#but while im standing in my spot by where i brew the coffee

[carcarrot]

trying to eat my lunch at work is an olympic sport and brother im going for the gold

[somnambulants]

hi!! i was just wondering if i could request more yelena where yelena introduces her gf to natasha and her family and she’s uncharacteristically nervous so nat finds it amusing? thank you :)

a bit of minor surgery

summary: Yelena tries to keep you to herself but her family has other ideas word count: 1.7K notes: so this is a little different to what you asked for but i hope you still like it! for the sake of this, nat, yelena, alexei and melina are just one happy family 

“But if we –"

Natasha holds up a hand and Yelena stops talking. “Do you hear that?”

It’s faint but there’s the sound of someone moving around on her apartment floor. Being the only person who lives on this floor and one of the few in this building is enough for this to raise the hairs on the back of her neck.

Survival for them has always meant constant vigilance.

Both of their heads swivel towards the front door as the footsteps become louder, very clearly approaching her apartment.

Yelena doesn’t have to look to know Natasha is mirroring her, pulling out her gun and scanning every entry-way for possible intruders.

On edge, Yelena presses herself against the door, readying herself until she listens properly and realises the approaching footsteps sound familiar. 

Somehow, she feels herself relax and become even more tense at the same time.

“Stop,” she says as Natasha moves towards the door as well, holding an arm out to stop her. “It’s okay. I know who it is.”

At her words Natasha relaxes, putting her gun away but she watches her face carefully as she does so.

The panic Yelena can feel building inside her must not be as well hidden as she thought because a slow grin spreads across her face as the sound of a gentle knock echoes through Yelena’s apartment.

“Is it..?”

“Yes,” Yelena replies curtly. “And no. You can’t meet them.”

Natasha gives her a wicked look, clicking her teeth together teasingly. “What? Scared I’ll…eat them?”

She snickers as Yelena reaches out and shoves her hard enough to knock the air out of her while also giving her a firm and clear: im going to kill you if you don't listen to me look as she goes to open the door.

Not that it's ever stopped Natasha before.

“Just stay there,” Yelena hisses and then wrenches the door open, finding you behind it with your hand still mid-air, prepared to knock a second time.

“Y/N!”

“Hi,” you say, looking a little startled but smiling at her none the less as you drop your hand.

Beside her and thankfully, just out of your view, Natasha, to her credit, is silent but Yelena can feel her gaze glued to her face and can especially feel the amusement radiating off her in waves.

She grits her teeth, forcing a smile. Your own fades a little as you take her in. “Is this a bad time?”

“No,” Yelena says quickly. Still out of sight, Natasha lets out a huff of laughter just quiet enough that she hopes she’s the only one that hears her.

“Not at all,” she adds, and since the door covers most of her body, it’s safe for her to reach out and pinch Natasha on the arm. Which is what she does. Hard. “Just --give me a second?”

Clearly still puzzled, you nod and Yelena closes the door, giving you a smile that she has a feeling looks more like a grimace.

Next she grabs Natasha by the arm and starts walking her forcibly towards the window. “Out.”

Natasha raises an eyebrow as she pulls them to an abrupt stop, looking at her then looking out the window. “You seriously want me to scale ten stories because you’re an idiot?”

As an answer, Yelena unlocks the latch and lets the window sweep open, giving her a pointed look that says: Yes. Obviously. 

Natasha rolls her eyes but to Yelena’s relief, she slides out the window.

“неудачник,” is all she says in parting before she disappears, dropping down the stairwell and vanishing from sight completely.

The word lingers in the air after her: Loser.

Yelena scowls after her for a second before she rushes back to the door and opens it, letting out a sigh of relief when she sees you’re still there, standing in the same spot.

“Sorry,” she apologises, swinging the door open. “There was just a uh, complication....a spider. I caught it and put it outside. I know you hate them.”

As she speaks, you slowly raise one eyebrow at her. The other quickly follows and it's then that she notices the narrowed look in your eyes.

When you start speaking, your voice is low and scarily calm. “So it has nothing to do with the woman I just made eye contact with as she was climbing down your fire escape?”

Something Yelena is proud to say is that in her life there have been very few times she’s been at a loss for words. 

This however is one of them.

She stares at you, blankly, knowing her panic must be showing on her face by the way your expression progressively becomes darker and darker as seconds pass and she fumbles frantically for something to say.

“I, uh, she is, she, uh –”

“—Natasha Romanoff. Nice to meet you.”

To her credit, Natasha has always been the stealthier of the two of them. Ignoring that fact, Yelena chooses to believe that her being distracted by you is why she doesn’t hear her coming back up the stairwell.

She also chooses to believe that she didn’t visibly jump at the sound of her voice and that the cough Natasha lets out is genuine and not covering up a laugh that says she’s going to mock her mercilessly for this entire thing later.

Of course, Yelena can’t fool herself but she tries anyway.

You look even more unimpressed as Natasha comes to a stop beside her and it clicks in Yelena’s head that you think her and Natasha – her and Natasha. She can’t even finish the thought.

As funny as it is, she doesn’t let herself laugh, knowing instinctively that it’s not a good idea. The flinty look in your eyes just confirms how much of a not good idea that is.

Just because you weren’t raised like her doesn’t mean that you couldn’t pack a punch; something she learned early on in your relationship when she’d accidentally snuck up on you once. She’d had a black eye for weeks after that.

“Natasha is my --” she isn’t sure how to say: ‘this is the woman I was trained to kill people with while we grew up being tortured and experimented on, remember I told you?’ In a way that won’t make you go running for the hills.

As she trails off, Natasha, sensing her panic, jumps in. Yelena knows that internally, she must be laughing hysterically though to her merit, she keeps it to herself. “I’m her… sister. Of sorts.”

You know about her past – all of what she was willing to repeat of it anyway – so comprehension quickly dawns on your face.

“Then why…?”

She watches as Natasha’s mouth twitches, sounding amused as she directly addresses you: “Well... my sister is an idiot. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

Yelena tenses as you give her a once over, raking your eyes over her consideringly, before you turn back to Natasha.  “I may have noticed that. Yes.”

"Hey," Yelena protests, weakly. "That's not fair."

You give her a pointed look and she falls silent. Resigned to her fate, she lets out a sigh.

She can tell from the matching scheming looks brewing in both your own and Natasha’s eyes that this is only going to be the start of her own personal torment.

--

The one thing she really, really hates about her family is that they have this habit of showing up unannounced – you’d think that the whole being assassins and consequently, a little trigger happy as a result would make someone call ahead but no.

Never.

For this reason, it comes as no surprise when there’s the familiar three tap repetitive secret knock knock knock they had all come up with years ago on her front door early the following morning.

Silently, Yelena prays you don’t hear it and stay asleep as she drags herself out of bed and prepares herself for what she’s about to deal with.

Truthfully, she’s a little surprised that they’d had enough tact to wait until morning. She’d half expected them to be knocking her door down the second Natasha relayed last nights events to them. 

Yanking the door open, she comes face-to-face with Alexei and Melina. Taking them both in and cataloguing mentally that they look alive and uninjured, she lets herself glare at both of them.

“Is something wrong?”

They both frown. “No?”

“Okay I’m closing the door then.”

She starts to swing it shut but it’s quickly caught as Alexei shoves a foot in between it and the doorframe, giving her a reproachful look.

“Is your –”

“Yes,” Yelena interrupts, scowling harder than before, if that was even possible. “Now, leave.”

The look on Alexei’s face shifts, now suddenly a little too much on the wrong side of sneaky. “Can we—”

“No.”

“But–"

“I don’t care. You can’t meet them,” she barks, probably too loudly, as she shoves him back out into the hallway. If she has to throw them bodily out of here, she will. It just would likely attract your attention, which is the opposite of what she wants. “They’re asleep.”

“We can wake them,” he suggests, unhelpfully.

Yelena glares at him harder. “No.”

It’s faint but all of a sudden, she can hear the sound of a door squeaking as it opens. Her bedroom door to be more exact. Your voice calling out to her quickly follows.

“Okay,” she says. “I’m closing the door now.”

“Hey, no wait –” Alexei starts to protest. Yelena closes the door firmly in their faces and is working on dead-bolting it just as you appear in her line of sight.

You blink at her blearily, wearing just one of her T-shirts and nothing else. Thank god she hadn’t let them in. “Who was that?”

“Neighbours,” Yelena lies. “Looking for their …cat.”

Still half asleep, you don’t think to question her and she sags against the door in relief as you venture into the kitchen in search of coffee.

To her relief, there are no subsequent persistent knocks or calls through the door and after a second, she can hear the quiet sound of footsteps and Alexei’s grumbling as they retreat.

Natasha is one thing – their parents or pseudo-parents or whatever they are – are another thing entirely. She’d save that one for another day.

Or never, preferably.

[ppersonna]

out of my league - knj | 01

you were out of my league. got my heartbeat racing. if i die, don't wake me, cause you are more than just a dream - out of my league, fitz and the tantrums

✹ summary- Kim Namjoon was never supposed to find out about your years-long hopeless crush on him. And he most definitely was not supposed to find out about it in front of all your coworkers in a company-wide meeting.

✹ rating- explicit/18+/nsfw

✹ pairing- kim namjoon x reader

✹ word count- 6.6k

✹ genre- angst, smut, comedy

✹ chapter warnings- swearing, descriptions of sex, sexual content, namjoon being a sexy flirt, jungkook being a himbo, awkward conversations, jimin being a protective bff

✹ a/n- hello and welcome to this fic thats lived in my google docs for almost a year now. without @ladyartemesia @xjoonchildx @untaemedqueen and @chimoona, i would never have posted it. i truly owe so much of my brainstorming and creativity to their incredible brains and thoughts and ideas. i love them very much! i hope you enjoy this first chapter! please feel free to message me, talk to me abt anything!! im always here to chat. ILY!

MASTERLIST

Kim Namjoon was never supposed to find out this way.

You planned to confess your undying, unerring love for your coworker at a better time, a classier place. You would wear a dress that highlighted your features, hair cascading down your back, makeup done to perfection and spritzed with expensive perfume. You’d confess, he’d confess right back, and you’d live happily ever after.

You’d also dreamt that Kim Namjoon would have the slightest inkling of who you are before he finds out about your year long crush. He might know you as the mousy girl in the office who doesn’t talk and doesn’t contribute much other than some crunched numbers and apparently the best coffee brewer in the office. But you’d prefer he knows you well—your favorite colors and movies and foods, what makes you happy and sad; things future husbands should know.

You very much did not think it would happen in a company wide conference, full of over five hundred suit-wearing executives. You did not think it would be done by the office bully, Chungha, who carefully takes over the mic and speaks the words clearly as she presents awards of recognition.

“Congratulations to Kim Namjoon for 5 years with the company, over $4 million in revenue, and the object of ____’s lust and affection. I’m sure you two will have the happy life she’s written in her journal about. Make sure you celebrate with her today!”

The room is silent, so silent you could have heard a pin drop from a mile away. Your face is cherry red and you wish the earth would open up and swallow you whole. Your heart feels like someone has ripped it in half and you stare in horror at the girl smirking at the front. Is this what it feels like to be backstabbed? Namjoon looks perplexed—confusion written on his face as he gestures around to no one in particular like he’s saying ‘what the fuck was that?’

Awkward coughing and clapping begins and Namjoon stands to receive his award, a fine wooden fountain pen, and chances a glance around the room. He easily spots you, with your wide, frightened face. His look remains passive, not hinting what he’s thinking behind those stormy eyes, before he turns and sits back down at the table with his buddies from his department.

You seriously contemplate quitting your job. You could find a new one easily, right? Just stand up and tell your boss you quit and you’re out of there before Namjoon ever sees you again and you’ll never have to face the mean girl who’s ratting you out.

As much as the idea rolls through your head, you know you won’t do it. You love your job, love the security and finances it provides you, and you love to look at Kim Namjoon, all day every day.

You don’t understand where things went wrong.

( one month ago )

It’s 9:03 am. You finish brewing the coffee in the small staff kitchen and sigh at the aroma of the freshly ground beans. Coffee is your favorite meal, favorite time of day, favorite snack, and preferred beverage. You drink it constantly. You’re known as “coffee girl” at work, mostly because no one really bothers to get to know you beyond that. You drink coffee like it’s a devoted religion. You could drink a cup right before bed and still sleep like a baby. It was, put simply, your drink.

The office workers deem you to be the one to make the pots of coffee every morning, claiming you were the ‘best’. You didn’t mind—you preferred to make your own coffee regardless—but you believe your coworkers are trying to pass off the twenty-minute job to someone lower in the office hierarchy. And you were one step above the interns.

The coffee machine chimes to let you know it’s hot, and it’s ready for you. You eagerly pour a mug, a large one, and smile as the waft of freshly ground beans (by you, of course) fills your senses.

You nearly knock the cup out of your hand as Kim Namjoon strolls into the office, eyes set on the coffee.

You feel your throat swell up, like he’s an allergen and you’re caught without an epi-pen. Butterflies swirl in your stomach and you can’t stop staring at him. He pays you no mind, tired yet determined to pour a cup of coffee and get back to his office.

You stand in the small kitchen, clutching your coffee like a lifeline, and pray to god you don’t do something stupid.

Namjoon pours his mug, and you watch his muscular hands grip the coffee pot. He pours a hefty amount of cream and sugar into his cup—it appears even perfect male specimens have their faults. 

Your eyes dance on his face before they tango down his body. You wonder what he looks like in the morning, crawling out of bed with mussed hair and a sleepy smile painted on his face. He’d look at you and tell you you’re the most beautiful girl and kiss you deeply despite morning breath. Maybe he’d take you to the shower to press you against the tile as he fuc-

“Oh!” it startles Namjoon to see you, and the coffee in his hand swishes violently. “Didn’t see you there. Sorry!”

Your heart melts. He’s the picture of kindness and politeness. You recognize it’s been a few seconds and you still haven’t replied.

“It’s fine!”

“Great coffee, by the way,” he smiles. His teeth nearly knock you out cold with their brilliance. “Have a good day.”

He turns and exits the room without so much as a glance back at you. Your knees feel weak.

Kim Namjoon talked to you. He complimented you. He told you to have a good day. It’s the best and most significant conversation you’ve had with your secret crush.

You definitely file that away for another day when you need to reminisce on his compliment, and you scurry out of the kitchen towards your desk.

Park Jimin is waiting dutifully at your desk when you arrive, a smug smile still slapped over your features as you sip at your coffee. Namjoon spoke to you today—how lovely.

Jimin quirks an eyebrow. 

“What’s got you so perky this morning?” 

You’re normally quiet and passive, avoiding eye contact or any semblance of emotion on your face.

You look up at the blonde bespectacled boy. Park Jimin is the closest thing to a best friend in the company. He’s who you spend time with at lunch, see on weekends, and text often. You suppose he’s the closest thing to a best friend you have in your entire life.

You send him a smirk and lean in close to whisper. “Namjoon said hi to me today!”

Jimin sends you a pitiful look and pats your shoulder. Your best friend is well aware of your secret crush and while he thinks Namjoon is a nice guy, he thinks your crush is a little hopeless. He’s the most popular guy in the office, often has dates lined up every weekend. Jimin hears the way he and his friends talk in the break room. The man is definitely not hurting for female attention.

“Oh, honey,” he sighs, unenthusiastically. “That’s great.” He can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness over how excited you’re getting from a simple ‘hello’ from a coworker.

“I know, right? Anyway, lunch today?” You ask as you settle down into your cubicle.

Jimin pushes his glasses up his face and nods. “Of course! That’s why I came by this morning. I wanted to let you know that Jungkook from marketing will join us.”

You make a face, disgust etched in the lines creasing your forehead. 

“Why?”

Jungkook is well known in the company. He’s a loudmouth, a player, a clown, and everyone’s favorite comedian. He’s just not your favorite.

“Don’t be rude,” Jimin admonishes at your grimace. “He asked to join and well—he’s cute. I can’t say no to him.”

“Oh Christ, Jimin,” you groan. “Not you too! Don’t tell me you have the hots for the serial fuckboy?”

He blushes lightly and shrugs. “Maybe I do! Be nice to him today or I’ll eat all your chocolate ice cream I know you have at home.”

You stick your tongue out, petulantly. “Fine, now let me get to work or else Seokjin will be up my ass.”

Jimin smiles and kisses your cheek before he scurries away, back to human resources.

It feels as if barely any time has passed. You’re working hard, running calculations and updating spreadsheets. You have an eye for numbers, and losing yourself in an equation is just another day for you. You’re shaken from your cheerful place by a vibration from your phone, and a text alert popping on the lit screen.

jimin 12:01 pm- it’s lunchtime!! you better get your butt out here!

You smile and text back an affirmative reply, then move to grab your lunch from the company fridge. Gliding down the steps leading to the fresh outdoors, you meet Jimin at the lunch tables in the grass.

Jimin is sitting with Jungkook. You can recognize your best friend by his hair and glasses, and Jungkook by his obnoxious laughter.

“Hi,” you murmur as you sit down and open up the brown bag lunch you’ve brought.

“Hi!” Jimin is excited to see you, and just a pinch over eager to be sitting next to Jungkook.

“You know Jungkook, right?” Jimin asks, a harsh look in his eyes that reminds you to be on your best behavior.

You nod as you pull out a bag of grapes. “Oh, yeah, hey,” you smile. “I’ve seen you around.”

Jungkook delivers you a signature smirk and you feel yourself roll your eyes internally. “Yeah, you’re Coffee Girl, right?”

You pout and glare down at your brown bag lunch. Will you ever become more than just Coffee Girl?

“Yeah, I suppose that’s me.”

Jimin clears his throat to dismiss any awkwardness. 

“So, Jungkook, I hear you like working out? ___ likes to work out too. She drags me to the gym sometimes. Maybe we could all meet up sometime?” You don’t miss the hopeful lilt in his voice. Jungkook does.

“Oh, yeah?” He narrows a sexy look at you, rather—a look he thinks is sexy that you find off-putting. “What do you do at the gym? Little cardio sets with 5 pound weights?”

What an asshole.

“Sometimes,” you state as you take a bite of the homemade salad you handcrafted last night. “Most of the time I’m lifting heavy. I can bench 275 and deadlift 300.”

Jungkook looks taken back. “What, really?” He sounds breathless. “You lift more than Namjoon-hyung.”

At the sound of the love of your life’s name, you pause. Your face heats quickly and Jungkook smirks. Of course, he recognizes this and not Jimin’s obvious flirting.

“Why are you blushing?” He asks. “Did I say something?”

You’re quick to dismiss things. “Um--no. I just um,” you’re grasping at straws. “I’m hot.”

Jimin is trying not to laugh, hiding his mouth behind a petite hand.

Jungkook tilts his head. “It’s not even sunny today.”

You gulp. “Yeah, I must be hot. With a fever. M-malaria… probably.”

Jungkook snorts. 

“You have malaria? Bummer.” He picks at his nails. “I thought for a moment you had a thing for Namjoon.”

“No!” The retort is quick, too quick for normal conversation, and it gives you away.

“Aha!” Jungkook points an accusing finger at you. “You have the hots for him, don’t you?”

Your features melt, and Jimin tries to assuage the situation. “Jungkook, please don’t tell anyone,” he pleads.

Jungkook smiles at you. “That’s so cute. It’s like a little nerdy freshman crushing on the senior class president.”

You bury your head in your hands, suddenly unable to stomach any food.

“Jungkook,” Jimin’s tone becomes more firm, authoritative. “I’m asking you this as a friend. Please, don’t say anything.”

Jungkook holds his hands up to prove his innocence and waves his proverbial white flag. 

“Secret is safe with me,” he promises. “But it’s cute. I know him really well, you know. I could try to hook you two up.”

You blanch, unsure if you want Jungkook saying anything about you to the man of your dreams. 

“I’m good, but thanks,” you offer meekly. “I’m not feeling well. I’m going to head back to work, okay?”

Jimin frowns, knowing you’re feeling like a cornered animal, and nods. “Feel better, babe,” he sighs.

Jungkook watches as you leave and turns to Jimin. “Man, he’s way out of her league.”

Jimin slaps the boy in the chest. “Be nice, asshole, that’s my best friend.”

Jungkook promises to be nice, and Jimin is blissfully unaware that others are listening and that the man beside him is easy to persuade.

( present day )

The company-wide meeting adjourns soon after what is likely to be the most embarrassing moment you’ve ever lived through.

You’re grabbing at your things and trying to run out of the room, desperate to get out before anyone sees you or talks to you or laughs at you.

A hand grabs at the coattails of your suit jacket and you’re pulled backwards with a yelp. You turn to seek your captor and find the concerned face of your best friend, Jimin.

“Are you okay? What the fuck just happened?”

Jimin’s concern makes it all real. Until now you could pretend you were in a fugue state, totally dissociated from reality. Now, you realize that everyone in the entire company is aware of your crush on Kim Namjoon.

You can feel your bottom lip wobble, tears threatening to spill. Jimin murmurs an ‘oh shit’ and drags you out of the large room and into the nearest bathroom. He pushes you to sit against the sink and passes you toilet paper to dab at your eyes.

“I don’t know how she found out!” you cry. “God, I feel so stupid and embarrassed.”

It incenses Jimin. He’s holding it back to ensure you’re okay, but in reality, it’s an HR nightmare waiting to happen. He’ll find who did it and punish them accordingly.

They will suffer. 

“It’s okay, babe,” he pulls you into a hug. “Everyone will forget about it soon. They’ll think it’s just a lame office joke, okay?”

You nod, feeling the slightest bit comforted by his words. 

“How could she find out, Jiminie?” You ask with a sniffle. “You’re the only person who knows.”

Jimin sighs and shakes his head.

“I don’t know, but they’re dead. I haven’t told any-... oh, my god,” Jimin stops suddenly. You look up at him to catch what he’s thinking.

He growls and balls his fists. 

“Jungkook knew.”

You let out a sob and bawl your eyes out into the tissue you’re holding. Jimin holds you tighter while he conjures up a hundred different ways to hurt someone and make it look like an accident.

“Don’t worry,” Jimin sighs, trying to comfort both you and himself. “I’m HR. I have to handle this. I’ll make sure they get what they deserve.”

You feel a sting of pain for Jimin. He’s been hopelessly doting on the man who spilled the beans for a few months now, even got to take him on a few dates. It was still nothing serious, but Jimin was clearly smitten.

“I’m sorry you have to do that, Chim,” you whisper. “I know how you feel about him.”

“Yeah, well,” he swallows thickly. “You’re more important than any asshole.”

Jimin holds you tight for a few minutes longer, before you clean yourself up and steel yourself. Ignore everyone, Jimin encourages. Just get to work, he says. Then you can go home and we’ll drink wine and forget about it all, he promises.

You replay his words in his head like a prayer as you walk down the corridors and towards your office. Everyone in the hallways stops to stare at you. They lean towards their friends and whisper. You hear snippets of their gossip, like “Namjoon” and “out of her league”. It drives the sharp blade lodged in your chest even further. It threatens to collapse your lungs and break your ribs.

You make it to your desk safe and sound and bury yourself in work and forcibly ignore the gawking and the stares. 

Just make it home. Just get through the day. You’re almost there.

You could do this.

You nearly make it the entire day before running into the one person you didn’t want to see, Kim Namjoon.

At the end of the day, you’re taking the stairs down to the parking garage instead of the elevator. The elevator is too busy, too many people, and you’re trying to avoid the stares and giggles at your expense. The stairs are always deserted and you figure it’s your safest bet.

You can nearly hear the wine calling your name at home. A delicate glass of Sauvignon Blanc and some chocolate ice cream and a good cry—it sounds like the best and only way to unwind after the worst day you’ve ever had in your life.

The chanting of your name gets louder and you wonder if you’ve finally lost your mind—if you’re actually hearing your wine bottles all the way at home talking to you.

No, wait. The voice is real, and coming from behind you. You turn around to face who’s calling you and nearly faint at the sight.

Kim Namjoon stands on the landing above you, one strip of stairs between you.

“Hey!” He seems glad he’s caught you. “I’ve been calling your name for a minute.”

You swallow and search for an answer. 

“Sorry, I’m-.. I guess I’m just a little out of it today.”

Namjoon grimaces. 

“Yeah, about that…” he begins as he takes the steps down to be on equal ground as you. Your heart is spinning wildly. He’s so close to you. He’s talking to you. On any other day you’d be erupting towards the sky like a firework. But today isn’t any other day.

“I feel like I should apologize,” he states. “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t plan it or anything.”

Damn him and his kindness. Damn him and his cute, awkward smile.

“No, no,” you assure. “I know you didn’t. You don’t have to apologize.”

It’s hard to make eye contact with the man. You want to, know it’s important in intense conversations like this, but the thought of him seeing you—really seeing you makes you ache inside.

“It was a really shitty prank,” he begins. “I’m sure you don’t even know who I am, let alone have a crush on me.”

For the millionth time that day, your face heats to a near boil. You stammer and you’re sure you’ve blown any chance at even thinking about a date with Namjoon.

“Oh, uh, right,” you seek an answer, beg your brain to pick something to say that doesn’t make you sound stupid. “I do.”

“You do what?” He’s confused and you widen your eyes at what just left your mouth.

“I do know you! I mean, I do have a crush on you! Oh, fuck,” you shove your face into your hands. “Please, ignore that. I need to go. Sorry!” You don’t give him a chance to reply, you book it out of the stairway as fast as your heels will take you.

Today was the worst day you’ve suffered through in your life.

The next few days aren’t much better.

Not only are you “coffee girl”, you’re now also sarcastically called “Namjoon’s girl”. As much as you hate your initial title, you’d prefer it to the new one they throw at you as you walk by.

Jimin rats out Jungkook and Chungha to the bosses. They get two weeks probation and they have to write you apology letters if they wish to keep their permanent files clean of any reprimands. It’s a slap on the wrist, and everyone involved knows it. Jimin is furious and wants the boss to reconsider. You tell him not to push it. You’d rather this be over and everyone to forget it even happened. Jimin unwillingly agrees.

You’re working at your desk, earphones shoved in your ears to diffuse the gossip in the room, when you feel a tap on your shoulder. You turn and are greeted with the face of Judas Iscariot himself, Jeon Jungkook.

“Hi,” he sounds sheepish, cheeks reddening.

You narrow your eyes at him, sharper than steel. “What the fuck do you want?”

He winces, knowing he deserved that. “Well, I just wanted to apologize. I know they told me to write you a letter, but it seems too impersonal…”. 

You can’t believe Jungkook is sucking his ego up and actually coming to you to apologize. You thought he’d for sure be the one to cop out and send a shitty letter.

He continues. 

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m sorry that all went down. I didn’t mean to tell her. She got me drunk and said she saw me eating lunch with you and Jimin. I think she was jealous or something and it slipped out. I know that’s not an excuse. I fucked up your trust and Jimin’s trust. But I just wanted you to know I didn’t do it to be an asshole. She sort of duped me.”

You pause as you take in the man’s apology. He didn’t have to come to you in person. He could have easily taken the shitty route and half-assed a letter to you. But he didn't, and he owned up to his mistake. God dammit.

“I appreciate your apology, Jungkook,” you sigh and you see his body visibly relax. “I’m still mad, but I guess the anger is at her for doing it in the first place. I’m sorry she tricked you.”

He breathes a sigh of relief and kneels down beside you. “I’m really happy you believe me. I was worried you were going to kick me in the nuts.

“I won’t lie, I thought about it.”

He smiles with you, and you feel like this is the restart of a friendship. “I definitely deserved it.”

You shrug and smile. “Jimin would kill me for hurting you. He might even kill me for thinking about hurting you.”

Jungkook’s smile drops at the name of your best friend. Yikes. Looks like there’s still trouble in paradise.

“I think you’d be in similar company with Jimin right now. He’s not speaking to me.”

You let out a breath through your nose. “Yeah, he’s a little protective of me.”

“For good reason,” he admits. “You’re like a cute little flower. A cute nerdy flower.”

“Jungkook,” you warn. “I just forgave you after I was humiliated in front of the entire company. I’d be careful with calling me nerdy right now.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

It’s hard to stay mad at the boy, no matter how much you dislike his reputation around the office. The fact that he humbled himself enough to seek you out and apologize is proof enough to you of his character.

“It’s okay, Jungkook. I forgive you,” you smile. “Thank you for apologizing.”

He rubs the back of his neck anxiously as his cheeks flare red.

“Yeah, it felt pretty shitty to just… do anything else. Plus, you seem really cool.”

“You seem great, too, Jungkook.”

He smiles and pulls you in for a hug, catching you off guard. For the fuckboy type, he’s surprisingly sensitive and soft. You like that about him.

“I’ll see you around, okay?” He says as he pulls away from you.

“Maybe you should apologize to Jimin, too?” 

His smile drops, but he nods anyway. “Yeah, maybe I’ll go find him now.”

“Good luck,” you offer with a pat on his shoulder.

With a sad smile, he turns and heads down the hallway towards the HR department. You pray Jimin shows mercy to the handsome boy.

A few weeks go by, and you’re sure that everyone has forgotten about you and your most embarrassing moment to date. You make the coffee, you calculate the numbers, everyone ignores you. Things return to relative normalcy.

Until it doesn't. The moment you think you're safe is the moment your guard comes down and everything falls apart around you.

It's when you're in the staff kitchen, grinding fresh beans to brew a second pot of coffee, that it happens.

The kitchen is fuller than usual. You normally try to wait until the lunchtime crowd dwindles and leaves to make your second pot, but you're so desperate for the caffeine that you can't find it in you to care.

You trudge into the kitchen with your handy coffee mug clutched in your tired hands and head towards the cupboards to grind up the beans.

There's a few groups of coworkers lingering in the room, and as your grinder whirs the beans around into a powder, you chance a look around to see who's among the crowd.

