#feel marginally better about their loser personalities and their dead end lives. whatever!!!

[westerberg]

I hate how just seeing my sister for one day makes me feel so emotionally drained that I carry it with me for like a whole week. She is truly the shitty guilt tripping mother I never had

[shoddy-sonneteer]

Felicitous Rivals

Pairing: Jinyoung*reader

Genre: Enemies to lovers! AU, Fluff

Word Count: 2969 words

Summary: Your life takes a turn when you decide to agree to a lucrative bet placed in front you by your rival, Park Jinyoung.

 The scores for the class test that you and your classmates had taken a week back was being announced by your professor. Even before your name was being called out, you were an anxious mess. You knew you had done fairly well. If you were being a bit too confident, you would also say that you had done better than majority of the class. You were listening intently to all the names hoping for your name to be announced soon so you could get rid of the anxiety.

Soon, your name was called and you had scored 95% in the test. You were the happiest person in the whole hall as you were the only had scored above 90%. But that happiness was short lived because of the name of the next person that was called out.

“Park Jinyoung. 96%.”

Surprised, you turn to look at the owner of that name as he shot you a smirk cocking his eyebrows from his place.

Fucking Park Jinyoung! You absolutely hated that guy though the both of you have barely spoken to each other. He was there in almost every class the you attended and his name always comes right behind yours.

There was a silent and unspoken competition between the both of you regarding who would score more than the other and it had only been getting intense as days pass by neither of you wanting to give up.

At first it didn’t seem as if it was a competition. The both of you were seated at the far ends of the big hall with no means to contact each other. You even have completely different set of friends that had no connection in any way.

It started when you were in your sociology class and a similar class test was conducted. You had scored more than him but since you didn’t know him, you paid no mind to the judgy look he sent your way. But in the next test, he scored more than you and gave a look that said ‘Got you loser’ and you were no loser. So, you decided to put your heart and soul and prepare for the next text and this is exactly how the competition came into effect and has been going for the past one year.

The more annoying thing was that this competition wasn’t limited only to the test. The both of you proceeded to compete in almost every competition held by your uni. You didn’t know if he was keeping track of his wins and losses, but you sure were in order to pay him back for every loss of yours.

Your friends never really understood your need to win in every competition and thought your obsession to win against him as an obsession to win over him which annoyed you further. They sometimes would never shut up when you whined to them about how he scored more than you. As a result, you stopped talking to them about Jinyoung altogether.

 Determined to score more than him in the next test, you exit the class to find your friends before heading to the next class. But you had to stop dead in your tracks hearing the voice of the one person that you didn’t want to calling out for you. All you wanted to do right now was hide under a rock than look at his smug face which would tempt you to punch his face.

“Yes?” you asked turning to face him you could see that he didn’t even make an attempt to hide the smug look on his face. Well did you expect him to not flaunt it on your face? Absolutely not because you would have done the same.

“I want to make our ‘competition’ more interesting.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we have been competing for so long with neither an end to it nor any reward to the winner.”

“That’s because this is the first time, we are even talking to each other properly and not glaring.”

“You sure about that? Because I feel like if looks could kill, I would have dropped dead for more than thousand times within the span of two minutes we started talking now.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at his exaggeration. Maybe you were slightly glaring at him right now. But that was because he scored more than you and were being detained by him to talk about something that he wouldn’t get to any time soon.

“What do you propose?” you asked ignoring his last comment.

“Uni is ending with this term and we are going to part ways after it for good. So, I was thinking, the person with the highest GPA at the end of this term is the ultimate winner and the loser has to do whatever the winner asks them of. For 24 hours.”

You thought about it. Though on one hand it seemed lucrative, it was risky, the margin in which either of you lost to each other was very small and that’s what made this competition between the both of you interesting. Besides the reward seemed attractive. Imagine the things you could make him do for one whole day.

“Sounds good. I’m in.”

“Great. It’s a bet then.” He announced extending his hand for a shake. You shook his hand with a smirk. You were least surprised to see a similar smirk because the both of had the same thought of winning and making the other your slave for one whole day.

