talk to someone and then you dream about continuing the argument. Or like when living in a house, or, or having a favorite vacation spot. You end up dreaming about that familiar space. It’s the default. All it actually means is that Dan’s been spending way too much time around Herbert. This much is obvious anyway, and he could really do without reminders such as these. Living with Herbert is already a nightmare, and Dan would prefer at least for his fantasies to remain his own, thank you very much.

Luckily, there’s always Francesca, and best part is, he’s pretty sure she wouldn’t mind. Probably. She seems open-minded enough. It’s a form of flattery after all, to think of someone that way. At least as long as there’s no West involved.

So yeah, things are not great, but it’s nothing Dan couldn’t deal with. They’re fine, and so is Dan, except he’s currently buried elbow-deep in another person’s guts, he’s pretty sure the guy’s not going to make it, and he’s like, seventeen. Nineteen, maybe, still has acne, and the remaining limbs are awkwardly long. Probably just learned how to shave and was very proud of it. Might have a girl waiting for him, though with skin like that, Dan’s not sure. He looked the same when he was the boy’s age, except he didn’t walk right into a landmine and didn’t have a missing leg and a, Jesus Christ. A gaping hole in his abdomen. Dan can’t keep up with the vessels that start hemorrhaging one after another, and they don’t even have the blood for transfusion, mostly because Dan spent over an hour yelling at Herbert when the ghoul proposed they drew blood from the terminal cases while their hearts were still beating and there was no clotting. And this guy’s so young, probably didn’t know what he was being killed for.

Shit. Shitshitshit, shit. Dan knows he’s not supposed to go there, he ought to peek at the readouts (what readouts, though, from what equipment? Here?) and look at every organ separately. Is it working, is it failing, how do we make it work? It’s not a person, not when you’re performing a surgery, and it’s not even about protecting the doctor’s psyche but the patient. A surgeon’s useless if their hands start to tremble, and especially when they slip in the gore covering the fucking floor and catch themselves at the last moment, dropping the spatula needle somewhere and spending precious seconds looking for it instead of grabbing a new one, even though the one that landed on the floor is no longer sterile and can’t be used anyway.

“Call it,” Herbert supplies, ever so helpfully, from the other table. He doesn’t even look in Dan’s direction. “He’s beyond saving and no use to us. And I need a hand with this one.”

Dan doesn’t call it, at least not for another ten minutes. The thing is, the boy could have been saved, had he been brought here sooner, had there been enough personnel, had Herbert not been busy with another—

Body. Herbert’s working on a body, suturing wounds of a soldier whose heart’s stopped beating at least half an hour ago. Dan knows that, he was there, he announced it. And now here he is with another dead soldier, but this one, this one didn’t have to die. This one still had a chance, however small, if only they had some blood, if only Herbert got his head out of his ass.

But he was of no use to us.

There’s a lot Dan could say at that moment, looking at the other man preparing a syringe and sticking his tongue out in concentration. He doesn’t, he rarely does. He ends up sitting on the floor with his head between his knees, trying very hard to avoid hurling because he’d be the one cleaning it up.

Then something goes wrong with the reanimation, because of course it does, and Dan’s already running towards Herbert, once again slipping on the tent floor wet with blood, grabbing the first thing he can find. Which happens to be a bone saw. And it’s not the worst weapon imaginable, perhaps, but before Dan manages to cut through the hand squeezing Herbert’s throat, the man’s already barely conscious. The corpse has much more energy, though, enough to throw Dan into a stack of crates and lunge for him before Dan remembers he actually has a gun. Had it the whole time.

So now there’s not only blood but also brain tissue on the floor, and soon enough, there’s also puke. At this point, it doesn’t really matter. Dan’s seen this before, he’s seen a dead hand wrap around a throat and squeeze, he’s seen the fingers refuse to let go even after the limb’s been severed, he’s seen it, it’s nothing new.

Herbert’s alright, for the most part. He starts moving on his own even before Dan’s able to break out of the stupor. Bastard’s indestructible. The good news is, his throat is bruised so badly, he can barely whisper, and that should buy Dan a couple of days of peace.

He starts the recorder nonetheless. It’s the first thing he does, the little horror show of a man. Tries to grate out something about the spinal cord before he starts coughing so hard he almost suffocates for the second time within a minute. Dan should probably get him some water, but for the moment, he can’t, too busy with his own puddle of misery. He ends up being given a hasty once-over by Herbert, who, in all probability, is the one actually in need of an examination.

Herbert does a terrible job anyway. They notice Dan’s sprained shoulder nearly half an hour later, not to mention Dan’s split eyebrow going untreated. But it’s the thought that counts, Dan supposes.

By the time he’s able to stop shaking — why? nothing too bad happened to him, why is he reacting this way? — and takes a look around, Herbert’s feverishly going through the pockets of the reanimate. Logical, and they should have thought about it earlier. If the guy was taking something that didn’t go well with the reagent, he might have carried it in his pocket. They need to make a note of it. Dan, however, is pretty sure it doesn’t apply either to a wristwatch, or to the roll of notes in foreign currency Herbert finds only after taking the man’s boot off.

Herbert’s movements are clumsy and Dan wouldn’t rule out shock or concussion, but even those don’t explain why West grins triumphantly at the finds, and they almost land in the pocket of his not-so-white coat. Almost, as he misses by mere inches, and drops the items right next to his foot. His lips form the word shit, but what escapes him is a pathetic gurgle, and he falls down to his knees in frustration, fumbling around, trying to retrieve the notes while they’re slowly turning more and more red.

This, at least, is a level at which Dan can meet Herbert, though not in the metaphorical sense. He crawls towards the insane imp, still unsure whether his legs would support him at the moment, and catches West’s wrist.

“Herbert,” he hisses. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

West gives him a deeply affronted look, and tries to yank his hand away to no avail. Dan can feel his fingers tighten around the oddly small wrist, sinking into the soft skin.

Herbert stops pulling away, and Dan should really relax his grip now. He knows it’s probably hurting. The bone structure feels fragile like a bird’s. Dan couldn’t break it just like that, with one hand, but cracking the ulna a bit shouldn’t be that hard. It’s just the matter of applying pressure in the right places, and Herbert’s way too weak to actually do anything about it.

Dan lets go of the hand as if burned, though Herbert, thankfully, assumes it’s for different reasons.

“Not like he’s going to have much use of it,” he whispers before he starts a coughing fit, and Dan would love to believe that there’s a note of, if not shame, at least embarrassment in those words. It could be a poor attempt at justification, if you squint. It really could. That’s the problem with West, you never know. There might be something human in there, and perhaps he is capable of feeling shame.

Even if that were the case, it doesn’t change the fact that the moment he stops wheezing, he resumes gathering the salvaged banknotes into an awkward stack.

“You’re kidding, right?” Dan asks, though he already knows the answer. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

Herbert is very obviously not, as he proceeds to remove the other boot and the sock. There’s no more money in there. When he moves for the wedding ring on the corpse’s hand, Dan grabs his wrist again.

Herbert opens his mouth and croaks, then furrows his brows in frustration. With his free hand, he gestures to the equipment, the beakers and vials he uses for their side project. It’s not a side project to him; it’s everything else they do here that he probably considers an afterthought. Then, he gestures towards the corner where he keeps the damn iguanas in a crate. Dan’s no veterinarian, but he’s pretty sure no animal should be living in conditions like these. They’re not going to live for long, though. They’re not the first ones here, and Dan’s stopped giving Herbert’s specimens cute names long ago.

“Use your own money,” he says, as stern as he can manage. He still hasn’t let go of Herbert’s wrist, and he briefly wonders whether the hold is so slippery because his palms got sweaty just like when he held Meg’s hand for the first time. Then, he remembers they’re just covered in blood. Everything here is covered in blood, it reeks of it, with additional notes of puss, shit, and vomit. It’s hard to feel for the lizards when they themselves are cooped up in this pit without reprieve. “This belongs to his family.”

Herbert winces slightly, and that’s how Dan notices he’s dug his fingernails into the other man’s skin. He lets go and swallows the urge to apologize because there’s no space for concessions. You give Herbert a finger, he’ll burn a house down.

Still, he feels bad about that. Herbert bruises extremely easily, and it’s like beating up the kid with glasses after gym. Dan’s always been the one to jump in and defend said kid from bullies, and he’s not sure what changed. He doesn’t like what he’s turning into when he’s around West, and maybe it’s the guilt, or maybe it’s the red mark on the other man’s wrist and the crescent almost-punctures, but eventually, they take the money.

The wedding ring stays on, so it’s a nice compromise.

Herbert only agreed to that because he must have noticed the ring was made of copper, Dan realizes later on. There’s also that suspicious liver on ice that he doesn’t remember being there before. But it’s far too late to go back on the deal, the purple handprint on Herbert’s wrist almost matches the one on his neck, and Dan stays quiet.

read the rest of the chapter here as things continue to get more awkward

(each chapter can work as a standalone)

#re-animator #reanimator #re animator #danbert #herbert west #dan cain #daniel cain #fanfiction #cw for period-typical gender essentialism #cw for period-typical internalized queerphobia

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phoenixyfriend · 1 year

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hi, What do you Think a twilight starWars crossover would Look like¿

send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

This ask meme is from over a year ago. Please don't send new prompts.

I think we ought to go full on intrusive crossover here. Couple of SW characters get dumped in Twilight via Weird Sith Temple. Somewhere midway through New Moon, after Edward leaves but before Bella starts clawing her way out of depression, some new people show up in town. "Ben," Anakin, and Ahsoka. (Obi-Wan quickly realized that his full name got weirder looks than the others, and Ben didn't, so he shifted.)

Ahsoka doesn't go out much, but fully disguises herself when she does. It involves a whole lot of tattoo-coverup foundation to disguise her marks, keeping her mouth mostly closed when she talks to hide her peculiar teeth, and wraps her lekku and montrals up in a weird way that ends up looking like a cross between horned hennin (the medieval veil horns, think "Disney's Descendants" Maleficent) and a hijab (deeply uncomfortable, because this is not her religion and, even if there are other religions that engage in similar coverage, she doesn't belong to any of them). It nets her a decent amount of attention, which she hates, so she usually stays in the small house they've gotten, or runs off to spend time alone or with Anakin in the forest. With the Force, she can stay warned of random hikers well enough to avoid running into strangers when she isn't in disguise.

Since Anakin and Obi-Wan are both too old for high school and do not have any interest in it anyway, and Ahsoka's definitely not going to do anything in that regard because she's not going out into public unless she absolutely has to, we do not have the usual Twilight crossover situation of running into people at high school. Instead, there are three separate incidents that lead to these lives intersecting: - Obi-Wan gets investigated by Charlie, because quite frankly people are concerned about His Daughter being such a shut-in and Charlie figured he'd check in personally before trying to get CPS involved. - Bella's old truck has a problem, and before she can take it to a mechanic or call Jacob (as suggested by Charlie), that Weird New Guy who's a few years older than her sees her staring under the hood of her truck with a look of pure confusion. - Ahsoka, who can usually avoid people in the forest, runs into one of the early pack members, who are much much faster than the humans she's been doing just fine circling around. Paul or Sam, probably.

Results: - Obi-Wan manages to talk his way out of trouble by being himself, but also by successfully explaining that Ahsoka, due to some bodily traits she was born with, finds herself very uncomfortable in public due to people staring at her, which does get corroborated by Ahsoka herself a few days later. - Bella, who gets 'this is a weird ass person who is very dangerous' vibes from Anakin, feels alive for the first time in months. She decides to seek him out for more of Danger Adrenaline Wakefulness to combat her debilitating depression. He handles this by deciding she should learn how to fight. It's not a great solution but it's... a solution? (Anakin would much prefer if she'd gone her canon route and started hanging out with Jacob instead. The only teen girl he wants to spend time with is his little sister. Why is this girl here? Anakin hopes she doesn't have a crush, he's definitely told her he's married in hopes of heading that off, which led to a very uncomfortable conversation with Obi-Wan.) At some point, Bella does start hanging out with Jacob, because their friendship means a lot to me, but also because Charlie's not exactly comfortable with Bella hanging out around that twitchy veteran who gets a far-off look in his eyes sometimes and is a few years older than Bella, just dashing enough that if she falls in love with a guy who moved in from out of town again, he's not sure she'll recover when he leaves. (Charlie's much less worried after Bella mentions, once, that Anakin's hoping to leave soon to get back to His Wife, whom he clearly loves a lot according to Bella, but Charlie's still much more comfortable with her hanging out at La Push.) - Ahsoka has some new friends, who are weird enough that she doesn't have to hide being weird too. Sure, she's a space alien with horns and fleshy tentacles and stripes, but they can shapeshift and are theoretically immortal, so who's counting?

Alice and Jasper show up a few weeks later, because 'being around Anakin' is actually not great for Bella's future being visible (because he's not actually 100% human, for Force baby reasons, so everything about him makes Bella's future fuzzy), and now they run into Ahsoka, and. That's not really great for anyone? Ahsoka isn't fast enough to run away from them without using the Force but she is tricky enough to trip them up and run off and trained enough to shrug of Jasper's emotional manipulations. She runs to the house and hides in her room after letting Obi-Wan know what happened. She's pretty sure these are the 'vampires' those shapeshifter guys told her about.

#Ahsoka Tano #Anakin Skywalker #Obi Wan Kenobi #Anidala #(mentioned)#twilight #star wars #the clone wars #crossovers #phoenix answers memes

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ariesbilly · 2 years

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People who view Billy's character in such a negative one-dimensional way come across as so sheltered to me. He really reminds me of my dad in a lot of ways, and when we watched S2 and 3 together we revisited convos about what it was like for my dad to grow up with a father like Neil, a mother who let him down, step-siblings he had toxic relationships with, and what it was like to have to let go of the ways he learned to survive it all. People really undestimate just how hard it is to break the cycle of violence when you're all on your own. If you're young and by yourself, with very little money or access to resources about abuse, then you just have to blindly stumble into the life lessons you need.