Your eyes flick immediately to where a hearty laugh erupts. It makes your heart still in your throat. Namjoon sits with his usual crowd of friends, hand gripping a homemade sandwich while the other assists him in telling his story to his friends. He pays you no mind—why would he?—and you can't help but stare at the way his dark brown hair lays perfectly against his forehead, and his eyes crinkle so cutely at the edges when he smiles.

You nearly forget about the coffee grounds—you're snapped out of your Namjoon-induced trance when suddenly a woman's laugh echoes around the room.

"Look at her," the voice states.

You peer up and see a girl you vaguely recognize. Is she from Marketing? Or perhaps Sales? You’re not sure, but she’s staring at you with a sneer.

“She’s so weirdly obsessed with Namjoon. It’s so creepy.”

Your face turns cherry red and you’re sure your lungs stop functioning. The air your body needs to breathe freezes and your chest aches. 

Namjoon turns to look at the girl before he looks and sees you grasping your coffee grounds tightly.

“Chungha was right—it’s so weird. Namjoon, you should talk to HR about this!”

Namjoon turns back to the gossiping coworker and frowns. “Can you leave it alone? She wasn’t even doing anything.”

The girl huffs and crosses her arms over her chest and looks back at Namjoon.

“How can you stand to be in the same room as her? She clearly thinks she has a chance with you.”

Her words come out like a bite. She punctuates her point with a harsh laugh and the group around her mumbles and chuckles in agreement.

You’re desperately grabbing at anything you can, wanting to leave as quickly as possible before you’re embarrassed further.

“Well, she does!” Namjoon replies loudly, annoyance written in his features. “I was actually going to ask her to dinner this weekend in private, but since everyone is so fucking interested in my love life, I have to do it publicly.”

The room falls silent, and your favorite mug falls out from your hands and shatters on the floor. All sets of eyes stare at you while yours widen with disbelief—you don't even care that you’re standing in a pool of old coffee and shattered ceramic. 

Namjoon stands and heads over to you, bending down to pick up the shards of your coffee mug. You take a few stunted breaths to kneel and help. 

His eyes peer into yours. They’re warm—a chocolate brown color that makes you feel safe.  

“What do you say?” He asks with a smile so gentle it nearly breaks your heart. “Will you let me take you out this weekend?” 

You’re gaping like a fish and the surrounding room is silent—bated breath waiting for your reply. 

“Yes, I would l-love that.” 

His smile turns even brighter, and he stands to throw the broken mug away. 

“I’ll email you the details, okay?”

Your head nods dumbly without thinking. His eyes sparkle as he smiles at you, and he extends his hand down to you to assist you off the floor. As your hand slips into his, you can’t help but feel how soft and strong he feels. You wonder what his hand would feel like caressing your face, smoothing down the expanse of your bare back, running down the length of your body.

The thoughts shake out of you as he winks and kisses your hand gently, causing the gossiping coworker to grunt her disapproval and for murmurs of shock to echo around the room.

“I’ll talk to you later, doll.” Namjoon winks at you before he grabs his sandwich and leaves the room, gesturing to his crew to follow along.

The place on your hand felt warm where his lips once lingered. You no longer cared about the angry glares from the rest of your coworkers. Your heart beats wildly in your chest, and you leave the kitchen nearly floating on cloud nine.

Email from: Kim Namjoon

Sent: 3:06 pm

Subject: Hey good lookin ;)

Hey! 

Just wanted to see how you are! I’m sorry about what happened at lunchtime. That was super petty and uncalled for. I really wanted to ask you out, and I hope I didn’t embarrass you too much by doing it in front of everyone.

I was wondering if you’d like to go out this Friday night after work? Say around 7? If you send me your address, I’ll pick you up.

Let me know!

Xoxo, Joon

You’re sure if you weren’t sitting in your tiny cubicle, you’d be screaming your lungs out.

The second the notification of the email came through, direct from the man of your desires himself, your body froze.

You re-read the message, over and over and over.  

The winky emoji, the xoxo, the nickname ‘joon’. It’s all so much and makes the grin on your face threaten to split your lips in half.

Your fingers press the “FWD” button and you quickly send the message to Jimin, before you stand demurely, attempting to give off an air of professional confidence. You need to talk to Jimin, now.

As soon as you’re out of the eyesight of suspicious coworkers, you bolt down the hallway towards Human Resources. Your high heels click loudly on the tiled floor, but the sound doesn’t even register in your mind. All you can think about is Namjoon, the email, the press of his lips on your hand, the way his smile made you feel as if you could fly.  

The door to HR swings open with your tight grip around the doorknob, and you open your mouth to call to Jimin, the lone employee, when you’re startled by the sight ahead of you.

Jimin sits on the edge of his expansive desk with his arms thrown around Jungkook’s neck and is clearly engaged in a deep, sensual kiss. At the sound of the door opening, they quickly break apart, with matching cherry red blushes on their cheeks and mused hair.

“Oh, shit,” you gasp. 

The men are silent and you can’t help but giggle after a moment passes. “I’ll take it you two made up?”

Jungkook flashes you a dopey grin, one that gives you an answer, while Jimin smirks haughtily.

“Jungkook and I were just discussing, umm… his 401k.”

Jungkook looks at the blonde boy for a moment, confused, before he gets it. “Yeah! Totally. Retirement. Love to t-talk about it?”

You laugh out loud and walk towards the couple.

“I’m sure it was a titillating discussion,” you tease. “I have good news though, if it’s okay to interrupt this retirement planning session.”

Jimin nods and Jungkook rubs at the back of his neck awkwardly. “I guess I should leave?”

“It’s okay,” you smile. “I trust you.”

Jungkook smiles as if he’s just won the lottery. He looks between you and Jimin, face pure and excited like a puppy.

“What’s up?” Jimin asks as he moves to sit down at his desk.

“I forwarded you an email. Read it.”

Jimin nods and logs on to his posh computer, scrolling and clicking before narrowing his eyes and reading.

“Oh, my god.” Jimin’s face is shocked—it's written all over his features. “Namjoon asked you out?!”

Jungkook’s child-like grin turns into one of shock himself. He runs around to stand behind Jimin, eyes seeking over the words of the email.

“Well, hot damn,” Jungkook whistles. “He asked her out.”

Jimin exchanges a look with Jungkook, one that you’re not sure you can read. It quickly slips your mind, however, as you’re more focused on the task at hand.

“Can you come over tonight after work and help me pick out something to wear?” You ask excitedly.

Jimin smiles at you, a touch of sadness in his eyes, before he nods.

“Of course, babe,” he assures. “We’ll make sure you look nice and hot for the date with Mr. Kim.”

“Thank you!” You squeal as you wrap your arms around your best friend. He hugs you back before you scurry out of the office and back to your cubicle, itching to reply to the message.

Jimin sighs as the door to his office closes behind you.

“Kook, please don’t tell me he’s going to break her heart. He’s asking her out to make himself feel better about this, isn’t he?” 

Jungkook slips his hand into Jimin’s and squeezes. 

“I’ll find out, baby.”

Jimin smiles and nods appreciatively at the boy, before leaning up and kissing him.

Jungkook smiles against his lips, and is determined to ensure the young HR specialist never hates him again, even if he has to go behind his hyung’s back to ensure his new boyfriend’s happiness.

Jungkook has one mission now, and that’s ensuring Namjoon takes you on the greatest date known to man.

He grills Jimin with questions about what you like over dinner one night. Jimin finds it endearing that Jungkook is so eager to rectify his mistakes, but he still can’t help but worry that Namjoon is doing this to save face—not because he actually likes you.

“So, what does she like doing?” Jungkook asks as he spins his pasta around his chopsticks idly.

Jimin smiles as he takes a bite of the ramen Jungkook has thoughtfully prepared for their stay-at-home date.  

“I’ve told you already! She’s easy to figure out.” Jimin pats Jungkook’s hand gently. “She loves cooking and baking, working out, daydreaming about Namjoon.” 

“Cooking, hm,” Jungkook looks thoughtful as he takes a bite. “I think Namjoon can work with that. I’ll let him know!”

Jimin tries to hide the anxiety brewing in his stomach. He’s had to plaster on a fake smile for you while you tried on different outfits, wondering which will be the one to finally convince Namjoon he is the one for you. It’s hard to fake it around his boyfriend, too—but something tugs in his stomach that flares the cynical side of him.

Namjoon went from not knowing of your existence, to watching you get publicly embarrassed in a matter of minutes. While Namjoon isn’t a terrible guy, Jimin knows he doesn’t like anything to tarnish the gentleman reputation he’s built in the office. And as much as Jimin likes him, and surely likes his friend Jungkook, he can’t help but feel skeptical.

Jungkook hurriedly pulls out his phone and types away, letting his elder friend know of what he’s found out. Jimin swallows his food, and his pride, and hopes to god his growing cynicism is wrong.

Friday comes slower than you’d like. You wake up every day during the week, one day closer, and your eagerness hits peak levels. Namjoon sees you in the hallways during the week and winks at you, hands shoved in his tight slacks that make you salivate.  

He emails you again Thursday afternoon, confirming things and getting your address. You reply in nanoseconds, uncaring how overeager you come off. 

By the time your alarm clock rings on Friday morning, you’ve already been awake for 4 hours.

All you can do is daydream about the date, the way his hand fits into yours, the warmth of his eyes when he smiles at you.

It’s what fuels you through work.

You hope to god the numbers you’re attempting to work during the day come out right, because your mind is elsewhere for more than most of the day. There isn’t enough coffee in the world, but also your body feels as if you’ve overdosed on caffeine already.

The clock eeks towards 5:00 pm and you’re bolting out the door at 4:56 to head home and get ready for your date.

Jimin attempts to meet you before you leave, but your desk is cold and empty by the time he gets there.  

He sighs and heads back towards his office to gather his things, waving bye to various coworkers as they file out of the corporate building.

He turns the corner towards his office but stops in his tracks as he sees Namjoon’s back to him, phone pressed to his ear.

“Baby, I’ll come over later tonight, okay?” Namjoon speaks into the phone.

Jimin feels his heart fall into the pit of his stomach. He retreats and hides behind a wall, ear carefully peeled to listen to the tall man’s conversation.

“I’m going on this date with that chick from work,” he sighs. “It won’t last more than a few hours. Poor girl has a crush on me and you know the usual assholes won’t leave her alone.”

Jimin bites his lip and clenches his fist. Namjoon thinks he means well, but he knows his suspicions have been confirmed, and he’s torn inside. He wants to tell you, to warn you not to get too invested in the man, but he also has no interest in popping the bubble you’ve been in since the day he asked you out.

Jimin lets it simmer for now. He decides he’ll monitor Namjoon and cut things off if it appears the man strings you along for fun.

Namjoon finishes his phone call with a promise to see whoever is on the other end of the phone later that night, and Jimin quickly pulls out his phone and fakes a conversation with no one when he hears the man approach.

“Oh, Kookie,” Jimin giggles, leaning against the wall casually. “I can’t wait to see you tonight, either, babe.”

Namjoon walks towards Jimin and makes eye contact with the HR specialist.

“Bye, Kook! See you tonight, baby.” Jimin finishes up the fake phone call as Namjoon arrives next to him, and he plasters on his best fake smile.

“Congrats on you and Jungkook,” he speaks sincerely.

Jimin hates how nice he is, hates that he’s a nice guy who gets too wrapped up in his own good looks and reputation.

“Thanks, Namjoon,” Jimin smiles uneasily. “You too! Have fun on your date tonight.”

Namjoon’s face lights up and Jimin desperately wishes he could go back in time to 30 seconds ago, before he heard the conversation, and believe that Namjoon truly wanted to date you.

“Thanks, should be fun, huh?” He winks and nudges Jimin, before he waves a goodbye and continues out the door.

Jimin pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials the number of his boyfriend.

“Hey, baby. We’ve got a problem.”

tag list! - @jimidol @aretha170 @dearbambideer​ 

[rolandtowen]

three times Zuko comes into the Jasmine Dragon coffee shop, and one time Sokka leaves with him. Set in the Neurodiverse Zukka AU, but can read as a standalone.

*banging pots and pans together* "Come over here and get yall Neurodiverse Zukka!"

Read it on Ao3 or under the cut!

TW: discussions of skin picking and implied child abuse

i.

When Sokka pulls into the parking lot of the Jasmine Dragon, he is unsurprisingly the first car there. Being a freshman in town means getting the worst pick of shifts at local businesses. Sokka was hired on to work the opening shift, which means he wakes up at the ungodly hour of 5am to open the shop before the first round of sleep-deprived college students comes in. The pay isn't bad, Mr. Iroh is an incredibly fair man,

The bell on the door jingles on his way in, and he flips several light switches on, watching as the coffee shop slowly comes to life. He busies himself with getting the beans for the day grinding, pulling his first shot and dialing in the expresso. When he takes a sip, the espresso is spot on for the day, which is a relief. Having to make adjustments as customers start filing in is a nightmare.

Today's brew is floral and citrusy, so he decides to make himself and iced lavender latte - with oat milk, of course, because he's gotta do it for the gays - and he spends the next 20 minutes setting out pastries and fiddling with the display cases, making everything look perfect.

At 6am sharp, Sokka unlocks the front door and flips their sign to open, before retreating behind the bar to nurse his latte. Not even five minutes later, the door bell jingles, and Sokka sees a flash of dark hair, face obscured by a pile of textbooks and binders. The figure runs into one table, and then another, and Sokka is rushing out from behind the counter. He gets there just before textbooks go toppling everywhere, his hands taking a firm hold of the top bundle. As he pulls the books into his arms, he sees the face behind them.

Breathtaking golden eyes.

And.. a massive burn scar.

"Hi!" Sokka says, "I'm the barista on shift today - my name's Sokka." He would reach his hand for the other man to shake, but for the stack of textbooks in them.

Golden Eyes smiles.

"I'm Zuko, Zuko Sozin," he says, setting his remaining textbooks on the table by his side. Sokka follows suit.

"Hey, I think I've seen you before - are you taking Piandao's Intro to Biology class?"

"Uh, yeah - yeah! You sit a few rows in front of me." Zuko laughs. "Your doodles are uh, something alright."

Sokka knocks him good-naturedly on the shoulder. "I gotta keep my hands busy for my brain to focus." He looks down at the stack of books on the table. "What on earth are you studying, to have that many books?"

"Uh, Biology and Chemistry double-major, Pre-Med track." Sokka's eyes widen. "It's really not that much! I got a bunch of stuff out of the way with AP credits."

Sokka raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, it is a lot - but I'm really passionate about it. I want to be a doctor."

"Well, Dr. Sozin, what can I get started for you today?"

"Can I get a iced matcha, with a lot of honey?"

Sokka raises his other eyebrow. "A doctor with a sweet tooth?"

"Kind of?"

"Don't worry, I won't rat you out to your dentist. An iced matcha with extra honey?" Zuko nods and Sokka smiles. "You got it, doc."

ii.

Sokka falls into a routine at the Jasmine Dragon. He opens the shop every morning, and every morning of the fall semester so far, Zuko Sozin comes in at precisely 6:05am. Zuko will order an iced matcha with honey, and sits at a table by the window with his laptop and at least two textbooks open at all times. Then, at 11:50am - Sokka guess he has a class that starts at noon - Zuko leaves the shop, always making sure to throw his spare change into Sokka's tip jar.

He's so beautiful.

On a slow day, Sokka comes out from behind the safety of the counter and works up the courage to ask Zuko if he can study with him. Zuko looks shocked at first, but his lips quirk up in a smile as he gestures for Sokka to sit in the chair across from him, moving his textbooks to make room for Sokka's one book and laptop.

"What are you studying, Sokka?" Zuko appears to be genuinely interested.

"Oh, uh, social work, with a concentration in mental health." Sokka waits for Zuko to laugh at him. It never comes. He looks up at him over their laptops.

"That's really cool."

"You think so?"

"Yeah! I mean, some pre-med majors can be really pretentious, really dismissive of mental illness, but um - not me. I don't really have that luxury." Zuko laughs, as though at a joke with himself. "What's the Intro to Biology for, then?"

"Not all of us got our common core out of the way with AP credits, like some nerd I know." Zuko smiles at that, and looks back down at his laptop screen.

Sokka pulls his keys from his pocket and starts fidgeting with the stim toy he keeps on his keychain as he reads through his latest assignment for his Mental Illness and Society class. He bought it on Etsy, relieved to find a neurodivergent-owned shop after scrolling through a lot of stores that just seemed to be hopping on the 'trend' of selling fidget toys. He flips to the next page in his textbook, popping the buttons back and forth in a steady rhythm. He remembers Zuko's sitting across from him and stops abruptly.

"Is this annoying? Do you want me to stop?"

Zuko just cocks his head. "Why would I get a say in what you do? It's kind of your shop, right?"

"Um, to be polite?" Sokka laughs. "And you would be surprised how many customers I get who think they get to tell me what to do." His eyes settle on the half drunk latte in front of him. "It's not really my shop either, I just work the early morning shifts so Mr. Iroh can sleep in. If you ever get to stay past noon sometime, you'll see him come in. You can't miss him, short guy, talks in riddles. He's older, a war vet I think - I just get that impression from some of the stories he tells me. But anyway, did you want me to stop fidgeting?" Sokka looks back up to meet those golden eyes.

Zuko glitches for a second. "Oh! No, no, go for it - if it helps you to study, I'm all for it."

Sokka smiles, and looking at the way Zuko keeps picking at his cuticles gives him an idea. He digs into his backpack and pulls out another stim toy, an acupressure ring. ""Do you want to try this instead of maiming your hands?"

Zuko hesitantly holds out a hand and Sokka drops it into his palm. "You don't have to."

Sokka scoffs. "I know I don't have to - I want to. Come on, I wear it on my thumb sometimes -" and suddenly he's taking Zuko's hands into his and getting very close to Zuko's face. Zuko can smell espresso on his clothes and Sokka's hands are so warm against his. Calloused, sure, but warm. He holds Zuko's right hand gently, pressing the spiky ring onto his thumb. "And you can rub it back and forth with your pointer finger and it gives you that kind of prickly sensation that you get from skin picking, just without the skin picking." Sokka pulls his hands away and Zuko immediately misses them. "Give it a shot, tell me what you think."

Zuko tentatively rolls the ring over his thumb. Huh. The cute barista's right, the acupressure gives him that same prickly, scratchy feeling that picking at his nails and cuticles does. "Wow," he says, "I think you've converted me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then keep it, I've got a thousand more where that came from, ADHD perks."

Zuko instinctively opens his mouth to protest but the words die in his throat.

"You, you have ADHD?" He stops rolling the ring across his thumb.

"Yup." Sokka's lips popped on the 'p', and he turned to the next page in his textbook. "And I'm pretty sure you've got some spicy stuff happening your brain, too. But you don't have to tell me."

"How are you so open about it?"

Sokka's hand stills around the fidget. "My parents never treated me like I was deficient in any way - my brain just works differently, which means I have trouble with some 'normal' stuff. But I also strengths in areas that others don't have naturally. Accommodations aren't anything to be ashamed of."

"Sounds nice." All of the levity drops out of Zuko's voice.

Sokka levels a look at Zuko. He lets his eyes flit to the right side of Zuko's face and the scar there. He's seen it so many times, and the burns look so concentrated, almost... intentional. His stomach churns at the thought. The scar's old... and Zuko's at college now, he has to be safe - he has to be.

"Like I said, you don't have to tell me." Sokka's hand starts to fidget with the buttons again. "But I have it on good authority that I am a good listener."

"I'll... I'll keep that in mind." Zuko looks down at his hands, fingers rolling the ring back and forth against his thumb. "Thank you."

"Anytime, doc."

iii.

Somehow, fumbling through their collective social awkwardness, they manage to swap numbers.

At the end of the fall semester, Sokka texts Zuko for the first time.

S: hey, im gonna be a few minutes later. don't worry, im still coming.

Z: okay. thank you.

When Sokka finally pulls into the parking lot fifteen minutes late, he sees Zuko waiting outside the door, sitting on a bench, head buried in one of his chemistry textbooks.

"Hey," he puts his keys in the door. "You can just come in while I open, it won't take too long."

Zuko follows him inside, and he closes the door against the chill.

"You didn't have to text me," Zuko says, like it's a question.

"I wanted to," Sokka starts flipping on light switches. "I know you've got your routine, and I didn't want to stress you out when it got messed up."

"Why would that matter to you?"

"Um, I don't want you to be stressed? I kind of care about you."

"You... you care about me?" Zuko stands in the middle of the coffee shop, unmoving.

Sokka smiles. "Yeah, I think I do."

"Why?"

"I think we could be friends?"

"Oh." Zuko's face falls for a second - what Sokka has come to understand is his 'processing' face - and he looks back up a second later. "I think we could be friends too."

"Friendship with a barista has great perks, you know." Sokka laughs as he starts up the grinder. "Although the perks of a social worker friend aren't too bad either."

"How's that going? With your first semester ending?" Zuko sits on a stool at the bar and watches Sokka putter around behind it.

"Well, I'm going to pass Intro to Biology, not for lack of trying on Piandao's part - I swear he's trying to weed out all the humanities kids. It isn't even a weed out course!" He polishes an espresso glass furiously. "How are you doing?"

Zuko chokes. "Oh, I'm - I'm fine, you know it's a hard class and all -"

"You're getting an A, aren't you?" Sokka squints at him from behind a bag of coffee beans. "Curve breaker," he scoffs.

"Hey, it's not my fault that I'm, what did you call it? A 'burnt-out gifted kid with people pleasing tendencies'." Zuko crosses his arms and huffs at the memory of that conversation. Sokka had read him like a picture book. And it was not fair for one person to be that good at emotions.

"You are correct, I did indeed call you that." Sokka pulls the first shot of the morning. "And it looks like I was right."

"You know what you said the other week, about being a good listener?"

"Sure do," Sokka takes a sip of the espresso, swishing it around in his mouth before spitting it out. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, if we're going to be... friends, I just think you'd want to know that - I'm autistic." Zuko stares at Sokka searching his face for any cues about what the next words out of his mouth will be, waiting for the facade of friendship to drop. He furiously rolls the acupressure ring up and down his thumb.

"Okay, that's great!"

"...what."

Zuko's hands freeze and he squeezes the ring against his skin, feeling the pressure increase.

"That's great, I'm glad you felt safe enough to tell me that. I kind of guessed your parents weren't as accommodating as mine?"

Zuko laughs something sour. "No, no they were not." He looks up in surprise as Sokka puts an iced matcha, extra honey, in front of him. "You're right though, I do feel safe here. I feel safe with you." Zuko looks down at the acupressure ring on his thumb, softening his grip. "You could have totally ignored me, but you didn't. Or you could've been mean about my quirks - but you weren't. Why?"

"Well, for starters, you tip well." Sokka smiles and leans across the counter, bracketing Zuko's elbows in with his own. "But you're also a really great guy - you're passionate, you want to make people's lives better, and you're also like, really beautiful."

Zuko feels his cheeks flush. "You really think that?" His fingers still against the fidget again, but he doesn't feel the need to press it into his skin. He's captivated by Sokka's words. Surely, Sokka couldn't actually mean -

"Oh, yeah. Every bit." Sokka brushes his hand against one of Zuko's, the one with the fidget ring. "Can I hold your hand?"

"Yes, please, yes." After weeks, Sokka's hand is back in his, and Zuko thinks he's going to implode. "Can, can you hold both of my hands? With both of your hands?"

"Of course," Sokka's positively beaming, grabbing Zuko's hands and running his thumbs across his knuckles. "Now you're absolutely allowed to say no to my next question, and there are no hard feelings."

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?"

"Fuck yes."

The iced matcha is forgotten.

+ i

Sokka's feet hurt like hell. Mr. Iroh had called in him to work a double on Friday, and since he doesn't have any classes on Fridays, he foolishly agreed.

It won't seem so foolish once you see the paycheck, he reminds himself. He and Zuko have a deal. Zuko pays for his medical school with his job shelving books at the University library, and Sokka pays for their tiny apartment by caffeinating all of the other broke college kids in town. By some miracle, they seem to be able to make it work. Zuko graduated into the medical college a year early, which helps with tuition costs, and of course his brilliant boyfriend got all kinds of scholarships.

Sokka is indescribably proud of him.

The door bell jangles just as Sokka is wiping the crumbs off the last cafe table. "Hey, we're starting to close up for the night, so it'd better be a to-go order," he calls over his shoulder.

"Even for me?"

"Zuko!" Sokka drops his cloth immediately and spins around, pulling Zuko into a hug. Zuko taps the small of his back when he's ready to let go, and Sokka lets him go, beaming. "You came to visit me at work?"

"More like I picked up your favorite soup dumplings from Haru's across the street and thought we could walk home together?" Zuko shrugs, gesturing to the brown paper bag in his arms. "How's that sound to you?"

"Baby, that's just what I needed today." Sokka picks up his cleaning supplies. "Okay, I just need to put all of this away and then we can lock up and go home, how's that?"

"Great," Zuko smiles at him. "I may have also picked up some more Doctor Who DVDs from the library," he smirks.

"Oh, you trickster!" Sokka yells from the kitchen, before appearing again. "You used my one weakness, pork soup dumplings, against me in order to get your nerdy way."

"Oh, big talk coming from the guy who watches astronomy documentaries for fun," Zuko laughs as Sokka leads him out of the shop, switching off the lights and locking the door behind him. "If it were up to you, we'd be watching Cosmos all weekend, and I can only take so much of Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining the peculiarities of the moon."

"Hey, the moon is cool!"

"You are correct, the moon is very cool. It's freezing, because it's a rock. In space. With no atmosphere. Or life." Zuko deadpans, earning a light punch on the shoulder from Sokka.

"Fine, you get Doctor Who tonight, but Saturday is going to be all PBS Nova, baby. Brace yourself." Sokka takes Zuko's free hand into his as they start the walk home.

"Well, as long as you're there, I'm happy."

Notes:

fidgets in this work were inspired by those from shop StimBox

[peaches-writes]

before one a.m.

description: bang chan, college of music, friend of a friend who surprisingly offers to share a workplace in a cafe on this busy friday night member: chan genre: fluff, college au, strangers to friends au, reader is a fine arts student word count: 7.4k warning: explicit language note: inspired by the before trilogy but it kinda feels like i didn’t do it justice i rlly cant do strangers to anything lmao im a clown + this took rlly long but it’s not that good sldkfjkdsl :( 

6:30 PM

You hurriedly skip up the steps of the campus library’s entrance staircase, backpack slung over one shoulder and your laptop, tucked in its own bag, and a sketchbook pressed to your chest. Entering through the double doors, you breathlessly sigh in disappointment at seeing most of the working tables full. I run from Fine Arts across the oval to a full library, you huff at scanning the floor from the entrance one last time before proceeding to run up the staircase by the reception desk, skipping the steps again in an attempt to cross the distance faster. 

On the second to the last step, as you focus on not missing the steps you hop onto, your shoulders accidentally bump into someone rushing down from the opposite side, almost making you slip if not for the stranger who quickly steadies you by your upper arm in time. ��Woah there.” A familiar voice mutters under his breath as you regain composure. “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry!”

You look up from almost dropping your laptop and sketchbook on the staircase, meeting eyes with an apologetic Bang Chan who has moved a step above you with a messenger bag and his infamous laptop. 

“Are you okay?” He prods on, going down one step again so you’re on the same level now.

Though he’s in a different college, you know him by name and face from similar social circles, hence the slight embarrassment you felt at recognizing him after almost slipping right in front of him. “I’m okay.” You muse, eyes then flitting over to the second floor entrance. “Is it full too?” 

Chan nods once, fixing his messenger bag with one hand as it starts to feel heavy. “Y-yeah, it’s finals week in the College of Sciences, I think.” 

“Oh.” You frown. “Well, that’s too bad.”

The two of you stand in silence for a moment, you slowly alternating your gaze between the second floor and the staircase leading back to the first, contemplating on what to do now, while Chan strangely waits for you to say something again. 

When you don’t speak, he speaks up again, “Do you want to...” He trails off until you avert your gaze back to him. “I’m going to Block 325 to work. Do you want to come and share a table with me?” 

Your eyes widen, surprised at a fellow college student being generous enough to share a study spot with you, but Chan misinterprets, thinking you don’t remember him from when you were introduced in Seungmin’s birthday party. “I’m sorry.” He quickly apologizes again, scratching the nape of his neck sheepishly. “It’s just that I thought you’d—now I sound like a creep. I’m so sorry, that’s not my intention at all.”

Simultaneously, you respond, “O-Oh, I was just surprised. College students aren’t really that generous with work areas—what?” 

Chan takes a step backward, leaning close to the railings. “W-What?” 

You chuckle, amused by the small miscommunication that suddenly made the atmosphere lighter. “Why did you think you sounded like a creep? I just said it’s a nice offer, not everyone here offers to share work spaces.” 

“Well, I thought you didn’t recognize me,” He answers honestly. “we were introduced at Seungmin’s party?”

You shake your head, your smile growing at how cute he looks when he’s flustered. “Bang Chan, right? College of Music.” You smile when he nods innocently. “See? I’m more worried you didn’t recognize me, CB97.” 

Chan blushes in embarrassment, but even more in the way his Soundcloud rapper name rolls off your lips almost teasingly. “So...” He changes the topic immediately. “Do you want to go with me, Y/N?” 

You nod, noting the way he mimicked the tone you used in referring to him by his stage name. “Of course, thank you for offering to share a workspace.”

“No problem, any friend of Seungmin’s my friend too.” He waves his free hand dismissively before leading you down the staircase. “Come on, let’s go.” 

You leave the library together, the feeling of the building’s cold air conditioning leaving escaping your skin making you sweat slightly. You don’t skip down the stairs this time since Chan doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get to Block 325 cafe, North of the campus oval. 

“Look.” Chan points up as the two of you reach the sidewalk. You follow his gaze as you continue walking, seeing the sunset’s sky move with the crown shyness of trees forming a canopy over the road. “Careful when you’re walking.”

You deliberately ignore his last comment, musing, “Wow, it’s so beautiful.” Your mouth falls agape and your eyes widen. “The canopy shape makes it look so magical, don’t you think?”

