#gosh their banter makes me want to scream

[clandestineloki]

strawberry bliss (nsfw)

the part 2 to strawberry sweet ❤️

summary: miguel loves using his strength on you ;)) and this little snippet of you guys watching a replay of his recent game shows just that, with some sweet lil fluff and playful banter :)) and then miguel fucks u so good he hits your factory reset and you go back to being a lil shy babie around him oh no :3

tw: he also finds out you have a daddy kink, mention of shane dawson (derogatory), mention of physical violence (bros a wrestler what did you expect), overstimulation, a bit of breeding kink, heavy praise kink, a bit of humiliation but on the sweet side

A/N: this takes place about a year or so after strawberry sweet, where miguel and reader are in an established relationship and make quippy cute banter with each other

A/N # 2: pls reblog so we can turn more ppl into whores 💖

💕 hope you enjoy! 

===

"BABYY THE COMMERCIALS ARE OVER!"

Miguel runs from the bathroom and meets you in the kitchen, you with the tray of strawberry drinks squealing as he tickles your waist.

"AHH IT'S GONNA SPILL!!!" you scream, and he backs off, smiling as you regain your balance.

You balance the smoothie cups on the tray and move forward, but Miguel blocks your way. 

"M'scuse me, I have a game to watch," you pout up at him, but he doesn't budge.

"Mister, my boyfriend will be very angry if he finds out I'm late to the game >:( "

"Aww, such a shame, pretty girl... can't I just get a little kiss?"

"Let me through!"

"Can't, hermosa, you gotta say the password right up against my lips~ the password is mwah mwah mwah i love you miguel you're so handsome miguel~"

"You're cheesy," you roll your eyes, and he laughs as you set the tray down in front of the bed facing the TV. "I want the old Miguel back, he was cute and he had actual rizz."

He slumps against the couch. "The Miguel that was a total pervert over your old smoothie girl uniform?"

"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about the uniform!" You giggle. "I hated it. Did you know on my first day they gave me a size too small and they had the audacity to try and gaslight me by saying I got fat?"

"Fucking weirdos," he pulled you into his arms, your back against his chest." Glad I got you out of that mess, mm?"

"It was just one mess into another, Mig, you made me your sugar baby," you tease, and his face scrunches up.

"Bebita, I may be rich but I'm not your sugar daddy. I'm just two years older than you."

"But think about it, I was sixteen when you were eighteen! Like- that's two years but the maturity difference is huge! That's creepy, Miguel. You wanna go to jail?"

"Ay, por dios. We're in our twenties, we met in our twenties. End of discussion. And I've already been to jail. Twice."

"What?!"

"Ay! ay! end of discussion. The match is starting," he pinches your nose then turns to watch the TV just as the host's opening spiel ends. Miguel feels you sit up in his grip when the crowds on the TV cheer as he comes up on screen, flashing a grin to the audience.

"Ew, who's that?" you mumble, cheeks stuffed with popcorn and Miguel snorts, rolling his eyes.

"That's me, your boyfriend, the guy who's gonna absolutely obliterate downgraded Shane Dawson in about..." he snaps his fingers just as his opponent comes out on screen. "Fifty-eight seconds."

"I really don't see the resemblance, Miggy, you're just being a bully."

"Y'know," he pulls you closer, absentmindedly kissing your neck as he feels you squirm in his hold. "I don't get how you let the physical violence slide but I compare some white guy to Shane Dawson and you call me a bully."

Your face heats up a little, and you turn away, mumbling shyly. "C-cause you look really badass when you throw them around like that... "

"Mmm?" he teases, nuzzling his nose in your neck. "I do?"

He feels you freeze up and chuckles, his hands trailing down to your thighs.

"Y-yeah," you whisper... "a bit..."

"Oh, and you like how strong I am, hmm? Is that what it is?"

It's cute how you shake your head and brush his hands away to turn up the volume on the TV, when he just goes right back to kneading your breasts and riling you up.

"Querida, you gotta answer me, y'know I can't understand you when you mumble like that~"

"What was the question?" you mumble, looking up at him with what he knows for sure are the most adorable bunny eyes he's ever fucking seen.

"I said," he nibbles down on your ear with a little growl, "do you get off like a cute little bunny when I show off? Is my baby that kinky~?"

" I-I... maybe..." you twitch as his fingers toy with your nipples. "Miggy, please..."

"Please what baby? Please stop or please give me more?" 

Miguel knows the answer, obviously. It's just that he can't get over the fact that he landed the prettiest girl with the cutest stutter when she's nervous.

"Please..." you whisper.

He chuckles against your ear, leaning in and lowering his voice just the way he knows you like it, especially when he's buried all the way inside you.

"Please what."

The tiniest gasp comes out of your lips. "Please... please f-fuck me... please?" 

Before you can even finish, you're over his shoulder and on the bed as he kisses everywhere on your face, growling at the inconvenience of the fact that he cant hold you still and fondle your chest at the same time.

"M-Miguel..." you whimper, twitching in sensitivity. "You're always teasing me..."

"Oh?" he mocks you, flipping you over on your stomach and gripping your hips, leaning in real slow to drawl darkly in your ear. "I'm the tease here? When you're shaking your little ass all over me? You rile me up like this and expect me not to fuck you the way you deserve? hmm?"

"S-Sorry..." you mumble, and Miguel laughs breathily, having the time of his life making you all shy and embarrassed.

"S'okay, baby, you just gotta make up for it, yeah?"

With a playful swat to your ass, he rips off your shorts and his fingers tease your folds through your panties.

"Miguel..."

"Yes...?" he kisses the arch in your back, smirking when your thighs tremble.

"Please hurry..." you gasp.

"Don't worry baby, you'll be asking me to slow down real soon~" 

===

His favorite sight of all time is you underneath him, with that blissed out look on your face and your chest heaving as he fucks every choked breath out of those pretty lips.

"Fuck, bebita," he whispers. "Creaming all over my fingers like the cute little plaything you are?"

You whimper, closing your thighs shakily, but his free hand just forces your legs apart and he curls his two fingers in you, tickling your pussy and making his hand even wetter.

"Hmm? What did you say?" Miguel mumbles close to your ear, and makes sure that at the precise moment you try to speak he speeds up his fingers, making your words melt away in warm red pleasure as more juices coat his fingers.

"S'too much..."

"Bebita, you asked for this," he whispers darkly. "We're not even halfway done."

You mewl out his name and turn your head to the side. He takes it as an opportunity to bite down on your neck and relish in the high-pitched pleasure drunk squeal that forces out of you as your little pussy sucks in his fingers.

"Shit. I can't take it anymore," he grumbles, his fingers moving even faster as he leans closer, forcing you flat against the bedsheets as you moan and cream all over his fingers like a cute little bunny, just too pleasure-drunk to utter even a word.

"Come for me baby," Miguel almost begs. "Come for me so I can fuck you the way I know you want me too, okay?"

You gasp at his dirty talk, and he laughs at the fact that you never stop getting shy when he says these things.

Or when your little pussy makes those wet noises when you're really really close.

"Fuck you're so cute," Miguel grins, licking the tears falling from your hazy eyes. "So sweet, letting me do whatever I want with you~ Come for me, gatita, you know you want to~"

Your moans make him grin and he thumbs at your sensitive little bud. His teasing sends you over the edge and you gasp and whimper, clinging onto him as he helps you through your third orgasm.

When you come down from it, Miguel is smirking down at you, and licking his fingers clean of your juices, humming lowly as his tongue traces his long fingers sensually.

"Wanna taste it right off your pretty pussy baby," he whispers, making you blush. "But I'll save that for later~"

He really means he'll save it for when you're too fucked out to close your pretty legs around his head.

Miguel kisses your hips as he flips you over again, tracing his rough hands over your ass and thighs, making you shiver and mumble something he almost can't hear.

"Daddy..."

His wandering hands freeze.

He grins.

"What was that?" he teases.

Your breath stutters.

"What- I-"

He leans in dangerously close, pinning you down on the bed with your ass right against his throbbing hard cock.

"What did you just call me?" he drawls, and you whimper.

"I-I called you Daddy," you bury your head in the pillows. "S-Sorry... if it makes you uncomfortable-"

Miguel thrusts his hips forward, sinking halfway into your wet, warm little cunt. The squelching of your little hole is nothing compared to the pure, unadulterated, sinful noise of pleasure that leaves your lips.

"Oh," Miguel groans. "That made me reallyfuckin' uncomfortable alright."

Your thighs shake as he sinks in really really slowly, making sure you feel every inch of him stretch you out.

"Say it again."

You gasp, tears forming in your eyes. "It's embarrassing..."

"Fuck, you really have to do all these things that make you so lovable, huh?" He groans, pulling your wrists and holding your arms behind your back. "Got the cutest little face, the cutest little pussy, and you always got these little kinks that make you so cute~"

He starts moving his hips, making you slur out his name and clench around him.

"My cute little milkshake girl, doing all these cute things for me and no one else," he whispers, and you nod helplessly,

Miguel runs his hands up and down your waist, making you sigh and whimper into the pillows.

"Wanna repeat what you said? No one's around, baby, just you and me. No need to be shy~"

"Daddy..."

"Fuck, you really are such the perfect little cutie, aren't you?" Miguel teases, pounding you harder.

It's music to his ears when you finally get to that stage of it, just uncontrollably whimpering and moaning and making all these noises of pleasure as you let him do whatever he wants to you.

"C'mon, say it again, another time won't hurt~"

"Such a t-tease..." you whine, and he chuckles fondly, pressing a kiss to your sensitive neck.

"Sorry, baby, not my fault you're so fucking adorable," he groans, shuddering when you clench down on him. "Daddy's close, baby, wanna come with me? Feel good together, hmm? Can you even understand me you dumb little baby?"

Miguel coos as you take in high-pitched breaths and gasps. Your tiny fists clench the sheets shakily, and your thighs thump helplessly with every thrust of his hips.

"Come back to me, baby," he whispers as his thrusts get sloppier. "Help me out one list time, kay? Wanna be my good girl?"

"Mhm..."

"Ah," he laughs. "Daddy broke his pretty baby so bad? Sorry, gatita, you just feel too good. Let's come together, okay? I'll get us there, baby~"

You whimper loudly one last time, creaming helplessly around his cock. Miguel pins your back down onto the bed, leaning in and growling right against your ear as his orgasm takes over as well, making sure you take every bit of his cum inside you.

The twitching of your thighs finally slows as Miguel pulls out, turning you onto your back and lightly running his hands up your thighs, waist, and breasts, kneading them softly and eliciting a whine from your lips.

"So sensitive," he pinches your nipple, making you gasp. "But I'll keep my hands to myself... for now."

You blush at those words, nuzzling into his neck as he chuckles at your bashfulness.

"Didn't know my good little girl had a Daddy kink. So cute," he whispers. "Got the sweetest little baby all to myself~."

Miguel brushes his lips against yours, smiling when he tastes a hint of strawberry,

His second favorite sweet thing in the goddamn world.

"Oh, baby~" he coos. "You felt so fucking good. Can we go again, gatita?"

You whimper, twitching helplessly, and blushing at the feeling of his fingers toying with the cum trickling down your thighs.

But you don't say no.

[whatupcherry]

Levihan Fics that will change your brain chemistry

134340 by JamJamho (I believe their tumblr has been deleted)

THE. METAPHORS. OMG. This fic had me starting to space for 15 mins out of pure awe. Its space,levihan, slow burn(?), idiots in love what else would you want from a fic? Jam has some other amazing works and make sure to read some of their other works!

Reverberation by alteirkay (her lovely tumblr @sayonarasanit )

oh my god this fic. once again had me stunning at like 3 am. Childhood best friends, coming of age and WITH ANGST AND MORE ANGST. Watching levi and hanges characters grow was smth else. I was crying by the end but i don't know if they were tears of joy or sadness. Is definitely in my top 5 maybe even top 3. Once again pls go read some of her other works they are all amazing.

Somewhere Only We Know by someonestolemyshoe (their amazing tumblr @someonestolemyshoes)

Gosh this fic was mind blowing rlly. also Noticing a pattern? I'm a sucker for coming of age. Probably on of the most creative fics I've read. A summer falling love teenager fic for sure. Spent a whole day reading it. Levis development this fic was smth else rlly. Def in my top 3.

Worth A Thousand Words again by someonestolemyshoes

Short (depends on ur definition of short it is like 7k) and Sweat. Again a coming of age! Levi takes photos of Hange their whole lifes dasicaly and it is just adorable. Soft with a tad bit of angst.

Rager Teenager by smallblip (her stunning tumblr @smallblip)

I always try to call this fic binary stars More Space and more Levihan! Meet Cute to a developing relationships has one of my fav lines in fanfiction. Was one of my first fics on ao3. I'm gonna call it a coming of age cause its a college AU.

Catch Me If You Can by fanmoose12 (her beautiful tumblr @fanmoose12)

A Friends to Lovers ish to Enemies to Lovers Fic, The banter with the characters (and not just levihan) are the my favorite thing about this fic. Had me SCREAMING. A good crime/detective fics.

Happy by Little Lasagne (Her brilliant tumblr @littlelasagne)

This fic is so adorable. Levi becomes less emotionally constipated and is a fire fighter who gets in the hospital for the smallest thing. Has my heart had me giggling the whole time.

Please support these amazing works and authors!!!

Enjoy!!!

[cluelessatthispoint]

Hello!!

Since request are open, may i ask for some platonic Yandere mercs noticing that someone from their team is interested on their sibling!reader from the opposite team?

The idea is just so funny to me lol, Heavy whispering " I will kill you" to Scout after he asked if the reader was single or Engineer having to hold Pyro back so they won't kill spy after he made a single compliment to the reader lol.

Scout: So...your sibling single-

Sniper: If you ask me that again im gonna shove my fist so hard on your facethat not even Medic will be able to turn it back to normal

Or

Medic, to a merc who confessed their feelings for the reader: I'm happy you find my sibling beautiful but now I will have to remove your lungs for scientific reasons :) (scientific reasons being "I refuse to let this fucker even breath in the same direction as my sibling")

Oh my gosh yes! This is perfect! I saw this ask and reflected on how I would write it all day. I hope that you'll enjoy this just as much as I did writing it!

warnings: platonic yandere themes, blood, death.

~~~~~~~~

Engineer:

Having his younger sibling at the base was a great idea. But, in reality it was the worst mistake that he could have made. Their Cease-fire Day turned out to be a ruse started by the BLU team. Grabbing you by the arm and tucking you safely in one of the most carefully secure and guarded rooms was the only thing he could do on such short notice.

Seeing how your eyes widened in fear at the sound of gunshots he acted on auto pilot. It was a good thing he did...or was it? The most secure and guarded room in the whole base was the intel room. This meant that the BLU's would stop at nothing to get in there and steal the briefcase. If they view you as a threat...well, he wouldn't think about that just yet.

The fighting seemed to go on endlessly. The enemy Sniper was the first one to drop, then the BLU Pyro and so on and so on. The only thing he couldn't figure out was where the hell the BLU Scout was. Normally the BLU menace would run around screaming all sorts of colorful language.

But today was different, he was nowhere to be found. Fighting back a grimace Engineer backed away from the battle as quietly as he could and ran to where your hiding place was. The sinking feeling that something might have happened to you rose up in his throat.

Slowing his pace to a walk he silently tread forward down the hallway. The sound of his boots hitting the floor echoed across and broke the fragile, quiet atmosphere. At least here, close to the intel room was quiet. Well, it usually was-or it was supposed to be. The door at the end of the hallway was slightly ajar, sending alarm bells going off in his head. Listening closely, he stalked forward. His hand on the holster of his gun.

Instead of hearing threats of violence or pleas for their life all that was heard was friendly banter. A bit too friendly for Engineer's liking. Listening closer, he could make out the sound of the BLU Scout's voice mixed with yours.

'Why the hell are you talking with a BLU?' he wondered.

He listened in even more closely. "Why the hell was a BLU talking TO YOU?'

Wild thoughts ran through his mind. Well, you are a grown up and a very well built and attractive one at that. Why the hell wouldn't anyone want to talk to you.

"So, toots, do you-I mean well, um..are you seeing anyone?"

Before you could make a reply, Engineer kicked open the door with a bang and shot the Scout in his chest. His blood splattering all over the floor, the desk, the intelligence and of course you.

"I don't think that you're good enough for my little sibling, you varmint!"

Looking back over to where you're standing, he can see all your emotions flash across your face.

"I'm sorry (y/n), I didn't mean to get his blood all over you, it just-he's...he's not good enough for you. And he's BLU."

Looking up at your brother and by the still warm corpse at your feet you purse your lips and wipe as much blood off your face as possible.

"Bro, Please! please stop scaring all the guys who are interested in me. It's getting very concerning at this point."

Stepping over the corpse and pulling you into a warm hug he chuckles softly. His chest moving with each breath he takes.

"That BLU Scout is annoying and persistent. Don't you worry, big brother Dell will make sure to keep him away from you no matter what."

With a cheeky smile he grabs the foot of the corpse and drags it out the door. Giving you a little nod, you sit and wait for the signal that means that it's safe to come out.

~~~~~

I went with big bro Engie and a pinning Blu Scout.

I loved writing this so much! platonic yanderes are so interesting to write for.

[nerdyenby]

Orange time :D I’m watching Jojo

TOASTER!!!!!! :DD

Jojo wanting to get Pearl her first win <33

Watching people study ace race is such an experience

Owen be well rested, well fed, and well moisturized and Jojo just being… fine… lol

Jojo’s comms are so iconic and for what

Wait I didn’t realize Owen was pg lmao

This team’s sot is going to be legendary

“I will do anything for everyone” my streamer’s a team player <33

Stupid bodies trying to keep us alive, smh

AIMSEY!!!!! :D

Nooooo Olliegamerz D:

This team top three EASILY come on guys

“Jojo, how would you describe me as a sandkeeper” best in the business baby!!!!

Pocket sand???? Omg genloss reference 👀 /hj

Nooooo purpled D:

It’s so fun seeing so many contestants just coincidentally fighting to the death in water fight

“Turns out all you had to do to make skybattle my favorite game is remove fall damage, remove armor, and remove swords” “-and give everyone guns” “and give everyone guns!!”

“Orange is my name, orange is my game. Get your daily dose of vitamin C”

WHERE ARE YOUR PRONOUNS AIMSEY /j /lh

“Say that I’m giving birth because I am pushing” AIMEEEEE 😭😭😭

“They ‘said what are you wearing’” “Do you want me to kill them?” Jojo that one meme fr

Jojo being ready and willing to kill transphobes is so ally of her

Did Jojo just get two aces back to back??????? And not even bat an eye???? Queen shit

Pearl accidental igl arc, everyone listening to everyone she says as gospel, as they should

This team is so <33333

Aimsey being so excited that they still have their crown is so <3

“I’ve just won, I’ve had one glass on wine, I’m with Pearl, I’m having a beautiful time today” Aimsey’s living xeir best life!!

It’s the smallest thing, but Owen using “they” for Aimsey when he’s not in the call can be something so personal

They’re so funny and for what

“MCC reminds me that time is always passing” SAME

Rocket Spleef

The vocal stimming is strong with this one

Freinds who lose together stay together ig 😂

Owen popping off!!!

False appreciation hour :))

Hole in the Wall

Their comms are so good!!!

These walls do feel trickier but it might just be the map, idk

Aimsey’s popping off!! 4th!!!!!!

This team is so well balanced, they’re wild

Skybattle

I love this team so much, they’re simultaneously chill and stressed but like in a fun way

That border is so fast what

JOJO OH MY GOSH!!!!! /pos

Aimsey is such a good hypeman :))

TWELVE KILLLLLLLSSSSSSS

Can’t believe she’s the only person ever <333

Jojo and Ran <333

Meltdown

Pearl taking charge my beloved :))

“Pearl, you’re my hero” so true Jojo!!!

Aimsey going absolutely wild!!!!

I figured it out!!!! This team is super good at listening to each other, they keep comms clear while having good banter. The respect they have for each other both as players and as people is so evident in how they talk to and treat each other and it’s just so <333

Omg that was so silly of them

“That was kinda funny” “It was kinda funny” so true!!!

Aimsey is so freaking funny and for what, their humor is so under appreciated

THATS MY TEAM!!!!! LOOK AT THEM GO!!!!!!!

“I feel very safe in Pearl’s guidance” Owen’s so real for that, honestly

Jojo’s screams when Aimsey fell were so /pos

Them shouting at Jojo to go in without them

“All my friends are dead 😢” lol

OWEN AND PEARL!!!!!!

Them hyping each other up and being so happy for each other up means everything

“I’m gonna go kiss my girlfriend, be right back” “okay, alright, go brag about it” they’re everything, actually

Jojo thanking Pearl for being igl and telling her how good a job she did <333

This team is just so soft and encouraging and trusting, I love them so much you guys

Aimsey truly is the swiftie of all time

Battle Box

Strategy time :))

Jojo getting hard targeted rip

Good round against purple there!!!

This map is very rough, even when watching teams that are doing well it still feels bad a lot of the time

Double trouble is over now, it can’t hurt you anymore

“I’m so close to writing a twitlonger about that map” Aimsey my beloved lmao

“If we skip sands of time I’m babyraging, I’m saying this now” “Babyraging? I’m full on raging, I don’t even care” my streamers are so based

Ace Race

I love Aimsey so much you guys

Jojo and Owen top 3 and 4?!?!!!!!

First and second?!!??!!! Orange 33 supremacy!!!!!!!

