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purpleyellow · 4 years

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Bon Voyage season 4

BTS 8th member

Sunny’s masterlist

“Sunny during Bon Voyage 4″ Shout out to the Bon Voyage anon!

a/n: It took a while but it’s done. Your opinion is very important for me, send feedback and requests anytime 💜 Also, don’t be shy and interact a little, ask box is always open

(Italics means the person is speaking in English)

“It’ll be around 45 minutes until we get to the destination” Jimin spoke from the passenger seat after reading the GPS.

Jungkook nodded while starting the camping trailer they were in and Suny got comfortable in the small table the van had, Hoseok and Taehyung sat in front of her. The other members were driving in an SUV.

“Are you going to read during the trip?” Hobi asked the girl pointing to the book she had placed on top of the table “We’ll probably be noisy so I don’t know if it’s the best idea right now”

As he said that, Jimin pressed play on his phone and the melody of Ddaeng started playing as Taehyung turned the electric microphone on, singing with his whole soul and ignoring the two members talking.

“I was going to see if I would be able to read without having motion sickness but I guess I won’t be able to do that now” She sighed looking at the noisy boys and head bopping to the beat. “Ahh, New Zealand”

Looking out of the window, Sunny got lost in the view as she sang along with the boys, the small road trip passing by relatively fast for her.

“Okay, let’s go,” J-Hope said opening the backdoor of the vehicle and the three members in the back instantly got hit by a very cold breeze “Maybe not without coats,” He said turning around and Sunny grabbed the big trench jacket she had miraculously found in the store they had gone to earlier.

Putting on the black thing on top of her jeans and pink sweater, she finally got out of the car and ran to the fence that divided a big field filled with sheep. Waving at them, she unintentionally caught the attention of the pastor there.

“You guys are recording something?” the middle-aged man asked her pointing at the cameras recording the rest of the members who were only starting to make their way to where she was.

“Yes, it’s kind of a Reality thing” She answered and smiled politely, not wanting to give off too much information about what they were doing.

“Oh okay, I’ll see if the dog brings them over so you and your friends can interact with them” The man did a head nod and whistled to the dog. Jungkook approached Sunny after a little sprint, leaning on the fence as well to get a better look in the approaching sheep. “Come inside, there’s no problem”

Opening a little gate for them, and the other members, a few of them walked inside and started taking pictures with the animals and the landscape for a moment, until it got too cold for them and they decided to go inside to grab warm drinks.

“Are you ordering?” Sunny asked Hoseok as Namjoon told him the same of the drinks and he nodded to her.

“Putting to work the English I learned in the US” He smiled and waved the waiter over “You want coffee right?”

“You got it” She answered him in English making RM chuckle. They walked together to the table and waited for the waiter to bring them their drinks.

The group spent a good amount of time just sitting in the small restaurant as some of them rested and J-Hope and Taehyung recorded the Chicken Noodle Soup challenge. Retuning to the campervan, they sat in the same arrangement and tried to pass time since the trip would take a long time.

“Let’s play that game where you have to rhyme” Jimin spoke loud enough from the passenger seat so everyone could hear him.

“Which one? The poem thing?” J-Hope asked locking his phone and putting it away.

“I don’t know. Let’s just have one person say something and then somebody else rhymes with it until everyone had a go” He explained while still giving out directions “Taehyung you can start”

“Roses are red, violets are blue” He said without thinking too much.

“I was born smart, what happened to you” Sunny completed with the first thing that came into her mind making Hoseok and Jimin laugh while V widened his eyes.

“That’s not the direction I was going for but okay,” He said repressing a smile.

“I want to start, let me think,” Jungkook said from the driver’s seat and thought for a second before speaking and leaving everyone dumbfounded “Roses are red, corpses are blue”

“Sorry you’re dead, I forgot you’re allergic to roses,” Sunny said without really thinking and making the rest of the boys laugh once again “Oh, it doesn’t really rhyme”

“What’s up with you today?” Jimin turned around to look at her and she just shrugged.

“Kook was the one bringing up dead people”

The BTS members had just arrived at an observatory when the sun started setting, having to wait for it to be completely dark before looking at the stars, the members parted ways, some of them going inside the small cafe to stay warm, while the others, Sunny included, stayed outside to look at the landscape or shoot J-Hope’s challenge (a very recurring theme in this trip).

“We should have bought more coats, it gets too cold during the night” Namjoon noted while he and the girl were walking around and taking pictures of the view.

“Yeah, I have like this thing and a hoddie in my backpack,” Sunny said looking down at her clothes and staring out again “It’s fun to have a change for once, we usually go to warm places for Bon Voyage”

“Agreed, although I miss the warmth a little” He chuckled kicking a rock and pondering for a moment before speaking again “I have so much to do back home, it’s like my mind can’t stay focused and enjoy what’s going on in that moment”

“Oppa, I think you’re going through work abstinence,” Sunny said with a breathy laugh.

“The weird thing is when I was on vacation back in Europe I wasn’t feeling like this. But now, it’s like the cameras triggered my memory and everything that was on hold keeps showing up in my head” He sighed stopping in his tracks and looking around to see if anyone was recording them. Although the mics were capturing all the words, the audio wouldn’t have a use unless there was footage.

“We won’t go back to actually work in a week, but I guess you can find some time to rest your conscience and run over the lyrics I wrote over the break” She smiled sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.

“You didn’t rest?” He turned around to her with a shocked face and tried pinching her arm, although all he did was twist the fabric of her coat.

“I did. I spent some time with friends and stayed with my mom for some weeks. But when I had nothing to do I wrote a little, not my fault I wasn’t in some foreign country like most of you” She winked making him roll his eyes.

“Not fair, I’m as much as a workaholic like you. Now I feel even worst for not being productive”

“You’re the biggest workaholic in this place, maybe with the exception of Yoongi Oppa but you get me” She placed a hand on his arm and turned around so they could go back to the little restaurant. “That means you deserved to rest more than anyone here. So tell me, did you find a girlfriend during your break like JK?”

“Please don’t remember me those rumors,” He said now fake annoyed and smiling at the situation. “I’m kind of worried for him still”

“He does seem a bit quieter than usual” Sunny noted “I just wanted to talk to him for a bit and get him to vent for once, he seemed so stress when I called him one day”

“Yeah, let’s give him time. I’ll chat with him if I get the chance and I’ll tell him you’re worried too”

“Thanks, on a random note, I’m still not 100% used to seeing him with tattoos, but it does fit his image for some reason” Sunny smiled along and they joined the rest of the group.

Waiting for a few more minutes inside, the members had a pleasant surprise once they walked out and the sky was completely full of stars. The desert-like place helped to make visible the whole milky way, making a lot of amused sounds leave their mouths.

“It’s insane to think that’s over us all the time and we can’t see it” Yoongi said from somewhere near her and Sunny nodded along, even though it was too dar for anyone to see her.

“The camera can’t capture it like I’m seeing it” Jungkook complained while trying to take a picture and Sunny grabbed her own phone to see if she was luckier than him.

“There’s no use trying to take pictures,” One of the observatory people told her and pointed to the telescope they were walking to “You’ll have a better sight with that, but everything is going to be stored in your memory”

“Oh, so like, not even the crew is going to capture the sky like this?”

“I’m afraid not,” He told her and she nodded “I’ve seen they have some professional cameras so maybe a picture that comes close to it”

Smiling at his reassurance, Sunny walked a little faster to be able to look through the telescope before the other members.

“It’s dark, stop running or you’ll trip” She heard Jin speaking from her left but she ignored him, going straight to the object and bending a little so she could see better.

“Woah” Sunny gasped with how close the stars appeared, their shine being indescribably beautiful, but the moment got interrupted by Jimin patting her on the back.

“I want to see it too” He insisted until she moved along, of course stealing a last look to hopefully remember that sight forever.

After the two accommodations they had gone to, BTS finally arrived at the place they would be camping for two days.

To be honest, Sunny wasn’t too excited about it, sure she had gone camping with her parents as a child, but she knew the boys wouldn’t just let her run around and play with flowers like she used to, not that she would do that anyway but it still would be nice not have to light up a fire like she was doing right now.

“Why can’t I help them with the tent?” Sunny asked Jin, who was next to her trying to do the same thing.

“Because they learned how to do it last season when you were doing nothing because of a small cut” He reminded her of the excused the had used last time and Sunny tried not to smile.

“It hurt okay, I still have the scar on my foot”

“Show me then” Jin challenged her, knowing it was a lie and Sunny shrugged.

“It’s cold, I’m not taking my shoe off,” She said and sighed when the small flame she had going died once again. “I don’t think I’ll be able to light this”

“Of course you are, just keep fanning it,” Jin said handing her a frying pan, to which she frowned at “What? It helps to make more wind, you’ll thank me once it works”

“Alright then” She grabbed the pan and started fanning the fire more aggressively, her arm growing tired sooner than anticipated, but the flame got bigger none the less and at some point, the fire was strong enough to live by itself.

Massaging the muscle on her arm, Sunny got up from her crouched position and walked over to the campervan, where Taehyung was grabbing some things to decorate the tent they had just built.

“Can you help me carry those things outside?” He asked and gave her a bunch of fairy lights after she agreed.

“Do you know who will be sleeping here tonight?” She asked him once they were inside the orange tent and watched as he hung the lights on the walls.

“I think it’s Yoongi Hyung and Namjoon Hyung” V answered “I’m staying in the trailer with Hobi Hyung, Jimin, and Jk. Are you really staying in the SUV with Jin Hyung? We can make room for you if you want to”

Taehyung recalled the conversation they had earlier when Jin said he didn’t like sleeping on sleeping bags and since there was no room in the van he would just lay one of the car’s seats down and sleep there. Sunny said she could do the same since she didn’t want to make the trailer’s bed too crowded.

“I can give it a try, it’s no big deal,” She said getting out of the tent with him. “If it gets too uncomfortable we’ll change the sleeping settings tomorrow”

“Okay then, if you want to wake me up in the middle and trade places I’m okay with it” V smiled and they walked to where the rest of the members were getting ready to have diner.

“Why are you going to do this when last time you almost died with only having diner in a suspended table?” Hoseok laughed at Sunny when they arrived in the place they would be going on this insane swing.

“Because since last time everyone keeps saying I’m scared of heights, I’m here to prove I’m not,” She said determined but her palms were slightly sweaty.

Of course, it was normal to get a little scared before going on a 300-meter swing that could probably lead to your death, that did not mean she was afraid of heights, it only meant Sunny had the self-preservation instinct that people like Jungkook didn’t seem to have.

“You should go on the catapult thing as well,” He said while bouncing on his place and the rest of the boys bought their tickets.

“I’m already going on the swing of death, I don’t want to be thrown into it as well” She mumbled holding onto his arm, to both keep him in place and relieve some of the nervousness she was feeling.

After getting into the special gear and both Jimin and Yoongi had declined multiple times the opportunity to do it, the group moved along the bridge that they would be “jumping” from. Holding onto Jungkook’s shoulders, Sunny tried her best to not look down and quickly got over that part.

“We doing the swing part in pairs, so Jin Hyung and Hobi, me and Taehyung, ad then you and Jungkook okay?” Namjoon asked her once they were on the platform thing and watching Jin and Hoseok get settled on the thing.

“Okay” She said strangely more calm than before, mostly due to the instructors making sure the equipment on her groupmates was very well adjusted before letting them hang over the edge of the platform.

The sudden drop and the boys’ scream startled her a little, but Sunny couldn’t hide the smile on her face seeing how much fun they were having on the swing. So she sat next to Jimin on the steps and cheered Taehyung, who was far more scared than her when it was his turn.

“We’re doing it like the others okay?” Sunny turned to Jk once they were waiting for Namjoon and V to get back on the platform. “No funny ideas or things to make this any more dangerous than it is”

“Sure, sure,” He said jumping excited for their turn, and once the instructor asked them which way they were going to drop he nonchalantly answered “Upsidedown”

“No, no” Sunny exclaimed shaking her head. She had watched four people safely drop on the thing sitting down, she would safely do it sitting down as well.

“Yes, yes. Upsidedown” Jungkook repeated making the woman smile.

“He can go upsidedown and you can sit normally after him. How does that sound?” She asked politely making Sunny consider going alone.

“Can I do it first then?” She asked turning around to one of the producers to ask if it would make the content less exciting. Giving her a thumbs up, Sunny took it as a yes and turned to the instructor again.

“Sure, you can go in any other you want” She waved the girl near the edge and started to fix her gear.

“Wow, you’re making me wait more because you’re too scared” Jungkook laughed watching from her side and leaning on one of the security bars.

“I’m swinging off this thing by myself, I think the only thing you can’t call me right now is scared” She rolled her eyes at him and heard Jin laughing at their exchange.

“Okay, you can sit and take your feet off the edge,” She said, and in that moment, sitting seconds away from a 70-meter free-fall and 300-meter arc swing, Sunny felt scared shitless.

She looked ahead to the instructor and blocked out any kind of noise around her, not really knowing what was going on or how much longer until she would fall onto her inevitable death backward, the only thing she could feel was her heart beating out of her chest.

It came out of nowhere, but suddenly she felt all of her body drop and a scream leave her mouth, instantly gripping onto the swing’s ropes. After a few milliseconds that felt like ages, she finally could feel the security stuff holding her body in place and preventing her to slip and die. Her screams turning into a laugh as she started to swing on the huge thing.

“I’m gonna swing, from the chandelier” Sunny sang as the thing lost momentum and looked around at the mountains around her. The adrenaline running crazy on her body as she leaned her body back every time the swing went back.

“Were you singing Sia?” Jimin asked once she made back to the platform making the girl laugh.

“Did you hear that from here?”

Getting out of the helicopter, Sunny stretched a bit and walked along the mountain of snow, following her members. She saw a few of them making snowballs, and falling in the snow so she thought she should do the same.

Falling back on the snow, she moved her arms up and down hoping to make a snow angel, but once she got up it didn’t look like one at all.

“That doesn’t look quite right” Yoongi smiled at the weird blob on the ground and helped her get some of the snow off her hair.

“I don’t know where I was aiming with that, to be honest” Sunny said shaking her coat. “What are the others doing?”

“Jimin and Taehyung are walking around and doing something I don’t understand and the rest are building a snowman” Suga said and started walking with her to where the rest of them were.

“Sunny, do you have something to put on it?” Hoseok screamed for her pointing at the two balls of snow that barely looked like a snowman.

Taking off her beanie, she threw it to him and walked closer, looking for things that could make the “statue” more human-like.

Placing a pair of glasses on its face and a scarf around its neck, the members decided they had done a good enough job and walked away, looking for more things to do.

“Hey, look at this” Jimin approached her with a concerned face and a hand full of snow. “Is this an insect?”

Leaning down to look at what he was showing her, Sunny didn’t react fast enough when he lifted up his hand and smeared snow on her face.

“Really?” Sunny screamed after taking some of the snow off her eyes and looked around to see the boy jumping excited and grinning mischievously. Running towards him to push him on the ground, she got slowed down by the snow and failed to do it, instead of holding him in place and kicking the back of his knee to somehow take him down, which she also failed to do.

Looking at them from afar, Jin sighed and looked at Suga “Why are they like this?”

END OF THE TRIP INTERVIEW

1.What did you think when you heard you were coming to New Zealand?

“I liked it but it wasn’t anything special. Like I had heard good things about it and was interested in some of the videos the guys showed me so I thought it would be fun to come here, and it really was.”

2. This was your first work after vacation. How was it?

“I didn’t travel anywhere during the vacation, mostly because I wanted to see some people and I couldn’t do that if I was away, but also because I knew we were going to come to New Zealand right after and I just realized I didn’t have this extra need for going away and spending time outside of Korea. It sure was fun to spend this time with the members after not having them on my daily routine like I’m used to, it consolidated in my mind that no matter the time we spend apart this group of people will always feel like family.”

3. What did you like the most?

“I really enjoyed the overall feel of the country. I don’t know how to explain, but everywhere we went the sky was always beautiful, the landscape, the mountains, the roads we went through, everything was always beautiful, and even though my nose is stuffy and my fingers froze a lot, the weather feels so cozy and so nice. This just seems like one of those places you go backpacking with your friends and the fact that we did exactly that feels really good to me”

4. When did you feel bad or disappointed?

“Hmm… I don’t think I felt disappointed about anything, but since we changed locations so many times this trip, it did cross my mind how I wasn’t much use whenever we went to another accommodation since I don’t drive and couldn’t really help them whenever someone got tired and needed a rest. Also, I don’t think I was that entertaining this time, so sorry for the people watching this”

5. How did you feel about this trip?

“Everything was really nice. Compared to the last time we spent most of the trip together as a group instead of pairs, and that made me grateful for all of the members’ presence. Also, the destination really made me want to come back, with them but also with the rest of the people I love”

6. To ARMYs who’d watch Bon Voyage Season Four

“I said it before, but first I’m sorry if I didn’t appear as entertaining. I hope you understand that I truly liked this trip and was just living through it in my own way instead of exaggerating it and making it seem fake. Everything was perfect and I hope you can have some enjoyment just watching the members being ourselves”

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aellynera · 4 years

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Frayed Wires (Nathan Bateman x Reader)

FRAYED WIRES (Nathan Bateman x Reader)

(so i decided i may turn the drunk texts thing into a series? i decided at least to do one with Nathan because...well...it’s Nathan. the poem he quotes is Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was incidentally married to Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein (or: The Modern Prometheus) which is also kind of appropriate for Nathan and anyway i sat down today and this happened.)

Word Count: 2122(ish)

Summary: All you want to do is sleep. All Nathan wants to do is talk.

Warnings: Language, naturally.

(Nathan’s texts are in bold. Your texts are in bold and italic.)

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

You reached blindly for your phone as it rattled on the bedside table. You had no idea what time it was but you did know it was the middle of the night, your phone should not be going off, and you had gotten entirely too little sleep. Like, maybe two hours worth. You were so tired and groggy that you made the mistake of checking your messages before you actually even thought about what you were doing.

Do you ever think about the meaning of life?

I mean like really think about it.

Why we’re here, why the sky is green and the grass is blue?

No wait that’s not right.

You sighed and buried your face in the pillow. It was 3:27 in the morning and Nathan was texting you. Which was just odd anyway, since he knew where your room was and it was much more his style to just walk in and start a random conversation with you in person.

He was probably drunk.

And now he could see that you had read the messages, so you were going to have to reply, or he really would show up at your door. Technically it was his door, it was his house, you just worked for him and stayed there, but the point was you were not in the mood to deal with him at all right now, and most decidedly not in the flesh.

You rolled your eyes before sending him a reply. You really should just ignore it, but...you were annoyed. Nathan was annoying. And it was now 3:30 in the morning and you were going to push a few buttons. Figuratively AND literally! your sleep-deprived brain cheered.

And things like why is water wet and air is invisible?

YES exactly see that’s why I want you.

I’m sorry?

Your brain. I want to pick you up. Your brain I mean. Pick your brain.

You just want me for my brain, huh?

You have a very nice brain.

Yep, Nathan was definitely drunk.

Not that him being drunk was anything out of the ordinary. But a few hours ago, when you were both in the lab testing some of his most recent ideas about the AI code, he had seemed...normal? Well, normal for Nathan anyway. He wasn’t irritated, he wasn’t condescending, he was actually (you honestly could not believe you were even thinking this) pleasant to be around.

You had been working for Nathan as his personal assistant for a few months. It was a promotion for sure over being a code slinger in a cubicle, but sometimes you honestly wondered what made you say yes to this bizarre existence. It was a beautiful house, beautiful scenery, interesting and highly intellectual conversations...when Nathan was sober.

There was also something you could never quite put your finger on. Something that was shifting as the weeks went on and you spent more time working alongside Nathan in the lab. As you spent evenings eating sushi and steaks and whatever else you were in the mood for that night (most nights, he actually let you choose the menu, you realized.) As you took afternoon walks around the estate, just taking in the scenery. As you debated various philosophies and ideas and theories and tried your damndest to prove Nathan wasn’t always right about everything. He almost seemed like he appreciated it all, but he would never say anything.

And you weren’t about to open that can of worms. Especially when he wasn’t sober.

How drunk are you right now?

On a scale of shitfaced to really fucking blitzed I would say I’m feeling no pain.

Jesus Christ. Well that was obvious. It was obvious just from the fact that he was texting you. Nathan was so uptight about security and data leaks and wiretapping and signals being hijacked (he’d admitted to doing it himself, so he did have a point) but had decided, after much insistence from you, that rigging the cell phones to only work inside the compound was an acceptable idea. It was so vast, you’d said, and what if something happened and one of you was all the way across the house or down in the lab, how were you supposed to let the other person know? It made sense at the time.

Now you were vaguely regretting it.