Ever since the bet, you had been spending more time reading either at the library or your apartment where there was less chances of distraction. You had to win this bet at all costs because losing meant you doing whatever Jinyoung wants you to do. And you didn’t even want to think of all the sadistic plans he made in that pretty – sorry petty – brain of his.

Everything was going great and as per your plan. You had finished studying the complete syllabus and had also done your revision one week before the final exams. You were quite confident that the one losing the bet would not be you.

After completing your revision, you decided to step out of the apartment to grab some dinner and also get some fresh air. Since you didn’t want to spend a lot of time looking for a good place and travelling, then eating and then travelling back to your place, you decided to go to the diner that was situated near the college dorms.

As soon as you entered, you weren’t the least bit surprised to see that majority of the population that was occupying a seat was from your uni. You took a seat at the counter service and ordered your regular dinner.

But your plans of having a peaceful dinner had to be thrown out of the window because the devil himself decided to take a seat next to you instead of sitting with his friends who were seated a few booths away.

“Enjoying your meal?” he asked handing you the bottle of ketchup that you were reaching out for.

“Thanks, and yes. Isn’t that why you’re here too?”

“Yea. But I wanted to talk to once before the exams start.”

“Go ahead. I’m listening.” You said looking at him with full concentration.

“Well, its nothing big. I just wanted you to be ready to do my bidding for a whole day after the results are declared.”

“In your dreams, Park. There’s no way I’m losing that bet.”

“We’ll see (Y/L/N). after all the exams start in a day and the results will be announced in a month. But you know, after analyzing our history, I thought I should give you a heads up.” He said with a smirk which only annoyed you further.

But you decided to not act upon that annoyance when you could rather prove him wrong by beating him in that bet.

“Thanks for the heads up then. Now, can I eat my dinner in peace?” you asked passing him a fake sweet smile that made him chuckle.

“Of course. Who am I to stop you from eating your delicious meal? I’ll see you later, (Y/L/N).” he said walking away to the booth where his friends were already seated.

You knew that if you paid too much attention to what Jinyoung had just said, it would mess with your brain and you might end up forgetting whatever you had already prepared. In order to distract yourself from his words and the commotion at the diner, you started listening to music in your earphones successfully tuning out all the noises.

After having your meal and paying for it, you decided to revise a topic that you weren’t so sure you’d be able to write well if asked. Though your brain had this idea. Your leg had a mind of its own. It is no surprise that you were a clumsy person and often tripped on air even on flat surfaces.

Just as you got off the stool, you collided head into a person that had been walking in that direction and while you made an attempt to steady yourself, your hand slipped from the stool and fell on the ground hitting your head hard on the diner counter.

The events that took place after that were a blur to you – literally. You couldn’t see anything clearly and that was until you slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

 When you woke up later, all you could guess was that you were at a hospital. But you had no idea who brought you here and how they did it and for how long you were unconscious. You decided to call for a nurse but your throat was dry as a parchment and to your luck, no one could see you because of the curtains drawn around your bed.

Soon, you heard some voices talking behind those curtains, among which only one of them was a familiar one. As much as you were embarrassed to meet Jinyoung right now, he was the one to whom you could ask the happenings of the previous (hopefully) night.

After he finished talking to the person who you assumed was the doctor, you saw him part the curtains and approach your bed with a bag in his hand.

“You’re awake.” He declared noticing that your eyes were open wide as compared to the last time he saw you at the same bed before leaving to grab some necessities. “Want some water?” he asked handing you a bottle of water not exactly waiting for a response.

You took the bottle from him mumbling a small thank you and emptied its contents in record time.

Now it was time for some answers.

“What happened?” you asked looking at him with a clueless expression.

“You tripped and fell, hitting you head hard giving yourself a severe concussion. You are under observation as of now. I spoke to the doctor about you having the exams. He said that you will be discharged within tonight.”

“How long was I out?”

“Well, let’s assume you tripped at around 8:30PM. And since its around 10, let’s say a solid 13.5 hours.”

“How did I get here?”

“My friends and I called for an ambulance and since they wanted one of us travel and stay the night, I volunteered.”