Pearl’s little giggle at Owen’s pun killed me actually /pos

Pete appreciation hour <333

“ASSHOL- I mean… butthole” nice save

That exact tie is wild tho

“Bottom ten” “or: top thirty” Owen my beloved

Aimsey popping off!!! Don’t be hard on yourself king, you’re killing it <33

“The M in MCC stands for misogynist” Aimsey is the funniest person on the planet actually

Grid Runners

Best game time :))

Owen being so excited to learn new minecraft mechanics is so /pos

They’re so smooth with it!!!!

This run is a piece of art holy crap

That redstone room kinda got them but they figured it out really well considering I don’t think any of them are super familiar with redstone

Oh my gosh their running commentary of the score breakdown was so freaking funny

Punctuation matters lmao

“Hold on, I’m just gonna- dear Taylor Swift, please may we play sands of time today, amen” AIMSEY

Sands of Time

Owen, hon, it’s eleven and it does not matter /lh

Aimsey is such a good sandkeeper you guys

Incredible comms, amazing vibes, I love them so much

“No worries… a little bit worried, but it’s ok” I love Owen

NOOOOOOOOO SO CLOSEEEEEE

They did so good tho ;-;

Pearl 21st individual!!! That’s my girl!!!!

Owen and Pearl synchronized reassurance <333

Dodgebolt

“All the glory, none of the pressure” so true Owen

“We consistently defied expectations” MCC Reddit is sexist as hell, I predicted y’all third because I’m always right and have never been wrong ever /hj

“I don’t know who I need to bribe to get Aimsey as a sandkeeper again but I would- I would sell my house” OWEN BASED

Aimsey getting the appreciation they deserve 💗💕💗💗💕💕💗💕💗💗💕💗💗

I entirely thought Aimsey said captain crunch lmao

Ok I don’t like Sapnap for several reasons (rancid vibes, toxic as hell, bffs with a racist and a groomer) and I’m not a fan of Punz either but Ponk being the first Black player to win MCC is huge and also disgusting that it’s taken 33 events, so happy for them and Gumi too <3

This team was amazing, I love them so much

Pearl I love you so much, please be kind to yourself, you’re incredible and don’t be hard on yourself <333

Oli and Jojo are everything, actually

“I want proof of one person who put you guys low” “Callum put us in 8th!!” “Callum is stupid, bro!!!!” Cpk slander is never not funny to me, I love that guy but he’s a fool /pos

[ilovebeingaturtle]

What's your favorite thing, if you have to pick just one thing, about each version of tmnt you've seen?

Oo fun-

Okay I think we’ll be here all day if I cover every version I’ve seen so I’ll just list the ones that pop into my head!

87: I feel like I can keep this one quick given the nature of my blog AHA, but I adore the characters in 87. The entire main cast is just so charming and funny and this is majorly carried thanks to how incredible the voice acting is and how good the chemistry is. It just feels so fun and homey every episode and it’s due to the characters living in it. They’re all wonderful!

90s movies (least the first two): I really adore Donnie in these movies so I think I can easily just rank him as my favourite part AHA, it’s so endearing seeing a version of Donatello that’s free to be silly. I love the emotional beat he provides in secret of the ooze too, the idea that he was hoping they were special/meant for something is such an interesting character moment for a usually logically portrayed character

03: Gosh okay-I think my favourite part of this one is just their dynamics with each other, they’re so good. You can really believe that they’re brothers, their banter and care for one and other is so consistently strong throughout. There’s a lot to love about 03 but yeah, I think the bond between the turtles is the main selling point for me (bonus points for Mikey’s incredible screams though they are a close second for favourite part of the show)

I guess yeah I’m going on release order, so-

07: I could ramble about this movie for a while, but I think my favourite thing is just the concept of it. I love the idea of exploring what they presented, Leo being gone, the turtles trying to move on with their lives, idk a ton of what was going on was really interesting to me. I honestly think the versions turtles are really strong in this, I have a few issues with the movie as a whole but what we’re given is super neat to build from

2012? I guess is next Gosh I don’t even know what my favourite thing about 2012 is. Am I doing really bad at picking just “one” thing I think I am-okay! I think with 2012, some of the the dialogue is great, there’s so many good little moments. The writing for this show is like, a double edged sword LMAO, but when it’s really good it’s really good! I think the 2012 boys in particular have personalities that lend themselves really well to comedy, they’re more exaggerated I think than other versions so jokes feels more natural. They’re also just very versatile little guys. The awesome voice acting and times when they get silly also help! (Again though, double edged sword because sometimes the attempts at humour are my least favourite parts of an episodeJSJ, in fact yeah actually this point might be better as saying I love how? User friendly this version of the turtles are? No that doesn’t make sense okay whatever I like them for the funny they’re good funny guys-)

Again like yeah god if I talked about every version I’ve seen this would be a super long post because I have seen. So much. So I’ll finish with Rise since most people probably want that! My favourite thing about that is definitely how creative they got with it, I love when it’s freely doing it’s own thing. It’s strongest elements are its original ideas/characters and the whole new spins it puts on established lore from last versions

Okay yeah swats myself away from answering about other versions too I need to eat LUNCH I will simply forget to eat if I continue AHA

[kalorphic]

Ella!!! im already SOOO obsessed with the demo i genuinely love K so so much 💗💗💗

noah wanting to get ice cream right after killing someone? yeha that’s icon behavior sorry i don’t make the rules!! & once again jess & salan UGH i love their banter jess is an icon <33

& ugh now ……. my beloved K oh my god im seriously so down bad for them 😔 i played with my beloved camille first & the way she’s so sweet & lowkey shy & k just hates her….. and then the ‘event’ ….. bestie i NEED to know what it is omg!!! and the guilt k has…… that line ‘their best friend, their protector, their guide’ …… SCREAMING CRYING 😭😭😭😭 oh my girl is gonna be so hurt i already know it the angst is gonna be so scrumptious!! and k has a room for the mc???! and their favorite snacks?!? when is it my turn 😔 and the homemade friendship bracelets…… the thot of k making a friendship bracelet for the mc….. and even though it turns out shit cami loves it…… UGH THEY ARE MY EVERYTHING 💗💗💗 and of course camille is a sweetheart so she thanked Cody for waking her up ….. and then they used her nickname & she was so happy ugh <3333

and then i played with my girl jade <3333 kalix & them having matching sun & moon necklaces screaming crying 😭😭😭 also the way with jade it’s like she’s stoic off the bat & so not ready to deal with K’s tantrums….. the rivals to lovers arcs of it all!!! and the way Cody & her lowkey hate each other gosh I’m so so excited!!! anyways sorry for rambling but YEAH genuinely loved the demo so so much I cannot wait for chapter 1!!!

Mal!! Thank you so much, omg!! 🤍🤍🤍

Noah knows exactly what they want in all aspects of their life lol. They literally dragged a very annoyed Manon to an ice cream parlour and ordered about 12 scoops like a giddy child while Manon got 2 scoops (and then complained for hours about a stomach ache which brought Manon great joy lol). As for Jess and Sal, I absolutely have to bring them back and let MC react to them because I really loved writing them! <3

Ugh I love Camille so much, she’s too good for early!K 😩 I’m sorry I put her through that (and will again when MC ruminates on things). As for the event…all will be revealed in good time 👀👀👀 K is very protective of MC, but writing I realised that MC is the true protector in this relationship and K knows it. They’re the all-seeing eye keeping K safe in the most dangerous of situations, which makes K even more guilty because they know how helpless MC is going to feel.

The angst scenes are going to kill me, I just know it 😭 but yeah, K has a huge house, they absolutely had to give MC their own room (and an en suite), cupboards, and space in the fridge. Any less would be unforgivable. As for the friendship bracelets, I thought the idea of K being terrible at making them would really annoy the perfectionist in them, but the sight of MC wearing it and loving it anyway, would always manage to make them smile. And Cody was 100% internally dying after using Camille’s nickname without thinking, but they definitely always call her by her nickname in their head, so the slip of the tongue was bound to happen lol!

I do not blame Jade for not wanting to deal with K’s shit lol! But that progression from that to them having matching necklaces is so good !! It makes me wonder how Jade would react to K’s inner thoughts about them 👀 LMAO rip to Jade and Cody having to live together 😭

Please never apologise for rambling !! I always love reading your thoughts on things, it’s always so fun and detailed <33 I’m glad you enjoyed the update!

[sugareey-makes-stuff]

Krissy!! For fic rec asks: 👀 💯

Hi Danni! Since I've been reading fic whenever I do have the time and bouncing between Harry Potter and Teen Wolf, I'll leave a rec from each fandom for each question. Those who know me well know I love my hurt/comfort and angst, so here are my recs:

👀 A fic that you love a normal amount Uhhhh, what? Do I really have one of those? Okay maybe I'll treat this as what is a fic I can just be happy about.

>> HP: A Journey Home by edelweissmar (Perciver, T, 28k) is a classic reread for me. I love it because it's such a unique take on things post-war, and Percy and Oliver discover that they're each other's anchors in a way, despite the challenges they face. Oliver is so determined to never give up, and Percy learns to let go of his guilt, love himself and let someone love him. This fic is a beautiful tale, and it doesn't shy away from family drama and all the damage the war has caused for everyone. People are flawed, it's 1000% possible for them to embrace that. >> TW: Written in the Stars by Quixoticity (Sterek, M, 26.6k) is a fic I am totally happy to read and love because it's about soulmates and tattoos, and I love the approach that was taken to explore the path of two people getting to know each other rather than being obligated by marks. What if feelings and a relationship were sparked by choice rather than expectations? What if the romance and attraction between Stiles and Derek was genuine. Yes, yes, yes to all of this. It's sweet and angsty with pining, and I'm glad they eventually use their words and figure things out for themselves.

💯 A fic that makes you think #writergoals >> HP: I basically love agentmoppet's fics, and Like Clockwork (Drarry, E, 39.3k) legit checks all my boxes. But also: this fic has such amazing worldbuilding especially behind how magic works, cursebreaking, and gosh, I am so impressed with this case fic since I definitely cannot write those. I love the banter between Harry and Draco (especially Draco's sass), because every time I reread this fic, it makes me realize why I love these characters so much with their feelings and ridiculous tension. Also, dreams and tricky spellwork! >> TW: OKAY. So I just finished The Moon's Gonna Follow Me Home by turningterrific (Sterek, E, 82.9k) and holy crap! Amazing. It's heartbreaking, gorgeous, addresses mental health, healing and it's something I just really needed right now. There's worldbuilding, OCs that I've grown to love, and the way Stiles and Derek come together again is the perfect slow burn, I can probably scream about it all day. And I probably will in a separate rec post, because this is a fic that flows so well, it pulls at emotions, and gods, it would be so awesome to write like this. Like, how?!! ANYWAY.

Thanks for the asks! ___ Want to ask more q's? Send some over from the fic recs ask meme!

[justagalwhowrites]

Bestieeeeee! You do know how to keep me on my toes! I was all happy with the new ''Halcyon'' chapter, thinking it would be a light and fun read, but I damn if I couldn't stop the angsty feeling squeezing my heart the whole time I read it. I loved it, don't get me wrong, and it had fun parts. Their banter is a treasure, but I got this echo of an ache for lost time from both sides. Joel keeping two of her books and being unable to read her story screams for things to unravel. I cannot wait to read it!

Maybe it's because I'm still hurting/healing by ''Yearling'' and, in preparation, I already plot the worst outcomes. Or maybe it's just my brain that keeps pushing me towards this spiral of self-destruction. I cannot stop thinking about how helping each other will bring them closer, high school level at the least, and give them many good and intimate moments, but Joel looking for a stable relationship will mess it all up. I feel like Goldie, now that she has gotten Joel in her life again, won't want to do anything to rock the boat. I don't know how you imagine her, but I see her as a sweet babe who doesn't see herself as a candidate (terribly wrong of her) because she doesn't look like what she considers Joel's type. So, she'll push him towards other women, breaking her own heart in the process, and Joel will go with the flow because he doesn't want to lose her either, and maybe also because she and Sarah will have bonded up a lot, and he wouldn't want her daughter to lose Goldie in the process too. Uff... what a ramble!

I don't think I'm asking for an answer. I just had to get this out of my chest. Your stories make me overthink so much, and I'm saying it as a compliment. Thank you for the lovely update! Love you!♥️♥️♥️

OH MY GOSH BESTIE HOW DID I MISS THIS ASK???????

I love Joel and Goldie's friendship. These two have such a deep bond, they can be so themselves with each other and be comfortable in it and that is such a rare thing. They both, I think, are more vulnerable with each other than they are with anyone else in their lives and the last decade and a half without each other has been hard because of that. I don't think Goldie was ever as open or comfortable with her husband as she was with Joel and Joel never found anyone to get close enough to to even compare (beyond Sarah which is obviously a totally different kind of relationship.)

But I will say this much, they are definitely going to be as close as they were in high school. These two are moving very fast toward if not seeing each other every day at least talking for a while every day and seeing each other most days. They just gravitate toward each other and are happier even being by themselves when the other one is just close by. I adore them, I really really do.

Thank you so so much for overthinking about my stories!! I love that you do and that you're here and that you send me such thoughtful asks. (even if this one took me forever to answer!!)

Love you, bestie!!!!

[lavenoon]

(I was gonna start this with a scream, and then realized I am, uh, very hyped for these chapters knowing full well it was Sun suffering times kjfhdkgh)

Ok, ok, so first Sunset!

I was laughing so much at the fact that Sun is already so competitive on the caretaking side of things XD Since his love language is acts of service, it's so freaking funny that he's like "Mealtime is my territory, back off partner" in a lighthearted manner kdjhfk And then offering to make breakfast for them, this competitive goof XD

(Sidenote: The worry at the commitment issues dksjhgkjfdhg I could practically hear him worrying about that possibly meaning that dating wouldn't be in table after all (well actually my first thought was marriage but then remembered oh yeah, they aren't even dating yet kdhgkjfdh))

But ahhh, as soon as he mentioned breakfast I knew he wouldn't be back for it. Robin just looking at the clock in worry knowing something must be wrong.

Ohh, and the little reflection about them not really being intimidated of Dawn, but being scared that him taking pride in being a good agent would make him disapprove of them (cough cough, hide reverse AU under the rug, don't let canon Robin in this point of the timeline see how that goes regarding that specifically because uuuuuh, yeah XD, there was an adjustment period in that one)

And ahhhhh I know Moon gives them grief for it later, but I found it so touching that they DID eat something, thinking about how Sun wouldn't want them to work on an empty stomach ;o;, getting better at taking care of themselves because of the people that care about them!!

And gosh, River! I find her so interesting, because she genuinely seems to care for the agents, not just as workers but as people, even though in her position she probably has to be really careful about it. This time there is no option to turn a blind eye, or dance around the subject though. Whether she was implying that getting fired was a very real possibility or not, she did want Dawn to come back to be able to hear about it, better than not having him return at all even if they did.

And omg, Abra Fez is quite harsh. Not to say The Agency TM isn't but they really roughed him up. Ha, the pep talk comment got a chuckle out of me though XD He keeps calm and was sure he would get out on his own, even if he was nervous, which is expected given he is a star agent! (My morbid curiosity makes me wonder if Moon was awake to see the moment they tore his ray off, or if that was what woke him up maybe, since keeping his composure might have been a bit harder on that one gkldhgkl) And awww, Sun. Even when he is the one being rescued, he worries about not letting the backup get hurt. I assume he feels responsible for them, since even if he was taken by surprise, it must sting that he got caught at all.

And gkdfjhgkjh poor Robin must have been so distraught as they searched all the rooms for him, and the reunion was touching, but also I laugh at how you switched the roles compared to the comic you made because Sun was the one swooning, and Moon was like "focus, lover boy". But you know, Sun had a rough day, he can simp as a treat XD

And aaaahhh, when they get back! River really is putting herself on the line for this one, even though she's trying hard to stick by the rules. I imagine it must be a tough decision either way because in a way, when this gets to the higher ups, she would also be questioned on why she didn't separate them at once and instead let this go on. Seems she really has a soft spot for Robin, hehe. And Sun commenting how he needs to learn from them, because it's true! He might be the smooth talker, but Robin is the one that has been at this place for long, so they know how much they can push and how to deal with River too!

After, what caught my attention the most was Moon though. Sun was trying to deflect, maybe automatically because he's on edge from everything, going for banter about how Moon wants to be with Robin now, but Moon is having none of it. He knows what Sun went through, and he's being very direct about him getting a break. It's just... so sweet of him? We've seen them banter over their worries before, but the fact that he was so direct about this got to me dfkñgjhfkj

Hehe, the comment about getting Robin to take care of themselves being the hard part though X3 But ahhh, y/n really needs those days off, since it's obvious such a risky event so close to the last one has shaken them up a lot. Moon is on caring duty tonight.

And maybe Sun will try to make up for the missed breakfast the next day as well haha

All around, awesome couple of chapters Luce! <3

I just realized I can still start answering in the morning, even if I won't have time to finish

So without further ado, let's get into it!

Spoilers for Sunset and Nacreous Cloud under the cut, though if you've read Chaotik's ask it's already too late gfdhsj

It was also a little time for scary agent Dawn, so he got a little bit of revenge for the hurt! Grab and squeeze <3

Sun: I actually cook for you, you know? I don't just slap some cold ingredients together - Y/N: Sun, honey, I'll have a light dinner (sandwiches) and you can spoil me for breakfast, it's not a competition I promise Sun: That breakfast is going to be so good (and then it wasn't </3)

It's not even that he feels territorial about it, a good bunch of it is just him joking around and teasing Moon behind his back! But there is that crumb of fishing for reassurance - "You still like what I make you, right? This isn't going to replace that because it's easier?" And Y/N, in love with two idiots and unaware, so readily replies "I'll eat anything you two make for me whyever would I not"

(The worry is also the thought "Wait, are you not actually oblivious, just pretending to be because you're scared? Do we have to change tactics?" meanwhile Y/N is like "Wait why did I say that he'll think I'm scared of relationships! ... Why is it important that he doesn't think that." and then neither of them actually analyses it more because they get distracted <3)

I had a lot of fun with that whiplash - the joking and soft promises to Y/N alone, waiting, knowing something is wrong... Had to do it, you know? <3

And yeah, definitely! We all know that what we approve and disapprove of is biased - that one person that could say "I like soup!" and we go "Yeah I bet you fucking do" - so Sun now looks at little dangly charms on bloody batons and thinks "ahw they're so adorable" meanwhile in Reverse AU (and oof, Hatchling!) Dawn is just mentally picking it up with two fingers and flinging it far away from him </3 That's how it is sometimes, and so their anxiety isn't quite unfounded! And they think so, too, making it worse

Moon gives them grief for it, but when they get home and quietly explain that they simply couldn't eat more, he softens, too. It's easy for him to only focus on nutrition and the lack of it, because he's never had anxiety twist his stomach into knots and nausea making swallowing anything impossible. They tried, because they didn't want their boys to worry (and because yes, the loved ones override is strong in Robin - something I admittedly projected, but also felt like it would resonate!)

River is my blorbo from my brain fr - I never planned to make her that much of a presence, now I'm so so close to making a ref sheet for her. If I get to work on the Glamrocks, I might just make a reference for her, too gfhdjs She's been a supervisor for a good while - and she's always been Robin's supervisor. She watched a greenhorn agent first butt heads with the established work force (and with her, too - baby Robin didn't have the fear that everyone else had for the "if you have her full attention, you're fucked" supervisor) and then harden at the continued rejection. Rise the ranks, complete missions, and yeah, it's not like they're friends and River felt that need to intervene at the isolation. But when Dusk (and Dawn) show up, and the former starts working with Robin, she sees them warm up to the newbie. By the time Sun moves in with Robin she's already aware that Dusk is a good influence, and together they tackle missions that no one else would dare to complete. They have a few bumps, where they distract each other more than they focus, but all in all? River looks away, and decides to let things play out. She keeps testing them, just a little - fishing questions, until the breaking point in First Aid, when she wonders just how little these three share (she assumed they would find out much sooner), and gives Robin the information they're missing. It's intentional. She still has to follow protocol - Simon Says is not a merciful employer. But she has enough credibility within the agency that her plan can work - so when there's no hiding anymore, she helps her idiot trio. She doesn't want to be involved much more, she's not a mentor - but she cares, and she sees these three care for each other, so so much, and so she helps them in the way she can. Pretty sure if Dawn hadn't taken the lead, she would have suggested the three take the fall, but stay in town - "Let's talk again in a month, after Simon sees what kind of bullshit firing you would invite." She'd frame it as a unpaid leave being sort of its own punishment, so after that they'd be fine. She didn't need to, obviously, they found another workaround - but she's on their side, more than the elusive and distant big boss

The rays sure are sensitive (: I do think Moon woke up with the very sudden, very uncomfortable pain from the dislocated shoulder though. That happens before the ray, when Dawn first got overwhelmed, so he's been there for the entire interrogation, including the very cowardly "Okay, dodging the one still functional taser hand, let's make this hurt" ray ripping. Until then Dawn tried smooth talking (threatening) his way out of the situation, but after that they, uh. They kinda activated the mule kicks, oops. But even so, yeah, Dawn is a star agent for a reason - he would have gotten out on his own, too. It would have taken a bit longer, and wouldn't have been as easy, but he stayed calm and has good motivation. As impressed as he is with the quick reinforcement, he immediately feels responsible - those are agents (as he assumes plural) who are only in danger because of him, and now that he can prevent it, why would he let anything happen to them? Especially if it's just ground support, who doesn't see action as often!