You could count on one hand the number of times you’d actually considered your boss to be pleasant to be around, and you still had your thumb left over just in case you needed to add to that tally.

At least personality wise. He was definitely pleasant to look at. Very pleasant.

You coughed and cleared your throat. That was not a line of thought to travel right now. The proper course of action was to get him to stop texting you.

A few minutes passed in glorious silence. Maybe a new, shiny thought had occurred to him and he was madly writing it down on a Post-It note. Maybe he just got bored and went to get a new drink. Maybe he’d finally just passed out and---

What are you thinking about?

Dammit. How to make you shut up, your brain snapped back. How to get you to let me sleep. How good your arms and shoulders look in that tank top after you’ve been hitting that punching back and you’re flushed and sweaty and…. Oh no. No no no. Stop it right now, brain.

Nathan hated to beat around the bush. Straightforward was the best policy with him, right?

How to get you to shut up and let me sleep.

Wonderful, glorious silence for exactly forty-six seconds.

Bro...that’s...so not cool.

Okay, this was getting ridiculous. Why were you participating in this? Why was he? You narrowed your eyes and looked toward a corner of your room. You hoped he could see you glaring into the camera that you knew was there and that he was watching while he was texting you. If not, you were sure he would watch it in the actual morning and you hoped the look was withering enough to make him think twice. Probably not. Because this was Nathan Bateman.

Your incredibly narcissistic, incredibly intelligent, incredibly attractive...stop it brain.

But he was pushing your buttons right back. Neither of you could ever really back away from an exchange like this..

I’m not your “bro”, Nathan. Please knock this shit off.

Dude, it’s a figure of speech.

I’m not your dude, either. Please just stop talking.

What’s wrong with dude. Dude is a gender neutral term, anyone can be a dude. Guys are dudes, chicks are dudes, dudes are dudes

Yeah, well, you’re kind of being an asshole, dude.

Dude. Chill.

Turning my phone off now.

No, wait, don’t. I’m sorry. I’ll stop.

Now that was...unexpected. Nathan Bateman just apologized to you? For being a drunk asshole in the middle of the night? Your eyes narrowed again. Suspicious.

You’ll stop texting me so I can go back to sleep?

No not that. I’ll stop calling you dude.

Oh for the love of...you closed your eyes and briefly considered the merits of hurling your phone at the surveillance camera.

Nathan, seriously, can we please just leave this until the morning?

A whole minute of wonderful, glorious, blessed silence this time. You couldn’t believe he might be considering this.

You were right.

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away

If a brain cramp was an actual thing, yours would most certainly be doing it now. You could barely even process it. He was drunk as hell and he was quoting poetry to you? You supposed you probably shouldn’t be entirely surprised, he’d quoted Oppenheimer once in a worse stupor (which you could only quantify because he had actually passed out that time.)

Are you fucking serious right now.

What.

Are you fucking quoting Ozymandias to me right now?

I am.

You couldn’t get the color of the sky right earlier, and now you’re just flawlessly quoting philosophical Romantic poetry at me?

I am.

You are not a normal person, Nathan Bateman.

What is normal anyway, besides really fucking boring? Who wants to be normal?

I would like to be somewhat normal, at least between the hours of midnight and 8am.

See, I knew there was a reason I liked you.

That was the second time he said that, you noted. You found it hard to believe. Nathan liked his work, his routine, his own brain. He liked talking about his work and how smart he was. Other than telling you that you were doing a great job, he barely handed out a single compliment, and if he somehow accidentally did, it was so backhanded you weren’t sure you could actually define it as one.

You mean you like my brain.

Well, yeah, your brain is fucking amazing. It has to be if you work with me.

I work for you, Nathan, not with you. But thanks?

No, no, see, that’s where you’re wrong. You work with me. We’re like partners. None of that employer employee bullshit.

Oooookay now I am one thousand percent sure you are completely piss drunk.

I am but that doesn’t make it any less true.

You could almost hear him saying those words in your head. You could see the way his eyebrows went up, the intensity in his eyes, the way he held his finger up to make the point.

The thought made your brain go slightly fuzzy, and not from exhaustion. Because now you were wide awake. Damn him.

Okay, Nathan, I’ll bite. What do I have to do to get you to stop doing this right now?

There was a pause before he answered, and you swore you’d heard a phone alert that wasn’t your own. It sounded like it was coming from...oh no, he wasn’t…

Getting tired of typing. Can I come talk to you for a while?

Are you outside my door right now?!

You heard the phone chime very clearly this time. He was, definitely.

I am.

You sighed, deeply. So deeply.

Is that really a good idea?

I think it’s a great idea.

Nathan, being serious here.

You could have sworn you heard him sigh from the other side of the door. He could have just come inside. It was his house, his keycard worked on all the doors.

But the door didn’t open.

So am I. Please can I come in? My mind just won’t shut off and I really am fucking drunk but talking to you is helping but tired of typing shit out, I’d rather say it to you.

I wanna see you. And tell you how sexy your brain is.

And that I like you for more than your brain.

And you knew in that instant there really was only one way to get him to shut up. And it was to just let him talk. It made sense, in an oddly Nathan kind of way. What’s the worst that could happen, really? He’d come in, you’d talk, he’d eventually pass out, maybe you could get a couple more hours of sleep, and then in the morning you’d either talk about it on a very deep cerebral level or you’d just pretend it had never happened at all.

A press to the door release button on the side of the table and the latch let go. The door opened, revealing Nathan standing on the other side. Still wearing what he’d been wearing in the lab earlier that night, black lounge pants and that tight white henley he seemed to love so much. The corner of his mouth turned up in the most miniscule of smiles, but it was there.

You were about to toss your phone back onto the bedside table, when the text alert went off again. You shot an exasperated look in his direction, but gamely checked the message.

Did you mean what you said before? About biting?

You glanced up at Nathan and saw that the sliver of a smile had taken over most of his face and his eyebrows had raised to emphasize his question.

You didn’t say anything. You didn’t text him back. You just nodded your head to the empty spot next to you in your bed.

You had a feeling you weren’t going to get any sleep tonight after all.

~end~

taglist: @anetteaneta @rosemarysbaby13 @darksideofclarke @girlwiththemostcake

(taglist is open, let me know if you’d like to be tagged for future fics)

#oscar isaac #oscar isaac characters #nathan bateman #nathan bateman x reader #nathan bateman x you #ex machina #ex machina fic #writing #fanfic #drunk text fic

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the-writing-avocado · 3 years

Text

Word Search

Thank you for tagging me @zmlorenz these were all from ages ago, so I'm combining them into one long thingamajig

press

“You know,” She snickered, “I wish I had a camera.” Atrix caught her breath and pushed herself off the wall. “The expression you make when you’ve been insulted hasn’t changed a bit!”

Will pressed his lips together. “You would remember that of all things wouldn’t you.” he said, with something akin to disappointment.

bed

From the base of the mountain they had the joyous experience of hiking up muddy mountain slopes in the pouring rain. Atrix had the privilege of drawing runes on everyone's shoes to ensure they didn’t slip, but there was no cure for the cold, and nothing to stop them looking like bedraggled cats.

((apparently I have yet to use to word 'bed' in my second draft!))

shiver

Atrix shivered, curling forward and stretching her arms out in front of her. Elbows and shoulders popping, relief flooding her.

dream

Taking a deep breath, Will dived beneath the waves. Everything was an opaque murky crimson. But that was fine. He had definitely seen worse in two years of doing this. No that he needed to see. Dreams weren’t sight, they were thought. All he had to do was think and no matter what he did, eventually he would end up where he wanted to be.

level

Atrix raced through the tree, laughter and music reaching her ears before she broke through the foliage. Months of running around and frequently using magic had brought her to a level of fitness she was proud of; her arms and legs buzzed with energy, she passed the skate park, pool, and courts and sprinted onto the open field.

broad

“Well, if it isn’t Atrix Destalve, last member of the Phoenix family, next to succeed the head of the magician’s council… and you brought a friend, how quaint.” A stranger's voice leered.

Her body twisted around and she shielded Maria behind her broad figure, turning to where voice had emanated from. “Welcome to my humble abode,” a mock bow, “your highness.”

special

He recoiled, like he had just been burnt. “I’m sorry! I just- you were there-” he growled, running his hand through his hair. “You’re my best friend, I’m not just about to leave you to suffer alone, Atrix! Especially if there’s something I can do to help.”

“What could you possibly do?” she screamed. “This is why I should never have come back! You care too much Will! You can’t do anything, this is my problem, you don’t have to fix it.” She choked.

Will’s own eyes burnt, and he blinked quickly. “You know-” he began, but quickly stopped when he felt his own voice breaking.

((I'm really pushing this aren't I))

heavy

She swallowed, very aware of the dying storm around her, but she continued singing the lines in a rich, strong voice.

It wasn’t even a song! Just a poem, a very long, beautiful poem that she had learnt off by heart a long time ago.

The storm settled, listening as she pushed through every verse, heart growing light and heavy with every note.

cake

“Aww, alright how about this one!” She flicked through the role of pictures until she found one of her in a pink dress that clashed garishly with her hair, and an outrageous amount of makeup caked on her face. Her and Heliar stared innocently at the camera, Will laughed. “I wanted to try on some of Heliar’s clothes, but pink does not go with orange, and my mum’s make up was never going to match my skintone! Stop laughing! It’s not that funny.”

roll

Atrix rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure you don’t, still I insist, you should consider giving Will a job at least a bit more exciting than Furples, they are a nightmare, but they are hardly dangerous.”

Prudence nodded. “I’ll indeed consider it, but I have a condition.” Atrix scowled, but made no other objection so he continued. “The woman that you mention earlier is Jean Mckintosh. She’s on the Magician’s council. I think it would be sensible of you to perhaps organise a Luncheon, if you are intending to 'return' to politics and time soon?”

cool

Zara entangled their hands, pushing the door open and stepping out into the cool morning breeze as it played with her hair. She breathed deeply, toes curling slightly. “Come on, the sea’s sweet today, you can tell me all about what’s troubling you… or scream it out to the sea.”

bake

((okay, bake does not exist anywhere in my wips sadly))

I'll tag, with no pressur: @elizabethemm @euphoniouspandemonium @theidioticbadass @super-thedoctor-things @vylequinne @anotherinfinityinspace @a-berry-existential-crisis

your words are spirit, wretched, tree, magic

I have no clue what is going on with tumblr, the tags are broken!

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spookidema · 4 years

Text

Love Potion # 6

Day 3 of Spooki Month

Witch!Kim TaehyungXFlorist!Reader (Reader being a florist isn’t really mention but they’re a florist)

Genre: Fluff and slight crack

Summary: Sometimes you forget that your roommate/best friend was a witch. You didn’t care that he was different. You loved him all the same. You loved him and all his witchy way. But you just forget about that fact early in the morning when before opening your store you accidentally drink one of his potions, and now he occupies your thought more than usual.

Author Note: Soooooooo day 3 is hella late. I apologize. My job has had me working so much and then Hurricane Delta knocked out the power to my house for days. I haven’t really been able to think straight. But I hope you enjoy.

Tagging: @alwayschoosechocolate

In retrospect, you should never drink your tea mixed with the first thing you put your hands on in the fridge when you are half asleep especially when you live with your best friend, who is an actual witch.

"(Y/N), I can tell something is going on with you."

Speaking of witchy best friend, here he is. Kim Taehyung. Your best friend for a good part of your life. Ever since his parents took you in when you were 9 after Tae found you trying to steal strawberries from their farm, but that’s a story for a different time.

"Huh, what are you talking about, Tae," you questioned. Your eyes never leaving the collection of poems that you were reading to clear your head.

"I've been standing here for ten minutes watching you read the same page before glancing at me and going back to reading the same page again," Tae stated." You usually at least acknowledge me coming down, Flora."

'Maybe cause I can't look at you right now without my heart racing out my chest,' you thought as your face turned involuntarily at the use of your nickname.

"You even had Tannie and your kitties worried," Tae continued mentioning his familiar and your three furry companions." Mars was side eyeing me before I came downstairs like I did something."

"I don't know what's going on with him today," you said turning the page." He hissed at me when I tried to give him love. Moony and Ginger were weird too."

"That's not normal,(Y/N)," Tae said taking the book away from you making you look at him for a split second. "Please tell me what's going on."

What does he want you to say? That you can't figure out what's going on with you? That you can't stop thinking about the small things that you love about him? How its difficult just to look at him right now without confessing that you would bring him the moon and stars if he asked you to?

"Tae, I really don't know what you are on about," you forced yourself into a straight face." You don't have to worry. I'm fine. Don't you have to make a youth potion for the lady down the road?"

"Yes but-"

"Tae, that potion takes hours and she needs that for her Halloween party tonight," you reminded him causing to give you a face that said you weren't done talking about what was going on.

As Tae turned to leave back up stairs, the Golden Maknae of your friends group, Jeon Jungkook walked in. He went straight to Taehyung and attached himself to him.

"Hyung," Jungkook sang in Tae's ear.

"Kookie," Tae sang back." What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be helping Hobi-hyung and Namjoon-hyung?"

"Hobi-hyung sent me here," Jungkook answered jumping on the counter beside your arms. "Said he had a bad vibe."

Tae snapped his head to you throwing his hands like 'you-see-what-I-mean.' You rolled your eyes at Tae again. All of this causing Jungkook to look between the two of you.

"What the heck is going on with you two," Jungkook asked.

"Nothing," you said shooing Tae off back up to your apartment upstairs.

"She is acting weird," Tae said as he left causing you to breath out in relief.

You drink from your tea that you made before you came down to the shop. Lemon ginger tea with honey.

"Why does it smell like you are drinking a vanilla cake," Jungkook asked wrinkling his nose like a rabbit. "Don't you usually drink ginger tea?"

You looked at him puzzled and smelt your tea. It smelt unlike how your tea usually smelt. It smelt slightly like lemon ginger tea, but it also smelt heavily like a strawberry field and mint leaves.

"Funny," you said sipping the drink." It smells like strawberries and mint to me, but I know I made lemon ginger tea earlier. I must have added something weird from the fridge."

Jungkook's face flushed a pale color quickly before he asked", can you chug that real quick?"

"Why," you asked back with a raised eyebrow.

He touched the side of the cup slightly.

"It's cold. I'm going to make you another cup," he explained. You looked at him skeptical. "Hurry before I take back my offer."

Still eyeing him weirdly, you chugged the last half of you tea and handed him the mug. A shutter shook your body soon after making Jungkook mumble inaudibly. He scanned your face quickly before his eyes settled on your own.

"Bingo," he said before dragging you from around the counter. "We need to go see Namjoon-hyung."

"Why do we need to see him, Kookie," you asked as you were getting pulled from your shop. "I can't leave my shop unattended."

Jungkook waved his hand, and as you left the shop, the door locked itself and the closed sign was placed on the door.

'Smartass,' was all you thought as you were drug through the streets to Namjoon's.

When you two arrived at Namjoon's, Hoseok was at the door before Jungkook could open the door.

"So I was right then," Hobi sighed after looking at you. "They drank something. What are we going to do with you, (Y/N)?"

The two men pulled you into the living room, and Jungkook pushed you to sit on the couch.

"(Y/N), you know not to drink any of the potions we mix without us giving it to you cause we know what it is," Hobi lectured as you sunk into the couch.

"I-," you started before getting cut off.

"No buts,(Y/N)," Hobi cut off. "This is something we learn as kids."

"But-"

"I said no buts," Hobi cut off again. Namjoon walked into the room as he continued to lecture you.

"Hobi, what is going on," Namjoon questioned stopping you from becoming a part of the couch, and Hobi from turning into Professor McGonagall. "Usually its me doing the lecturing."

"They drank a potion from their fridge," Hobi said throwing his hand toward you.

"Was it on purpose or an accident," Namjoon questioned rounding the couch with what looked like a cup of coffee.

"I-," Hobi started before closing his mouth.

"You don't know," Namjoon stated simply. He looked over you like Jungkook did earlier. "Did you drink the potion on purpose,(Y/N)?"

"I honestly don't know what you guys are talking about, Nams," you answered becoming one with the couch. "I've been drinking my tea I make every morning."

"And you didn't mix anything with it," Namjoon continued to question.

"Not that I know of," you said honestly." I was exhausted this morning from not sleeping well so I really don't remember."

"Their tea smelt like vanilla cake to me," Jungkook spoke for the first time since walking in", but to them, it smelt like strawberries and mint. Doesn't Tae smell vaguely like strawberries?"

"And doesn't Jimin smell like cake, Jungkook," Namjoon said side eyeing the maknae causing him to stutter and blush. "Have you been feeling strange today, (Y/N)? Anything out of ordinary?"

You looked anywhere but Namjoon's eyes as you shook your head. This was embarrassing to you. After Jungkook had you finish your drink, the thoughts of Tae got worse. Before they were a slight annoying whisper that wanted to make itself known, now they were shouts that wanted to spill out your mouth.

"(Y/N), we need to know what's going on or we can't help you," Namjoon sighed as he sat on the coffee table in front of you seat sitting the coffee he had beside him." We already know you drank something by the color of your eyes right now."

You gave Namjoon a weird look as you pulled out your phone and pulled up the front camera to check. You were kind of shocked when you saw that your eyes were their normal eye color with a bright pink ring around them.

'The fuck,' you thought as you stared.

"Now are you going to tell us what's going on," the '94 liners asked together.

You thought about it for a second. If you told them what was going on, they could help you not be trapped with wanting to blurt out confessions to your best friend. Though they would probably tease you for a bit.

"If I tell you," you started to ask, "will I have to go into complete details or can it be slightly vague?"

All three witches looked at each other.

"Complete details," they said together making you sigh.

Complete details is what you gave them. Details on how it seemed like your small crush on Tae seemed to explode after you starting drinking your tea. How it was a slight explosion before Jungkook had you chug the rest of you tea before it became a volcano eruption. How the animals in your shared apartment were acting weird. How your feelings for Tae were always well hidden until now. Now you felt like shouting them to the world.

After you finally finished word vomiting what was going on, Namjoon summoned his potions book from his room and started researching. He muttered curses while reading as he would read a page and it didn't hold the answer he wanted. It felt like forever before he finally looked up from the book.

"It could be one of two things,"Namjoon started," it could be regular Amortentia-,"

"But that creates strong obsession and infatuation with the giver of the potion," you interrupted, "and I had a crush on Tae before this and I'm not obsessed with him."

"I'm thinking it was mixed with something to cancel that out," Namjoon said closing his book. "The only option we have is to ask him what he could have made that would have done this."

"WHAT? No," you frantically tried to stop them. "Can that not be an option?"

"We have to or you will stuck like this for who knows how long," Hobi said pointedly." Now shush, we are calling Taehyung."

As they called Tae, you were searching the room for exits. This was now something you wanted to do.

Then a knock came to the front door, and walked in the man of the hour.

"That was quick," Jungkook chuckled.

"You said it was something to do with (Y/N) acting weird," Tae said jumping over the couch to sit beside you. "Now do we know what's up."

"Kind of, but first," Namjoon answered, "have you been brewing anything that's a mix of Amortentia that cancels out the obsession and makes it where the drinker's thoughts of their crush gets stronger to where they just want to blurt it out?"

Tae thought about for a second before locking eyes with you making you blush pure red.

"Amortentia and Veritaserum," Tae admitted. "Someone wanted me to make it so they could confess to their crush. I thought something was off when I checked the fridge after talking to you earlier."

"Why in the hell would you keep that in the fridge,” you mumbled crossing your arms.

"Cause you usually know which bottles are potions or not, flora," Tae said grabbing one of your hands making you uncross your arms. "Although this one looked like honey in its bottle."

You groaned loudly slapping you palm to your forehead.

"And I always add honey to my tea," you said. "Explains a lot."

"So does this go away on its own or is there an antidote," Namjoon asked.

Tae shook his head," The person I made it for wanted me to make it to where they had to confess or it wouldn't go away. Said it would be motivation to actually do it."

'Well I'm dead,' you thought groaning again.

"Well there you go,(Y/N)," Jungkook said grabbing the '94 liners," your solution. Your time to shine."

Jungkook drug Namjoon and Hoseok out the room.

"(Y/N), do you have something to tell me," Tae asked as he turned toward you.

"We need to get you a small fridge to put in your room," you told him trying to avoid what you were going to have to say to the man.

"We'll deal with that later, flora," Tae said. "We now need to deal with the problem on hand at the moment. Now is there something you need to tell me?"

"Nope, not a thing," you said dodging the question again.

"(Y/N), this isn't a joke," Tae said getting really serious. "I made that potion for someone that is about as stubborn as Jungkook, and it won't go away. I think I know what you want to say, but you have to say it yourself."

"I don't know what you are talking about, Taehyung," you said lowly being stubborn. The words your body want to blurt out were right at the tip of your tongue wanting to escape.