At the same time people also undestimate how capable of change people can be when they actually have a chance. Once my dad was out of his father's house during his 20s he had room to breathe and actually grow up. He put all his anger and fear into learning a trade instead of taking it out on others, put effort into learning about the people and cultures he was taught to be racist against, and eventually found a career working with young people so he could be the supportive figure he needed when he was their age.

Lots of folks who grow up to be good people were like Billy or like my dad when they were younger. Billy's story gets cut short before we get to see that though. It's still important to know that even if a victim of abuse is an asshole and a product of their shitty environment that doesn't mean they aren't worthy of help. You don't have to like them but that doesn't make them irredeemable. If people's support abuse victims is conditional on their moral purity then they are not the allies they think they are.

(also love the idea of Billy working with young people in his future one of my fave personal headcanons)

billy antis to me fall into the camp of either 1. being incredibly sheltered and having no idea what the fuck theyre talking about or 2. they say billy reminds them of whatever abuser they personally had in their life, so automatically theyre unable to separate that bias and generally its fuck whoever talks positively about billy (ive seen a FEW people able to see reason but....)

and like thats a whole separate issue coming from the riverdale fandom and preferring the parents over the kids, all the damn time i had to hear people coming into mine or my friends inboxes/posts trauma dumping because x parent remind them of their parent etc etc and like girl... what does that got to do with me. like sorry you went through that but whats that got to do with me.

people need to learn how to separate fiction from reality. thats the first problem that needs to be addressed

but like if yall WANT to make it this deep and talk about the real world and shit, its so counterproductive to talk about abusive victims who are literal children and deciding theyre beyond redemption. its also very convenient how people pick and choose when someones a child. if you did x thing at age 17 youre a child but if you do z thing youre an adult. make it make sense.

i feel like these people just... dont exist in reality? like i have to imagine theyre only interactions with other people are their echo chambers online because SURELY you cannot be interacting with real life human beings day to day in the real world and coming to these conclusions. people are incredibly nuanced. everyones got skeletons in their closet. everyones got things in their past they are not proud of. its what theyve made of themselves since their darkest moments that matters. its what people choose to do with themselves once they identify their problems and issues that matters. billy LITERALLY GAVE UP HIS LIFE. and its not enough for people. which is... insane to me. and heinously cruel minded. especially paired with how they go on to treat REAL PEOPLE for understanding his character. “i hate this character because theyre mean and bigoted so to show this i will go on and be mean and bigoted to other people”. like yall need some windex for your mirrors cuz clearly somethings not getting through when you look into it every day.

my brother and i had a notoriously toxic relationship when we lived together. we’re still not particularly close probably because of that (also theres a 7 year age difference so that was never gonna help) but like literally last time we were together a week or two ago to put up the christmas tree we were getting along, he even volunteered for all things to put our initial ornaments next to each other on the tree. we snuck upstairs before dinner to hang out in my room and smoke lmfao like... amazing what distance can do for a relationship i have full faith that all billy and max needed was for billy to move out and get away from neil and they would be maybe not besties but surely a hell of a lot closer than they could be under current circumstances.

people just dont want to put in the brainpower to think long term. they dont want to face the facts of billys situation because then they would have to realize how fucking shitty they are to people like him. and no one wants to do that. no one wants to realize theyve been the villain this whole time lmao

i had another thought but i lost it which is probably for the best cuz this response is already long as hell.

#briana answers things

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innytoes · 2 years

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Love all these autumn prompts! 24 is giving me strong willex vibes

-anotherfantom

"Care to explain to me why Ray just thanked me for 'helping out in the haunted house' on my way to the studio?" Alex asked the room at large, dumping his bag. Luke and Reggie looked guilty, and Julie wavered between looking guilty and surprised.

"You didn't even ask him first?" she said eventually, throwing the two boys under the bus.

"We were gonna!" Reggie defended. "So you know how Ray volunteers at that children's charity as a photographer? They're doing this big Halloween fundraiser thing, and they wanted a haunted house, but they didn't have enough scarers, so I said we could help."

"If we help during the day we get to perform at night!" Luke added, which explained a lot as to why Luke was willing to give up a whole Saturday they could spend rehearsing.

"You signed me up to be a scarer," he repeated. "Me. The guy who has anxiety."

"Look at it this way," Julie said. "Your brain is constantly coming up with things that are scary, you should have no problem getting into character. And you're going to be doing the scaring, not being scared."

Alex thought about that for a moment. To be honest, when Julie put it like that it didn't sound half bad.

He crept up behind Reggie, wriggling fingers against the back of his neck and using his spookiest voice to say: "Stuuuuudent looooaaaans."

"I don't think that's exactly what they're looking for, bro," Luke said.

"Standing in line at the grocery store with a cart full of stuff already on the conveyor belt and realising you've forgotten your walleeeeet," he whispered in a croaky witch voice.

"Maybe stick with 'booga-booga'," Reggie laughed.

"Having Flynn find out you're the one who drank her last sodaaa," he moaned.

"Okay, that is scary," Julie agreed.

The day of the Haunted House, it was pretty easy to decide who got to do what. Julie got a Phantom mask and the creepy room with the Organ (a keyboard with some pretty rad cardboard decorations surrounding it), distracting everyone from Flynn, who was on a rig on the ceiling ready to chase people all across the room and down the hall.

Reggie was delighted to be fake-strapped to a table while robotic crows pecked out his 'insides', moaning and howling in pain and warning them that it was too late for him, but the killer was coming back.

Luke got a creepy mask and a fake knife and a spot to jump out from, because he was the only person not too worried about being punched in the face.

And finally, Alex got a cool cape and some stick-on fangs, hiding behind a doorway. He also got a cool skeleton hand on a stick to 'grab' people with, which would both keep actual physical contact to a minimum and keep him out of reach for being punched in the face.

"You sure you're okay all alone, buddy?" Reggie asked him. "We can swap and you can hang out with Pokey and Bitey instead," he offered. At Alex' blank stare, he flushed. "The crows."

"No, you've already named them. Though if Luke gets punched in the face I want a full re-enactment later." He and Reggie exchanged their secret handshake. Honestly, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to keep a straight face with any of the others in the room. Also, they couldn't get on his case for not being scary enough.

The day was pretty fun. He was separated by Julie and Flynn by a dark hallway with nothing but cobwebs, so people were usually already on edge by the time they got to his room, waiting for the next jump scare.

After the first few attempts at getting out a spooky vampire pun with his new fangs and getting laughed at because of his lisp, he'd stuck to hissing and wooshing his cape dramatically.

He was surprised by the amount of small children that came through and were delighted instead of scared. One of them, dressed like a tiny vampire herself, spread her cape and hissed back, and he gave her a solemn bow as she skipped off with her amused parents. He was also surprised by the amount of tough looking guys who shrieked loudly when he used Mister Boney (yes okay maybe he'd named the skeleton hand on a stick as well).

But what he wasn't expecting was The Most Beautiful Man In The World to come through the Haunted House. And he really, really wasn't expecting him to jump, turn around, and for the first thing out of his mouth to be a terrible pick-up line.

"Well hello there, gorgeous, I'd let you suck me anytime," The Most Beautiful Man In The World said. He had long, slightly wavy hair with a single cobweb stuck to it. His crop-top was either tie-dye, or covered in fake blood, Alex couldn't actually tell from the black light. He also had a giant piece of fake rebar sticking out of the side of his neck, which looked rather gruesome.

"Seemth to me like you've already got a lot going on there," he lisped, waving Mister Boney at the general direction of the guy's neck and willing his heart to stop beating so fast.

The Most Beautiful Man In The World turned out to also have the most beautiful laugh in the world. "Well, maybe instead you can give me a hand-job," he said, waggling his eyebrows and nodding at Mister Boney. "What time do you get off?"

"Any time you want," Alex blurted out, before going very, very red under his white make-up. "I mean... I- we're pflaying the conthert tonight!"

"Cool," The Most Beautiful Man In The World said. "Guess I'll stick around for that." He gave a wink, before bravely striding into the next room, not even flinching at the giant spider rigged to drop from the ceiling. His laugh echoed down the hall.

Well, shit.

#julie and the phantoms #fanfic #I wrote a thing #willex #alex mercer #reggie peters #luke patterson #julie molina #flynn taylor #willie throckmorton #Alex asks about Willie later just in case he was just flirting with everyone #but no #he gave Flynn a fistbump and was too busy staring at the crows and asking Reggie if he could pet them and what their names were #to be scared by Luke #yes Luke got punched in the face at least once #it was a 12 year old girl and she was very apologetic about it #yes he played with a black eye #yes they were all in costume (Luke sans mask)#Flynn put on some dark spooky eyes so his black eye wouldn't stand out too much and he still looked spooky #imagine Alex trying to sing his solo line with fangs in though #whatever happenth even iff I'm the latht thtanding I'mma thand tall #yes willie stayed until after the concert to flirt with Alex some more

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robbiethompsonlongcon · 1 year

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so wait. i have questions.

if heaven connects the multiverse, what happens when multiple versions of the same person in multiple AU worlds die? do they all fuse into one entity in heaven? like, is the dean we saw in spnwin an amalgamation of every version of dean that has died and gone to heaven in every universe? what does that mean for a human soul, is each iteration of a human only a fragment of a soul? a clone? or are they individuals? do they all have separate heavens next to one another but fully inaccessible? or can you go next door and hang out with your alternate universe selves? that would be pretty disconcerting..

WAIT NO. no, that cant be right. as cool as i think it is, its not right. obviously there are multiple iterations of heaven, considering that there are multiple iterations of the angels. and it's clearly a Thing that alternate universe heavens aren't supposed to be connected, bc the AU iterations of the angels couldn't just walk through some already-established rift in heaven, otherwise the entire apocalypse world plotline would be completely moot. like, apocalypse michael could have just walked into prime universe through the rift. so how are these situated? is heaven like, partitioned out like this?

(please excuse the utterly shit quality, im drawing with my finger on a cracked phone and im bad at it)

so we have the garden which connects all the heavens, and then heaven prime partitioned off from heaven alpha, beta etc, each one then linked to their respective actual living universe? or is it more like garden -> heaven -> earth, but like sheets of paper all stacked up on top of one another in "the world between worlds" voidspace? how does that work metaphysically.

since theres au heavens and au hells, are there au versions of purgatory, or do all worlds dump all their monsters into the same purgatory? what about the empty? is every version of Cas that died in every alternate universe just piled up in the one singular empty?

(if i was a fic writer, this is where i would write about an empty rescue where dean has to wade through a sea of AU cas. i would also write a self indulgent fic where the benny we are told died in prime universe was not actually benny prime. but i am not a fic writer.)

if there are multiple empties, are there multiple shadows? or just the one, existing in every dimension in the same way that chuck is implied to? did god decide to be chuck in every universe, or are there universes where chuck was "just" a prophet? that would make endverse being a real alternate universe clash a little less w the final seasons.

except there's still the problem of, how could zachariah the middle management sub-choir angel (principality?? seraph?? power?? what choir is zachariah. this is so off topic.) open a portal to an alternate universe but not either of the two most powerful archangels? ive seen great theories about angels being specialists in different areas, e.g uriel smiting towns and cas taking memories (im so fucking sorry i dont remember who posted that, its so good im so sorry) but even so, why didn't apocalypse zachy just open the prime universe for apocalypse michael once he set his sights on it? so im still thinking endverse was a pocket/illusion dimension.

and when prime universe tfw released the darkness, did amara get born in every universe or just the prime one? was she still locked in the mark in other universes? if she's the same.. uhh.. species as god, and his equal, shouldnt she be just as omnipresent in the multiverse? or does that mean each universe has its own iteration of god? or would that mean he created himself? ow. paradox migraine. if prime chuck created every other chuck, then every other iteration is just a facsimile and not truly chuck. and if that's true, did they even really beat chuck by beating him in only one iteration? or can AU chuck just open a portal and idk re-grant himself godpowers? what about AU jacks, are they still nephilim? or did every version of jack become god when prime jack did?

on that note, when chuck started to destroy the multiverse, what happened to amara in those iterations and also in general? was she captive in every universe as long as she was captive in the prime universe? is she even really gods sister, or did he create her for Plot Reasons? bc in other universes, dean still had the mark. or cas had the mark. or cain kept the mark. but amara got free in, and was, as far as i remember, only a threat to, the prime universe.

and how did dean get the letter for john from henry? even if henry gave it to dean in As Time Goes By, i doubt dean carried that particular letter on his person when he died. it could be a heaven thing? anything you want, you just wish for it and you have it kind of thing. but also how did dean get bobby? obviously he went back to the roadhouse at some point? unless the point is that heaven is still an illusion since Somethings Up With Jack, and dean did the same thing with the letter, and just *wished* for bobby who popped up in the car. cause that certainly doesn't seem like a good and equal heaven, if you can just wish someone was with you and poof! they will be summoned to your side without their consent. which would mean that's Not Bobby, it's an illusion. it was never actually bobby.

so did dean even actually make it to another universe? or is he trapped in an illusion and the whole thing was a distraction, which is why jack said no meddling and then proceeded to let dean meddle in the most timeline-destabilizing ways possible, giving his parents the colt and his journal, telling them god exists and is a dick? because it doesn't matter, it never mattered because none of it was real?

im gonna rip out my hair what is this. jensen. JENSEN. what is this. i need to think.

#spnwin #spnwin spoilers #spnwin meta #supernatural prequel #the paradoxicality of it all #my head hurts :[#what is all this!!!!#i think ive been thinking about this too much. im all tangled up and idk what's what anymore #what even is spn canon please?#dean winchester's magical time travelling god killing wondercar

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askwendyokoopa · 1 year

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Le Film Des Frères Mario

“As this poor independent film struggles to surpass one billion dollars in the international market, despite being in theaters for over three weeks already, I have decided to share the most trivial anecdote of all time, or at least the last ten years of running this stupid blog. So, over the past five years or so, I've started telling real life stories about the Mun on YouTube, only the Mun/Muse dynamic doesn't exist there, so I've been presenting them as true stories where I've just changed the names to avoid doxxing myself."