(And then it's just one, feral in their concern neighbor, and he has to process that a little. Oops <3)

Fez is harsh, because they caught a hostile agent in their new (attempted) branch office, someone with a lot of info on their rival agency. They don't hold back - but Dawn doesn't either. He didn't just go down with the first hit obviously, and there's a reason they decided to keep him as immobile as they can. It's the rougher side of their job, and one I haven't touched much before, but it was fun to explore!

So I explained some of River's reasoning already - but yeah, once the even higher ups hear? She'll definitely receive some scrutiny, even if she gives her full reasoning. They did good work together, none of them seemed to realize, and separating them after the address change would have been obvious, too (see Zugunruhe, lmao. River was not the higher up who greenlighted that transfer in that timeline). So that's why she has to be more careful with the cover up, and get some results to also use in her argument.

And yeah, Sun is very used to his own scripts, but he doesn't know River like Robin does! Because Robin spent a lot of time testing the limits (more or less unintentionally), something Dawn never dared and Dusk never cared to do. Gotta sprinkle in some of that senior agent and newbie dynamic still! (Though Dawn and Dusk are pretty established at this point, too)

Moon... Moon was stuck the entire time, during a time when he should be out, and then even later for that talk with River because he's just not good at that kind of stuff, and he has a lot of pent up frustration. He felt useless, barely a backseat driver, stuck in that uncomfortable situation, all while his routine would demand he do something, because it's his time. So when Sun is deflecting Moon has no patience for it. He had to watch, without being able to intervene, for most of it all - he was awake before the switch time because of the pain Sun endured. By the time they're out and safe and got to keep their jobs it's around 2AM, maybe - and he's been up for around half a day already. he felt all those seconds tick by, too. He's feeling restless, and not in the mood to entertain bullshit. Too much pent up concern, and both Sun and Robin get the brunt of it.

I also just... I really wanted some Moon time, after these chapters were very Sun centric. That's how it is sometimes, yes, sometimes one boy gets more attention than the other. But for something so major in the timeline he couldn't be uninvolved, even though that sucked for him (sorry Moon </3)

And yeah, they're all taking that time off, and it'll be some funny "No you just cared on me, now I get to fret" switcheroo as they're all pretty rattled and need to feel in control again. Lots of cuddles that still don't clue Y/N in, but it's fine, we know they'll get there, soon! <3

They definitely get that breakfast though, you know it <3

And ahh, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! I had so much fun writing it (especially once the dam broke on Saturday - before that, words were kind of hard, though also honestly still fun), and I was very hyped for all these little things - explain how HQ finds out about the identity reveal, set up the introduction for the Glamrocks, Simon says namedrop, and exploring that post reveal pre confession dynamic between the idiot trio! I'm really happy with the reception so far, glad it's hitting well <3

[welcometololaland]

Hi, I just wanted to say WOW, your new fic today was something I didn’t know I needed. I really need the show to put this into an episode, Rafa’s facial expressions would have me on the floor 💀.

Too many favorite parts to talk about so I won’t go on and on, but definitely the whole password 1234! (so in character for TK Strand), the way you added Andrea and Mitchell's scenes were so good, TK reading th comments back to Carlos 😂 and the barista! That scene at the coffee shop had me screaming lolololol. The whole thing felt so real and true to them, like yes, of course Carlos would go viral, and TK would love it and talk to Marjan to figure out how to pay for their wedding through sponsorships. DUH!

Their banter and their voices were just so in character. And their love (TK is his target audience)!!! They are so gone for one another!! Guess I went on and on anyway 😅, but it was such a bright spot in my day! Thank you! If you ever get more creative ideas and want to write more fics like this one, know that you’ve got a target audience too. 🙌🏾

Oh gosh, thank you so much this is such a lovely ask. I adore Rafa's acting, and when I wrote this fic I tried to imagine his combined look of exasperation and also confusion. I love how expressive he is, it makes writing Carlos so interesting.

The password 1234 (!) was all @pragmatic-optimist she is simply a genius in this regard. I'm the kind of person to put that as my password (it's not, please don't try and hack me), so I just burst into laughter and added it straight away.

Thank you for your compliments on the characterisation - that truly means so much to me. I had a lot of help (again from Sonia), but I am really happy with how this one turned out and I'm glad it seemed to bring joy to people as well! I feel very satisfied, and yet somehow encouraged to write more Tarlos social media fics lmao. I have another idea!! I am so keen to write it (not TikTok). My WIPs are out of control but we have started something here.

Thank you again for your comments - you are a bright spot on my day!

if anyone else wants to read - Target Audience is here.

(see below, TK in his momager era just living for his sexy, beautiful man going viral):

[domsaysstuff]

DOM, MY FAVE!

43, 53 and 11 💖

AHDRI MY LOVE 💕

you are my fave too 🥺🥺

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

Okay so I know I don't show this a lot in my work now, but I do occasionally need to put a character in a situation™, like I'm sorry bby but you need to suffer BUT I always kiss it better with the comfort

Right now I don't do that as much but when I was younger and used writing as sort of a ground to dump all my negative emotions on Dean Winchester got put in situations™

But like I've gotten less angstier so now I'm more mellow and I stick rather a lot to the feelings of bittersweet or just fluff in my stuff at least I did, i have some things planned for my fics tho so *shrugs*

53.How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

Ohhh, so I'm definitely more of a fanfic reader than writer

I love writing, I do, but I get demotivated really quickly if I don't have some force pushing me through and I rather just get like BIG URGE to write and then I do it, also I'm a slow writer (in a way that I don't write anything for a month and then suddenly I write 6k words in the span of 24 hours)

And reading fic is just easier, since I've always been an eager reader and I love fanfics and i'm going to be honest it's rare I don't read at least one fic a day (it can be a 2k one shot but still)

So I'm more of reader than I writer

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

Blooming Oleander by @wiccawrites

Gosh, this is so fucking good, like I love this fic so much. I love how they write omega!kinn, the subversion of the usual omega!porsche alpha!kinn is so well done here, because although Kinn is an omega his personality is still well matched with the show and I've been along for the updates this fic for like so long, particularly since idk the fourth chapter?? And every update is a blessing, I absolutely fucking love the way the main relationship is handled - it's the perfect blend of banter and tenderness and horny, fuck it all relationships are potrayed so well - like Kinn - Chay interactions give me life, and just everything abt this is so good, the political plot is so well done just *chief kiss* and the worldbuilding is so good, ahhh this fic makes me want to just squeal in joy

Fake love and Hennessey by @yeetlegay

I LOVE THIS FIC, gosh the way Yeetle writes Kinn just makes something right in this universe, like I don't know it's just right

Also so much smut and the way, the smut fleshes out the characters and ahh I'm enjoying the little plot tingles too and also it's so well written?? I adore the writing style, it makes me want to write more myself

I reread this fic atleast five times and every time was a fucking treasure, it's funny, it's horny, it's soft, it's just *bites the fic, bites the fic, bites the fic, bites the fic, bite-*

Blue Blood by @ahdriking

Ahdri you know you must be here, like if you wanted a compliment you could have just msg me on discord babe ;)

I adore Ahdri's way of writing, she writes smut and violence in such a interesting, unique and captivating way that just makes me want to scream

Like I know I come into her inbox a lot about blue blood to scream but honestly everytime I wish I could be one of those people who eloquently comments about tje parts of the chapter that they like in like a hinged way that sings praises of the text because Ahdri deserves long, coherent comments full of praises

But all I can do is incoherently scream in her inbox and hope it's enough

Like this fic is so good, it's fucked up, it's convoluted, it's smutty, it's witty, it takes the characters and says "hey what if i just... *fucks them up a little more*" while also still staying somehow true to their canon characters, just darker and ahh, ahhh,ahh

The smut is just so good but also the plot, it has the most detestable villain but hating him is kind of fun?? Also the fights are so well written, like it's almost like you get the adrenaline rush yourself

So safe to say it's very fucking good

Thank you so much for this ask babe, i hope you have a fantastic day/night 💞💓

Come ask me questions!!

[jahayla-parker]

Heya! Aerith here, and congratulations for your followers milestone!! May I join the ask game? 💞

💞send in some details about yourself for who I’d ship you with (if specific universe or set of people/characters, please note this)

Preference: Male

Age, Sexuality & Pronouns: 21, Biromantic Pansexual and Genderfluid, He/They (I'm a woman irl)

Appearance and Style (Aesthetic): 5'1.5",Messy brunette medium hair, Chubby, Southeast Asian, Feminine Tomboy, Soft Vintage or Soft Grunge (like Malia Tate's style from Teen Wolf) wearing K-beauty makeup

Sign & MBTI: INFJ, Libra-Scorpio cusp, Slytherin

Traits: 100% ambivert and anxious person with deep and complex mind who open up so easily and doesn't mind to be too vocal when I have to. May act respectful, modest, serious, and kind to strangers but very chaotic, young-at-heart, talkative, laid-back, snarky, sarcastic, clumsy, stubborn, hopeless romantic, and a procrastinator who swears a lot to people I'm close with. Very stressed mom friend plus acts like a baby in the group most of the time and a lazy big sis possessing anger issues and won't hesitate to hate someone if they say something bad to me or to my family or my friends. Also known to be unashamed to be true to myself, confident on my own style, talented and artistic as well, hypersensitive, passionate, determined, and spunky to get what I want.

Interests: making OCs, arts, choir, poetry, karaoke, literature, history, makeup, beauty pageants, random conversations, variety of music (EDM, Kpop, and rock) expanding my knowledge in Christianity, documentaries (about saints), reading interesting stuff, cooking, talking about social issues, and creative writing, chilling both indoors and outdoors

P.S. I don't have specific universe atm to be surprised lmao. Thank you so much ❤️

Hi lovely! Thank you so much for trusting me with this 💜

First of all, it’s fantastic to meet you Aerith! 🤗

Nearly every detail screamed Jesper Fahey to me (Grishaverse - Six of Crows) [if interested, his navigation/masterlist is here and more works are pending!]

Let’s break just a few reasons down shall we!

Jesper is not only a major ally of the LGBTQ+ community but a proud member himself and very open about it - he’d also fight anyone who dared have any issue with anything relating to your identity which in Ketterdam could be important 🖤

And your appearance/aesthetic could not match better with his in my opinion! His aesthetic/appearance next to your’s would look sooo cute!

And oh gosh your personality traits mentioned are flawlessly perfect for him! He’s super vocal and open, flirting and sarcastic, loves playful banter, and loves love. He too is very loyal and protective over those he cares about and accepts who he is and those in his life without trying to change them.

Your interests are so fun and outgoing that he’d love to do them all with you and maybe he’ll find a healthier hobby for himself in the process!

I hope you like it🖤🖤🖤

[celerrie]

Hello I just wanted to say I am obsessed with curse-breaker! It was so so amazing I had to find your Tumblr and I'm so excited you're writing more ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Your writing is so incredible and descriptive and just sucks me in, it's only a couple chapters but the universe you've created is so tangible and phenomenal and I don't have the words for how much of an impact you made ❤️❤️❤️ Your characterization was so amazing, and I'm especially a huge Wong fan and I'm obsessed with how you wrote him. You mentioned you took some stuff from the Death of Doctor Strange, I'm curious what it was? And would you recommend reading it? No pressure to respond! Thank you again for creating such a beautiful piece of art and sharing it with the world ❤️

Oh my gosh this is the kindest anon ask ever, you've just made my day by sending this in!!! T_T ❤️❤️ Firstly, I'm super happy to hear that you enjoyed Curse-Breaker so much and that it had such an impact on you!! It was something that I really enjoyed writing--it was supposed to be closer to a quarter the size it turned out to be, but it kind of just...got away from me hahaha 😂 Honestly, though, losing myself in the cozy domesticity of the Sanctum Sanctorum and the relationship with Stephen was really nice, so it's great to hear that it was good from your perspective, too!! ❤️❤️❤️ And thank you times a million for the kind words on my writing, too! It's always a huge relief to hear that people think my characterization is on point, especially when I'm writing characters who are so beloved by so many people, like Stephen and Wong. WHICH speaking of Wong: some of my characterization of him is actually what I took from Death of Doctor Strange!! In DoDS, he has this really lovely scene first thing in the comic where Stephen is getting up for the day, ready to take Bats for a walk, and Wong is already downstairs, making coffee and breakfast. He's about to go to his life-drawing class (which I loved SO much for him that yes, I referenced that hahah) and he teases Stephen a little before wishing him well on his "walkies". It's the cutest thing honestly. I really love the idea of Wong being that gentle, warm, always-there-for-you type of friend who's not afraid to go head-to-head with Stephen in banter. Wong is undeniably an incredibly powerful Master of the Mystic Arts in his own right (I have so many thoughts about him as Sorcerer Supreme tbh) but at the same time, he's also a guy who has his own healthy interests and hobbies. Wong is SUPER underrated as a character, as a sorcerer, as a friend, and as husband material. Thank you for coming to my Wong is the Best TedTalk JSJDIFJ Lastly: I would *absolutely* recommend DoDS. If you have Marvel Unlimited, the whole series is available there! The art style is one of my faves in recent comics, you really don't need to have much knowledge of things that previously happened in the comics to follow along (though it does help if you know who Clea is, which I think most of us do by now!), and the story is EXCELLENT. Moderate horror vibes throughout, as would be expected from a Dr. Strange comic, with excellent pacing and characterization. The ending is emotional and unexpected. If you read it, please come into my inbox to scream about it with me. My only complaint about DoDS is actually about its sequel, Strange, because I cannot *stand* how Clea is being characterized in it so far. So there's that 🙃 Thank you again for this lovely ask, anon!! You've really made my whole day ❤️❤️❤️

[ashenlights]

WKX: “A-Xu, I’m leaving too. You… recuperate properly, and you’re not allowed to cheat on me. I’ll go look for you on Changming Mountain, if... "

ZZS: “Got it. Get lost, and don’t die”.

For TYK week over on twitter, day 1: Love languages! Featuring wenzhou's banter, which I enjoy way too much. This was one of my favourite wenzhou scenes from TYK/Faraway Wanderers ~ (from Ch 67: The Parting of Ways)

[twelvegods]

be alright

pairing/s; george weasley x fem!reader

warning/s; cheating, allusion to suicide (very light as in blink and you’ll miss it)

word count; 3.2k

summary; inspired by dean lewis’ ‘be alright’ where fred weasley cheats on you with someone else from your house and you seek comfort in something, or rather someone, familiar; george weasley. when fred realizes that’s he’s very much in love with you still, it’s when he can do nothing but watch as you fall deeper and deeper in love with his identical twin brother no less.

a/n; i'm just a whore for angsty breakup fics that end in fluff what can i say,, anw what did you guys think? lmao i think i spy plot holes but guess what i’m happy with this so much and the banter was such fun to write oh my gosh

“i know fred’s a prick, [y/n].” george weasley’s voice took you by surprise, making you jump in your skin a little, not expecting to be followed up here. you didn’t want to turn around, still wholly unable to stomach the sight of a weasley, even if it was your best friend. “but please step away from the balcony.”

you hadn’t heard his footsteps approach, but you did feel him cautiously place his hands on your shoulders, tugging you back from the edge of the astronomy tower and lightly pulling you into his arms. it felt like your skin burned where he touched it.

“where did i go wrong, george?” your throat was scratchy, voice hoarse from screaming into the wind. no one could hear from this high up anyway and you’d stopped well before george found you. “i loved him with everything i had. so where the fuck did i go wrong?”

a desperate sob broke out as everything started to ache and your heart felt like it was breaking into even tinier fragments. george knew he couldn’t do anything right now other than be there for you, like he always did in the past. before fred.

“you did nothing wrong, [y/n].” he spoke softly as he wrapped his wool sweater around you, as if to shield you from the cold of the relentless wind, but you didn’t have the heart to tell him that you’d gotten used to it by now, that you were practically numb to everything. “fred doesn’t deserve anything from you, not after what he’s been doing.”

his response seemed to hit you with a realization.

“’doing’? i walked in on them two nights ago, george. why does it sound like…” you stepped out of his grasp with your jaw clenched as an insurmountable amount of rage bubbled within. “how long?”

“[y/n], it’s not—”

“dammit, george, how long?” you were seething now.

he sighed, dejected. “two months.”

you had suspected that your peers were somewhat aware of fred’s affair, but you were too caught up in your own denial and the state of your crumbling relationship that you just weren’t ready to face some rather confronting facts. although it seemed like all those pitiful glances and hushed gossip going past the two nights were starting to make sense.

your friends were lying to you, whispering behind your back, and withholding the fact that the boy you loved was cheating on you for two fucking months while you were busy fighting to make the relationship work, not knowing that all that effort was completely one sided.

“all this time, you knew? you let me walk around blind for two whole bloody fucking months? and yet you call yourself my best friend?” you snapped, screaming now. your face felt hot and your fingertips were numb and you wanted to throttle something. “you’re a liar george weasley, exactly like your brother. family resemblance, i guess.”

george had the decency to look ashamed. “i...i didn’t want to get involved okay? i thought you’d fix it, like usual and when i realized what was going on i—i didn’t know what to do! but i’m here now and—”

“save it.” you snarled, throwing his sweater in his face as you walked past him. even though he stood at at least six feet, george looked small with his shoulders slumped as he watched you go.

you could still hear him calling out when you left, still trying to explain, but his efforts were futile as you thoroughly ignored him, even going as far as slamming the tower door on your way down. somewhere in the back of your mind, you knew you were in the wrong; that it wasn’t george’s fault and that you should be talking out your anger on the person who deserves it: fred.

but when george looked exactly like the cheating scumbag, best friend or not, it was hard to hold back.

when you safely reached your dorm and all but threw yourself on the mattress, you rolled onto your back and stared at the ceiling, sighing as a heavy weight seemed to hold you down. you would apologize eventually, you were sure of that, but you needed time and you needed to be alone, not quite trusting yourself to let anyone in at the moment, knowing it would only end up hurting everyone involved.

but one thing you didn’t count on the next morning was finding george weasley sleeping on the floor of your dormitory in a sleeping bag. wearing one of your cropped t-shirts. christ.

it seemed like as much as you wanted to be alone, george knew you didn't need to be.

nevertheless, you groaned into your pillow, not expecting him to be so stubborn so soon. that very same pillow landed on his face with enough force to wake him up.

“wha—what’s wrong?” he shot up into a seating position, bright red hair sticking up in all directions as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. he turned to face you, stifling a yawn. “are you o—okay?”

“no and get out.” you were monotonous as you yanked back your pillow, turning to face away from him with it cuddled against you.

you felt his side of the bed dip.

he was on his back lying beside you now, a few inches of distance between your bodies given how small the bed was compared to his lanky frame. “you’re good at pushing people away [y/n], but guess what, i’m better at sticking around.”

“leave me alone, for fuck’s sake.” your voice was muffled, head now buried under your duvet. “how did you even get in here?”

it was like he wasn't hearing you. “do you want breakfast? i want breakfast. i’ll ask a house elf to go get us some, knowing you won’t be leaving this bed any time soon.”

you threw off the duvet, facing him with a glint in your eye. “george, stop it! why won’t you leave?”

“because i hurt you and you’re my best friend and merlin be damned if i’m not going to make it up to you.” he just smiled softly at you, hands tucked under his head looking mighty comfortable in a bed that wasn’t his. you genuinely didn’t know what to say. “i have two months to make up for for what i did, or didn’t do rather, and for what he did.”

his eyes seemed to flash something fierce and you knew he meant fred.

you scoffed, rolling your eyes. “you know you shouldn’t apologize for him.”

“i feel like i’ve been doing so since we were born, why bother stopping now?” he sighed, glaring up at the ceiling much like you did last night. you could tell simply by looking at him how much fred’s actions filled him with shame and anger. “he’s such a bloody idiot.”

a beat of silence passed through the both of you as you settled into a familiar territory. you were apologizing and he was apologizing and it felt like you were third years again, talking about anything and everything under the sun. at one point, your roommate was on her way out when you caught her confused glance at your best friend.

her eyes flashed with something akin to annoyance and anger at the ginger but you were quick to smooth that over. she probably thought fred had come back and you knew how against him she'd become.

‘george,’ you mouthed and she nodded in understanding, her mouth shaped like an ‘o’.

ever since that morning, the boy in question began to coddle you. he spent two weeks on your floor, sometimes in your bed to just hold you when nights were darker and days were filled with fred and the girl he left you to be with.

he mentioned in passing that he was afraid to leave you alone and when you asked about it he just waved it away. you figured it had something to do with the night at the astronomy tower when he thought you were going to jump.

he would walk you to your next class and pick you up after and insist on being your partner when you had the same ones. he was always sitting next to you during meal times, needing little to no effort to get you to laugh, especially on days when it felt like doing so was impossible.

he’d bring you ice cream and flowers just to bring a smile on your face. he was dutifully there to pick up the pieces when you felt like exploding.

for months, it seemed like he made it his personal mission to make you happy, to support you, and all around be there for you just like before, but you didn’t know when he started putting back together the fragments of your heart.

you didn’t know when the butterflies became live insects in your belly and you didn’t know when every touch between you two became electric.

it wasn’t long before fred started noticing your glow, especially after your roommate let it be known that george accompanied you not just in the hallways, but in the same bed practically every night. a feat that even he, as your boyfriend, was unable to achieve.

he didn’t know when he began to stroke a fire that he thought had already been put out.

was it jealousy or anger? or was it something else entirely? either way, fred pushed that thought towards the back of his mind and pulled his girlfriend, the very one he cheated on you with, closer to his side.

but that thought was going to see the light of day eventually, what with rumors going around that [y/n] and his twin were dating, that they’d been spotted lounging by the black lake, that george was walking her to classes, that he was giving her flowers, that he was making her happy. and fred started to feel… something.

he was starting to feel bad. and regret. and jealousy. and he started to feel especially angry that [y/n] was giving that bright and beautiful smile of hers, one that fred thought was reserved for him, to someone else entirely.

then came the day you were on your way out of the castle to meet with george at zonko’s when fred walked into your line of sight.