Taehyung groaned out loud.

"Why are you so damn stubborn," Tae questioned.

"Cause I'm not going to risk losing you," you answered absentmindedly.

"You would never lose me,(Y/N)," Tae said grabbing your other hand that he didn't already have. "You are too dear to me for that to happen."

You looked toward Taehyung. His face was set with a soft smile. His eyes bright like the sun was reflected in them. His presence casting a warm feeling through your body.

"So many words want to spill from my mouth like a fountain. Like I want to explode from keeping them in," you mumbled so low that Tae almost didn't hear you," but I really don't want to lose you."

"Would it be easier if I tell you something," Tae asked softly. "Admit to something?"

You nodded choosing to stay quiet. Tae cleared his throat before speaking.

"There wasn't someone who asked me to make that potion," Tae admitted." I made it for myself and Jimin, who admitted he wanted to confess to Jungkook but kept losing his nerve much like myself."

Your jaw dropped slightly. You had no idea.

"I wanted to confess to them so bad, but every time I would go to, I would clam up," Tae continued." They are literally the best person and I don't know what I would do or where I would be without them."

"You would still be the amazing person you are now," you said. "I wish i was that person. You make me want to hang the moon and stars if you asked."

You went wide eyed and started to stutter with a blush.

"I mean I-," you started before you stopped yourself.

"You would hang the moon for me,(Y/N)," Tae asked grinning his boxy smile. You squeaked a 'yes' cause Tae to pull you into his his lap. You squeaked again as he wrapped his arms around your waist.

"Good, cause I would do the same for you," he said looking you straight in the eyes. The pink had disappeared from them. You started to say something before he quickly cut you off. "And not just because you are my best friend. You are my best friend and the person I care for the most in this world."

You were a tomato at this point as you admitted that he was the same to you as well. He smiled at you for a bit causing you to get shy and hid your face in his neck.

"Stop staring," you pouted into his neck, "you are being weird."

He chuckled.

"Being weird as in looking at the person I've had feelings for for years who also likes me back," he continued to chuckle."Suure."

"Take me on a date before you say cheesy stuff like that, Tae," you smiled.

"Let's go on one then," he said unwrapping his arms and sliding you off his lap.

"Wait, now?" you barely got out before Tae pulled you out of the house.

"Yes, now," he said looking back at the with a bright smile causing you to smile back.

Maybe drinking that tea wasn't so bad.

#Kim taehyung fanfic #bts fanfic #bts fluff #bts witch au #bts florist au #Another I might continue if people like it

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yuthoe · 4 years

Text

Practice Makes Permanent (PENTAGON: Yeo One)

Hello, friends! This fic is entirely inspired by this post made by Changgu SO LONG AGO, and it looked so cute that I couldn’t get it out of my head. I’m a big theatre geek--I love acting and I was even in an org for it in college, and was cast last minute for a film, too. it’s one of my biggest passions, and hearing news of changgu being in something rotten! made me extremely happy. i needed an excuse anyway to get into the show, and this is the perfect opportunity!

this one took sooooo long to finish. it’s been in my unfinished folder for the longest time, and i’m so glad i’m finally finished with it. changgu’s last performance as Nigel Bottom is today, so i really tried to wrap it up before then. nothing like a deadline to get your ass in gear, am i right lol. but i do apologize if this one seems messy.

btw, the title is something my director would tell us to keep in mind: practice doesn’t make you perfect, it makes you and your body remember what you’re doing, whether it’s correct or not. so you have to practice things in the correct way before it becomes a habit and you keep repeating things the wrong way.

PAIRING: Yeo One x reader. GENRE: fic, general. WARNINGS: N/A. WORD COUNT: 1,635.

---

You knock twice on the door of a dance studio in the company building, before opening it a smidge and peeking your head through, immediately spotting your boyfriend sitting cross-legged against the floor length mirror, his script for the upcoming show he’s in on his lap. Changgu turns to the door at the knocks and smiles wide when he sees you.

The door clicks closed behind you as you skip to where he’s sitting to give him a peck on the cheek. “Hello, handsome,” you greet as you put your messenger bag down on the floor near you; he murmurs a quiet hi as you settle down beside him. “So what did you ask me to come here for?”

He lifts one of your hands to his mouth and presses a soft kiss there. “Okay, so you know I was cast as Nigel Bottom in Something Rotten!, right?”

“Of course, and I’m exceedingly proud of you for landing the role,” you gush, leaning forward and smacking him on the lips. “I know you’ll do great in it.” You’ve seen the musical before, and it’s hilarious, so when Changgu told you the news, you couldn’t help but feel that playing Nigel would suit him to a T.

Changgu chuckles, grinning widely as he kisses you back. “Thank you, love. But yeah, I have a love interest in the play. And much of Nigel’s character development is helped forward by her, so… you know… if you’re okay with it… could you--,”

“Help you memorize your lines with Portia?” you ask with a smile. It’s been a while since you’d done any acting, apart from what’s necessary for your group’s comebacks. The last gig you could remember was for a short film two years ago that was screened during a film festival, and you’ve been itching to get in front of a camera again.

Your boyfriend shrugs nonchalantly, as if it’s no big deal. “Only if you want to, though. I know you’ve been busy lately.” He levels you with a disarming smile and soft caramel eyes. “But I’d really appreciate it if you could help me.”

You had been ready to say yes to the request even before he gave you that look, so you gently cup his face, press a light kiss on his nose, and say, “I’m never too busy for you, love.”

***

“Okay,” Changgu says, sitting on the “bench” (three chairs you’d put in a neat row), sheaves of papers in his hands. “Act 1 Scene 8… action!” He taps his rolled-up script against his palm, quickly unfurls it again, and starts scribbling on the cover with an invisible pen.

You stand a little ways away, clutching a piece of fabric you found in the corner around your head and shoulders like a cloak. Your feet want to move, want to pace around a bit from nerves of seeing and possibly talking to Nigel.

Nigel groans in frustration. “Uggggh, no you can’t.” He sighs, makes to stand up, and you spur into action, walking straight into him as he begins to walk away. “Oh, apologies. Good day, mistress.” He avoids your eyes, defeated.

He begins to side-step to excuse himself when you say, “‘Good days were those when lit with love, till dusk of death did herald th’eternal night’.”

It puts him to a stop, and he finally looks at you properly. He recognizes the line and confusion is written plain on his face, obvious in the way his brows furrow. “Hey… I wrote that.”

“Yes, I know,” you say, trying to fight the smile growing on your face as you lower the “hood” of the cloak. The cloth precariously hangs on your shoulders as you pat your pockets for the paper you stuffed in one of them earlier. “I accidentally took this after our first encounter,” you fumble with the blank page and show it to him. “Your sonnet. It’s--it’s perfection.” You’d never read something so deeply sorrowful and yet yet incredibly hopeful.

“Really?” Nigel’s eyes had lit up when you took off your hood, and now he’s fiddling with his hands, embarrassed but flattered. “You thought it was… good?”

You clutch the paper to your chest. “It touched me in places I did not know could be touched.” Instantly, your eyes widen and you inwardly curse yourself for making it sound like something sexual. You try to backpedal. “Forgive me. Poetry is forbidden in my house, especially poems of earthly love.”

You take a step forward, lifting a hand in front of you like you’re reading a marquee. “OH, IS THERE NO PITY SITTING IN THE CLOUDS THAT SEES INTO THE BOTTOM OF MY GRIEF?!” you yell, and press a hand to your heart with an impassioned sigh.

Nigel points a finger at you, the play coming to him easily. “Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 6!”

You whip your head towards him, more excited now. “You’ve seen it?”

He nods, just as elated as you. “Six times! And you?”

“Eight! If my father knew, he would disown me,” you reply.

“My brother, too.”

“I adore Shakespeare.”

“Me too! I’ve got Comedy of Errors, first edition,” he says proudly.

You smile. “I’ve got ‘Sonnet No. 1’.” You hold up a finger. “Signed.”

Nigel’s jaw drops. “Wow.”

“I know,” you say, giggling. Talking about literature always makes you so excited that it’s taking all of your willpower to not jump around right now. Nigel chuckles with you, overjoyed to find someone just as in love with poetry as he is.

The laughter dies down after a while, replaced by embarrassed smiles from both of you. As you move to tuck a hair behind your ear, you remember the paper you’re still holding and the reason you sought him out in the first place.

So you take a breath and look at him, completely serious now. “I think you’re his equal--if not better.”

Nigel is already shaking his head. “No, no way.”

“Oh yes,” you insist. “Your sonnet has Shakespearean sophistication mixed with the complexity of Daniel Webster and the sensitivity of Samuel Daniel.” The analysis has been eating at you since you first read the poem, that the words just tumbled out of your mouth. You needed someone to talk to about it, and who better than the author himself?

Nigel looks at you fondly, mouth upturned in an amused smile that shows his teeth. “You really love poetry.”

You sigh, grinning so wide it feels like your face is going to split in two. “Oh, I do. I really, really do.”

“And cut!” Changgu says. “This is where the song comes in, so we’ll skip that.”

“That was a good run!” you say, pulling off the fabric and folding it into a loose square. “I mean, I’m a little rusty so I could use some more practice, but you were good!”

Changgu does a tiny fist pump and gestures to his script. “Can we do another scene?”

“Yeah, sure,” you say, eager to try again. You didn’t think you’d miss acting this much, but Changgu just ignited that fire in you that absolutely loves being on stage. “What did you have in mind?”

***

Hours later finds you both in a cafe, you sitting across Changgu and exchanging notes from your mini-rehearsal earlier that afternoon. He nods in understanding as he highlights his lines on the open script, occasionally scribbling notes and tips in the margins. The serving of iced coffee sits half-empty beside him and you carefully sip your warm latte.

You like this, you think. You like practicing lines with Changgu, acting out scenes together, and delivering a whole new dynamic to your characters’ relationship. It makes you want to actually act with him on a legitimate project and, not for the first time, wish you auditioned for Something Rotten!, even as an ensemble character.

You hear the clack of Changgu capping his highlighter; it takes you out of the spiral of envy you were slowly tumbling into. He looks up at you, eyes soft and gazing at your face.

“Thank you for practicing with me earlier, Y/N,” he says, smiling.

His smile is literal sunlight and has you grinning back. “Anytime for you, Changgu,” you say with a giggle.

He chuckles and sits back on his chair with a sigh. You study him as he studies the highlighted pages.

“I wonder what it would be like if we worked on a project together,” he muses. “I bet it’d be so much fun. We could practice lines together, have loads of inside jokes…”

His eyes focus on you again. “And it would be an excuse to spend more time with you.”

It still amazes you sometimes, how much you two are on the same wavelength. Because of your packed schedules--comeback preparation for you, and musical rehearsals for Changgu--you hardly have time for each other lately. Truth be told, you miss him, and you know he misses you. Today is just an excuse to see each other after such a long time, and you’re just making the day count until you have free time again. And who knows when that’ll be?

You shake off the solemn vibe and say, “Okay. Next time, we audition for a musical together, yeah? Something… darker, maybe? More drama?”

Changgu grins at you conspiratorially. “Are you thinking romance? Or possibly a tragedy?”

You hum, tapping a finger on your chin in mock thought. “Why not both?”

“Oohh, Sweeney Todd? Chicago?” He starts humming the hook to “Cell Block Tango” while doing vogue-like moves, and it’s taking everything in you to not kiss him right now. You’re in a public place right now, and though there aren’t many people in the shop, public decency is still a thing.

No matter--you’ll make sure to shower his face in kisses later.

#pentagon #kdiarynet #uninet #pentagon yeo one #pentagon changgu #yeo one #yeo changgu #pentagon scenarios #pentagon imagine #pentagon yeo one scenario #pentagon changgu scenario #universe net #fic: yeo one #fic: not spicy #fic: mine #yeo changgu scenario #yeo one scenario #changgu scenario

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anyazinophotography-blog · 4 years

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Film-Making Masterclass with Keith Partridge

In all honesty, making the decision to accept my University place this year was not one I made lightly, I’ve never had an interest in embarking on a theoretical degree and felt that with all the restrictions in place and time on campus limited to two days a week I wasn’t going to receive the experience that I had envisioned when applying to study a hands-on degree at the University of Cumbria. As the timetabled teaching weeks have progressed, getting used to online lectures has proved a challenge for me and many times I have questioned whether continuing with education was the right thing to do this year. This strange format for learning at the moment has definitely allowed me to appreciate face to face lectures.

Despite the challenges of studying during a global pandemic, being enabled the privilege to be tutored by awarding-winning adventure filmmaker, Keith Partridge is featured as a personal highlight of my first term. After a theoretical induction to the equipment, a field lecture with Keith was timetabled for October 13th, finally, a chance to gain some practical experience. The day rolled around and we were split into production teams, we were quickly briefed on the importance of checking and setting up equipment before a shoot, an aspect of filming that I have previously never considered the importance of. Our production team found this time especially useful as we discovered two dead batteries. On location this would have brought our shoot to a grinding halt, however, on-campus this was easily fixable.

Upon arrival at Kingmoor Nature reserve, we were introduced to our guest speakers, poet Phil and performing artist, Rebecca. They would be our clients for the first task of the day, of which we were to produce film and audio for four poems, two per production team. Gathered round as a group, Keith broke down his essential kit and we are able to see for ourselves with a full demonstration of its use. This equipment varied from Camera to microphones and tripod mounts, it was interesting to see not only the extent of the equipment necessary but also how it has adapted, especially in this current climate. Being Covid ready on set is now of paramount importance, everything must be wiped down and kept sterile, therefore, wipes are now essential. An example of the importance of being adaptable and ready for everything as a filmmaker.

What came next was perhaps the most exciting aspect of the day, a filming demo led by Keith where we walked through the formula of filming and recording audio for production. As a visual learner, to see it broken down in this way was such an invaluable experience. The group followed Keith to a tree backlit by early morning sunshine, the perfect place to begin filming. I found the process of watching Keith wander through the forest, visualising shots as he went extremely insightful and I tried my best watch closely and adapt his same approach as we filmed for the first task and our individual tasks later on in the session.

After watching Keith’s demonstration, we were sent away and given 45 minutes to complete filming. As a production team, we decided on our roles for the shoot with the aim of switching these around. I found myself working predominantly on camera for the first portion of filming, securing the shots that Keith had demonstrated earlier. Pushing myself truly out of my comfort zone came later on in the day when I was given the opportunity to record sound for our own individual pieces. Before beginning my University degree, I had no previous experience in working with sound and having only been theoretically instructed so far, when presented with this task it felt daunting. However, after a short while of experimentation, I had become adequately accustomed to the use of the zoom recorder and shotgun mic.

Stills Taken from my camera- Task One

Overall, the entire day flew by in what felt like a matter of minutes and I came away having gained more knowledge and practical experience since I first began studying film and Photography, almost 3 years ago. My masterclass with Keith really did solidify my reasons for choosing to continue with education this year.

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quagmireisadora · 5 years

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[Jinki / Jonghyun] The Writing on His Face

Rating: R Warning: none Genre: face blindness au Length: ~9300 A/N: this is for @jjongyyu who was looking for an old and popular fic that disappeared. While I never read the story myself, I got a rough summary and have tried to recreate it to the best of my abilities. I don’t mean any copyright infringement to the original author, and hope they are doing well, wherever they are now.

Title based on the poem 얼굴에 쓴 글씨 by Kim Hyesoon

—–-

Long arms rose above the patrons and waved in wide arcs. Only Minho would, Jonghyun smirked to himself.

He walked among the tables and when he reached the other, he mumbled a low greeting. Usually they would come in here at lunch, after a few matches of badminton at the university sports ground. It was a Saturday afternoon tradition between them. But this morning, he woke up to a message telling him to come straight to breakfast.

He sat down with a sigh and picked up a menu. Almost immediately, fingers rapped on the other side of the laminated page.

“I already ordered for us. The usual, right?”

“What’s the usual?”

Minho sighed. “Yah… is your memory failing you now, too?”

“What if I wanted to try something new for once? Eh?”

“Ah, then show up early next week!”

Jonghyun would’ve continued their farcical argument had he not given into the other’s ridiculous expression – eyes wide, brows raised, lips pouting angrily. It always managed to make him laugh. “This joker…” he chuckled.

Minho’s own countenance melted into a sheepish smile. “Anyway, what do you want to do today? The courts are closed for a month.”

“Maintenance again?”

The other shrugged. “Could be. News is, they had a burst pipe from the storm last week. Flooded the street downstream. All the old people in the big houses near the campus were complaining about it.”

“See?” Jonghyun pointed. “This wouldn’t have happened if they’d taken our advice earlier this year. I told them they should take advantage of the annual upgrade and change the clay pipes in for PVCs. I told them!” he insisted, then waved his arms. “But no~ it’s too excessive~”

Minho giggled, flicking some complimentary peanuts into his mouth. “Still doesn’t change my question—what are we going to do? It’s even nice outside for a change…”

“You could go see the flowers at Everland this year,” a voice suggested to them from a distance. “I hear they’ve come in really pretty.”

“Hyung!” Minho looked excited enough to clap. “You’re back!”

“I’m back,” a man with a pot of coffee and a striped apron casually walked up to their table, smiling at Minho with affection. “And man, is it good to see you two after all the weird people who’ve come in here this week. College students, ah…” He poured the steaming drink into their cups and placed a couple of paper napkins next to each one. “But? I see you two boys are stuck indoors again—look at the weather! What are you doing here?”

“Uh, hyung, you’re not supposed to drive business away?” Minho joked and they both chuckled with each other.

The man turned. “Jong ah,” he nodded amicably. It was the expression most people used with him, no matter how close they may be. Unsure, faltering, tentative. It was natural for them to be that way – after all, they were never sure if he’d recognize them. Several times, they would have to explain their identity and show him photos of themselves with him. It tended to get embarrassing for all parties involved. “How have you been? Everything good at home?” the man tried to smooth over some of his hesitance.

Jonghyun concentrated on the pronunciations. He concentrated on the texture of the speech. Silk, his brain conjured the word. Every time he identified someone correctly, he flooded with a deep warmth; a self-confidence rivaling nothing else. This time too, a radiance grew in the center of his chest, piercing its way out of his rib-cage like it was trying to give away all his secrets. “Jinki hyung,” he greeted, much to the man’s surprise. “It’s nice to see you again, this one was starting to miss you,” he jerked his chin in his friend’s direction.

“Hul…” the server gasped.

“I told you he was getting better at the voice thing!” Minho said in an oddly boastful tone, then realized he’d just admitted to talking about his best friend behind his back.

“You were right,” Jinki grinned.

“How was your trip?” Jonghyun inquired.

“It was good. I got to talk to a lot of universities. They offer a lot of options these days, unlike when I got out of school so… I’m hopeful about it. Yeah,” he ended the statement with some indecision.

“That’s good. I’m glad you got to go.”

They exchanged a friendly smile, and then Jinki jumped like he’d just remembered something. “Oh right! Are we still going to that exhibition this weekend?” he asked.

“The built history one?” Jonghyun felt excited just discussing the meeting. He’d seen the post on his SNS and immediately thought of Jinki, the aspiring architect who sketched in a dog-eared little notebook in his free time. Jinki, who was trying with all his might to get a degree so he could register as a professional and find better work. When Jonghyun forwarded the post to his friends in the industry, he knew it would make its way to its target. “Yeah, of course!”

“I’m… not invited?” Minho inquired with a frown, then his expression lightened before turning impish. “Are you two going on a daaaate?” he teased, then waved his arms and made silly wooo~ sounds.

Jonghyun threw a napkin at the guy’s face. “Be quiet. It’s an educational visit.”

“I can be educational!” the other garbled. “I do… I do education!”

“Shh!”

“Haha, well that’s great,” Jinki chuckled. “So, I’ll see you here tomorrow, after my shift? We can take the subway there. Cool?”

“Cool,” Jonghyun agreed.

Minho rested his face in his hands and leaned his elbows on the table, looking dreamy. “Ahh… a date. How cute~”

“Yah, what’re you saying?!” he was given a not-so-serious scolding.

——

Jonghyun woke up with a start.

He staggered out of the blankets to look for his wallet. “Where is it…. where is it…” he mumbled under frustrated breaths. His heart pounded with fright as he combed through a pile of laundry. When he finally found it, he flicked the wallet open to look for the photo he had put in it many years ago. It was a picture of him in his high school graduation robes, two well-dressed women standing on either side of him, looking on with adoration. Hands shaking, he took the photo out of its clear pocket and held it up in front of his bleary eyes. He blinked hard, once twice thrice. He meant to blink away the sleep. Instead, tears flooded off his lashes and rolled onto his face, fell on his arms, dripped to his shirt. He squeezed his eyes shut while his lungs sobbed, but he tried again. It was expected, it was what happened every time he looked at the picture—at any picture. It was expected and he knew what would happen when he did it. But it still hurt. A twist of pain spread from his heart to his torso to the rest of his body.