“So, you’re saying that you were there with me the whole time?” you asked shock lacing your voice.

“Yea. Who else?” he asked in a tone that made you seem like a little child being scolded.

But Wow. That was a lot of information to take in at a span of five or more minutes. You had tripped multiple number of times before but never once was it too serious for you to get hospitalized like this. And you also never expected Park Jinyoung to stay by your side till you woke up. I guess things really do change.

“Thanks for staying and taking care of me.” you thanked him sincerely as he took a seat that was near your bed.

“It’s no problem. Besides, I had to make sure that the person with whom I placed the most important bet of my lifetime was ok. But looking at you right now, I guess we will have to cancel the bet as you are not exactly you.”

“NO! I mean no. I’m fine right now. And I’m sure I can do well tomorrow at the exam if I revised properly right now.” You answered eyeing the book he had in his hand.

“You sure you’re not lying in order to continue the bet?” he asked eyeing you warily.

“No. I really feel fine right now. Besides, I was out for more than 13 hours. So, I feel somewhat fresh right now. Though it would be better if someone gave me some food.” You said pouting making him chuckle.

“Here, I saved an apple for you. I will ask Bam to bring some legit food for lunch for the both of us.”

You mumbled a small thank you and started eating the apple and asked him to help you revise for tomorrow’s exam.

As much as you hate to admit it, studying with Park Jinyoung was actually good and the both of you were studying till you were finally discharged from the hospital. He even made sure you reached your dorm by dropping you till your door and then left for his own room.

As soon as you entered your dorm, all you did was lay in your bed and sleep as you felt all the fatigue from earlier hit you at once.

 Next day when you woke for the exam, you knew that you were fucked and it was not in the good way. Yes, you had been studying for these exams for more than 3 months. But the concussion you suffered still had your brain fuzzy for the next few days that followed and though you knew you would pass the exams but at the same time, you also knew that you may not win the bet you had with Jinyoung.

You can’t back out of it now because when he offered to cancel the bet, you had let your pride get the best of you and had asked him to not cancel the bet. All you could do while waiting for the results to be declared was prepare yourself mentally for doing whatever he asks of you for one whole day.

 On the day the results were declared, Jinyoung sent you a text asking you meet him at the same diner where your accident had taken place.

When you arrived at the diner, he was already seated in one of the booths that was situated in the far corner. You approached him with confidence as you were prepared for your fate.

“Hey.” You greeted him as you took a seat facing him.

“Hey. Saw the results?” he asked cutting to the chase.

“Yea. My GPA is 3.7.”

“Not bad for a person that wrote the exams with a concussion.”

“Thanks. What’s your GPA?”

“A four.” He said with a smirk.

“Congratulations then.”

“Thanks. But the both of us know that we are not here to congratulate me. We are here to finish that bet once and for all.”

“I know. And your 24 hours start from now based on one condition that your demands must not be unreasonable.”

“Does asking you to go on a date with me fall under the category of unreasonable request?”

His question had thrown you off guard. You had been preparing yourself for petty requests like cleaning his apartment, doing his daily chores and similar activities. But not once did you imagine that he would ask you out on a date.

Park Jinyoung wants you to go on a date with him. But you two were never able to see each other eye to eye because of the competition you had going on. But now it was all done. Uni was over and unfortunately for you, you lost the bet. But he is giving you an option to say no to the date too.

That time when the both of you spent at the hospital together when you were under observation was not that bad. He was sweet to you and made sure you studied something in a manner that you weren’t giving your brain too much work. Maybe he’s not all that bad and anyway, one date couldn’t hurt anyone right?

“I don’t think so.” you replied, this time throwing him off guard. He hadn’t expected you to say yes so easily. But then again, you were so full of surprises.

“Alright. Be ready by 6PM for our date. I’ll come pick you up.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“Nope. Just this one. For now.” He said his boyish features returning along with a smirk.

“Don’t make me regret saying yes, Park.” You threatened him narrowing your eyes.

“Don’t worry (Y/L/N). I’ll make sure you have a good time.” He replied with a chuckle.

“I’ll see you at 6 then.” You said getting up from your seat.