“[y/n], hey.” fred breathed, rubbing his hands together, a habit of his you remembered to be of nervousness. “can we talk?”

as much as you wanted to say that you told him off, punched him in the gut, and broke his nose, you completely froze up, just staring into those brown eyes you used to love. the very same brown eyes that you’d fallen in love with now, except it wasn’t these exact ones.

there was a boy was waiting for you at zonko’s with identical brown eyes, claiming he had something important to say. that thought was enough to shake you out of your stupor and you were looking into fred’s eyes with a lot more steeliness now.

“excuse me.” you stepped aside, fully intending on walking away, very much like what he did to you.

“wait, [y/n].” fred grabbed you by the arm, stopping you in your tracks, but this time you refused to meet his gaze, knowing you’d break. “what, you’re not even going to look at me now?”

you pulled yourself out of his hold. “i said excuse me, asshole.”

the small crowd that had gathered held back their ‘ooh’s and snickers as they tensely awaited the showdown they knew was going to happen eventually. but you weren’t going to give it to them.

you were going to keep walking and you were going to meet with george and you were going to listen to what he has to say, not fred. not anymore.

you were just past the archway leading towards the bridge when fred called out. “i still love you!”

your hands flew against your mouth as a familiar feeling bloomed from your chest, one that you closely associated with fred now. it was pain. you toyed with countless scenarios that led to this moment, but when faced with it in reality, you didn’t expect to feel hurt about it.

students gasped as they witnessed firsthand a cheater profess their love towards the person they cheated on. it was only the talk of the entire castle; boy cheats on girl. girl breaks down. boy’s twin brother swoops in to save her. girl heals and moves on but now the cheater-boy gets jealous and wants girl back?

professors and students alike were whispering amongst each other and gobbling the drama up like they were starving.

you, on the other hand, didn’t know what to say. you didn’t know what to feel or think either, only that he had wrecked you with seemingly no regrets with how happy he appeared to be the very next day after you walked in on them.

you didn’t hear fred approaching but you did see george running towards you from the bridge. and he looked like he was beyond pissed.

later, you were informed that, apparently, a student had broken off to find him, eager to feed the flames.

“fred, i swear to bloody fucking—!”

you held your hand up, stopping him before he could say anything else. he was tense when he came to stand beside you, his fists clenching and unclenching as he glared at his brother.

this was your confrontation and even though you didn’t want a showdown, you supposed you were going to be giving it after all. you turned to face your ex-boyfriend, who was looking at you with hopeful eyes.

“no, you don’t, fred.”

he frowned, looking actually confused as he moved towards you, leaves crunching beneath his feet. you felt as though there was a metaphor in there somewhere.

“yes, i do, [y/n]. and i’m—i’m sorry it took me this long to realize it and i’m sorry i cheated on you—”

you could practically hear the entire castle scoffing at that, including george and yourself.

“but i swear to you, i still love you. very much so. you have to know that i—i made a mistake, i didn’t know what i was doing and i didn’t realize how good i had it with you until it was gone. [y/n], i’m sorry.”

“merlin,” your prefect swore from a little ways away, rolling their eyes with arms crossed. “if she takes him back, i'm so docking house points.”

fred had you pinned. your face was flushed with how public your relationship had gotten considering the crowd and in turn, panic set in at the thought of dealing with him in the middle of all this. without thinking, you reached up and squeezed george’s arm, fred watching the movement like a hawk.

“get me out of here.” you were choking on a multitude of emotions.

so many of them, swirling underneath the surface, building up until george brought you to the side, clearing students away, snapping at them when they got too close.

you were having trouble breathing, an anxiety attack on the verge, but george knew what to do. “hey, hey, [y/n] love, breathe please. just breathe for me, can you do that?”

he held your hand to his chest as he breathed with you, gesturing for you to follow his lead. your eyes stayed glued to his as you did and you found your heart starting to beat faster for a whole other reason.

though when you calmed down, you were still shaking with tears and george immediately engulfed you in his arms. you let yourself cry comfortably into his shoulder, listening as he whispered sweet nothings in your ear.

fred was running towards you, eyes wide with worry but george stopped him before he could come any closer as he helped you onto your feet, sniffling. “not now, fred. bugger off.” he hissed.

your ex just stood there, staring solemnly as he watched you leave, clutching his brother close. he wondered when had it gotten this messy?

george supported you all the way to the hospital wing, urging you to take a calming drought. you didn’t bother insisting otherwise because when it came to your wellbeing, he always ensured that he had his way.

madam pomfrey was quick and efficient with the drought and was kind enough to let you have a few minutes to rest on one of the cots with george sitting next to you, his legs stretched out in front of him. he let his weight rest on his arms behind him as he tilted his head back with eyes closed, soaking in the warm and natural sunlight of the infirmary.

“are you okay?” he sounded worried, if not a little tired. guilt shot through your entire being.

you watched him from the corner of your eye and you felt breathless all over again. he was beautiful and then the sun set him on fire and he was golden.

you were nervously fiddling with your hands before george lay his on top of them, making you finally meet his gaze.

“i’m sorry,” you blurted, pulling away from him. he peered at you with his brows furrowed, looking not unlike a kicked puppy. “you’re fighting with your brother, your twin brother, and—and you’re against him because of me.”

despite the situation, a smile grew on your best friend’s lips. “i will admit i have a very strong urge to kick his teeth in, but i’m not against him, [y/n]. i’m not with him either, i’m with you. all the way, if you’ll have me.”

“all the way?” you tilted your head to the side, not quite catching what he meant.

the smile was still there. “i like you, a lot. i always have, since first year, but then my twit of a brother decided he did too and… i had to be happy for you two.” he sighed, rubbing his face and aging up a few years. “i didn’t know how to approach you about what fred was doing, scared my personal feelings would get in the way somehow, confident someone else was going to tell you. i… i should be the sorry one; i was a mess and i left you all alone and—”

you didn’t think, you just did; you leaned up and kissed him.

you took him by surprise, if the sharp inhale through his nose was anything to go by, but then his eyes fluttered shut, long eyelashes evident against your face. he slowly reached up, threading your hair through his fingers as he gently cradled the back of your head, pulling you in closer.

he kissed you like you were air and he couldn’t breathe.

when you pulled away, he chased your lips for a moment but settled for a chaste peck instead. both your faces were flushed red, breathless as a comfortable silence passed until you burst into soft laughter, conscious of your surroundings.

it was like you had just shared an inside joke, not unlike any other moment in your friendship. and it felt right, being with him.

“you did leave me alone, but you also came back and you haven’t left since. you’re here now george, and that’s all that matters.” you smiled, moving to rest your hands on his cheeks, which grew plump with how wide he was returning your smile. “but if you hurt me, i’m burning the burrow to the ground.”

“i know, i know. hell hath no fury and all that,” george rolled his eyes before leaning forward for another kiss. “i can’t get enough of this now, you know, of you.”

you leaned back, chuckling as george lifted his eyebrows in surprise that you didn’t want to receive his affection. “maybe the infirmary isn’t the best place for this?”

“oh, we’ll be alright.” he playfully rolled his eyes, one arm moving to wrap around your waist to make sure you weren’t going anywhere this time as his other hand cupped your cheek. his face then morphed into one of seriousness. “you didn’t answer my question; will you have me?”

your expression softened as he searched your eyes, as if looking for an answer there. “all the way, george.”

you pushed forward to catch his lips in a quick kiss, but you were even quicker to take advantage of the distraction to wiggle out of his arms and dash out the infirmary. george’s shock was momentary before he chased after you.

and the rest was history.

[hansolmates]

the proposal (m)

banner done by the ammmahhzzing @eerieedits​

summary; Jeon’s the editor-in-chief for Big Hit Publishings, a closet romantic with a penchant for antagonizing his assistant on the reg. When his work visa is in the process of being renewed and he takes a trip to Norway, his eligibility to stay in America is on the line. However Jeon Jungkook doesn’t go without a fight, and in order to save his job he offers you a proposal you can't refuse. pairing; editor!Jungkook x assistant!reader (f) genre/warnings; the proposal!au, fake marriage au, enemies to friends(!!!), friends to lovers, bouts of flangst, dry humping, slight blood but not too bad, lang, alcohol, poor jjk discovers he has the ability to feel emotion, poor y/n is in the middle as always w.c; 20.1k of endless banter and koo hiding his romantic side a/n; yeah, it’s almost summer. But i think we need a lil holiday magic in our lives! I rewatched the proposal this weekend and whipped this up. Why is koo so gosh darn easy to write? This is my longest fic since i wrote maze runner back in 2014!! i rec this extension to get fully immersed in 2pov! Enjoy and pls tell me if there’s any errors im too poopied to proofread it again drabbles; 01

“When I hired you, you basically signed a contract that said you’d do anything for me.” 

“Yeah, Jeon. I did. That meant like, getting you coffee or working late hours—normal work stipulations,” you can feel the hair on your scalp growing thinner, “not commit fucking fraud!” 

Your boss looks moreso frustrated than you are, but you cease to care. Jeon Jungkook has been nothing but a thorn in your side since your employment at Big Hit Publishing two years ago. Being a budding author who wanted to graduate from online sites and freelancing, you accepted the job as the editor-in-chief’s assistant in the hopes of getting your first book published. 

However, your dreams of being an editor are quickly dissipating, especially when Jungkook corners you this afternoon and announces that he may have left America during the time his work visa was still processing. He may have to give over his editor-in-chief position because there’s no way he can get a work visa processed in time. As a result of this information, he may have told his supervisors that you seduced him on a late night one year ago, and you two fell in love and have been secretly engaged ever since. 

Because y’know, your citizenship to this country is an asset to the company. 

“We didn’t have to go to Norway to PR Emma Watson’s autobio,” you huff, fingers going pale from how hard you were gripping your iPad. Jungkook is an esteemed workaholic, and you have no idea where it stems from. You remember that trip to Oslo, Jungkook insisting that you and him both go to make sure everything goes smoothly.

“You weren’t complaining when we went to that restaurant with the open bar.” he runs a hand through his coiffed hair, making the pomade untack from its style. “You got so drunk that Emma held you while you cried about global warming.” 

Wholly unamused, you frown. “Jungkook, can you please take this seriously?”

“I’m taking this seriously, you’re not the one who’s about to be deported in two weeks!” Jungkook hisses, face dangerously close to yours. Not that anyone would know what he’s saying, but you can tell from his defenses that he genuinely is nervous. 

“You wouldn’t be deported if you had just set an earlier appointment to renew your Visa!” 

“I wouldn’t be deported if you had just set an earlier appointment to renew my Visa!” 

At least twenty pairs of eyes are watching your confrontation, probably making their own conclusions as to what you two were fighting about again. Curse this office for having full-walled windows, you often feel like an ant in a plastic farm. Your work relationship is an anomaly to the rest of the staff. Before you started working at Big Hit, Jungkook’s assistants did not last long. Within the first week of working, you understood why. 

Jungkook whirls around his desk, glaring at the glass doors as he puts himself between the staff and you. “If you don’t marry me,” he says lowly, close enough for his hot breath to fan your face, coupled with his fresh-scented cologne. It annoys you how good he smells. “You’ll also be replaced because they want to give the my position to fuckin’ Karen of all people,” you fight the twitch of your lips. The only thing you two mutually agreed upon is the hatred of his co-editor, Karen. “All of the late nights we’ve worked together, the gallons of coffees you consumed, putting up with my shit, your dreams of becoming an author,” his eyes flicker to the way the grip in your iPad trembles, “will go down the drain and turn to shit. Whether you like it or not, we’re in this together.” 

Pretending to be unfazed, you bat your lashes, “So are you saying, you need me?” 

“For fuck’s sake—”

“Ah-ah, Jungkook. I’m not going to ask you to get on one knee, but you should at least tell me how much you need me.” 

You assume with great confidence that the only reason you’re kept on Jungkook’s payroll is because you’re not afraid to stand up to Jungkook’s bullshit. He looks positively disgusted at the mere thought of paying you an iota of a compliment. You’d say on average, you get half a compliment a month from Jungkook. You say half because he’ll compliment you, then downplay it with whatever flaw he can fabricate to get under your skin. 

He loosens his lavender paisley tie, annoyed. “Fine. I need you. I need you because you’re the only one who knows me well enough to be my wife. You’re the only woman I’ve had full conversations with in two years and knows all my dietary restrictions, favorite books, foods, and hobbies. By process of elimination, you are my best candidate.” 

“Romantic,” you roll your eyes, “I guess I do,” you push him away with a finger to his chest, “but I want a raise. And after we finish Sorn and Mark’s project, I want you to read my novel.” 

“Done and done.” 

“Well Jeon, I guess you’ve wifed me up with your ways of seduction.” you muse sardonically, feeling more upset for yourself than anything. 

“Fantastic,” he sighs, finally throwing his tie across the desk and plopping in his armchair. “Cancel the call with Janet, call PR about Irene Kim’s interview on Ellen, and order me a medium rare steak from J.J. Bittings with a side of brussels.” 

“Right,” you mutter under your breath as you pull up your checklist, as if you didn’t just give away your life to the Devil incarnate. 

Jungkook’s back is already facing you, focusing on his computer displaying two new manuscripts. “Oh, and on your way to J’s don’t forget to pick up your ring at Saks.”

“Bitch, you’re asking me to pick up my fake wedding ring?” 

Unbothered, he shrugs. You see the planes of his shoulders stretch beneath the blazer, because he’s deemed this conversation long over and he has work to do. “Yeah, but it’s real diamonds.” 

You’ve been seeing red for days. 

While the rock on your ring finger is indeed beautiful because Jungkook has impeccable taste, it drags you down and arouses the elephant in the room everytime you show up for work. 

You get enough stares on the daily, and you were just getting used to the looks of pity and sympathy for working under Jungkook, but now there are only snickers and playful winks as you trudge down the cubicles every morning. Everyday feels like the runway at a shitshow, and you are the headliner. 

Taehyung clapped you none-too-hard on the back when you showed up to work the next morning, congratulating you on the engagement. “Can’t believe you’re fuckin’ the big boss!” 

The rest of the staff poke their eyes out of their cubicles like Digletts, and you shush them, using your hand to make them sink down. 

Coffee is spilling down your shirt thanks to him, and you reach for tissues in his cubicle. “Can you not say it like that, please?” 

“Oh, come on. I heard from the supervisors Jungkook went on about how you seduced him late at night and took charge,” Taehyung wiggles his eyebrows approvingly, and you fight the urge to not throw up your coffee in his face. “How do you keep it so professional? Or do you save all that pent-up energy for after hours?” 

“You disgust me,” you grimace, stepping out of his cubicle and immediately regret wasting your five-minute break conversing with the typist.

Striding back into Jungkook’s office, he doesn’t hesitate to rattle off the next items on today’s agenda. He barely looks at you when you stride in, too focused on whatever corrections he’s slashing in red ink. 

“Did you get Taemin’s second draft?” 

“No, and I told him that if he can’t get me the draft by tonight he won’t get a publishing deadline and the number of copies published will be decreased by a third.” 

“And Taehyung’s author agreed to our stipulations?” 

“Of course, she’d be dead not to.”  you mutter, “she’s a nineteen year old Influencer, what would she know?” 

“Exactly, that’s why we milk it out as long as we can.” Jungkook throws the first draft in a large, intimidating pile, mixing in with all the others like a needle in a haystack. “Which is why it’s important we snag dinner with her this weekend, we can really—”

“What, this weekend?” your sense of equilibrium cracks, and you walk forward to put his hands on his desk. “I took this coming week off for Christmas. I’ve planned this for months.” 

“I know.”

“I can’t just cancel my flight! I saved up for that!”

“And?” Jungkook brushes off your fury like a piece of lint, “I’m Korean. Christmas is a fake holiday for me.” 

“You can’t just tell me I can’t go home to my family, it’s the fucking holidays!” 

“Why not, I’ve done it before. Remember on Valentine’s day when I told you the only date you have is a date with Kwon Boa’s publicist? Or on Secretaries Day when I argued that you don’t feel appreciated by society anyway and therefore why bother taking one extra day off? Or during Easter when your family screamed in my office on speakerphone that you should quit—”

“Okay,” no need to be reminded of how much you’ve wasted your life for this man, “but this is different. I’ve already bought plane tickets and this holiday is special. It’s a whole family reunion in the Poconos and we’ve reserved over five houses to fit all of us! I can’t just ditch!” 

“But I need you!” he replied just as hotly, in a tone that reminded you so many times of how tethered you are by this man. Two years have gone by, and the only thing that kept those strings together is the constant ache in getting your first novel published. “With all the marriage stuff and stupid extentions we had to make on these writers there’s no way we can get everything done before winter ends!” 

“You’ve done it before, why can’t you just ask Taehyung to assist—”

“Trouble in paradise?” 

A chill travels up your spine, and you and Jungkook exchange panicked eye contact. A tiny, pretty blonde lady struts in the room like it's hers, plopping a fruit basket atop Jungkook’s manuscripts. 

“If by paradise you mean our relationship, then no.” Jungkook’s the first to recover, meeting you at your side and stretching an arm around your waist. “I’d say work-wise things are getting a little rough, but nothing we can’t handle. We’re a team, after all.” 

“I just wanted to stop by as I was in the neighborhood,” the woman says, making herself comfortable in a leather seat reserved for guests. “Congratulations again on your engagement.” 

You tack on a smile, squeezing Jungkook’s arm a little too hard, but it’s enough to make the lady in front of you smile back. “What brings you here, Taeyeon?” 

Kim Taeyeon is Jungkook’s immigration liaison, AKA the person responsible for making sure you’re not breaking the law. She’s a pretty thing, with eyes sharp but a smile that’s soft and deceiving. 

“It’s just a shame you two have to rush a civil wedding,” Taeyeon sighs, looking at the window overlooking the city. 

“Ah, it takes some of the planning stress off my back, really.” you force a laugh, tugging Jungkook to sit on the couch opposite her. “At least one thing is done. The thought of planning a whole wedding with over two-hundred people is so stressful.” 

You weren’t really going to have a white wedding with Jungkook (however you may have entertained the thought, which is reflected in your Google search history) but you had to keep up the ruse that you were. A civil wedding in two weeks, then a quickie divorce a year later. 

“I know! My wedding was a real mess let me tell you, straight out of a movie!” Taeyeon is certainly the type of person to make you feel at ease, so at ease that it’s simple for you to melt your front. “But besides the point, are you two doing anything special for the holidays?” 

“Ah, well I bought a flight to meet my family in the Poconos,” you start, trying not to succumb to your nervous habit of wringing your fingers. You grab Jungkook’s hand as a reprieve. 

“And you’re not going?” Taeyeon’s gaze snaps, yes snaps, to Jungkook. 

You try to step in, realizing your flaw. “We’ve just been so swamped with work, all the immigration stuff and with these book delays Jungkook suggested he stay behind—” 

“But we’ve decided to prioritize our personal life and enjoy Christmas with our family,” Jungkook swoops in, threading his fingers between yours. He flashes Taeyeon a smile, and from the way his face lights up and his nose crinkles, you could’ve mistaken it to be genuine. “I’ve never experienced a big family Christmas, y’know. I’ve missed snowboarding too, I used to do it a lot in highschool.” 

“Oh, that’s just so sweet!” Taeyeon cooes, clasping her hands together. “Do send some pictures when you come back!” 

“Of course,” Jungkook stands up and attempts to leave Taeyeon out. You follow in tow, She obliges easily, mentioning something about just wanting to check in and she also has work to do. 

“Also,” Taeyeon’s head flickers to the people sitting outside Jungkook’s office. “You should manage those workers out there,” she looks at you, sympathetic. “Apparently, they didn’t peg you as the type of person to sleep their way to the top. And that’s just what I heard from walking down the hall once!” she laughs, tinkling brighter than a windchime, but you just tighten the grip on Jungkook’s palm. “Such a childish assumption. Things can be much more complicated.” 

She tips a “happy holidays” off her shoulder, and you both are smiling like the loving couple you are. As soon as the elevator doors close and Taeyeon is really gone, Jungkook moves to let go of your hand, but you hold him in your grasp. 

“She’s onto us,” you snap, tugging him closer to you so your co-workers wouldn’t read your lips. 

“Don’t you think I know that?” he bites back. He looks offendingly at the fruit basket adorning his desk. 

“What if we get caught, Jungkook?” you start to spiral, feeling your deepest fears crawl to the forefront of your brain. You’ve done extensive Google research on commiting fraud, and if you do get caught, Jungkook will never be able to come back to this country and you’ll have a fine of up to $250,000. Your boss doesn’t pay you nearly enough to get by with that kind of debt. “We’ll ruin this company, and our lives, and any hope of being published or credible.” 