((This is also weird, because I doxxed myself nine years ago in 2014. Back when I got myself a personal account, that links to Facebook, and Twitter, and junk.))

"Who's telling this story, hmmm? Anyhow, Madame Flurrie is just my mom now, my sisters are Iggy and Lemmy, my Dad is still Bowser, obviously. I pick random names of Mario characters as needed, like for this one my mom was dating again, seven years after divorcing Dad. Let's use... King K. Rool, he's a lot like Bowser, but stupider, and/or lazier; and that pretty much describes this guy. My mom has a type... unfortunately that type is guys who take 'No' as a suggestion, and continue perusing relationships aggressively. This is getting heavy, let's get to the trivial part, shall we?

Bowser was feeling threatened by K. Rool, Flurrie was his woman, you see. It didn't matter that the divorce was over seven years ago, or that it happened because he was caught in multiple affairs, or that he had been shacking up with multiple women since the split, or that after bedding Gruntilda, he literally came crying to Mom because the sex was sooo horrible, that he had to quote 'strap a board to his ass to keep from falling in' and why couldn't she just take him back already?! So what was his newest solution? Buying his children's love, of course! Once he proved how good of a father he was, she'd have to dump K. Rool and take him back. But he wouldn't buy us things we wanted, no he would just take us to the movies... every. single. day. I know, I know, first world problems. But there's only so many movies playing at once, and this was November of 1996. So at some point we had to choose from seeing 101 Dalmatians, Jingle All the Way, or Space Jam again... so really there was only one option. All in all, we ended up watching Space Jam six times in theaters, six! I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who've watched some movie more, but it's always kinda bugged me because I don't even particularly like Looney Tunes. I don't hate them, they're just kind of... meh; like Mickey and the gang, I just don't feel that strongly one way or the other. My life revolves around Nintendo properties mostly... I'm sure this comes as a huge shock to all.

With no Nintendo movies to speak of, I went 20-odd years without touching my record. Then Detective Pikachu came out, and there was finally a movie that actually might have been worthy of breaking the record with. Unfortunately, I only went with Iggy and/or Lemmy, and getting them out of the house was like pulling teeth, so we only ended up seeing it four times total before it left theaters. Then Sonic came out, and this time for sure! I saw it twice the first week or something, but then the whole entire world shut down on the second week... fate just does not like me. Sonic 2, again was like pulling teeth with Iggy... I never even got Lemmy to see it in theaters as they're still deathly afraid of covid.

So for Mario, I simply went by myself. Kinda anticlimactic, but I have now seen the movie eight times on eight separate days, and paid full price each time. So when the final numbers tally up, over one hundred dollars are because of yours truly, specifically. And all because of Space Jam. So if that isn't a stunlock and a half, I don't know what is."

((Also-also, this is not part of "blog canon" maybe it can be, if a Bowser approves it? Or wants to alter the reasoning a little, but tell me if you would like to hear more Mun stories told by Wendy. IDK, for some reason, it's just easier to talk about my boring life than to roleplay anymore.))

#The Super Mario Bros. Movie #out of peppermint

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eventcharts · 6 years

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Dunkin’ Donuts Employees Fired after Dousing Homeless Man with Water

As predicted, Dunkin Donuts on North Salina Street faced a problem with national implications. As the Social Media displayed outrage after a live video that apparently shows a Dunkin Donuts employee berating and then dousing the homeless man with a pitcher of water. The video has since gone viral.

Orius (the balance of values - professional, personal and relationship (not only violated our written policies, but goes against our core values)) trine Aphidas (kind, compassionate, empathetic, “walk a mile” in the other person’s shoes consciousness) sextile Nessus (generous, benevolent, compassionate, willing to lend a helping hand (A GoFundMe campaign organized on behalf of Dufresne has raised nearly $15,000)).

In website searches, “Dunkin Donuts Syracuse Homeless man doused with water” began to pop-up in search engine results. Allegedly, this incident occurred at the Dunkin Donuts location on North Salina Street, Syracuse.

As people from offices to corner stores; in Syracuse the video was being shared, you could hear snickering in the background.

Online, people began a campaign, calling the Dunkin Donuts phone simply saying, “Fix this!” The cause picked up momentum when Al-Amin Muhammad of We Rise Above the Streets, went live on Facebook as the community activist asked questions regarding the treatment of a homeless person. Muhammad has asked for the manager and is simply saying “if there is not a response, we will call for this Dunkin Donuts to be boycotted.” In later interviews, Muhammad has asked that the implicated employees not be fired, but corrective action should be taken.

After suspending the suspected employees seen and heard in the video, the Walak Group local Dunkin’ Donuts franchise decided to fire the staff involved in the incident.

Protestors arrived spontaneously, at the Northside Donkin Donuts continuing sporadically throughout the day.

Destiny Odom, I’m protesting the ignorance of the employee who dumped water all over that homeless man who was just sleeping and trying to charge his phone, he could have been better trained better to handle the situation and I want him fired.”

Jordyn Murray, “I’m here for the exact same reason she is, I just want the guy fired. It was absolutely rude and uncalled for, he wasn’t doing anything, bothering anybody, guy already has to walk home and he poured cold water on him. It’s cold outside, there’s no compassion for other people.”

Forrest Vohs, “There’s no compassion, no concern for his health or well-being, no concern for the community overall, obviously. That behavior has no place in it and he shouldn’t be working in it as well. That’s the basis of it. “Nothing wrong with Dunkin as a franchise location” Vohs adds he’s immediately backed up by Murray and Odom echoing the separation between the franchise and the employees. Destiny continues, “The employee who was with him shouldn’t have encouraged the whole situation and should’ve stopped it.”

As the day progressed more became known about the “homeless man” named, Jeremy Dufresne victimized by the cruel attack. His family spoke out regarding his homelessness and condition. Horrified by what was done, an aunt said he was charging his phone so he could call his mother; and that relatives have offered him a place to stay.

Advocates for the homeless have connected with Jeremy Dufresne and his family. The hope is that this could be a new beginning, a sense of hope after being publicly humiliated.

Late afternoon on Monday October 1st a statement was issued by The Wolak Group, which owns the Dunkin’ on North Salina Street in Syracuse.

“Dunkin’ has been a part of the Syracuse community for many years, and as the franchisees who own and operate the North Salina Street location, we were extremely disturbed by the behavior of our employees captured in the video. It not only violated our written policies, but goes against our core values as an organization–which include creating a welcoming and hospitable environment and treating everyone with dignity and respect,”

“The employees involved in the incident have been terminated, and we will be contacting the individual in the video to apologize for the negative experience,” the statement continues. “We also intend to work with local advocates to make sure that our employees are better educated as to how to engage with homeless individuals and where to direct them in the community for appropriate assistance.”

A Community Responds

A local business Glazed and Confused donated 1,000 donuts to Syracuse homeless shelters today. Paul Valenti and his wife Sarah were so touched by what occurred that they decided to make the donation. This isn’t the first time the company has been engaged in sharing, Glazed and Confused has a tradition of giving back to the community.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has stated that those who were involved could be charged with harassment. However, the District Attorney said he will defer to Dufresne before taking any action.

The Dunkin Donut controversy has sparked new awareness of the plight of homeless people in the Syracuse community, their challenges and efforts that are being made to reach the most vulnerable living in of our city. This unfortunate incident has bought together Dunkin’, the city, the Syracuse police department, John Tumino of the homeless outreach In My Father’s Kitchen and Al-Amin Muhammad of We Rise Above the Streets.

Perhaps this is the beginning of a new awareness among the general public, what it means to be homeless. We now have awareness that there are agencies and people who work every day to ease the plight of the homeless our most vulnerable. As a community there appears to be an overall consensus that this should not be happening, and by working together we can prevent incidents like this from happen in the future.

Jeremy (Youngs) Dufresne of Syracuse ny. needs our help after having cold water poured on him while trying to get some rest at the Dunkin’ Donuts in Syracuse ny last night https://www.gofundme.com/man-sleeping-at-syracuse-dunkin

Minor planet keywords developed by Philip Sedgwick, used with permission http://philipsedgwick.com/

Centaur, TNO & Asteroid Aspectarian http://serennu.com/astrology/aspectarians.php

#orius #nessus #aphidas #hades

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hornyblogofhelen · 2 years

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I didn't have a very good day yesterday. Just when you thought you adequately broke up with your partner, it turns out you didn't. He didn't understand me the first time and decided to text me after the breakup a week later. He just asked "how are you?" and then added: "lol, I saw your post with the cartoon and I got so many ideas…!" Of course, I didn't really like his tone and didn't say anything to him. Then of course he texted, "stop playing silent over some nonsense…" (for a minute, you violated copyright, although you're a lawyer, and should know that you can't do that, and bumps like that were quite a lot). Of course, he proceeded to chirp in my ears that he "got it all" (no), that I wasn't "meat to fuck" and so on and so forth. I told him again that I didn't want to talk to him anymore, that I didn't see the point in it anymore, I didn't want to drag his problems on me, I didn't want to mess with him anymore. I told him to leave me alone at last, and if he didn't understand this obvious thing, that was his problem. And instead of separating like adults, he wrote me a huge message insulting me. Said that I was mean, that I "didn't think I was a problem" (even though I was actually talking about how I wasn't as perfect as he thought I was - every fucking day), that I had traits of an "inflated ego" (and I never denied it, I openly let him know that), that I was "not working through my traumas" (even though I had talked to psychologists and a therapist and I was doing everything to make me feel better, I was really working on myself), that I was "just like his ex" (who we were both in love with and she dumped us both, yeah). .. I could quote a lot from what he said, but most of what he voiced were accusations of all the deadly sins, that he was all Jesus and I was Judas the traitor. And of course he said, "Since I'm like that, he doesn't want me, he doesn't want to know me anymore, he's radically disappointed in me, and he won't exchange words with me again." And that would have been the end of it, but his last phrase left a rather huge wound in me: "I've got a snake on my chest. Go on living in the world of your fantasies and ideals, it's a pity that anyone who encounters you for real won't want to do business with you." It was very painful to hear myself say that. I had to drink a shot of valerian and a shot of liquor to make me feel better. After all, I knew he was going to hate me at some point, and I warned him about that, I warned him that I could be a very angry person. And of course he hated me. I don't regret ending the relationship with him one bit. Not only was he an abuser, shifting his problems onto me, but he acted like a little kid. He needs to see a psychologist too. His ideal is a woman who will be a second mommy to him, who will take care of him and drag him around her neck.

How funny that the fact that everyone, including women, has their own problems, and everyone has the right to keep some of it a secret, and no one is perfect, has come to him after two years. A standing ovation.

#[horny prison] dirty thoughts

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lamnwar · 2 years

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Hello!!! I have a knb request!!! Could I please request an aomine/taiga (separate or you can do just one I don't mind!) x reader where the boys have recently been dumped and is now with the reader who's trying not to feel like a rebound and second choice (maybe they're good friends with him and have been for a while and has just been pining away?) but it looks like he might get back with his ex? You can decide how it ends!!! Thank you!

Hiiii omg thanks for the request, love 💕 I chose to write on Kagami only since I've never written an OS on him, so I hope that's ok; it's also kinda a college au (not requested but hope it's not a problem)! Anyways, enjoy it :) xx

It just makes sense // Kagami Taiga x gn! Reader

Context: when you comfort your best friend after his break-up, you surely don't expect things to take such direction for you two...

Warnings: kinda hurt/comfort, best friends to lovers hihi (bc it's my fav trope 🤭), mention of alcohol but it's not important to the plot, very fluffy <3

“I’m not gonna tell you the cliché stuff like... it happened for a good reason, or you deserve better. Although you do, you know, things shouldn’t suck like that for you.”

Taiga hums softly, as you look at the stars. At this early hour of the morning, they’re more apparent, somewhat calming despite the context you’re in. Not long ago, you were woken up by your phone ringing, your best friend’s number appearing on screen. It isn’t a rare occurrence – you’re used to receiving calls at such hours when he’s had a glass too much. But this time, he called for another reason.

“Drunk at some bar again, Taiga?”

“Can I come to your place?

And here you are, both of you sitting on your little balcony in silence. It really sucks, this whole situation. Break-ups happen to everyone, yet they’re still one of the most heart wrenching things that can happen to someone. Even a bright guy like Kagami is no exception the rule. Though, you’d argue that it doesn’t make sense. He is, from all angles, the perfect man. But maybe you are biased, maybe his ex saw things in him that you ignore...

But no. It doesn’t make any sense to you.

From the day you’ve first met him, you’ve been convinced that he’s one these people – the ones that you can only love because despite their flaws, they encompass everything great about being human. Taiga is the guy you’ve met on orientation week, bonding over nothing and progressively becoming attached to the hip. Somewhere during your times together, between dumb college students’ shenanigans and growing as adults together, you’ve noticed your heart beating faster around him. You aren’t dupe, well aware of what that means. But back then, it only made sense for you to keep your feelings for yourself, hoping that they’d eventually fade away before it ruined your friendship.

But right now, you wonder if it was the right thing, not to confess to him. Best case scenario, it could have prevented the current events. He wouldn’t have met that person; he wouldn’t have his heart broken. You wouldn’t do that to him, never.

“You know, I kinda saw it happen” his deep voice resonates.

You turn to him, an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah?”

“I think... I didn’t love them anymore, or enough. Not sure, but it was bound to happen.”

You can do nothing but nod, understandingly. There’s nothing to say to that, and you doubt that he wants your opinion on the matter. Anyways, you risk making things worse for the both of you if you talk too much.

After a while sitting in silence, you get up, stretching.

“Do you want some tea?”