“Okay. But be careful when you walk at this diner. I don’t want you getting another concussion.”

“It was once ok? Just let it go.”

“It may be once for you. But it’s one too many times for me to see you at the hospital.”

“Fiine. I’ll be careful. Bye.” You said heading out of the diner minding your steps just in case to avoid another concussion.

Despite how you feel or rather felt about him, you were actually excited and looking forward to this date and kinda hoped it would turn out to be something nice in your life.

[djinmer4]

Heart to Heart (Misnamed Soulmates AU)

Amanda doesn’t know what’s up with Kurt right now but she wishes she’d never started dating him in the first place.  Despite the fact he broke up with her weeks ago, he seems to have taken an inordinate interest in her life.  First, it was helping her fill out all her college applications, then offering to chauffeur her to and from school then finally it was that disastrous blind date he arranged for her and Bobby when he decided to spy on them all evening.  Bobby had actually seemed pretty nice and possibly her type . . . except they’d pretty much both been rendered complete nervous wrecks by Kurt’s heavy-handed monitoring of their date.  Amanda considered giving Bobby another chance . . . after she figured out a way to get Kurt off her back.  This behavior was downright creepy.  He’d been less concerned about her when they were dating; in hindsight, half his mind had always been on Kitty Pryde the whole time.  Maybe she had turned him down and he was trying to get back into Amanda’s graces?  Well, fat chance of that happening.

Amanda had stayed late tonight, half to finish writing her application essay, half to have an excuse not to let Kurt drive her home.  She needed some time to think for herself and that wouldn’t happen in the car with his constant chatter.  Although that might not have been the best idea.

“Well, look who’s walkin’ alone at night.  The mutie-lover.”

God damn Duncan and his loser friends.  The jock had kept quiet about what had happened, but everyone in Bayville knew the former Homecoming King had somehow managed to lose his scholarship and been expelled from college.  He tried to play it off as him taking a gap year before transferring but rumor had it that whatever had happened had pretty much killed his prospects of joining any reputable institution.  Of course, there were plenty of others who’d gladly take an American All-Star even with a ruined reputation.  Whatever took Duncan, Amanda was going to avoid like the plague.

“If you must Duncan, you should know that Wagner and I broke up months ago.”

“Yeah, but everyone says he broke up with you, not the other way around.”  He circled her like a starving wolf.  “Not sure I wanna taint myself with the rat’s sloppy seconds, but you are easy on the eyes.  Let me-”

Amanda didn’t wait for him to finish talking.  She swung her bag to the side, cold-cocking one of them straight away.  Unfortunately, there were five of them and only one of her, so even getting one of them out didn’t improve her odds significantly.  Soon enough, they had her pinned down and were ripping her clothes off while Duncan unzipped his jeans.  Then suddenly he stopped, and the leer fell off his face.

“You feel that?  One good squeeze, and it’s all over for you Duncan.”  Amanda couldn’t tilt her head the right way to see but that sounded like Kitty Pryde.  “Now, unless the rest of you want to see him die, I suggest you all back off and leave.”  The ones holding her down didn’t seem inclined to follow but Kitty must have done something because Duncan ordered them to grab the downed guy and bring him to the hospital in a high-pitched squeal.  “They’re gone already!  Let the fuck go of my heart!”

Kitty stepped out from behind the blond.  “Bitch!”  He turned and tried to hit her but he just passed through her . . . and hit the tree instead.  There was the distinct cracking of bones breaking and Duncan howled.  Kitty didn’t seem at all sympathetic and she boxed him in the ears, knocking him out.  Then she came over to Amanda and held her hand out.  Gratefully, the black teenager took her hand and let her rival pull her up.

They walked in silence for a while before Amanda cleared her throat.  “I didn’t think the Professor allowed you to use your powers like that.”

“Yeah, well, the Professor’s not the one who’s walking into a warzone every day on his way to school.  As long as I don’t actually maim or kill anyone, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.  And if he does find out, it means he invaded my mind without my permission, making him a hypocrite.”

She side-eyed the younger girl.  “And you’re not worried about Duncan running off and turning his friends against you?”