“You don’t stay late out here much?” Chan asks when you turn your eyes back to the sidewalk ahead. 

You return his gaze with a shrug, “Only on hell weeks like this...but even then, I usually stay in our department building so I don’t get out much at this hour.” 

“So why aren’t you working in your building tonight?” 

“The floor where I usually work overnight is under renovation. I can’t work at my dorm too since we don’t really have that much space for studying,” Your eyes move down to his laptop bag, noticing how it’s bulkier than yours. “What about you? Don’t they have studios in the College of Music?” 

“They’re full tonight since a lot of seniors are starting their thesis proposals.” He points out. “I’m actually not out making a school project, this one’s for a gig.”

“And in your dorms?” 

“It’s movie night so everyone’s going to be really noisy.”

“Oh, then lucky you didn’t get a table in the library,” You point out with a giggle. “the entire College of Sciences would’ve been pissed at you.” 

Chan scoffs lightheartedly, “And you? If you got a table, the entire library would’ve gotten annoyed by you making a mess.” 

“I’m organized when I work outside the studio, thank you very much.” You roll your eyes, chuckling towards the end. “But yeah, I guess it’s better that we’re going to a cafe since I’m working with watercolor.” 

At this, you arrive in front of Block 325 cafe, Chan courteously opening the door for you.  

7:30 PM

You settle in a booth by the window, illuminated by a white paper lantern and one of the cafe’s neon signs that reads, “COFFEE,” in a metallic color. Chan sits across from you and takes the half of the table near the window, his laptop blocking his face and his headphones covering his ears, while you sit near the aisle, occasionally mistaking your open cup of latte for the small bowls you brought with you containing tap water as you work on your plate due on Monday.

Chan glances over to your work space whenever he reviews his work every 15 minutes, propping an elbow on the table and resting his cheek on his palm, and you take rests from your own work by trying to catch him in the act, giggling when you do and shaking your head when you don’t. 

As an hour passes by, you put your brush down to let your plate dry and look up at Chan as he tests out melodies on his synthesizer, taking a long sip of your latte before asking, “How’s your song?” 

Chan’s eyes widen at the faint hint of your voice, hands traveling up to his headphones and taking them off. “Hm?” 

“I asked how’s it going.” You repeat patiently over your latte. The sweet taste of the coffee brew reminds you of Chan’s coffee order, finding the cappuccino only half-empty in the hour you’ve been in the cafe. 

“Oh, it’s going well.” He answers proudly, eyes alternating between your expectant eyes and his laptop’s screen. “I’m just fixing some mixing issues.”

You nod, looking around the surprisingly organized table. Before Chan could wear his headphones again, you gesture to the counter, “I’m ordering. Do you want anything?” 

He shakes his head in response, wearing his headphones again. “No, thank you, I’ll order later.” 

You purse your lips, standing up from your seat and briefly stretching your arms upwards. “Okay.” You then adjust your denim jacket as it loosely falls on your right shoulder before walking over to the counter. 

“Hello, is there anything you need?” The barista on duty politely asks from brewing an Americano behind the counter. Though the cafe is full today, like you and Chan, most of the customers are only here for the wifi and the work space. 

You skim through the menu once before leaning over the counter and responding, “I’ll have two slices of strawberry shortcake, a banana bread, and the chocolate glazed doughnut, please.” The barista immediately acknowledges it, moving over to the cashier to input your order. “Thank you!” 

You then pay when the she tells you the price, moving over to the display case of desserts and pastries where she then carefully takes your orders. 

You survey the other desserts, pastries, and bottled drinks before your eyes return to Chan across the cafe, catching him leaning over the table and trying to take a peek at your work from his angle, making you giggle once again. 

And as if he heard you, he turns to you, eyes widening briefly at getting caught before awkwardly waving at you. You decide on waving back until the barista presents your order next to the counter, neatly organized on a tray. 

“Thank you again!” You say politely before taking the tray and going back to your table, Chan eyeing all the delicacies the entire time. 

“Stressed much?” He asks, pointing at the two slices of strawberry shortcake. When you look down, only then do you realize that the two slices were placed in one plate with a pair of forks and napkins. “Not that it’s bad to eat a lot, it’s just...a lot of sweets.”

“The other one’s supposed to be for you but I guess the barista thought we’re sharing a plate.” You hand him the chocolate glazed doughnut, thrusting it into his hands when he initially refuses. “You need to eat on time even when it’s just a small amount.” 

“I’ll pay you later,” Chan says after thanking you for the doughnut, reluctantly unwrapping the plastic cover and taking a big bite. “And you can have the cake, it’s fine.” 

“I can’t finish the cake on my own.” You sit down now, taking a bite of the banana bread with one hand while pushing the cake at the center of the table with the other. Chan then politely helps you by placing the tray on the empty space of his share of the table. “Just take the other slice, you don’t have to pay me” 

“But—“

“It’s for offering me a table tonight.” You immediately interject reassuringly. “Please, have the other slice of cake.”

Chan ends up smiling appreciatively at you, picking up one of the forks and cutting a forkful. “...Thank you.” 

You nod, moving your banana bread to your non-dominant hand to pick up your brush and go back to work. “No problem.” You muse, smiling unconsciously at watching Chan stop working altogether to eat. “Like you said, ‘any friend of Seungmin’s a friend of mine too.’”

As you turn back to painting, returning to your unfinished Winter wonderland, you look at Chan again, asking, “Anyway, what do you think?” 

He looks up immediately, his slice of cake almost gone. You quickly clarify, “My plate, I mean.” 

“Oh,” His eyes flicker down to your work again once. “It’s really beautiful. Akita, right?” You nod at his question, letting him continue. “I love the details and the colors—they seem so whimsical and nostalgic, like a childhood memory.”

You feel heat rise to your cheeks by the genuine tone of his voice, “Thank you. I hope the professor feels the same way when he sees it.”

“Why Akita?"

“We’re supposed to make a study on nature but I didn’t want to just make something that’s so common around here so I chose this, from a winter trip I won in an art competition last year.” You look down on your work, a flood of memories making your smile wider. “It was the first time I went on a trip alone and it’s abroad so it was a little scary at first but I had a lot of fun.” 

“Really? That sounds cool.” He comments enthusiastically. “It must be fun to travel on your own. I mean, I do too but, sort of; only until I arrive in Australia when I visit my family.” 

Simultaneously, you nod, “It is fun, like it’s one of the things you have to do at one point in your life.” 

“Right, right!” He replies with a chuckle, nodding along still. “I don’t know a lot of people who think the same way so I’m weirdly glad.”  

You spare a glance at Chan, your gaze softening at his genuine expression. When he gives you a questioning look, you answer, “I’m surprised, too; you just seem more like the crowd-type of person.” 

He shrugs. “It’s always fun to be with friends but I think you can enjoy the company of others the best when you’re already comfortable with being on your own.” 

“And are you?” You prod, reaching over for the unused fork and and taking a small piece of your strawberry cake. “Already comfortable with being on your own?” 

He nods with a confident grin. “Yeah, I invited you over, didn’t I?” 

You smile back. “I guess so.” 

8:30 PM

An hour later, you catch Chan stretching his arms upward, leaning back on the seat cushions. You momentarily stop touching up your work, looking up at him with a raised brow, “Break?” 

He nods, stifling a yawn as he brings his hand back down to close his laptop. “Just for 10 minutes.” He gestures over to your work, leaning close to the table. “You should, too, you’ve been working for an hour straight.” 

You glance down at your work, contemplating for a moment before carefully placing your brush to the side and leaning back to your seat as well. “Okay, but just for 10 minutes.” 

You then finish what remains of your latte while Chan organizes the table by gathering all the empty wrappers and your shared plate and cutlery to the tray you used a while back. In response, you take his empty glass. 

“I can take that.” He gestures over to the glasses in your hand with your empty plate while scooting over to the aisle. “Just sit down.” 

You shake your head but place the glass on the tray, standing up almost simultaneously as he does. You then pick up your bowls of paint waiter, holding them up to him. “I’m going to go and change my water.” 

“Oh...okay, then.” The two of you then proceed to the counter where the barista happily takes the tray from Chan’s hands while you dump your dirty paint water in their service sink and replace it with cleaner tap water. 

“Thank you for letting me use your water, again.” You told the barista after Chan offered to carry one of your bowls. 

“It’s no problem!” The barista replies with a dismissive wave and a smile. 

You and Chan then carefully return to your table, placing your bowls on your half of the table. 

Chan checks the time on his phone as he sits down, 8:34 PM. “We still have six minutes, what do you want to talk about?” 

“You’re really keeping check?” You ask in disbelief to Chan who nods with his lips in pursed and his arms folded to his chest as he slides down his seat. “So responsible.” 

“I just thought you might be wary of the time,” He shrugs nonchalantly. “so you can go home early and all, it’s Friday anyway.”

You shake your head, scrunching up your nose, “I don’t have to be somewhere this weekend. All my friends are all busy studying and catching deadlines and Seungmin’s tutoring someone for the entire weekend.”

You decide on busying yourself by scrolling through your Instagram on your phone, glancing over at Chan occasionally as he contemplates on what else to say while opening his laptop again. 

“How do you know Seungmin by the way? If I may ask...?” He settles for such a question when his eyes trail over the customized keychain on your backpack, a photo of you, Seungmin, and your other best friend, Sooyoung, in a Mickey Mouse-shaped frame. “I mean, he talks about you a lot when we hang out but didn’t introduce us until recently so I thought you were dating but he said you aren’t so I’m just...curious.”

When you look up at him, you follow his gaze to your keychain, an amused smile taking over your features. “We’re not dating, just childhood friends but not really close to the point that we know all of the other’s friends.” Unconsciously, your hand finds their way to the keychain, fiddling with them lightly before turning to Chan. “Anyway, even if we just met recently, I’m really happy it’s you and the others he specifically befriended.”

Chan nods with a hum. When he doesn’t speak, you ask him back his question, “How about you? I’m guessing you met through Felix and Jeongin?” 

“Yeah,” He agrees with another nod. “I toured them around campus last year during their orientation.” 

“Aw, you’re in the Orientation Committee?” You coo. Even though it suits his personality, hearing him say it out loud made it somehow more adorable. “That’s so cute! That’s probably why I always hear the Freshmen gossip about you in our studios.” 

His eyes widen at this, pink dusting his cheeks. “W-what?” He stammers, making you laugh. 

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know.” You shake your head in feign disapproval, crossing your arms for emphasis. “You’re very popular on campus: music major, radio DJ, performs in a rap trio, and I just find out that you’re in the Orientation Committee touring Freshman on the first week? If I was any batch lower, I would’ve swooned over you in my first months here too. Oh? You’re blushing!” 

Chan scoffs, rolling his eyes in an attempt to hide the now prominent blush on his cheeks. “I’m not, I’m not!” He waves his hand dismissively to distract you from the clearly seeing his face. 

“You definitely are!” You point out in between chuckles, sitting up properly when you unconsciously slide down the booth. “Are you not used to getting compliments? Seriously, this is why I didn’t think you’d remember me from earlier: you’re too charming and popular with other students.” 

Internally, he briefly wonders if you’d still swoon over him even when you’re in the same batch but quickly pushes the thought away. “I really don’t think I’m that popular. I’m pretty sure people like Jisung and Changbin more.” He shrugs. “And popular or not, I can remember you anywhere.”

The last sentence immediately makes you stop laughing, your heart skipping a beat at what you think is just a casual statement from him, You come up with a retort, only to be interrupted by a sound alert from Chan’s phone, reminding the two of you that it’s already 8:40 PM. 

“Okay, break’s done!” He exclaims happily, relieved that he can finally get out of this embarrassing conversation. 

You tsk playfully, picking up your brush while Chan opens his laptop again. “I still think you’re very charming and popular, CB97.” You comment before he can tune you out with his music again. “In fact, if someone asked, I’ll have to say that you’re my favorite 3racha member.” 

Chan pretends to increase the volume on his laptop in his flustered state. You catch this, an amused smile forming on your lips. You conclude to yourself that you feel more casual and comfortable around him now that you made him flustered. 

Cute. 

9:30 PM

You’ve been done for quite a while now, having busied yourself in the past 5 minutes in disposing the paint water, cleaning your brushes, and packing your things while your work completely dries. Chan looks up at you from his own work when you return with clean bowls and brushes, his headphones falling down his shoulders. Hesitantly, he asks, “Are you leaving?” 

You sit down first, contemplating on the question as you carefully place your bowls and brushes inside your bag, before opting for a shrug and answering, “I’m too lazy to leave yet.” You then briefly break eye contact to check your phone for the time. “Besides, it’s too early. I can stick around, right?” 

He nods once, lifting his headphones up to his ears again. “Yeah, it’s okay.” 

You give him an appreciative smile, leaning back in your seat and opening your phone to Instagram. Blindly, you reach your backpack pockets for your earphones as well, managing to find them after a while. 

Simultaneously, Chan lifts another glance over to you just as you’re connecting your earphones to your phone. A thought then passes over him, “Do you want to...” He trails off again, just until you return his gaze with a raised eyebrow. “Do you want to listen with me?” 

“Wouldn’t we bother everyone else studying?” You ask back in response, your forehead crinkling in confusion as you gesture over to the other remaining customers in the vicinity. 

He quickly pauses his music and takes out what seems to be an adapter that splits into two ports on one end, holding it between the two of you. “You can connect your earphones here, I’ll do the same, then I’ll plug it on my laptop.” He motions to his laptop while taking out his headphones’ audio jack towards the end. “It’s an earphone splitter—for sharing music from one device, basically.” 

“Oh.” You nod along in fascination. You then disconnect your earphones from your phone, plugging it on one of the two ports of the splitter. “Okay, if it’s okay to listen.”

He shrugs reassuringly. “Well, it’s an unreleased track but it’s okay since everyone’s going to hear anyway—just don’t tell Changbin I let you listen to it first before him.” His eyes then widen and his mouth falls slightly agape when you get up from your seat, leaving your earphones on the table, and move to the empty space next to him, picking up your earphones again and placing the buds on your ears. 

You look to your side, raising an eyebrow at his surprised expression, “What?” 

“N-Nothing.” He stammers out, casting his eyes downward to connect his headphones to the splitter’s other port then connecting the splitter itself to his computer. 

You giggle. “I can’t stay in my seat, I’ll get cramps from leaning over the table.”

He pretends to ignore your comment in his flustered state, his mouse hovering over to the very start of the track before pressing play. “Playing now.” 

You slide down the booth comfortably, shoulders jumping slightly at the soft drums and bass that flows into your earphones instead of the usual aggressive percussion and beat that everyone associates with Chan’s rap group. Next to you, Chan props his elbow on the table and rests his cheek on the palm of his hand, pretending to watch the stacked and overlapping tracks’ wavelengths move with the music’s progression while stealing glances in your direction, trying to catch a reaction. 

“What’s the name of this track?” You ask over the music, your voice coming out louder against Changbin’s rap. “Does it have a name already?” 

He unconsciously grasps the fabric of his hoodie with his free hand, holding it up to you. “Hoodie season?” 

You chuckle, a little skeptical. “You sound unsure. Did you come up with that on the spot?”

But he shakes his head, gesturing over to the file name. “It’s the name of the track, seriously.” Internally, he also wonders why he seemed to have hesitated. 

"It’s a fitting name, I guess.” You end up nodding with a hum, eyes lighting up when Jisung begins to sing. “Perfect for the incoming Winter.” 

Jisung then starts rapping after the chorus, surprising you once again. “As expected of Han Jisung.” You clap lightly in satisfaction, a proud smile on your face. “Changbin’s verse was also great. Ah, I can’t wait to hear this live.” 

Chan starts feeling visibly anxious next to you as his verse nears, leg bouncing up and down under the table and his fingers poking into his cheek to the beat of the song, that he blurts out, “We’re performing here before break.”

You look up from the laptop screen to him expectantly. “Really? When? What time?” You ask hurriedly, not wanting to speak over the music in case Chan’s part comes up next. 

“On the Saturday before break, I think?” He answers, eyes glancing back and forth between you and the track. “Saturday night, from what I can remember.” 

The chorus then plays again after Jisung’s verse, making you sit up properly in your seat once again in anticipation for Chan’s verse. “Tickets?” You ask him to the already familiar tune of the chorus. 

“It’s free admission.” He answers, the most anxious now. Why did they have to say I’m their favorite member? He sighs in his head at the very cause of his sudden anxiousness. 

Chan’s verse then plays, your tight-lipped smile turning into a satisfied grin. You don’t say anything more, leaving Chan internally lingering over the question of whether or not you’ll attend the gig. 

“Hey, baby, I’ll make you my lover, ay. I’m thankful that I’m warm in the Autumn, ooh ah, ooh ah, I’ll hold you wherever we go.”

You chuckle somewhere between the lyrics, looking over at Chan in amusement who returns your gaze with a confused look. “You make hoodies sound so romantic.” You comment, answering his unspoken question. “Not that it can’t be, it’s just that you made it sound witty and funny somehow.” 

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” He asks with genuine concern. The song now ends but you don’t take your earphones out of the splitter and he doesn’t bother as well. 

“It’s a good thing.” You comment, careful of your tone in case you let it slip that you’re totally swooning over him right now. “Plus, this sounds fresh—it’s so different from the songs you usually put out.” 

“Really? Thanks.” He heaves a sigh of relief, smiling more carefree now. 

The two of you don’t speak for a while, not even bothering to take out your earphones. Sitting closer to Chan now, you feel even more lazy to get up and move back to your seat, much less leave and walk to your dorm right outside campus. 

After a while, Chan speaks up again. “Want to listen to something else?” 

You motion over to the track, “Are you done already? I might be interrupting your work.” 

He tilts his head to the side, placing his propped up arm on the table back on his lap as he sits up properly. “It’s pretty much done, just needs a little tweaking on the mixing. I can do that later.” For emphasis, he saves the track and exits the software, the screen displaying his files folder. “Come on, choose a song.” 

You scoot closer to him, your leg brushing against his now as you lean closer to the screen while he slowly scrolls down the files for you. “Oh, play WOW, that one’s funny.” 

Chan frowns. “Not that one, please.” 

In retaliation, you quickly swipe the mouse from him and play the track, laughing maniacally as the familiar intro skit begins to play. 

“Oh God.” Chan groans in embarrassment, hiding his face in his hands.

But he lets the music anyway. Though he’s feeling very embarrassed, all these feelings are immediately forgotten with seeing you enjoying yourself.   

10:40 PM

The barista passes by your table to remind you kindly that the cafe is closing in a while. Only then do you realize that, besides her, it’s just you and Chan in the cafe now, having spent the last hour going through Chan’s laptop. 

“Ah, time passed by really quickly.” Chan muses as he finishes packing up his laptop then slings his backpack on his shoulder. You stand on the aisle, backpack on one shoulder while your laptop and sketchbook are tucked neatly on one arm reminiscent of when you came in, as you watch and wait for him quietly. 

“It sure did.” You nod when he turns to face you, walking you to the door now. He opens the door for you again, chuckling when you tried beating him to it. “Oh, that reminds me, we only ate sweets a while ago.” 

Chan hums in acknowledgement, catching up to you after closing the door behind him. Now, the campus oval is illuminated by yellow street lights, white building lights, and the occasional passing car against the dark night sky, a complete contrast from when you were outside hours ago. Besides the two of you, there’s barely any people outside anymore as well. 

“Chan?” You tilt your head so that you have a better view of his face while walking, catching him off-guard in his dazed state. 

“Yeah?” He blinks twice, embarrassed that he accidentally drowned you out. “Sorry, I zoned out.” 

“You look like you fell asleep for a second there. I asked if you wanted to get a late dinner.” You repeat your question with a chuckle, facing the sidewalk ahead now. You see the library still open at this time from up ahead, half-empty from the view on the clear windows now that it’s nearing midnight. “My dorm’s across the West entrance and there’s a 24-hour grill on the corner of our street.” 

“Oh...sure, sure,” Chan replies, suddenly realizing that he’s hungry again. “We can just eat at my dorm up ahead on the South side, though, it’s nearer.”

“In your dorm?” You raise an eyebrow teasingly. 

“Yeah?” He replies back in an unsure manner before quickly realizing how he seemed to have come off. “Oh, I didn’t mean it like that! We have a common area with a kitchen. I’ll cook for you, don’t worry!” 

You nod in agreement just as you pass the intersection leading to the East entrance, laughing at the way his eyes crinkle in embarrassment. “I was just joking, sure, let’s go to your dorm.”

Chan sighs next to you, awkwardly rubbing the nape of his neck with his free hand. Such a tease. “Our pantry’s just ramen and canned food, though, so don’t raise your expectations too much.” He warns you lightly once he’s recovered from being a flustered mess. 

“Seungmin says you cook fine, though,” You counter. “so I’m still having these expectations.” 

You reach his dorm after 10 more minutes, Chan walking ahead as you walk up the steps of the entrance so he can open the door for you for the third time this evening and lead you into the common area kitchen. You catch sight of a few familiar faces in the dim light of the lounge area, mostly younger students from your department raving over an action movie playing on the big flat screen and Jisung and Changbin who greet you with knowing smiles on their faces before you disappeared into the kitchen. 

“Are they always glad to see people?” You gesture over to Jisung and Changbin behind you from the wide open doorway as you and Chan leave your things by an empty bench. You briefly turn around to look at them once again, catching them wiggling their eyebrows at Chan before they notice you looking and waving at you with sarcastically sweet smiles in return. “It’s just that...they’re smiling really weird.”

You then turn back around to see Chan a few steps ahead of you shoot the two younger boys an annoyed look, shooing them away with his hand when they lean over the lounge sofa they occupy to have a better look of you and Chan, before turning to you again and laughing nervously, “They’re just being weird, ignore them.” 

“Okay?” You nod, quickly dismissing the thought, before sitting down on the dining table as Chan proceeds to open the nearby refrigerator, passing you a pitcher of water and two glasses. 

He then moves over to the overhead cabinets to your left, examining its contents once before turning to you, “Chicken, beef, or jajangmyeon?” 

“Jajangmyeon, please.” You answer happily as you pour water on the two glasses in front of you. “I can’t believe Bang Chan of 3racha is making me ramen on a Friday night.” 

“Stop teasing me.” He scoffs playfully, taking out four packets of jajangmyeon and opening another cabinet for a clean pot and ladle. He glances over to you slyly over his shoulder, looking away immediately when he catches you taking off your denim jacket to place on your chair behind you. 

You take a sip of the cold water, the sensation making you feel refreshed after hours of working. “Bang Chan of 3racha offered me a work table, called my art pretty, let me listen to an unreleased song, and is now cooking for me—and this is the first time we talked without our mutual friend Seungmin.” You continue teasing him anyway, more as an attempt to distract yourself from the fact that he does look very handsome cooking even with your limited view. “I take back what I said a while ago, I’m definitely swooning right now.” 

Though your tone is casual and playful, Chan can’t find it in himself to fight the blush creeping up his cheeks and the way his hands shake slightly while cooking jajangmyeon. “I’ll burn your share of the jajangmyeon.” 

He hears you laugh behind him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

11:30 PM

You’re presented with a steaming bowl of jajangmyeon along with a few quick side dishes after 10 minutes of scrolling through your Twitter with the dorm’s guest wifi. You thank Chan as you pick up your chopsticks, eating when he does as he sits right across from you. 

“Oh, this is really really good!” You comment after a bite, eyes bright and hands clasping together in satisfaction once again. “I don’t usually trust Seungmin but he is right, you cook well.” 

Chan narrows his eyes at you, his lips unconsciously forming a pout as he chews. “You tease me then turns out you’ve been doubting my cooking skills this whole time.” 

His expression makes you laugh in between big bites of your late dinner. “I meant to say after that what Seungmin said was an understatement, you’re not just fine you’re great so stop pouting!” You take a sip of water after swallowing your fourth bite, your gaze softening to a more sincere expression now. “Anyway, thank you for making me dinner.” 

He smiles shyly now, quickly eating his food to reply, “You bought me cake and a doughnut and kept me company tonight so thank you, too.” 

You take more sips of water as you slowly finish half your bowl before replying, “If I thank you again for offering me a table then we’d go on thanking each other the whole night.” 

He laughs, nodding wholeheartedly in agreement. “Let’s just say thank you at the same time and be done with it.” 

“Right.” You agree. “So, thank you for everything tonight.” 

“Same...thank you for tonight.” He then takes a sip of water before suddenly standing up, catching your attention. “There’s more jajangmyeon in the pot, do you want some more?” 

“Yes, thank you!” 

12:20 AM 

You hold your used silverware tightly as you walk over to the sink, making sure Chan doesn’t snatch them from you and accidentally break them or wash them on his own. 

“Just let me do this since you cooked.” You argue for the fifth time since your conversation shifted from the most random of topics to determining who washes the plates, successfully placing the silverware on the sink almost at the same time as Chan does so. When he tries to gently move you out of the way, you stay firmly on your spot by holding the kitchen counter. “Besides, it’s just one set of plates.” 

“You’re in my dorm so let me wash the plates.” He protests for the second time as well while trying to swat your hands away. After two tries, he successfully moves you to the side, passing you a random packet of biscuits from the overhead cabinet to occupy yourself with. “You don’t have to make things even with us, we’re just hanging out casually.” 

You frown, opening the packet and eating a biscuit anyway. “Still, if someone cooked the other should wash the plates, that’s how it goes.” 

“That’s how it goes only when it’s a date.” He mumbles under his breath, not really expecting that you would catch it. 

“A date?” 

Quickly, he waves his hand dismissively at you. "Nothing. Seriously, it’s fine.” He smiles at you reassuringly, eventually feeling relieved when you don’t tease him further. “Anyway, it’s been a long night and you still have to walk back to your dorm after this so just rest over there.” 

You look down on your biscuits, a thought suddenly coming into mind. “Have a biscuit, then.”

“No, just eat it.” 

“Come on.” You hold up a biscuit to his face as he busies himself with scrubbing the plates and glasses. When he look your way or open his mouth, you poke his lips with the end of the biscuit. “Seriously, eat the biscuit!”

You see him trying to stifle a laugh as you continue poking around his lips with the biscuit, making you laugh as well. Moving away so you don’t take it as an opportunity, he replies, “If I eat this biscuit, will you let me walk you to the West gate? It’s late and dark out.”

You contemplate on this for a moment, your hand stopping in midair. Chan takes this as an opportunity to take a small bite of the biscuit, “Hey, you bit it already!” 

He nods, leaning his head to your hand when you try retracting it then taking another bite. “Yeah, so can I walk you home then call it finally even.” 

You sigh, letting him eat the whole biscuit in your hand. “Okay.” 

“You wouldn’t feel like you need to repay me again after, okay?” 

“Only if you don’t.” 

“Deal.” He concludes, finally turning to look at you while he rinses the soap off the glasses. “Can I have another one?” 

You take out another biscuit, initially extending it over to him before quickly putting it in your mouth before he can even take a bite. “Just kidding, you get the next one.” You mumble while taking out another biscuit, giving it to him this time when he’s done drying his hands, frowning. 

“You’re so mean.” He comments, taking the biscuit from your hand. 

“That’s what you signed up for when you decided on befriending me tonight.” You point out with a laugh, crumpling the wrapper and throwing it in the proper trash bin. 

“Anyway, aren’t you tired? Should we go now?” He changes the topic after a while, walking over to the bench where you left your things. 

You follow him, taking your jacket from the chair you previously occupied on the way. “Yeah before the RA kills me.” 

He laughs. “Strict?”

“Not used to me staying out at this hour.” You correct, pointing at your bag when he picks it up and slings it over his shoulder. “You don’t have to.” 

“This is what you signed up for when you agreed to let me walk you back.” He throws your comeback at you this time as he takes your laptop and sketchbook. “Come on, before your RA kills you.” 

With a defeated sigh, you follow Chan out, almost missing the way Jisung and Changbin follow the two of you with curious eyes as you pass by the lounge once again. 

“Do you think...” Jisung asks Changbin, not even needing to finish his question to get it across as Changbin fervently nods. 

“I think so too.” Changbin replies, taking out his phone. “Should we tell Seungmin?”

12:50 AM

Eventually you reach the West gate. You stop on the side of the overpass, making Chan stop walking as well. 

“I can walk on my own from here, it’s okay.” You smile reassuringly up at him. “Thanks for walking me all the way here again.” 

He shakes his head, not showing any hint of letting go of your things. “I can walk you to your dorm entrance, though.” 

You gesture over to your dorm building with an amused laugh, “It’s literally right next to the other end of the overpass. I don’t want you walking back with an extra distance.” When his skeptical look doesn’t fade away, you sigh but with an appreciative smile. “If you’re worried so much, you can just watch me from here then I’ll wave at you from the other side.” 

After a moment, he finally gives in, handing you your belongings then stepping back so you can go up the overpass stairs. “Okay, okay.”

Such a gentleman, you muse internally to yourself as you take a step up the stairs, still facing him. “Goodnight, Chan.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He returns the greeting to you, hesitating on the last minute to give you a hug like he would do with his close friends. That’s too weird you just talked today, he reminds himself.  

You pretend not to notice the way he almost extended his arms out for a hug, secretly feeling shy yourself. “I’ll see you when I see you?” 

“How about the gig before break?” He asks, another question lingering in his mind but he decides on not asking it as a follow-up. 

You nod in agreement, “I’ll be there, of course, you mentioned it a while ago.”

You’re about to turn around and walk up the overpass at noticing that he doesn’t show any sign of wanting to say anything else when you suddenly hear him ask behind you, “How about on a nearer date?” which makes you turn back around to face him. “How about—tomorrow?”

Shrugging as if nonchalantly, you ask back, “What about it?” 

He hesitates again for a while before taking a small step forward so he’s looking up at you now from the bottom of the stairs. “Do you want to hang out tomorrow, if you’re free that is.” 