“Hey, relax,” Jungkook whispers in your ear, the tone oddly comforting. He pulls you into his arms, and you barely have a chance to recover when he squeezes you extra tight around your waist. Jungkook only ever hugs you when doing PR, and even then it’s an awkward half-hug. Hell, he never hugged you on your birthday. “This is what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna book my flight to the Poconos, bring some manuscripts so we can work remotely, and no one will ever know.” 

You sigh into his arms, nodding tiredly. It feels nice to be hugged like this. His arms are strong and warm, and you feel small and protected. It’s been a while since you’ve felt like that. Maybe Jungkook did have a heart under all that muscle. 

“I’m putting up a good show, aren’t I?” he says, and you feel your heart drop just a little. Disappointed, but not surprised. 

From your view facing the cubicles, you see at least half the employees comically bugged with  heart eyes at you, enamored by your fake relationship. 

“Do not stretch your long-ass legs on this plane, Jeon,” you nudge your smaller leg away from your section of leg room, “Jesus, we’re flying economy!” 

It scares you how little you fought against Jungkook joining you for the winter holiday. It is the logical decision after all, Taeyeon is on your trail about your sudden engagement and you both needed to keep up the ruse. That includes going on family vacations. Also, the fact that Jungkook works through Christmas because he doesn’t celebrate it does make you feel a little bad. You can’t remember the last time the man took a vacation. 

The man in question barely moves at your weak attempt, and stretches his leg even further across your seat. “Sorry, babe,” he says, fishing around his seat for the included blanket. 

“It’s fine, Kookie.” You reply sweetly, and decide to kick off your shoes to drape a leg over Jungkook’s thighs, “you’re like a portable footrest!” 

He looks absolutely insulted at your objectification, but smartly decides to choose his battles and lets you keep your position. Tucking himself in with a scratchy blanket he waves you off, “Whatever, just wake me up when we arrive.” 

“What, no.” you pull up your iPad, shoving the note entry in his face. “I know everything about you, and yet you know nothing about me. I made this easy on you and just wrote everything down. You just have to read it.” 

“Seriously? I’ve known you for over two years, I’m sure I know enough about you.” 

“Really, then how do I like my coffee?” 

“Uh… hot?” 

You give him a look and he knows. With a sigh he grabs the iPad from your hands. Within seconds he’s giving you another dirty look, as if he’s skimming a conspiracy novel. 

“You know all this random shit about me?” Jungkook asks, scrolling down as to what feels like your life story. 

“Yes, because unlike you, I listen when you talk.” 

“Fine. What’s my favorite type of weather?” 

“A warm and sunny day, which correlates to your favorite kind of date which is walking along the beach at sunset. Cliché much?” 

“Okay, rude. Who’s my favorite artist?” 

“You like a little bit of everything, but since seventh grade you’ve been pining for IU. In the office, you like to sing along to Lauv and Hozier.” 

“Favorite movie?” 

“The Marvel Series. But you really like 5 Centimeters Per Second, you like the romance.” 

“And how do you know my favorite anime movie is 5 Centimeters Per Second? I’m pretty sure I’ve never told you that.” 

“Jeon, when we were promoting Momo Hirai’s self-help book at Anime Expo you were gone for two and a half hours at 1:50 sharp.” your boss’ Adam’s apple bobs and he swallows thickly at your admonition. “And low and behold, you gave yourself thirty minutes’ time to line up early because when I checked the schedule Makoto Shinkai had a panel on ‘The Otaku’s Perspective on Romantic—”

“Alright alright, I get it.” Jungkook slumps in his seat, as comfy as it can get with your legs draped around him and a seat at the far end of the plane. You know he’s trying to hide a blush, and you feel proud for making him a little flustered. “You’re lucky I’m a fast reader.” 

The plane ride goes relatively fast, with Jungkook asking quick questions about your family and other random things. It’s like playing a game of 20 Questions, instead it’s the final boss battle with 200 questions and if he doesn’t get them all right, the penalty is deportation. 

When you land, you’re both stiff and glazed over. Once you exit the terminal, Jungkook ditches you for the bathroom and says he’ll meet you at the luggage pickup. You give yourself a few moments, gearing yourself up for the long week ahead of you. At the luggage pickup, you see a tall man watch the revolving conveyor belt with interest. Either that, or he’s zoning out. 

“Joonie!” you cry, nearly dropping your phone upon seeing your big brother. He’s dressed comfortably in a grey sweat ensemble, as if he rolled out of bed and came straight to the airport. 

A bright grin takes over his face, and he doesn’t hesitate to smush your body against his. Under his tall frame you sway, your toes barely swiping the ground. “You’re alive!” he cheers, pulling back and holding your shoulders to get a real look at you. “I can see you’ve gained a little weight, eyes are a little dark, but I’m glad the Devil let you go. I still can’t forgive him for making you skip out on Jin’s wedding.” 

You don’t appreciate the way that Namjoon picks and prods at your exhaustion, but you know he means well. While he does not know your boss by face and name, he had enough artilerary from the billions of phone calls to learn about the Devil and the havoc he’s wreaked upon your life.

When you don’t respond he gets the cue that you do not want to talk about work this week, and he smacks his lips together. “But nothing a little R&R can’t fix! The ski resort nearby has a really nice outdoor jacuzzi and we could set an appointment for facials if you’d like. Or we could do absolutely nothing and turn into baked potatoes and watch movies until our eyes burn up.” 

“Both would be great,” you smile softly, catching two familiar suitcases make their rounds on your flight’s conveyor belt. You grab your pink luggage with one hand, and Jungkook’s black chrome one with your other. 

“So, where’s the new beau?” Namjoon rocks back and forth on his heels, hoping to get a glimpse of the mystery boy you mentioned you’d be bringing as of two days ago. 

“He really had to go to the bathroom,” you squint your eyes to make out the newcomers exiting the dropoff area. “Oh, there he is. Kook!” 

Like a goddamn model, he struts in your field of vision like nobody’s business. Unlike you who stayed in your apartment all day before leaving, Jungkook decided to spend a few hours at Big Hit in the morning to tie up most of the loose ends before your trip. He’s talking to what you assume to be is a client, noting the way his brow furrows as he clutches his phone with a tight hold. He’s changed out of his tie and leather oxfords, but he’s dressed crisply in a dark button up and blazer ensemble, still wholly overdressed for a family reunion. 

Namjoon starts behind you, “He looks...” 

“Handsome?” you goad, elbowing him, “Charismatic? Undeniable presence?” 

“Hard.” 

You don’t know what to make of that adjective, and you subtly shrink further in your jacket as you mull over the implications of his word choice. 

Jungkook steps up to the two of you, ending his call. His eyes float between you and your brother, and he manages to put two and two together. “Hey man,” Jungkook gives a practiced smile, extending a hand. “I’m Jungkook, I’ve heard lots of things about you.” 

“Good things, I hope.” Namjoon chuckles, returning the handshake. “I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you, though. Can’t wait to get to know you this week.” 

“Looking forward to it,” Jungkook takes his luggage and Namjoon grabs yours, leading you two out to his minivan. While Namjoon is preoccupied with getting the car started, Jungkook looks at you as if he’s already regretting making the trip down. “This girl has two braincells to her name. I just got off the phone with Sorn’s publicist.” 

“What trouble can an influencer do?” you reply in disbelief. 

“Exactly, influencing is the trouble,” he pinches the bridge of his nose, “she did some mukbang and now she’s in the hospital for food poisoning.” 

“Ah, don’t get too worked up,” you help him lug your suitcases in the trunk. You spot Namjoon subtly eyeing you two from the rear mirror. Pressing a thumb between his brows, you make work to melt away the 11-shaped stress lines on his forehead. “Let’s just send her a Lush gift basket and she’ll be fine.” 

You ignore the way Jungkook’s gaze lingers on you longer than needed, running over to your seat at shotgun. 

The inside of his car smells like bergamot and lemon, and the sweet, vulnerable side of you wants to cry over how much you’ve missed your brother’s scent. It’s been way too long. 

Once you’re all safely in the car and driving Namjoon says, “So, are you going to hide the engagement ring or give the family a collective heart attack?” 

You tense, hands automatically floating to the teardrop diamond weighing heavily on your ring finger. The story that you two contrived about your relationship isn’t too complicated, but complex enough that it seems convincing. Instead of being your boss, Jungkook is your Literary Agent who gives you referrals to new and upcoming authors. You working closely together and bonding over the stresses of the publishing world, have kept a secret relationship under wraps for over a year to avoid any unprofessionalism or favoritism. 

“I was thinking about that the whole ride, actually,” you twirl the metal back and forth, watching it gleam in the light. “Mom and dad know, but I don’t wanna lie to the rest of my family. They’ll freak out because it’s the first time they’re meeting Kook and we’re already engaged. It’s just a location thing, y’know. You guys don’t live in the city so we’ve never had a chance to really talk it out.” 

Namjoon snorts, “Or, because your boss never gives you a break.” 

If Jungkook finds any offense, he doesn’t show it. Putting what should be a comforting hand on your shoulder, he says from the back seat, “I already told you babe, do what makes you comfortable. But I don’t want to lie to your parents early on, you don’t wanna make the situation any more complicated.” 

In other words, you better tell them about our engagement because Taeyeon could be hiding in the bushes waiting to catch us. 

“Smart man,” Namjoon says shortly, but you can’t tell whether it’s a compliment or not. 

“Yeah,” you exhale, turning to smile stiffly at Jungkook, “no use hiding the inevitable, right?” 

The next couple hours are overwhelming. There’s a party right when you walk in your winter villa, your parents throwing you a reunion party (not for your family, but for you specifically because you’ve been MIA since Big Hit) with the house filled to the brim with family members. Within seconds your favorite cousin checks out the rock on your finger and screams that you’re engaged. 

Everyone must be so high off the fact that you’ve made it to a family event that they’re elated you have a life outside of work. Jungkook is treated like a prince, charming the hell out of all your aunties and baby cousins. 

“Oh, pumpkin!” your auntie squeals, linking arms with you while you’re trying to eat your dinner, “I just hugged your fiancé, and he has abs! Lucky you!” 

“Auntie,” you hiss playfully, “you hugged him that tight?” 

“He’s part of the family, isn’t he?” 

“Right,” you force a smile, downing your glass of champagne. The bubbles burn your throat pleasantly. 

“Babe, can you come here for a second?” Jungkook manages to swim his way through the throng in the living room, holding out a hand for you, “your mom said that our room is ready, care to lead the way?” 

His smile, as pretty as you can care to admit, renders your aunt speechless, and she lets him whisk you away to a long hallway that leads to a set of bedrooms. Jungkook lets go of your hand as soon as you're alone, letting his palm run along the pictures that decorate your hallway. 

He stops at a picture of you and Namjoon as kids, faces tanned and lips cherry red from your twin popsicles melting on your hands. “Wow,” Jungkook pretends to be alarmed, “I didn’t know you used to be cute, what happened?” 

“Shut up,” you smack his hand away, walking ahead of him. 

“I thought you guys reserved a bunch of houses, why does the furniture look worn and there’s pictures of you everywhere?” 

“Our extended family has reserved houses, but this is actually my family’s vacation home. I used to go here every winter and summer break,” you reach a bedroom in the corner of the hall, smiling at your wooden name tag hanging on the front, “this is my old room.” 

It certainly doesn’t have that youthful charm it once had, but there are still bits of your childhood scattering the room. There’s ticket stubs and photobooth strips tacked to a corkboard near your desk. Books that you would reread cover to cover are organized proudly on your shelf, worn for wear. 

Jungkook groans in relief, plopping his body down on your freshly made bed. “Your family’s really clingy.” he sighs, throwing an arm over his eyes. 

You turn to give him a snappy answer, but it dies in your throat when you see what he’s laying on. The familiar family quilt sinks under Jungkook’s weight, mocking you. You shriek, throwing your arms over to lug his body to the other side of the bed. Bundling up the quilt in your arms, you glare at a very appalled Jungkook. 

“The hell is wrong with you, woman!” he cries, not loud enough to escape the room, but enough to have your body vibrate in annoyance. 

“Jeon, they put the fucking baby blanket in my room,” you mutter more to yourself than him, folding it under your arms. 

The blanket is comfy in your grasp and you’re sure it’s clean, but the fact that you weren’t actually married and in love made its appearance a whole lot worse. 

“So?” his eyes are wide in confusion, “my mom still has my baby blanket too, I’m not gonna shoot anyone because of it.” 

“It’s not my baby blanket,” you admonish, “it’s the baby maker blanket. A weird family tradition when someone gets engaged.”

“Which means?” 

“They’re expecting us to fuck and have children.” 

The thought of procreating and starting a family with you must’ve caused all the champagne to return to his throat, and he looks a little pale. “I think I’m gonna be sick.” he lies back down on your mattress, and you leave him be so you can chuck the blanket back in your parents’ room. 

You’re barely out the door when a young man is waiting out in the hallway for you, poised to knock. “Hey, baby girl.” they throw you an easy lopsided grin, opening their arms to you. 

In your haste, you slam your bedroom door a little too loudly. “Yoongi!” You let yourself sink into his waiting arms, reveling in the familiar embrace you missed so much. Yoongi is Namjoon’s best friend and work buddy, not to mention the man you’ve had a crush on since you were able to walk. While you can safely say at this moment there is nothing serious going on, a small part of you always wishes there could be. 

His voice husks in your ear, “Why are we hugging in between the baby blanket?” 

“Oh!” you brush past him, opening the door to your parents’ room and flinging the offending item as far into their room as possible. “Sorry, Jungkook and I were a little freaked out when we saw it. We’re definitely not thinking about children right now.” 

“Jungkook,” he hums, and your smile falters just a tad when you see the way Yoongi tips his head down in thought, “It was quite the news. Congrats though.” 

You want to say what you’re supposed to say, that yes, you should be happy. But the selfish part of you does not want this exchange between you and Yoongi to be happening. When you get your quickie divorce in a year, the small, hopeful part of you hopes you and Yoongi could be something. 

Before you have a chance to fabricate a response, strong hands encircle your waist, and you feel Jungkook’s chin digging into your shoulder. 

“Thanks, man,” Jungkook’s voice rumbles, “we really appreciate it.” 

Yoongi gives a nod, muttering something about catching up later before he walks back to the party. 

It’s then that Jungkook’s weight feels impossibly heavy on your shoulders. “You know, you’ve been doing a really shitty job of being my wife-to-be ever since we landed,” Jungkook whispers, feather soft lips dusting across the shell of your ear. It’s an act so intimate you can imagine your family passing down the hallway could be mistaking you two for speaking unthinkable acts. A toddler cousin spots you two and giggles, babbling something to your uncle about how you’re hugging. “You did so well when we were with Taeyeon and Big Hit.” 

“It’s not the same when I’m lying to my family,” you turn to face him, equally simmering. “These are people that actually love and care for me, unlike you.” 

“At least I care about what’s most important,” he grits back, “our jobs, our futures. Is that not enough for you to keep it in your pants?” 

“Excuse me? You don’t even know him!” 

“I don’t have to know him because I’m holding you right now and you’re practically sweating through your cardigan.” he grimaces, digging his chin further into your collarbone, literally trying to get under your skin. “Your face looks like a cherry tomato.” 

You turn your head to bite back, your noses touching. The staring contest seems to last for days. Unlike Jungkook who doesn't know how to register basic human emotion, you still have hopes for a life after this. Before you have a chance to answer, your favorite cousin enters the hallway, oblivious to your concerns. Jimin’s red all over, passing you two flutes of blush champagne. “Hurry up, we’re making speeches!” 

Champagne is overflowing like Niagara, and you and Jungkook are the reason for it as you’re thrusted into the living room. Your weird uncle is in the middle of a long-winded speech about his fishing business and how dreams are made from ‘bait and a dream’. You make eye contact with him, and he gestures wildly to you and Jungkook. 

The crowd proceeds to go wild, echoes of speech! Speech! Reverberating throughout your living room. You and Jungkook share uneasy smiles, unsure of where to go with this show. 

Deciding it’s your family by blood, you start first. “Honestly, when I moved to New York I wasn’t expecting to feel so lonely,” you clutch your flute with both hands, swirling your drink absentmindedly. You then turn to Jungkook, giving him a tender smile which he returns back just as fondly. “Until I met Jungkook. I’m really happy that I get to share this week with the people I love the most, so let's drink to family!” 

Jungkook lifts his glass, “Thank you for the warm welcome, I can’t wait to spend time with all of you. This is my first Christmas with a large, loving family. Cheers to that!” 

The room erupts in cheers, allowing themselves to clink glasses and chase down their respective drinks. Even the little ones crowding the kiddie table in the back are enjoying their apple juice while making silly faces at the new couple. 

Jungkook weaves his arm between yours, and you get the signal to do a couples’ drink. He eyes you with mischief, as if to say we did it. After you two take your drink, Jimin’s the first to drunkenly yell, “Ohmygod just kiss already!” 

“Kiss kiss kiss!” 

“This is going on my story so make it good!” 

“Kiss him before I do!” 

“Oh my god,” you groan, throwing your forehead on Jungkook’s chest. Your family really is something else. 

As if the chants can’t get any louder, it’s hard to focus on anything but Jungkook’s presence. Jungkook lifts your chin up, murmuring, “Let’s give the people what they want.” and he presses his lips to yours. 

It’s awkward at first. Why wouldn’t it be, you’re making out with your boss, in front of your family, pretending to be engaged. But Jungkook doesn’t let up, parting your lips slightly to deepen the kiss. As much as you want to make up how terrible and disgusting kissing Jungkook is, it really isn’t. His lips are soft and he tastes like the peach champagne, and his grip on your waist is strong and warm. 

He leaves you breathless when you pull away, a smirk on his lips for a brief moment before he turns shyly to your family who are probably foaming at the mouth now. 

Maybe it’s the champagne coursing through your veins, but why does it suddenly feel so hot in the middle of winter? 

The first day back starts off wholly uneventful, with Jungkook working on some manuscripts and you preparing dinner with Jimin. Most of your family is on the resort hitting the slopes, so you’re quite thankful for the reprieve since the party was so overwhelming. The blonde is all smiles as he bumps the oven closed with his leg, letting your lasagna bake to perfection. 

“I’ve missed you so much,” Jimin rests his head on your shoulder, “it’s definitely not the same when we’re adults. Frankly, it sucks balls.” 

“Big balls,” you agree, gnawing on a leftover baguette from last night. 

“Speaking of big balls,” Jimin wiggles his brows as you attempt to move farther from him.

“Please don’t say it.” 

“C’mon! Just tell me if the sex is good!” 

“No!” you cry, flicking your crumbs at him. 

“I will open this oven,” his hands are already on the handle, “and your dish will undercook.” 

“Don’t you dare!” he opens the oven a tad, and you slam your hand down. “Fine! The sex is fantastic, happy?” 

“Ewh, no!” The storm door swings open, revealing Namjoon, Yoongi, and Lisa, Namjoon’s lady friend. “I didn’t need to hear that, thanks.” 

Your face looks absolutely pained as you watch the two older men walk in. They were the last people you’d ever want to share about your sex life too, even if it is fake. You can only bear to look properly at Lisa as they kick off their boots and shake the snow off their heads. Lisa pokes her tongue in her cheek, looking at you with a wild look in her eyes. “I’ve heard so much about your current drama. Can’t wait to hear the 411 from you, though.” 

Yoongi looks unfazed, then again you never really know what’s going on in his head. “You guys wanna go to a movie tonight?” Yoongi asks, grabbing a slice of the baguette and dipping it in a dish of olive oil. “I think the one that’s showing is based on a book your company published.”

“Is it ‘Rotten Love’?” 

“That’s the one.” 

Pushing yourself off the counter, you nod eagerly. “I’ll go tell Jungkook to get ready. We can eat dinner real quick and then go right after,” you grab a bottle of water from the fridge, “Joonie, set up the table please.” 

Jungkook doesn’t notice you walk in, and you can hear the faint sound of Muse blasting from his Airpods. He’s on your floor, doing pushups while reading a transcript under him. This time he’s using your iPad, every few seconds taking a thumb to scroll down. Sweating through his shirt, you can see the beads running along his silver reading glasses. It’s completely contradictory, your muscle bunny of a boss getting in his reps while psychoanalyzing a potential novel, but somehow it works with him. 

“Maniac,” you mutter, bending down to place the cool water bottle on his cheek. He stops abruptly, like you’ve pressed the pause button on his seemingly robotic arms. Seriously, you can’t fathom how he manages to do both. You swipe the iPad under his body in place of a white towel, which he accepts gratefully. This isn’t the first time you’ve had to snap him out of it, sometimes you’d catch him at the company gym nearing 10PM, reading on the treadmill. 

“What time is it?” he asks, fluting the water bottle down his throat. 

Ignoring the way his neck glistens in sweat, you say, “It’s almost seven. C’mon, we’re gonna eat dinner and watch a movie. You’ve cooped yourself up in this room all day, time to interact with the world.” 

“What movie?” 

“The book we published in 2018, ‘Rotten Love’? They made it into a movie,” and you can’t help the wry grin that takes over your face when you say your next words, “guess who directed it.” 

He sighs, rubbing the towel over his damp hair. The normally styled strands fall limply at his forehead. “I don’t remember, I shifted over that project to PR. Any director’s fine, but please please please don’t let it be—”

“Jung Hoseok!”

“Son of a bitch, we gotta go.” And it’s the first time in a while you see a genuine smile graze his features, one not laced with you and your marriage. It’s an old pastime for you both to get picky over Jung’s work. “I swear, he better not put his scenes all over the place like last time, I got whiplash.” 