Your best friend hums his response, and you go to boil some water, preparing two cups. Somehow, in the soft light of the moon, Taiga’s sadness takes on a new dimension. It is almost poetic, a tragic beauty that you cannot take your eyes off. But at the same time, you wish not to see that spectacle for too long; you’ve never witnessed him after a break-up, you have no idea how long it takes for him to grieve his past relationship. Some part of you wish it won’t take too long – you want to see him smile again soon; the other part believes he should take all the time he needs, albeit a whole year, if needed. In all cases, one thing will remain the same on your side of things…

“I’m here, y’know, for anything.”

“Anything?” he repeats, looking in your eyes for the first time since he’s come to your place.

A warmth invades your inside as you gaze into his sadden irises. You really don’t want him to be like that for too long.

“Yeah, anything.”

Two months have passed since that night. And from a day to another, the Taiga you’re used to came back. It started with his smile, every time he’d greet you. Then his laugh came back – adorable, brightening up your surroundings while it resonated around. And finally, he’s become his usual laid-back self, the one that would spend endless hours of doing nothing and simply enjoying the little things with you. And all this time, your heart has kept beating faster. Faster, and faster, and faster. You’ve feared at some point that you had some health issues, only to realize that no matter how deep down you think you’ve buried your feelings for your best friend, they will always resurface every time he’s a little too close to you.

It doesn’t help that he’s spending more time with you since the break-up. You’re to blame for this, telling him that you were here for anything meant what it meant. For all the time he felt lonely, confused, or just exhausted by the event, he’s come to you. Naturally, you haven’t turned him down, not that you wanted to. Regardless of how you feel, he’s always going to be your favourite person. So it only makes sense, the coffee in the mornings, the commutes to university and work, going to his matches to cheer on him and celebrating in bars, which ultimately ends with the both of you sharing a bed for the night, because it’s way too late for either of you to go back home all alone.

It only makes sense, that he’s come to sleep by your side for other reasons too – because he’s wanted to cook diner for the two of you, and he’s ended up enjoying himself so much that the prospect of going back to his empty home made him want to stay longer with you.

“Diner at your place tonight? I’ve found a new recipe I wanna try.”

And once again, you can’t get yourself to say no.

“Sure, do have all you need?”

He shakes his head, hands digging in the pockets of his jacket.

“Gotta do some shopping first.”

“Let’s go then” you say, turning in the direction of the nearest grocery store.

He nods, following you. You can’t remember when this has become a habit for the two of you – somewhere between the first week post break-up and now, you’ve come to do casual things in his company, yet somehow enjoying yourself more in these little moments. There’s nothing special with watching him decide which cheese he rather choose for a specific dish, looking at him examine veggies under all angles before buying them, and you deciding what drink will best suit your diner. Yet, here you are, carrying the basket for the both of you, which has to be the most mundane thing ever, but you are, at this very moment, truly happy. As you stop at the drinks, searching what you’re looking for, a strange feeling invades you. Taiga stands beside you, and from the corner of the eye, you can see a smile draw itself on his lips.

“What you’re smiling about?” you ask.

The tall boy’s cheeks inflame, caught in action. He cleans his throat, hands in his pocket.

“Huh? Nothing.”

It’s your turn to smile. You’ve known him long enough to be able to tell when he is lying. Taiga isn’t very sly, which has its charm in some ways. At least you know that he is always honest with you.

“Come on, you can tell me” you taunt him, still looking at the drinks.

For a moment there, you believe that he won’t say a word but before you turn to him with the intention to get the truth out of him, he finally opens his mouth.

“I find it kinda cute, that little face you make when you choose the drinks.”

You turn to him, mouth agape.

“Huh?”

“Y’know…” he raises his shoulders, “you pout a bit, like… anyways.”

You keep staring at him, incapable of wording a response to what he just says. Inside you, every cell of your body combusts, feeling a rush of everything coursing through your veins. And you don’t really know what it is with this moment – this ordinary moment, that could have happened any other day – but what you’ve been bottling up for so long menaces to spill out. As you blush furiously, your hand goes to get a bottle of your chosen beverage, eyes incapable of maintaining any eye contact with Taiga.

“I like you, you know” you let out, voice shaking.

You don’t have to say more for him to understand what you’re communicating. You refuse to look at him, fearing his reaction. But if you do actually raise your eyes to his face, you’ll probably meet a sight that you’ve never seen before. There is something particular in Taiga’s eyes, something so strong yet so sweet. It’s indescribable, and neither of you are capable of understanding it. As the situation goes way beyond your comprehension, it only makes sense to him to act on instinct. You feel his hand join yours one the handle of the basket, not a single word being uttered between you as you both move to the cashier.

The next thing you know, you are back to your place, fingers intertwined in Taiga’s. The whole thing seems surreal, but feeling the heat of his palm, you know that you aren’t dreaming. It is weird, but at the same time, it isn’t quite absurd. When your hands finally separate, you look at your shaking fingers, incredulous. Taiga has found his natural place in your kitchen, while you stand there, still trying to calm your frenetic heartbeat. And when you finally calm down (as much as you possibly can, that is), you walk to him.

“Hey Taiga” you speak up, gathering all the courage that you have.

He looks at you, a faint blush on his cheeks. There is something incredibly innocent in his gaze, and you feel your heart melt at the sight. He really can’t deceive you, can he?

“I just want to know… uh, about-“

“You wanna know if I like you back, don’t you?” he cuts you off.

You nod, feeling the blood rush to your cheeks. He smiles, drying his hands in your kitchen towel. You wonder how he looks so calm compared to you; yet, you know that he isn’t unphased by the situation either. He is more tender than usual, a bit of shyness in his behaviour that has you believe that he is certainly affected by your confession earlier at the grocery store.

“I think I like you” he finally lets out. “At least, it makes sense to me if I do.”

“Yeah?”

He chuckles softly, eyes evading yours. It isn’t often that you see him so vulnerable, but it feels good to know that he’s allowing himself to show himself under such light.

“I don’t want to make things complicated by overthinking it but… if you’re up for it, we can give it a try.”

You smile, though on the moment you can’t quite grasp the reality of things. After all this time of being secretly into him, he finally reciprocates your feelings. It sounds like it comes right out of your own dreams, something that isn’t meant to be true, but it is. By the time you register the information, the tall boy is only mere centimetres away from you, hands once again holding yours. You look up, heaven in your eyes.

“Can I kiss you?”

He laughs, before muttering a soft yes. And as your lips touch his, all these sleepless nights where you tried to kill your feelings, all the times you felt guilty for the way your heart would run in his presence, and all the times you avoided his eyes and left his smiles unanswered so you wouldn’t send the wrong message – all of it, gone, like millions of ashes in the open sky, in a kiss you’re been hoping for too long.

Taiga and you being together is one of these things that just makes sense. Family and friends alike agree on that statement, very few of them being surprised by the officialization of your relationship. Though it still makes you blush from time to time, you’ve grown more casual about it. Some moments still seem unreal, regardless. Whether it be waking up next to him almost every morning, or catching him looking your way with affection, it all seems too good to be real. A part of you struggles because the way things happened went way over your head. As much as you don’t want to doubt something that you hold so close to your heart, moments of uncertainty strike every now and then, and you bottle it up; just like you’ve bottled up your feelings for your best friend for the longest time.

And recently, doubts get the best of you even more, since your boyfriend is now working together with his ex. You don’t want to be the insecure significant other, the one that cannot trust and deems themselves unworthy of the love their receiving. But you’ve been there all this time Taiga dated his ex. You’ve seen them, you’ve seen the sweet kisses and the shared laughs, the warm hugs, and intertwined fingers. And more importantly, you’ve seen the state in which Taiga was when he broke up. An image of sadness that you wish never to see again, but putting aside the way you felt about it, you realize that he wouldn’t never have been so devastated by something that was meaningless to him.

“Things are good between us now, you know, since we’re working together.”

He confesses out of habit, getting used to tell you about everything and anything. Unbeknownst to him, you wonder in the depth of your soul if he’s not considering going back to them.

“Of course, it’ll never be the same, but I guess we can be friends, right?”

His words frighten you. Despite what he’d said the night of the break-up, you know he loved them. Be it enough or not, love is still love. While you admit that the concept is debatable, to you, love never dies – it’s just one of those things that keeps changing but it never disappears.

“Hey, you’re listening?”

Taiga’s hand waves in front of your face and you blink a couple of time, escaping your thoughts.

“I am” you simply reply.

A silence sets as you feel him observing your face. Just like you’ve come to know him by heart, he has the same ability to read you. The tiniest, most insignificant things are noticed. He takes some time but eventually, some of your thoughts are read on your face. You can’t tell what has betrayed you, but he knows. You deviate from his gaze – a bad old habit of yours, born in a tentative to protect yourself.

“I’m with you, you know that?” He speaks.

“I do” you respond confused as to why he’s stating the obvious.

He shakes his head, pulling you closer to him. A surprised look on your face, you try to understand what is going on.

“No, I mean…” he stops, taking his breath. “God, I’m so bad at talking about these things! I’m trynna say, I may get along with my ex but regardless… they mean nothing to me. Not that I want them to mean something either. I’m just glad there’s no grudge held anymore.”

Arm wrapped around your shoulders, he raises his eyes to the sky, looking at the same stars that were there when he came to you heartbroken. He ignores if they remember him, if they remember the way he looked that night – on the verge of tears yet uncapable of crying; but right now, he hopes with all his heart that they’re aware of how much he’s happy now, and If he ever has to cry in front of them again, it’ll be out of love for you, and you only.

“I told you that I thought we broke up because I didn’t love them enough, do you remember?” he asks you.

“Yeah.”

He lightly laughs before turning to you.

“I thought about it a lot and I actually didn’t love them the way I should have. Truth be told, I loved someone else that way back then. And I still do love that person like that. That’s why it wasn’t meant to last.”

You look at him, still confused and growing tired of not understanding the point he’s trying to make.

“Taiga, please, go straight to the point” you plead.

“It’s you, dummy. I loved you back then, subconsciously, yeah, but I still did. And I love now. I’m meant to love you, whether you want it or not.”

Oh.

For a moment, you remain speechless. This was not what you expected, let alone imagined. For as much as you’ve loved him, you never envisioned a reality where he would feel so strongly about you. but…

Enough with the buts. Enough with the doubts. Enough, enough, enough.

“Taiga?”

“Yes?”

You cup his face in your hands, taking him by surprise. Round eyes look at you, as you smile, holding back tears.

“I really love you.”

He snickers, hands joining yours.

“Thank god you do.”

It just makes sense, that he loves you as much as you love him. It only makes sense, that all your doubts seem suddenly baseless. It just makes sense that all this time, you were meant to be.

#thanks for requesting! <3 #i am so happy i got to write on kagami #he deserves all the love #<333 #knb #kuroko no basuke #kagami taiga #knb fluff #kagami fluff #knb x reader #kagami x reader

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sundaysundaes · 4 years

Text

Jealousy

Lee Donghyuck/Haechan X Reader | Smut, Fluff, Drama | NC-17 | College AU Summary: It comes as a nice surprise when you saw your ex-boyfriend at your workplace and you thought everything was going to be fine. You both have moved on, right? Unfortunately for you, your boyfriend, Lee Donghyuck, thinks otherwise.

Warnings: rough unprotected sex, oral sex, slight choking, slight dirty talk, this is just pure filth you guys I’m so sorry I had too much feels

It’s the continuation of Before Our Story Began but can still be read separately if you want.

It has been months since you first dated Lee Donghyuck, also popularly known as Lee Haechan, and things were great—more than great, even, but all good things have come to an end at one point. Your relationship with Haechan is still going pretty strong, but now that you have passed the Honeymoon Phase—where it’s all just sex and raw passion—things can sometimes get a little tense.

While he’s been certainly fun and charming for the most times you’ve been together, not to mention adventurous when it comes to sex, Haechan can be really stubborn and selfish that you often start to bicker with him over the simplest of things.

Like yesterday, for example.

“Look, I said I’m sorry!” He whined and you held yourself back from rolling your eyes because that was so him and it wasn’t really cute anymore. Especially after he arrived an hour late at the cafe that he’d asked you to meet a day before.

“I’m not angry,” you stated, emptying the rest of your coffee. On the other side, Haechan’s ice americano was still pretty much full considering he just got there and you had ordered the drink for him an hour before, thinking that he was going to be on time for your date. But no, he was so into the new online game Jaemin had told him about a week ago that he began to lose track of time. It seemed to you that was all he’d been doing for the last few days, and you were fine with giving him some personal space but clearly not if he was wasting your precious time instead. Not everybody is as smart as him when it comes to keeping good grades. Maybe he doesn’t have to study much, but you do.

“You are! You’re totally angry!” He pointed out and you sighed because of course, I’m angry, you idiot, I had to spend an hour by myself doing literally nothing because you asked me to go out when I’m supposed to be working on my papers that’s due tomorrow but you kept yourself in silence. You had to be the adult in the relationship, especially when you’re dating a goddamn brat.

“Whatever.” You placed back your phone—which had been your only companion—into your purse and wore back your coat. “I have to go.”

His eyebrows—his thick, beautiful eyebrows that you love so much (though not that day) were knitted in both desperation and annoyance from how you acted. “Noona!” He wailed, grabbing your hand when you stood up from your seat. “What do you want me to do? If I could go back to the past, I would, but I can’t and you being unreasonably angry like this isn’t—”

“Unreasonably?”

Haechan’s jaw hung slackly on his face when he noticed the anger radiating off your body. You were angry before but not this angry. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong.”

You clicked your tongue in irritation, pulling your hand out of his grip. “I’ll see you later, Donghyuck.” It was cold, the way you said it, and Haechan sensed that. But being the whiny brat that he was, he just kept on shouting back, gathering people’s attention.

“Can’t we be adults and talk about this—Yah!” When you didn’t answer—or even glanced back at him—he threw his hands in the air, yelling, “You know what? Fine! I don’t really want to hang out with you anyway! In fact, it’s actually better for me if we don’t hang, ever!”