You feel your heart flutter ever so slightly at this but you quickly force yourself to ignore it. “That doesn’t sound too fun.” 

“What?” He frowns in genuine disappointment, almost making your teasing gaze soften. 

“I meant where’s the fun in tonight if we meet again soon?” You clarify. “Just wait until your gig next week!” 

He opens his mouth to speak but you’re already walking backwards up the stairs, adding, “And don’t try looking for me in the Fine Arts building, you should know I hide around there well! Goodnight, Chan! Thank you for tonight!” 

With a final smile his way, you finally turn around and walk up the overpass, glancing over to him again when you reach the very top and begin crossing the bridge. As the two of you agreed, he remained by the side of the overpass, watching you carefully even when there’s barely any people on the bridge anymore. 

In under a minute, you’ve reached the halfway mark of the other stairway where you can still see Chan clearly amidst the never-ending flow of cars. You raise a hand above your head, waving to him until he waves back.

Since you’re so far away, you miss the way Chan sighs before sending a dimpled smile your way. He contemplates on asking Seungmin more about you later. 

With that, you then proceed back to your dorms, disappearing from Chan’s sight when you enter your dorm building. He takes that as his cue to head back to his own dorm. 

“Next Saturday’s too far.” He huffs in frustration, sparing one last glance in the direction of your dorm building before passing through the West gate once again. 

Nevertheless, he can’t help but feel excited at the prospect of talking to you again. 

1:00 AM

Chan arrives back in the dorm building, immediately bombarded by Jisung and Changbin who hold his belongings with teasing looks. 

“So you were with Y/N, huh?” Jisung starts, hugging Chan’s laptop to his chest tightly. “Why were you two together?” 

Chan raises an eyebrow, not really knowing where this ‘interrogation’ is going. “I bumped into them at the library when it was full so I offered we share a table at 325.” 

“That’s all?” Changbin asks this time, his arms crossed in front of his chest while Chan’s backpack hangs loosely on his shoulder. 

“Yeah, that’s all,” Chan nods slowly, eyebrows furrowing now. “Why? And why do you have my backpack.”

The two younger boys shake their head at the same time. 

“Oh, nothing.” Jisung dissmises with a small wave. “Just curious.”

As if on cue, Chan’s phone rings its message alert. 

seungmin: SO I HEARD U WENT OUT ON A DATE W Y/N [sent 1:04 AM]

[calpops]

collision | a.i.

In which Ashton owns a record shop and you work in a bookstore a block over. A missing book, a collision and a broken binding bring you together.

Word count: 1k

***

Ashton never usually roams too far from the street his record shop Music Mayhem is on. The store admittedly rules a huge part of his life. He’d raised it from the ground up with his best friend Calum. It dictated most of his free time, if he wasn’t behind the counter for purchases he was perusing the aisles or the back to keep a mental inventory. Even the moments he found himself outside the same poster splashed walls it was usually all tied back to the shop in some way. He’d stop in at Past Presents, the antique shop just a couple buildings up the block, to search for answers or pieces of musical past. The owner Luke always had pieces worth purchasing or advice on vintage players. He also made his daily iced coffee run to the bakery across the street; his good friend Michael enabling his habit with the best brew he’d ever tasted.

Today he finds himself a block over; to the bookstore he’d only ever seen in a rush as he passed. It stands small against buildings double its size, but there’s a certain charm that captures the brick littered with ivy and windows with flower boxes overrun by bright zinnias. Ashton can tell it’s dimly lit just through the windows, shadows dancing across the short spaces and dark wooden shelves seemingly lost in the lack of light. He wonders if it’s even open for a moment but a person cuts past a window and affirms that it is. He’s in search of something specific; looking to replace a book he lost some time ago, only now realizing it no longer sits among the chaos of his overfilled bookshelf. It’s a rare find, written by a local author and out of print. He only hopes he can find it among the used books.

He strolls in and as his eyes adjust to the lighting he spots a table filled with used books. They lay in piles, books askew on top of one another, a mess of literature marked for a dollar with covers and pages creased and worn from time. He walks over with expectations low and sifts through the piles, careful not to damage the books any further.

He has no luck in his endeavors. He double checks just to make sure and sighs in defeat when he comes up empty. He spins around to head back to the doors but stops short and into a collision. A handful of books fall to the floor with resounding thuds and so does a person Ashton has never seen before. His own balance is thrown off as he stumbles but catches himself on the edge of the table, rights himself quickly and looks down at the chaos he inadvertently and accidentally caused.

You look up at him and he goes breathless. Your eyes are wild with worry as you gaze back down at the books now littering the floor. Ashton drops to a knee in an offering of help as your shaking hands reach to recollect them.

“I’m so sorry,” Ashton apologizes and begins to stack the fallen books.

“No, no. I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I took more than I could handle,” you explain while you shake your head in denial of his apology and thumb over a cover that seems to have an extra crease from the way it fell. You sigh and add it to the pile you’ve begun stacking.

“I should watch where I’m going,” Ashton says in an attempt to alleviate your guilt. There’s something in your voice that pulls at his heart strings. Something in your eyes that tells him you’re worth defending.

You both go silent for a moment as the task at hand becomes you. You both reach for the same book, fingers brushing fingers and pulling away quick. Ashton bites his lip and lets you reach for it, but the book falls from its binding and a horrified gasp falls from your lips as the pages splay out onto the floor.

Ashton moves to help quickly, catching the pages and putting them back together in some semblance of what they were before. The cover lays on the floor and the title finally catches his eye. It’s the book he was looking for; a hardbound cover with different colors from the paperback he used to have making it nearly unrecognizable. A tiny laugh rolls out of Ashton but cuts short when he sees your shining eyes and flushed face.

“This is exactly what I was looking for, actually,” Ashton says as he shoves loose pages back into the binding. He hopes his words will comfort you but realizes quite quickly they have the opposite effect.

“I-I’m so sorry, I can try to track down another copy for you I know we don’t have another in stock but we have a sister store in another city I could call and-“ you say in a nervous rush but Ashton smiles and reassures you.

“I actually know a guy who can fix this,” Ashton promises, broken book still in hand and a collection of the other fallen ones under his arm. He starts to stand and so do you, with your own pile of books in hand. “He owns an antique shop. He’s always binding old books, it’s no big deal.”

“Are you sure?” You ask as you both discard the books into the pile on the table. Ashton nods and heads towards the register, throwing you a look as if to communicate he wants to be rung up by you. When you take his hint and follow his lead another rush of words falls out of you.

“You don’t have to pay for it it’s damaged it’ll cost more to fix than buy I can have my wages docked by a dollar for ruining inventory...”

Ashton laughs and hands over a bill. “No need to get in trouble for something I caused, yeah?”

You hesitantly take the money and nod. “Could I at least… buy you a coffee sometime to make up for it?”

“Are you asking me on a date?” Ashton inquires with a raised eyebrow and hope flooding his heart. You blush and butterflies accompany the hope. You nod. “Then, of course.”

You agree to meet for coffee the next day during your break at the bakery a block over; Sweet Stuff being Ashton’s recommendation. Ashton leaves the bookstore with loose pages in broken binding, with a plan for tomorrow and more than he bargained for. Hope and butterflies linger and Ashton’s sure they will stay until he gets to see you again.

***

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[ivyuns]

landing in your heart: failing

han jisung

genre: angst, slight fluff

word count: 1.8k

warnings: location is in north korea, kissing, y/n gets lost in the dark, mentions of suicide at the end, not proofread, grammar mistakes, if theres anything i missed, lmk!

summary: as jisung helps y/n escape north korea, the plan was ruined. however, y/n has other plans to escape which leds to something that shouldnt happen.

note: i rushed :p

part four of landing in my heart

landing in my heart information

“were here to see your honesty and see if you’re trading goods or smuggling humans to other countries” “why would i do that?” the police stomps on the blue hallow board, which was where you and jisung were hiding.

“open up!” was what you both heard underneath. “jisung! what do we do?! you’re a soldier you should know what to do. geez” you silently yelled out. “in south korean dramas-” “what?! this is no time to talk about this” you freaked out. “i’m going to do something. now look at me and don’t be startled. look at me and nothing else”

with that, jisung slams his lips into yours as the door opened.

“o-oh- what is that?” the police asks the man and closes the board. “huh? open it back up”

as the police opens it up again, jisung slams his lips onto yours. as they told you guys to get out, they police asks for jisung’s id. “ah, you guys shouldn’t be doing that here. alright, turn the boat around”

turning the boat back to the shore, you were about to protest of how close you were to getting home. with tears slowly falling down, you dropped onto your knees as jisung looked at you with sad eyes.

back at jisung’s home, you two separated. jisung went to his room as you went to the living room to sleep. jisung sat on his floor and thought about ways on how to help you get back home safely. his thoughts was disturbed as he heard the front gate opening then slamming shut.

jisung quickly runs out of his room and sees the blankets folded nicely with a note on top.

‘thank you for everything. i dont want to cause anymore trouble for you so im going to find my own way on getting back home’

dropping the note, jisung quickly finds traces of where you might be.

-

“alright, i cant just stand here and wait. i need to do something.” you say then grab your walkie talkie. “this is y/n one, this is y/n one. if you can hear me, please say yes” hearing nothing, you assumed it’ll work on the way back home.

jisung finds you on a mountain with your paraglider, ready to take off. “yoon y/n!” jisung yells your name out. ‘huh?’ you thought. how did he find you so quick?

“h-how did you-” “y/n- what are you doing?” jisung asks while catching his breath. “i’m going to paraglide down” you answered. “huh? you cant! you’ll get seen with a naked eye and get shot, no matter if you land in the south or north” being shocked with jisung’s reply, he noticed your walkie talkie was still on.

“how long was this on for?”

the security department got an alert from the mountains. cheolgang rushes to go to the mountain that you were on which makes you scared that this spot that you are standing, will be your death spot.

suddenly, jisung brings you towards the edge, hugs you tightly and jumps off the mountain. “hold on tight” you told him. “im sorry about earlier, i was just frustrated and angry. in fact, i’m grateful of everything.” you hugged him tighter as jisung did the same, feeling some type of way inside his chest.

later that day, jisung went to the market as you were resting in his house. asking for the sales man for coffee beans, remembering that you wanted to relax with coffee, and gives him money and thanking him. manbok is also at the market, buying food for his family. before he could pay, robbers came by and stole his wallet.

jisung sees what happens and quickly runs towards where the robbers are running. after running, he runs towards the gang and ends up fighting with them. one of the gang members, who wasnt involved with the fight, moved behind jisung and almost stabbed jisung- until manbok shows up and stops the guy before stabbing jisung.

“i dont know how to thank you” manbok says. “no, its okay. theres a lot of pickpockets around here so just be careful next time.” manbok nods his head as jisung goes on his own way.

-

currently at the house, you discus with company 5 that you hope jisung will get promoted soon so that you can go home quickly. hearing the knock on the gate, you leave they guys and check to see who it is.

opening the gate, she sees the neighborhood women, asking if she wanted to come to young-ae’s birthday at her house. you thought about it and figured out you wanted to show them what fashion is actually. “mhm, ill meet you ladies over there soon” you smiled and closed the gate.

telling the boys where you were going, they left as soon as you did.

“young-ae unnie, what a lovely dress you have on” you greeted youngae. “u-unnie?” the other women asked in shock. “ah thank you, wait whats your name?” youngae ask. “o-oh uhm its yejin” you replied, feeling bad that you lied.

during the whole celebration, you showed youngae and the others your fashion senses on youngae and with everyone amazed, you’ve finally made the women minds change about you.

-

while you were out with the ladies, jisung visits the repair unit facility. he asks for a sample of the metal the was used for the trucks and then thanks the worker. returning home, company five lets him know that you went to youngaes house when jisung calls them about your whereabouts.

heading to youngaes house, he hears the happy voices. knocking on the door, youngae gets up and sees who it is. “ah, captain han, what are you doing here?” youngae asks. “im here to pick up my fiancee” he replies. as soon as jisung says that, you pop up behind youngae.

waving a goodbye to the others, you walk with jisung, both of you two smiling. spending some time with each other, you felt some type of way towards jisung, but you couldnt put your finger on it. ‘was it, love? no, it cant be. you cant be falling in love in north korea’ you thought.

back in south korea, your dad annouces that sehyeong will take over the family business, which results sejun and sanga angry. with this plan, the two brothers had another argument about this.

after the night full of fun activities, the morning came once again. jisung gets up before you and brews you a cup of coffee.

you wake up to the smell of coffee and immediately get up and run over to the kitchen. “here, try this” jisung hands you the cup of coffee. tasting the coffee, you felt as if it was the best coffee you’ve ever tried. thanking jisung, you shot him with heart with you fingers. “w-wait what did you just do?” jisung panics. “mm nothing, just a thank you” you told him and went on your day.

jisung, who is left alone in the kitchen, is confused of what you just did to him. he tries to do the heart on his on fingers and stops immediately and heads to the base.

“yah, hyunjin, felix, what does this mean?” jisung asks and does the finger heart. “oh my god, it means she disrespects you all the way.” hyunjin gasps dramatically, which make jisung slap him on the shoulder. “no, it just means she love you. and she wants you to have her heart” felix answers.

jisung sighs and tells hyunjin and felix to leave him alone for awhile.

-

currently in pyongyang. yiseo is out with her mom and uncle, shopping for a outfit. she runs into her long time friend after 10 years of studying aboard. “yiseo! how are you?” her friend asks. “i’m doing well, what about you?” “ah i’m doing well too, c/n, say hello to yiseo!”

“oh my god! myeongseok look at the baby!” yiseo’s mom exclaimed. “hi there baby” yiseo dropped to the child’s height and and smiled. “yiseo-ah, when will you have one with jisung?” “o-oh i haven’t-” “they’re about to be married” yiseo mom comes in. “i’m sorry, but we have to go”

as jisung left the house, the neighborhood women came to the house and asked if you wanted to go the market with them. wanting to leave the house desperately, you agreed as the four of you happily went to the market together.

asking youngae where the beauty products are, she leads you to the booth. the seller shows them the variety of products from the south. one of the products caught your eye which was one of your product, la vie en rose. “omo, youngae unnie, you should get the la vie en rose one”. youngae nods her head and buys one for everyone.

meanwhile in south korea, chansik talks to sehyeong, saying that you might've flew into north korea and everyone should start looking over there. sehyeong doesn't believe what they just said so he quickly dismisses the meeting, making sure they don’t spread any rumors which deflates chansik, wanting to find where his boss is.

back in north korea, yiseo was on her way to the village where jisung was staying. as the taxi breaks down, the driver apologizes and went to look for help. as minseok comes back from hunting, he sees yiseo almost having a breakdown. he decides to help her and make her way to jisungs.

in the state security department, cheolgang does his research about division 11, suspicious of your actions and behavior. “there was no other women in division 11 who has returned in 15 years sir” one of the soldiers tells him. cheolgang sighs in defeat, trying to know you better. wanting to know how and why you're here.

during the time at the market, you left the group as another stand caught you eye and walked around the market. as soon as the sky became dark and nobody in the market with you, you started panicking, and become cold. jisung comes back to the village with a bag in his hand and the neighborhood women comes to tell him that they lost you in the market.

jisung rushes over to the market, noticing that it was full of darkness. he takes out one of the scented candles he had bought for you earlier and lit it up, putting the candle over his head.

looking up, you see a candle in the air. walking towards it, you see jisungs back. “j-jisung?” you whispered. jisung turns his back and feels relieved. jisung quickly wraps his arms around you as you sobbed into his chest.

“thank you for saving me”

additional ending:

in switzerland, you were about to jump off a cable bridge after the doctor told you to go sight seeing before you really wanted to end your life. ending the voice message to send to your family, a guy looked at you, who was supposedly named jisung.

yiseo, who followed him to switzerland, wanted to take a picture of her and jisung. jisung asks you if you could take it for them, wanting you to get off the bridge before you finally do it.

“he could do better” you mumbled as you you snapped their picture. after the picture was taken, yiseo thanked you. you smiled and walked away as jisung watched you, wanting to tell you that everything will be okay.

END <3

[georgecrecy]

Charlie 5

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Ruffians and thieves from across the galaxy! Welcome, one and all, to the renowned fighting pits of the Hub!” The roar of the announcer bounced several times off of the surrounding rock, but the echoes were quickly squashed by the cacophony of hundreds of responding voices. The announcer held up all four of his arms to quiet the crowd from his position in the announcer’s box, his figure repeated by the massive screens which floated and circled the massive ceiling of the arena, projected by hovering transmit-a-bots.

With the noise of the many excited members of various species quieted down, his booming voice continued, “What an exciting lineup for the bouts today, with creatures and monsters from hundreds of worlds, all ready and rearing for a fight against our champions of the arena! Place your final bets, for now the fights shall begin! Send out the main event!”

Again, the arena erupted into roars, claps, and screeches as the many stands packed to the rafters all emphatically replied, many motioning for the betting girls to tally their last minute bets as they referenced their combi-pads. But all took note as a gate at the far end of the arena floor opened, and the seats shook in response to the pounding of heavy feet as a humongous bellow reverberated into the very core of everyone present. A huge, lizard-like monster thundered its way into the arena, and after an overawed moment of silence, the arena again erupted into frenzied applause. The thick scales were scored in places by fresh scars, and several drops of blood from the freshest of gashes, which glinted in the light cast down by the floodlights above. It roared again in challenge as another gate opened on the far side.

The green-uniformed and cat-like officer immediately found the grungy tavern he had just stepped into to be quite disgusting. The crackling and barely working lights could only hide so much of the grime and dirt which festooned every surface. His sensitive nose sniffed the air, and he could immediately tell that it had been a while since an inspector had visited the kitchens too, given the stench of mold and decay that wafted from that area. He was glad that his only need for being in here was sitting at the bar, slumped and nursing a glass of unknown but probably very alcoholic liquid.

Slipping delicately into the stained seat next to the dejected figure, he motioned away the tired-looking waitress, who pursed her purple lips disapprovingly and continued on to attend the few others in the room. The officer’s ears seemed to scan the room like twitchy radar dishes as his yellow eyes focused on the human seated next to him, inspecting the orange jumpsuit which had obviously long been in need of a wash. In a smooth voice the officer said, “You haven’t been taking care of yourself, James.”

Slowly looking up from the drink clutched in both hands, James looked up with bloodshot eyes over an unkempt beard at the officer beside him. Suppressing a belch, the miner replied as he looked back to his drink again, “Colonel Eahn, what bruh... brings a Colonel of the Vlexeene Guard to these parts?”

The Colonel’s eyes narrowed, but they betrayed pity in their yellow depths, “You do, James. Princess Saevi was heartbroken when she received news about Charlie, but she was even more heartbroken when you refused her calls. It’s not good form to keep a princess on hold, you know.”

James took another swig from his glass, and mumbled under his breath, which the sharp ears of the Colonel heard him utter, “Didn’t feel like talking.” The Colonel continued, “His Majesty called for a damn day of mourning for that big lug and you. When you didn’t show up for the proceedings, the Princess didn’t come out of her room for two days. The Queen Mother, the stars bless her, fretting about and suddenly being snappish to the servants. We are all worried about you, James. Your many friends are too, if your inbox messages are anything to go by.”

James, jolted as if by an electric shock, turned sharply to look at Colonel Eahn, though his eyes were unfocused and bleary, “How’d’you get in my mail, you nosy prick?” The Vlexeene merely smirked, ignoring the insult as he twirled a finger in his moustache. “Call it a friend’s prerogative, that and I had to track you down somehow. The king was breathing down my neckfur to find you, so I had my IT division hack into your accounts. That doesn’t matter though, what does matter is I have some news you need to hear, and we need you sober, come along now.” Throwing a few credits onto the counter, the Vlexeene grabbed the miner’s dirty jumpsuit and hauled him up from his seat, almost reeling at the heavy smell of sweat and cheap alcohol. James put up a bit of resistance, but the senior guardsman cuffed him a bit and sent him stumbling out the door. For the few patrons inside, most of which had been watching the two with interest, with their entertainment now gone were left to continuing their murmured conversations between themselves as the lights above crackled.

Outside in the comparatively bright sunlight, two more Vlexeene guardsmen flanked a jumpcar parked near the door, their uniform and chest insignia showing them to be of a junior rank. Both came to attention as the two exited, and both also wrinkled their sensitive noses in disgust at what the Colonel had brought out. He motioned to them for help, and James was quickly settled into the backseat in a drunken stupor. They found their own places in the car as the pilot Vlexeene punched in a set of coordinates. Once the air controls had been set to vent the overpowering stench, the jumpcar shot into the air almost vertically before joining the teeming mass of other air traffic. They headed towards the far side of the city, where a sea of large freighters and other ships were moored in their respective dockings. As they closed the distance, they could see that many of the ships swarmed with activity as goods and passengers were transported on and off, and dock workers worked in an orderly chaos, looked over by their foremans shouting out orders, or reprimands for those trying to get a lazy moment in.

The Vlexeene jumpcar set down in a quieter docking port where a brown, battered mining freighter sat moored. The colonel exited the jumpcar while the two junior guardsmen dragged the semi-unconscious figure of James out of the backseat. The four then proceeded to the ship, entering through a port which opened when the Colonel put his clawed paw up against the hand scanner to the right of the airlock door.

Through the bowels of the ship, the Vlexeene maneuvered their drunken cargo until they reached the spartan crew quarters, which at that moment was uncharacteristically strewn with dirty laundry and empty bottles. The two guardsmen set the miner down on the bed, and were glad to leave the smelly room and their charge when the Colonel motioned them away. He made sure James was comfortable, and then headed towards the cockpit, in part to get some coffee and wait for his friend to wake as much as to get away from the smell.

Several hours passed before James finally woke to the beautiful smell of coffee nearby, as well as a severe pounding in his head like he was using his old jackhammer on his own skull. Moaning in pain, he sat up from his bed. Getting up was just as painful, but he pushed past it and turned toward the head, his feet sending bottles careening. He was startled by a familiar voice which stated, “When you’re done in there, I got some proper victuals for you.” James swiveled unsteadily to see the green-clad Eahn sipping coffee as he leaned on the doorway to the cockpit, his eyes glinting with humor. The grizzled miner grumbled and continued on to his much-needed destination.

His head still pounding, James returned to the crew quarters, where the Colonel was waiting at the fold-out table. A steaming plate made from a carb-heavy food pack and a cup of coffee waited in the empty spot opposite the officer. James sat down and dug in hungrily, not looking at the Colonel at all, who continued to sip at his own cup. After a minute, the Colonel piped up to break the silence, “You know, you have to tell me where you supply your coffee. Since you humans introduced us to it, I’ve developed quite a taste, but we get the worst brew at HQ; it tastes terrible. This stuff is quite nice.” James continued to scarf the food down instead of answering, and the Colonel could only look on in pity. The man he had met during the festivities at the return of Princess Saevi to his grateful people was bright and cheery, always flanked by his gargantuan friend. They had developed a friendship when they had worked together on several mutual operations. The person now in front of him seemed but a broken shell in comparison.

He shook his head, and continued, “Look, I’m here on more than just royal business, my friend. I’m also here because of an investigation I’ve been looking into recently. To put it succinctly, it’s about Charlie.”

James slammed his spoon down on the table with a clatter, and stood up abruptly, startling the Colonel. Reaching out a paw, Eahn tried to object, “James, please don’t-” James grunted out as he stomped to the cockpit door, “He’s gone. Don’t you be darin’ to bring ‘im up. Thanks for the food, now get goin’.” As he put his hand on the door frame, the miner heard his furry friend quietly say, “I think he’s alive.”

James rounded on the Colonel, almost screaming at the top of his lungs with tears streaming down from already red-rimmed eyes, “I WATCHED HIM DIE, YOU FUR-FACED BASTARD! THEY KILLED ‘IM RIGHT IN FRONT O’ ME! HE AIN’T EVER COMIN’ BACK!” His shoulders slumped down as his head hung low from his expended fury. Colonel Eahn saw frustration, anger, and grief in his human friend’s eyes that he knew went deep, and he hoped to all in the heavens that he wasn’t wrong about what he had discovered. He shook his head again and stubbornly continued, “I think you saw a show, James. A horrid show, but only a show. Please, sit down and let me explain.”

He could see James shaking, trying to control an indeterminate rage. After several moments, the miner slowly made his way back to his seat across from the Colonel, his hands clenching and unclenching as he stared intently at the table. The Colonel nodded and cleared his throat. “Several days after we heard about… about it, I looked into the company. With all my years as a guardsman, I could tell that nothing about it’s operations seemed legitimate. I had my men look into the Adrax Laboratory, for one, and it seems they never received a Tilluxian for study.”

James’ intent stare swiftly switched to look right into the yellow eyes of the officer, who returned the stare as he continued on, “Leads dried up quickly after that. One of the doctors I thought might help and his family completely disappeared. I got the sense that someone found out about our little investigation and began to clean up. Several weeks passed with nothing. However, I was getting reports from Red Division, our intergalactic piracy task force? They were hearing about a brand new attraction in the Hub pits. Those blighters are always looking for something new for their short attention spans, and a few months ago they seemed to have found something big. From what our informants have been telling us, it’s a recently acquired Tilluxian Dragon.”

James now had the chance to narrow his eyes at the Colonel. “I knew that desk job was gonna set that mind to jelly, you fat, furry idjit. That could be any Tilluxian.” The Colonel straightened the front of his jacket as he scowled across the table. “I know you’re hurting right now James, but less of your insults would be appreciated. Now I am fully aware that Charlie isn’t the only Tilluxian Dragon in the universe, but there is a connection. The Vice President of Operations of Southtech, Crassus Jaul - who I believe you’ve had the displeasure of meeting - has reportedly been in contact with Takrex. The Lord Takrex. We’ve been trying to pin down that elusive Narx Rat for years. Financial records we obtained also seem to show a substantial sum going into Jaul’s personal accounts through various shell corporations around the time of Charlie’s execution. It took us three months just to discover that convoluted combi-trail, let me tell you, but we are sure it must be a payments from Takrex.”

The ears of the Colonel twitched in annoyance at the sound of more bottles sent scattering as James stood up abruptly and began to pace across the decking. Eahn could see that James’s mind was racing. His grief and anger had now been replaced by confusion, and for the first time in several months of guilt and helplessness, there was an inkling of hope. James then stopped abruptly as if stopped in thought, and again Eahn was startled when James careened towards the cockpit door in a flurry.

Before Eahn had fully gotten out of his seat, cursing when he nearly spilled the hot coffee down his impeccable front, James had returned to the common area with a combi-pad in hand. “Here! Here it is! This has to be important! Surely you can figure it out, you and your smartypants IT folks.” Eahn stood rather dumbly in response, hesitantly taking the combi-pad that James had been waving in his direction. Confusedly, he said, “Have what, James? What is on here?” The Colonel noticed the screen was covered in oil streaks from lots of use, and several parts were rather stained with questionable food or drink stains.

“Well, I got a head on my shoulders Colonel, I made a copy of all the documents those bastards sent me when I was doin’ their dirty work for ‘em. I can’t make heads or tails of all the accoutin’ stuff, but I know enough that a few things seem out o’ place in the inventories and order receipts for the Vashas, for instance. I just can’t put my finger on the rest of it.”

Eahn gingerly wiped the very dirty screen with his sleeve before opening several documents already cued up. Inventories, accounting records of several outstanding accounts, order receipts, mining survey reports, and a host of other records flashed by in a whir before Eahn had a chance to sit down and begin to translate the mess. He soon noticed issues with the breakdown reports of the mining equipment used by the Vashas, and the portfolio of the Yallarian colony just didn’t add up in his head. Looking up from the reports, he saw that James had seated himself on the edge of his bunk, leaning forward in anticipation and eyes that bored into the yellow slitted pools of the Colonel once he had looked up.

“Well James, I certainly agree that something is wrong with these operations, and these aren’t the only ones I’ve seen to be similarly ‘fishy,’ as you humans are apt to say. I’ll send these on to some agents of ours in the Guard, they might have some luck at deciphering this convoluted mess, but with any luck this might help us. In the meantime, whether or not it is our mutual friend, I believe we have a big lizard to save.”

James’ taciturn face, which had seemingly been stuck on that setting for months now, finally broke out in a wide smile.

He had done this sort of thing one or two times before, but he could never consider the earpiece to be comfortable. It was designed with Vlexeene ears in mind, so it didn’t quite fit right in his own human ear canal, where every step would send a dull and uncomfortable jab of plastee to remind him of its presence. However, the adrenaline coursing through his veins and the excitement of the situation were helping him ignore the discomfort. In front of James was the captain of a smuggling ship the Guard had tracked down but not arrested yet for the express purpose of this mission. Given that the fledgling operation had been relatively easy to uncover, and that the Lou-Maxi captain of the crew wasn’t the brightest star in the night sky made it so he wasn’t a high priority in the first place, and the perfect pawn to help get James into the Hub.

The miner smiled to himself as he saw Captain Choep eye him appraisingly up and down in a lopsided attempt at being intimidating, but his fleshy and iridescent cheek bags giving him a dumb bloodhound sort of look ruined the attempt at the outset. Instead of the usual orange jumpsuit, James had been outfitted with a faux-leather bomber jacket and dark cargo pants that he thought was ripped right from a certain Harrison Ford character. He was sure that this wrinkled imbecile wasn’t a fan of ancient Terran films though, who might otherwise blow the cover of this copyright-infringing smuggler’s costume.