After a quick dinner you all pile into Namjoon’s minivan, making your way to the theatre. The drive is fast, and before you know it you’re waiting in line to get inside. It seems that the PR between the film studio and Big Hit did a good job assisting, because there’s a sizable line despite being half an hour early. 

“So honey,” Lisa leans into you, squishing you further into Jungkook’s shoulder. “Did you like, help out with the publishing of this novel? To be honest I don’t even know what your job is,” Lisa admits with a shrug, “you’re not a glorified coffee girl, are you?” 

“No,” her mixed enthusiasm never fails to stump you, “Ah, but I really didn’t do much in the production of ‘Rotten Love’,” you reply easily, relaxing into Jungkook as he moves to drape an arm around your shoulder. “I just told my boss to sign some documents n’stuff. It’s really nothing—”

“Babe, are you kidding? You ran the whole freakin’ project!” and you’re in shock, because for the first time in the history of ever, Jeon Jungkook is paying you a real compliment. “It was her first assignment when she got hired as the big boss’ assistant. A lot of people in the office doubted her,” he squeezes your shoulder, “but not for one second did I doubt her, you could see how hard she worked to make it perfect. I heard the boss was really impressed, too.” 

You remember that period of time. Jungkook made you dive headfirst into the publishing for ‘Rotten Love’, letting you sink or swim in his decision for keeping you employed. After a full month of meetings, negotiations, and debating whether you should have caffeine IV’ed in your body to save time on eating, you got Jungkook’s evaluation. You remember the stoicism in Jungkook’s frame as he surmised your work, throwing you a flippant “it’s decent” before sending you off to do more work. 

Relief flooded your system after those two simple words, because that meant you had a chance and you could keep your job. But this? If what he’s saying is true, you’re on Cloud 9. 

“Awh, thanks Kook.” you squeeze his arm, letting your fingers trail down to lace your fingers with his. 

Lisa’s face is all scrunched, and she doesn’t hesitate to stretch over you to smush Jungkook’s cheek between her two fingers. Her blue nails dig into his soft skin. “I like him, honey. Keep him, he’s so cute.” 

She leaves you alone after that, skipping over to bother Namjoon about buying an extra bucket of popcorn. 

“At first I was nervous having you near my family for a week,” you say brightly, rubbing a thumb over his hand, “but I kinda like seeing you try so hard to not rip other people’s heads off.” 

He puffs out his cheeks in an attempt to soothe the stinging. “Could be worse, I could be engaged to Karen.” 

With that you laugh, loud enough to turn heads and have Jimin and Lisa send you adoring looks. Jungkook sends you a nervous smile, the one that he’d always send you during team meetings when he was unsure of how to respond to something. Instead of giving him a smart answer, you get on your tiptoes to pat his reddened cheek. “But she’s right, you are kinda cute when you wanna be.” 

Instead of replying, he squeezes your hand tighter to lead you inside. 

Everything is smooth sailing after that. You, Jimin and Yoongi are saving the seats while Jungkook, Lisa and Namjoon are getting the refreshments. Jimin is prattling on about a new job interview and you’re listening attentively, while Yoongi shoots off advice every time Jimin says he’s nervous. 

Yoongi looks past Jimin to give you that gummy smile that always made your chest ache. “Chim, remember when she applied to work at Jamba Juice?” 

“Oh my god,” Jimin giggles, clutching your arm. “When you had to do a trial run in front of the manager? You forgot to put the lid on the blender and you sprayed the staff with green juice?” 

“The stains took forever to get out,” you pouted. “And I didn’t appreciate the snaps you saved of me. I got nervous because you were recording me!” 

“Am I hearing some juicy details about your childhood?” Jungkook appears, passing a huge tub of buttery popcorn to Yoongi. 

“Emphasis on juice,” Yoongi says tartly, popping a handful of kernels in his mouth. 

“Yes, do you wanna see a picture of your fiancé covered in green juice? She wore a low-cut shirt that day so it got deep, man.” Jimin says, using his hands to gesture obscenely to his own chest. 

You’re mortified, and you push down Jimin’s phone and cover whatever receipts he has on you. “Jimin, I’d like to stay engaged, if you don’t mind?” 

Your not-so-favorite cousin cackles in response, telling Jungkook that they’ll talk later. 

“Here,” Jungkook cooly hands you a King-Sized KitKat. 

“Awh,” you marvel, immediately opening the wrapper, “you actually read my notes and found out what my favorite candy was?” 

He scoffs, dark bangs blowing up. “Who doesn’t like KitKats?” but you’re giving him the look, and he sighs, “C’mon babe, just gimmie a break.” 

“Ha-ha,” but you break off a piece anyway, lifting it to Jungkook’s lips. It’s then that the theatre starts to dim, and the telltale signs of the movie begin. “Ready to rip Jung Hoseok to shreds?” 

“Always.” 

Barely fifteen minutes pass and Jungkook is spreading his legs. You’re about to kick him before he leans in to whisper, “They made Renee too dull,” he sighs in disappointment, as if he sincerely had high hopes they’d bring the novel to justice. “I mean, I get it, in the novel she’s supposed to be a plain Jane. But she isn’t grey.” 

“Right?” you lean into Jungkook, throwing your legs over his thighs like you’re back at the airport. This isn’t out of intimacy, you think to yourself, you just need to be close enough to Jungkook so you don’t disturb the other patrons with your talking. “She’s either a bad actress or they messed up her character. I really got upset when I read this part, but it’s kinda bland on the screen.” 

As much as you love Jimin, you know he’s not going to get your over-criticality over the media. Yoongi and Namjoon are on the other end of the row, but they wouldn’t be too pleased having you gab over the movie because you’re too much of an aficionado. Jungkook is the only one who can tête-à-tête, or in this case, Kit-a-Kat with you. 

You sigh into his shoulder, inhaling his clean scent. “Let’s pray Jung didn’t completely butcher the chapter where Kenzo reflects on his penniless journey.” 

“I’ll leave the theatre right then and there if that happens, care to join me?” 

“Already out the door, bossman.” 

Jungkook looks away from the screen briefly, reaching forward to take an obnoxiously big bite of the KitKat in your hand. You stifle a giggle, and before you can soak up his cheeky grin he’s already looking back at the movie. 

You wonder what Jungkook is like outside of work, if he has that side to him. A little part of you wishes that this playfulness he’s exuding is real. Not to your fake marriage, but a playfulness he can execute to a person that he really likes. Two days out of the office and you’re starting to see that Jungkook has the capabilities to enjoy life, however simple it may be. 

The movie is finished in a blur, and you and Jungkook are still bickering over the intricacies of the film compared to the novel. The night air is cold and burns your cheeks, reminding you exactly how late you’ve been out.

“Well, I thought the romance was so boring!” Lisa blurted, wanting an in. Her lime green ski jacket glares in your vision, and you move away from her immediately. “No one cheated on each other, there was no drama, or evil best friend!” 

“Whoa there,” and you see the little fire in Jungkook’s eyes, one you’ve learned early on to stay away from when you spent hours in his office debating over manuscripts and plotlines. He stares down at Lisa, really stares down. “You think every romance needs some sort of internalized conflict for it to be good? Why can’t they just grow and learn from the external conflict together? It’s literally useless for them to break up over and over just—”

And that’s your cue to walk ahead of them, because while you did agree with Jungkook, you’ve heard this debate one too many times. Ever the closet-romantic at heart. You hope Lisa doesn’t lose her patience and punch him out. 

“Hey,” you feel a hand pat your hair, and you look up at Yoongi. He looks absolutely fluffy in his long puffy jacket, and he matches your steps with his. “Do I look ugly tonight, or something? I feel like we barely exchanged two sentences with each other.” 

“What, never!” you chastise, “you always look good, Yoongi. And we have the whole week to catch up, remember?”

“Really, then why don’t we go out in two days to pick out a tree for your house? Joon and I are planning on going.” 

“I would love to go pick a tree!” you exclaim, “the last time we got a tree together was when your brother had to lift.” 

“Great,” and he pats your head again, but this time his hand lingers to finger the ringlets of your hair. “It’ll be just like old times, baby girl. I’ll pick you up at 9.” 

Unbeknownst to the both of you, Jungkook’s argument ended minutes ago and he’s mulling over a new type of internal conflict. 

“Owie, ow, ow—fuck you! Ow!” 

“Well if you just hold still,” Jungkook grimaces, taking his turns with both hands to simultaneously wipe the injury with a cloth and then pressing the affected area with an ice bag. 

“Buh ih hurths!” your voice is muffled by the cloth, stained red with freshly bloomed blood. 

The ski lodge started off great. You enjoyed a fabulous beligan waffle breakfast courtesy of Jimin’s parents, and then made the trek to the slopes. You’ve been here dozens of times, so you didn’t feel an inclination to gravitate to any of the fancy schmancy sports. You were fine playing shuffleboard inside, but your inner youth complained that it’s the holidays and you should be getting out more.

Jimin and Jungkook (who claimed he hasn't snowboarded since he was 16 yet he’s doing tricks like a goddamn Olympian) were shredding on the slopes while Namjoon and Lisa were skiing on a smaller hill. You and Yoongi watched safely from the lift, riding it like a kiddie attraction. You must’ve taken the lift at least ten times, complaining about how you’re both too lazy to function and you could really use a hot chocolate and a fireplace. 

After the fifteenth time on the lift, legs numb, you stumble over with heavy boots to where Lisa and Namjoon were waiting for Jimin and Jungkook. They wanted to walk around more and see if they could try a more difficult slope. 

While you were waiting, you had to admit that Jungkook did kind of cool all decked out in his gear. A competitive, playful smile was easily reflected in his gaze despite his helmet and goggles. 

That slight admiration is knocked right off your feet when Jungkook speeds by way too close for comfort and you’re in his path. Jimin had already slowed next to your friends and family, looking at you in anticipated horror.

It’s far too late, and despite the fact that Jungkook manages to pull your body to his while you wipe out, your face crashes into his helmet and you taste metal. 

Mildly disoriented from the impact, Jungkook’s muffled string of curses nurse you back to a decent consciousness as he tries to carry you to the lodge.

“Holy shit, I got that on camera!” Jimin cries, gesturing to the Go-Pro nestled in his helmet. 

So now you’re in pain and it’s all Jungkook’s fault. Your bottom lip is split, and the burn on your face won’t go away. 

You watch as Jungkook dotes on you, his bangs pushed up everywhere due to his grey goggles haphazardly being propped upon his forehead. His pink tongue sticks out as he concentrates on not getting blood on your sweater. It’s just you and him that are stuck around in the lodge after you got pummeled, standing by the fire while everyone else continues on with the fun. 

“Why were you over there anyway, in the middle of the slope?” he scolds. 

“It was the slow down zone, Jeon. You were the only one not slowing down, you speed demon.” 

“Sorry,” he says gruffly, pressing a little too hard with the ice and you wince. He lets up and presses the cloth to your lips to soak up the moisture.

“Did you say something?” 

“I said, I’m sorry.” 

You sigh dramatically, “I wish I had a camera to save that shitty excuse of an apology.” 

“Speaking of cameras,” he shucks his phone out of his pocket, handing it to you. “Jimin uploaded the video.” 

That man, you don’t know where he has the means to quickly upload and edit things, but if it’s for the ‘Gram, it’s worth it to Jimin. You open Instagram and immediately click on @chimmyboi’s story, immediately wincing as the first few seconds reveal the brunt of the impact. He should really put a disclaimer before uploading content. 

The tumble between you and Jungkook doesn’t look so bad, but it’s when you get up does it look gnarly. Your chin is dribbling in red liquid, and Jungkook’s throwing off his helmet and goggles in a panic. 

He makes a half-assed snowball where you’re lying on the ground, pressing it against your mouth. With his other hand he pulls you into a sitting position, not caring that you’re staining his clothes as he hauls you on his body. 

“Ohmygod,” you splutter, trying not to move your lips, “I look like I got decked with a hockey puck.” 

“It wasn’t that bad, don’t be a baby.” Jungkook sees the piecing glare you give him, and he sighs. “Okay, it looked pretty bad. I was a little worried back there, but now the bleeding pretty much stopped and holy shit—stop smiling! You’re making it open up further!” 

“You were worried?” 

“Shut up.” 

The ice bag is watery and not doing much anymore, but Jungkook still insists to cool your face down. You lift a hand to his cold ones, attempting to take the bag and cloth from his grasp. 

“You should go board with Jimin and the rest of them. I can take care of this.” 

“It’s fine,” he reasons, reaching for the ice bag but you hold on tighter. 

“C’mon, I know the only thing you were looking forward to this entire trip was going snowboarding. I’m a big girl, I can be alone for an hour or two.” 

Jungkook locks his jaw, gnawing at his cheek as he mulls on his decision. “Wouldn’t I look like a bad partner if I leave you?”

“Nah, this has happened before. Almost always someone gets injured on the trip. Last time something like this happened I was eight and I got five stitches on my leg. This is nothing. You’re fine.” 

“But still.” 

“Fine, you wanna make it up to me?” 

You scan the room for any ideas, and it settles on a trio of girls huddled by the register of the built-in café. They’re pretty snow bunnies, decked out in sweater dresses and fur lined boots. They remind you a little of The Powerpuff Girls, all in pastels and attached to the hip. Their gaze has taken hostage in Jungkook’s frame, blatantly ignoring the fact that majority of his attention is directed towards you. You wonder why you haven’t noticed them sooner, because now the staring is getting borderline discomforting. 

Slipping off his goggles with your free hand, you gesture subtly to the girls. “They think you’re hot. Go flirt with them a little and get me a free drink, I’m sure they’ll pay for you.” 

He doesn’t understand the correlation, “Why would I do that?” 

You shrug, separating the strands of hair that stick to his forehead. “Lisa and Namjoon do it all the time when they go clubbing. They compete and pretend they’re single for like two hours, and then they keep a tally of how many people offer to buy them a drink.” 

“That is completely different, but I’m open to trying it when we get back to the city.” he acknowledged briefly, getting up from his crouching position. “I got a better idea.” 

Puzzled, you watch him saunter over to the register. Like bees to the honey, the girls follow Jungkook with their eyes, watching him exaggeratedly mull over the menu. 

He spares the slightest of head inclinations to the drooling trio, “Hello ladies.” The smile is not flirtatious, but kind. 

You suppress a giggle, burying your chin in your scarf as you watch the whole interaction. You don’t even know why you asked Jungkook if he would flirt with those girls, as he kept most of his dates private over the years. You picture a college-aged Jungkook getting his daily breakfast on his way to class, ignoring the way his presence attracts heads. 

The barista hands Jungkook a tray filled with a plastic cup of ice, and a cup filled with something hot, and a chocolate croissant. He grabs a straw from a tray, stabbing it in the hot drink’s lid. 

“Excuse me,” one of the girls coquettishly puts her hands behind her back, puffing her chest out as she leans over Jungkook’s order. “The regular croissants actually taste better in my opinion.” 

“Well my wife’s had a hard day, so I think she deserves something sweet.” 

He doesn’t even turn around as he makes a beeline to where you’re seated on a loveseat, carefully placing the tray on the coffee table. 

“Your better idea was making them jealous?” you ask, unsure of his intentions. 

He shrugs, “College-Jungkook always wanted to show off his girlfriend like that, so indulge me for a second, alright?”

Rolling your eyes you reply, “My life is about indulging you. Don’t forget the trips I’ve made to the grocery store when your personal fridge was out of banana—”

“I thought I said we don’t speak of those hard times,” he cuts you off, “ever.”  

You stop him from filling up your ice bag with the ice he brought. “C’mon Jeon, you’re burning daylight out there. I got this. You’ve stalled enough, go have fun in the snow with Jimin, you adrenaline junkie.” 

He scrunches his nose, but relents when you throw him his jacket and goggles. Before he pulls on his gloves, he cups your face with both hands to pull you in a kiss. His hands are cold from the ice, gluing you in place in fear of him kissing you too hard. But it’s barely that, a brushing of lips so tender as he takes extra care with your open lip. 

“Is this also a self-indulgent request?” you pucker, “who knew there was a hormonal teenager under that editor-in-chief’s body.” 

His eyes flicker to the audience in the back, and you don’t need to look behind you to note that they’re glaring daggers in your head. It’s like you’re straight out of a rom-com. 

“You’re leaving me to the bunnies,” you say teasingly. 

“Then hurry up and get better so you can join us,” he taunts, “or else you can’t help me bury Jimin in the snow.” 

It’s a tempting offer that makes you down your drink so you can enjoy the rest of your day. 

Light seeps through your windows, rays kissing your eyelashes and willing them to open. You groan, hand splaying out to wake up Jungkook. When you find his space empty and cool, you sit up and search for your fake-fiancé. 

He’s on the floor, smack in the middle of his morning workout. Your iPad is under his body, and somehow he’s managed to find a setting where the document scrolls for him automatically. He’s not wearing his Airpods, so you rasp, “Jeon, you’re crazy. I get the morning workout, but you don’t have to look over any more transcripts. I think you’ve read enough for this week.” 

“It helps me ignore the burn,” he says shortly, and you see the ripples of his back flex with every push-up. “And I wouldn’t have to do so much reading if my assistant would just do her job.” 

“I already told you, I’m not working during my vacation.” you throw off the sheets, padding to your closet. “I’m going to pick the tree today. You should go to the mall with my mom and Jimin to pick out some new ornaments.” 

“What?” he gets up, and you ignore the perfect view of tight muscles decorating his abs. Exactly how long was he awake for to have sweat clinging to his shirt? You’re going to short-circuit and it’s barely 8:30. “But I wanna go help pick out the tree.” 

“You don’t have to do that, Joon and Yoongi got it.” 

“Yoongi, really? You think he can carry a tree?” 

“This isn’t a pissing contest, Jeon.” you settle on a burgundy Patagonia jacket and grey leggings. “Besides, Yoongi and I are just friends.”

“You sure about that, baby girl?” 

You whip around to poke at his chest, and you ignore how smug he looks. “Do not test me, Jeon. Like you said, I’m with you every step of the way in this marriage. I’m not going to jeopardize that over some childhood crush.” 

“Wow, your life is really turning into a Wattpad entry,” he admonishes, “fake-fiancé still pining over his older brother’s best friend, really high-qual stuff.” 

“I’m serious.” you grit, “I took a week off so I can get away from you and that was ruined, so I would like a little bit of space today.” 

And that gets Jungkook to back away. His face deflates a little, and you feel a little guilty for making him upset, but you stab that thought down and convince yourself that he deserves it. It’s not like he cares about you, he just wants to show off to the boys.

“Fine,” he turns around to put on a fresh shirt, and you almost notice the pout marrying his face. “You could’ve just told me you wanted space. I’m getting kind of tired of you too, you know.” 

He flops on the bed and you huff in reply, quickly throwing on your attire inside your closet while he watches a YouTube video. You check your phone, and at 8:59 a knock is at your door. Jungkook doesn’t bother to get up to answer, and you open the door to see a sleepy Yoongi with a paper cup in his hand. 

“An English breakfast with two sugars and a dash of milk, baby girl.” 

You mask your wince at the pet name. It hadn’t bothered you when you were young, but its starting to feel coddling now that Jungkook is making you hyper-aware of the attention. “Perfect,” you faux-beam, the hot beverage warm your fingers. 

“I’ll just warm up the car and—”

“Babeeeeee,”  the deepest, sexiest voice echoes from your bed and out in the hallway. He sounds absolutely tempting, and needy. You freeze at the way your boss can so easily pretend he’s exhausted and wanting you, “come back to bedddddd. I’m not done with you yet.” 

Yoongi’s ears are red, “Aaand, I’ll let you finish whatever business you have.” 

The older man bolts out of there, and you snap your head back to look at an innocent Jungkook. He tilts his head at your bout of anger. 

“You know, I have half a mind to fling this tea down your shirt.” 

“What?” he looks at you like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “He can’t be the only one who can call you baby.” 

Honestly, you didn’t mean to lash out on Jungkook like that. You did need to put up a face as you were each other's significant others, but it doesn’t mean you have to be together all the time. To top it all off you’ve been feeling weird as of late, and you can only attribute these terrible feelings to a certain brunet who’s been sleeping in your bed. 

But you pin these feelings for another time, because you need to enjoy what little quality time you have with your brother. 

“Hey, whaddya think of this one?” It's just you and Namjoon picking the tree, and Yoongi’s sitting in the cabin keeping warm. He said to call him once you’ve decided, since it is your house. 

“Hm, it’s fine.” you shrug, inhaling the pine. “Maybe a little too tall.” 

Namjoon nods, and you follow him to the next row of greenery. He’s been pensive this whole time, and you have a feeling he’s hiding something. Surrounded by pine and the fresh winter air he says, “Hey, I just wanna say sorry.” 

“Why, did you like that tree over there? I don’t mind it, we can go back!” 

“What, no? I’m sorry for being weird around Jungkook.” 

“Huh?” sure, you noticed the weird language and terseness he gave Jungkook initially, but you chalked it out as big brother issues. 

You two continue to walk around the forest aimlessly, not really tree hunting. 

“I was just upset that the engagement was so sudden,” Namjoon starts, and you feel the guilt start to set camp in your stomach. “And I don’t know, at first he just didn’t seem like your type? I always thought you wanted to date someone gentle, someone you could hold and depend on. He looked so serious, and maybe a little immature.”

“He is a little immature,” you agree softly, digging your boots in the snow, “but I don’t love him any less because of it. We’re growing together.” Shit, why was that so easy for you to say? 