He dropped everything and went to his phone. With trembling fingers, he dialed the number and waited for the ringing to stop.

“Jong ah,” the elderly woman greeted in a groggy voice. “What’s wrong? It’s so early in the morning.”

“Ma…” he rasped in the silence of his room. “Ma.”

“Jong ah, what’s happened? Are you hurt?”

“Eomma, I don’t remember your face.”

——

“You look… unwell,” Jinki stated as politely as it seemed he could.

“I’m fine,” Jonghyun tried to brush the attention away. “Just had a rough morning.”

“Is that what the sunglasses are for?” a hint of playfulness sprayed from the other. “Or are they your way of blocking out the unnecessary overload of faces?”

“Both,” Jonghyun joked in return.

They strolled through the park for a few meters until the other spoke up again. “Listen, we… really don’t have to do this today.” He looked concerned. “We can come back another time. I mean, I’d rather you go home and get some rest.”

“It’s the last day of the exhibition, hyung.”

Jinki scoffed. “An exhibition isn’t as important as your health, man,” he muttered.

Worry like this was common, regardless of who he met. It secretly irritated him, but he’d honed the skills to avoid a confrontation whenever it happened. “I tell you what,” he started to lighten the mood. “Why don’t you buy me an ice-cream when we’re done. That way you can pay me back for being here and being miserable.”

The other looked on, uncertain at first, then picked up his usual joviality. “OK!”

They walked some more until they arrived at the artificial hanok village. Houses on low wooden plinths circled a paved courtyard. The organizers had placed a row of old-fashioned shoes outside each house. Colourful paper art hung from lines overhead. Clay tiles gleamed and slate shimmered. Red square-spirals adorned the walls at mid-height. The smell of seaweed soup and pork dumplings was in the air. Tables had been set out for anyone interested in a game or two of baduk. In the distance, two women in traditional clothes played the zither and the flute, while a bunch of young boys in hanboks competed in hacky sack.

It was as if they had been transported to another time. “Just like a sageuk drama,” Jinki sounded a little breathless, running his hands over pillars and walls. The tips of his fingers were stubby, and sometimes came away with plaster or paint. But he still touched everything he could, still tried to feel every surface within his reach. “It’s like a… a dream!” he turned around, eyes sparkling with excitement. Jonghyun grinned at him.

They explored their way through the fair, picked a few things to eat and a few others to drink. At one point, they stopped to watch a dance and drumming performance. They clapped in time with the beat and shared a look before laughing at the MC’s jokes.

When it came time to leave, Jonghyun requested they take a selca. Jinki consented and proceeded to make silly faces at the camera. Later on, out of the other’s sight, Jonghyun chose one of the photos as his lock screen, happily running a thumb over it.

“How about that ice cream?” one called as he walked ahead. The other nodded.

They ambled as they left the exhibition grounds, taking in the sights of the riverside. Streamers and lanterns hung between light poles, announcing the event. Some more girls walked past in full traditional clothes, giggling about something.

“… and I thought they were very clever in the way they negotiated with the locals, tried to get their input to feed back to the planners, cause it’s so important to understand the user grou—you’re not listening,” Jonghyun stopped talking when he saw the other simply watching him.

“No I am!” Jinki assured cheerily as he veered to one side of the walkway. He propped himself against the railing. “I like listening to you talk. You’re very passionate about your job.”

He pursed his lips. “I guess… it pays really well, and I get to work by myself, away from people. So that’s nice.”

“Hmm… you get your own space to think.”

“Exactly.”

The other’s smile was a hint rueful. “How nice.”

“Hey. Hyung,” Jonghyun closed the distance between them. “You’ll get there too, soon,” he encouraged. “I mean… you’re saving up for the education you want, you’re talking to universities so you can make the best choice. You’re clearly driven.”

“I’m also really old,” Jinki sighed. “My mother says I’m being too unrealistic with all this and sometimes… sometimes I think she might be right. You know?“ he shook his head. "A degree in architecture is difficult. And after I’ve done all that, I don’t even know if I’ll ever get a job. In this economy?” He scoffed, scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Ah… I’m thirty and I still haven’t done anything with my life… I’ve wasted so much time.”

“You were in the army, it’s not a waste of time.”

The other offered a grateful smile, but his eyes were suddenly tired. Jonghyun leaned against the railing next to Jinki and said no more. They shared that little island of silence, watching the fair and the mountains in the distance. The sun grazed against their necks and shoulders, hugged their arms as they stood motionless, listening to the sounds of chirping birds. Because of the way Jonghyun’s visual memory worked, he needed constant speech to prompt his brain with information—I’m with this person, we know each other though such and such place, we’re here today on such and such errand. He liked when he could use people’s voices to give them a name because it made him feel safe, feel like he belonged where he was just then. But Jinki’s soft exhales allowed him to be alone for a short while, and he used that time on his own breath.

The spell was broken by a, “Oh, right, I heard you moved to a new apartment?”

“Hmm? Oh. Yeah. Some weeks ago, now.”

“And you haven’t had a housewarming party yet, have you?”

Jonghyun tilted his head at the other, stating the obvious. “Minho?”

Jinki laughed. “Who else but the one and only?”

He shook his head. “That boy and his big mouth… No, I haven’t had a party yet,” he admitted. “I… honestly, I don’t like parties. They’re really. Disorienting.”

“Hmm,” the other hummed sympathetically.

“Plus, I have way too many people I’ll need to invite, and it’s going to be stupidly difficult to call them all up, confirm with each one, then order all their favorite stuff. Clean up the mess when they’re gone. It’s… ah, it’ll be a hassle.”

“You…” Jinki nodded with admiration. “Sound like you have a lot of friends. I’m actually jealous.”

“Yeah well,” Jonghyun started with some bitterness. “Still doesn’t stop me being lonely.”

The other chuckled. “How can you be lonely? This world is so insanely full of people, it’d be impossible.”

“See, that’s what I hate?” he pointed out, frowning and gesturing with his hands. “That in my life, lonely and alone have never met. They’re miles apart.”

Jinki studied him at that, eyes narrowed, lip worried. His hair fluttered in a zephyr and one of his cheeks shone gold against the setting sun. There was a sadness in that stare. It reached out with its arms as if waiting for someone to come pick it up, to come take it away because it didn’t belong there. The sadness seemed to weigh enough that its owner’s vision sagged to the ground, tired of holding itself up to face the rest of the world. If Jonghyun could, he’d have reached out and wiped it clean off the man’s face. But he couldn’t.

“Yeah,” Jinki said lowly, nearly whispering. His gaze moved to the ground, to his own shoes. “I know what you mean.”

——

“What’s up?” Minho answered the phone immediately.

“OK, let’s do it.”

“You mean let’s start a band? Yesssss!”

“Ye—what?” Jonghyun barked into his phone. “No! I’m talking about the thing you’ve been bugging me to do for weeks.”

“Yeah! Start a band!” Minho reiterated.

“Idiot, I mean a house-warming party.”

There was silence for a few seconds. “Ohhhhh… so I take it the date went well huh?”

“It wasn’t a date, we aren’t dating, I was only accompanying him to the fair,” he patiently listed, but bit his lip because he couldn’t really lie. Not to Minho. “And yeah, he did bring up my move and all that but—”

“A-ha!”

“What’s a-ha?” Jonghyun panicked.

“A-ha is you finally deciding to throw a party so you can get Jinki hyung to visit your hooome~ oooh~”

“Yah, yah, yah…!” he warned over Minho’s stupid noises. “It’s nothing like that, don’t go around spreading rumors OK?”

“You’re in loooove~”

“Hang up, right now!” he yelled.

——

He nearly didn’t hear the doorbell over the din. As he balanced a bowl of chips and dip in one hand, used his hip to push a trolley of glasses, and tried to twist the door knob with the other, someone walked past him giving instructions to bring out the drinks. He frowned after them but couldn’t pinpoint with any certainty who it was. When he gave up, the newcomer at his threshold waved.

Jonghyun frowned. The guest had short hair, a hooked nose, wore a loose sleeveless shirt and jeans, and carried a small bouquet of red roses. Nothing in their appearance could give away what or who they were. “He-hello…” he tried.

The other person tried to ease off the awkwardness. “Uh, thanks for inviting me,” he said with an appreciative nod. “Sorry I’m late, I wanted to pick these up for you–”

“Oh! It’s you, hyung,” Jonghyun sighed with relief. “Come, come on in!” he waved.

“Wow!” Jinki immediately let out. “This place is…”

“Big?” Jonghyun raised his eyebrows in suggestion. “Huge!” the other’s eyes were wide. “So… so Miesian too, like all the glass is really. Fresh and modern and—”

“Tell me what you think later, here take this off me and feed yourself,” he offered the bowl and started walking back to the kitchen. “I’ll be right back, just try to find Minho, he’ll show you around.”

When Jonghyun wheeled the trolley to the kitchen, a woman was standing there, leaning against the island. He offered her a bottle of beer. “Can I help you?” he asked her.

“Yah, you know I only drink beer when there’s fried chicken,” the woman responded, then suddenly perked up at an idea. "Did you order any fried chicken?”

“Noona,” Jonghyun whined with a sudden rush of tiredness, walking over for a hug. “This is so difficult,” he muttered into her shoulder.

Sodam patted the back of his head. “You’re doing fine. And I’m right here. Just call out, if you need me, OK?”

He hummed reluctantly before he was sent back into the crowd. Jonghyun trudged to the living room, a case of beers in one hand. A circle of guests waved to him with congratulatory words, and although he recognized no one, he did his best to behave amicably. As soon as he could excuse himself, he set the bottles safely onto a table. On cue, someone climbed onto his back with a loud proclamation of “Jonggie hyung!”

With the affectionate term, and the bounce in the other’s voice, the connection to face and name was instant. “Oh! Taeminnie!”

The boy got off and hugged him tightly. “Ahhhh, have I missed you,“ Jonghyun was swayed to and fro. "We don’t even meet like we used to every morning, now that you’ve moved. You’re so far away… I had to take two trains to get here.” Taemin pouted cutely.

“You’re here now,” Jonghyun said with love, grasping the other’s shoulders. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“This party’s great! Everyone’s here!” Taemin skipped a little in place. “I even ran into Jongin and Hyoyeon noona in the balcony. I haven’t seen any of you in so long, ah~! Remember when we used to go on a drive in the hills?”

Jonghyun nodded happily. “And how is Naeun doing?” he inquired.

“What, she hasn’t filed for divorce yet?” Minho’s warm voice slid into the conversation. “I’m shocked, considering what a headache you can be on your best da—ack!” Taemin tackled him playfully and Jonghyun decided to leave the two of them alone to their stupid wrestling.

“Just don’t break anything!” he called out after them with a grin. More unknown faces and more good wishes ambushed him. And they would’ve continued to do so for the good part of the evening, had he not bowed out of conversations before they turned unpleasant for him.

At a moment of leisure, Jonghyun’s eyes looked through the crowd for any sign of red roses. When he found it, he started to swim through the throng to get to it. All along the way there, people commended him on the new apartment and gave him all sorts of compliments. He thanked them as best as he could without seeming too rude. With Jinki’s familiar back within earshot, he called out.

“Hyung, I—”

“Oh, there you are,” the other turned around with a wide smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me.” Jonghyun wondered if he’d ever been privy to it before, because there was nothing but sunshine in that smile. It glowed like gold and warmed his cheeks as if summer had landed on his face, resting against his skin after a long flight. He wondered if Jinki had ever shown him an expression like that before, and wondered if it would’ve made Jonghyun’s cold nights more bearable–had he been able to remember such a smile. He almost blushed, almost shied a little at the thought but the other pulled him over by his arm.

“We were just talking about you,” Jinki held the roses out for his host to take, and motioned a third man standing next to him; a scar on his eyebrow and a piercing in his lip. The newcomer looked from one to the other and gave a soft smile.

“Hi.”

Jonghyun squinted. “Hello, I’m so glad you could come,” he attempted, in a manoeuvre to identify who the other person was.

“It’s me,” the man said, as if it should’ve been obvious who he was by now. “Kim Kibum?”

“Oh,” Jonghyun’s nervousness cooled down. He shot the other a sheepish purse of the lips. “Hey. I meant it, Bummie. I’m glad you’re here.”

Kibum’s momentary coldness disappeared. “How have you been, Jjong?”

“Good,” he nodded. “Very good. So…” he took a deep breath. “I see you two have already met.”

“He’s been singing your praises for a while now,” Jinki assured. “And giving me some very interesting dirt on you in the process,” he teased.

“Dirt?” Jonghyun shot a worried look at Kibum. “Wh-what dirt?”

Jinki stared at him in disbelief for a moment. “I’m joking!” he laughed.

“Don’t mind him,” Kibum said. “He’s always like this. Always makes a mountain out of a molehill.”

“No, I don’t,” Jonghyun challenged, willing to argue over the fact.

“See?” and the other two giggled. “Anyway. This is a great house, Jjong. And a great party too,” Kibum placated. “I only wish there were some music, you know?”

“Yah, he’s already confused as it is, you want to add to the confusion?!” Minho appeared behind them on cue, carrying a tray heavy with refreshments for other guests. “Use your brain!”

“At least I have a brain to use!” Kibum retorted and Minho squealed with laughter, nearly spilling all his food. They all chuckled along.

“OK, you two have fun, I need to say hello to some more people,” Jonghyun bid them farewell, not wanting to to leave but also not wanting to stay. On his way, Minho took him aside and described a few visitors to him: told him their names and what they were wearing, just so he could avoid the discomfiture of meeting the same group of guests more than once. He nodded and tried to remember everything, tried to smile at everyone he passed, tried to give everyone his hellos and offer a drink to whoever asked about his health. He tried to enjoy himself, take pride in his new home and his old friends all gathering to celebrate it with him. He honestly tried.

Through it all, he made sure not to turn around and look back at the other two again. But when he was at the sliding door to the balcony, and the setting sun caught in his eyes, his gaze naturally strayed back to the place he’d last seen Kibum and Jinki. Kibum with Jinki. The sight made him feel bitter. One leaned on the other’s shoulder, guffawing. The other blushed and grinned, looked somewhat pleased with himself. Both seemed like they were in a world of their own, neither appeared to remember what brought them together.

And that’s when Jonghyun knew this party was long over.

——

But he didn’t give up.

The next chance he could find, he went out to their usual café on his lunch hour. He’d had to take a train and walk in the sun for fifteen minutes. By the time he’d arrived, his shirt was soaked in all the uncomfortable places. He loosened his tie and fanned himself with the menu. A few minutes later, a familiar frame walked over to him with a pot of coffee.

“Oh, hyung, how have you been? Sorry I meant to call after the party but there was so much to do an—”

“Ah… excuse me?” the server said in an odd, unfamiliar voice. A gravelly, discordant voice. “Do… we know each other?”

Jonghyun watched the man in growing shock. He blinked gawkily. “I—I’m sorry,” he bowed in his seat. “I thought you were someone else.”

“Ah, really?” the man said with clear skepticism. “Do they work here?”

“Y-yeah, I’m actually here to meet Jinki hyung?”

“Oh, no,” the server shook his head. “He doesn’t work the afternoon shift on Tuesdays. He’ll only be here after five. If you like, I could take a message to pass on to him,” the man offered, but not with any sincerity. The look on his face seemed to accuse Jonghyun of something. Something like insanity.

“No…” he declined, mortified and crestfallen. “That’s OK. Thank you.”

He didn’t return to work after the ordeal. He called in sick and went straight home, answering none of his co-worker’s perturbed questions. He didn’t bother picking up his bag from the office, didn’t even bother picking up his dinner from the usual dumpling house near the apartment block. On the subway, his phone buzzed but he ignored it. In the lift, someone greeted him pleasantly, but he paid them no heed. As soon as he was indoors, he locked himself up, drew all the curtains, took a hot shower, put on his softest pyjamas, lit a candle on his bed side table, and went to sleep.

——

“I’m sorry, I should’ve given you my number so you could contact me before you came over,” Jinki spoke in hushed tones. Between them sat a basket of fruits and a card that read get well soon! in English. Obviously, Minho had put him up to this.

“No, it’s my fault,” Jonghyun shook his head. “I wasn’t sure what I was thinking, dropping in like that.”

The other tilted his head but said nothing, as if waiting for him to elaborate. But there was nothing much to add. Jonghyun had tried to reach for something that was far out of his grasp. When his fingertips had made contact with it, he’d tried to swing his arm like the motion would help him find some purchase. But just like the time he tried to show off at the pull-up bars in high school, his grip grew sweaty and he slipped. The fall was hard, and the humiliation amplified the pain.

Jonghyun had made a fool of himself.

“I… just came to ask how the party was,” he shook his head. “Yeah,” he let out a chagrin-filled laugh when he saw the confusion on the other’s face. “It was stupid. Coming all the way to the other side of town for something stupid like that.” But he still looked at Jinki expectantly.

The man shook his head. “It… it was good. I—we all had fun, yeah—” he assured in a jumble. “I could tell you were meeting a lot of those people after a very long time, so they were happy to be here.”

“Yeah… that’s true.”

“Jong ah, what is…” the other slid off his stool. “What is this actually about?”

“Nothing,” Jonghyun chuckled it away, clapping his hands, rubbing them together in a habit from his disgraceful high school days. “But I’m happy you enjoyed yourself. And I could tell you liked meeting my friends, too,“ he nodded. "You’ve always been close to Minho, but you and Kibum seemed to really hit it off with each other that day,” he said in a tone that insinuated things he wasn’t willing to say.

“Jong,” Jinki nudged again, his tone constantly and unbearably calm. “What’s going on?”

He sighed, looking up at the ceiling like he’d find courage hidden there. His visitor walked around the kitchen island to close the distance between them, but Jonghyun stood and took a step back, motioning for Jinki to stay where he was. “Don’t,” he requested. “Please.”

Jinki’s expression took on a hint of helplessness. “Jong ah—”

“I want something,” he was cut off. “From you,” Jonghyun emphasized to put his point forward, gulping. “I want you to give me something that is unreasonable to ask for, and that’s why I act like an idiot.” He let out an exhale that came with the reprieve of confession. “I want you to give me this thing, and I want you to give it to me unconditionally—no, hyung! Hyung,” he cautioned. “Don’t come any closer, let me finish.”

The other sighed heavily. Jonghyun’s own breath had sped up by a large measure.

“I can’t say, that… that I can give you anything in return for that something,” he shook his head. “I can’t say I can make you happy, because,” his eyes burned at the sound of his words. “Because I have never made anyone happy. Least of all, myself,” he let out a mirthless laugh. “I can’t say that I can give you everything I have, because I have nothing.”

Jinki carefully walked forward at that, regardless of all warnings. “What do you want?” he whispered when they were an arm’s length away. It was getting late in the day, and the kitchen was slowly being flooded by darkness. Deep shadows played on the man’s face. “Tell me what you want.”

“You couldn’t give it to me, even if you wanted to,” Jonghyun looked away. “I mean, Kibum tried and look what happened—”

“Why do you keep bringing him up?” the other scolded.

Jonghyun turned back to him with incredulity. “Do you really not get it?” he looked from one amber eye to the other and found no trace of cruelty in them. Jinki wasn’t playing games with him, he was genuinely clueless.

“Hyung, Kibum and I were together for a long time.”

“I gathered.”

“Then do you know why we went our separate ways?” Jonghyun straightened up to his full height. “Do you know what fucked us up?”

“No, and I don’t really care—”

“It was me,” Jonghyun told him anyway, anger finding its way to the edges of his words. “I constantly mistook other men for Kibum and it ruined our relationship and… and once I kissed someone else. And I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Jinki said nothing.

“Do you understand what that means?”

“… Jong ah,”

“It means that no matter how faithful I want to be to someone, no matter how much I love someone, no matter what I do to try and not fuck it up?” his voice broke against his tears. “I fail. I fail all the time. And everyone knows that,” he defined angrily. “Every single person who has ever met me, knows that. And I have to look at their faces when they realize it, over and over. I have to see them think it when they find out what I am, and that—” he sobbed. “And that is why I can’t ask you.”

Jinki pulled him into a hug then but was immediately rejected. “Hey,” he tried again, slower, softer. But when Jonghyun violently fought him off a second and third time, he gripped the man’s arms hard and trapped him against the kitchen counter. “Sto—stop it!” he yelled.

Jonghyun sagged against him then, quaking like a child.

——

“I’ll give you whatever you want,” Jinki agreed.

They’d ended up lying on the carpet of the living room, feet pointing in opposite directions and temples nearly touching each other. Jonghyun was calmer now, arms crossed over his chest as it moved with his breathing. But his nose still sniffled and a stray tear or two still dripped to his ears. He’d wipe each of them away, just so Jinki wouldn’t have to worry about it.