The cheek bags didn’t help the squat captain add any intimidating qualities to his speech either, which was predominantly overshadowed by the amount of spittle that sprayed dangerously close with each grating word spoken. Fortunately for James, the translator box on his shoulder-strap didn’t have a salivary gland, as it worked the words into common. “Stho, you tbhink you’re wortbhy of my crew, eh? What can a human offer in muscle tbhat my Gruat can’t? What could any human oftfer to a crew, eh? Eh?” He warbled out a chuckle that was shared by the other crew on his ship, including the bulky Gruat in question. James crossed his arms and looked contemptuously back, drawling out, “Heh, I could go toe to toe with ‘im. But I ain’t here to fight so much as get you in on the ore tradin,’ which is what you’re lookin’ for in the first place, right? Least, that’s what my sources said. But if you don’t need my extensive knowledge on the inside track on the market from here to the Vega cluster, that’s on you. I got other folks that’d appreciate the leg up.” He turned to leave the gangway but was stopped short - as planned - when he heard the almost desperate plea of the captain behind him, “Waitbh! Maybe… maybe we can use you. Justh waibth a moment.”

James slowly turned back, an eyebrow raised quizzically. He could see the captain’s gears turning sluggishly inside an unimaginative brain. James looked about the rest of the crew, their eyes either on their captain in anticipation, or on him in undisguised suspicion. The Gruat was certainly eyeing him up, probably assessing his fighting prowess as only a former gladiator could, the varied scars about his body giving away the possibility. The large alien shrugged contemptuously and crossed both pairs of arms before looking towards the captain. James merely smiled inside, it’s only unlucky or stupid fighters that have so many scars, and even being in his more golden years James believed he could give this hulking muscle the run-around.

However, chief among the crew which caught James’ eye was an arthropod-like species from one of the darker parts of the galaxy, and underneath the flak armor was a jet black chitinous hide ending in at least eight jointed appendages, though one of which was missing from some battle. The compound eyes situated on the skull seemed to bore into James, and when he looked back, the eyes merely narrowed in heightened suspicion. He leaned toward the captain still deliberating and said quite loudly, “Tktktktktk! We should not trust this one Captain Choep! I do not like him! Tktktktktk.”

The captain waived away the suggestion, the bottom of his flabby arm undulating from the movement. “Bah, you thbink too much Argax! Sthop pestering me! As for you, human! What do you say to three percent?”

James didn’t even need to pretend to think, considering it was a pittance being offered for the position. “Three? What do ya take me for? A scrubber-bot? I’d be finding the best prices for our… wares…. I want eight.”

Choep blinked several times, a purple color creeping up his jowls. “Eight? Eight? Nah, you gothta earn eight, scrounger! Six, and no more!”

Again, James pretended to think, he was going to take it even though it was still a low offer, those listening in through his earpiece were depending on it. He looked back up at the rather underwhelming captain, who had swelled out his paunch to appear bigger, which was a common show of superiority among his toad-like people. To the grizzled miner it was rather laughable. Finally, James nodded once and begrudgingly said, “Fine, but i'll be wanting my fair share as time goes by.” The captain nodded back several times, as did some of the other crew members, though some looked glum at the fact they wouldn’t be toasting him off the dockyard as their hands gripped tight at their holstered combi-blasters. The Lou-Maxi looked quite pleased with himself as he said to his new crew member, “Good, now make shture you get back before too long with your gear, we’ll be taking ofth soon.”

James nodded stoically, and turned about to make his way back to the dive he had rented for the night at this backend port. In truth he hadn’t even bothered unpacking, partly because of the mission, and partly because of his suspicion for the cleanliness of the place. As he turned he locked eyes one more time with Argax the Anthropoid, its many eyes showing nothing but dislike and undiminished suspicion. He knew he would have to step carefully the next few months to avoid the ire of that one. But now phase one was complete of their plan, and soon he would be on his way to possibly finding out if Charlie was alive. Worming away at his consciousness was the idea that it was just a random Tilluxian that was unfortunate enough to have been picked up alive by the indiscriminate pirates, but the burbling spring of hope that had sprouted during the conversation with his friend Eahn would not fully allow the possibility. He shrugged his shoulders and sped up his step. It had to be Charlie.

It had to be.

The next several weeks were rather harrowing for the older miner, and the stress of the facade James constantly had to maintain was getting to him. But he continued on with a stoicism born from desperation and an end goal. Not helping the situation was the constant presence of the multi-limbed menace James sometimes referred to as “Stubby,” that being Argax the arthropoidal alien who seemed to dog his every step with a nasty specist remark and an even nastier glare. He could have had the luxury of talking to a friendly voice using the communicator temporarily embedded in his ear canal, but without the masking of many communication channels a station as big as the Hub would afford him, he couldn’t risk any illicit transmission being picked up by the smuggling ship’s sensors. But several months of work in his role as the inside man (in more than one capacity) went by quickly, and finally the inept Captain Choep announced to the crew that some shore leave at the Hub was coming up.

James cheered and clapped hands with the rest of the pirates, but inwardly he wished the place would become little more than space dust. The hollowed out asteroid was a den of some of the most villainous elements in the galaxy, filled with slave markets, brutal gladiatorial chambers, and a booming black market trade, all orchestrated by one loathsome being: the self-styled Lord Takrex. He held an iron fist over the good-sized pirate fleet he controlled, and was connected enough that he somehow skirted the attention of the systems big enough to take him and the well fortified asteroid station head-on. In the meantime, the systems and colonies most plagued by his nefarious bunch were not large enough on their own to defeat him.

Again, James found himself somewhat day-dreaming as the stars outside the porthole passed swiftly by, thinking of what laid ahead for him, and the reunion he desperately hoped might happen. That worm of doubt reared its ugly head again inside the pit of his stomach, overwhelming his reverie with a sour thought. It isn’t Charlie. It is some poor schmuck of a Dragon who they got their claws into. All of this will be for nothing. Or even worse, if it was Charlie, he had spent these long months in captivity and cruelly-delivered pain while James had been moping about from bar to dingier bar, not even bothering to try and find him or try to do something. The grizzled miner pushed the thought away, but not before a tear began to trace a groove down his cheek and into the stubble where the tousled beard had been several weeks prior. He looked back up into the porthole, but his reflection had been joined by a multi-eyed head!

Turning swiftly, a hand going to his combi-blaster, he found Argax looking back at him slyly from several feet away, taking up most of the doorway. His mandibles clacked out a chuckle. “Tktktktktk, slow human, I have killed Narx Rats faster than you. And what is this, your face is wet! Have you finally cracked under the pressure? Tktktktktktk.” James cursed his little moment, acting like some blubbering fool, but outwardly sneered at his recently-acquired nemesis. “I’m afraid not, Stubby. I was merely crying with joy at the thought of what sort o’ bug spray they might sell big enough to put you on your tubby arse. Or do you think they might have some really big fly swatters? It’s my first time there.”

Argax, already naturally tall, grew taller still as he stalked menacingly toward the leather-clad miner, his eyes narrowed in fury. “Tktktktktk! That is not my name, barkok! I will teach you to-” He was cut off as the pounding of feet on metal decking came down the corridor outside, and both turned to see one of the other crew, another Lou-Maxi named Lorg, as he stopped at the door, his portly frame out of breath but cheery. “Thbe Hub! We’re ath thbe Hub!” He hardly failed to notice the tension in the room, and as he did, he awkwardly paused before nodding to both, and continuing hurriedly down the corridor.

When Argax turned around, the first thing he saw was the barrel of James’ combi-blaster aimed directly at his face. Argax’s smile was venomous but he conceded the situation, backing out of the room slowly with a parting jab. “Watch your back, human, you never know what lurks in the dark! Tktktktk.” James kept the blaster handy as he said, “Cowards mostly, I suspect.” Argax’ smirk vanished, snarling as he turned and stamped noisily down the hallway.

The disguised miner holstered his combi-blaster with a tired sigh as he thought of the good timing. He was glad this mission would be over soon. A drop of salty water that soon fell to the dirty deck plate, however, belied the doubts that continued to harbor themselves in the dark recesses of his mind.

Read the other parts of the series!

Part 1: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183762132696/charlie-1

Part 2: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183787102041/charlie-2

Part 3: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183794906326/charlie-3

Part 4: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183805565796/charlie-4

Part 6: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183819131196/charlie-6

Part 7: https://georgecrecy.tumblr.com/post/183819391261/charlie-7

[maldaptivedaydreamer]

Nights Like These- K.T.H

Genre: Pure Whole Sale Angst

Song: Out Of Love by: Alessia Cara (listen while reading)

Pairing: Taehyung/Reader

Word count: 1981.

Warnings: None?

A/N: I stayed up till well past 4am writing this so please spare me your thoughts on this? Requests are open. Chapter two for Strange Addictions is in progress and will not be published till I have either 4K words or I’m satisfied. In the meantime have this.

My skin is raw and sensitive from the intense heat of the water and scrubbing motions against the rough sponge. The apartment was nearly immaculate, not that it was much of a mess before. My routine for the past few weeks was to clean, work, and then clean again. My phone filled with unanswered and unopened text messages. But I can’t find the ability to mind. The messages or the routine either one. I just need the distraction from the aching in my heart and my head. Anything to keep the memories from replaying, to keep his voice from echoing, or the ghost of his touch from lingering.

Clanking the last dish into the drying rack and draining the sink, I dry my hands briskly on my jeans, turning to head back to my dimly lit bedroom. The curtains pulled open so that the only light is a gentle glow of the surrounding buildings and the stars.

“Should I stay up and gaze a bit? Or should I try to get some sleep?” I say to myself knowing it doesn’t really matter. At night you can’t run from yourself. When you are all alone and are forced to confront the truth, sleep becomes a friend and enemy. One in the same. The bed is especially colder now. More spacious. Truthfully that could be said about the whole damn apartment. A tear slips from my eyes but I still stand in place, my body knowing what’s to come already. Moving towards the window, I gaze at the people below me. It’s only 9pm and it’s Saturday so couples and groups of friends alike venture up and down the streets. Getting lost in the scenery, I begin to see the past before me; as if reliving it.

The Good

“How did you guys meet again?” A question from Jimin.

He smiles nervously and laughs a bit to himself. A night on the town to celebrate the engagement ended up being filled with laughter and teasing all around from the lively bunch.

“Aish you’ve asked that too many times now..”

“I know I know but I still can’t believe it. Our own Taehyung-ssi is getting married before the rest of us?!” Jimins smile only brightened more as Tae tightened his grip on my hand, mirroring Jimin’s smile. The warmth in my heart spread to my face while I gazed at the love of my life. Feeling my stare, he turned to me, placing a chaste kiss to my nose and forehead and rubbing his thumb thoughtfully over my knuckles.

The sky was hot pink and purple with scattered clouds here and there. A low breeze brought with it the smell of street food and honeysuckle. It was as if someone painted this moment in rose gold and garnet.

“And there she was soaked to the bone with a tiny Pomeranian on a leash wound around her legs. She looked like a mess haha!” I hit his arm playfully.

“Yea yea he caught the other dogs and helped me bring them all home. My hero”

Rolling my eyes at the fond memory despite the odd circumstances. I never imagined he would want to take me for coffee directly after despite us both being soaked.

“You’re forgetting the part where you tried to hit me with an umbrella before you realized I wasn’t stealing said dogs”

“Shhhh no one needs to remember that it’s fine it’s fine”

Shutting the curtains finally I resign myself to the bed, slipping out of my jeans and undergarments. The sheets smelled of fresh lavender and citrus. I couldn’t help but to wash them as much as possible; both to rid them of his sent and all the tears they’ve since soaked up. The cold is never enough to numb my soul in the night. No sleep is ever deep enough to drown out the loneliness. But sometimes I find comfort in the pain and the longing. I know I’ll move on someday and I’ll fall in love again. That is never my worry. Never the source of my sorrow. No the pain is in remembering the hope I had. In remembering he won’t be by my side anymore. All the futures I dreamt up, the worlds I built around him. The children I had fallen in love with before ever knowing. The family that now would never be his and I’s. The pain allows me to hold onto him just a bit longer, allows me to imagine just a bit stronger. In the broken pieces I see who I can be beyond this. The woman staring back at me, between the cracks and my weaknesses, she stands tall. Waiting for me to meet her, but I’m just not ready yet.

His scent is still here no matter how hard I try to rid myself of it. Shifting in my spot, I pull my legs just a bit higher to myself. I remember the first night I slept alone.

The Bad

The room was a mess. Clothes strewn about and the bed torn apart. Drawers were ripped open and their contents scattered across the floor. The couch was tipped over and the closet was emptied.

“Do you have any idea where you last saw it?! Any idea at all?” He asked frantically as he continued his mad search through the apartment. But I couldn’t blame his hysterics. And I couldn’t bring myself to let any tears fall. I didn’t deserve to.

“ I’ve been looking all day Tae. I even called my sister, my best friend, your hyungs. They said they haven’t seen it since we went to the theatre” the last few words were strangled. Both from holding back so much, but also from fear of the reaction sure to come. His body froze in a bent down position. Eerily calm, slid the dresser drawer back shut. He straightened himself but wouldn’t face me. His voice reached me, deep and dark, venom dripping already.

“Why would you take it off in the first place?” He whips around and strides towards me in less than three steps, grasping my shoulders tightly and searching my eyes. “Why would you take it off knowing how important it is?”

“I told you I don’t remember. I wish I did. I tried to find it desperately before-”

“Before what? I noticed? Is that it? God do you even care at all? Or is this all a game to you” He lets me go and pinches his nose with one hand while the other rests on his hip. This has been going on for nearly two hours and I was growing weak from holding in so much.

“I had thought you were sneaking around behind my back with the way you had been acting and hiding your phone but this?! Just rip my heart out next time”

“You can’t honestly believe I did this on purpose Tae??” I choked.

“I DON’T KNOW Y/N. YOU NEVER TAKE ANYTHING I SAY SERIOUSLY AND YOU’RE ALWAYS FORGETTING IMPORTANT SHIT.”

“I DO LISTEN AND I DO TAKE YOUR WORDS SERIOUSLY TAE JESUS FUCK IM GOING TO FIND IT. I KNOW ITS AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE… if....if you would just calm down” he snaps his head back in my direction at this.

“Calm down? You lost my grandmothers ring! When I proposed to you with it, told you the meaning behind it, told you all the stories about growing up with her and since her passing I thought you would protect it with the same intensity as I had. It represents more than my promise to you. A promise you let slip away”

“Baby please I didn’t mean-“

“It doesn’t matter what you did and didn’t mean y/n. Look I’m just….I’m just gonna spend a few nights at Joon’s”

And with that he walked past me, without grabbing a thing, and out the door. I found the ring the next day underneath the bed along with papers and other carnage from the night before. And all I could do was stare at it. Not daring to touch it for fear it would disappear again before me.

Despite that being over a year ago a sob rips through me and I cover my mouth with my hands. All the tears I couldn’t cry that day greet me 10 fold every night. Was that where it began? Was that when you lost your faith in me? You started distancing yourself around then so it had to be. You didn’t come home for 2 whole weeks. Even after Joon told you I had found it. You grew more agitated and impatient until you broke.

The Ugly

“I just…. I miss her so much. And I don’t have much of her left with me.” He cried sitting on the edge of the bed. It had been almost a month since that night but it had opened more wounds than it had made. I crawled up behind him, careful as he winced at my touch, ignoring the pain his reaction shot into my heart. Rubbing circles into his back as he leans into my chest and lap, eyes closed as he nestles his nose into my neck.

“I’m sorry. For how I acted. I was hurt but it gave me no right to hurt you as well.” He strokes my cheek and for a moment things are calm. Still I don’t cry. I don’t deserve to.

“She would’ve loved you if she were still here.” He kisses my cheek before making his way along my jaw, twisting to reach my lips. I let him pick me up, his hands roaming my body and searing his finger prints down to the fiber of my bones. I missed him. I missed him so achingly much that I ignored the feeling in my stomach. I might’ve been a bit of an airhead, but I always had a strong intuition.

Soon my hand isn’t enough to stop the noises and I sit up. Two sleepless hours have already passed but I’m not surprised in the slightest. To preoccupied with the storm brewing in me. He had come home less and less since then. Was less touchy. Didn’t hold me unless it was in his sleep or to assure his friends nothing was wrong. Holding the act of a happy couple for a few months. Until I came home and all of his stuff was gone save for one last box. I had caught him leaving and the image of his blank emotionless face, his arms full, in the door way of what was once Our bedroom was burned into my memory forever.

The End

“So..were you even planning on telling me?” My throat was dry. The evenness of my voice momentarily shocking me.

“I was going to before you got home actually. Look I’m sorry y/n-“

“Don’t. I don’t want an apology. I just…I just need to know when?”

“When what?” He asked cautiously.

“When did you fall out of love? When did you let our promise go?”

“Listen it was never you-“

“DON’T LIE TO ME! … please… I’m forgetful but I’m not stupid so don’t…don’t disrespect me like that.”

The words are ground out as we stare at each other. Expressions never wavering and no more words said. Once again, like so many times before, he gives me nothing. Taking the last box with him and leaving my life forever. Our group of friends silently separating. All contact completely severed.

But that doesn’t stop the gossip from spreading. Doesn’t stop me from hearing how he moved on not long after. A year later and he’s married now, celebrating his first born. Living happily with a woman he knew since he was little.

I couldn’t be happier for him. Of course I still silently wish him the best. But it’s nights like this, where I wish I had never held back.

[littlebitoffanfic]

A Marital Bed System

Fandom: Star wars Character: Hux Relationship: Hux/reader Request: I really enjoyed binging on all your hux x readers. Could you write me one where hux keeps leaving in the middle of the night to work. Make it super angsty but happy ending? When you woke up, you immediately knew your bed was empty. You didn’t even need to open your eyes to know. Sitting up, you stretch, allowing the sheet to fall from your body as you moved out of bed to grab a dressing gown and head into the next room of the small apartment. Still no sign of Hux, meaning he must be in his office just down the corridor. It was both an advantage to have his place of work so close but it was also a nightmare since Hux struggled to leave his work at the door when he came back. Knowing there wouldn’t be anyone about anyway, you decided just to go to him in your nightgown and robe. It covered your dignity anyway so even if someone did see you, there wouldn’t be an issue. your bare feet padded along the hallway before you came to the door of his office. You didn’t even knock, just walked straight in. It was a benefit of being the wife of the general. The second you entered, you heard a curse from within. “Damn.” Hux hissed, looking up from desk which had papers scattered across it as well as 3 screens projecting data onto the wall beside him. “Sorry to bother you.” You frowned, annoyed by his reaction to you entering the room. “I hoped you wouldn’t wake.” He shook his head, standing straight and looking at you. “Will you come back to bed any time soon?” You asked, wrapping your arms around yourself, the office a lot cooler than the rest of the ship. “i…”He trails off before looking away from you. “Probably not.” signing, you couldn’t hide your disappointment as your shoulders slouched. You couldn’t look at him anymore. This was the 10th time in 2 weeks you had woken up on your own. While you understood he was in a high position and respected that he had a mighty weight on his shoulders, you missed him. Over the last 2 years especially, he had become so demanded by his work, you barely saw him. He did make time for you, but it really wasn’t enough. You could tell he felt guilty about it and you knew he wanted more time with you, but he couldn’t give it to you. No one could doubt he loved you, and you knew he did all this for you as well as himself. But that didn’t make it any easier. You knew today had been hard for him. The supreme leader had been rather… ‘displeased’ by his work. This had result in him being thrown across the room like a ragdoll. You had been there but couldn’t do anything. Hux had been distance from you all day after that incident. You had just assumed his pride had been hurt. blinking back tears, you walk up to his desk and pick up his data pad. Hux saw your eyes watering. “[y/n], I am truly sorry.” He sounded genuine and you smiled despite your tears as you punched something into his data pad. “I know.” You look up and him and pass him back his data pad, showing an order for coffee and something to eat to his office. “Just make sure you get some sleep, darling.” You turned around and walked out the office, leaving Hux stunned. once you got back to your quarters, you pressed yourself against the wall and cried. Covering your mouth with your hand, you tried to silence the gasps for air and cries but couldn’t. You knew you weren’t going to get back to sleep without crying yourself to sleep and that didn’t sound too appealing right now, then your data pad light up from the table. Walking over, you saw a message from Hux. “do you wish to leave?” frowning, you felt a small rage brew inside you. Was he really trying to start a fight with you over messages? Especially when he was in the room just along the hallway. throwing down your data pad, you stormed out the room, anger now taking over your sadness as you threw open the door to his office. but then you heard a sniff and saw Hux had collapsed in his chair, he held his head in his hands on the table and seemed to be weeping like a broken man. “Im sorry.” He whispered. “I cant. You deserve better than this.” He shook his head, refusing to look at you. All the anger melted away when you saw him like this. He was a hard man to break, and even after 15 years of marriage, you had barley seen him cry. and never like such a broken man. “If you wish to leave, I wont begrudge you. I never deserved you. You should never have married me. You should have found a man who could give you everything.” He shook his head in his hands, growling more to himself than to you. That was when you noticed the drinks cabinet was open. While Hux did handle his alcohol well in a normal situation, when he was stressed and turned to drink it was different. All his deepest fears came out, all his darkest secret, every emotion he tried to conceal left his lips as alcohol entered. “I did.” Was all you said as you walked around the desk and leaned over the back of his chair, wrapping your arms around him. But he pushed back the chair, pushing you away as he stood and moved quickly for the drink. “No, you didn’t. im not a man at all.” He took a deep swig of the drink straight from the bottle. His hands were shaking as he did so. “No man lets his wife sleep alone. Or cry. Because he cant get a damn thing right.” you jumped as he threw the bottle across the room and it smashed on the opposite wall. His hunched over, breathing deeply while shaking and swaying on the spot. “you deserve better.” Hux whispered. You couldn’t take much more of this. Tears were running down your cheek and you wanted nothing more than for this to be over. You hated seeing him in such a desperate and depressed state. You did the only thing you could think of. The only thing that seemed to fix everything so far. Darting around him, you pressed your lips to his before he could protest. Unlike before, he wasn’t able to just pull away from your lips. He never could. His hands grabbed you by the waist and help you against his chest, tightly like he was afraid of loosing you. And he was. He was more than aware that if the supreme leader demanded it, you could be taken from him, shipped away to only see him on occasions. If he didn’t get his act together, it was a very real possibility. He couldn’t imagine his life without you anymore. You were the one constantly good thing. And yet, he didn’t want this sort of life for you. He knew you didn’t like spending every breathing moment on this ship, but you never begrudged him, never complained. You didn’t complain about the crap canteen food you survived on, nor the lack of interactions with your friends and family. You just smiled and said you were grateful he was here with you. One night, that’s all you had wanted from him. One single night to remain in your quarters. And he was unable to give it to you. he could afford anything. He could get you any gadget or jewellery you wanted. Hell, he could even get you your own ship which you could use for traveling in. but you never asked for anything, just his presents. Hux swayed against you, his mind racing. He could get you a little ship, one which you could use to go see your family and friends when needed. He was sure the supreme leader wouldn’t care if he was able to secure it so it could be tracked by the first order and monitored so no one would attack or hack it. And as for his attention, he knew that he could take some time off. Even just a couple of days. You’d enjoy that. You felt Hux relax considerably during the kiss, making you relax in turn. Soon the kiss had turned from desperate to passionate but calm. You pulled away for air, your cheeks a little pink from the kiss. “I think you should come back to bed. Just for a little while.” You smile as you run your fingers of his cheeks before fixing his hair. All hux is able to do is nod as you take his hand in your and lead him out of the office, glad to leave the place that had all his alcohol. You thought about the coffee and food you had ordered, but you knew if he wasn’t in the office, they would leave it on the table. You could deal with that tomorrow and if he went back to work in a few hours, he would have something at lease. Once back in your room, you took off your dressing gown and then moved to him. He had been known to sleep in shirts and trousers before, but you knew he didn’t like when the shirt was buttoned up. Your fingers un did all the buttons before you leaned in and pressed soft kisses along his collar bone and then up his neck. Hux wrapped his arms lazily around you as he did so. The cool and fresh air in the apartment sobering him a little more. “I do love you, you know that right?” He speaks in a low and tired voice as you pull away to look up at him. “I know. And I love you.” You smile, even after 15 years of marriage, a confession of love still meant the world to you. Pulling him to bed, he wrapped himself around you once you were both under the covered. You smiled, lazily draping your arm over his torso to run your fingertip up and down his back. “I think-“ You started, drawing his attention down to you. “-that we should have a system.” “What sort of system?” Hux couldn’t help but chuckle at your suggestion. “well, you’re only allowed to leave here 3 times a week after we go to bed. And if you only leave 2 times, your allotted time can be transferred to the next week. So you can bank time in case you have a busy week.” You look up to him for approvable but saw a soft smile on his lips as he stared lovingly down at you. “and what would this system be called?” he asked, humouring you but liking the idea. He always did work best with restrictions, so something like that might help him manage things better. “the Marital Bed System. Or MBS for short.” You giggle. “my dear, I do not deserve you.” He whispers as he presses a kiss to your forehead. “Perhaps not, but you need me.” You quip, making Hux let out a laugh. “Truer words have never been spoke.” Hux yawns as he closes his eyes, falling asleep with you in his arms as it should be.

[iluvmyogblog]

Roommates, Routines and Best Friends

A/N: so hi im back I love y’all I’m so sorry for making you guys wait so long :( my Tumblr is just outta whack. Posts have been deleted and I don’t even know HOW OR WHEN IT HAPPENED IM SO SAD!! But remember… I have a new main acc @clintbarnz . Also, I have a new series there comin’ soon. CHECK IT OUT

Summary: (AU) being roommates with the infamous womanizer Bucky Barnes is tough, especially when all he does is bring home different girls every night and complain about you and your choice of men. masterlist

Words: 2990

Warnings: this looks really crappy :) there might be typos :)))

Roommates, Routines and Best Friends - Epilogue

You mentally cursed yourself the second the sun began to brighten your room. Why the hell did you go to sleep so late? Sighing, you swung your legs over the edge of your bed and rubbed your eyes. The shirt you were wearing was the most comfortable thing on earth, next to your king sized bed of course. Yawning, you stood up and stretched. The white button-down shirt crept up on your thighs, exposing your freshly shaven legs.

Your bare feet made soft patters when you walked across the floor and into your kitchen. The new apartment that was now under your name- and someone else’s too- was beyond perfect. You had always dreamt of owning a loft-style apartment. Yeah, the rent was pretty up there but your new, well-deserved position at your new dream job provided the perfect income. Plus, the rent wasn’t paid by you but if needed- you had the money. You still didn’t know why, since you were extremely old-fashioned and believed in combining incomes with your partner, but he was also a gentleman. Yeah, you combined your money with his but it’s not like he ever took the card and started adding charges left and right. No. He never did that- not without you at least.

There was something about the smell of fresh coffee brewing on an early Saturday morning that just made your insides melt and freeze into a beating heart. And the smell of bacon. God, the smell of crisp bacon sizzling in a pan on the stove hit right at home. And then there was the view of him standing there, with those annoyingly stupid grey sweats hanging low on his waist, sneaking bites of bacon- very nonchalant.

You stood against the counter and tried to be as quiet as possible. You rest your elbows on the countertop and softly held your chin up. The sounds of him humming some very old song made you smile. This is exactly what made your stressful week disappear behind you. It was just you and him. And occasionally some friends, but mostly you and him. And this is what made you happy.

You continue watching him cook breakfast for the two of you, poking at the bacon and placing it on a plate covered with napkins. You raise your eyebrows at that. Just last week, he was complaining about how greasy the bacon left his fingers until you told him to place it on a napkin. He was extremely awestricken. You swore right there that that was why you fell in love with him.

Tiptoeing your way over to him, you wrap your arms around his waist and kiss his shoulder. You smile against his bearskin as you immediately felt his warm, big hands rest on top of yours. You rest your chin on his shoulder and feel him lean into you. “‘Morning, sleepy head,” he teases. The sound of his voice carries into your chest.

“It smells so good in here,” you say after you playfully rolled your eyes. He grabs your hands and turns himself around, placing your hands on his shoulders. You smile lovingly, feeling his arms rest around your waist made your whole world spin. And when he looked at you like that, like you were the only girl he’s ever laid eyes on. You were his. For certain. He clenches his jaw and smiles, moving his hands up to the sides of your face. His thumbs caress your cheek. His hands were so warm. They were always so warm. You look at the man that’s been by your side for more than two years now. The man that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, which you were pretty sure that would happen.

His thumb runs across your lips and he pulls you closer, leaving a gentle kiss on your forehead. The way he always does when he sees you. “You’re so beautiful,” his raspy voice barely above a whisper. You shake your head and lean into his chest. You grip around his neck tightens as you pull him into your embrace. The sound of his chuckle echoes in your ears as he rests his chin on top of your head.

“You’re crazy,” you mumble against his skin. “For you,” he says, not even a second later. You snort and break out into a fit of laughter. It was early, and he always did that. He would say something super cheesy, knowing damn well you would laugh at anything when you’re half awake.

You push yourself away from him and walk over to the plate of bacon. “So,” he begins as you bite into the crispiness and look up at him, “I just got off the phone,” you turn around and watch him place his arms on the counter behind you, trapping you in, “and we got invited.”

Raising your eyebrows, “invited where…,” you motion for him to go on with the bacon in your hand.

“Invited to an engagement party.” You raise your eyebrows more, your eyes wide open. You quickly chew the bacon in your mouth and swallow.

“Oh my gosh, what? When? Whose,” you shout over excitedly. He chuckles and looks at you. You don’t say anything. He doesn’t say anything either. You furrow your brows and stand up straight, his height towering you. He tugs at the shirt you were wearing- his shirt.

“(Y/n), doll, I um- I’ve.. well I just got off the phone with Steve. And-,”

“Steve and Peggy are engaged,” you interrupt. He hums and looks up, shaking his head, trying to put his words together.

“Lemme talk, doll,” you nod and wrap your right arm around his waist while you let him take a bite of your bacon with your left hand. He swallows the piece you shared and clears his throat. “I was talkin’ta Steve. And well, I was just- we were talking about you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you,” he bops your nose, “And I was just telling him how much I love you. How much I adore you. How much I like the way you crinkle your nose when you don’t like something and you’re too afraid to hurt my feelings and say no. I um- I told him last week that I went somewhere.”