“Figured,” and Namjoon stops to place a hand on your shoulder, “I see the way he looks at you, and you can’t fake love like that.” 

Namjoon’s admonition is so convincing that you almost convince yourself that it is something. 

Something is bothering Jungkook, and he doesn’t know why. 

It’s not the billions of charges he made on his credit card for new ornaments, because it simultaneously inflated his ego and impressed your mom. 

It’s not the way Jimin hangs onto his every word and doesn’t let up, because it is refreshing to have your cousin find a genuine interest in him. 

Jungkook, Jimin and your mom have been taking laps around the mall for the past hour. They’ve floated around here and there, picking out whatever catches their eye for the tree. 

Jimin’s in the middle of explaining the Jamba Juice story when a glimmering window display catches his eye. 

“Hun, have you not bought her a present yet?” your mom says over his shoulder. 

“No,” he exhales, embarrassed that he just admitted he didn’t think of getting you anything in front of your mom. “She doesn’t ask for anything, really.” Besides her book published, a raise, and a potential promotion as editor, but they didn’t need to know that much. 

“Good thing you’re with the right people!” Jimin cheers, ushering him into the jewelry store. 

Funny enough, he knows exactly what to get you. Once he points it out, Jimin and your mom “ooh” and “aah” respectively, agreeing that what he chose was perfect. If you had asked Jungkook a week ago what kind of jewlery you like, he’d give you a dumb look and say “something shiny.” But that’s what’s bothering him. He just walked right into the store, saw what was right, and everything just clicked. 

Jungkook pins that thought for later, because once their shopping is done they’re back at your villa, arranging the ornaments and detangling the lights that have been holed up in the closet for eleven months. 

Jimin and he are sitting on the living room floor, stabbing thread through popcorn. He really only saw this craft in the movies, and the small part of him is amazed that you and your family go through the hard work to make your holidays so warm. 

Your mom appears from her bedroom, clutching something in her hand. She sits in front of Jungkook, a huge smile on her face. 

“Before you say anything,” and it strikes him how similar you are to your mother. There’s that tone he always receives before he gets new news, or the way you’re eager to share something that will make him happy. “I don’t want you to think this is a luxurious gift or anything. But I realized that you don’t have a wedding band so I went through my old cases and found this.” 

She opens her palm slowly, revealing a simple black band. 

Jungkook’s lips part to form words, but his vocal cords betray him. At first glance, this ring could’ve been mistaken for one of Jimin’s plentiful rings adorning his fingers. Upon closer inspection however, Jungkook notes that this band is thinner and more worn. The metal looks strong and old, the slight scratches and faded color revealing that it was a well-loved piece of jewelry. 

Your mom is offering Jungkook a wedding band. 

“If you don’t like it, that’s okay!” your mom says quickly, nerves radiating because of Jungkook’s silence. “It was my grandfather’s. Don’t feel as if you have to accept it. It’s not a wedding band persay, but I think it matches and it looks about your size and we didn’t get you a Christmas gift so—”

“It’s perfect.” Jungkook tells her firmly, sending him a tight-lipped smile. “Thank you, I guess we kind of rushed the engagement so I didn’t think of getting a band of my own.” 

Your mother is grateful, dropping the ring in Jungkook’s awaiting palm. “I think my daughter should be the one who puts it on you, don’t you think?” 

“Right,” he echoes, and he just stares at the ring in his hand, feeling weird in his chest. He can’t remember the last time someone put this much thought in getting him something this significant. He can’t accept this ring, but he can’t refuse it either. “I could never find something with this much value from a little shop in New York, so thank you.” 

“Oh, and while we’re on the topic of New York,” Jimin puts down his completed popcorn wreath, “y/n said she already put in her off days for Easter, so you should too. It’ll be at my place this year, and I live by an indoor skydiving zone. She mentioned you’re an adrenaline junkie.” 

“She also mentioned that your birthday’s in September.” your mom pops in, “We were thinking we could take Friday off and stop by for the weekend. I’ve always wanted to see Hamilton!” 

Jungkook knows they’re trying to cheer him up. They’re trying to make him feel part of the family, feel wanted. But he can’t remember the last time he’s felt wanted unless it’s for a book deal or a business exchange. It’s been so long since he’s felt this warm, and he didn’t realize how much he yearned for it until he proposed to you.

“Hey man,” Jimin puts an arm around his trembling shoulders, “are you alright?” 

“Fine,” he’s crying, and doing a shit job at hiding the tears. “It’s alright, I just,” he can’t even find the strength to get up and walk away from this. Is it pathetic that he’s breaking down in the comfort of your cousin and mom, starved for affection? “I just, I miss my family. It’s just the four of us, but they’re all the way in Korea and it’s been awhile since I’ve really celebrated anything with them. They visit sometimes but it’s not the same, y’know? And work is so stressful but I’m not in a position to say that. And your family is just so, so nice and it makes me miss them even more. You’re all so lucky to support each other like this.” 

Jimin and your mom sandwich him like an Oreo. It’s almost funny, how two smaller humans are comforting this big human and not the other way around. “Poor baby, it’s your family too.” 

Pathetic. It’s pathetic how much he wishes to have a family like yours, but he can’t have that. 

“Can we please not tell y/n about this?” Jungkook wishes, leaning his head on your mom’s. “She’s going through a lot right now with work and stuff, I’d rather just talk to her about this after the holidays, if that’s okay.” 

“It’s quite alright, sweetheart,” your mom runs a hand through his hair, and his eyes automatically flutter closed, “just remember, your feelings matter too, okay?” 

You and Jungkook slip into bed at the same time, murmuring half-hearted “how was your days” and brief descriptions of your outings. It’s a little awkward considering the morning’s events, but not unbearable. 

“The tree smells really nice,” Jungkook tries, looking up from his phone. 

“Yeah, makes the whole room smell like Christmas.” 

“Yeah.”

“Did you have a good time shopping, find anything good?” 

“Yeah.”

“That’s nice.” 

[11:29] Jimin: hey, you know my room’s right next to yours right? 

[11:29] Jimin: we share a goddamn wall and im NOT hearing shit

[11:29] Jimin: are you putting that baby blanket to good use ;)

[11:30] You: YOU”REE DISGUSTING are we even family!!!!  Can i disown a first cousin?? 

[11:30] Jimin: i’m just sayin.. U said it was fantastic

You throw your phone away, letting it slide off to the mattress and onto the baby blanket. Yes, the baby blanket is unfortunately here to stay. Over the course of three days, the quilt is like a ball in a tennis match between you and your mother. You’ve given up and just kept it on the floor. 

“I have a question,” you say aloud, motioning to your bed partner. 

“Shoot.” 

“Was it true when you said I was the only girl you knew well enough to be your wife?”

“Of course, that’s why we’re here.” 

“I’m just wondering, because I really thought you could pick any girl in the office to be yours.” you stuff your hands under the covers, playing with your ring. “I mean, you’re kinda-sorta handsome. You could’ve picked someone just as pretty and they would have studied your whole life story for you.” 

Jungkook's phone falls in his lap, and he looks at you like you’ve lost a couple brain cells. “Normally, I would eat up the fact that you admitted I was attractive. But do you realize you’re just as beautiful, if not more?” 

What? 

“I know it’s unprofessional, but how professional can we get when we’re married, but you’re the whole package, y/n.” and he says it with such fervor, you can’t formulate a response. “I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else. No one else can take my shit and throw it right back in my face, or debate with me for hours on end about a novel’s direction. Only you can do that.” 

“I’m sorry,” you shake your head, “thanks, you’re right. I’m just clouded, and stressed. And Jimin’s being an ass and it’s really bothering me.” 

His chocolate eyes flicker in the darkness of your bedroom, making note of your phone on the floor. “What’d he say?” 

“It’s stupid, he said that he thinks it’s weird he hasn’t heard us bang all week,” you force a laugh, “it’s my fault though, he wouldn’t get off my back so I gave up and told him the sex was fantastic.” 

“Are you worried he’s unconvinced?” 

“A little, maybe? I don’t know.” you’re wrinkling your bedsheets now, turning the cotton into putty as your sweaty palms wring at the edge. 

“I don’t mind giving him a show.” Jungkook blurts, and you instinctively pull the covers closer to your chest, even though you’re fully clothed. 

“What, like fake moan into the wall?” 

“There are things you can do over the clothes,” he says matter-of-factly, pulling the sheet of his bedside down slightly. “And you just said you’re stressed. I’d be a bad fiancé to not let you relieve some of that tension.” 

Jungkook opens his arms and gestures for you to get on his lap. Your body is hot all over, and you can’t tell if it’s because you’re horrified or aroused. Maybe a little of both. 

“Are you kidding—you’re my boss!” 

“And we’re consenting adults!” he narrows his eyes at you, “don’t say you’ve never thought about it before.”

And the sick, twisted part of you has, a lot. There’s something about a man in a tailored suit and owning up to its power that’s really attractive. Not to mention all those times they’d be traveling for work, stumbling for a quick McDonald's bite at 12AM and he’d be dressed casually in tight black jeans and combat boots. The energy really kept you on your toes. 

“Wow, I really hate late-night talks. All the secrets come out, don’t they?” 

“If it makes you feel better, your ass looks great in pencil skirts,” you turn to him with flared eyes, “what? I’m just trying to let you know I mayhaps find you attractive.” 

“Mayhaps you should stop talking before I regret this.” 

His eyebrows lift and disappear from his bangs, the hair freshly dried and fluffy from his late night shower. He then pats his lap with a little blasé as if to say “hop on”, and you ignore the way how good the seat looks, his boxer briefs doing nothing to hide his unmentionables. 

Trying to fight alongside your last drop of dignity, you take your time. 

“C’mon y/n, don’t make it weird.” 

“It’s been weird, Jeon! Jimin’s next door!” you hiss, backing away slightly, “Give me some time, I can’t just hump my boss!” 

“You’re not humping your boss.” Jungkook has the audacity to grin, the expression looking absolutely sinful in the moonlight. “Think of it as your lover wanting to make you feel good.” 

The bridge between love and hatred is a fine, fine line stemmed by passion. 

Careful, you lift your blankets up and slip out of them, moving to sit up. It’s ridiculous, tiptoeing around your bed to avoid any sudden creaks in the aged wood of your mahogany headboard. 

“We’re out to prove to your family we fuck on the reg,” Jungkook snips, “you can make noise.” 

Within seconds, he’s hauling you on his lap. You squeak in surprise, feeling the thin material of his boxers seep through your thin silk shorts. You wriggle around, monitoring Jungkook’s expression. He does not allude too much, but you take note of the way Jungkook secures you with his hands between the swells of your thighs. 

“I’m not a rollercoaster, stop adjusting like you’re gonna buckle up.” 

Jungkook’s dry humor lightens the mood considerably, and you can’t help but smile timidly at his attempt to make you feel at ease. He lets you take your time, and you never imagined someone so demanding in the office can be so… kind in bed. 

You dip forward to kiss his lips once, twice. He looks needy, but lets you set the pace. You appreciate that. You’re salivating at his willingness to make you feel good, and you whimper as he nibbles on a sensitive spot on your neck. 

You need more. Sensing your urgency when you jerk his chin up, he muffles your sounds with a harsh kiss, taking care to moan deeply into your mouth. The heat is luxurious on this winter night, burgundy kisses exchanged between the sheets like secrets. His tongue slips between your teeth, tasting every inch of you and exploring you like the deepest texts. 

He pulls away slightly, and you’re drowning in his gaze. “Am I still just kinda-sorta handsome now?” he nips at your neck, sucking on a spot between your jaw. 

“N-no,” and you pull him up by the chin, taking in his messy hair and glazed eyes, “you’re fucking sexy,” and you tug your mouth to his once more. 

You don’t even realize that you’re rolling your hips until Jungkook breaks the kiss in favor of grabbing your hips, making sure your core is nestled perfectly between his hardening length. It doesn’t take long for the both of you to get wet, and the silk glides easily between your thighs like butter.

“That’s it, baby girl,” he encourages, one hand reaching up to cup your breast, “use me, make  yourself feel good.” 

“Please, don’t call me that,” you whine against his mouth, trying to keep the mood in, “Babe is fine, but baby girl makes me feel like a little kid and I’m not a little kid.”

“You damn right,” and he lifts his hips to meet yours in a sharp thrust, and you gasp hotly into his mouth. It’s too late to muffle your moans, not when you’re drenched with two pathetic pieces of fabric stopping the both of you. “You’re a gorgeous, intelligent, strong, amazing woman.” 

With every compliment, he does all the work, thrusting with each adjective like he’s blessing poetry into your body. 

“J-Jungkook,” the name is muffled against his shoulder, too fuzzed in ecstasy to be embarrassed by the drool coating his tank top. His hair tickles your shoulder as he nips at your clothed breasts, swirling around your nipple. “I-I, m’gonna come,” 

“You’re almost there huh?” and he slips a hand between you two to find that sweet spot, swirling designs between your shorts. “Fuck, you’re so wet.”

And you’re shaking, collapsing into his embrace as he rides out your high. He cradles one hand in your hair as you rub furiously against his other, chasing your pleasure like a starved animal. 

“K-Kook,” you murmur into his neck, finding the strength to roll your hips one more time to check. “You’re still hard, do you want me to help?”

“No.” he’s forthright, and as tired as you are, you force yourself to pick your head up. Sweat lines his brow and his face is flushed, but he’s already helping you off and handing you a tissue from the nightstand. 

“What?” you’re hurt, and don’t want to admit why. 

“Don’t feel like you need to,” he grunts into your forehead, dipping a chaste kiss right in the center. “Just let me do something nice to you for once.” 

As much as you want to, you don’t complain as he tucks you in. You don’t complain when you see a wet stain on his Kirby boxer briefs. You don’t answer back when he checks his phone one more time and pulls you in to press a kiss to your cheek. It’s 12:31. 

“Merry Christmas,” he murmurs into your skin, and turns over so his back faces you. 

Christmas is a loud and eager affair. The entirety of your family piles into your house while still in pajamas, aunts and uncles from other villas running in with their children with their newly opened toys and gadgets. There’s a buffet style breakfast piled on the kitchen island, and you’re all eating in the living room while watching holiday movies. 

Jungkook melds right in, unsurprisingly. He has your baby cousin Dante in his lap, teaching him how to use the controls of his new Nintendo Switch. 

Despite only meeting Jungkook a few days ago, you notice that some of your family have taken the liberty of giving him small presents. You spot a simple silver chain around his wrist, courtesy of Jimin, and a fluffy grey scarf wrapped around his neck, courtesy of your aunt’s impeccable knitting club. 

“He fits right in, doesn’t he?” 

Yoongi hands you your usual cup of tea, and you accept it gratefully. You’re sitting right next to the tree, and you notice that some of the ornaments are miniature books. You absentmindedly run your fingers over the carved wood, especially on the ones that are your favorite titles. 

“Yeah,” you hate to admit, so you whisper it into your mug. But Yoongi can hear, he always does. “I didn’t think it would be this easy.” 

“Easy to love him, or easy to fit into this family?” 

You splutter into your mug, and Yoongi does the right thing by patting your back. It feels a little bit like he’s burping a baby, but otherwise, it soothes your lungs. 

“I am happy for you, you know.” he says, knocking knees with you. “It might not seem like it now, but I truly am.” 

Deciding not to dwell on his subversive confession, you thank him for the tea and excuse yourself. Dante seems like he’s got the hang of MarioKart, so you tug Jungkook by the hand and lead him back into your bedroom. 

“I got you a present, but I didn’t feel like making a scene about it,” you pull out a pink gift bag, tufts of white tissue paper sticking out. “Also, it’s kinda cheap and it was a last minute thing, so don’t have any high expectations.” 

“Gee, you’re really making me feel deserving of this gift,” but he takes his time in unraveling the bag anyway. 

He pulls out a shiny onyx black mug, rolling it between his hands. On one side it’s engraved in gold cursive “World’s Best Boss” but on the other side it’s engraved, “World’s Best Husband”. 

“Subtle,” he grins, pulling you into a hug. He gets that it’s a gag gift, but because it’s from you, it's a lot more meaningful. You could’ve easily delved into his bank accounts and see what he buys for himself, but you decided to take the more personal route. 

“Thanks,” he murmurs into your hair. And to really throw you off he says, “For my gift, I’ve decided to publish your novel.” 

You shove him away as if you’ve been stung, and you barely have the voice to ask, “Are you serious, you’ve read my novel? I didn’t even send you the first draft!” 

“We share the same Google Drive, it was easy to find. If you had noticed, it’s the only thing I’ve been reading this week,” he shrugs as if it’s nothing, but he’s in actuality giving you your lifelong dream. “You deserve it, really. I’m sorry if you felt like it wasn’t ready to be read. But it was wonderful, you’re a real wordsmith.” 

“I’m not upset,” you can’t be, not when he smells so good and he’s trying to hug you all over again. “How many copies?”

“10,000.”

“20,000.”

“15,000, and I’ll even give you permission to dedicate your novel to me.” he raises his brows irreverently. 

You scoff at his arrogance, but you don’t admit to confessing that along with professors and your family, you would be dedicating it to him. “Well my gift feels like absolute shit,” you deadpan, “can I have a do-over tomorrow? We can go to the mall or something.”

“You’ve done enough for me,” he disagrees, breaking away from you to place the mug on your desk. “Agreeing to my farfetched proposal, letting me into your home. I think that’s an amazing gift.” 

“You’ve been way too nice,” you look at him wearily, noting the rosiness in his cheeks. 

“You say that like it’s not possible!” 

“Who knows? Maybe the Christmas spirit has performed a miracle, who am I to judge?” and you can’t get enough of the man, running into his heart one more time. Pressing your ear to his chest you sing, “Well, in the Poconos they say, that Jeon Jungkook’s heart grew three sizes that day.” 

It may have not grown three sizes, but if the living room wasn’t so loud, maybe you could’ve heard his heart beating three times as fast. 

The calm after the storm is your favorite part of Christmas. Most of your extended family has left to mull in their own homes, leaving your family to laze around until it’s just you and Jungkook that are awake. 

Jim Carrey’s version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is playing on Netflix, arguably the only superior rendition of the children's book. The tree is still glowing by the fireplace, soft white lights trickling in the darkened room. 

Earlier in the night, you and Jungkook had cuddled up in the middle of the couch under a blanket, and were too lazy to move even when the entirety of your family vacated. Either of you could’ve easily shoved each other off and went to bed, but here you are, making offhand comments over hot cocoa. Each second that passes by, you’re more aware of how well you two sink between the fabric like you’re meant to do this. The domesticity terrifies you, but you don’t dare to point it out. 

“How does his face do that?” Jungkook turns to you, contorting his face into funny expressions. It’s a poor attempt at the green creature on the screen, but it makes your mouth twitch and you fight the urge to giggle. “It’s like he’s made of rubber.” 

“He has a sense of humor, unlike some people.” 

“Very funny,” he says, turning away to take a sip of his cooca. 

Sinking further into the couch, you unconsciously latch onto him more, savoring his body heat. “Can I confess something?”  

“What’s up?” 

“A week ago, I loathed you. I used to have recurring dreams about you getting run over by a Wonderbread truck. And I was driving the truck.” 

“Wow, that makes me feel so much better.” 

“No really, if I had the opportunity to watch you get hit by a cab, I would’ve paid for it.” 

“If it were possible for me to file for divorce at this very second, now would be time. You are a walking red flag.” 

“Okay, but!” you shush him with a finger to your lips, and he goes cross-eyed at the touch. “After seeing your stellar performance this week and an impeccable display of human emotion. I think after all of this, we could be friends.” 

“Fwends?” he says through your finger, mouth smushed. “Why whuh we?” 

Instead of lifting your finger right away, you swipe at his cherry lips, getting rid of the marshmallow sticking to the corners. 

“Because we get along.” you say simply.

“Because we’re supposed to be getting married.” 

“No! We’ve always gotten along! We’ve just been too up our asses to notice!” you sit up, appalled. “Here’s my theory, a change of setting has suddenly spurred on your character development—”

“—y’know I really don’t appreciate your use of literary jargon, it’s really pretentious—”

“—because without your external conflict, you have a chance to let loose and enjoy your life for once!” 

Jungkook frowns, adjusting his frame so he slightly hovers you. He’s pretty like this, dressed in fluffy black pajamas and his face soft. His eyes absorb the Christmas fairy lights, and you notice for the first time in two years that there are no longer purple bags under his eyes. 

“I don’t know,” he murmurs, voice so small you wonder if he’s worried to crush the moment. “Friends are hard.” 

You shake your head vehemently, “Friends are easy, keeping them is the hard part.”

He doesn’t know why he’s being so weird about this. You’ve worked for him for over two years, you know him as well as you know your skincare routine, down to the last detail. 

“Jeon, don’t think too hard about this,” you try to get him to lighten up, the intense look in his eyes throwing you in for a loop. It makes the little hamster wheel in your head spin rapidly, and you wonder if you’re really crossing a line. “Jimin said you had a really good time yesterday, I was almost jealous I couldn’t come shopping with you.” 

He cracks a smile at that, “Yeah, Jimin and I shared a moment,” and he leans down to the shell of your ear, “and he said he really enjoyed our moment last night.” 

“Oh my god!” you grab a nearby throw pillow, chucking the rough fabric in his face. 

He breaks into a laugh, but not the wine and dine chuckles that he’d have between terse negotiations for work. It’s a full out giggle, like he’s proud to have riled you up enough to break your resolve. Who knew your angry face could be so cute? 