“I’ll be with you, Jong ah, but you need to make some changes in your life,” the man said.

He nodded wordlessly. He approved of that sentiment. “Yeah.”

“First, I want you to see a therapist—no, hear me out,” Jinki tamped out the protest Jonghyun started to make. “I want to help you, I really do. But I can’t help you with everything. Some of this stuff… Jong, some of the things you feel are really powerful, and they’re eating you up from the inside. There is a way to deal with them, but I don’t know it. You need professional advice to face those feelings. Do you think that’s reasonable?”

He didn’t want to admit defeat, because that’s what it felt like he was doing. Therapy was always seen as a last resort, a shameful alternative to being fine. Being whole and perfect and happy. He wanted to stop thinking of it with the narrow-mindedness of society. It was difficult. It was tough to accept. But he would certainly try, on Jinki’s insistence. “OK.”

“Good,” the other turned his head, their faces close enough to lean in for a kiss. But Jinki didn’t attempt, and Jonghyun didn’t seek. “Second, I want you to remember that you are not alone,” he felt around for Jonghyun’s phone and saved himself as a contact. “Now you can reach me whenever you like. Even if you’re bored and want someone to talk to. Call me anytime, alright?”

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I want you to just remember that I’m here for you.”

Jonghyun turned too, this time. Their eyes met and stayed met for a long series of moments. “Thank you,” he whispered again, between them.

——

With several months behind them, their lives—and schedules—plateaued into each other.

Saturday morning was still dedicated to badminton and lunch at the café. Jinki still served them but lingered to chat with Jonghyun, sometimes playing with his hand, other times giving him a complimentary slice of cheesecake. Minho would whine things like unfair and I want to date someone too, and they’d giggle about it later.

After a lot of scheduling, cancelling, and rescheduling, Jonghyun settled for therapy sessions every Monday straight after work. He stuck to the routine no matter how shameful it felt to admit the fact to his family and close friends.

Wednesday nights, they would meet at the apartment where one watched TV and another worked on his portfolio for university applications. Sometimes, when the weather was pleasant, they went for walks along Cheonggyecheon. Sometimes, they invited Taemin and Naeun out on double dates. Sometimes, they just sat on the floor and played board games.

Most of the time, Jinki was close and listening attentively.

Jonghyun was happier. He could honestly say that, with no embellishment and no stretching of the truth. He felt lighter than he had in months. His mind was clearer, and he was able to make more of an effort at recognizing faces – putting names against voices, hair, mannerisms. His self-confidence would rocket every time he guessed correctly, and the few mistakes he made never weighed him down. He’d actively made an attempt to forgive himself, to move on from his slip-ups and not carry them around with himself. He was happier.

But he didn’t want to stop here. He wanted to keep moving forward. He wanted to keep climbing. And he decided to bring it up at dinner one Wednesday.

“So, the voice thing,” Jinki said as he polished all the food off his plate. “Tell me how it works. I’m curious,” he questioned while munching through a mouthful of side-dishes.

“It’s easy,” Jonghyun shrugged, hissing at something spicy. “I just connect peoples voices with images that remind me of them. For example, Taemin,” he explained. “We lived in the same neighborhood as children, and he used to own this… huge colorful beach ball,” he motioned with his hands. “Everyone wanted to be friends with him because everyone loved that ball. So, when I hear a voice, and it sounds lively and fun, I’m immediately reminded of that ridiculous beach ball. And that’s how I know it’s Taemin.”

Jinki smiled, nodding his comprehension as he settled back into his chair. “What about the others?”

“Minho sounds lazy. Warm and lazy, like wool and hot chocolate.”

“Well, he does like his scarves.”

They shared a laugh at that. “Yeah, he does.”

"I’m sure his wardrobe is filled with them and nothing else.”

“Kibum is like… well, his breath always smelled of cigarettes when we were dating, and he used to wear a lot of silver rings. So I know when I hear something cutting or sharp, it’s him.”

“You do him so much justice,” Jinki chortled.

“Hey, you only met him for a couple of hours. Get to know him a little, and you’ll see what I mean.”

“Heh,” the other was amused. “What about me, then?” he asked, leaning forward on an elbow, looking sleepy and tired after all the time he’d put into his applications that night. “What do I remind you of?”

“I…” Jonghyun blushed. “I don’t want to say, because you might think I’m silly.”

“This is reverse psychology. Now I want to know!”

They giggled. “You’re like…” he pursed his lips. “You’re like a silk worm.”

“Wow, harsh.”

“No, no, hear me out:” Jonghyun rushed to clarify, chuckling and holding the other’s wrist. “You know how silkworms work really really hard so they can produce little pieces of string? String that we then collect and make into something beautiful? Yeah… you’re like that. You work hard on whatever you do. And it ultimately gives people happiness.”

Jinki watched him with an adoring smile. “You really know how to impress me, don’t you?”

“You’re here, aren’t you?” Jonghyun said, trying to act charming but immediately breaking into a fit of laughter at himself. The other watched him for a while, matching his mirth. And suddenly the urge to lean across the island for a kiss intensified. But in the six months they’d been together, they hadn’t tried to get too attached. There was a mutual unspoken pact that they didn’t want to rush into anything. Things needed to move slowly, not on impulse. And although Jonghyun’s last relationship had been long and deeply intimate, this contrast in pace was pleasant. Beyond holding hands, he decided to respect the distance as best as he could. “Hyung,” he said in place of it.

“Hmm.”

“Let’s go on a trip together.”

“Sure, where?”

“I…” Jonghyun hesitated, trying hard not to sound too forward. “I really want to go to a nice resort somewhere. Maybe Fiji?”

“Ah…” Jinki looked unnerved. “Jong ah, hyung doesn’t have that kind of money…”

“It’ll be a gift,” the offer gushed out. “From me to you. I-I mean—” he faltered. “You’re going to start university next year, and we may not see each other as often anymore. This could be a… going away present?”

Jinki licked his lips, seeming a little worried. “Jong, the university is right here. In Seoul.”

“Yeah, I know but—”

“And it’s a generous offer, really, it is. Thank you, I’m… I’m flattered that you would want to go away on an island vacation with me. Really, thank you.”

Jonghyun blinked. “But?”

“But…“ Jinki blinked. "I need to think about it. It’s a lot to consider, I hope you understand?”

“Hmm…”

“It doesn’t mean I don’t want to go with you. Trust me, if I could drop everything right now and leave, I would.”

“I’m sorry. I… seem to have burdened you with something unnecessary again,” Jonghyun said sheepishly.

But Jinki didn’t reply. He shook his head with a muttered this person, walked around the table and embraced the other’s forehead to his stomach.

—–

Jinki did say yes in the end, acquiescing on the condition that he be loaned his half of the expenses. Jonghyun had wasted no time in booking flights and accommodation, then.

To be quite honest, he had wasted some time jumping around the apartment like an excited child. He’d skipped through the kitchen, slid down the railing of the stairs, done a little jig in the living room–tripped and nearly hurt himself on the corner of the centre table, too. But the holiday was to happen, that much was certain, and now he felt like he was filled with air: light, warm, soothed like the sighs of an admirer.

He kept the expenses low, out of consideration for the other. But he also didn’t stinge on where they stayed, and how long they stayed for. On their first day in Fiji, a private ferry picked them up at the port and an hour later dropped them off outside a quiet little cottage, concealed on all sides by large bursts of vegetation. Jinki looked undeniably amazed when he stepped out onto the sand, and Jonghyun simply ran up to what would be their home for the next two weeks, flailing his arms and rolling on tufts of dry grass — willing to appear childish now that no eyes could see him.

They spent their mornings gorging on the breakfast buffet, spent their afternoons snorkeling or kayaking in the ocean. And at night, when the crickets were singing outside, Jinki would bring out his laptop so they could watch a movie under shared blankets.

On his part, Jinki never left Jonghyun by himself for longer than necessary. He would have friendly conversations with the people they met on the trip, and he would make additional bookings or requests on their behalf. Jonghyun didn’t mind being a passenger in those situations. There was no loss of autonomy in it, he realized. It was the other’s way of protecting him. And he was grateful. He felt an odd sense of safety.

——

On the last evening of their trip, they sat down by the shore. Waves lapped on the sand and turned to froth against their toes. Jonghyun hugged his knees and Jinki brought out a pair of beer cans, their fourth… or no. Maybe their fifth of the night. In the distance, the last ferry ride of the day drifted out to the mainland, only visible by the lights on its front and the din of its engine.

“I could live in a place like this.” It didn’t matter who breathed those words out into the cool air. They both felt it: in different ways, in varying degrees. Where one envied the isolation of an island, the other loved the way silence reigned over it. One enjoyed the feeling of sand against his naked heels, the other missed the sun baking his bare shoulders. One could float on the undulating ocean forever, another could fall sleep in the shade of mango trees. Jonghyun could’ve stayed and if Jinki had the courage to, he would’ve also forgone leaving here. But the renouncement of something would never come without the sacrifice of something else. They knew this, and they spoke it to each other. Silently. Between sips of cold beer and grips around condensation.

“Thank you,” Jinki suddenly hushed. “For bringing me here. For showing me things I would’ve probably never seen.”

Jonghyun shook his head. “If you’d never said yes, I wouldn’t be here, either. So I should be thanking you,” he turned and smiled, leaning his chin on his arm. When the other returned the smile, he dipped his face shyly, hiding it behind the inside of his elbow. And the thought that he may be drunk occurred to him. The buzz in his cheeks flushed down his neck and into his chest. His skin fizzed with excitement, his lungs coursed with anticipation

“Let’s go for a swim,” he said. The disbelieving pause between him slipping off his shirt and Jinki’s startled eh?! was long, and a little funny. Jonghyun chuckled, dizzy with the emotion, high off of more than alcohol. “Come, hyung,” he beckoned, tilting his head to the water.

“You know there’s going to be all sorts of stuff in the water now, right?”

“That’s OK,” Jonghyun had been really worried about stepping on fish when they went snorkeling in the daytime. He’d even yelled out when he accidentally squished a sea cucumber. But now. No fear resided in his gut anymore, just a heavy pulse. To keep going. To keep stripping.

If Jinki felt any shame from seeing his host unclothed, he didn’t show it. He followed Jonghyun’s face with his sight, first in confusion and then in curiosity. “Wait…” he tried when the other began to walk in. “Wait, you’re drunk.” But he threw off his clothes as well, following close behind.

The water was cold, the tide gentle as it lapped their ankles their thighs their waists. The moon shone over them, its light folding them in cool blankets. Jonghyun stared up at it as he walked then swam. He turned to connect his eyes with Jinki once: not to check if he was still there, just to assure him that he wanted this. Wanted to be followed. Wanted to be chased. Wanted to be caught.

Jinki’s gaze seemed to understand.

They swam for a while, first in a line and then at a point. One stopped and the other continued, cutting the water in a diminishing spiral. One looked and the other looked back. One thought he was drowning and the other knew they were soaring. One stalled, swirled, kept himself afloat. Waiting. The other moved, dived, approached as if from all sides. Wanting.

They waded deep enough that their feet stopped touching the sand. Jinki’s circling stopped, too. He swum to a halt in front of a sobbing Jonghyun. It was only them riding those waves, then. Only Jinki, only Jonghyun, and only the moonlight wavering between them on the water.

“Why are you sad?” Jinki asked. His voice was tender, the words seeming to cradle Jonghyun in their arms.

“Because,” he said, laughing and weeping all at the same time. “Because I can see you. Clearly. And I know you. I know in my gut, to give you a name. To give you your identity. I…” Jonghyun shook his head, bringing his hand out the water to wipe his face and drenching it further. “I know exactly who you are. Right now. In this second. And–” he cried. “And I’m sad because this second won’t stay. It will go away it will never come back and I don’t want that, I don’t want to leave this time I just–”

“Then let’s stop time,” Jinki said before he swallowed Jonghyun into a gasping kiss and the water swallowed their bodies whole.

——

It had been written on the sand of Jinki’s island. It had been scrawled on the beach, scratched on the rocks that fell towards Jonghyun’s sea.

It had been written that they would meet like this, when one eroded and the other abated.

It had been written a long time ago that they would meet when Jonghyun washed to the shore, flung to land by the waves. Jinki had been waiting ready, with his arms open to catch him.

It had been written that their lives would be pulled together like sticks bound in rope. That they would float and drown together, as driftwood, every morning. And when dusk finally came they would swim. Home. To the place they built. Dug into the ground and poured in like cement that dries even when the monsoon comes. Even when showers flood and lighting crashes it was written they would be held. As one. As together. As Jinki and Jonghyun.

And when the sun set. When the moon danced into view it was written that they would spin. They would roll their memories together like dough between their hands, flatten them into the circle of time before throwing them up into the sky. At the stars. At the universe. Into Jonghyun’s sea where they dissolved and disappeared. Absorbed into his tongue where he could always reach them but never bring them to his lips. It was written that Jinki would step aside when Jonghyun fell back into the water. When he swum out with the determination of getting away from the island. From his survival. From Jinki. It was written he would be given way. Despite the fear of his never returning. Despite the fear that time would start turning again and twist in their chests with pain.

It was written that life would draw messages on the beach, reminding them of the second their chests pressed together and their breath danced in the middle of folding lips. Even as the waves washed everything away, over and over. The memory was drawn until life broke its stick. And left them to maneuver through their splashing night and their blushing morning.

——

A year passed.

It was time for Jinki to go to university. They’d moved in together some months prior. Jinki had fought the suggestion hard but when he noticed how expensive rent could get in the university area, he was defeated. Jonghyun had reasoned it would still give them time together, even with work and studies. "It’ll be good for us, hyung,” he’d insisted.

And it was the truth.

Every day Jinki slowly brought in more of his things and every night Jonghyun made more and more room for him in the previously bare apartment until it felt full. Full of things, full of memories, full of happiness. And with every addition Jonghyun felt fuller too. Even if Jinki complained his things were a little scruffy or a little tattered, he didn’t mind. He bought new sheets and new quilts. He bought a second pair of pillows. He bought a set of drawers for the other’s clothes. He bought more cutlery to share. He bought everything they would need to go from being more than one. More than just him.

Every morning Jonghyun spoke a soft, “hyung?” to confirm if it really was Jinki lying next to him. Some days the other joked and said something silly like, “No, it’s your conscience.” Some days a soft kiss would be answer enough. Some other, rare days, Jonghyun would cry and hide his face in his pillow, feeling frustrated that he couldn’t even identify the man he lived with. The man he loved and was obviously loved by in return. Jinki stayed by his side for a long time on those mornings, hushing and comforting him, never tiring of him, never complaining or walking away.

“You’re sure about this?” he asked one afternoon as they lazed on the sofa.

Jonghyun said nothing, snuggling up to the other. He wasn’t sure about it at all. He felt no certainty in letting another person into his space. The space he had guarded fervently up until Jinki had knocked on the door and held out a bunch of red roses. He wasn’t sure. But he would remain unsure until they tried. And that was all this was. Trying. To be happy, to be whole, to start again. That was all this was. He said nothing as Jinki put an arm around him and kissed the back of his head. He gave and gave and Jinki received and accepted until at some point in their cohabitation. On some mundane morning as he sat in the train to work, Jonghyun wondered if he was a little Jinki, now. If the man he shared his apartment with was in actuality, half-Jonghyun.

He thought about it all day, all through work, even all through the night when they met and hugged and kissed and ate dinner. He thought about it when the other held him close in bed, gripped him hard, pressed a pair of soft lips to his ear and showered him with compliments as he moved deep inside him. He thought about it in his breaking voice and his scratching fingers and his peaking moans–maybe he wasn’t himself. Maybe the other wasn’t himself, either. Maybe they became each other’s, on a dark and sandy beach in the middle of an ocean. Maybe they melded, became an alloy. A Jinki-Jonghyun that couldn’t be separated with ease. He wondered even after they came back down from their high, the sheets as sweaty as their foreheads, the bed as creaky as their thighs, the air as balmy as their breath.

“You’re sure about this?” Jinki asked again, several times. And Jonghyun never answered. But the response slowly blossomed in his chest as the days became months.

His life had less uncertainties in their time together. Even when work became hectic and university took up all the time they could’ve spent in each other’s arms. Even then, Jonghyun grew less unsure. Less negative. Less unstable on his feet when looking at faces and listening to voices. He knew that the clatter of plates in the kitchen was Jinki. Or the sound of music in the late afternoon was Jinki. The jangle of keys at the door was Jinki and even the hushed sigh behind him in bed was Jinki. Even if he didn’t always recognize the things he should’ve–the picture of his mother, the friends on his phone, the sound of his own heart. Even if all that fell to unfamiliarity, Jinki never did. Not his summery grins, not his happy clap, not his hot kisses or his rippling muscles.

A year passed.

But Minho continued his complaints. “How come no one will date me?” he stamped his feet as they finished their run in he park. “I’m cute! Hyung, am I not cute?” he demanded of Jinki.

“Adorable,” the other panted, bending over and supporting himself on his knees. “How is he not tired…?!” he said incredulously.

Jonghyun cringed and wiped his brow, but glared at the tall man, the stitch in his side making him unable to answer back.

A year passed.

But Taemin and his wife still met them, often. They would eat and go for walks and sometimes. Sometimes Jonghyun would listen to the sounds of the baby in Naeun’s belly, closing his eyes and giggling. Imagining who the child would take after, even if their faces never registered in his mind. And then he imagined what Jinki would look like holding it. Holding any child, cradling it and humming it to sleep. He would feel warm at the image of sturdy arms around a delicate bundle of blankets.

A year passed.

Sometimes the thought of Kibum would still interfere with his mind. Make him remember the things he was ashamed of, things that embarrassed him still. Things he wished he could forget as easily as the faces surrounding him, but was slapped by on his worst days. And he fought Jinki over it. Birthed arguments from stupid things like forgetting to switch off lights or leaving a dirty spoon on the counter. He yelled and screamed and cried his eyes out while Jinki waited quietly for him to finish. Then he sobbed against the man’s chest, being soothed and being led to bed, being comforted to sleep it all off.

A year passed.

And it wasn’t a perfect year. It wasn’t always happy. It wasn’t always a bed of roses. But it passed regardless. And while Jonghyun still couldn’t tell people apart, still had to listen closely in important meetings and critical situations. Even if that was still as it had always been, he was different. He was no longer just Jonghyun. He was more.

#jongyu #long fic #au #shinee

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peckhampeculiar · 5 years

Text

Jade’s journey

WITH A CAREER SPANNING TV, THEATRE AND FILM, ACTOR AND POET JADE ANOUKA CAN TURN HER HAND TO ANYTHING.

She talks about filming with Idris Elba, her one-woman show Heart and how she took hundreds of local youngsters for a night out at Peckhamplex

WORDS: EMMA FINAMORE; PHOTO: LIMA CHARLIE

Some people just seem made for storytelling, and the magnetic Jade Anouka – equal parts actor and poet – is most definitely one of them.

Now living in Camberwell – near her favourite brunch spot, Kurdish cafe Nandine on Vestry Road – Jade grew up in Bexley, later moving out to Dartford. She kept up her local connections though, going to secondary school in Lewisham, and it was here in south-east London she had her first proper break in acting.

Inspired by Saturday drama classes, a 17-year-old Jade entered a competition in the local paper and landed a week-long workshop at Greenwich Theatre. It ended with a production of the musical Golden Boy, alongside Olivier-nominated Jason Pennycooke – now in hit West End show Hamilton – and Sally Ann Triplett, whom Jade describes as a “musical theatre legend”.

“I was actually doing a project on her at school when I went to Greenwich Theatre,” she says. “Whenever I was in a play I enjoyed it so much, it would become my world. My parents could see it too, before I even knew I could do it as a job. I just loved it.”

It was a love she grabbed with both hands. Jade headed to the National Youth Theatre on a scholarship and then on to university, to Guildford School of Acting.

“It was a bit of a culture shock,” she remembers. “There were lots of people there who knew the whole ‘acting world’, they knew people’s names, they knew playwrights – and I didn’t know anything. I just liked messing about on stage.

“There were people there whose worlds were so different, who’d had totally different upbringings to me. So that was a bit of a shock. But I made mates for life, friends from different worlds, which is really good but also from the point of view of an actor – to be able to empathise and not be closed into your own world. It was amazing to meet an array of people and make friends.”

Despite once being told by her voice teacher she would “never do Shakespeare – I got completely slated for my voice”, Jade was hired immediately after graduating in 2007 by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, where she not only landed a spot in an internationally touring play but earned a postgraduate award in teaching Shakespeare.