“Oh yeah? Where’d ya go,” you curiously ask as you wrap both arms around his neck. The sound of the oven dinging made the two of you jump. You watch your boyfriend pull himself away from you and grab a hand towel next to the stove. He opens the oven and takes out his famous cheesy biscuits.

“Um, that place you like. It’s very high-end and sparkly,” he says as he places the hot sheet pan on the countertop with a loud clash. He hisses and pulls his hand away quickly. You step towards him and he holds his hand up, letting you know he was fine and he was just overdramatic.

You gasp playfully. “You went to Jared,” you exclaim jokingly. He chuckles softly and grabs a spatula, unsticking the biscuits from the foil. He clears his throat and doesn’t say anything. You stop giggling and swallow the lump in your throat. “You went to Jared?”

He puts the spatula down and turns to you, resting his hands on the countertop behind him. His eyes a light blue, the light blue you love so much. A smile creeps up on his lips and you just fucking stand there staring at him. “I did. I told Steve about it and he was just asking about that.”

“Did you- did you buy anything,” you ask, stepping forward. He nervously laughs and shakes his head.

“Na, no I didn’t,” he watches your reaction. He couldn’t help but notice the way your chest fell and the way you blinked, the slight frown you quickly covered with that bright smile of yours.

“Good, cause that place likes more than three zeros, yanno,” you tease. He chuckles and nods, pushing himself off of the counter. He walks closer to you and ruffles your hair.

“Like I said, we got invited to an engagement party,” he repeats as he rests his hands on your waist. You tilt your head up at him and wrap your small hands around his wrists.

“James, baby, whose?”

“Remember when I said I didn’t buy anything from your favorite place? Well,” he begins, you chuckle nervously and knit your eyebrows together. You feel a cold breeze on the spot he had his right hand on and watch him raise his hand above his head to catch something. You quickly whip your head around to see a smirking, blonde familiar man standing there with his hands stuffed in his pockets and a girl with a huge smile next to him. You open your mouth to say something but quickly close it, trying to piece everything together. Like how the hell they hid from you in the very open floorspace.

“We hid in the restroom,” Peggy says. Over the course of two years, there wasn’t really anyone you’d rather get closer to than Peggy Carter. The two of you became fast friends. Ever since that day you met her. After explaining who you were and well, explaining the part where you dated the love of her life, the two of you began hanging out a lot more. And Steve couldn’t have been happier. Because in the end, all that he needed was for Peggy to give him another chance. After all, they were soulmates. Well, Steve and Bucky were soulmates. You two were just the girlfriends. The iconic duo needed each other, it was pretty damn obvious. So while you and Peggy went out for mimosas, Steve and Bucky went for a morning jog.

You turn back to Bucky, quickly looking for his eyes. You let out a breath and look down. And there he was. With the most nervous look on his. “Um, Steve. Steve bought something. For me. For you- for me to give to you,” he says in a rush. You shake your head and watch him shift the box in his palms, his elbow resting on his knee.

“Bucky,” you say softly.

“Shh, angel. Don’t make me even more nervous than I already am,” he chuckles. He swallows again and nods to himself, looking up at you. “(Y/n). I love you. You know I do. Before you came around, I honestly didn’t think I’d ever use those three words. And every time you’re around me, you make my heart race a thousand miles a second. Just hearing your voice, looking at the gorgeous smile of yours and knowing that I’m the reason behind it. It’s heaven. You’re not hard to get. Not at all. You’re hard to earn. And I am so fucking happy that you’re mine. Because that means I earned you. I fucking earned you, (y/n). I never earn anything nice. But here you are. Looking for a damn apartment,” he chuckles. You laugh softly and roll your eyes playfully, ignoring your watery eyes. “It’s uh, it’s funny how things work out. Steve, he went to buy the ring for me. Since I’m shit at hiding things from you, I let him hide it. Even though he sucks at that too. Fuck, I really wish I knew good words and romantic lines.”

“Maybe you should finally sit down and watch The Notebook with me,” you say with a sniffle. He laughs breathlessly and grabs your hands.

“I’ll watch anything with you. Whenever you want. At six in the morning at two in the afternoon. In the middle of the night. I will. I’ll watch whatever with you. I love you. And I love the way you say my name and the way you know how much mayo I like in my sandwich. I love the way there’s always fresh plums in the fridge when I get home form work. I love the way you look in my clothes. And I love the way you look when you’re laying on our bed. I can go on forever and ever so I’m just gonna stop and save those ‘I love you’s for another day. Because that’s what I want with you. I want days. No, months- years. I want forever with you. That engagement invitation. Hopefully.. it’s ours. If- if you want it to be. Marry me, doll. Say yes. Or no. Will you marry me,” he rambles. You swallow the lump in your throat, your mouth dry as hell. Your eyelashes soaked as you blink. You hear a sniffle. And you’re pretty sure it was Peggy. She likes to act tough but really, she’s more emotional than you are. You stare into Bucky’s blue eyes, his hands shaking as he holds open the box to reveal a gorgeous ring. It was simple, just the way you had always dreamed of it being.

“Are you serious,” you croak, a smile following fast behind. Bucky chuckles and nods.

“Very.”

“You wanna do this,” you ask.

“Do you?”

You look at him with a smile he only knows. “Yes. Hell yes,” you say. His eyes open wide and his smile stretches across his face as soon as he hears the first letter. He nods quickly and stands up, grabbing your face and pulling it to yours. He kisses you like he’s never kissed you before. His happiness radiating from the kiss. You kiss him and continue kissing him as you help him slide your finger into the perfectly sized ring.

“I love you so much,” he says into the kiss. You giggle, grabbing his face with your now decorated hand.

“I love you, James,” you whisper against his lips as you pull away for air. His hands lost in your hair as he looks into your familiar eyes.

“I love you guys,” two voices say as you feel extra arms wrap around you and your new fiancé. You giggle and let go of Bucky, extending your arms around the other two people as well.

“So this means we’re having a bachelors party right,” Steve blurts out. Peggy slaps the back go his head playfully and snorts.

“Only if it it means we get to have a bachelorette party,” she says.

You chuckle, shaking your head as you look at Bucky again. This time, you caught the way he was looking at you. You caught the way his gaze stayed glued to yours. The way his lips curled in a smile you love so much. The look in his eyes. Everything was in that look. Everything the two of you went through to get to this moment. The many times you broke each others heart only to find out nothing would feel better than holding each other. You mouth those three words to him and send him the same look he sends you after he says it. You watch him smile and nod, pushing Peggy and Steve aside as he grabs your face for another kiss.

— — —

its o v e r :((((

some tags arent working and im not sure why :(

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[the-goddess-of-change]

Requested. The sound of thunder roars across the skies as i look out onto the pouring rain drinking my cup of coffee and thank myself i'm not out there I look up at the blue skies to see the skies light up as yet another lightning rides across the sky as the thunder roars It is already late at night and the storm shows no sign of stopping i walk back to my chair and sit down as i take a sip of the coffee and put it down on the table next to me The sound of thunder...the flash of lightning and the pouring rain, it makes it all feel quite...calming the rain is hitting my windows but i just feel at ease as i close my eyes and listen to it ...... ....... i wake up to the sound of two cars honking as i see its sunny outside i guess i must have fallen asleep i think to myself as i notice the cup of coffee is still next to me i stand up and pour out the coffee in the sink as i stretch my arms and start brewing another batch of coffee I yawn as i do as i spot the mail from my kitchen window i look at the coffee brewer which is still well bellow the middle as i step outside and pick up the mail as my feet hit something i look down as i spot a small ring i lean down and pick it up as i look at it some more it has a sorta dirty look to it, like its been lying under dirt for ages i put it in my pocket and walk back inside and turn of the coffee machine and pour myself a cup of coffee i take the ring out of my pocket and put it under the sink and start cleaning it i keep cleaning it but it still has a bit of a dirty look to it as i just put some warm water in a cup and drop the glass inside as i keep sipping my coffee I walk over the living room and sit down as i turn on the tv but it just shows static...probably thanks to the lightning storm last night i sigh to myself as i finish up my cup of coffee and head to the bathroom to brush my teeth and do some laundry After i am done with the laundry i go back and look at the ring as it still look dirty i remove it from the glass of water and look at the ring as i try to put it on my finger and to my surprise it actually fits as well ''Huh...look at that'' i say to myself as i think to myself that maybe i should pawn it i nod but before that i have to take a shower i think as i walk back to the bathroom and turn on the shower and step inside the warm water hits my face and rolls down my back as i start scrubbing myself with some shampoo then washing it out as i turn of the shower and dry my hair quickly and put on a new change of clothes as i decide to head to the pawn shop i put on my shoes and walk outside as something shakes...or not really shakes but...it feels like...im moving but im standing still there is a small flash of light as i close my eyes once i slowly open my eyes back up i look outside and i cannot belive what i see...instead of the usual cars parked on the road...there is no cars...the houses looks...newer somewhat but still very...old the road is made of cobblestone instead of asphalt Several people are outside walking, one man wearing a suit with a woman wearing a yellow dress while the man is smoking a cigar and top hat the woman has short red hair that is curled up towards her head and she is wearing very...distinctive old timey clothing i rub my eyes a few times as i step forward out into the street to see the small shop nearby looks completely different as there is one of those barbershop poles by the door and its full of smoke inside ''What the hell?'' i say to myself as i look around and looks around as i hear a weird strange sounding noise as one of those old timey cars drive past me going reasonably slow... i look around as a gust of wind blows something onto my feet i look down and pick up the piece of paper that looks like a newspaper as i read it ''June...1942...hottest weather of the year...'' ''Wait...1942?!'' i yell as i read it again as a man wearing a suit walks over to me and blows some smoke out from his mouth from the cigar ''hello there good sir, thank you so so much for grabbing my newspaper, Damn thing blew out of my hand while i was reading it'' he laughs as i hand it to him ''Huh but my good sir, you look mighty strange wearing that Garb...say it is foreign perhaps ? say those people come up with new things all the time'' He laughs at me and walks away ''W-Wait!'' i yell at him as i walk over He looks at me with a confused look ''Ah...sir, is something the matter?'' ''Ah...kinda yeah...uh...what year is it ?'' ''You must be joking, its 1942 of course! you should really read a newspaper, it only costs 2 cents over by Timothy's generals'' i say nothing and just look at him with wide eyes as she turns and walks away ''What the hell...1942 ? how the fuck did that happen!'' i say to myself as i walk around the city which looks distinctively...older yet newer in some ways... Looking around i find myself where the pawn shop used to be where there is now a clothing store instead as a couple of women are standing outside smoking one with a stroller as they notice me ''huh...look at that Miranda...those young men are dressing worse and worse by the day'' ''Oh my yes...you are right Sally, it is absolutely dreadful'' they say as the look at me ''you know smoking causes cancer right ? and should you be doing that right next to your kid'' i say to her as she grabs her purse and hits me with it ''Mind your own business you rampant fool! dont meddle in or i will call the cops and have you sent to the Asylum!...smoking causes cancer....have you even heard such nonsense...'' they both scoff at me as i walk over to the park...which is thankfully still there and sit down on a bench as i spot a couple of guys drinking heavily and yelling at each other ''Holy shit...this really is the 1940's but what the hell am i doing here....'' i ask as the ring glows and i hear a voice in my head ''You are meant to be here'' i hear the voice say as i look around ''Hello ?'' i say and look around but there is no one around me ''Do not be alarmed i'm speaking to directly to your mind'' ''.....'' i say nothing ''You were sent back here to correct a mistake we are afraid....you were meant to grow up in this timeline instead of your own one...there was a small mistake and just thanks to the lightning storm we managed to correct it'' ''What the hell...meant to grow up in this timeline ? the 1940's ? for real what the hell kinda stoner talk is that'' ''Oh joke all you will but remember someone is talking to you in your head and you cannot deny this is the 1940's right ? so are you really in the position to demand?'' I shrug as i ponder the situation ''Well i don't care, send me back at once, this is fucking insane'' ''Sorry, we cannot do that, once you go back, going to the future might affect certain things so going forward is impossible i am afraid'' ''So what ? You're saying im stuck in this fucking place ?'' ''Well...stuck and stuck...you were meant to live in this time..so you are not stuck and look on the bright side, you are rich here, we brought back your money and exchanged it into this timelines currency so you are basically a millionaire now'' ''That is...that is kinda awesome...'' i say to myself ''A millionaire....that is awesome!'' ''Yes yes, it is the least we could do but we are afraid there is one more issue to take care of'' ''You see as you were...a mistake in some ways growing up in the wrong timeline that is not the whole story...'' ''Oh damn, what now then !?'' ''Well you see...it is you...or rather...''you'' since this whole thing was a mistake on our part well there is no easy way to say this to you but'' ''But'' i say feeling uneasy ''Well it is you see...it is...Nick right?'' ''Yes....it is'' ''Well it's supposed to be Nicole'' ''Wait what ? what ? say what ?'' i reply back to whatever it is talking to me ''Right then, you were meant to be a girl named Nicole, not a man named Nick So we have to rectify that predicament'' ''What ? no no, that is insane...'' ''Not as insane as going back in time though...right?'' ''Well...yeah...but still'' ''So to explain to you in one simple sentence, you were meant to grow up as a girl in this correct timeline, but due to some mistakes here and there you are not in the correct timeline'' ''So our job is to remedy that and to do that we have to start with your personally So if you would please do not react strongly or cause a scene we will correct that mistake right here and now'' it says as i stand up from the bench and try to remove the ring but its stuck on my finger The ring sends out some kinda electric shock trough my body as i go limp and fall down ''Dont try to remove it or that happens...you have to wear that ring to not mess up the timeline so its is permanently stuck to you now'' ''Now then where did we leave off...oh yes'' It says as my insides starts to feel like they are one fire as i can feel things moving around inside me cracking and fitting into place ''Augh...what the hell was that....'' ''Replacing your male organs just for now, the insides are easier to do since it just overrides and removes some stuff but we did replace it with its female counterparts'' ''it fucking hurt...'' i reply weakly back as i stand up on my legs and crack my fingers ''Ah yes let us start with the fingers'' it says as my fingernails grows longer and my fingers turns longer and more petite as the same happens to my arms as it turns smaller and slender my shoulders turns less broad and instead a bit sharper and smaller ''There...fingers and arms done....this will not take long Nicole so please just remain calm'' ''Remain calm ? what the hell kinda shit is this! who even are you!?'' ''You dont need to know that and you dont want to know that....'' it says in a more sinister tone ''Now then, the legs might be a good next step'' it says as i can feel my feet growing smaller and a loud crack can be heard as my legs grows wider as well as my hips then my ass grows decently larger and rounder ''Corrected'' it says as i look at the ring wanting to just throw it away ''Oh please, dont even try, you know i can read your mind so doing that would just give you yet another electrical shock and you dont really want that now do you?'' ''...I dont...'' i say lowly ''we thought so'' it says ''Now then where did we leave off ? oh yes'' it says as it starts to feel like someone tugging at my hair as it grows longer and longer and rolls down my back as it turns a gentle chestnut brown or blonde color and rolls up back as one side rolls down my shoulder ''Very classical and time precise Nicole'' The voice says ''Very...'' i say back as i sneeze I wipe my nose as the voice exclaims ''Ah yes, of course let us fix the face'' it says as i hear yet another loud crack as my face cracks and contorts as my eyes goes from blue to the same chestnut color as my hair, my lips gets fuller and my takes on a considerably feminine form as i walk over to the nearby lake and look up at my reflection and gasp ''Oh...damn...'' i say lowly to myself as i cover my mouth hearing my new voice ''oh damn...damn...'' i say yet again looking at the reflection in the water ''Yes yes, stop your complaining now'' ''Complaining ? i got every right, i have lived my whole life and now you are telling me that is just a joke ?'' ''Not a joke, a mistake we said'' ''Well whatever...but i look...'' ''You look what?'' ''I look good...that face...'' i say and run my finger across it as it feels gentle and smooth ''Okay okay so what now ?'' i say feeling a bit excited as i say it ''Oh ? that is a little turn around now, are you suddenly excited ?'' ''Well, no...not really but...the money drives me i guess...'' ''oh yes, the money keeps you going you say...'' it says ''Well...yes i mean...look...okay...what do you want me to say?'' ''if i cannot change reality...and this is just fate right ? what can i even do...walk around hating everything and myself and get thrown into jail for female hysteria ?'' ''Ah well, look here now, common sense, such a rarity and yes you probably would so it is smart to take the right choices'' it says as my chest starts to grow poking against my black Band shirt they grow larger and larger and fully develops into full functional breasts ''Now then we only have the last part of your ordeal left Nicole'' I look down as i cup my chest with my hands and looks around ''Mmm...these feels nice...'' i say to myself as i blush ''i do not think this is the right time to fondle yourself now Nicole, please be an upstanding woman of society now'' it says as i feel a weird sensation between my legs it feels like im being pushed up or something pressing against me penis as it just creeps back into my body as a pair of lips and a vagina starts to form down there instead as my hips once again grows a bit wider As it finishes it send a wave of pleasure up trough my body as i let out a gentle moan to myself ''there there Nicole'' ''Yes'' i say in a gentle soft tone ''Now you are who time meant for you to be but let me just fix your clothing as that is definitely going to break reality if someone spots you wearing that and besides as you might as well know, no women wore pants during this time'' ''Oh...yes yes, of course...my mistake'' i say cheerfully ''Please do not excuse yourself miss Nicole, you have nothing to be sorry for'' it says as my pants starts to widen up and creep up my legs as it slowly forms a grey skirt going down below my knees Then my band shirt slowly forms into a grey blazer with six buttons as it pushes against my body getting quite tight my converse shoes slowly start to form into a pair of black high heels with a strap around the ankels and lastly a pair of gloves wrap around my fingers and hands as a small purse forms out of thin air as i grab it ''Oh...this looks cute...and the outfit...its so fitting of the time...'' ''Well of course it is, you're a woman in the 1940's Now Nicole and you have to act like one, unfortunately your mind is something we cannot erase so you will have to learn along as it goes'' I nod as i open the purse and find a huge stack of cash ''Oh my! money! i should put these in a bank like right now...a woman with a wad of cash...this could be scary....'' i say to myself as i put the money back in the purse and hold it in my hand as i walk back into the city and look around as i spot the same women by the clothing store still standing there talking as they notice me i slowly walk over and smiles at me ''Hello...are you new in town?'' one of the women asks me as i nod ''Y-yes hello, my name is Nicole and i just moved here'' i smile ''Oh really ? Well my name is Sally and this is Miranda, it is a pleasure to meet you Nicole and i do have to say, your outfit looks very elegant'' ''Oh this thing...thank you'' i smile Miranda smiles as she looks into her purse and hands me a cigarette ''You must be smoking a lot to keep that lovely figure'' ''Oh...well i really dont...maybe once or twice'' i say as Miranda giggles and gives it to me and lights up as i take i inhale some ''it is truly a miracle cure, it makes you thinner and more beautiful and do excuse me for saying so but a woman without a cigarette in her hand is just not a classy woman'' ''Oh yes Miranda, you are definitely right but you know i just feel like good after taking one'' I just look at them as they keep talking so casually about this ''Ah..So Nicole, Do you have a husband ?'' ''Oh..no, not yet..im afraid'' i say kinda defending myself ''oh Sally, she just moved into town maybe she is just looking for one'' ''oh maybe i can ask Tom ? i think he has some single friends'' ''your husband ? oh yes maybe'' Miranda smiles I smile as i look down at the stroller ''And who is this little one?'' ''Oh that is Eric, he is my little bundle of joy barely a year old'' Sally smiles ''the little man is sleeping so i dont really want to disturb him so i hope you understand Nicole'' I nod at her as i finish up my smoke ''Ah...thank you for that'' i say as the women smile at me ''Oh dont mention it dear, we are happy to see a new face here, but i have to go on home now, my husband should be coming home from work now and i bet he is quite hungry now'' Sally smiles as she smiles at me and Miranda and walk home Miranda looks at me and smiles ''So Nicole let me invite you over to my home if you want to come for a cup of coffee and some cake ?'' ''Oh...really ? that would be quite lovely...thank you Miranda'' Miranda smiles as we walk over to her home and step inside once inside it looks typical 1940's...the old phone on the wall...the lack of...what i am used to but still it has quite the charm to it ''Oh please make yourself at home'' I smile as i sit down on a chair and cross my legs ''Oh my...just been a woman for 1 hour and already making friends and enjoying it....who knew the 1940's was such...different time'' i smile to myself as i am really getting into this Miranda out with a plate of some cake and a cup of coffee for me ''So do tell me about yourself Nicole....where do you come from ?'' ''Oh...i do not want to be rude Miranda but i left my past sort of behind...it was...quite...troubling and i do not really like to talk about it much...'' She looks at me sad and nods ''I see...that is truly horrible i am terribly sorry for asking you'' I just smile as i put my hand on hers ''it is not your fault, you couldn't have known is all...'' She smiles and nods as i remove my hand and take a sip of my coffee ''You have a very nice home...it is so cozy in here'' i say ''Oh, thank you thank you...i just love decorating and flowers so this is my little escape from the world outside'' Some things never change i say to myself ''So...what do you like Nicole ?'' ''Oh...i like...going to resturants...being with my friends...going to the mall...'' i say weakly hoping i dont mess something up ''Oh yes i just adore the mall, it is just so bustling with life and they have quite the nice selection of stores but i have to say, your fashion sense is distinctly...upper class...'' she says looking at me ''Oh yes...my father was a banker and made a lot of money...but as he died and had no other children he gave me all...my mother died when i was very young...'' i say quickly ''Oh..yes i see...so you were an only child?'' she asks me ''Oh well...like i said i dont really like to talk...about the past...'' ''Oh yes...of course of course...'' I look over at Miranda who sips her coffee wearing her red dress with sleeves going down to the ankles ''So then Nicole...have you had anything fun lately?'' ''Fun ? oh no but i did have a strange dream...'' ''Oh ? a strange dream...?'' ''Yes...i had a fever a couple of weeks ago and when i have it i get really tired...so i dream't i was a man...like...several years in the future...it was...very strange'' Miranda giggles and looks at me ''Oh ? my my, did they have flying cars?'' she giggles as i giggle back and shake my head ''oh...do you have someplace to live ?'' i slowly shake my head and sigh ''Well you want to stay here for the night then ?'' ''Well...that would be lovely but i cannot do so for free...let me at least pay for it...'' i say as Miranda lights up another cigarette and smiles at me ''oh please...i will not ask you but if you insist'' she smiles as i look into my purse and hands her a hundred dollar bill She looks at it in shock then over at me then back at the bill ''A-Are...Are you sure ? that is a lot of money...'' she says as i just smile and nod at her ''you are giving me a place to stay...it is the least i can do'' We sit down and chat for several more hours as i learn new things over and over again as Miranda yawns and looks at the clock ''Oh...miranda do not mind if i ask but...do you live here alone ?'' ''Oh..yes...my husband died in the war 4 years ago i am afraid...i have been alone since'' ''Oh...i didnt mean to bring that up...i am sorry'' Miranda smiles and shakes her head ''He died fighting for our country...in my eyes he is a hero Miranda smiles at me as she turns around and walks up the stairs as i look at her while sipping my last cup of coffee ''....oh my dear goddess....'' i say to myself as feel myself getting a bit warmer ''Oh dear heavens..no no...please...i am a woman...it is not right...'' ''But i mean...i used to be...'' ''No no...that is just absurd...i mean...its not but i cannot keep thinking like that...i have to fit in...'' i say as Miranda walks back downstairs and sits down on the sofa ''So then Miranda, you can use the guest bedroom okay ?'' I nod at her as i stand up and walk upstairs to the guest room which just has a single bed and some old drawers there it feels...quite cold I look in the drawers as i find an old nightgown as i remove my clothes and put on the gown as i lie down in bed just thinking about Miranda ''Oh...Fuck it'' i say as i stand back up and walk over to find Miranda in the bathroom i look at her as she looks at me and smiles ''that nightgown fits you very nice i am glad i saved that thing'' I just look at her into the eyes as she goes silent and just looks at me back ''N-Nicole...are you well ?'' she asks as i take a deep breath and looks at her ''I think i am about to do something...stupid'' i say as i move in closer and wrap my arms around her shoulders as i gently leans in and kisses her lips Miranda's eyes goes wide as she pushes me away ''Good heavens Nicole! what has gotten into you! Are you insane!?'' she yells at me as i look at her ''I am not insane Miranda...but...you have just been so kind to me and...look at you...you look so lovely and cute...and it just..felt right'' ''i close my eyes now and see you....and i just want to hold around you...you really...you are just...'' Miranda looks at me and pushes me away as she walks into her bedroom and locks the door i walk over and knock on it but get no reply ''I am...i am so sorry Miranda...'' i say as i walk back to my room and lie down on the cold bed as i close my eyes and just recap my day so far But as i start to recap it my thoughts flood over to Miranda...all i think about is her now...her lovely body...her cute and sweet face...her empathy and compassion...why does these things...turn me on and why do i...as a woman myself...i am killing myself... But i cannot fight these feelings anymore i remove my nightgown and lie down naked in the bed and covers myself with the blanket as i just think about Miranda all night and nothing else The next morning i wake up and look around and quickly get dressed as i find Miranda downstairs listening to the radio ''Good morning'' she says as i walk over and sit down next to her ''Good morning Miranda...'' She turns and looks at me ''i have heard of women like you Nicole...and cannot belive it just happened to me...i cannot get it out of my head what you did to me...i wanted to call the police but...i just couldn't...'' ''i am sorry Miranda...i didn't mean it...'' ''Look Nicole, you are a lovely woman but this...this...is just...absurd...'' i just keep looking at her as i stand up and walks over to her as i hold her hand against my blazer where my breasts are as she stands up and looks at me ''.....'' we say nothing and just look at each other as i yet hear the voice in my head again ''Miss Nicole...if you go down this path...you will live a secrecy...oppression and hate...'' it says to me ''Yes...but i cannot help myself...its not that she is just a woman...but i just cannot help myself...i just cannot...she...she just feel right for me...'' ''Then Miss Nicole...dont fight it...and enjoy this life that was meant to be yours from the start''it says as it fades away ''N-Nicole...'' she stammers but does not remove her hand as i smile at her ''Miranda...'' ''Nicole...'' ''Miranda...i cannot stop my feelings...when i saw you..i just knew...i fell in love...you are everything i have looked for in another person...and i cannot stop thinking about you no matter how hard i try...'' ''But...i am a woman....just like you...'' ''And so what...? does that make it less wrong ? these are my feelings...you dont have to feel the same back but...just be honest to me...'' Miranda sighs i let go of her hand as she looks at me ''....Who...who just are you...'' she says ''Just a woman like you'' i smile back I see a smile across Her face as she giggles and looks at me ''No one has to know...right?'' I nod at her ''We can move away and start a life for ourselves....'' ''Then...Y-yes...i will give this a chance but what would i even call you?'' I lean in and kiss her lips lovingly ''Wives at some point maybe ? or maybe just...girlfriends'' ''Wives...me being a wife to a woman...oh my....i would have never...but...you kiss...good'' i giggle and smile at her ''And so do you Miranda...my dear...'' ''Oh Nicole...i dont understand you but...i am sure i will soon'' she smiles at me as i kiss her lips again and giggle at her ''i know something i want to try with you...if you so desire to follow me upstairs...'' Miranda looks at me confused as we head upstairs and i show her a whole new word...just as she did to me...

[rox-the-proxy]

For You and Me

This was inspired by a nyche story that was written by another Tumblr user here @tealmountaingoddess. Go check out their stories and give them some love for the beautiful writing they've created as well!!

It was always a treat for Nyx to hear Luche sing. but it was an even better treat to hear him sing for their group of Eight glaive they called their family. 

Original Song is by Sam Hunt called "This land is your Land." i do not own the song in anyway, shape or form.

“It’s Ten in the morning, how are you still tired?” ah yes, that was the famous question all eight of the glaive loved to ask Luche when he would wake up to find them all in his home. Nine if his Crownsguard friend Petra decided he wanted to drop by as well. Luche wasn’t sure when his home had become the gathering place of all these people. But he oddly enough didn’t mind it, however if he was ever asked if he did, he would say yes. Not that any of the others believed him. “You okay, Lu?” the said male blinked a few times lazily before looking up at Nyx, who was now standing in front of him, gently cupping his face using his thumb to stroke the other’s cheek gently. Luche sighed, his eyes drifting closed as he leaned into the hand on his face, merely enjoying the contact. He had Nyx had been together for a while now, since they were eighteen he believed. “Lu, Luche, LuLu.” Said blue eyed male smiled sleepily at the string of pet names. “Im shocked you aren’t wearing one of my shirts.” Nyx pointed out, seeing as his boyfriend was only in sweatpants.

“Oh god they’re doing it again.” came Tredd’s voice from the kitchen. Luche only lifted a hand and flipped him off, not caring If the ginger saw it or not. He could hear movement in there and based off the smell, it was clear that it was Crowe who was baking something for them to eat. It was one of the rare times where they could all sit together and have breakfast with each other. “You two, are gross.” He said, though there was no malice in his tone, just teasing. “Come on, get your lover boy over here so he can wake up properly.” There was a simple ‘yup’ from Nyx before Luche found himself being walked over to the kitchen table. he was sat down in a spot to the left of Titus, who had his mug of coffee and newspaper in front of him. blinking a few more times, Luche finally tunes into the environment around him. Tredd currently was helping Crowe with getting plates for everyone ready, Pelna current filling everyone’s individual mugs with freshly brewed coffee.  Libertus was off in the living room with Sontitus watching Axis playing a game. Luche’s attention was brought back to the people in the kitchen when a mug was placed in front of him.

