#he is soo decomposing

[laidback-thrills]

Sorry for blowin yall up tn lmfao

AS MUCH AS I LOVE DRAWING THE STUPID LITTLE ORANGE SPRITE...this is what i think he actually looks like. Sorry y'all </3 he scares me too

[virgincels]

I just saw your response and I cannot believe has been eating them omg :(( I kinda remember one of them it was about little brother Leon and your idea about him snuffing you by accident. (I’m writing this on my notes this time so if tumblr decides to eat it again like a fat fucking pot belly pig I can send it again)

Okay so imagine this, little brother Leon who forced himself on you and like you said you hit your head on the headboard of the bed and it kills you. Once he realises he kinda freaks out because like oh em gee how did that happen what am I meant to do😦 Like how is he meant to explain to your parents you died because he’s a horny little perv who forced himself on you? He doesn’t, instead he hides you somewhere while your parents think you just ran away. He maybe hides your body in the loft or the basement or even the shed in the garden because no one else goes on there so how would they know? He knows he should dispose of your body but he just can’t, not his beautiful big sister he loves so much with that amazing pussy :33 He can’t just give that up, so instead the little perv gets even more freaky and just fucks your dead corpse, he just looks past the smell of death and the look of your skin starting to rot and decompose because he’s still getting to pound into his big sister, this time with no complaints and he even enjoys that you can’t complain this time so it’s like a bonus for him!!

Or!!!!

Or little brother Leon who almost kills you from hitting your head onto the headboard but thankfully realises you aren’t really responding once he’s done. He freaks out a little but realises you aren’t dead but it’s to the point you’re gonna need medical attention. He cleans you up before making it look like you fell down the stairs and hit your head before ringing your parents after he’s rang for an ambulance to play the concerned little brother act. While your in hospital recovering he stays by your side the whole time and your parents think it’s so nice how your younger brother is protecting you when in fact that mf is there so when you wake up he can make sure you don’t snitch on him.

And then once you’re able to come home you’re on bed rest and your sweet baby brother who acts like an Angel insists he needs to look after you and help you fully recover and your parents won’t complain since they’re super busy with work and won’t bat an eye since awww he just wants to care for his older sister since he cares for his big sis so much!! In reality that perv is fucking and using you more since you can’t do anything to stop him and you need him to rely on getting better so you just have to suck it up and take it <3

This time I added a second scenario since thought it was a good alternative if the whole dead thing wasn’t anyone’s thing :333 also excuse any grammatical or spelling mistakes, I’m running off of like 2 hours sleep and a Dr Pepper </3

-🐇

oh my god i love necro so much he’s such a perv he would realise you’re not breathing and get even more turned on dick literally jumps but he feels so guilty at the same time! AND OMG. he’s so sickly sweet ab it too like he would take care of you soo well but you have to be ok with him sticking his dick in you whenever he wants

[fumifooms]

was not expecting how head over heels i'd fall for marchil- i stg there's something they put in the sauce like goddamn! and i've loved seeing your posts analyzing their dynamic, really helped articulate what i was feeling. i was wondering if you had any fic recs, or any recommendations for ships with a similar vibe? i'm hungry for them...

I know right, marchil gripped me in a chokehold out of nowhere and still hasn’t let go… The sauce was designed by the demon for me to get addicted specifically. It’s been too long since I haven’t written fic for them. I’m still chipping away at my Marcille & Chil arc analysis I know I always mention it and I started the draft in January but I SWEARRR… Season 1 is ending next week :/ On the upside I’ll probably be more focused. After that analysis, which is only analyzing in depth like one aspect/half of their intertwined arc btw so who knows there might be a part 2 one day, I kept thinking it’d prob be my last marchil analysis but let’s be real, probably not. Every week I find something new to point out about them aah…… Dungeon food, ahh, dungeon food…

Fanfic rec wise, well first I have my own marchil fics, to which I mostly recommend Grind Me Down Sweetly, and then feel free to browse my marchil bookmarks for what seems good! I don’t know what your tastes are but Shroomyystar makes super good angst (and smut), my favorite being 'Til our fingers decompose, keep my hand in yours about Marcille getting deathly sick and the dilemma to confess or to not confess, incredibly haunting piece of bittersweet but soul-crushing angst AND character study. Like wow! Chilchuck I need to throw you in a river. I want you beside me is cute bedsharing banter. From me to you makes my head spin and makes me shake my screen. And- *gets dragged off before I can mention more* Meanwhile on the flipside, Anita_Amai (the first ao3 marchil writer, still going strong 👏👏) is especially great at offering short and sweet pieces, the tone is usually light and comedic and it always makes me smile and giggle, gives me fluff attacks, the fics always a strong good scene or theme idea too. Just browse and pick any, it’s a good time. There’s soo many more. Honestly I recommend just diving into the ao3 tag and start reading. You can start by kudos and read the highest ones first to dip your toes and get the community classics one out. Early on there was a recurring anon writer who did great bittersweet domestic confession stuff like this one, lifespan angst oughh... Wherever you are now thank you for all your work 😭💖 A lot of new marchil writers are starting to post too! A csm asaden fanfic writer legend just joined the tag so marchil will probably finally get some multi-chaptered fanfics haha~ But yess there’s unrequited angst, there’s self-sabotaging angst, there’s domestic fluff, there’s falling in love and bantery fluff, bunch of good stuff <3