She was hired by the RSC for a role in The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood’s twist on Homer’s epic The Iliad, focusing on a group of women who make just a brief appearance in his original. The all-female cast took the production to Atwood’s home country of Canada, where she came to see it, setting Jade up for a 14-month stint with the company.

Since then, she has taken the worlds of both stage and screen by storm – picking up numerous awards and accolades. In 2011, she received a commendation at the Ian Charleson Awards for her performance as Ophelia in Hamlet at the Globe, and in 2014 she won the Stage Award for Acting Excellence for her one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe. She was also named among InStyle’s Bafta breakout stars for 2018.

A woman of many talents, Jade has landed television roles in Doctor Who, Chewing Gum, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man and Trauma. Earlier this year she appeared alongside Sheridan Smith in Cleaning Up, a six-part drama on ITV.

Her most recent adventure in television is alongside megastar Idris Elba in his Netflix comedy series Turn Up Charlie, based in London and Ibiza, in which he plays a down-on-his-luck DJ, while Jade is Tommi – a slick, successful sound engineer.

“That was so much fun, I’ve never worked so long on a comedy before. I’d done a bit on Chewing Gum but nothing like this,” she smiles. “And he [Elba] created such a great vibe on set, because he was producing it too. I loved the cast – Piper Perabo [of Coyote Ugly fame] is great, she’s so cool. We went to Ibiza to film too – I got the jammiest deal.

“Idris is great – he improvises a lot, so we’d finish the scene but then keep rolling. If it feels like something’s fizzing they’ll keep it going.”

She has fond memories of when the cameras switched off too. “Oh my God, I swam in that sea,” she laughs. “Everyone was there, cast, producers, crew... we all had a dip and I remember looking round and thinking, ‘This is mad! Work should not be this fun’. I was proper pinching myself.”

Jade had another pinching-herself moment in March, when her film Fisherman’s Friends hit the cinema screens and made the top four movies in the UK – behind only Dumbo, Captain Marvel and Us. It follows the story of 10 fishermen from Cornwall who get signed by Island Records and achieve a top-10 hit with their debut album of sea shanties.

Jade plays a key role in the story. “It’s a proper feel-good British film,” she explains. “I play the head of Island Records, who signs the fishermen, who is a real person in real life, but is a man.”

Gender-hopping in roles isn’t unusual for Jade, who despite proudly flying the flag for female actors – in Phyllida Lloyd’s all-female Shakespeare trilogy at the Donmar Warehouse in 2016, for example – has played parts such as Henry IV’s Hotspur and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, and has spoken previously about wanting to tackle James Bond.

“I was thinking about that the other day. And I also play roles on stage that are ‘male’ roles too. I kind of love that,” she smiles.

The idea of playing with identity feeds into her other life as a poet, in which she writes and performs verses, often exploring issues like gender and ‘otherness’.

Poetry has been with her since drama school and it was something she embraced on the road on acting jobs. “It was a way to be creative and be in control,” she explains. “When I couldn’t be in control in the acting world, I could be in control of my poems.”

In 2016 this led to her publishing a volume of verses – called Eggs On Toast – and last summer she gave a TEDx talk at Theatre Peckham on “being black, being a woman, being other”, featuring many of her own poems. Bounty, for example, explores the complexity of race and identity, with powerful, emotive lines.

“It ended up that the talk was going to be about identity,” Jade explains. “I knew I had to use poetry, because that’s how I can communicate with my voice best.”

She closed the talk with I Am A Woman – a powerful homage to Maya Angelou and her seminal poem Phenomenal Woman – peeling away societal expectations of femininity, getting to the root of what being a woman means to Jade.

What it means to be a woman of colour, and an actor, is also important to her, and it inspired a local event she organised last year called Black Panther Peckham.

“I love superhero films,” she explains. “I grew up obsessed with them, but there were so few black women. I was so disappointed with Halle Berry as Catwoman, because I love Halle Berry and thought it would be amazing... and then it was such a bad film. The script was just all wrong.

“So when I heard about [superhero film] Black Panther I thought, ‘Oh my God this would have been my absolute life when I was young’, and I just thought that people like my little cousins needed to watch it.”

Seeing Oscar-winner Viola Davis raising money in the US to send underprivileged young people to see the film, Jade sought to do something similar here in London. “We shouldn’t take it for granted that everyone can just afford to go to the cinema. Peckhamplex is obviously good anyway – £4.99, get in! – but even that for some people is a luxury. So I just started a GoFundMe page, and it went absolutely mental!”

Jade raised thousands of pounds for hundreds of local children to see Black Panther at Peckhamplex, with popcorn, drinks and Disney merchandise donated to the evening, along with a post-show Q&A for the young audience.

“It was so heartwarming,” she smiles. “It was so great that we could do it. I kept popping into the cinema and hearing the crowd’s reactions. There was something about a load of young people being in a room alone with their peers, that kind of shared experience, that was really special. They were having so much fun.”

Jade recently took another 140 young people from Peckham and other parts of south-east London to see the play Emilia in the West End. “I just thought it was so important for young people to see this production,” she says.

“The first of its kind with three women of colour in the lead and on the poster, in a play set in Shakespeare’s time about a forgotten, hidden story of a woman who found her voice. I was able to use some money left over from Black Panther Peckham to help make it happen.”

The second half of this year is set to be as action-packed as the first, with Jade appearing in A Black Actress – a photo exhibition celebrating black actresses that is set to open this summer. She will also appear alongside Blake Lively and Jude Law in The Rhythm Section, a big release hitting cinemas in November.

When we meet, she has just finished a run of her own one-woman show, Heart, at The Vaults under Waterloo Station, and it marks another branching-off in her creative life.

The 50-minute monologue is a journey of the heart, following a woman from her wedding day for the next seven years. “It’s a kind of call-to-arms, a call to look at society,” she explains.

“Really, again, it’s all about identity, and maybe feeling ‘other’. The idea of that and of heartache –where that sits you in society. It’s funny, but most people were crying at the end. They said they could recognise their own stories or moments in it.”

Opening on International Women’s Day with an all-female team made it all the more poignant, along with the fact that Jade was performing her own material in the setting of a play, rather than someone else’s script, or speaking poetry.

“It was different because it was my words,” she says. “There’s nothing to hide behind, but it was amazing. It was the start of a journey – I’m definitely going to do it again [Heart will be coming to a London theatre this autumn] and hopefully publish it. I just want it to live on, I want it to be told and told.”

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btshogwartsauheadcanons · 6 years

Text

The Joys of Transfiguration (and everything in between)

Pairings: Namjoon x Hufflepuff!reader (friends to lovers)

requested by @anon

Hi! Idk if you're doing requests or anything but I really really enjoy your headcanons!! I was wondering if u would be able to do a namjoon x Hufflepuff reader friends to lovers one?? Where Namjoon is looking for jungkook as a bunny after a prank gone wrong and he finds the reader taking care of him not knowing it's Kookie or smth like that? Thank you so much ur fantastic :D !!

Ratings: Fluff

Featuring: Whipped Bunny Jungkook, Seokjin’s red crocs, very clueless Jimin, A Saltbae-sized sprinkle of TaeGi because you know me, and brief mentions of Hoseok being an awesome captain

Word Count: 6k

A/N: Thanks so much for the request anon! I hope you and everyone else enjoys it!

“Hyung, can we go eat dinner already?” Taehyung groaned as he rolled around on Namjoon’s bed and looked up at his friend with pleading, puppy-dog eyes. His adoptive older brother, however, didn’t even lift his eyes from the piece of parchment he was scribbling on.

“You go ahead and eat Taehyung-ah. I’m almost done with this,” he answered. Taehyung pouted and rolled to the opposite side of the bed, knowing that ‘almost’ in Namjoon language took up a range of five minutes to four hours.

“Come on, we need to see how everyone else is reacting to Seokjin-hyung parading around the Great Hall in red crocs,” Taehyung said, hoping to somehow tempt his hyung. “What are you even writing anywat?” he asked, crawling over to sit beside Namjoon.

“Just… a poem,” his hyung answered. Despite the controlled expression on his face, Taehyung spotted the slight movement on his lips that indicated what, or rather, who, the poem was about.

“It’s for Y/N-noona again, isn’t it?” Taehyung grinned.

“Yeah, yeah it is,” Namjoon scrunched up his nose and smiled. “I just… got some inspiration again.”

“When are you going to stop writing what you want to say and saying what you want to say instead?” Taehyung asked. “I mean, can’t you just walk up to her and say ‘Y/N-ah, I love you,’” he said in his best imitation of Namjoon’s voice.

“It’s not that easy, you know that,” Namjoon rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, you haven’t confessed to Yoongi-hyung either.” At hearing this, Taehyung pursed his lips and looked wide-eyed at the starry ceiling of their Ravenclaw dormitory. Namjoon chuckled and shook his head. Taehyung always had that funny, embarrassed yet shy look on his face whenever he talked to him about his crush.

“Fair point,” he finally said.

“Even if I did confess to her, I wouldn’t know what to say,” Namjoon muttered. “It’s easier to write words down.” With that, he went back to his poem and scribbled a few more lines on the parchment. Being from a muggle-born family, Namjoon didn’t see the sense in using quills and ink in class, especially since he often spilled the ink from his inkwell, but he would use them nonetheless. But when he was writing something as genuine as a poem, he’d rather not take the risk and go with an old-fashioned pencil.

“Joon! Namjoon-ah!” an all-too familiar voice echoed through the stairwell. Namjoon hurriedly sandwiched his poem in between two books and placed them on a stack near his bed.

“Y/N-noona!” Taehyung grinned and jumped off the bed. Namjoon quickly followed behind as his friend raced down the steps of their dormitory.

“It’s already dinnertime, are you guys going to eat or what?” he heard you say. You were standing, cross-armed at the bottom of the stairwell. Namjoon knew that you had just finished practice judging by how it was a Friday and that you were still wearing your bright yellow, Hufflepuff Quidditch uniform.

“Namjoon-hyung didn’t want to leave yet,” Taehyung accused his friend.

“I was just finishing something,” Namjoon nudged him. “Anyway, sorry to make you wait. You can go without us next time.”

“Not a chance!” you smiled and shook your head. “Now let’s go and eat. I’m starving,” you turned around and walked ahead.

“If we hurry, we’ll be able to spot Seokjin-hyung parading his red crocs around,” Taehyung grinned.

“No way, did Jungkook prank him again?” you laughed. Namjoon walked beside you and chuckled at Taehyung’s news, only his eyes weren’t on him.

“Sure did! Namjoon-hyung helped a lot too.”

“I convinced him that red crocs were the epitome of fashion in the muggle world,” Namjoon nodded proudly. “Since he wouldn’t believe Jungkook of course.”

“I guess dinner is going to be all the more entertaining,” you, the corner of your lip uplifted in a sneaky smile.

“I-I’ll go ahead!” Taehyung exclaimed, as if he discovered the most brilliant idea ever, which in Namjoon’s case, was. “Don’t want to miss any of that red crocs action.”

“Alright,” Namjoon shrugged, feigning nonchalance when in fact he was giving Taehyung the biggest telepathic high-five ever. Taehyung grinned and ran ahead but not before flashing a very obvious thumbs-up.

“I guess he’s really excited to see it,” you observed.

“It was kind of his idea,” Namjoon said. “I bet to him it’s like seeing his newly-born child.”

“That’s a very accurate but weird way of looking at it,” you laughed. Namjoon smiled to himself, proud that he made you laugh but also kind of embarrassed at that weird description he thought of on the spot. “So, how was practice earlier?”

“Tiring, as always,” you sighed and rubbed at sore muscle on your right shoulder. “Hoseok’s a great captain but boy is he merciless.”

“Make sure you eat a lot later,” Namjoon reminded you. “And drink some chocolate milk. I know that helps a lot with cramps in your muscles. There’s also this pressure point that my grandmother told me about on your arm near the elbow that helps relieve tension when you press it.”

“Really?” you looked up at him with wide eyes. Namjoon nodded, taking your arm and gently prodding at the said pressure point. Sure enough, you felt the soreness from your shoulder earlier fade away. “Wow, it does come in handy. Thanks for that!” you smiled gratefully at him.

“It’s no problem,” Namjoon shook his head.

The two of you soon reached the Great Hall where almost everyone was already seated and enjoying the Friday night dinner. It was often a bit grander compared to other weekday feasts simply because it was a Friday. You and Namjoon quickly found your friends causing a bit of a commotion, like always, with Seokjin at the center of attention angrily removing his red crocs.

“Seriously?! I walked around in this all day,” Seokjin groaned and kicked the red crocs away.

“Looks like Taehyung’s and your prank really did work,” you laughed and nudged Namjoon who wasn’t even trying to contain his laughter. Besides Seokjin, his friends Taehyung, Jungkook and Yoongi were sitting and taking pictures at the Ravenclaw dinner table. Jimin and Hoseok were at the Hufflepuff dinner table with the other Quidditch team players discussing team strategy. Despite the hilarious commotion his friends were causing, Namjoon couldn’t help but sigh knowing that you had to go join your teammates for dinner. He understood how important it was to you but sometimes he just selfishly wanted you all to himself.

“I better join the team,” you said gesturing over your shoulder at Hoseok who was waving you over. “I’ll come by after the meeting to eat dinner with you, okay Namjoon?”

“Y-yeah! Just take your time,” Namjoon nodded.

“I’m coming back to eat dinner with you,” you shook your head. “I finished reading the novel you lent me so you owe me another book recommendation,” you pointed at him. Namjoon didn’t care if he was called a nerd or a geek for it, but he sure felt as if he was falling for you every time you said that you finished a novel he recommended to you. It was kind of how you two bonded after all. When the two of you talked for about five hours about books, Namjoon knew you were the one.

“Sure,” he smiled, waving you off before sitting down beside Taehyung.

“Hey! You were in this too, weren’t you!” Seokjin pointed at him once he sat down. “Wow, I thought you were my friend.”

“Doesn’t mean I love pranking you,” Namjoon snickered. “But then again, if anyone could look good in crocs, it’s you hyung.”

“Flattery won’t work this time,” Seokjin pouted and sat down. “I guess my only friend right now is food,” he sighed and began piling rice on his plate.

“These pictures are going to be all over the Great Hall tomorrow,” Jungkook grinned at his camera and showed it off to Yoongi beside him.

“I still can’t believe you’d think red crocs are hot fashion in the muggle world,” Yoongi shook his head at Seokjin. “I mean, look at them! They look like tiny, weird, rubber boats.”

“Taehyung wears weird stuff all the time!” Seokjin protested.

“Tiny, weird, rubber boats…” Taehyung muttered. “Hey, what if we make them gigantic rubber boats!”

“And have a race in the Great Lake!” Jungkook added.

“Hey, Headmistress McGonagall already put you two in detention for messing around in the Great Lake,” Yoongi warned them.

“Yeah but you can bail us out again, right hyung?” Jungkook smiled cheekily at him. Namjoon snickered, knowing that Yoongi was still going to give in to their requests no matter how many times he had to do it.

“I think that’s a ‘yes’,” Taehyung grinned. Yoongi glanced at him once and groaned, an indication that he was going to do it after all.

“Hold on, I think I’m being called for a team meeting,” Jungkook said, looking over their heads at the Slytherin Quidditch team captain waving him over to their table. The game between Hufflepuff and Slytherin was in two weeks so most teams were already getting their strategies and workout regimens ready. “See you guys,” he waved and walked away.

“Man, I wish there was some way I could prank him back,” Seokjin muttered, poking at his rice with his chopsticks. “It might fun seeing one of the biggest pranksters here getting pranked himself.”

“You might need some accomplices for that one, hyung,” Namjoon advised. “If it’s just you alone, there’s a chance Jungkook will find something fishy quickly.”

“You’re right,” Seokjin nodded. “Yoongi—”

“Nope,” Yoongi cut him off.

“I can help,” Taehyung piped up.

“Yeah right, you’ll probably find a way to prank me too,” Seokjin looked at him with distrust.

“I think it would also be funny to see him get pranked,” Taehyung shrugged. “And I’ll do it right if you pay me. I’ll take twenty galleons worth of stuff from either Honeydukes or Zonko’s.”

“You’d sell out your prank buddy like that?” Yoongi frowned.

“He’d do the same to me. That’s how friendship works,” Taehyung said. Yoongi mulled that statement over in his head for a while before nodding in agreement.

“Alright then,” Seokjin grinned. “Prank him good and you’ve got yourselves a deal.” He reached out his hand and the two shook on it.

“How are you planning to prank Jungkook then?” Namjoon asked.

“You guys come up with a situation or an excuse,” Taehyung answered. “But I’ve mastered the perfect spell for this,” he grinned smugly.

“Is it another awesome Transfiguration spell?” Namjoon asked, clearly sounding impressed. He always admired the new and often complicated Transfiguration spells Taehyung invented.

“Yup,” Taehyung nodded sagely. “Recently I’ve learned how to transfigure ordinary black robes… into Fruit Roll-ups.” He grinned up at his seatmates, clearly awaiting some kind of applause but instead being greeted with confused looks on Yoongi and Seokjin’s faces and pure exasperation on Namjoon’s.

“Fruit… Roll-ups,” Yoongi repeated slowly.

“They’re this kind of candy in the muggle world,” Namjoon explained. “They’re like sheets of gummy candy that kind of taste like fruit but are really just artificial.”

“How did you come up with that?” Yoongi stared at Taehyung with a mixture of awe and confusion.

“In Transfiguration class, professor taught us a spell to change the colors of ordinary robes,” Taehyung explained. “But I was craving Fruit Roll-ups too so I guess I turned the robes into candy,” he shrugged.

“I can’t believe you sometimes,” Yoongi shook his head. Namjoon nodded in agreement.

“Will it look weird and gross on Jungkook?” Seokjin asked.

“Very,” Taehyung raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll take it,” Seokjin nodded. “Jungkook’s got another thing coming for him now.”

…

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that you fell in love Hogwarts your carriage arrived at the entrance. You loved the Great Hall, the warm and cozy Hufflepuff Common Room, the Great Lake, and the gigantic Quidditch stadium. It was quite easy for you making friends considering how inviting your fellow Hufflepuffs, both in your year and above, were to each other. You even found yourself having a slumber party with the other girls in your dormitory, giggling and sharing stories until you all passed out late at night. There was never a feeling of homesickness in sight.

But of course, the introverted side of you got tired of the constant social interaction. Which is exactly what led you to visiting the library early in your first week of classes. Somehow, you found time to escape all the flurry activities to read a book, or two, for a few hours each week in the library.

And that’s how you met Kim Namjoon.

Well, not exactly meet him for the first time. The two of you shared Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms class together. You didn’t know much about him except for the fact that he was a bit shy around his classmates but he always raised his hand and answered perfectly when the professor called him. When you saw him in the library, poring over a textbook with another stack of books next to him, you didn’t need to guess much to figure out why he was so smart.

The first few months of school, the only interactions you two had were smiles and nods when you passed each other in the library aisles. You always stayed around him long enough to read the title of the book he was currently reading before retreating to your own reading spot. You couldn’t help it, whenever you saw someone reading a book curiosity compelled you to read the title.

The only time you talked to him, like actually talked to him, was when you found him passed out over his books on a Sunday night. It was almost dinnertime and you didn’t see him take a break or anything so of course finding Namjoon like this kind of worried you. Taking matters in your own house, you slid it into the seat in front of him and knocked on the table to wake him up.

“Hey, Kim Namjoon,” you said under your breath, gently shaking his shoulder. He groaned and sat up, to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

“What time is it?” he yawned.

“It’s almost dinnertime,” you answered and placed a small carton of pumpkin juice in front of him. “I snuck this in. I thought you might need a drink.”

“Wow, thanks,” Namjoon smiled and gratefully took the pumpkin juice. You noticed the very adorable dimples that showed up on his cheeks when he smiled. “Thanks for waking me up too.”

“No problem,” you smiled back. “I figured you’d rather see someone other than Ms. Pince waking you up.”

“More like smacking me with a piece of parchment,” Namjoon chuckled, pulling out a parchment scroll from behind a stack of books. You looked over at it to find the Potions essay that Professor Slughorn gave everyone as homework. “Hey, have you finished the Potions essay yet?”

“Yeah, yesterday,” you nodded. “What did you make yours about?”

“I’m actually not finished with it yet,” Namjoon laughed sheepishly.

“I-It’s supposed to be two parchment scrolls long and it’s due to tomorrow,” you stammered.

“I always work on things the day before,” he said. That surprised you. Knowing how well he did in class, you expected Namjoon to be the kind of student who worked on homework the day it was given.

“The day before?” you repeated. “You always get high marks on your essays. How do you do it?”

“Procrastinating gives me time to think about things,” Namjoon said. “And I kind of spent most of my time reading yesterday.”

“’Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley, right?” you smiled.

“Yeah,” Namjoon nodded and smiled back, showing off those adorable dimples again. “Have you read it?”