“I guess if we’ve crossed a line, might as well make it all the way to the end,” Jungkook says easily, running a hand through his chocolate tresses. 

You and Jungkook are leaving the day after tomorrow. Most of your stuff is packed and ready to go, and you’re currently spending the rest of your night at a sit-down dinner with your immediate family plus Jimin. 

It’s peaceful, you muse. Jungkook even offered to help cook. Back at Big Hit not once did he ever bring leftovers from home, always insisting you order something for him during work. Kimchi fried rice is a simple dish, but Jungkook had taken great care in making sure it was cooked properly and adjusted to your family’s tastes. 

Your parents are glowing and enjoying their time with the whole family, a rarity that grows more valuable with age. The meal soothes you like a balm, reminding you of old conversations that had you spew milk out of your nose or Namjoon accidentally spilling beans on your lap. 

“Oh, you should also clear your schedule for the first week of September,” Jimin says absentmindedly, shoving another mouthful of fried rice. “Besides Easter, Jungkook says we can celebrate his birthday and visit for the weekend.” 

“Seriously,” Namjoon balks, sitting up straight as he regards you in disbelief. “You’re sure your Devil of a boss will enjoy you out of his chains for two vacations, god forbid you take the holidays off again.” 

The grip on your fork tightens, but you steel yourself. Honestly, you were wondering why it took Namjoon this long to let it all out. He was always vehemently against your job, as he was the person who got the brunt of your vents when you were stressed. Probably for the sake of Christmas he let it go, but now that it’s over, the topic’s fair game. 

“Oh, c’mon Joonie,” your mother frowns, “not at the table.” 

“He isn’t that bad, Joon.” you reason, completely ignoring Jungkook as you stare straight at your brother. “He means well—”

“Means well?” Namjoon barks a laugh, as if it’s the most laudable thing. “Sis, you cried everyday for a straight month after you were hired.” he places his hands on the table, regarding you carefully, “I had to personally call your doctor in New York to get you sleeping pills, and not to mention that two weeks ago, you were crying again because you were worried he forgot your vacation and would make you work! Don’t tell me he ‘means well’ when I’ve been busy picking up the pieces!” 

At this point, you’re livid. Jungkook’s right here, and while you can’t go ahead and out the fact that he is your boss, you can still have his back. 

They don’t know that you’ve picked the pieces back up, reinforced yourself to create a better version of the person you once were. 

“He does mean well,” you cry, matching your brother’s red tone to a T. “He’s just stressed and genuinely cares about the company. I choose to work long hours because he takes his time in making sure the work we publish is worthwhile, and I support that. He’s hard on me because he knows I have potential. He’s going to make sure I succeed.” 

Namjoon looks at you like you’ve grown two heads. “You’re seriously defending your shitty boss?” 

Jimin puts a hand over Namjoon’s in an attempt to placate him, but he shoves it away.

“Honestly,” Namjoon spits venom, “how can you possibly stand to be around someone who makes your life so miserable?” 

Your meal has gone cold, and your fists clutch desperately at your jeans. The breath is robbed from your lungs, and you can’t look at anyone for fear of them regarding you with guilt. You know since the day you got hired that your family wasn’t exactly enthused at your boss’ level of expectation and work output. But they don’t know the industry, and they don’t even really know Jungkook past the surface level. . 

But you know in their eyes, they’re right. Their daughter left their comfy home to pursue her lifelong dream, only for it to be broken in a matter of weeks. It’s natural to feel protective, and while you’re resilient and were able to get it together as of late, it wasn’t enough for them to understand. As someone who loves you, it’s obvious they’d want to blame your boss, blame Jungkook for your suffering. 

You imagine your father would ask Namjoon to step outside, or your parents would make Jimin pull you and Jungkook out. Neither of those things happen.

A warm, large hand is placed on top of yours. You look towards Jungkook, face unreadable as he squeezes your thigh. 

“Namjoon’s right.” Jungkook utters, pressing his lips together. “You deserve to be treated with respect. The boss has never appreciated the hard work you do, at least not out loud. You’re too good for him.”

“Jungkook,” you gape, putting your other hand over his. 

He pulls away at your touch, glancing at the clock. “This dinner was wonderful,” he says gently, looking apologetic to your parents. “Excuse me, but I promised to call my parents at this time.” 

The excuse is completely half-assed, but no one says anything as he leaves, walking out the door without a coat. The table is terse, with your parents attempting to coax out dessert while Jimin clears the dinner table. You refuse to look at Namjoon, who has no idea why you’re so upset. You wait five minutes before you mumble about getting Jungkook a jacket. 

However, when you open the door he isn’t sitting on the porch. He’s all the way up the street, too far for you to be heard with a yell, and walking farther into town. The black hoodie falls to your side, disappointed. 

Jungkook does in fact, call his parents. Your mother suggested it when she gave him the ring, thinking it would ease his homesickness if he made a better effort to communicate his feelings. 

And so he spends over an hour huddled in a cafe, talking about nothing and everything with his mom and dad. He tells them about the little novelties he’s experienced this week, like making popcorn strings and picking out themed Christmas ornaments. He tells him how he promises to book a flight back to Korea as soon as his work visa goes through. While he doesn’t mention the proposal, he mentions you. He prattles on and on about how strong and beautiful you are, and how you’ve crept up on him and made him realize how awful of a person he was. 

His mom prattles excitedly through the line, saying that women make you realize how much better you can be for them, but she doesn’t know the half of it. 

Jungkook sat there in your dining room, Namjoon boldly telling you off about how miserable he’s made you. 

And yet still, you defended him in ways he never imagined. Your relationship has always been mutual, and prickly at best. You balanced each other out, but he knows he doesn’t deserve you. When he first hired you, he rendered you indispensable like all the other assistants that couldn’t handle it. You’d break eventually. 

And you did break. But you picked up the pieces and put yourself back together, and you didn’t resent him for it. He hated that. How can you trust someone who’s hurt you so much? 

He can’t let you go through with this marriage. You’re wrong. You don’t need him to be successful. 

[11:09] You: mom unlocked the door for you. Jimin and i went out for drinks so idk when ill be back

[11:09] You: please don’t be mad at me

Silly girl, why would he ever be mad at you? 

His plan is simple, Sneak into your villa, grab his luggage, and try to book the earliest flight back to New York. Then, he can come clean to Taeyeon and spend the year in Korea while they work out his visa issues. He’ll quietly pack his things and clear out the office before Monday.  Hopefully by the time he makes it to Busan, he can forgive himself. He’s going to regret missing your expression when you get to hold the first physical copy of your novel. 

This plan proves difficult when he sees Namjoon waiting outside for him, sitting on his luggage and reading a book. His long legs are splayed across the porch, and he doesn’t spare Jungkook a glance.

“Knew something was off,” the older man doesn’t look up from his novel, “found the mug on her desk, bossman.” 

Muttering a curse under his breath Jungkook opens his arms, “Are you gonna beat me up now?” 

“What? No, I’m a lover, not a fighter.” Jungkook scoffs, and watches Namjoon roll his luggage to the back of the van. “And out of the kindness of my heart, I’ll save you the Lyft fare and drive you to the airport.” 

Is he that predictable? He flinches at the sudden jet of the ignition, and he takes heavy, snow-laden steps to the passenger seat. Once buckled in, Namjoon tosses the book in his lap. “Some light reading for the drive.” 

If Namjoon wasn’t the driver, he wouldn’t hesitate to chuck the book at his big, intelligent head. Instead, he glowers, clutching the book tightly. It’s only when they round the corner to a house brightly decorated with lights, does he see what novel Namjoon’s plucked. 

A Mutually-Assured Attachment. Jungkook tosses the book back and forth between his palms, noting the soft cover is so worn it could melt apart in his lap. It feels tended and loved from years of use. 

It’s Jungkook’s first novel, and you had a copy. One of the first editions, if he remembers the cover art correctly. Granted, he thought you had some of his books purely because of your job, but not one from your childhood. Frankly he thought this should have never been published, but he was nineteen and that in itself was a large feat. 

He carefully peels the pages, and takes out his phone to shine the flashlight mode. At the very front, blood red ink is scratched next to the title: “this is THE most pretentious title i’ve read in my life! Don’t disappoint me jeon!!” 

Your handwriting’s all over the place. He sees graphite, gel, and glitter pens mark the margins, as if you’ve come back each time to write something new. The annotations vary, from “this part sucks” to “shit, that’s good i should do that”. You draw little pictures of the objects he’s contrived, from the little brass locket one character cherishes to the facial expressions you imagine they hold. 

And at the very end, your handwriting sits neat and bold on the inside cover: I can do better than him. 

Jungkook chuckles to himself, turning off the light. You’re always right. 

Namjoon senses the younger one is done, and he clears his throat. “I really really don’t understand what she sees in you.” 

“I don’t understand either,” Jungkook agrees easily, his finger tracing your handwriting. He muses that you were always out to get him, even if you didn’t know it. 

Namjoon masks his surprise by clearing his throat. “But I’d rather seek to understand than live the rest of my life having my sister resent me. I don’t really know what you two are going through, but if she trusts you with her life, I’ll try. Emphasis on try.” 

“I don’t deserve your trust.” 

“You damn right you don’t,” succumbing to his impulses Namjoon makes a sharp turn, and Jungkook holds his stomach together before it flies out the window.  

You come home to find your room cold and barren. All of Jungkook’s things are gone, except your Christmas mug. 

You at least thought Jungkook would spare you a goodbye before he ditched you. You hoped you’d at least consider each other friends who provide explanations after all of this. 

Lifting the mug off the desk, you hear a little clink in the glass, the chime unfamiliar. Hurriedly, you pour out its contents. A heavy, tungsten black ring lands in your palm. You clench the metal between your fingers, hugging it to your chest. 

Mind made up, you dash out to the hallway, nearly bumping into your cousin. At the same time you and Jimin blurt, “We need to go to the airport.” 

Apparently Namjoon warned Jimin that something fishy’s going on. Namjoon didn’t know what, but he had the inkling that Jungkook was hiding something. Once Jimin received the text to meet them at the airport, he flung you in his sedan and floored it. Flushed with adrenaline, Jimin is speeding with a fervor you’ve never experienced. 

“Can you please, take the edge off and tell me what the hell is going on?” 

Just like how Jungkook didn’t want Big Hit to go down the drain, you didn’t want this week to be in vain. You can’t wait a year for Jungkook to come back, and you didn’t want to publish your first novel without him by your side. 

“Long version or short version?” 

“The in-the-middle version. I don’t think I have the brain capacity to absorb all your drama right now but I really need some answers.” 

“O-kay. Basically, Jungkook isn’t a Literary Agent. He’s my god-awful boss. Or was awful, I don’t know. Jungkook left the country before his work visa was fully processed. That’s a breach, so he needs to live in Korea for a year to come back. But he can’t run Big Hit remotely, so he proposed to marry me to attain citizenship.”

Your head whips to the dashboard and you cry out, barely stopping the impact with your hands.  

“Sorry, sorry!” Jimin’s eyes are focused on the red light, absolutely terrified. “Bitch, you’re committing fraud with your boss! You could go to jail, that’s like, the hottest love story ever!” 

“But he’s going back to Korea because now he suddenly realized he can forge basic human connection.” you mutter, “so no, we’re not going to jail because he’s decided to do the right thing.” 

“So what you’re saying is, Jungkook has achieved self-actualization and decided to peacefully move to Korea and sacrifice the company for you.” Jimin is carving his free hand in the air, gesturing wildly. “Don’t you see! He really likes you.”

“Yeah, so now we need to go to the airport and tell his dumbass this isn’t the time to be selfless.” 

Once you find a spot you’re rushing out of the car, weaving between carts and people to find the correct terminal. This airport is much smaller than JFK, so it’s easy for you to navigate and get past the TSA. It also helps that Jin’s wife is an attendant. 

“He chose the 1:45 flight in Terminal 31A,” Mijoo chirps from her tablet, leading you in the right direction. She’s dressed impeccably, the odds and ends of this airport glued together by her impeccable organization. She points to the clock, which glares a digital 1:18AM. “You have time.” 

“Thank you Mijoo,” you exhale gratefully, “and I’m so so sorry I skipped your wedding!” 

“This is the 300th time you’ve said it,” Mijoo rolls her eyes, pushing you and Jimin forward, “But I’ll make sure not to miss your wedding.” 

You’re sweating from your down jacket, and you can’t believe it’s really all come down to this. The one person you’ve spent the last two years of your life doting on, and you didn’t want to stop. You wanted him not just for the publication of your novel, but because you needed him. 

Jungkook’s sitting in the waiting area of Terminal 31A, looking wholly inconspicuous as he reads a book and has his hood propped up. 

Fists balled, you stride forward only to have Jimin tug you back. “What?” 

Jimin pulls off your thick coat, making haste to wipe the sweat off your brow with his sleeves and flatten your messy hair. “What?” he tilts his head to the side, “you need to look good before the big confrontation. I’m recording this for archival purposes. Do you have any lip balm by any chance? You look chapped.” 

You slap his hands away, but those grubby fingers just come back with a vengeance. “My life is just a big show to you, isn’t it?”

“Living vicariously all day, every day.” 

While Jimin parts your bangs, the intercom cuts through the air. 

“The 1:45 flight to John F. Kennedy International airport will now commence boarding. Please line up according to the ticket class.” 

Jimin smiles at you, squeezing your shoulders and gestures for you to go. To your horror, Jungkook is first in line. Panic bubbles to your throat.

“Jeon Jungkook!” you cry, voice echoing throughout the terminal. “If you so much breathe in the direction of that plane I will call Mark Lee right this second and tell him the book series is off!” 

Like a deer in the headlights, Jungkook heeds to your voice immediately. In his stupor you jog forward to snatch his wrist and pull him out of line. You don’t let go until you’re away from the long line, and Jungkook tugs his wrist away. 

“Don’t you dare call him,” Jungkook looks serious, as if you didn’t drive all the way to stop him from making the biggest mistake of his life. “I will never forgive you if you terminate Mark Lee’s contract.” 

“And I won’t forgive you if you get on that plane.” 

Pain flashes in his eyes, and he shakes his head. “I need to. I can’t let us—let you go through with this. You and your family deserve better.” 

“What? Jungkook, I agreed to this just as much as you did.” 

“No, you didn’t.” he’s adamant, and steps back with every step you take forward. “As your boss I threatened you, held it over your head like an ultimatum. I’ve hurt you,” his voice cracks, looking at you desperately, “why would you want to be stuck with me when I’ve made your life miserable?” 

“If I really wanted to leave, I would’ve done it a long time ago.” You reason, “Do you really want to leave the company behind? To fucking Karen?” 

“Of course I don’t!” Jungkook exclaims, “but it isn’t worth hurting you, hurting your family and everyone that loves you.” 

“And what about you? You’ll be hurt when you leave,” and you step forward, so close that your chests are touching. You take hold of his hands, clutching them between your small ones. “Don’t go, stay with me in New York. We’ll both work hard and try to not run each other to the ground. Let’s be better together.” 

You’re practically begging, biting your lip raw and hoping Jungkook understands how good this change is for the both of you. 

Jungkook is conflicted, looking back and forth between the airline boarding for JFK and your watery eyes. He hates seeing you like this. He can’t imagine you, the strongest woman he’s ever met, crying because of him. Namjoon’s voice echoes in his mind and he tries to smash it to the edge of his memory. But as always, you’re right. 

He replaces your grip with his own, and gets down on one knee. 

Jungkook says your name like it's the sweetest of songs. You’ve never seen him so terrified. “y/n, I didn’t do it right the first time, so let me try again. Please, marry me. Marry me because I want to date you. I want to take you out and give you what you deserve, what we deserve. I want to do better for myself, do better for you. I’ve realized you’re the only person that makes me feel like I’m simultaneously on fire and on thin ice,” he pulls out a velvet box from his pocket, revealing a thin band with interlocking black and clear diamond studs. It’s a pretty little thing, with a groove in the center so it stacks perfectly with your engagement ring. “This was supposed to be your Christmas present, but I chickened out at the last second,” he says sheepishly, tucking his head in. “But if you let me put this ring on your finger, I promise to be your home away from home.”  

With a sob you fall to your knees, throwing yourself onto Jungkook. A small “oof” escapes his lips, and he struggles to hold your waist so you both don’t topple over. “Yes, yes, yes!” you cry, pulling away to cup his face with both hands, pulling him into a sweet kiss. 

Jungkook’s smile takes up his entire face, and he eagerly pecks your lips one more time before ripping the ring from its holder and stacking it on top of your engagement ring. The teardrop diamond is nestled perfectly between the thinner band’s V. “Pretty,” he says, pressing his forehead to yours. 

“Wait,” you pull out the black ring that you found in your room, holding it to his face. “I’m assuming this is yours?” 

“Yeah,” he replies, “your mother said it was your great grandfather’s. It’s not an engagement ring, but it’s the thought that counts.” 

“It matches,” you hum, placing his simpler band in his ring finger. Once it’s on, you take a deep breath. “Shit, we’re really doing this?” 

Jungkook pulls you to stand, wiping the happy tears from your cheek. “We are, we’re a team, remember? We’ve crossed the line and we gotta finish it.” 

And he picks you up, the workouts definitely paying off as he spins you around like you’re the leads in La-La Land, drunk off the happy chemicals firing in your brain. Jimin whoops and hollers, along with all the other patrons in the vicinity of the airport terminal. 

Your real-fiancé puts you down, the both of you now hyperconscious of the stares people give you. Other people have filmed the proposal as well, completely smitten by your confessions. 

“Jungkook,” you giggle into his shoulder, “you were right. Our story is straight out of a Wattpad entry.” 

“Down to the super cheesy in-public airport proposal?” he chimes, pressing his forehead to yours. “Couldn’t have asked for a better love story.” 

“I can’t wait to fall in love with you,” you whisper, quiet enough for his ears only, “for real, this time.” 

“Not that it’s a challenge,” he teases softly, “but I’m already halfway there.” 

some months later.

“Like the new office, boss lady?” your new assistant (yes, you have an assistant!) asks kindly, his bubbly presence uplifting you immediately. He leads you to the window box, filled with tiny plants. “I figured you like succulents, because you have no time to water them and they’re prickly like you.” 

“Very funny, Seungkwan.” you chide good-naturedly, picking up a succulent with a yellow flower in the middle. “But thank you, your interior design skills are outmatched. I can’t wait to work with you.” 

“Me too, your social commentary you published on the literary industry? And you managed to lace it all up in an inconspicuous fantasy novel?” Seungkwan boasts, “I applied for this position right then and there.” 

“Thanks Seungkwan, why don’t you take your lunch and we’ll meet back at one to discuss our plans for next week.” 

“Sounds good, do you want me to pick you up something?” 

“I’m good, I’m meeting with the bossman.” 

Seungkwan gives you that look, his lips jutting out in a suggestive manner that almost makes you burst into giggles. Your assistant decides not to bother you until after you’ve eaten, and bids you goodbye. 

Just when you get a moment of peace, a handsome face pokes his way inside. “Hello editor,” Jungkook knocks on your door for the sake of attention, but you’re already dragging him into the office and shutting the door tight. “Like your new office?” 

“Love it,” you moan, gesturing to Seungkwan’s light filtering curtains. They’re not dark, rather a tasteful sea green, but they’re opaque enough to stop wandering eyes from peeking into your space. Your personal space was a qualm that immediately needed to be mended after your experience in Jungkook’s office. “A lot more private than your office.” 

“A little part of me hates how much you deserve this promotion,” he sits on your desk, and doesn’t hesitate to pull you between his legs, letting you lean into his chest, “but I do love the added privacy.” 

You fiddle with the buttons of his navy collar, his strong thighs trap you between him, “Why, miss me already?” 

He shrugs, “Taehyung doesn’t look as good as you do in a pencil skirt.” 

You laugh, brushing the strands of hair that fall from his coiff. “No one looks as good as I do in a pencil skirt.” A firm grip confirms that, two strong hands cupping your backside. “Mr. Jeon!” you gasp playfully, pushing him away slightly to pinch his cheeky grin. “Can we save this for later? I’m hungry, but we can always continue this for dessert.” 

He groans in your neck, “Love the sound of that, Mrs. Jeon.” 

bonus.

“FUUUCCCKKKKKK YEEAAHHHHH!” Park Jimin’s voice bounces off the walls of Taeyeon’s office, his face taking up the entire screen of his desktop as the camera shifts harshly between him and you and Jungkook at the airport. “My cousin’s not going to jail! WOO!” 

Taeyeon pauses the YouTube video at a particularly unflattering screencap: Jimin’s nostrils are flaring wildly and he looks fairly high mid-scream. 

A low whistle escapes Jungkook’s lips, “Wow. That video’s viral,” he looks to you appreciatively, “if Jimin kicks off his YouTube career, you think we can milk a memoir outta him?” 

“Potentially,” you reply nonchalantly, playing with your rings. 

“So,” Taeyeon’s voice is icy, slashing between your casual conversation, “you’re getting married, for real this time?” 

“Yep,” Jungkook pops. 

“Alright,” and from her desk she pulls out an ungodly stack of documents, one that mirrors your own back at the office. “Jungkook, you’ll stay with me. y/n, you’ll go to Vernon’s office and he’ll give you the same spiel. We’ll interview you privately with the same questions. A hair out of place and you’re in trouble. You sure you want to go through with this?” 

You and Jungkook exchange looks, betting your own company that you got this in the bag. 

“Hit us with your best shot.”