But you already had your feet out of the door.

On the next day, he came by to your dorm at four in the morning, making your roommate groan with a hellish fire burning in her eyes. “If that’s your boyfriend, I am going to kill him.”

“Don’t bother, I will,” you muttered in response before you stepped down from your bed, turned on the lighting (which earned another loud groan from your friend), and reached for the door. Haechan stood there with his hair looking like a bird’s nest, his cheeks reddening from the morning cold, and his eyes bleary from lacking sleep.

“I’m sorry,” he softly said in all of the sincerity he could emit. “I’ve been an asshole.”

“It’s four in the morning, Haechan-ah.”

“I know, but I can’t sleep thinking about what happened before and I don’t think I can before you forgive me.” He did his best pout. It was cute, but not cute enough to wash your vexation away. “Also, it’s raining heavily outside, if you haven’t noticed, so I thought it would add some dramatic effects to my apology.”

“You’re not wet though.”

“Neither were you before you met me,” he joked, wiggling his eyebrows but when he noticed you glaring at him in reticence—oh if looks could kill—he flinched and hastily added, “Sorry, bad timing. I don’t know why I said that. Well, umm, it was kinda cold when I stepped under the rain so I decided to just bring an umbrella with me.” He suddenly seemed like he remembered something. “Oh yeah, can I leave it here? I’ve got an early class today and I don’t really want to carry it with me everywhere.”

That earned another flat stare from you. “You’re not taking any of this seriously, are you?”

“I am! I swear!” He squeaked, shuffling inside his bag before he took out a white box with a red bow wrapped around it. “Look, I brought you some chocolates.”

“I’m on a diet.”

“Well, now, how am I supposed to know?”

“I literally told you that yesterday.” To say he was testing your patience would be an understatement at that point. “Remember? When you arrived late on our date and you asked why aren’t you ordering anything and I said I’m on a fucking diet!”

“Yo, chill, I was just trying to be nice.” Haechan grabbed you by the shoulders, massaging the sore spots and it would probably feel good if you weren’t so pissed-off over his antics. “Also, Noona, don’t you know? Men have a harder time remembering things than women do. And that’s just scientifically speaking, not me.”

You exhaled so loudly into the air, slapping his hands away. “Look, it’s literally four in the morning. Can we talk again when the sun is up? Like normal people?”

“Noona, pleaseeeeee.” He threw his head back in exasperation. “I said I’m sorry! What else do you wa—”

“JUST FORGIVE HIM FOR FUCK’S SAKE! YOU GUYS ARE TAKING FOREVER AND YOU’RE GIVING ME HEADACHES!” Maybe you and Haechan were getting a bit loud, but your roommate was just shouting like she was about to march on a war so you didn’t really have the choice. It was either take your boyfriend’s apology or have your roommate kill both you and your boyfriend at the same time.

Haechan sheepishly and annoyingly smiled at you. “She’s got a point, you know.”

But, of course, he does learn his lesson from time-to-time so things don’t always end up in fights. And Haechan can be considerate, if he wants, noticing the little things that you do. Like when you’re wearing a new skirt (or new underwear, for that matter), giving you his jacket when you sniffle from the cold (as cheesy as that sounds, it does make your heart flutter a bit), or intertwining your fingers together when you’re nervous before your presentation.

Hopefully today this considerate version of his comes out to play again because there’s something you want to talk about with him.

“I think I need to start looking for a part-time job,” you say, sighing contently as he has his lips on your neck, suckling on the soft skin. Your fingers are playing with the soft strands of his hair, unconsciously tugging at them when he brings his tongue into the game. You know it’s not really the best time to have this conversation—especially not when he has his hand under your shirt as you sit on his lap at the back of his car—but with Haechan, it’s almost always like this whenever you’re alone with him so you don’t really have that many options. “I’m running out of money.”

“From dumping too many dead bodies in the swamp?” He chuckles next to your ear, unbuttoning more of your shirt and pushing the fabric off your shoulder. “Babe, I’ve told you,” he mouths against your skin. “You gotta search for a new swamp that’s free of charge—”

“Shut up.” But you’re laughing anyway. This inside joke you two have has become somewhat of a routine—a topic that pops out anytime in any conversation.

You can feel his grin pressing against the sensitive skin below your ear. “Told ya this swamp thing could be our thing.”

“No, I’m serious.” But despite that, you have to hold back a moan when you feel his hand roaming around your chest, his fingers slipping underneath your bra. You can’t tell him exactly why you need this job because you don’t want him to feel sorry for you. But the truth is, your parents back home have been having financial problems and you know how costly your college tuition can get. You just want to help out, even if it’s not much, and try to survive on your own without using your parents’ money. “I need some pocket money.”

Haechan has your earlobe between his teeth, his breathing feels warm and extremely sexy in your ears. “Mmm, for what?”

“To buy personal things.”

“What personal things?”

“Like…” You bite your lower lip, having the hardest time concentrating when he starts to play with your nipple, his thumb brushing against the sensitive bud. “I don’t know, like girl things.”

Haechan suddenly pulls away, looking you straight in the eyes with his own gleaming in excitement. “You mean like a customized dildo?”

“Make-up, Donghyuck.” You flatly stare back. All your sexual excitement from before? Gone. “I mean, make-up.”

“Sure, that too. But,” he insists and you roll your eyes, knowing where this is going. “Have you ever considered playing with a dildo in your spare time? Because I have. I mean, picturing you using it. Not me using it in my ass, oh God, no.”

“Are you done?”

“No, seriously.” It turns out, he’s not finished. And he still has a long way to go, judging by the enthusiastic look in his eyes. “Because I would totally buy it for you if it’s a dildo you need. Or any sex toys, for that matter. No matter how expensive it is, I’ll pay! I’ll save up some money and buy some so we can use them together in the future!”

He’s making it look like he’s talking about buying a house for your future marriage and it’s cute and disgusting at the same time so you stop him by pinching the bridge of his nose. It’s pathetic, the way he whines, but as long as it can stop him from sputtering nonsense, you’ll do it again.

“Why do you need make-up anyway?” He eventually gives up, rubbing his red nose, still wincing from the pain. “You’re already pretty without it.” And it really does sound sincere, the way he says it. Haechan flirts a lot, even when you’ve been together for months, he still does it pretty often. But he does have his sincerity from time to time, just like now, and you can’t help but blush a little because of it.

“Well, I’m more confident with it.”

“Well, of course, you do look smoking hot with your make-up on, don’t get me wrong,” he adds, lazily circling his arms around your waist as he leans his back to the car’s seat. “But you’re beautiful the way you are too. Like, you literally can wear that I woke up like this shirt every morning and you won’t find me complaining.”

“You complained about my morning breath this morning.”

“That you should work on.”

“Asshole.” You push a palm against his face, which he licks playfully like a dog. This is your favorite Haechan, if you have to be honest, with his lips pulled back showcasing a boyish grin, his eyes sparkling as he gazes at you, and his voice sounding light and airy with a hint of teasing in his words. And of course, also with the way he has his hair slightly pushed back, his forehead shown and his eyebrows raised whenever he throws flirty lines at you.

You really should consider yourself lucky to be able to call someone like him, who has the perfect balance of cute and sexy, as your boyfriend.

“I really like you,” you say, abruptly out of nowhere that it surprises you too. Haechan’s laughter stops almost immediately, his eyes searching yours. There’s silence hanging in the air, slowly suffocating you, and you’re about to beg him to say something when he smiles, so gentle and soft, with his hand reaching up to cup your cheek, rubbing comforting circles with his thumb.

“I really like you too,” he says, almost like he’s sighing. His eyes go up-and-down your face, switching from your eyes and your lips. “I like you so much that it drives me crazy sometimes.”

It’s insane how fast he can turn your steady heart rate into something that beats too loudly for your ears. “Okay, stop right there. I can’t with all this cheesiness you’re throwing at me. Let’s just make-out.”

And that sexy smirk of his grows back almost immediately. “I won’t argue with that.”

***

It’s not easy getting a job these days, especially when you don’t really have a set of skills you can be proud of but luckily enough, you’ve found a part-time job as a waiter at a family restaurant nearby. The salary is slightly below your expectation so maybe you have to recalculate your budgeting again but beggars can’t be choosers. You thought it should be enough for now. And the most important thing is, you only have to work three days a week so you can fit in well with your campus’ schedule.

The only remaining problem is your boyfriend because, believe it or not, he demands more time than all of your classes and assignments combined.

“I can’t believe we have our Netflix account renewed like two months ago and yet we haven’t watched anything on it,” Haechan complains, a bag of popcorn on his lap. He’s in his black sweat pants, hair all tousled from lying around on the bed all day. He’s already munching more than he should, even way before you can log in to your Netflix account. “At this point, we’re just throwing our money away.”

“Don’t blame me,” you retort, taking the bowl into your arms so you can climb into his lap, snuggling close to his chest. “I’m not the one who got my dick hard during the first half of literally every movie we decided to watch together.”

“You literally rubbed your ass against my crotch every single time. What a man gotta do in that situation?”

A smile creeps up your face. That you certainly did. It’s just so funny to have him flinch every now and then whenever you move slightly in his arms so you often just exaggerate your movements a bit, sometimes leaning forward in a suggestive way whenever you tried to change the brightness of your MacBook screen—so Haechan could take a good look of your ass—before settling back between his legs, making sure to give him enough friction as you slid down. Or sometimes you just laid your head on his shoulder, pressing a random kiss to his neck, and just went back to watching the screen as if you didn’t do anything. It really didn’t take long before Haechan groaned in exasperation, threw the bowl away, tackled you down to the bed, and pulled your shorts down your legs.

“Should I move away then?” You offer. “We can stay, like, five feet apart from each other as we watch this.”

“Nah.” He shakes his head, pulling you closer again to his chest. “I like to snuggle. You’re warm and you smell really good, it comforts me. Besides, having sex with you is so much better than watching every movie out there.”

“Even better than watching The Kissing Booth?”

“Yah!” The way his cheeks turn scarlet almost immediately is too cute for you to handle. “You promised you wouldn’t make fun of me! See, this is why I—”

You cut him off with a chaste kiss, letting your lips linger on his the way he likes it before you pull away and pat him on the cheek. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. Forgive me?”

Haechan unconsciously juts his lower lip out, just a little. “Fine,” he mutters, wrapping his arms tighter around your waist before he skims his nose along the nape of your neck. “Only because you’re cute,” he whispers.

“Oh right, that reminds me,” you say, closing your eyes as you listen to his breathing. It’s somewhat calming your nerves, after a long day of doing… well, nothing, actually. “I’ll be busy every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from now on so we won’t be able to hang out during those days.”

“What?!” He shrieks, almost turning you deaf. “Why?!”

“Because I have my part-time job, didn’t I tell you that before?” You can honestly hear your ears ringing from the loudness of his voice. “Or did you not listen to me again?”

“I can handle it if you work during the weekdays, but on the weekends too?” He’s actually looking pretty upset, though not that you haven’t expected him to be. “That’s our time! How can you do that to me? To us?! This is so not fair!”

You roll your eyes. “Stop being a drama queen. You literally spent the last weekend playing Overwatch at Jaemin’s place.”

“Whoa, hey,” he crows, pulling away from you with both hands raised in the air and forcing you to turn and look at him in the eyes. You do it as you nonchalantly munch on your popcorn, enjoying how dramatic your boyfriend can be at times like this. “Once again, lady,” he stresses on the word, narrowing his eyes at you. “They were holding a very, very important Anniversary Event and that does not happen every day. It’s not like I have any other choice! They were giving out new skins and other rewards!”

“Your choice was to spend your Saturday night with your fingers on your keyboard or in me. That was your choice.”

Haechan opens his mouth to say something, already holding out one finger in the air as if he’s about to make a good excuse but he fails almost immediately when your point begins to sink in his head. “You’re right,” he admits, “I’m sorry. What was I thinking? I should’ve been wiser.”

You pat his hair as you would do to a child. “Look, we can still hang out. I only work during the day, you know. You can always pick me up after work and we can get dinner together or something.”

He pouts, lowering his head as he murmurs, “It’s still not the same, though. I like spending time with you.”

You can feel your heart flutter from the way he says his line so genuinely. “Me too, Haechannie. Let’s just promise to always meet up on the weekends after I’m done with my work.”

The pout still does not falter away but it’s nothing a kiss can’t fix.

***

“Haechannie, I really need to go.” You struggle to slip yourself away from his long arms, holding back a laugh as you do it, and you almost reach the end of his bed but your boyfriend easily hooks an arm around your waist and pulls you back into his chest.

After not seeing each other for five days, you could finally see your boyfriend with his dazzling bright smile in person when he picked you up after work on a Saturday evening. You didn’t realize how much you’d missed him until he snatched you back into his embrace, intoxicating you with his amazing scent and airy laughter that sounds like music to your ears. It was a good thing being separated for a few days like that because Haechan became much more clingy in the most adorable way, following you around like a lovesick puppy. Even during sex, he was all giggly and soft, gently asking you how you feel, whether he was being too fast, or simply just telling you how beautiful you look even when you were pretty much exhausted from work. It was a nice change.

Both of you are still pretty much naked from the morning shower you just took together—or rather, the morning shower you took when suddenly your boyfriend came barging in, greasily saying, “My, my, there’s a naked lady in my shower. This must be my lucky day,” and ended up moaning against your mouth instead of washing the soap off your body.

“I’m not done with you yet,” he says, smiling into the kiss just like you do and you let him part your lips with his, slowly slipping his tongue in and tasting the roof of your mouth. “Oh man, I must be a freak for being so turned on from the fact that you’re wearing my shampoo.”

“You’ve always been a freak,” you snicker, pushing his face away with your palm. “Now, get off me. Jaemin can come back any second.”

“Jaemin’s too busy sucking Jeno’s morning wood, I’m sure. He won’t be back anytime soon.”