“Thank you,” Luche said, looking to Pelna who smiled at him and nodded before moving on to give the others their cups of coffee. Cradling the mug between his hands, he tales a careful sip and sighs in content, leaning against Nyx’s shoulder. He could feel more then hear the chuckle the other man lets out. After a few moments, Luche sets the cup down and turns his head to look up at the older male. Reaching up with his newly freed hand, he places his hand on the back of Nyx’s neck and pulled him down, giving him a gentle kiss. “Good morning.” He mumbled against his lips, Nyx chuckled and happily gave into another lazy kiss. “Sorry I woke up late,”

“It’s fine, Lu. We know that you aren’t a morning person.” Nyx assured him, keeping their foreheads pressed together. They only pulled apart when Crowe walked by and set down plates of food in front of each of the glaive, all of them giving her a thank you in return. She stopped by the current pair and rolled her eyes with amusement as she then wiggled her hand between them before setting a plate down in front of them both. Luche gave her a smile, and a simple nod. a silent thank you. “Lu, Lu can you…?”

“Aye not a bad idea, please Luche? Come on.” Crowe quickly joined in the begging, the blue-eyed male stared at his boyfriend and their friend. He blinked several times trying to think about what they could possibly be asking for. However, when he saw the fond look on Nyx’s face it clicked for him as to what they wanted from him exactly. He sighed, leaning back in his seat before taking another long drink of his coffee. He normally didn’t do what they requested so early in the morning, he tended to wait until it was just him and Nyx and that was usually at the end of the day. Luche didn’t see the harm of doing it right now, especially with how Nyx, Crowe and now everyone else were watching him expectedly.

“Okay, fine. but just this once,” he clarified pointing a finger to all of them. he watched as the other glaive who had been in the living room moved from their spots to sit at the table or stand by the counters. Honestly, he was working with a bunch of children trapped in adult bodies. Though he couldn’t stop the playful roll of his eyes and the fond smile that fell over his face. “This Land is your land; this land is my land. From Insomnia to the Galahdian Island, from the Fallgrove forest, to the Styrian waters, this land was made for you and me,” he sang softly, the others had been quick to fall silent to listen to the other male. “As I was walking that river north highway, I saw above me that endless skyway. I saw below me that golden valley, this land was made for you and me.” Luche didn’t sing often in front of the other glaive, it was a treat he reserved for Nyx and his brother. And even then, it was always in private. The one other time he had sung at Glaive HQ he hadn’t even realized that his singing had brought him an audience until after he was done singing and the room was flooded with clapping. It had been quite an embarrassing day to say the least. However, since that day the glaive enjoyed hearing him hum random little melodies. “I’ve roamed and rambled, I’ve followed my footsteps to the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts. And all around me, a voice was sounding; ‘This land was made for you and me’. This land is you land, this land is my land. From Insomnia to the Galahdian Island, from the Fallgrove Forest, to the Styrian waters,” Luche didn’t even flinch when he felt Nyx wrap his arm around him and pull him flush against his side, in fact he only responded with closing his eyes and leaning his head against his shoulder. “This land was made for you and me, this land was made for you and me.”

Opening his eyes, he was a little taken aback by the happy, but longing looks on the faces of his fellow glaive. He couldn’t help but frown ever so slightly and lean back against Nyx as if trying to hide. But he stopped when the older male pressed a kiss to the top of his head. a silent confirmation that everything was fine, that everyone was fine. sighing and relaxing, Luche started to hum the melody again, this time, Nyx joining right in with him, it didn’t take long for the others to join in either. hell, even Titus had joined in. Luche could understand why the song would affect them all a little bit. Being immigrants from outside the wall, they faced the judging looks from the citizens inside the wall. At one point, even as a Crownsguard, Petra didn’t like immigrants much. But Luche was lucky that he had managed to change the mans outlook on them by just being a decent human being. But even then, that was just one person, compared to so many people in the city it was hard to get by without the sneering looks, the off-hand comments. It was Nyx who had been the one to say something along the lines of all them belonging on the same earth, in the same place. He guessed that was the reason why he loved this song so much, aside from the fact he just loved it when the brown-haired man would sing.

“Thanks, babe.” Nyx mumbled against his hair, the younger of the two only nodded, leaning up to steal a soft kiss from their resident ‘Hero’. This got them a playful gagging noise from who they can only assume was Crowe or Tredd. Nyx only laughed, keeping his eyes closed like Luche. The two stayed silent, merely enjoying each other’s company as the others went back to doing what they had been previously, but each of them giving their resident ‘Mom Friend.’ A heartfelt thank you for the morning song, in which Luche only gave them a nod in response. “I love you till the sun burns out,” Nyx whispered, pressing his forehead a little more against the other’s, the action made Luche reach up and cup his face, bringing their lips together.

“And I love you, you’ll be my sun should it burn out.”

[dong-hyucks]

Moonlight Sonata ; Taeil

Requested Characters: Pianist!Taeil / Cellist!Reader ft. Amber & Jaehyun Genre: romance A/N: as you can probably tell by the title moonlight sonata will be in the story~ it’s by beethoven if you didn’t know also i’m sorry this took so long writers block is a witch... yes i just said witch sue me and i didnt add the nightmare im sorry ><

Masterlists

You huffed as you placed the final box down. “That’s it!” Your friend, Amber, said happily, tired as well. It was a week before your first day at college and you were moving into your dorm. 

“I wish you were my roommate,” you said sadly. True to your words, Amber already had a roommate; she was a sophomore while you were a freshman after all.

“You’ll live,” Amber said, pushing your shoulder. “Your roommate-- what’s his name again?” You thought back to registration, when you were told. 

“Min-- Moon Taeyong? Something like that.”

Groaning, Amber looked to you with an apologetic expression. “I’d love to help you unpack, but I have a date.” You chuckled, grinning over your shoulder at her. 

“With Henry?” Amber grabbed a random object and threw it at you. Luckily it was a pillow. “Well, go on.” You picked the pillow up from the floor, “you’re going to be late.”

After Amber left, you turned on some music -- a riveting piano piece -- and continued to unpack, blissfully unaware of the noisy men entering the dorm.

Minutes later, your desk was occupied with your belongings. Sighing, you glared out at the window. It was noon so the sun was at its highest, which meant it was extremely hot. Closing the window blinds, you pulled up the hem of your sweater, ready to take it off.

And then the door opened.

You froze, sweater halfway up your torso, eyes wide. A guy stood at the door, staring at your exposed skin. “Do you mind?” you stuttered, cheeks growing hot. He nodded slowly and closed the door. When you heard the click, you let go of the fabric, and rubbed your face. “Oh my dear God, [Y/N], great first impression,” you mumbled. 

Quickly changing into a spare t-shirt, you exited the room. You spotted him, talking to a younger boy in the hallway. You saw several boxes surrounding him, along with the black suitcase at his feet.

Upon seeing you exit the room, he averted his eyes. “Hello,” the younger one said, somewhat shyly. You nodded, waving your hand. He, the one who walked in on you, turned to you after a moment with a forced smile. 

“Sorry about before,” he began, his smile wavering. “I knew you were in there, but I didn’t think you’d be, uh--”

“Changing?”

“Yeah, that.” You chuckled, leaning against the door frame. “It’s not like you saw anything.” 

He gave you a look, “what if I did?”

“Did you want to?”

The younger boy laughed. “Aw, Taeil-hyung is all shy!” He teased. Taeil, you repeated in your head. So it wasn’t Taeyong. 

“Stop it Jaemin, ” Taeil scolded. Shaking his head at him, he looked at you. “I’m Moon Taeil, your roommate. It’s nice to meet you.”

“[Y/F/N].”

If you thought that you and Taeil would become the best of friends, you were wrong. To be frank, it was awkward between the two of you, even after five months. You practically never talked, aside from the quiet ‘hello’s every now and then.

“Morning,” you mumbled, half asleep as you trudged into the kitchen that you shared with two other students. Taeil stood at the counter making coffee in his pyjamas (which consisted of boxers and a loose tee mind you), greeting you quietly. “I have a date later,” you said through a yawn, “so you’ll be alone until it’s dark.”

It was true; you, [Y/F/N], had gotten a date. Not willingly, anyway. Amber had set you up on a blind date, claiming that you were going to die alone at the rate you were going at. She wouldn’t even let you refuse.

Taeil glanced at you from the corner of his eye, weakly nodding. You yawned once more and shook your head in hopes of waking yourself up. You noticed, even in your tired stupor, that Taeil had begun to openly stare at you. “What?”

Taeil looked away hastily, going back to brewing his coffee. “Nothing,” he mumbled, his cheeks tinged pink. He quickly poured the hot beverage, leaving you some as always, and left. You heard him close your door, leaving you to stand in the cold kitchen alone.

“What was that all about,” Boyoung, one of the other students, asked as she walked out of her dorm room. Hyungsik, her boyfriend, walked out soon after. You gave her a suggestive glance after seeing him, avoiding the question. She quickly dismissed the thought, smacking your shoulder. “Get your mind out of the gutter,” she mumbled, blushing, “he couldn’t sleep through the storm last night so he asked to come over.”

Hyungsik pouted at Boyoung, as if expecting her to keep quiet about that. “Sure,” you teasingly drawled out. “And that,” you gestured toward the door Taeil had disappeared behind, “I honestly don’t know what that was. He’s been acting like that lately; all jumpy and shy around me.”

“Wasn’t he always like that?” Hyungsik asked as he stole a sip from Boyoung’s cup of milk. She retaliated by elbowing his stomach lightly, placing a protective hand over the rim of the cup.

You nodded but sighed. “I don’t know. He’s basically been himself times ten for the past month.” You were a bit worried, honestly. You had no idea why he had suddenly been acting off and you wanted to get to the bottom of it. You were a bit hurt, honestly, with the way he had been brushing you off lately. You bid the two good bye, as you had a class in half an hour.

You ventured into the dorm room, finding Taeil hunched over his desk, scribbling away at something. His coffee was placed on the desk as well, but it seemed untouched. How can someone look so attractive doing something so mundane, you thought with a slight pout.

You let him be, going to change in the bathroom. “I’ll be going,” you said quietly, slipping the large cello case on. Taeil hummed, not facing to look at you.

The day passed quickly, the thought of Taeil drifting out of your mind. Instead, you began to think about your upcoming date. Would your date be nice or a total jerk?

You didn’t bother getting dressed, heading straight to the cafe you were meeting your date at once your classes were over. It’s not like you were trying to impress your date anyway; you had someone on your mind already. Memories of a certain brunet suddenly flashed in your mind, causing you to feel warm out of nowhere.

Upon entering the cafe, you headed straight toward a table for two in the corner. Not a lot of people were in the cafe, aside from a few elderly men and women alongside a couple of your peers.

Placing your cello case against the wall next to you, you sat down. You closed your eyes in slight exhaustion as you waited, tired from your classes. The cafe smelled of coffee and chamomile tea. As you basked in the sunlight that streamed in through the window, you were tapped on the shoulder.

Breaking out of your reverie, you looked up to see a rather attractive man standing at the table. “[Y/N]?” he asked simply.

Slowly you nodded, assuming he was your date. “And you are?”

He smiled at you, taking the seat across from you. You couldn’t help but notice how adorable he looked when he smiled; dimples appeared on his cheeks. His dark brown hair seemed lighter in the sun. Despite his obvious attractiveness, your heart was surprisingly calm. “I’m Jaehyun. I sit behind you in Music Tech.”

You offered him your own awkward smile, having never noticed him before. As if he read your mind, Jaehyun laughed. “It’s fine that you don’t know me. I only know you because I have to stare at your head half the time in class.”

You huffed jokingly, narrowing your eyes at the male. “Is that a problem for you?” You asked in a teasing tone. Jaehyun chuckled, shaking his head. “Not one bit.”

You became flustered over the amount of sincerity in his voice, but dismissed it quickly. “I’ll go order,” he offered, standing up. “What do you want?”

“Iced caramel macchiato, please.”

It didn’t take long before Jaehyun came back with both your drink and his. The two of you sat in silence for a while, drinking the cold beverages, before he spoke up. “You’re a cellist, right?”

You nodded, gesturing toward the case behind you. “How’d you guess?”

You exchanged smiles, the mood slowly becoming more comfortable as time passed. In an hour, you had learned that he enjoyed singing (and you managed to get him to sing a part of How Deep Is Your Love), he liked playing sports, and that he was a pianist.

“My room mate’s a pianist,” you mentioned after taking another sip of your drink. Jaehyun, who was previously playing with his hands, looked up at you in curiosity. “Who? I might know them.”

“Moon Taeil.”

Jaehyun’s eyes widened, his hands going limp. You stared at him in confusion, did he not like Taeil? “You’re Taeil’s room mate?” he asked incredulously. You nodded, leaning back in your chair. “Wow,” he breathed, “I didn’t expect this.”

You furrowed your brows, “what do you mean?” Jaehyun chortled. “I can’t believe I’m on a date with the room mate of all people. Man, I can just imagine his face if he finds out.” You narrowed your eyes at him, crossing your arms. “What are you talking about?” you demanded.

Jaehyun scratched the back of his neck. “Taeil,” he began, “we’re friends and he’s told me about his room mate. He does that a lot, by the way.” He paused before continuing, “I think he likes you, [Y/N].”

Needless to say, the date ended very quickly. He had noticed how quiet you had gotten after what he said, so he offered to walk you back to your dorm, which you had refused. It was already getting dark anyway, so you sent him home. Although, Jaehyun didn’t let you leave until you had his number. Text me when you get back to your dorm, he had said.

You walked into your dorm, your motions sluggish. You placed your case in the corner where it usually was before flopping onto your bed.

“How was the date?” a quiet voice asked. You jumped, forgetting that Taeil would be in the room. Looking up with warm cheeks, you made eye contact with the said male, who was sitting on his bed reading.

I think he likes you, [Y/N].

Jaehyun’s voice rang in your ears, causing your face to get hotter. “Eventful,” you stammered, covering your face with your pillow immediately after giving him an answer. You didn’t catch the frown he had quickly put on.

The room went silent for a good five minutes, other than the sound of Taeil’s book and its pages, before your phone rang. Without looking at the caller I.D., you answered and brought the phone to your ear.

“Hello? Did you get home safely?” Jaehyun’s voice asked. You rolled your eyes, sitting up. “What’s the point of telling me to text you if you’re just going to call?”

Unbeknownst to you, as you spoke Taeil watched, wondering who you were talking to.

“I’ll hang up first,” you said, standing up from your bed. “Night, Jaehyun.” You let him respond before hanging up. Taeil’s eyes widened, his book falling from his hands.It fell to the floor with a plop, the noise gaining your attention. He gave you a timid smile before bending over to pick it up.

His eyes trailed after you as you gathered a bundle of your clothes, heading out to presumably take a shower. When the door closed behind you, he let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“[Y/N] went on a date,” he mumbled, eyes wide, “with Jaehyun?”

When you came back to the dorm room, Taeil had already fallen asleep, his bare back facing you. You found yourself looking over at his bed constantly throughout the night, before stopping yourself.

Get it together, you thought, you’re watching your room mate sleep for God’s sake, [Y/N,] could you get any creepier?

Letting out a quiet groan of frustration, you turned over and closed your eyes, willing yourself to sleep. The darkness of the room lulled you into a light slumber.

Unfortunately, that light slumber didn’t last very long. You found yourself awake once again, this time staring up at the white ceiling. The room was eerily silent, you couldn’t even hear Taeil’s soft snoring, something that normally sounded a lot louder than it actually was in the quietness of the night.

You glanced over at Taeil’s bed for the umpteenth time that night. To your surprise, the bed was empty, the covers strewn about messily (which was unlike him). You sat up, examining the dim moonlight-lit room. To your surprise, Taeil wasn’t even at his desk.

You sat up, wincing gingerly when your feet touched the cold wooden floors. You crept to the door, opening it slowly. When it creaked loudly, you froze, scared that you would wake someone up.

Luckily, your school didn’t have any rules about curfew, but some of the students could get a bit crabby when they were woken up in the middle of the night.

You knew from experience.

You aimlessly wandered the halls, finding yourself searching for your room mate. “Why am I doing this,” you mumbled to yourself. Your bare feet felt cold even against the carpeted floor and you could feel goosebumps trailing up your arms.

Then, you heard it. The lull of a song that brought you actual peace in your stressful life. The soft and delicate yet strong sound of the piano filled the empty corridor. Your legs moved on their own toward the sound, your eyes darting around the empty space.

It wasn’t long before you reached an intersection in the hallway, one where a grand piano had been placed. Your eyes widened when you saw Taeil sitting on the piano bench, his hands moving quickly and gracefully across the keys. His back was bare, as was most of his body. You frowned, looking down at your own clothing. You were wearing pyjama pants and a shirt yet you felt cold.

You waited until he finished to speak. “Aren’t you cold?”

He visibly jumped, his head snapping back to look at you. Taeil’s eyes went wide upon seeing you, leaning against the wall with the moonlight outlining your figure. “[Y/N], what are you doing up?” he stuttered.

You rolled your eyes, strolling over to him and sitting next to him. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? What are you doing at two in the morning playing the piano in your boxers.” Taeil flushed, as if he had forgotten the fact that he was half naked.

Although you probably should be used to the sight of Taeil in boxers, considering he only wore them to bed, it still made you feel slightly shy, amongst other things. “I couldn’t sleep.”

You nodded, understanding the struggle of grasping onto sleep. “I didn’t know you could play Moonlight Sonata,” you avowed. Taeil nodded, the movement so small you almost missed it. “I learned it a month ago.” His answer was brief, but he had sounded so confident about it that you couldn’t help but smile.

“Could you play it again?” you asked, biting your lip. “If you want to go back to bed or something, it’s fine you don’t have to--”

He shook his head, straightening his back and positioning his hands on the shiny black and white keys. You closed your eyes as he started to play, swaying side to side gently. A small smile remained on your face the whole time he played.

Taeil looked over at you as he played, his hands freezing momentarily. You looks so delicate-- eyes closed, moonlight shining on you, a peaceful smile on your face. You opened your eyes when he stopped, surprised to see him so close to your face.

“Taeil?” you gasped, your voice just above a whisper. You gulped when his eyes trailed down to your lips before focusing on you once more, the look in his eyes truly captivating. Unknowingly, you began to slowly gravitate toward each other. Impatient, Taeil leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours.

You responded instantly, your hands reaching up to rest on his shoulder. His bare arms wrapped around your waist, bringing you closer to him. His lips moved slowly and gently against yours, as light as a feather’s caress. Despite the coldness of the room, you suddenly felt warm.

It ended too quickly, in your opinion, with Taeil slowly pulling away, his eyes still closed. You took a moment to just admire him, from the way his eyelashes curled slightly to his sharp jawline to the small imperfections you could only see up close. You didn’t know how to react when he opened his eyes, his dark pupils boring into yours.

“Wow,” he whispered breathlessly. You smiled. “I think I love you,” he mumbled, averting his eyes bashfully, his cheeks turning pink. “I noticed it a month ago. I was searching for you in crowds, I was constantly wondering if you were eating three meals a day, and--” he interrupted himself, turning a darker shade of red. “I got jealous whenever you’d talk to other guys.”

Your heart soared. You couldn’t help but grin at how adorably shy Taeil was being. “I think I love you too,” you murmured. He looked into your eyes again. 

His lips parted in a wide grin.

“By the way,” Taeil said as the two of you walked back to your dorm hand in hand. “Was Jaehyun your date?”

You glanced up at him, chuckling when you heard the undertone of jealousy in his voice. “Yeah,” you said, swinging your arms. “He told me some interesting things about you.”

“... What things?”

You spun on your heel, stopping in front of him. “You talk about me often?” you asked, a happy expression on your face. Taeil sputtered, flustered over the question. Laughing quietly, you continued the walk to your dorm, leaving him behind.

“Jung Jaehyun, I’ll kill you,” he muttered under his breath before following you, wearing a gentle smile.

You took a moment to just admire him, from the way his eyelashes curled slightly to his sharp jawline to the small imperfections you could only see up close.  i say that but this man has no imperfections #stantaeil

[saviormysticmeme]

ummmm..... I LOOOVE YOUR WORK （≧∇≦） YOU ARE SERIOUSLY SUPER TALENTED! Are YOU A GENIUS???? Sorry for caps...（´-`）If you don't mind, may I request an hc about the RFA + minor trio mistaking mc's twin for mc? Maybe they see her twin with another guy, so they ask mc about it or something... I just love love love your writtiiinngg~~~ I can write whole page! It's all so good that I they're all my favorite! (´Д` ) Sorry if its unclear/bad grammar... Bye（・◇・）/~~~

RFA + MTrio React to Mistaking CM for MC

Omg pls you guys are feeding my ego so muchAnd don’t worry about your grammar!! Grammar is the hardest part of any language, I cry when I speak anything other than English cause “How do say this” 

Ok anyways

Some of these are going to be those totally cliché “Secret Twin” scenarios that are kind of angsty but I’m gonna try some more lighthearted ones too because I feel like the “I SAW YOU WITH ANOTHER MAN IM LEAVING YOU!!!1!1!” “Babe thats my twin” scenarios have been used quite a bit and I don’t want to pump out something that’s already out here

If you decide you want those scenarios instead though then let me know! Because if you just happen to reallllly like that specific case then I’ll do a short drabble focusing on that

Also sorry in advance for the Choi twin ones, I just feel like they would know about MC’s twin and I the writing for them isn’t up to par with the others but I didn’t want to postpone posting for much longer because of it.

Ok I talk too much lets go

Yoosung:

He’s walking by a cafe near campus when he sees you sitting across from another guy

He stops dead in the side walk and stares in the window

At first he thought you were maybe just..discussing something? With some guy? Who you never told him about…?

No he didn’t think that at all his brain went straight to the worst but he couldn’t bare to think it so he came up with every excuse in the book.

MC’s a spy and they have to kill this guy

He’s a new RFA recruit???

He’s a dealer and MC’s buying drugs

MC is secretly a vampire and just trying to eat this guy

Every thought bubble he had was popped when you leaned over the table and planted a kiss on the mans cheek

Yoosung heard his heart-

rrrng rrrrng rrrrng rrrng

He was going to say breaking but apparently his heart rings when broken?

He looked at his phone and your Caller ID was up

“Huh?” He looked from his phone to the window, where ‘you’ were still sitting and talking with the strange man

He answers the phone, voice a little shakey “H-Hello?”

“Yoosung? Hey! Sorry to call but on your way home can you grab soup. I’m feeling like soup for dinner tonight.”

….

“Yoosung?”

“MC…how are you doing this?”

“…Doing what Yoosung?”

“Are you a vantrilaquist?”

“Yoosung pls just what the fuck are you talking about”

“I’m staring at you through a window having coffee with another man…but you’re on the phone with me.”

“1. Yoosung that’s creepy that you’re staring at two strangers 2…”

His phone beeped and he looked down to see you sent him a picture of you sitting on the couch with a controller in hand, soda on the table, blankly staring at the camera.

He snapped a picture of the ‘you’ in the window and sent it back

“Yoosung that’s my sister and her boyfriend you egg”

“Your sister???? What???”

“I told you I had a sister!”

“NOT THAT YOU GUYS WERE TWINS”

“I assumed when you met her you’d be with me…not that this would happen. This is some TV style mess.” You chuckled, feeling a little guilty. Reflecting on it, you probably would have been upset too if you thought a look a like Yoosung was putting the moves on someone else “So……soup?”

“Yeah babe of course, what do you want?”

Jaehee

She was at the cafe making -cue Savior Meme going and making a post about Jaehee owning a musical theatre instead- a new brew when you walked in

She sees you and casts a warm smile and a “Hey Honey”

The person Jaehee thought to be MC cocks their head, slightly confused, but brushes it off as Jaehee being a very friendly Barista

The copy cat you stands at the counter, waiting about a minute before Jaehee realizes their presence at the spot

“Dear, what are you doing?”

The customer furrows their brows and responds slowly, somewhat confused “Ordering coffee…”

Jaehee chuckles, amused at you playing customer. She just shakes her head and walks over to the register

“Alright, what’ll you have?”

“I’ll have an iced Mocha with extra cream no sugar.”

Jaehee scribbles it on a cup and gets to work making the drink “Weird choice for you. Didn’t think you were a fan of  mocha, you always seem to prefer vanilla”

“I do?” 

“Yes silly, you always ask for French vanilla flavoring.”

“I ne-” Before your clone can respond though, Jaehee has finished up the drink and handing it over

As ‘You’ take the drink, Jaehee leans over the counter and plops a quick kiss on your cheek

‘You’ are frozen on the spot

Jaehee opens her eyes to see why you’re suddenly so frigid towards her, but when she opens them she can’t help but glance behind you and see…YOU??

“MC?” Jaehee jumped back looking between you and your look a like.

“MC?” Your twin turns to you, face still flushed from their sudden kiss. “Is this the surprise you had for me??? A super friendly barista??”

“Surprise???” Jaehee exclaimed, still looking between the two of you. “Wait you’re not MC???”

Finally you stepped in to clear the confusion

“Jaehee! This is my twin …. CM. CM, this is my new Cafe that I run with my girlfriend!”

“Girl..friend.” CM turns to look at Jaehee, at the same time the two of them realize everything that just happened concerning the confusion.

“I am so so so so so so so so so sorry” Jaehee can not stop apologizing no matter how many times CM says it’s ok.

Zen

It was  opening night for his new show

He was pumped

Sure because of the show, but also because you had shot him a text earlier that day that you were going to bring your sibling. 

Zen had yet to meet anyone in your family, so he was excited that you were going to start introducing him to them. It showed how ready you were to spend your life with him and that just made him giddy.

So after the show was over he couldn’t wait to find you

He scanned the crowd and eventually spotted you in the crowd with a bouquet of roses

MC is so sweet he hummed to himself

That was his sole moment of calmness before the storm

He watched as his coworker walked up to you and started chatting you up. Zen was on the other side of the auditorium, trying to push his way through the flock of people set on congratulating him, so he couldn’t run to your rescue as fast as he liked.

He was frustrated but he knew you could handle yourself

At least that’s what he thought until his fellow actor’s hand found it’s way to your hand, where the thumb gently brushed back and forth. 

Zen’s face turned red, and the shade only grew deeper when he saw his douche bag scene mate’s mouth turn into a cocky looking smirk.

He found superhuman speed and agility to push through the crowd and end up right behind you, where he wrapped his arms around you tightly and pressed a long kiss to your cheek

“Honey, there you are.” Zen sounded so sweet while his blazing red eyes stared daggers into the green ones of his coworker.

“Zen? This is your girlfriend?”

“Yes, this is my girlfriend MC.” Zen squinted at the guy. How dare he pretend not to know, Zen only pointed out MC every time she came to a show. Every time she picked him up from rehearsal. Every time-

“You said your name was CM” The Actor turned a confused stare to the person in Zen’s arms

“I-” They tried to say but

“CM?” Zen questioned, he spun them around only to realize “You’re not MC.”

“No I’m” Cm tried to say

“Zen!” You interjected as you ran over to the 3. “Sorry, I had to run to the bathroom. CM thanks for holding the flowers. Speaking of which, Zen I see you’ve met my twin”

Zen’s face turned bright red with blush this time

He turned to his fellow actor and CM and started apologizing profusely 

Jumin

He knew you had a brother….or…a sister? …or both?

He lied he had no clue, he just knew you had some sort of sibling.

He was unaware it was a twin

A twin who worked as an assistant for a company but was looking to switch, so when they saw C&R was hiring a new chief assistant, they threw an application in

So here is Jumin, just sorting through some applications when he sees

“CM PlayerPants” 

He smirks at the paper, seeing all the information filled out is yours. Your home address, the general store you lived near, your school, graduation, etc.

Your picture was even you, just you in a suit and looking very hot professional

Now lets face it you and Jumin did some kinky shit sometimes

Sometimes your love life together involved role playing

Jumin was surprised at how much effort you put into this, but he wasn’t going to spoil it. 

He types in the phone number, it’s not your usual cell number, what did you get a prepaid phone just for this?

He was in awe with your dedication

Rrrng rrrng rrrng

“Hello?” Your voice answered

He couldn’t hide the smirk on his face “Hello there, Kitten.”

“I-I’m sorry?”

“Oh my bad” He corrected himself “Hello there, Ms. Playerpants. This is Jumin Han from C&R calling about your application”

“Oh! Uh, Hello! Yes, what can I do for you? Does it need any clarification?”

“Oh no no no, I think I read you loud and clear.” He lazily flipped through the pages of the resume in front of him

“Oh..ok. Is this about the position then?”

“Yes” A smirk found it’s way to his lips “Speaking of which, what is your favorite position?”

“Excuse me? I don’t think I understand?” The voice on the end was clearly taken aback. Damn, you were making him work for this.

“Well I figured I’d give you a say in the matter tonight since you put sooo much work into this. So Kitten, tell me, what would you like to do tonight? Maybe I’ll buy some toys on the way home an-”

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU????” Click.

Jumin just stared at the phone confused. He shrugged it off because his desk phone went off, and when he answered it was his father calling him to a meeting. Jumin resolved to just handle whatever happened with you when he got home

After a long work day he came in the door to see you waiting for him. “Hello Kitten.”

“Hey Babe, how was work?”

“Good, aside from this strange phone call I made today” A small grin on his face

“Oh?” You cocked an eyebrow.

“Yes,” He purred as he walked over and started rubbing your shoulders “I thought I had found a new assistant”

“OH!” You exclaim, jumping up and remembering something “I forgot to tell you this morning! My twin is applying for the chief assistant job, it completely slipped my mind.”

“Your…twin?” Jumin cocked his brows now

“Yes! CM!”

“C….M” Jumin was quick to catch on to his mistake “Oh my god”

Seven

Lets face it

You guys may be sick of hearing this but 

He knew

Of course he knew

He stalked the ever-loving-shit out of you

He saw photos of the two of you together

He insists on you and your twin joining him and Saeran out for lunch all the time

You guys have the certified Twin Club in his brain

The 4 of you spend so much time together Seven can tell the slight difference between your hair and your twins. How your twin is about a centimeter taller. Your eyes are a little more wide.  He knows. 