“A few times,” you said. “It’s quite exciting after all. It’s fun to read it when it’s raining outside.”

“It matches the mood perfectly,” Namjoon agreed. “I love reading books when it’s raining too.”

“And with a mug of tea,” you added.

“With that kind of set-up, I don’t think I’ll do an ounce of homework,” Namjoon chuckled.

“You know, the Hufflepuff Common Room has a really nice reading corner,” you said. “It’s basically just a carpet with a bunch of pillows around it. Some people like making a blanket fort, but it is a great spot for reading. You should come sometime.”

“R-really?” Namjoon stammered, clearly surprised.

“Sure,” you nodded. “Hufflepuffs are really friendly to outsiders.”

“I-I know that. It’s just that, I haven’t made a lot of friends yet, except for Hoseok and two of my other hyungs,” Namjoon explained. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“Of course,” you grinned. “It’s nice to meet another person who loves reading.”

“The Ravenclaw Common Room is way too chaotic for reading,” Namjoon chuckled. “Even late at night, you’ll find someone incubating salamander eggs in the furnace.”

“At least you’re not in the Gryffindor Common Room,” you raised an eyebrow.

“At least I’m not in the Gryffindor Common Room,” Namjoon agreed.

…

“Taehyung, how many neckties do you have?” Seokjin asked, looking over Taehyung’s shoulder as he rifled through the chest near his bed.

“Enough,” Taehyung shrugged, pulling a purple-and-blue polka dot tie and putting it over his neck. He always wore his favorite neckties on Saturdays and Sundays. If he didn’t love Ravenclaw so much, Namjoon was sure Taehyung would wear a weird necktie every day.

“Did someone fetch Jungkook yet?” Seokjin asked.

“Yeah, I talked to him during breakfast,” Namjoon said. “He’ll come up as soon as he finishes doing his morning routine of pining over Jimin.”

“That’s going to take a while,” Taehyung and Seokjin chorused.

“Hey guys, I’m here,” Jungkook appeared, jogging up the steps to the Ravenclaw boy’s dormitory. “Did I miss anything.” Namjoon, Seokjin, and Taehyung glanced at each other and shook their heads.

“You’re just in time,” Taehyung said.

“Are you sure you can actually transfigure normal robes into invisibility robes?” Jungkook asked.

“He did it to me last night,” Namjoon lied. He didn’t participate in pranks much himself but he was the best accomplice to have since most people believed what he would say. “I used it to sneak this book out of the library,” he added, holding up the book he was currently reading.

“That’s awesome,” Jungkook looked at Taehyung who was grinning smugly.

“You guys can mess with Filch even more now,” Seokjin suggested. “Or give Peeves a run for his money.”

“Alright,” Jungkook nodded, seemingly convinced and looked at Taehyung who was already holding out his wand. “Ready when you are.”

Only Namjoon could have spotted the knowing glance that Seokjin and Taehyung exchanged before casting the spell. But no one could have expected Jungkook to turn into a small, black and white rabbit. Everyone fell silent for a while, watching bunny Jungkook hop around, sniffing the air curiously, until finally Taehyung spoke up.

“I don’t think the spell’s supposed to do that…”

“You think?” Seokjin wildly gestured at Jungkook. “He’s a bunny!”

“A very cute one at that,” Taehyung smiled sheepishly.

“That isn’t making this situation better,” Seokjin sighed.

Namjoon got off the bed he was sitting on and walked slowly towards the Jungkook bunny. It looked up at him, twitched its ears, before jumping towards his foot. Namjoon knelt down and scooped him up in his hands.

“I think he still recognizes us,” Namjoon said. “Jungkook, nod twice if you understand me.” The bunny looked up at him and nodded twice.

“He’s going to be so mad when he turns back into himself,” Taehyung winced.

“You’re the one who said you could turn his clothes into Fruit Roll whatevers,” Seokjin blamed him.

“First of all, they’re called Fruit Roll-ups. Do not disgrace a holy name.” Seokjin rolled his eyes. “And secondly, you’re the one who asked me to prank him.” Jungkook perked up his ears at the statement and looked at the two of them. If bunnies could narrow their eyes, Namjoon guessed that the Jungkook bunny was death-glaring at Taehyung and Seokjin.

“We’ll turn you back, I promise,” Seokjin said. Jungkook stuck its nose in the air and turned away.

“Do you think we should take him to Madame Pomfrey?” Namjoon suggested.

“No, no way,” Taehyung shook his head. “She said that she would send me straight to detention if I transfigured my friends into animals again.”

“Again?” Seokjin looked at him incredulously.

“Maybe around twelve times,” Namjoon shrugged. “So, who do we take Jungkook to?”

“I know! Professor Slughorn!” Taehyung exclaimed. “We’re close,” he bragged. Even though Taehyung wasn’t that good at Potions itself, Professor Slughorn clearly had a soft spot for him and often praised his outlandish Transfiguration achievements.

“Sounds good,” Seokjin nodded.

“You’ll be back your old Jungkookie self in a little bit,” Namjoon said, stroking Jungkook’s head. Although he had to admit, it was pretty nice seeing him in bunny form.

The three of them made their way out of the Ravenclaw tower and headed downstairs to the Dungeons where Professor Slughorn’s office was. It was a Saturday so there were students milling around the hallways or playing outside. Namjoon usually spent his Saturday mornings with you reading in the Hufflepuff room or doing a weird, crazy experiment in the Ravenclaw room. Of course, now you were busy practicing for the upcoming Quidditch match.

“Wow, those guys sure are prepared,” Seokjin said, pausing for a while to watch the Hufflepuff team as he walked by. Namjoon paused to look as well. You had joined the Quidditch team in your second year as a Seeker. Practice with everyone did eat up on your time together but Namjoon really loved seeing you fly, weaving in-between the goalposts and doing seamless loop-de-loops in the air. There was a small feeling of worry in his chest whenever he saw you but he always believed that you could handle yourself on a broom.

Right now, Hoseok was making everyone do drills by attempting to toss the Quaffle through the goalposts while he was guarding it. Jungkook was watching too, standing up on his hind legs with his ears perked up whenever he saw Jimin make a shot. Even in bunny form, Jungkook was still whipped for Jimin. Namjoon wasn’t any different as he stared up at you, doing your own drills by chasing a golden snitch around the field.

“No offense Jungkook but I think Hufflepuff is in it to win it again this year,” Taehyung said. Jungkook twitched his nose.

“Alright everyone. Good practice! Let’s have a break now and come back an hour after lunch,” Hoseok called. Namjoon could hear his loud, captain-like voice even from the ground. The rest of the team prepared to land except for you. From the looks of it, you found the snitch already and was chasing it down heavily. With one hand on your broom and the other hand outstretched, you dove directly downwards before pulling up sharply and snatching the snitch from the air.

If Namjoon had the chance to see that over and over again, he would.

“Nice catch,” Seokjin and Taehyung clapped once you landed next to your team. Namjoon watched as you removed your goggles, the ones he gave you for Christmas, and sat down on the bench to drink water.

“They really might give you guys a run for your money, right Jungkookie?” Namjoon said, looking down at his hands to find that bunny Jungkook disappeared. “J-Jungkook?”

“Weren’t you holding him?” Taehyung turned around. Namjoon looked wildly around him.

“I was but then when I looked down he wasn’t there,” he said.

“Isn’t that him?” Seokjin pointed at the grass where a black and white ball of fur could be seen hopping around and nibbling the grass. “He must be hungry,” Seokjin groaned and called after him. “Hey! Didn’t you eat breakfast already?” But bunny Jungkook ignored him and kept on hopping ahead, right towards where the Hufflepuff team was.

“I’ll go get him,” Namjoon said, already chasing after Jungkook. “You guys go get Professor Slughorn. Meet me in the Ravenclaw Common Room later.”

“Got it,” Taehyung nodded as he and Seokjin went ahead.

…

“Hoseok sure is drilling everyone to death,” you panted and took a sip from your water bottle. In front of you, Jimin grinned despite the sweat rolling down his flushed face.

“Can’t keep up, noona?” he teased.

“Shut up, I was thinking about you,” you huffed and took another drink of water. It was a Saturday morning so almost everyone in the castle was either sleeping in or relaxing in the Common Room. You were kind of annoyed that Quidditch practice was currently eating up on your time with Namjoon but then again, it was better than having Hoseok get mad at you. Right now, Hoseok dismissed the team for a lunch break, giving you a little extra free time before you had to go back.

“Hey, can you pass me my water bottle?” Jimin asked. “It’s on the ground next to the bench.”

“Alright,” you nodded, bending over to fetch Jimin’s bright blue water bottle when you spotted what appeared to be a black and white bunny hopping straight toward you. Any questions you had regarding where the bunny came from or why it was here disappeared when you saw it twitch its cute little nose.

“Awww… you seem lost little guy,” you cooed, holding out your hands on the ground. The bunny hopped forward hesitantly before finally jumping into your hands, making you squeal even louder.

“What is it?” Jimin asked, looking over your shoulder. You turned around to face him and showed the little bunny in your hands. Jimin’s face melted at the sight. “Awww… it’s so cute!” he reached out a hand and gently stroked the bunny’s fur. The bunny twitched it’s nose up at Jimin and stood slightly on its hind legs.

“I think it likes you,” you grinned and handed the bunny over to him. Jimin held it up near his face and kissed it lightly on its head. You giggled at the sight knowing that Jimin could hardly help himself when it came to petting and giving love to cute animals.

“Where do you think the owner is?” Jimin wondered.

“Hey! Guys!” you turned around and spotted Namjoon running toward you.

“Look! We found this cute little bunny,” Jimin greeted, holding up the bunny for him to see. “Do you know who it belongs to?”

“I-I found it in the greenhouse,” Namjoon stammered. “I named it Flopsy.”

“Awww, Flopsy!” Jimin grinned and played with the bunny’s ears. “It’s perfect!”

“Maybe we should find something for it to eat,” you suggested. “Something other than grass.”

“I know!” Jimin exclaimed. “Professor Sprout was growing Scullyweed in the greenhouse. Animals love that stuff. Watch over Flopsy while I go get it,” he said, handing Flopsy over to you. Flopsy tried to jump back into Jimin’s hands but you gently held him back.

“Jimin will be back later, Flopsy,” you cooed at him. “He’s getting you something good to eat.”

“Let’s meet later at the Ravenclaw Common Room,” Namjoon instructed Jimin who nodded and began heading to the greenhouse.

“See you later Flopsy!” Jimin waved before leaving.

…

Of all the people Jungkook decided to run to, it had to be you. You had such a soft spot for cute animals and once you were near one, it was almost impossible for you to walk away from it. Admittedly, it could have been worse if Jimin found Jungkook first. Jimin practically rivaled you when it came to his love for cute animals and Namjoon didn’t think Jungkook would want to escape Jimin’s affection either.

But then again, it wasn’t so bad for him seeing how cute you looked playing with bunny Jungkook.

“Man, I wish I could just stay here and play with Flopsy all day,” you sighed, leaning against one of the bedposts on Namjoon’s bed.

“You still have more Quidditch practice later?” Namjoon asked.

“After lunch,” you nodded. “Hoseok is really pulling all the stops this year.”

“When has he never not pulled all the stops?” Namjoon chuckled.

“True,” you grinned tiredly. “It’s eating up on my reading time with you,” you pouted. “After Quidditch season, I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“You can make it up to me by catching the Golden Snitch,” Namjoon smirked and looked up at you. “Maybe when you do, you can yell out ‘Kim Namjoon is the coolest!’” or something.”

“’Study sessions with Kim Namjoon are open!’” you yelled. You grinned at him cheekily. “Something like that?”

“Hey! Last time I did that I hardly slept for a week!” Namjoon protested.

“But everyone did get good grades because of you,” you shrugged. “Still, I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

“You don’t have to,” Namjoon smiled and shook his head. “It’s enough that you even hang out with me.”

“Hey,” you edged closer to Namjoon on the bed. “I don’t like hearing insecurity talk from you. And besides, it’s fun hanging out with you, and that’s not because you’re great at helping me do homework.”

“Ah, and now your ulterior motive comes up,” Namjoon sighed and nodded. “I should have known that that’s why you were hanging out with me all these years.”

“Shut up!” you laughed at his joke. “If I only befriended you because you helped me with my homework I wouldn’t be putting up with listening to all your weird conspiracy theories.”

“Hey, aliens are real!” Namjoon protested.

“Right, and the government is totally watching us through bird cameras,” you rolled your eyes.

“If Hogwarts is real I don’t see how that can’t,” Namjoon raised an eyebrow at you. You crossed your arms and leaned back.

“Touche.”

Jungkook hopped around the bed a few more times before finally stopping to rest on top of one of the stacks of books on Namjoon’s bed. You raised your hand up and petted it on the head.

“Man, I guess Flopsy’s finally tired,” you grinned and scratched him on the nose. Namjoon now felt himself pouting slightly at the interaction. Now he wished Taehyung cast that spell on him instead of Jungkook. But then again, if he was the bunny, he’d probably trip over his own paws while hopping.

“Jimin should be back any second now,” Namjoon said. And hopefully, so would Taehyung and Seokjin with some way to turn Jungkook back to normal. But, after hearing the name ‘Jimin’, Jungkook hopped excitedly off the stack of books, kicking most of them down on the floor in the process.

“Ah, you really shouldn’t stack your books on your bed,” you said, reaching down to pick up the fallen books off the floor.

“Sorry about that,” Namjoon apologized, crawling over to help pick up the books.

“You also keep leaving these sheets of parchment lying around,” you added, picking up a fallen sheet of parchment that had been wedged in-between the stack of books. “No wonder you sometimes have to rewrite your homework,” you chuckled.

“I know, I know,” Namjoon nodded. “I’ll try to put it all in a drawer.” You picked up the piece of parchment blank side up and right before you turned it over to see what was written, Namjoon caught a glimpse of his writing. It was a very brief glance, but long enough for him to remember what he wrote on it.

It was one of his poems for you.

…

“Y/N!” Namjoon reached a hand out to stop you but not before you read your name on the title of the poem. Your Quidditch reflexes kicked in to block Namjoon’s hand before he could grab the parchment.

“Why is my name here then?” you asked. You saw Namjoon swallow nervously as he searched for something to say. Even you felt your heart racing a bit faster, faster than when you were chasing after the Snitch earlier. Namjoon always let you read the poems he wrote so why was he so guarded about this now?

Maybe it was just you jumping to conclusions after three years of wishing that Namjoon shared the same feelings you did, but could it be that the poem was for you?

“Why are you so quiet?” you found yourself speaking up. “Can you… please say something? Anything?”

Namjoon looked into your eyes. It made you remember the first time you actually met in the library. At that time, you two were just young first years looking for a friend to share their interests with. Who would have known you would have begun to feel something more about him?

“It’s about you,” Namjoon finally confessed. He reached his hand out to you and you bit your lip before handing him the poem. He looked down at the words he wrote, fingers gently smoothing out the wrinkles in the parchment, a habit that you often saw him do while he was reading. Even though he was often called ‘Destruction Monster’ because of how clumsy he was, you did acknowledge the fact that he had such gentle-looking hands. You kept your eyes on them, uncertain of where else to look, as he read out the poem to you.

Whenever you read any of the poems or song lyrics he wrote, you were always dazzled by Namjoon’s gift with words. It probably came from all his reading and from the unique way he looked at the world which you always loved about him. His poetry always evoked some deep emotion within you. But now, hearing your own name spoken along with the words Namjoon skillfully stitched together, you felt something even deeper. The magic from Namjoon’s poem outshone almost every piece of magic in Hogwarts.

When he finished reading, neither of you spoke for a while, as if you two were afraid of somehow breaking something precious. But even without talking, you could sense Namjoon’s anxiety as he waited for your reaction and you hated seeing him so overwhelmed.

“Namjoon…” you began. Namjoon hesitantly met your eyes. You really wished you were as good as words as he was but the only things that came into your head were lines from those cheesy romantic novels you read secretly. Eventually, all you could say was “I feel the same way.”

The emotions on Namjoon’s face went from anxious to surprised to pure, utter happiness. You giggled at the sight of his dimples as he grinned.

“R-really?” he stammered, running a hand through his hair. “You like me? Me?”

“Why do you look like you’re about to spout a conspiracy theory?” you laughed at him.

“Are you kidding me? This is the best conspiracy theory I’ve ever discovered!” Namjoon laughed and hugged you.

“Who knows? An alien might appear in front of the door now,” you grinned, feeling your face flush as you hugged him back. Suddenly, the door slammed open and Taehyung ran in.

“Namjoon-hyung! I figured it out!” Taehyung yelled, pulling his wand out. You and Namjoon turned to watch as Taehyung walked towards where Flopsy still was resting on the bed. “All I need to do is cast that spell that undoes Transfiguration spells.” He directed his wand at Flopsy and yelled “Reparifarge!” Then, the bunny, which apparently was not actually a bunny, transformed into none other than Jeon Jungkook. He was sprawled on the bed, looking right at you and Namjoon still hugging each other. You felt your face heat up realizing that he was there all this time.

“Um… nice weather we’re having,” he smiled sheepishly.

“Where’s Seokjin?” Namjoon asked.

“Hiding from Jungkook,” Taehyung said.

“You should be doing the same thing,” Jungkook shot Taehyung a dangerous look and began rolling up his sleeves.

“S-stop that! You know how much that makes me nervous,” Taehyung backed away slowly. Just then, the door opened again and Jimin ran in carrying basket of leaves.

“I got the Scullyweed!” he grinned. “What did I miss? Where’s Flopsy?”

“I think things are going to get a bit messy in here,” you sighed.

“Want to go to the library?” Namjoon asked. You contemplated that for a bit before nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

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fromthedeskofelizabeththird · 7 years

Text

The Parisian Girl

JuminV Week Day 6 Prompt: First Kiss

My last fic for JuminV week. This is set in Vabverse (between Shelter and VAB), but that isn’t necessary knowledge to understand and enjoy it. This fic is about V’s regrets in every instance he never revealed his true feelings to Jumin. (AO3)

On the regular occasion that he looked back on his life, there were a lot of things Jihyun could honestly say he regretted.

As a student in Paris, he spent many hours walking the streets, going out of his way to capture it on film. It was only after he returned home, having spent years examining each and every angle of the city, that he realised he did not have a single one of the Eiffel Tower. And only after leaving did he understand that he had come to use it as an anchor.

He once took a flight to England on a whim and stopped Jumin in his tracks outside of the Bodleian library. It had been pouring with rain at the time and he had spent the last few hours stopping random students to look at a picture of Jumin and ask in a perfectly rehearsed way if they recognised him. He liked to think that it was the rain dripping from everyone’s hair and noses that left them unwilling to talk to him and not the fact that he was a complete stranger. As it was, though, no one gave him any clues about Jumin and he only happened to be standing outside of it when he left.

Jihyun had planned to say something meaningful, but it all went out of the window the moment Jumin took in his drenched form and demanded to know what on earth he was doing there.

“Surprise!” He had said instead. “I was in the area. Thought I’d say hi.”

And he regretted that his first kiss came less than a week later, from some Parisian girl with auburn hair who sat fully clothed in the bathtub to smoke and whose name he forgot immediately afterwards.

He regretted seeing every inch of Rika so clearly as if illuminated by a golden halo. A halo that burned ever brighter until he could no longer make out her face beneath, nor make out the burn marks where it touched her skin.

Jihyun regretted sitting in his car in the middle of the night, soaked to the skin with a cup of bad coffee. He regretted calling Jumin at that moment, with the intention of saying something equally as meaningful as he had wanted to outside of the Bodleian. But he backed out that time around too, changing the subject and speaking of coffee dates he never meant to share.

He wished he had gone for that coffee. Wished they had only taken the time to sit in some warm corner of one of his favourite haunts, even if he knew that Jumin would have been restless and he likely would have been too. In the end, however, they did not see other very much at all until several months later, when a stranger arrived in Rika’s apartment.

At the time, Jihyun had two expectations of Nari. That she would appear as a faceless stranger and leave before he could consider his mistakes. The other was that her motivations were deep, dark and sinister and her presence among his friends was the result of one mistake in particular, though he did not know which.

And so it was that he showed up at Jumin’s apartment the night before the RFA party with a cat in his arms, ready to break the silence that had haunted him since Paris. He regretted that decision immediately, for the moment he crossed the threshold, he caught his reflection in the mirror and comprehended for the first time the magnitude of the empty words in his throat.

He did not know what it was he meant to say to Jumin and yet the words lingered at the back of his mind like a favourite song or a poem he had waited his life trying to put to paper. Later on, as he cursed his own cowardice, he supposed the metaphor ran true.

To say that Jumin had not expected him was an understatement, although in retrospect Jihyun imagined the expression of pure surprise had more than a little to do with his threadbare cardigan and haggard facade.