“Well, my shift is starting in thirty minutes.”

“Which leaves us twenty-nine minutes and fifty seconds to get each other off and ten seconds for you to get ready.” He lowly chuckles, his voice still sounding quite deep from sleep as he nips against the column of your neck.

“I’m serious…” You can tell that your voice becomes way less convincing. It’s just Haechan feels so warm and he smells so good, you have to literally offer your best effort to deny him and his touches. You’re still in the middle of putting in that so-called effort when you notice he’s sucking on the supple skin, to the point it begins to hurt a little bit. “Don’t suck too hard! You’ll leave bruises and I am not gonna wear a scarf again.”

“Good,” he murmurs against your skin. “So everyone will know you’re mine.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

You sigh, tangling your fingers around his hair, arching your back to press your body closer to him. “You can be too possessive sometimes, do you know that?”

“Any man would if their girlfriend is as pretty as you,” he replies, pulling away from you a little so he can bore his eyes into yours. “Stay with me today.”

As much as you want to, especially with that hooded eyes looking at you with so much passion and desire, you have to be the responsible adult for today. “I can’t, Haechannie.”

“Noona~” His serious demeanor falters, and the whiny brat that he is comes back to the surface again. “Pleaseeee~ I’m lonely and I’m hard, can’t you just be kind to me for just one day?”

“Are you using your aegyo on me to get a quickie? Seriously?”

“What, it’s not working?” He tilts his head to the side, looking at you with that sexy smirk and his eyebrow raised seductively. “I thought aegyo was your thing.”

No, but your goddamn smirk and eyebrow raise surely are. “Fuck, okay, ten minutes. Can we finish in ten minutes?”

“I can guarantee that you will.” His smirk grows wider, licking his lower lip. “But I’m not sure if you can make me.”

“Is that a challenge?” You push him with both hands until he falls back to the bed, with you straddling his lap. “I’m going to make you take your words back, Lee Donghyuck, you better be prepared.”

***

You’ve broken two plates so far, and you’re sure you’re about to be fired if you even do a tiny mistake in the next hour but you try to keep yourself calm and composed and promise yourself to do better. It’s not that you’re a lousy waiter—okay, maybe a bit from the lack of experience—but the restaurant you’re working in can be surprisingly packed during lunch hours and it’s really taking all that you have to carry three porcelain plates on a tray as you walk on high heels that are killing you in every step you take. You often complain about the blisters at the back of your heels when you sit next to Haechan in his car, which usually ends up with him massaging your feet, while mumbling, “See, this is why you should’ve agreed with me when I told you about buying dildos. I would work my ass off to pay for that, and you can just lie around in my room all day.”

You’re getting better at your job the more days go by, and you’re much confident now in talking with customers. You’re already standing pretty in your uniform with a menu book in your arms, ready to greet the next customer but when the front door opens, all of your professionalism just goes straight out of the window.

“No way…” Your jaw hangs loosely on your face, eyes blinking twice in surprise. You can’t believe what you’re seeing. There, walking through the entrance door of the restaurant, is your ex-boyfriend from high school, Jeong Jaehyun. Dressed perfectly in a light blue buttoned-up shirt and a pair of black khaki pants, Jaehyun looks much, much better than how you remembered him to be. His dark hair stands in contrast to his pale skin, his veins appearing along his wrists and you have to remind yourself to stop staring and proceed with your work.

You take hesitant steps to meet him, swallowing your nervous breath and hoping that you don’t look as awkward as you think. You almost trip on your own feet when you notice Jaehyun looking back at you, his eyes widening in surprise before his lips turn upward into that gentle smile that reminds you of how he used to be back in high school. Maybe some things never change.

“Hi,” you greet with an awkward smile on your face.

“Hey.” The way his eyes droop slightly when he sees you feels nostalgic, and perhaps he’s much taller now because you have to look up to meet his eyes. “I can’t believe I’m seeing you. It’s been a while.”

“You’re right,” you reply, chuckling a little to mask how tense you really are. “Would you like me to take you to your seat?”

“Oh no, I won’t be long,” he says, running a hand through his hair. “I just wanted to talk to the manager for a sec.”

You furrow your eyebrows, trying your best not to get distracted with the way his hair ruffles almost perfectly under his touch. “Is there something wrong?”

“No, just wanted to see the latest financial report.” He smiles, showcasing his teeth. “My grandfather owns this place, and I’m helping him take care of the business while he’s overseas.”

Fuck. “A-ah, is that so?” Meeting him once as a customer is already painfully awkward enough for you to bear, but actually working for him?!

“I won’t bother you, I promise,” Jaehyun immediately adds, “I wasn’t aware that you work here, actually. Has it been long since you started?”

“About two weeks.” You fidget on your feet, having the hardest time making eye contact with him. “And I’m not very good at this.”

“Wait, are you the one who keeps breaking plates?”

You wince. “Yes. Can you please not fire me? I’ll pay for them, I promise.”

And Jaehyun laughs, his deep voice booming into the air. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll pay for them myself if that’s what it takes to keep you around.” He says his lines so naturally that it surprises you both when the words finally sink in. “I—I mean,” he clears his throat, “It’s just really been a while since I last saw you so I thought we should really catch up on things. How are you?”

“I’m—”

“Boss,” your manager suddenly comes to interrupt, carrying some paper sheets in her arms. “These are the reports you wanted. I can e-mail you the rest if you need more details.” And when she sees you standing next to Jaehyun with the worst looking smile you’ve ever had on your face, she squints her eyes menacingly at you, “What did you do this time?”

“She didn’t do anything,” Jaehyun hastily answers before you can even form a word of protest. “She’s a dear friend of mine. It’s been a while since we talked, so do you mind if I borrow her for a while?”

Your manager seems utterly shocked and you kind of dance happily in your mind because she’s been kind of mean to you—though you were the one who gave her the reasons to be—and seeing her speechless, only able to mumble out a small, “S-sure,” before she trails away back to her office like this becomes the highlight of your day.

“Thank you,” you say to him, not sure why but it feels right.

“Let me know if she bullies you again,” he says, gently patting you on the head and you can feel his fingers slowly brush your bangs off your temple. It seems like he’s unaware of what he’s doing and you can understand why because that’s just his habit, even from the time when you hadn’t started dating yet. You remember the time when he said he liked your eyes—he thought they were beautiful, and hiding them under your bangs like that was a shame.

You take a step back, looking anywhere but his eyes. “Umm…”

“Right, sorry,” he fumbles with his hands, the tip of his ears growing red. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Can we just sit and talk?”

You smile, genuinely this time. He really hasn’t changed despite his appearance. “Sure.”

***

Jaehyun doesn’t visit the restaurant every day and you don’t really expect him to, but when he does, he always spares some time to talk to you privately—usually during your break time so your manager can stop throwing ice daggers from her eyes at you.

“I’ve tried to call you after graduation,” he confesses as he takes you out for some coffee at the nearest cafe. Your shift is over and you’re waiting for Haechan to pick you up but he’s running late because he has to take a quiz that he missed from skipping the class the previous week—you guess it had something to do with him pulling an all-nighter playing Overwatch again—and you told him to take his time.

“You did?”

“Yeah. Several times, actually, but I couldn’t get connected.”

“Maybe you called after I lost my phone,” you reply, taking a sip of your hot latte and wincing when it nearly scalds your tongue. “I had to change my number. I lost my contacts and everything.”

“That makes sense. Would it be okay if I ask for your numbers now?”

“Only for business purposes,” you tease, and he grins back, almost boyishly.

“Only for business purposes,” he confirms, “Just so I can give you a heads-up when I’m about to fire you.”

You gasp, half-amused, half-terrified. “Please tell me you’re joking.” And he only responds with another laugh. Talking with Jaehyun is easy and comforting, and he really listens to what you’re saying like a loving older brother taking care of his sister. It’s a nice change considering it’s always you who have to act like the mature one when having a conversation with Haechan—not that it isn’t good. It just can get quite tiring after some time.

Jaehyun is in the middle of walking you back to your workplace when he tells you stories about the things he did after graduation, and how he’s planning to continue with his study overseas to get a master’s degree in business management as soon as he’s done with his work here. You’re so entranced with his story that you barely notice your boyfriend waiting with his back pressed against the side of his car, eyes busy staring at his phone screen.

“Haechannie, you’re here!” You run to his spot, a grin spreading wide on your face before you lean up and kiss his cheek.“When did you get here?”

“Noonaaaaa,” he pouts, voice becoming whiny as usual. Compared to how he acts, he’s dressed maturely in a white shirt and a black leather jacket, his silver necklace hanging low on his neck. It takes you a good five seconds to ogle at his amazing looks while telling your heart not to get too excited. At least not until you get back at the dorm so you can rip that shirt off him with your own hands. “I’ve been calling you three times already. Where have you been?”

“You have?” You immediately check on your phone, noticing that yes, in fact, he did call you three times. You didn’t notice before because your phone was on silent. “I’m sorry, I forgot to switch it back after work. Did you wait long?”

“A bit,” he pushes his bottom lip out but it soon turns into a cheeky grin. “But nothing a kiss can’t fix.”

“Haechannie.” You pat him softly on his cheek. “We’ve got company.” And at that, he begins to widen his line of sight—because he usually just focuses on you and forgets his surroundings—and spots Jaehyun standing a few meters behind you with his hands buried deep within the pockets of his pants.

“Oh,” he comments, acting nonchalant though you notice by the slight raise of his eyebrow that he’s already annoyed by his presence. “Who are you?”

It’s kind of rude to suddenly ask for his name, especially in the cold tone Haechan is using and Jaehyun’s lips twitch at his words. “Jeong Jaehyun.”

“Well, Jeong Jaehyun,” Haechan says with mockery on his tone, straightening his posture and you wonder whether it’s because he feels slightly inferior to Jaehyun’s height. “My girlfriend and I would like some privacy from now on, so if you can just run along now, that’d be great.”

“Hey!” You slap his shoulder, gasping in disbelief before you turn around to face the other man. “I’m sorry, he can be quite rude sometimes but I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

“Meant it with all my heart.”

“Be quiet.” And even Haechan can tell for his own good that he shouldn’t push your buttons further than that.

“It’s okay, I have to go anyway,” Jaehyun casually says, smiling angelically like how he always does though his eyes don’t really play along. “Your boyfriend is cute. How old are you? Does your mom know you’re still playing outside at this hour?”

Oh my God, not you too. You immediately grab Haechan’s hand to stop him before he flings himself forward and throws an arm toward the other man. You can see him clenching his jaw, almost baring his teeth when Jaehyun laughs quietly to himself, saying, “I’m just kidding. Have a good night, you two,” before he walks back to the restaurant, most likely to have another business talk with the manager.

“Who the fuck does he think he is?” Haechan blurts out, his eyebrows knitted together in annoyance. You stroke his arm, trying to soothe him down but what he does is relocating his glare on you instead, almost yelling, “Why were you with him? How many times have you guys seen each other? And why on earth did you take his side?!”

You’re too tired to care, to be honest, let alone answering him. You’re also suffering from the cold of the night, wanting desperately to climb into Haechan’s car and put on the heater to warm yourself up. “I’ll explain on our way back,” you sniffle, squeezing his hand. “Can we get inside the car? Please? I’m freezing.”

You can tell he’s still very much upset but his gaze softens when he sees puffs of air flowing from your chapped lips and your nose turning red. He sighs into the air but opens the door for you. He doesn’t really talk until he has his engine started, and you can practically see steam coming out from his ears as he drives into the night.

“Have you had dinner yet?” You ask, trying to keep as casual as you can.

“No.”

“Should we order something—”

“I’m not hungry.”

“O… kay…” You hold yourself back from sighing too loud. He’s testing your patience again, but it’s fine, you’re the mature one. You can handle this. “We’ll just go straight back to my place then. I’m sure I can make you something. I think I still have some pasta with—”

“I think I’m just gonna go back to my room right after I drop you off.” His words don’t hurt as much as the tone he’s using. You’re trying to patch things up even though you’re sure you haven’t done anything wrong but he’s not even trying to apologize about how rude he acted earlier. You can’t help but snap, probably because your fatigue is taking its toll. You figure you can act mature any other time, but not today.

“Okay, what is wrong with you?” You can feel your voice rising and it forces him to sneaks a glance at you but only for a split second before he brings back his eyes on the road again. “I’ve been trying to be nice to you but you keep on acting like a brat—”

“Oh, of course, now you have a problem with me being a brat.” He grits his teeth, sinking his nails into the steering wheel. “I think we both know that’s pretty much how I act around you—around anyone, really—and if I remember it clearly, you said being a brat was part of my charm. That was, of course, before you met this oh-so-mature Jung fucking Jaehyun and suddenly, now, I’m fucking annoying.”

“I didn’t just meet him, Hyuck.” You exhale loudly, rolling your eyes. “I’ve been friends with him since high school.”

He clicks his tongue in aggravation, quietly adding, “Friends that fucked each other whenever your parents weren’t around, I’m sure.” And he probably didn’t mean his words to be heard because he just said them out of spite, but you did hear him and it makes your blood sparks in fury.

“Actually, yes,” you jeer back, “We did. He was the one who took my virginity away, just so you know and—WHOA!”

The sudden turn of the wheels makes you yelp and scramble to wrap your fingers tightly around your seatbelt as if you were hanging for dear life, and Haechan suddenly stomps his feet on the brakes, messily parking his car on the side of the street and earning a lot of angry car honks from the drivers behind him in return.

“What?!” He shouts, eyes wide, completely ignoring the passerby or the fact that you’re still trying to catch your breath. “You had sex with him?!”

“Once, Donghyuck, Jesus Christ!” You almost yank every strand of your hair out of your head. “Just once! And I never did that with anyone else until I met you!”

“I can’t believe you never told me this! And now you just hang around with him behind my back?!”