Which is why he isn’t caught off guard when your twin and you show up in the same room

He’s not confused when he sees CM out kissing someone 

He knows

He loves it

#TwinSquad

V

His eyesight is so bad he has mini heart attacks once a week thinking he sees you out in public holding hands with someone else

Over time he stops freaking out, he starts to recognize you easier, which means he can play ‘Spot the Blurry Difference’ a little better when you two aren’t together

Until one day he’s on set doing a photo shoot for a Modeling company that requested his help

And he sees…MC? With a headset on ordering some people around to do this and that.

The voice is the same. He knows MC’s voice damn well. 

And that is MC

“MC..” V quietly calls out but with no answer.

‘MC’ Disappears into the crowd of models

What the fuck. How could you not tell him? He was a little hurt you never shared your work life with him. Was this where you were when the two of you weren’t together? Did you think he wouldn’t be impressed because he usually focuses on more artsy photography??? Did he say something??? MC please why don’t you love hi-

“Hey Hun!” 

MC!? V whirled around to see you, but you were talking to one of the models, very flirtatiously he may add. Your hand on their arm and a sweet, sweet smile on your face as you looked at them. He could see that much.

He felt his heart break a bit, how could you pretend not to even see him?

No. No this couldn’t be you. 

Jihyun Kim trusts and loves you and refuses to believe you’d be evil *cough*LikeHowHeTrustedSnakeBitch*cough* 

He marches well marches as good as you can while visually impaired up to ‘MC’ and taps them on the arm.

MC turns “Can I help you?”

“I’m sorry, but you look extremely like a friend of mine. Her name is MC-”

The set director in front of him suddenly seems much more friendly “Oh! That’s my twin! Wait, are you V?? MC mentioned they were dating a photographer I didn’t realize it was the one we hired for today! Oh, I’m sorry, Hello I’m CM!”

Relief. So much fucking relief on V’s heart.

Vanderwood

Neither you nor Vanderwood were aware that Seven was being devious today

He had been scarce all day, leaving the two of you to go through the day in overall peacefulness. You guys had spent a bit of time together, but eventually you got up to start cleaning and doing some chores.

Yep that’s all normal

Until you suddenly walk in the door you did not leave out of

“MC?” Vandy stared at you as you looked at him, then walked straight back out the door you just came in

Then you walked in the door he thought you originally left from.

You crossed the room and into the hall, out of site. He was left a little slackjawed and confused

Then you entered from the door he just saw you enter from. Wait what

“MC how-”

You giggled and ran out another door

Only to come back from the hall

“OK LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK”

His outburst made you jump

“Vanderwood wha-”

Two doors behind you silently opened, and two almost carbon copies of you peaked their heads through and shushed Vanderwood

He was speechless and just violently pointed trying to get you to turn around, but by the time you did the copies of you were gone

“What in the fuck-”

“Vanderwood what is-”

“Yeah Vanderwood why-” An MC copy asked running in from the hall

“What’s going on?” Another one said coming in from a room

“What the” You looked around and Vanderwood was rubbing his eyes like crazy trying to get whatever form of psycho out of them. 

Upon further inspection, you realized one of your clones didn’t look like you aside from the fact they were wearing your clothes and had on a wig that looked like your hair “Seven?”

“You got me! Lucky~~Aha~!” Seven cheered pulling the wig off

“So who is-” Vanderwood looked to the last copy

“Oh, I’m CM! I’m MC’s twin. 707 asked if I would help him out with a little prank and I couldn’t say no” Cm giggled.

You all had a good laugh

Except Vanderwood

Saeran

Ok, you guys might hate me for this one

But

I feel like he also knows

I feel like Seven has told him, and dragged him out on the #TwinClubDates

There’s no way Seven wouldn’t constantly talk about you 4 being goals

He takes group pictures of you guys all the time

He shows Saeran photos of CM constantly asking if he and Saeran look more alike than MC and CM

Buuut

Even though Saeran knows, he’s totally fucked up before

I bet he’s accidentally kissed CM before when MC’s in a spot then leaves only for CM to be left standing somewhere close to where Saeran last saw MC

He’s definitely had to play the “Which one am I dating” game when you two first started going out. And he has failed and accidentally grabbed Cm’s hands, causing you two to giggle despite Saeran’s obvious saltiness

I’m sorry. This one is really weak but I don’t really have any ideas for it because I feel like Saeran wouldn’t make a big slip up since he’d know MC had a twin cause of Seven. 

[eorumverba]

anyw...happy birthday my lovely twin @judaru im lov u sm nd i hope..u had a Good bday

Kiss (verb - with object): touch with the lips as a sign of love, sexual desire, reverence, or greeting

1.The Forehead Kiss

Judal is asleep now, stretched out on Sinbad’s couch, and Sinbad can’t help the fond smile that spreads across his lips as he hears a quiet snore come from behind him. He’s doing work at the coffee table, and some point, between bothering Sin and playing games on his phone, Judal had fallen asleep. And Sinbad doesn’t blame him - Judal has the attention span of a toddler and he’d probably gotten bored, closed his eyes, and promptly knocked out.

Sinbad is now finally used to the kid’s sleep schedule, or lack of - Judal never manages to sleep for more than a few hours at a time, and ends up wandering around the house with heavy bags under his eyes even as he bugs Sinbad for hours on end. He’ll retreat to his or Sin’s rooms and Sinbad will usually find him under a pile of blankets, snoring away. Judal is a light sleeper, and that makes it even worse; Sinbad types out a reminder to buy more fragrant teas and candles for Judal. Sometimes the soothing aromas help him sleep better, and Judal always brews the best loose leaf tea.

Judal shifts and mumbles something out in his sleep, so Sinbad gathers his things as quietly as he can and stands, putting his things in the kitchen before detouring to his room to grab a heavy blanket for Judal. After draping the blanket over Judal’s lanky frame, Sinbad bends down and brushes his lips against warm skin, pulling away when Judal stirs. He doesn’t wake though - just rolls over and Sinbad smiles to himself again before dimming the lights and retreating to the kitchen so he can at least try to get some more work done.

2. Kiss on the Hand

For how uncommon it is for two men to be seen dancing together, there is a lot of it being done at Lord Sinbad’s annual winter ball. This is Judal’s first year receiving an invitation, and he fingers the silver envelope, anxiousness coiling through his belly. It’s a masquerade this year, and he’d been sure his long hair would give him away, so he’d taken a risk and purchased a billowy ice white dress and had thin silvery-white flowers placed in the elegant braid of his hair. His delicate mask completes the costume - he’s a swan, elegant and beautiful.

The carriage stops and Judal ignores the helping hand to step down on his own, balancing easily in his heels. He’s almost having second thoughts about the whole thing, but he swallows all his unease and follows the queue of people inside.

The ballroom is vast and somehow crowded already, dresses of all color swirling alongside dark suits - it would seem like any other ball, if not for the men dancing together alongside women doing the same. But who is he to judge, Judal decides, considering he’s the one wearing a dress. He spots Hakuryuu flirting with Alibaba’s redhaired escort but doesn’t go over to them, choosing instead to retire to the balcony, breathing in as deep as he can. The air smells faintly of roses and lavender, and Judal can’t help imagining reclining on a bed scattered with fragrant petals, still in his dress but not in his horrid corset. (It does wonders for his figure, but it’s not like he needs it.)

Someone clears their throat from behind him and Judal spins around, breath catching in his throat at the sight of high cheekbones and tan skin. Lord Sinbad.

“Dance with me,” Sinbad demands, and Judal is helpless to his whim.

They spin together in the middle of the ballroom, Judal’s cold hand warming under Sinbad’s. Sin’s other hand flirts with the curve of Judal’s waist, daring to push the boundary of what’s acceptable as his lips curve up, playful. His mask is nothing but a strip of cloth tied around his eyes, and Judal rolls his own.

“You didn’t try hard this year, Lord Sinbad.” Sinbad doesn’t seem at all surprised or perturbed at the deep voice paired with slim, otherwise feminine features.

“Just Sin. Who are you?”

“Judal.”

“Ah. You turned eighteen this year, no?”

“I did.”

“My - ah...what would you call him? Assistant? He has a rule against inviting anyone under eighteen because, well. One of Hakuryuu’s stepsisters - I thought she was old enough, but alas.” Sinbad’s sigh is dramatic and although Judal does know Kougyoku fairly well, he can’t help smiling, laughing a little.

“A very wise rule, Sinbad, considering your reputation.”

“Reputation?” there’s a roguish grin flirting with Sinbad’s lips, but before Judal can answer, the song comes to an end and they bow to each other. Sin takes one of Judal’s hands in his own and presses soft lips to his skin, lingering for a touch too long before straightening again, still holding Judal’s hand.

“I have to go make more rounds, but save a dance or two for me, Judal.”

Shocked to silence by Sinbad’s easy grin, Judal nods weakly. As the night goes on, he finds out that it’s impossible for him to say no to Sinbad.

3. The Lingering Kiss

Judal is more than half-asleep, lounging on the rock they’re slumped against. The sun is beating down on them but they’ve just come from a swim so the heat is more than welcome, and the gentle waves stir their tail - they’ve lost Sinbad a while back but Judal can’t really bring themself to care with how relaxed they are. There comes a rippling of the water and Judal’s eyes flutter open to see Sinbad next to them, propping himself up by his elbows and staring at them with nothing but love in his eyes.

They don’t need words anymore from the many years that they’ve been together, but Sinbad still moves slowly as he shifts over so he’s behind Judal. He drops a chaste kiss to the skin of Judal’s forehead before beginning to comb his fingers through Judal’s inky tresses, humming under his breath as he does so. The gentle fingers scratching their scalp makes Judal shift and purr, lips curving up despite themself. They’ve always been so weak for having their hair played with.

They don’t know how long they stay like that, with Sinbad’s hands in their hair and only the sun and sea for company, but it changes when Sin’s hands press against Judal’s cheeks, a wordless sign that he’s finished. Sin swims around again and heaves himself up on the rock, blanketing Judal’s body with his own and pushing his hair from Judal’s skin when Judal huffs.

Sinbad tastes like saltwater and Judal wants to drown in the taste flooding their senses, and they tangle their fingers through long, wet hair to pull Sinbad closer, their lips sliding effortlessly against Sin’s. Sin’s smiling against Judal’s lips and he slowly drops so there’s no space between them, just skin against skin and tail against tail.

“Hi there,” Sin murmurs after one last teasing suck to Judal’s lower lip. He looks so effortlessly beautiful like this, tanned skin and dark hair and shining eyes focused on them, “what are you thinking about?”

“You.”

Sin flushed pink and his smile turns softer, shy and when they duck down for another slow kiss, it says all the things he can’t.

4. The Vampire Kiss They’re both far too drunk for this and that makes it all the better; Judal barely feels his back slam against the bathroom stall’s wall, focusing instead on the man pressing against him, hot skin and even hotter lips. He tastes like whiskey and cigarette smoke, and he swallows all of Judal’s pitched noises as easy as breathing. He mouths his way down the column of Judal’s neck, lips like fire against Judal’s throat. Judal bites back a moan when the man’s teeth scrape against his skin but it’s nothing compared to the strangled noise he makes when the man really bites.

This time when they kiss, it tastes like whiskey and cigarette smoke and sweat and sugar - the man pulls away and his breaths are harsh when he asks, “Is that sugar?”

Judal laughs and leans back, catching his breath as well before murmuring, “Why don’t you see how far down it goes?”

His stranger kisses the smirk from Judal’s lips before trailing back down to his neck, and if the way he’s attacking the skin of Judal’s neck says anything, he’ll have marks to boast about this for weeks.

5. The French Kiss

Fanservice. It’d been just that - fanservice.

That’s what Judal tells himself, what he tells the others, but they all know that this had been a long time coming. All of the comments on Judal’s twitter and instagram are asking if he’s dating Sin and since when - Judal turns off his phone and goes to his laptop instead. He doesn’t have to do much digging to find what he’s after, and watching the video, he does have to admit that it doesn’t look like fanservice, not by the end.

They’re in the middle of a song and Sin has always loved skinship, pushing boundaries, fanservice - so Judal isn’t surprised to feel a heavy arm thrown around his shoulders as Sin lets the cheering crowd sing his lines. Sin’s grinning and Judal doesn’t know if it’s the adrenaline pungent in the air or the joy mirrored in Judal’s stomach and Sin’s eyes, but something makes Judal cup Sin’s cheek (which isn’t unusual, and it just makes the crowd roar louder as Sin’s smile grows) and lean in and close his eyes as his lips press to Sin’s.

He can’t hear the crowd anymore, entirely focused on the stop of Sin’s breath before Sin’s lips begin to move against his, eager as he licks into Judal’s mouth. Somewhere in the back of Judal’s mind, he wonders if maybe they shouldn’t be doing this where thousands of people can record it, but the little noise Sin makes makes Judal melt into him.

And when he finally draws away, he’s breathless and eager, but Sin is smiling, and Judal realizes that he’s absolutely screwed.

6. The Spiderman Kiss

If Judal has chosen this tree to lounge in on purpose, no one needs to know - Judal gazes down at Sinbad beneath him, head pillowed by his arms. He’s more than half held up on the thin tree branch by magic, but it’s also partly his own balancing skill. Sinbad is directly beneath him, and while he has paperwork spread out in front of him, held down by pretty looking paperweights, he’s been nodding off for the past half hour.

And Judal doesn’t blame him - the shade of the tree is the perfect combatant against the heat of the afternoon sun, and it’s quiet here, warm and still.

And Sinbad is here.

Judal would like to think that his traitorous heart is fluttering from the sights around him and not from the man below him, but he knows it’s not - it’s the light scent of roses and something earthier, it’s Sinbad.

Quietly, Judal slips from the branch he’s perched on and lets his magic float him down so he’s upside down in front of Sinbad. Judal’s eyes fall to Sin’s lips and he purses his own before reaching out to touch the swell of Sin’s lower lip. It’s soft, soft enough for Judal to lean in further, just enough to brush his lips against Sin’s. It’s when he’s about to pull away that Sin shifts in his sleep and immediately, Judal lets his magic carry him back up to his branch, where he watches Sinbad stir awake with flushed cheeks and trembling fingers, the memory of his stolen kiss enough to keep him flustered for the rest of the day.

7. The Bite and Nibble

For some reason, Judal love love loves to bite - Sinbad is long used to the sting of Judal’s teeth on whatever part of skin is available, to the soft brush of his tail before he bites down hard. He always always always leaves marks, and he’ll hum in approval as he looks at the bruises before moving away like nothing’s happened.

Sin had been startled at first, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary now - just one of Judal’s habits. Which is why he barely flinches when Judal comes up to him and squats in front of Sin, frowning up at him with twitching ears until Sin sighs and rolls over onto his back. Judal makes a happy little noise and clambers on top of Sin, staring down at him with an unreadable look in his eye. Sin is prepared for Judal to lean down, but he’s not prepared for the brush of soft lips against his own. When Sin makes a soft noise of surprise, Judal’s teeth scrape against the curve of Sin’s lower lip, noticeably gentler than how he usually bites, but still harsh.

Sin nearly loses himself in the scrape of Judal’s teeth and the soft of his tongue, in the slow rolling motion of his hips and the warmth between them. When Judal pulls back, his ears are twitching and his tail searches out Sin’s, curving around his as Judal’s lips flirt with a shy smile. And before Sin can say anything, Judal scurries away, but not before Sin can see the flush high on his cheeks. (Sinbad thinks he can get used to this.)

8. The Big Tease

Sinbad doesn’t get why Judal’s called him over in the dead of night until he steps inside and sniffs the air. Immediately, he’s simultaneously slamming the door shut and taking in greedy breaths, the scent of Judal’s pheromones high in the air. It’s clear now that Judal is in heat, his first one, that he’d called Sin over-

Sin hears a quiet noise from upstairs and he takes the steps two at a time, stopping short in the doorway when he sees Judal on his bed, pale skin flushed pink. He’s completely naked and clearly eager, ass high in the air with three fingers inside.

The eager movements of his fingers stop suddenly and Judal sniffs the air audibly, swivelling around (at any other time, Sin would laugh at his gracelessness) and staring at Sin with hunger clear in his eyes.

“Alpha,” he murmurs, “alpha, please. Sin-”

That’s all he’s able to get out before Sin crosses the room and blankets Judal’s quivering body with his own. When he manages to get Judal rolled over so they’re facing each other, Sin crashes their lips together, easily, effortlessly licking into Judal’s mouth and muffling his moans with his lips and teeth and tongue. His kisses start at Judal’s lips and slowly make their way down to his neck, where Sin forces himself to stay - he can smell Judal leaking and it’s making him impatient, needy, eager. To alleviate the quickly building pressure, Sin ruts into Judal, but it just makes his omega whine and wrap long legs around Sin’s waist to press closer.

It feels like ages before Sin is finally able to suck one dusky nipple into his mouth, and immediately, Judal arches further, a broken noise escaping his lips. Sin decides then that he’s teased enough, and he sits back enough to take his clothes off before turning Judal over and the only warning he gives Judal before pushing in is the way he grabs Judal’s hips and ruts the head of his cock against his puffy rim once, twice, thrice before easily sinking into tight tight heat.

9. The Cheek Kiss

There’s a boy playing in the sandbox all alone, and Sinbad finds his gaze drawn towards him from his place on the swings. He jumps off the swing and soars through the air for one long moment before crashing down to earth - he scrapes his knees but he doesn’t care all that much (scrapes mean bandaids, and bandaids mean getting to show off how high he jumped!) and when he’s sure the pretty boy isn’t looking, he scurries over and crouches in front of him.

“Why are you playing alone?”

The boy looks up at him and frowns before looking at Sin’s knees and widening his eyes. He points, doesn’t say a word and Sin looks down at his bloody knees as well. “It’s just a scrape, I’m fine. I flew.”

The boy gives Sin this look, incredulity tinged with disgust and almost...contempt - but Sin doesn’t care. The look suits him. “Do you talk?”

The boy shakes his head, then nods, then shrugs, leaving Sin to fill in the gaps.

“Just not today?”

A nod this time.

“That’s fine. I can talk for the both of us!”

That gets him the wisp of a smile and Sin settles down in the sand next to the boy, frowning. “Can you write your name in the sand?”

Pretty pink lips purse in a pout that’s cuter than it should be, and without thinking, Sin leans over and kisses the boy’s cheek. It’s soft, like peach fuzz, and Sin giggles. “My mom and dad do that a lot. You’re really cute, I like you.”

The boys cheeks are pink like his lips now and he shakes his head, clearly trying not to laugh. He opens his mouth then and mumbles a quiet, “My name’s Judal.”

Sin likes that. “I’m Sinbad, but everyone calls me Sin.”

Judal smiles.

10. The Jaw Kiss

They’re all drunk off their asses, celebrating their success in this week’s battle of the bands, and Sin’s arm is heavy around Judal’s shoulders. He’s got a bottle of something in one hand and he’s talking to Sharrkan in a voice far louder than need be. Judal grimaces when Sin turns around to look at him even as he laughs at something Sharrkan’s said. Or no, Sharrkan is currently straddling Masrur’s lap and...well.

Judal turns his gaze from them, trying and failing to ignore the way Sin is looking at him. His gaze is heavy with intent, and before Judal can move from his grip, Sin leans in and kisses him - or tries to. His lips end up brushing against Judal’s jaw, but it’d been an open mouthed kiss and Sin ends up slobbering all over Judal’s jaw.

It feels weird.

Judal pushes Sin away with ease and wipes at his jaw with Sin’s shirt sleeve, wrinkling his lip in disgust even as Sharrkan laughs at them. Sin’s still staring at him with a dopey look on his face, and Judal rolls his eyes, well aware of Sin’s crush on him.

(While it may hurt them both, it’s easier to pretend that he doesn’t have a crush of his own.)

11. The Air Kiss

Judal’s day starts like clockwork - he’ll sleep through all the alarms he’s set and jolt awake when he sees the time, and he’ll grab the first set of clothes he sees before grabbing his bag and rushing out the door. He’d tried one day to skip his daily coffee and it’d fucked him up so badly that he spent an hour one evening calculating the shortest route from his dorm to the coffeeshop to the building where his first class (calculus) is.

The same employee is at the register and by now, they’re familiar enough with each other for the man to blow him a kiss when Judal comes running through the door. He’ll have Judal’s coffee waiting and all Judal has to do is slap the money down before running out the door, barely a thank you falling from his lips.

And the pattern remains the same.

Until for once, Judal wakes up early - nearly two hours early. It’s nice to be able to take his time picking out his clothes and brushing his hair, walking to the coffeeshop and startling the lone man at the register.

“Hi, tall vanilla latte?”

The man spins around and there’s shock clear on his face, but he nods and gets to making the coffee right away. “You’re early,” he comments. There’s still a bit of shock in his voice, but it’s easily overshadowed by amusement, and Judal snorts.

“Don’t get used to it.”

“Your coffee.”

Judal pays and instead of going to sit, he stands by the register, waiting for his coffee to cool as his gaze locks with the other man’s.

“What’s your name?”

“Sin. You?”

“Judal.” It feels weird and oddly intimate like this, so Judal picks up his coffee and gives Sin an awkward half smile.

“I’m going to go to class, so. Bye, I guess.”

The next day, he wakes up early as well, so Judal heaves a sigh and heads to the coffeeshop again. This time, Sin waves and blows a kiss, and Judal is prepared. “Why do you do that?”

“You’re cute, and it’s funny.”

“I’m glad I amuse you.”

Judal takes his coffee and leaves as soon as he has it, too flustered by the look on Sin’s face to do anything else.

It takes a while, but after about a month of dancing around each other and half-conversations, Judal returns Sin’s air kiss with one of his own

(And a few weeks after that, Judal marches right up to the register and kisses Sin full on the mouth, and Sin easily returns it.)

12. Single Lip Kiss

Sin has been Judal’s figure skating partner for years now, which means he knows how to read Judal better than anyone. So when he doesn’t see the usual burning determination in Judal’s eyes, instead of prepping for their second toss, Sin catches Judal’s wrist with his and brings them to a gliding stop, swiveling around so he can face Judal and frowning at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Judal mumbles, but it’s painfully obvious that he’s lying.

“I know you’re lying.”

“It’s nothing!”

Sin rolls his eyes and watches Judal skate towards the entrance to the rink, irritation laced on his features. “Maybe next time I’ll drop you!”

“Fuck you!” Judal calls back. He doesn’t sound angry though, and Sin sighs before going to follow him.

He finds Judal sitting on one of the benches outside, fingers trembling as he struggles to unlace his skates. He looks so small suddenly, and Sin bites his lip before going over and brushing Judal’s hands away to undo the laces himself.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

Judal makes a noncommittal noise and Sin purses his lips as he finishes one skate and gently takes it off. Halfway through unlacing the second skate, Judal speaks again, voice quiet. “I’m distracted. We have the competition next week, but…I can’t focus.”

“Hey, hey. Whatever it is, tell me and we’ll fix it. Can’t have you zoning out next week.”

“I like you,” Judal’s voice breaks and Sin freezes. The skate is halfway off of Judal’s foot and Judal reaches down with trembling fingers to push it off completely before fumbling for his own shoes and wrenching them on.

“You like me?”

Judal makes an annoyed noise and when Sin finally looks up at him, he’s flustered and there are unshed tears shining in his eyes. “Yes, I like you. I like you and it’s so distracting being this close to you, and I can’t afford to fuck this up for the both of us just because I can’t get over a stupid crush-”

That’s when Sin leans up and in and kisses Judal, soft and eager. When he moves to pull away, Judal fists his hands in his hair, keeping him close. Judal’s lips are soft and they taste like the salt of his tears, and more spill when Sin wipes his cheeks dry.

“Come on, then. Are you leaving or staying?” Sin asks, standing now.

Judal frowns up at him, but it’s more of a pout than anything, and Sin can’t help laughing. “What was that then?”

“What was what?”

“You kissed me! Do you like me?”

“Yeah, I like you.”

“Oh. We can stay. Lace my skates!”

Sin sighs and reaches for Judal’s skates, tired of his partner’s tricks already. He realizes only then what a handful he’ll have - but if it’s Judal, it’ll be worth it. (Even if he doesn’t think he’ll ever like Judal the way Judal likes him.)

13. Lizard Kiss

The sight of the silver ball on the pink of Judal’s makes Sin’s knees go weak, and when he sees Sin staring, Judal sticks his tongue out, wiggling it playfully. “Like my piercing?”

“Get over here.”

Judal hides his laugh behind his fist before slipping from the counter and moving over to where Sin is sitting at the table. He easily slides into Sin’s lap and kisses him open-mouthed, gasping into Sin’s mouth as Sin easily finds the piercing and sucks at it, eager from the start. It’s not long before Sin tells Judal to stick your tongue out and when Judal does so, Sin sucks Judal’s tongue into his mouth and shallowly bobs his head, using his actions to show what he’d do later, what would make Judal moan and cry out and come with Sin’s name on his tongue.

At the first muffled cry Judal makes, Sin lets Judal’s tongue slip from his mouth, a smirk on his lips. It turns unsteady when Judal licks back into Sin’s mouth, piercing warmed from Sin’s ministrations, and when he catches the tip of Sin’s tongue once and then again, Sin gets what he’s trying to do - he lets the tip of Judal’s tongue trace circles around his own before sucking his tongue back into his mouth.

Judal is left breathless and trembling when Sin pulls away, and they both laugh sort of awkwardly when their gazes meet.

“I really like your piercing,” Sin says. It’s unnecessary, but it just makes Judal laugh even harder before he slips from Sin’s lap and saunters off towards the fridge.

14. The Eskimo Kiss

They’re studying together in the library - or Judal is trying to study, and Sin is distracting him with kisses pressed to Judal’s neck and shoulder when he thinks no one can see. Hakuryuu is across from them, and he keeps glaring at Judal whenever Sin does it - like Judal can control Sin! - and Judal is trying to ignore the both of them.

“If you’re going to keep doing that,” Hakuryuu mutters, “at least do it quietly. Jeez.”

“Can’t,” Sin mumbles back, “not until Juju does what he’s promised.”

When Judal chances a glance up at Hakuryuu, he’s not sure if the disgust on Hakuyruu’s face is from the petname or because of the way Sin is nuzzling into Judal’s neck and peppering his skin with kisses.

“Jesus, Judal - just do what he wants! It’s getting ridiculous, honestly…”

“I think you’re just jealous.” Judal contemplates tilting his neck further to let Sin kiss him even more, but at the strangled noise Hakuryuu makes, Judal huffs and pushes Sin away before facing him. He wants to ask Hakuryuu to at least look away, but that’ll make it worse, so Judal just takes a breath and leans in to rub his nose against Sin’s, squashing down a pleased smile at the pleased noise Sin makes.

“You’re disgusting.” Hakuryuu sounds two parts squicked out and one part happy, and when Judal looks at him, he’s smiling.

“It’s almost cute. I’m glad you two are happy, really. But maybe tone down on the making out, yeah?”

Judal opens his mouth to agree with Hakuryuu, but before he can say anything, Sin answers for him as he curls an arm around Judal’s waist. “Nope!”

15. Kiss of an Angel

For all the many years that Judal has been dead, he hasn’t felt anything for any of the people that have moved into his house, not anything more than passing amusement. He’s always pulled his pranks (what sort of ghost would he be if he didn’t?) but he’s never really cared about any of the living.

Until Sinbad.

Sin’s been living at the house for over a year now, much longer than anyone else, and Judal is...rather fond of him now. Sin barely flinches at all of Judal’s pranks now, just chuckles and rolls his eyes and continues with what he’s doing.

Sin is taking a nap on the couch now, lips parted to take in quiet breaths. Judal contemplates maybe knocking some books off the shelf, but Sin will only sigh and put the books back, if he even wakes up. So Judal resorts to sitting on Sin’s chest - not that Sin will feel him anyway - and staring at his sleeping face. Sin is actually pretty handsome, Judal’s noticed, but despite his overwhelmingly good looks and personality, he’s never had a girl or guy over.

Judal leans in closer, staring hard at Sin as if that will somehow wake him up. He wants to kiss Sin in that moment, but to do that would mean making himself be seen, and felt. And that can’t happen.

Judal pushes his heavy braid back and leans in further, letting his lips just barely touch the space between Sin’s eyebrows. Almost as soon as he does, Sin’s eyes flutter open and Judal falls back and off the couch, heart pounding in his chest as Sin sits up and looks around. His eyes land on Judal and he frowns, and Judal waits for Sin to look away, but he doesn’t.

“Who are you?” he asks.

And oh, Judal thinks. Oh.

16. Seductive Kiss

“You two probably aren’t even dating,” Sharrkan’s frowning, “you probably just said it to get couple discounts or something.”

Sin gasps, as if outraged. “We’re totally dating!” As if to prove it, he throws his arm around Judal’s shoulders and pats the side of his head.

Judal snorts and ducks free of Sin’s heavy grip, but he nods in agreement. “Totally dating.”

“Prove it.”

“How-”

“Kiss!”

“Voyeur,” Judal huffs, ducking his head into the curve of Sin’s armpit to hide his flush. Sin’s shirt smells like laundry detergent, and Judal takes in a deep breath, both to calm himself and because it smells good.

Sharrkan makes an offended noise and Sin laughs loud - they both seem to forget that they’re in the middle of a crowded ice cream shop, and Judal stabs a spoon into his shared dessert with Sin. “Fine, we’ll kiss. You’re still nasty though, Sharr.”

Before he can lose his nerve, Judal turns back to Sin and cups his cheeks in his hands to bring Sin down to his height. They’ve never kissed before, so the way Sin so easily licks into Judal’s mouth makes him gasp, and a strangled little noise falls from Sin’s lips when Judal’s teeth scrape against his lower lip. Sin’s the one that pulls away and they’re both breathless, and Judal shoves his hands below the table so Sharrkan doesn’t see their trembling.

“I never want to see you do that again.”

“Good, because it won’t happen again.” (At least, Judal thinks, not where Sharrkan can see.)