“Duncan’s already gone and poisoned all of Bayville against us.  If the choice is between getting raped and killed today versus it happening sometime in the future, then I make the choice that will let me live a little longer.  I mean sure, if there were other people who’d get hurt if I didn’t back down right then, I’d reconsider.  But if I hadn’t done anything, all that would happen is you’d get hurt instead and I don’t think that’s the better option.”

“Thanks, then.”  There was a lull in the conversation then it was Kitty’s turn to break the silence.  “Hey, um, I don’t know if this would be your jam or not.  But if you like, I could give you some self-defense lessons.  I mean, I’m no Logan but wouldn’t you feel better if you had some way to defend yourself against jerks like that?”

Amanda was skeptical.  “Self-defense just for Duncan?” she asked dryly.

“Not just Duncan.  People like him.  Guys in general.  The police, maybe.”  And abruptly Amanda was reminded of the article one of her classmates had brought in that day for homework.  About the young black mother who had just been fatally shot in what should have been a routine speeding stop.

“You know,” her voice dropped to just above a whisper.  “Self-defense isn’t going to do much good against a bullet.”

“Unless you can phase through them or can move them with kinesis, mutant power isn’t much good against a bullet.  If Scott or Ms. Monroe get shot, they’d be in just as much trouble as a normal person.”  Kitty took a deep breath and braced herself.  “As Kurt pointed out, I can pass and walk away from all this any time I want to.  No one just looking at me can tell I’m a Jew or a mutant or even an X-Woman.  So the least I can do for people like you who don’t have that choice, I can teach you enough to get away or stall them so you can call for help.”

Amanda hated to admit it but it was surprisingly refreshing to hear someone like Kitty actually acknowledge her privilege.  Most white people seemed to think if they acted color-blind, it was enough.  “I accept.  First lesson this Saturday morning?”

The brunette groaned.  “Saturday afternoon, please!  I don’t want to get up early on the weekend if I don’t have to.”

Kitty was a good teacher if nothing else.  She hadn’t even made a fuss when Amanda had showed up in high heels and a miniskirt for the first lesson.  “Barefoot today and you’ll probably want your gym clothes next time.  But it’s good to practice in your every day wear too.”

Amanda had pulled out the ballet flats and sweats she’d packed.  She wasn’t an idiot after all.  But she did ask, “So, you’d be okay with me fighting like that?”

Kitty had answered dryly.  “It’s not like a bunch of gangbangers or white terrorists are going to wait for you to change clothes.  Work out clothes are good for learning basics and building up your stamina.  But you haven’t really learned anything until you can use it out in the real world and not just a dojo.”

“Do you think I should buy some mace?”

“Every woman should buy mace if possible.”  Amanda arched an eyebrow at that.  “Or else what?  It’s the woman’s fault if she ends up dead in a ditch?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.  Of course, it isn’t her fault.  But if we lived in a perfect world, neither of us would have to learn self-defense in the first place.  If you’re going to choose not to use a certain defense that’s fine but make sure it’s your decision and not something that other people force on you.”

“Does that apply to guns as well?”

“Oh, uh . . . “

Kitty and Amanda shared no classes in school.  Until Amanda had started dating Kurt, they hadn’t even known the other girl existed.  But honestly?  It was a relief to talk to someone she could relate with.  Both of them were from upper-middle-class families, were only children with no other relatives nearby (in age or location) and both came from marginalized communities (Kitty was Jewish and a mutant while, Amanda was black).  They didn’t share many interests (Kitty liked computer science and fashion while Amanda was more interested in history and literature) but it was such a relief to just vent to someone on occasion without having to explain why each little microaggression stung.  Sure, the other Insitutue kids got the big picture when someone tried to attack her physically or blatant slurs were muttered in their presence but most of them missed the whole cultural insensitivity or erasure that also occurred.  Kitty got it and could empathize with her.

The two of them had just finished up a session in the Danger Room and were cooling down, lying on the floor.  Kitty had done some of her techno-mojo and there was a beautiful starscape above their heads.  “Hey, can I ask you a favor?”