“What’s there to tell?! It’s in the past, way back when I didn’t even know your name. It’s not like you tell me things like this too. I don’t have problems with you sleeping with hundreds of girls before you met me.”

The sudden silence that surrounds you snap you back to reality and you regret everything you just said because you know you didn’t mean it. Well, it certainly has been bugging you for quite some time whenever you think about how easy and casual he’s always been when it comes to sex—not to mention how experienced he is—so you can’t help but wonder. You do understand that it’s not fair blurting about it to him like this, though. Especially not in this situation.

And the way he just suddenly becomes mute almost makes you shudder.

“Hyuck, I didn’t mean—”

“So that’s how you think of me?” He asks, voice low and deep. “Is that the reason why you’re seeing him? Because you don’t trust me?”

“Oh my God, Donghyuck,” you almost scream from all this frustration you’re venting out. “This is getting out of hand. Okay, first, that was wrong of me to say that and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any of it. And second, stop being so jealous—I was only out with him to get some coffee. We no longer have feelings for each other, I can assure you that.”

“Yeah,” he snorts, “Sure. Whatever.”

“Hyuck, he’s my boss! I was just being polite—”

“Well, that’s just fucking great, isn’t it? No wonder you keep insisting on taking this job. It’s not even about the money now, is it?” He slams his hand against the steering wheel, groaning out, “I’m so fucking stupid,” before he throws his head to the side, glaring at the scenery outside his window instead of you.

There’s silence hanging in the air again and you take a deep breath to calm yourself as much as you can because you know where this is going. You just hope you’re wrong. “Why does it sound like you’re accusing me of cheating on you?”

“Because maybe deep down, that’s what you’re doing?” He’s not even looking at you when he says it, but the bitterness in his voice is clear and it’s loud enough to finally tweak the final string of patience you have left in you.

So you grab your purse, carry your jacket in one arm and step down from the car. “I’m taking a cab,” you say and when he still doesn’t look at you, you add, “Come talk to me when you’re mature enough to have this conversation.”

And not knowing your own strength, you slam the door until his ears begin to ring.

***

It’s the worst fight you’ve ever had, not just with him but with anyone else too. You’re more the type that avoids situations like this—one that says sorry even when you know you’re not doing anything wrong just to reduce the tension, so this fight you’re having with Haechan has been ruining your mood for a whole damn week since day one. And the fact that he doesn’t come to apologize or even send a text or two is driving you insane.

You can’t help but to dwell in his way of thinking, trying to see whether it’s really your fault that this is happening. Yes, maybe you should’ve explained better, but he wasn’t really giving you the chance to do it, was he? And yes, maybe you should’ve told him about you hanging out with Jaehyun every now and then or the fact that he’s your boss but you just couldn’t find the right timing before. Well, it’s certainly too late to start now.

Should I call him…?

Because you miss him. You miss Haechan so badly. You miss his bratty smile, you miss his annoying whine, you miss his stupid dazzling smile, you miss his scent, his kiss, his embrace—everything about him. You didn’t realize how close he was to you—already becoming a big part of your life—and you just really notice it now when he’s completely out of your sight.

“Fuck this.” You’re in the middle of searching his name in your contacts and about to press dial when suddenly you get his message.

Can we meet tomorrow?

It’s really weird that a simple text can make your heart race and almost send you jumping in delight. Trying to keep your heart rate back to normal, you type back.

Of course. What time? Where?

You wait for his reply and it seems like the time suddenly slows down where seconds feel like hours. You nibble at your bottom lip, hesitating at first but sending it anyway.

I miss you, Haechannie.

Your heart starts hammering against your ribcage again. A lot of thoughts begin entering your mind at the same time, making you worry about what if he wants to meet me because he wants to break up with me? What if he doesn’t miss me and he’s grossed out with my text? What if—

His reply arrives with a slight ding coming from your phone, and with shaky hands, you open his text.

I’ll text you the time and place tomorrow morning.

There’s a disappointment that bubbles up inside your chest but the next text from him erases all of that almost instantly.

I miss you too, Noona. Good night.

And you think that maybe tonight, you can finally have a good sleep.

***

“Can you fill in for tonight?”

It’s the first thing your manager said to you the second you stepped inside the restaurant. You haven’t even taken your jacket yet, and it’s really rare to see your manager walking around the place on a Sunday morning but here she is, and she’s already ordering things around.

Your mouth suddenly feels dry. “Pardon?”

“There will be a banquet tonight for the Jeong family and we need every waiter we can get. I know you’re lousy at your job but Jaehyun-Sajangnim seems to like you so I hope you can stick longer for a few hours.”

“I…” You wet your lower lip anxiously. “I can’t. I already promised someone—”

“Look, this is not a request. It’s an order.” She seems like she’s running out of patience. “But I’ll pay handsomely for your time. I think you need the money to pay for those two plates you broke anyway. You know how expensive they are.”

You wince. “Yes, Ma’am.” It’s not like she’s leaving you with any other option. You figure you can call Haechan later during your break time. It’s still not confirmed anyway, your date with him. You’ll think of a way to make it up to him.

It’s only for a few hours anyway, right?

I’ll just text him now. You dip your hand into your purse, trying to find your iPhone as fast as you can. You run your fingers along the screen, typing letters with your thumbs.

Haechannie, something came up and I have to stay longer at work. I’ll see you later tonight at your place and we can talk then.

“What are you doing standing around like that?” Your manager suddenly shouts and you almost drop your phone in surprise. “Go and change your uniform now, we’re opening the place in ten minutes!”

“Y-yes, Ma’am!” You fumble with your steps, throwing your phone back into your purse in a hurry. You inwardly sigh. Today is going to be a long day.

I’m sorry, Haechannie.

***

“Great work today,” Jaehyun says when most of his family members have left the restaurant. You didn’t realize how big and wealthy his family was so it amazed you that one family could occupy the whole seatings they have in this place. There were more than thirty people in the room before and you had to change your high heels into a pair of flat shoes so you can run from one table to another while carrying several plates at once.

“Not really, I almost broke another plate today,” you respond with a sigh, which earns a low chuckle in return. Jaehyun has his back leaning against the wall just an arms reach away from the front door, waiting for you to finish shoving all your belongings into your bag before he curls his fingers around the doorknob and twists it open.

“Thanks,” you say, almost sheepishly because it looks weird, no matter how you see it—your boss is opening the door for you. “Stop being so nice, Jae, you’re making other staff jealous.”

“But I do this to all my staff,” Jaehyun snickers, following after your trail.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Hey,” he calls, placing his hand on your shoulder so you’ll stop on your track and turn around to face him. “Thank you.”

You raise your eyebrow questioningly. “For what?”

“For acting like how you normally do around me,” he explains, smiling a little bit bashfully. “For not being so awkward after our break-up.”

“Oh… Well…” You try to focus your gaze somewhere else, suddenly finding the silver watch you wear around your wrist entertaining. “It’s been years since then, I think we both have moved on by now, right?”

There’s a thick tension growing between the two of you and you almost beg him to say something before it starts to suffocate you.

“Sure,” he says, but the pressure in his tone speaks otherwise. You look up to meet his eyes, expecting him to smile and bring another topic into the conversation, but all he does is just gazing at you with these gentle, almost longing eyes that make your heart stops for a split second.

You know this can’t go any further.

“Well, uhh,” Jaehyun clears his throat, running a hand through his hair, perhaps feeling rather embarrassed himself. “It’s already late. Do you want me to escort you back to your place?”

And you find it hard to form a sentence, still somewhat baffled from the way he’s acting around you, and you’re so unfocused that when another voice enters your hearing, it shocks you down to your spine.

“I’ll be taking her from here,” Haechan says, startling you both and you turn around so fast on your heel to face him that you almost stumble forward. Your boyfriend is standing with one hand carrying a black suit and another one digging inside the pocket of his pants, dressed nicely in a white buttoned up with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He has the top two buttons of his shirt loosened, showing a glimpse of his collar bones and the silver necklace he usually hangs around his neck. His short brown hair is parted to the side, slightly pushed back to showcase his temple. You’ve never seen him dressed so sharp and elegantly before since the first day you met him and you can’t help but feel a little bit starstruck from the way he looks. But you soon realize that there must be a reason why he’s so dressed up and you feel terrible because you don’t know what it is.

What day is it today?

“Haechan—”

The way he grabs your hand shows how agitated he actually is despite the calm facade he places on his face, and it’s glaringly possessive the way he drags you to match his step on the way to his car but you follow him without a word, not even sparing a glance at Jaehyun who’s looking at him as if he just stole something important from him. Haechan opens the door to the passenger seat, and you climb in with your heart thrumming loud against your chest.

Haechan walks to the other side without making eye contact with Jaehyun but even at that point, your ex-boyfriend doesn’t dare to say a word or make a move, probably because he knows he has no right to do so. Haechan does not look angry and neither does he act like it but the quietness that fills the space between you, even when his car engine is blaring noisily outside, speaks louder than everything that he does.

“Umm.” You suddenly feel parched, your throat burning with every word you try to form. “T-thank you for picking me up.” You’re about to flinch from how terrible you just sounded. “I thought you were waiting at the dorm. Didn’t you get my text?”

It takes a few seconds that feel like forever for him to answer. “I don’t know, did you send me one?” He simply asks, voice flat and nonchalant, as he switches the gears of his car.

Did I not? You gulp in horror and begin to frantically search for your phone in your purse. Your heart almost leaps out from your chest when you see your phone is dead, probably ran out of battery sometimes during your hectic hours. You didn’t check on it before because you thought that Haechan most likely had seen your text and was waiting for you at the dorm, so you decided to just run in a hurry without texting him that your shift had ended. You were also busy talking with Jaehyun and felt it wouldn’t be polite for you to check on your phone while he was around.

But, as you connect your phone to your power bank, turning it on, and run your thumbs along the screen, you notice one thing: you didn’t send him anything.

“I’m—” A shiver runs down your spine. “I’m sure I texted you before—why—” You remember how your manager suddenly interrupted you when you were about to send the text. You must have forgotten to press send, and seeing how there are suddenly a lot of messages coming to your phone at once from him makes your heart drop to the floor.

I’ve made a reservation at Boccalino at 7 p.m. I know how you’ve always wanted to go there. Wear something nice.

Where are you now? Are you still at work? Do you want me to pick you up?

You’re probably busy at work. I’ll just see you at our table, okay? Don’t be late.

I haven’t heard from you. Where are you? I’m on my way to the restaurant to make sure our reservation is still on.

All my calls are going straight to voicemails. Where are you?

You’re an hour late. Where are you?!

You can feel the tremble in your fingertips as you hold your phone, your eyes running back and forth in horror. Haechan still doesn’t speak a word, focusing his eyes entirely on the road that lays in front of him.

“I’m… I’m sorry.” Even though you know you’re already so out of line and probably won’t be forgiven anytime soon, you still apologize because what else can you say? “I didn’t realize my phone was dead. And I was sure I’d texted you but—”

“It’s fine,” he says as he props his elbow against his window, rubbing the side of his temple with his fingertips. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

And with that, the conversation ends. Your thoughts are running fast, trying to come up with a better apology or find a way to patch things up but you can’t. The more plans you make, the more you hate yourself for being so stupid and ruin this whole thing for him. The drive back to your dorm is filled with nothing but silence, and you spend the entire time counting the street light that glows faintly on the side of the road.

You do notice something, though. Haechan’s phone keeps on making little sounds, notifying him that he’s receiving text messages and chats. There was also a phone call which he ignored even when the street light was red, only saying, “I’ll just call back later,” when you nervously ask him about it.

It’s when he walks you back to your dorm, that you begin to gain the courage to ask about it. “You’re getting awfully a lot of texts today.”

“They just want to congratulate me,” he says, tucking his hands in his pockets so you can’t take a hold of any of them as you walk beside him.

“On what?”

“My birthday.”

You wish the earth could just swallow you whole because how fucking ignorantly stupid can you be? It’s the sixth of June today, and you were so busy dealing with the fight and minding your own business that you forgot the birthday of the most important person in your life right now. You can feel how your legs almost give out under your weight, your head’s spinning.

And apparently, you’re doing it again, so lost in your own thoughts that Haechan has to say, “We’re here,” to snap you back to reality. You’re now standing gawkily in front of the door to your room, palms getting sweaty from how nervous you are. Haechan murmurs something about seeing you later and you’re about to burst into tears from how terrible you feel for him so you hastily grab him by his wrist, fingers almost sinking into his skin from how desperate you’re being.

“Stay with me,” you beg with quivers in your voice. “Please, just—I need to talk to you.”

Haechan stares at you with cold eyes, his jaw clenching slightly. But he doesn’t pull back his arm and follows your trail with heavy steps as you step inside your room. He closes the door behind him and leans his back against it, still not saying anything.

You’re so occupied with trying to form a coherent sentence that you forget to be thankful about how your roommate is away for the weekend again, providing you the opportunity to have the entire room for yourself. You decide to not make any excuses and apologize for every little dumb thing you’ve been doing for the whole day—no, for a whole week even, since the time your fight started. But no matter what you say, Haechan is staring at you with lifeless eyes, as if he’s just too tired to listen—as if he just no longer cares.

And that scares the life out of you.

“Hyuck, please,” you whisper, closing the distance between you until you can feel his warm breath caressing your cheek. You have your palm pressing against the side of his face, “Say something.” You know it’s not right, but you lean in for a kiss. It’s not just because you’re desperate to pull an emotion out of him; it’s more because you miss him so terribly so, it’s driving you crazy.

Haechan has his eyes closed by instinct but he doesn’t kiss back, only letting your lips linger on him, sharing his breath. And though it feels like there’s a javelin slowly sinking into your chest, you try again, kissing him with more passion, hooking your arm around his neck to pull him closer. Haechan tears himself away, his gaze turning dark as he stares at you and you look at him back with desperation in your eyes.