As Jumin greeted him, every carefully considered word evaporated; as if he watched the entire scene play out from underwater.

He did not know why, but at some point he had come to believe that the stranger from the chatroom was just another Parisian girl; another pretty face to chat on the messenger and disappear into smoke. He did not know when he had taken comfort in the idea, but ultimately, he regretted allowing himself to fall into his own illusion.

In reality, however, she was something he had never encountered before and he regretted the fact that he had not come to know her sooner. She was soft light and calm tides and he could not bring himself to hate her for being everything that he was not. Instead he averted his gaze as Nari kissed Jumin on the cheek and said her goodbyes.

At some point between the car ride and waving goodbye to Nari as she returned to Rika’s apartment, it occurred to him that perhaps he was the one destined to fade away all along, and the truth had reached him twenty years too late.

One of the biggest regrets of his life was that he had little choice but to move in with them both in the aftermath of his eye surgery. He could not stand their patience, nor their smiles at breakfast. He was unworthy of such a thing and any given time he took a deep breath, he was quite convinced that he would overflow with words he could never take back.

At any given moment that he and Jumin were left completely alone, he found some way to remove himself for fear that he would begin to speak and never fall silent for as long as he lived.

He considered it fortunate that Jumin was not home so often and on the occasions that he was, he could call upon either Nari or Elizabeth as a distraction. The moment Jumin glanced at him overlong in the familiar fashion from poker, Jihyun would lift Elizabeth into his arms or turn to Nari and pick up the threads of a prior conversation. And he regretted it, of course, for all of the things he meant her to be to him, it had never been as a crutch.

Even so, he found that his heart skipped a beat at the news that Nari’s mother had taken ill and he lingered outside of the bedroom door as she packed her bags for a weekend visit. He knew it was selfish, but he wanted to tell her not to leave. He wondered how obvious it would be if he packed his things too and claimed a full recovery.

She did not spot him standing there until she turned to fetch her toothbrush and gasped, taking two steps backwards towards the bed. The shock quickly turned to amusement, however, and she laughed out loud even as she leaned over to clutch at her chest.

“V, you’re so quiet!” She cried out. “We need to get you one of those little bell collars.”

“You think it will go with my outfit?”

“I think you’d look charming.”

And he could not help but smile as she retreated into the ensuite bathroom, even though he was profoundly miserable. He opened his mouth to crack a joke, only to remain silent as she returned with her toothbrush.

“I forgot to tell you,” she said, opening up her bedside drawer. “This was in the newspaper and I thought you’d be interested.”

She’d taken the clipping from the weather section of the previous week’s newspaper and Jihyun could not help but raise an eyebrow at its content.

“A meteor shower?” He said.

“It’s a great coincidence, right?” She said, fastening her bag. “You were only talking last week about how much you and Jumin liked to stargaze when you were little.”

It was true that he had referenced it in an attempt to change the subject. He had not thought she would remember, though. She had been so busy laughing at the idea of Jumin indignantly searching through college level textbooks for the name of every star that he had honestly believed she had forgotten the story involved him as well.

For a moment he almost regretted telling her otherwise. He almost believed he would prefer her not to acknowledge him.

He screwed up the clipping while she wasn’t looking with the intention of throwing it into the garbage after she left, only to unravel it and reread it when he was alone.

She was right, after all. He remembered climbing to the roof of his childhood home and waiting for every light in the Han residence to be switched off before fiddling with the controls on his walkie talkie. Jumin would climb out of his bedroom window and out onto the roof of his own house and whisper into his own walkie talkie, usually complaining about the late hour or the heavy text book he had insisted on bringing with him for scientific purposes.

Back then, he was content to sit in silence. He would sit back and stare at the stars and rarely speak a word but for the occasional giggle every time he heard Jumin rifling through his books. When he did speak, it was usually to comment on the beauty of the sky.

In the end, he organised the telescope while Jumin was at work and he did not bring it up until the morning of the meteor shower. In Nari’s absence, the silence between them grew increasingly obvious and Jihyun was sure Jumin had started leaving for the office earlier on the day.

“Nari said something interesting before she left,” he said as he reached for his coffee cup. “There’s a meteor shower tonight. I...well...that is...if you would. I’d quite like to watch it.”

As soon as he said it, he took an enormous sip of coffee to hide his blushes. He wished he had never said anything. What was he thinking? There was so much he wanted to say and he feared that he did not know the limits himself. He wondered what would happen if he spoke of 2:15; if he took Jumin by the arm and told him the real reason he had gone to England.

But Jumin, who knew nothing of his conflict, and had almost certainly noticed his awkwardness, did not refuse the offer.

Jihyun regretted everything as he sat up on the roof with a warm blanket and cup of hot soup, watching Jumin roll back the sleeves of his shirt before attempting to change the settings on their binoculars. He had insisted that binoculars did not work as cameras did and sat down to read the manual from beginning to end in the half light.

“I think that's it,” he said with a satisfied smile, sitting back to peer through them. “Now we just need to wait.”

Wait, Jihyun realised, as he took a sip of soup and tried to ignore Jumin sitting down beside him and adjusting his own blankets.

“Have you heard from Nari?” He asked, glancing away as Jumin leaned down to pour himself some soup from the flask.

“She says her mother is getting much better. I offered to send Dr. Park over there to make an observation, though she reassures me it is not necessary.”

“That's good,” smiled Jihyun, lifting his binoculars to observe the sky.

Still beautiful.

“V,” said Jumin, screwing the lid onto the flask. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“You've not been yourself lately,” said Jumin. “It would be irrational of me to suggest I knew the reasons why, or to suggest that you have never kept anything from me in the past…”

He took a sip of soup and glanced up at the sky.

“...but I like to think that if there was something weighing on your mind, you would feel comfortable speaking to me about it.”

Jihyun hated hearing Jumin speak so kindly of him, knowing the truth as he did.

“I…” He said, meaning to say that he would confide everything; that the only thing weighing on his mind was the aftermath of his surgery.

He found that he could not do that, however. He sat up and put down his soup, tapping Jumin on the arm and taking a deep breath, meaning to tell him about his flight to England and the rain that soaked through his socks. He wanted to tell him about his favourite black and white photograph of a French café, in which he refined the art of ordering café au lait and sitting in a window to watch strangers walk by, all the while writing letters he would never send.

He wanted to tell Jumin that he never looked better than on the occasions there was moonlight in his hair, but he could not find the words and ultimately reached for his shoulder.

He meant to touch foreheads, to whisper something overbearing that revealed his vulnerabilities only a little at a time.

He did not expect Jumin to meet him halfway, touching his lips against his in a lingering kiss only broken by second, softer one to his forehead. For the first time in months, Jihyun’s mind fell silent and he stared up at Jumin, realising for the first time in well over twenty years that for all of his understanding of camera angles, at no point had he considered Jumin’s perspective on the situation.

“I'm sorry,” said Jumin, turning away as if embarrassed.

And as he reached out to cup Jumin’s face, Jihyun said something he had never said before.

“I don't regret it.”

“What's going to happen when they realise there's no meteor shower?”

Jaehee adjusted her glasses and turned to Nari, who considered the question as she tucked into her ice cream.

Nari, who among other things, happened to be pretty good at photoshop.

“I'm sure that won't be a problem,” she said, smiling softly.

#juminvweek #juminv #jumin han #v

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ipreferweird · 7 years

Text

Reticent and Red in the Face

Jinx studied the monitor, drumming her fingertips against the arm of her chair as she thought of new attack formations. She had stared at the screen for so long that her own battle strategies began to look less like meaningful plans and instead coalesced into a giant mess of symbols. She closed her eyes for a moment, musing the idea of sleep when she felt it: a gust of wind alerting her of his presence.

“So I take it that 'Evil never sleeps' is more than just an expression for you bad guys,” Kid Flash said, and Jinx didn’t have to open her eyes to know that he had that irritating grin plastered on his face.

“You guessed it.” She replied a moment later, her eyes fluttering open after deciding that ignoring him wouldn't make him leave any faster. "Now you know our big secret: After becoming a level three villain, you no longer need to sleep."

"Too time consuming?" he asked, tilting his head.

"No," she replied, giving a small yawn. "It's just not evil enough."

He chuckled, happy to see that he had caught her in one of the rare moments that she wasn't annoyed by everyone else's existence—his in particular.

"In that case, you guys have it great," he said, leaning against the wall. "All we get after level three is a pat on the back and a golden star from Batman."

She snickered at the thought of the Dark Knight carrying around something as cheery as a sticker when she caught a glimpse of red in her peripheral vision.

"A rose," she said, slipping it out of her hair. "And its red," she deadpanned as she placed it on her lap. "What a surprise."

"You don’t like red?" He asked, running a hand self-consciously through his hair.

“No,” The villainess said quickly, shaking her head. “I don’t have a problem with red— “Well that’s good to hear,” Kid Flash said, letting go a sigh of relief. “But, just to clarify: you’re tired of roses?”

She closed her eyes again. “Slow on the uptake as ever, Flash. Yes, I’m tired of the roses.”

There was a fleeting moment of silence, and next thing Jinx knew, she felt a familiar breeze; Kid Flash was gone just as quick as he had come. The only indication that he hadn't been a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep wasn't the red rose, but instead the bright red apple that had been left in its place.

The next day she found a red crayon outside her room and a poem that had been written crudely with it. This crayon is red This paper is white We’d make a cute couple You know I’m right! --your favorite speedster, KF Taking a pink marker from her art set, Jinx sat down and wrote a poem in reply. You’re an idiot That poem was dumb, too Enter my room again And I’ll murder you —Your greatest enemy, Jinx She wordlessly slipped it under the door and went about her day. Another week went by full of strawberries, cherries, and cupcakes with red icing. Jinx didn’t mind though, and neither did the boys on her team. No one questioned where the boxes of goodies had come from, and no one seemed to care who sent them. It was, after all, more food for the team—and they didn’t even have to steal it, which everyone agreed was a plus. A few days after the red gifts started appearing, she and the rest of the Hive Five had surprisingly pulled off a successful bank robbery. As they rounded the street corner, Jinx heard the wailing siren of a police cruiser, cursing as she saw its blaring red lights. Jinx continued to swear as her pink eyes scanned for their parked getaway car. When she finally found the spot, she unleashed a piercing scream of frustration; instead of their getaway car, the only thing there was a small, red toy truck. “Mammoth,” She ordered, rubbing her temples. “Find a vehicle for Gizmo to hotwire. Now.” He nodded, being prompted to move quickly by the angry pink sparks that flickered around her frame. “Not that one!” she growled a second later, and he placed the toy truck back on the pavement before moving towards a yellow SUV.

The day after the Hive Five broke out of Jump City Jail, someone set off the security system when they approached their doorstep. “I think it’s one of those cruddy Titans,” Gizmo shrieked, pulling up their live security cameras. Jinx perked up, leaning towards the screen as she expected to see a familiar face. But she sagged back against the wall once the image showed, cursing herself for the twinge of disappointment she felt when she didn’t see Kid Flash. This one was also a redheaded guy, but he sported a larger frame, an athletic build, and a focused expression that Jinx was sure she’d never catch the cocky speedster wearingl

He was obviously a hero, judging by the way he carried himself—shoulders back and head held high. The possibility of the Titans delivering an attack on their home base sent them into a frenzied panic, and the sound of the hero knocking on their steel door only worsened it and prompted them to take defensive stances. Billy multiplied, Mammoth picked up a couch and prepared to hurl it; surprise or not, they were all ready to attack first. “Quiet, idiots,” Jinx muttered, readying her hexes as she approached the door. “I don’t think he’d ruin a surprise attack by knocking.” “What are you, crazy?” Gizmo shrieked, waving his arms. “You can’t let a hero in—“ With a press of a button, the door slid open, and the hero in question was standing before them. “Hello,” he said, giving a slight wave of his hand and prompting her expression to furtherly harden. If anything, his greeting had confirmed their worst suspicions: He was definitely a hero. “Are you, Jinx?” He asked, his cordial Russian accent not fitting his appearance. Jinx raised an eyebrow. “That depends, who’s asking?”

“My name is Red Star,” he said, extending a gloved hand, only for it to awkwardly fall back to his side when Jinx failed to shake it. Ignoring his hand wasn’t an act of impoliteness on Jinx’s part—at least not purposely—she was too busy realizing why the speeding idiot had sent this Titan to her base. Red Star. Of course.

Red Star cleared his throat, removing a small box from behind his back. “I have a package from—”

“—from Kid Flash,” Jinx deadpanned, taking the red box and examining its yellow bow. “I Figured.”

She almost closed the door, but instead did something so uncharacteristic it frightened her onlooking team. “Um, thanks Red Star,” she said, the words tasting foreign on her tongue. Afterwards followed another awkward pause as Jinx racked her brain for a ‘nice’ way to end their encounter. “I’m going to go now,” she said at last, closing the door in his face as she took the—surprisingly—neatly wrapped box to her room. “Sorry that we asked you to look after Jump on such a short notice,” Robin said, sighing before adding, “Again.”

“Usually we don’t call for so many favors,” Robin said, running a last minute check on their security system. “But the Brotherhood’s been forcing us to travel all around the globe, and I don’t like leaving the city unmonitored— “

“It’s cool Robin, I wasn’t doing anything important.” Kid Flash said, rummaging through their refrigerator as if he was at home. “That is, unless you consider cleaning out the Justice League’s fridge important.”

Cyborg shook his head, “I still can’t believe you cleaned out our entire fridge during your last stay. You even ate Starfire’s weird Tamaranean Lortmog stuff.”

“It actually wasn’t that bad,” Kid Flash said, then in afterthought adding, “That is, after you pick out the crawling parts—“

“Well, thanks again KF,” Robin interjected, not wanting to hear about the monstrosity that was Starfire’s cooking. “Remember to check the security system periodically and to feed Silkie twice a day.” Robin paused. “Also, please keep your flirting to a minimum while you’re in Jump. And especially don’t flirt with the villains.”

Kid Flash’s eyebrows scrunch upward. “Why would I do that?”

“Maybe because tons of them are around our age and you’re you?” Robin suggested. “The Flashes are as famous for their flirtatious natures as they are for their speed.” Kid Flash rolled his eyes. “And the entire Bat family is known for their fixation with clowns and brooding. Seriously Robin, I’ve got this.” Robin frowned, noticing that Kid Flash didn’t promise to not flirt with criminals, but instead of pressing the matter, he placed a box into Kid Flash’s hands.

“This arrived on the doorstep for you earlier today,” He said, crossing his arms. “It didn’t have a sender label.” “Rob, come on dude,” Beastboy said, sticking his head in the doorway. “We’re gonna be late for Spain.” “By the way,” Robin said, turning before he left. “If that box has any puppets in it, burn them.” And with that he and his team left without another word or explanation.

Kid Flash flipped the box over, curious as to who would send him a gift. He decided it was probably from a fan, and hastily began tearing off the crudely wrapped decorative paper. A quick glance at the contents revealed the sender, and in a blur of red and yellow he was dashing towards the Hive Base.

“Really?” Kid Flash asked, eyebrow raised as he held Jinx’s gift—if you could even call it that. “A pink wet floor sign?”

“Think of it as a memento of the great times we’ve spent together,” Jinx said, fighting the upward tug she felt the corners of her lips give as she watched his stunned expression.

“Oh yeah,” said Kid Flash, smacking his forehead in mock realization. “I forgot how much I enjoyed the concussion you gave me the last time you had one these.”

“Luckily for me,” Kid Flash said, rummaging through the box, “The next time it happens we can have matching hair.” He waved the box of pink hair dye she gave him for emphasis.

“I figured that would be your favorite part of the gift,” Jinx said, twirling one of loose strands that fell from her horned hairstyle with a smirk. “I mean, pink is a great color, after all.“

“I’ll admit that it’s a nice color,” Kid Flash said, opting to examine the dye before his admirative stare at her hair became too obvious. “But red’s better.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It’s the color of sunsets,” Kid Flash pointed out. “And they’re pretty cool. “You mean boring,” Jinx corrected. “, and overrated.”

“Tulips are red,” Kid Flash said, and, as if to prove his point, he pulled one out of what seemed like thin air.

Kid Flash: Fastest boy alive, bane to her existence, bearer of flowers.

“Too bad that I’m allergic,” Jinx said, wilting the flower with a flick of her hand. “To both them and your pick-up lines.”

“Funny you should say that,” Kid Flash said, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously as his smirk grew even larger. “Because your cheeks turn pretty red when you hear them.”

Jinx tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow in reply, which only seemed to prompt Kid Flash to keep talking. “Everyone knows that super speed makes speedsters fast,” He said, taking on a wistful tone that Jinx wasn’t accustomed to hearing. “But everyone forgets that it also makes everything else seem to slow down. It’s kind of strange when the fastest cars are brought to crawl and every drop of rain hits the ground in slow motion.”

“But the best part,” he said, closing the distance between them. “Is what you notice about the people.” Jinx realized all too late what he was suggesting, and immediately froze. She forced herself to show no signs of any emotion other indifference in hopes that he’d drop the subject altogether. But even she noticed the subtle change in her stoniness, and she swore inwardly because that meant that Kid Flash had saw it too. “You notice when the when the corners of their lips begin to tug upwards into a smile,” Kid Flash said, his own smirk widening as if in demonstration. “And the moment that their glances last a millisecond too long. You notice the way their eyes dilate and light up when they see something—or someone—they like.” “And you definitely notice when their cheeks redden the moment they begin to blush—kind of like yours are right now.” He said, nonchalantly pointing an accusing finger at Jinx. She didn’t need super speed to see what he had pointed out; Jinx had felt the blush spreading against her will the moment he had stepped close. She decided then and there what she would do: After knocking Kid Flash out cold with a quick hex to the temple, she’d drag him far away, update the security system, and pretend they’d never met—all of which was far easier than giving him the satisfaction of admitting her attraction. But before she could do any of that, a breeze snapped her back to her senses. Kid Flash had stepped away, and was once again leaning on the wall, nonchalantly examining his glove as if he had been there the whole time. “But then again, you did say you were allergic to tulips,” he said, his tone smug as ever. “It could be an allergic reaction, I guess.”

Jinx narrowed her eyes. “What was your point, again?” “That everyone loves red,” he said in a singsong voice. “Your cheeks just happened to be an example.”

“Well I don’t love red,” Jinx declared. “A month of your gifts has made me realize how much I despise the color.”

“Is that so?”

“It is,” she coolly replied, and began counting off with her fingers.

“I hate red apples, red cars, and worst of all, redheads,” she said, not skipping a beat as Kid Flash feigned a hurt expression.

“Pink is an all-around better color. It’s powerful, its’ fashionable, it’s—“

“—delicate,” Kid Flash finished, and Jinx looked up to see him reading from the screen of his communicator. “—and empathetic. Known for representing a lack of power, pink is typically categorized as a sensitive color.” He read, not trying to hide his delight as Jinx’s confusion gave way to irritation.

“Unlike red, its more brash and exciting counterpart, pink is calm, non-threatening, and passive— “ He was cut off as she pulled him into a kiss, his usually cluttered mind going blank the moment her mouth met his. Jinx’s heart fluttered against her ribcage and Kid Flash felt his nearly stop as he focused on one amazing, undeniable fact: he was kissing Jinx. The soft lips that touched his, the cheek that he was caressing—they belonged to a villainess. It was wrong, and Robin would kill him for it later, but he couldn’t bring himself to care since right then, in that moment, it felt right. “How’s that for passive? “Jinx asked, grinning as she pulled away. The pink eyes that held his gaze had a sense of unsureness that didn’t fit her bold actions and tone, and before he could answer her question the familiar ring of his communicator filled the air. He silenced it and searched for signs of uncertainty, longing, or anything , but instead all he found was the unperturbed, cool gaze that everyone knew Jinx for.

“Looks like you’ve got some hero duties to tend to,” she said. “Yeah,” he replied, not attempting to hide his dismay at the communicator’s timing. “I’ll see you later?” He asked, cursing himself for the blatant hopefulness in his tone.

Jinx shrugged. “You know where to find me.” Moments after Kid Flash left, Seemore came, muttering curses about how he had saw the stupid hero and that he had ‘told Gizmo to update their defense system’ after his last break-in.

“Are you ok Jinx?” he asks, stopping mid ramble as he frowned in concern. “Your face is all red.”

She absentmindedly raised a hand to her cheek, feeling its warmth and ghosting over the spot that Kid Flash had touched mere moments before.

“Allergic reaction,” she mumbled, closing the door without another word.

#flinxweek2017 #flinx #kid flash #Jinx #fanfiction #I'M SURPRISED I ACTUALLY FINISHED THIS #it was way longer than expected lmao #tt #teen titans

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