Kitty rolled over to look at Amanda.  “You can always ask.  Can’t always promise that I’ll do or follow what you want.”

“It’s about . . . “ the older girl hesitated for a second.  “It’s about Kurt.”  Kitty didn’t seem the least bit disturbed and gestured that she should go on.  “Do you think you could get him to back off a little?”

“What do you mean?”

“Kurt.  He was less involved with my life when we were dating than he is now.  It’s like I can’t do anything without him hovering over my shoulder.”

“I wondered why I was seeing less of him lately.”

“He didn’t talk about it to you?”

“I, um . . . “

Amanda ignored Kitty’s discomfort.  “You know, I should have realized from the very beginning, that it was always going to be you.”

“What makes you say that?”

“No, seriously.  Even our first date at the Sadie Hawkins dance, he spent the entire time staring at you until the dinosaurs showed up.”

“He did?  I didn’t even notice.”

“Yeah, you were talking to Lance.  To be fair, he did try to hide it but every time his mask slipped, he looked pretty devastated.”

“That jerk!  We’d agreed a month before then that he should try and get over me.”  Kitty frowned, her heart-shaped face and plush lips turning it into a little girl pout.  “Going on a date and spending the entire date staring at someone else doesn’t count as getting over anyone.”

“Hey, be nice,” admonished the black girl.  “He’d only had a month to try to come to terms and the Sadie Hawkins was probably like rubbing salt into the wound.  I don’t like the fact I was the rebound but I don’t think he meant to hurt me.”

“I don’t think Kurt really means to hurt anyone.  It’s just not him.  But he can be freakin’ insensitive at times.”

“I’m sure we all can be.”  A pause while the two of them digested that statement, reflecting on their own peccadilloes.  Amanda restarted the conversation.  “But no, really, could he stop?  Sometimes it’s helpful but the time he spied on my date with Bobby?  That was downright creepy.”

“Ugh, yeah, I’ll tell him that.  I think he’s trying to get you to forgive him but if he was spying on your date that goes a little too far.”

“I think I’d like to try again with Bobby, but only without the furry, blue chaperone.  Seriously, what was he thinking?  Why is he going so far anyway?”

Kitty shifted uncomfortably.  “That . . . might be my fault.”

“How so?”

“Well . . . I told him I didn’t want to date him until you’d forgiven him.”  Amanda sat up to look down at her teacher.

“Why’d you do something like that?”

“Because what he did was pretty terrible.  Because he should do something to make up for what he had done to you.  And finally, because it just wouldn’t feel right to start a relationship with him when you were still hurting from the break-up.  Wouldn’t feel clean.”

“You’re not . . .  you didn’t decide to help me to make up for what Kurt did, did you?”

Kitty narrowed crystal blue eyes at her.  “Of course not, that would be silly.  Kurt’s responsible for his own stupid actions.  I helped because a bunch of retarded jocks decided to attack you.”  She then reluctantly admitted.  “On the other hand, if I hadn’t known you through Kurt I might not have offered to teach you self-defense.  I would have escorted you home and that would have been the end of it.”

Amanda sat in silence for a few minutes while Kitty watched her.  “I forgive him,” she said abruptly.

“What?”

“I said, I forgive him.  I forgive Kurt for what he did to me.”

“You do?  But why?  He hasn’t really done anything to deserve forgiveness.”

“It’s not about what he’s done, it’s about the way I feel.  And I don’t want to think that our friendship is contingent on me being mad at him.  That would suck.”

“But-”

“You don’t think starting a relationship while I’m still upset is good.  Well, I don’t think the X-Men only becoming friends with me because one of their friends screwed up and the rest of them need to make amends for him is any better.  I want to think that our relationship is clean, that it’s based on liking each other and shared interests.  Not you just putting up a friendly facade to make me feel better.”

“I guess.  But are you sure about it?”

“Yes.”  The black girl nodded her head, first hesitantly then did it again with more certainty.  “I mean, I’m not going to forget what he’s done anytime soon.  But he can stop trying to make up for it or whatever he thinks he’s been doing the past few months.  You have my blessing or permission or whatever it is you need to start dating.”

“Thank you, Amanda.”