“Haecha—”

It’s like something snaps inside him and he suddenly no longer has control over his own free will, because Haechan is now pushing your body against the door, slamming your spine against the surface none too gently with his hands on each side of your head, lips chasing after yours. You let out a gasp, both from the shock and the pain that stings from the back of your head, and he takes the opportunity to kiss you deeper, tongue delving in to explore the inside of your mouth. His fingers trail down from your cheeks to your jaw, before they rest on the sides of your neck, his fingertips probing against your veins. You’re not sure whether he does it unconsciously from the sheer excitement or something else but the way his hand is holding you by the neck, his fingers low key choking you make your adrenaline runs faster.

He doesn’t give you the chance to process every single thing that’s happening, or even breathe, for that matter. The next thing you know, he already has his hands running down to your thighs, pulling them up so you have no other choice but to tangle your legs around his waist and groan when he presses your hips together. Hearing the sound of his name tumbling down your lips in a desperate, needy moan, Haechan groans at the back of his throat, his hands moving up to palm your breasts before they start to struggle with your shirt.

You’re doing the same thing, just as eager to get him out of his white shirt so you can latch your lips on his smooth sun-kissed skin. But unlike you who struggle to unbutton his shirt one by one, Haechan’s patience is wearing thin so he ends up just ripping your uniform, buttons clattering down to the floor.

“Wait, Hyuck—” You’re forced to swallow whatever it is you’re trying to say when Haechan sinks his teeth down to the skin that connects your neck to your shoulder, pushing the fabric of your shirt down to expose more of your bare skin. Your whole body shudders, clutching to him with every strength you have. It hurts, the way he bites and nibbles along your sensitive skin, but at the same time, it sends electricity down to every inch of your body.

“Do you have any idea how fucking pissed I am right now?” He says in a low, dangerous voice as he gnaws around your earlobe. “Turn around.”

With his nails sinking into your hips, he forces you to turn on your heel, pressing the side of your face against the door and tears your shirt away from your body. He doesn’t immediately take off your bra like he usually does, and instead focusing first on slipping his fingers underneath the band, thumbs glossing over your hardened nipples as he applies wet kisses on your nape. You almost let out a sob when his hand travels south, raking his fingers against your stomach before he takes off your skirt in such a hurry, leaving you in nothing but your black stockings and your laced panties.

Your entire body jolts when he slips a hand between your legs, rubbing you over your underwear before he suddenly pushes the fabric down and runs his fingertips along your folds.

“You’re so fucking wet,” he whispers in your ear, his breath fanning your neck. “I’m surprised you like being treated like this.” But when you cry out his name, begging for him to stop teasing you already, he chuckles lowly. “I should’ve done this sooner.”

You’re sure that you’re just reacting this way because it’s him and not anybody else and you want to tell him that but you can barely form a word with him rubbing his fingertips along your clit. “You’re actually quite dirty, aren’t you?” He brings two of his fingers to your lips, forcing you to suck them into your mouth and you oblige, knowing what he’s intending to do. You coat them with as much saliva as you can before he brings his hand down to your heat again, this time inserting one finger into your entrance with another one following soon after.

You hiss his name under your breath, becoming a little lightheaded from all this sensation you’re having at once. “What do you want me to do?” He asks tauntingly, knowing he’s in charge of everything.

“Fuck me,” you gasp, eyes tightly shut at the feeling of him finger fucking you to oblivion. “I want you inside me, Hyuck, fuck.”

“Maybe in a few minutes.” His teasing tone is back but it’s different. It’s almost menacing this time, somewhat heartless. He picks up the pace, pumping his fingers in and out of you until you find yourself biting your lip to contain your sob. “Do you know what I want?” He carves his words against your skin, taking a handful of your hair with his other free hand and yanking it back so you can’t help but face the ceiling. His lips are hovering dangerously close against your ear. “I want to fuck you raw. We’ve never done that before, have we? I want to come inside you—want to see my cum dripping down your thighs when I’m finished with you.”

Fuck. You almost cry from the temptation. “Then do it. I don’t care just—” You arch your back, sinking yourself down to his fingers, moaning against the side of his neck. “Please, just fuck me, Hyuck.”

“Good girl,” he replies and you can hear the smirk in his voice but you don’t care. He can be as cocky as he wants for the night because you secretly like it. You like how confident he is during sex, how passionate and sexy he can get, and how desperate and uncontrolled he becomes at the end. You can feel your stomach flip at the anticipation, especially when you hear him working on his belt, unbuttoning his pants and pulling them down only low enough for him to free himself.

“Let me fuck your mouth first,” he demands and you find yourself succumbing to his orders, turning around to face him before you drop to your knees, the tip of his cock protruding against your lips.

Haechan is still holding himself back, you’re sure, because he lets you take your own pace at first but his dominating persona comes back almost immediately when you only give him tentative licks against his slit. “Open up,” he orders, his fingers finding home in your hair and you loosen up your jaw to take him deeper.

Tears begin to form in the corner of your eyes from how hard he’s hitting the back of your throat but you try to keep up. He moves his hips, enjoying the warmth of your mouth. When you feel him twisting his fingers around the strands of your hair, you look up to see his expression. Haechan has his head thrown back in pleasure, his lips parted in a silent moan and you hum proudly to yourself when he brings his eyes down to meet yours. They’re glazed with lust and he’s so sexy like this with his breathing ragged, soft moans flowing like music to your ears. And he’s probably feeling the same about you, from the way he pushes the bangs out of your eyes, taking every detail of your face as you hollow your cheeks, swallowing when his taste falls upon your tongue.

“Fuck,” he hisses under his breath, “You look so perfect like this. You’re so fucking sexy, do you know that?” You hum, running your tongue along the prominent vein, giving kitten licks around the tip. Something gleams in his eyes and suddenly he commands you to stand up and pushes your body against the wall again, face first.

“Do you know how excited I was for today?” He grabs you by the waist, pushing his palm against your shoulder blades so you’ll bend lower, and positions himself against your entrance from behind. “I wanted to celebrate my birthday with you—just with you, Noona—even after our fight, I still wanted to spend it with you—”

“I know,” you gasp, thighs trembling when he rubs his tip against your folds. “I’m sorry—I was too busy with—“

“With work?” He taunts, “Or with that guy you’ve been seeing?”

“No—” A sudden yelp flows out of your mouth when he abruptly pushes himself entirely inside of you in one quick motion, his nails digging into the skin of your hips. Haechan moans a tad louder, much breathier, with his eyebrows knitted together in ecstasy. He’s more sensitive now since he’s not using a condom, directly feeling how wet and hot you are around him, how every clench makes him lose his mind and you can feel him twitching inside you. “Haechan—wait—”

He thrusts forward with such brute force, you find yourself pressed against the door. The dorm is quiet and with the way he’s slamming his hips against yours, the door making rhythmic banging noises against its frames, you’re sure you’re going to be noticed sooner or later.

“The bed—” You gasp, searching for the hands he has on your hips. “Let’s move to the bed—”

“Later,” he groans, his mind sinking in the way your heat is enveloping him.

“People can—” You have your eyes tightly shut when his thrusts get stronger. “They can hear us, Hyuck—”

He tangles his hand around your locks, making a messy ponytail out of them so he can yank on your hair as he rocks his hips faster. “I don’t fucking care,” he growls, “Let everyone know you’re mine.”

It feels fucking amazing the way he’s all breathless and rough, fucking you senselessly as if the world is ending, and it’s not long before your legs start to give up on you, quivering under the sensation.

“Fuck,” Haechan takes a sharp intake of breath, pulling you back against him when you’re about to fall. “Tired already, babe?” His chuckles are unfamiliar to your ears, as if he was mocking instead of teasing but you can’t really comment on it because he’s now pushing you down to the floor, forcing you to stay on all fours. “Now, now, what do we do?” He asks, spreading your thighs but holds your ass firmly in the air. “I’m just getting started.”

Every thrust of his hip feels like fire running all over your body and you can’t believe how good he is at hitting that particular spot deep inside you. You bite your lower lip to keep your voice down and Haechan notices it so he leans close, his chest pressing against your spine and you feel his lips and teeth caressing the crook of your neck as he speaks.

“Stop holding back your voice.” His voice sounds sultry, almost sinful to your ears. “I’ve told you before, right? I like hearing you say my name when we do this. Let me hear you moan.”

You shake your head. “I don’t want anyone to hear—“

“Well,” he doesn’t even let you finish. “I guess I’ll just have to force it out of you then.”

He slows down his pace, and instead of giving you fast, shallow thrusts, he focuses his strength on making each thrust hard and deep. You can feel your breathing being knocked out of your lungs, your toes curling in pleasure and if he keeps doing this, you know you’re not gonna last long. Your orgasm hits you so hard, a whimper falling from your mouth the way he likes it, and your body begins to shake.

Haechan laughs quietly against your ear. “You came, didn’t you? It feels so good—you feel so good around my cock.” He grabs you by the chin and roughly angles your head to face him. He kisses you hard, leaving you even more breathless than you already are before he says, “It’s my turn now.”

Haechan flips you to your back, spreading your legs wide as he sits on his knees, holding your ankles in the air like how he did the first time you had sex with him. Maybe it’s his favorite position, almost splitting your body in half, and seeing your face and your breasts bouncing up and down with every movement of his hips. You’re still dazed, reeling in the afterglow when Haechan pushes back into you again without warning, his eyes half-lidded in pleasure, his lips parted forming your name between his breathy moans.

“I’ll never get tired of how you look when I fuck you like this,” he says, smirking in the sexiest way you’ve ever seen him do. “You’re so goddamn irresistible, you know that?”

It’s frightening how different and rough he’s being right now, and you’re about to cry out because you miss him—you miss the way he used to be. The adorable, annoying little tease that he was. How can you bring him back?

“Haechannie,” you call out, voice soft and quiet almost in a whisper. “I love you.”

His movement stops almost immediately, his eyes widening in surprise. He locks his gaze back with yours, his grip on your legs becoming loose. “What?”

“I love you,” you repeat, placing your legs down so you can sit up from your position. Your back feels sore, screaming in pain but you try not to wince. You reach out to grab his face, running your thumb along his lower lip. “I love you, Lee Donghyuck.” You kiss him gently, merely pressing your lips against his and you can feel how his body stiffen under your touch. “So calm down, because I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be with you, as long as you let me.”

Haechan is still very much speechless and you decide to take control. You carefully push him down so he can sit back on the floor before you climb into his lap. You kiss him again, tangling your fingers in his hair before you slide down, enveloping him once again. There’s a small moan escaping his lips, which you immediately capture with your own and his hands find their way back to your hips again.

“That’s not fair,” he says, his cheeks reddening slightly though he’s still scowling at you. “You’re just saying that so I won’t be angry with you anymore.”

“That too, but,” you’re interrupted by a moan that departs from your lips, can barely handle the way he twitches inside you. “I’ve been feeling that way for quite some time now. Especially when we fight. I just missed you so much, I couldn’t stand it.”

His pout is growing back on his face, though not as apparent. “Well, whose fault do you think is that?” It’s perfect, the way he moves inside you and it’s driving him crazy whenever you clench your walls around him.

“There’s nothing between me and Jaehyun, I promise you,” you softly murmur as you place open-mouthed kisses down his neck. “I’d never cheat on you, Hyuck. You know that, right?”

He shivers slightly under your touch, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “Still,” he breathes out, “It doesn’t mean I’m fine with you meeting him behind my back.”

“He’s my boss, I wouldn’t be able to avoid him even if I wanted—” You have to end your sentence short when he rubs his thumb against your clit, reeling in the sensation. “Hyuck, you’re going to make me come again at this rate.”

“Good, because I intend to make you come at least three times tonight.” He snickers against your lips. “So you won’t be able to forget who owns you.”

His movements become sloppy, going out of rhythm, even more desperate with each thrust and when you whisper with his earlobe between your teeth, “Happy birthday, baby,” he comes undone almost immediately with his face hiding between the slope of your neck.

He lays you down to the floor again, gently this time, before he hovers above you, his arms shaking slightly. “Holy shit,” he exhales, cheeks flushed and beads of sweat forming on his temple. “I think I came a lot inside you.”

“Glad I’m taking some pills then,” you reply, smiling a little as you cup his cheek, your thumb tracing the mole under his left eye. “You okay?”

“Are you okay?” He asks instead. “Was I too rough? Are you hurt somewhere?”

“Why is it that whenever we have sex, you end up asking me these questions?” You chuckle. “Yes, you were. And yes, I am hurt. My back is killing me.”

“I’m…” There’s a slight panic flitting across his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it was kinda hot seeing you all riled up like that. It’s like you turned into a completely different person.” You pull him down by his necklace, murmuring against his lips, “I won’t mind if you fuck me like that again sometimes.”

It’s funny that after all of this that just happened, he actually blushes over your words. Quietly cursing under his breath, he leans back on his heels, slowly pulling out of you and stare intently at how his cum starts to seep out of you.

“Goddamn…” he mumbles, eyes unblinking as if he’s in a trance. “I really did come a lot inside you.”

“Consider that your birthday gift. Also, can you stop looking at me like that—it’s embarrassing.” You don’t usually get embarrassed about sexual stuff, especially now that your boyfriend’s shamelessness kind of rubs off on you, but Haechan really knows how to push your buttons.

Seeing you fidget out of shame, Haechan’s eyes twinkle, his lips forming a teasing grin. “No, wait, let me clean you up.” Despite what he says, he slowly pushes one finger into you, with another one following right after and you part your lips in a gasp but loss for words when you see him playing with his cum that’s mixed with yours, smearing it on the inside parts of your thigh.

“Haechannie,” you gasp, feeling his fingers inside you once again, with his thumb rubbing over your clit. “What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” He grins, showcasing his perfect teeth. “I’m going to make you come again. And then you’re going to make me come again.” His face hovers above yours, wetting his bottom lip as he stares lustfully at you. “Since it’s my birthday and you’re obliged to do whatever I want.”

You gulp. You’re going to be so sore tomorrow.

***

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