As to ships with similar vibes: The closest I’ve seen so far is honestly weirdly close, it’s the protagonists from a romance comedy josei called Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai or Please love useless me! I don’t want to spoil but there’s even the guy needing to move on from a doomed love + emotional distance issues and the gal slowly invading his personal life/social circle and my god… They were coworkers, he was rude, he’s a workaholic, he’s reliable, she’s sunshine and needs to get some reality checks... The banter. THE BANTER. He represses and she copes by simping for fictional characters. He made, like, a mutual aid community for ex-gangsters. They dress up in silly costumes sometimes. They’re weeeird about each other in an unlabelable way before dating in a way (in a fun marchil in canon way). It’s so funny she’s cracking open his convoluted personal drama like her morning newspapers. There’s more there’s so much more. Give up on your dreams, make money, love loses 🔥🔥 It’s honestly just a great fun read, it’s such a mood. Haven’t read the sequel yet but there’s one so really if it hooks you you’ll be fed well and for a while. The greatest bits are too spoilery but here, have the vibe.

Howl’s Moving Castle, specifically the book, and there’s a ton of themes and narratives that are so fitting for them that I couldn’t possibly all list, I already made a post on it here if you’re interested in all the details and similarities and my AU thoughts haha.

Teen Titans 2003 the show, Beast Boy x Starfire. THAT’S RIGHT I’M A BBSTAR, BAM! 💥🫶 Jokester that’s dependable x sweet and idealistic but strong and protective. Short gremlin and tall beauty. Friends-coworkers to lovers. Very soft fluffy slice of life ship I like it a lot, and I wrote a fic for it hehe. Might do more one day, I have a bunch of prompts written down and a series I really wanted to get to sob.

I almost forgot to mention Shrek. It’s SO FUNNY how well it goes sometimes… Chil Shrek, Laios Donkey, Marcille Fiona. I want to say Mickbell could be Farquaad but even Mick doesn’t deserve this slander… Shrek 2 fear that he’s not prince charming enough for her oughh. Laios getting to be a horse good for him good for him. Winged Lion singing I need a hero. Someone stop me.

There’s also zenmiyo from Touge Oni but no one reads that </3 I gotta get to my review/lore analysis about that manga it’s sooo good a fave read of mine from last year. Like it’s so fucking good. It keeps just ramping up and getting more crazily good. Scrolling through some pages rn and it’s a unique blend of comedy, philosophy and awe-inspiring visuals and creativity. Well, sort of like late Dunmeshi actually. If it had a fandom any bigger I’d be all over it constantly. And I’d also recommend Harahara Sensei / Timebomb Teacher if it had any english translation, one of my fave mangas also. It’s about mafia, and a goody two shoes willing to go through a corruption arc to save her sister x stern rude mafioso who’s there bc he’s poor and on a revenge mission, never had any other option growing up etc etc. Ok he’s not that Chilchuck but the dynamic does have that "grow up and see the world for what it is, a shithole. It’s been hell for me" vs "ok you have a point. But also have you considered not sacrificing your humanity and emotions in a self-destructive pursuit" (not that she’s in the position to talk lmaoo) like ohh my goood him throwing his popsicle stick in the fire that she lit over a corpse, it haunts me.

From the marchil Discord it’s also fun to notice ships some of us share… Csm asaden, some combination of LotR elf x short guy, fair amount of dunmeshi ships overlap too. Haven’t found the overall common thread quite yet and I’m forgetting many that have come up but lol some off the top of my head.

[krabmeat]

So 4, 5, and 6 are part of an internal trilogy called the "Tommy Jarvis" trilogy. The three movies follow the aging and growing character Tommy Jarvis (the guy you can be revived as with the g//n in the game). He killed Jason in 4 to save his sister, spends the 5th movie's predisposition in a development center, and playing a fucking game of clue. In the 6th movie he plans on cremating Jason's body but due to PTSD, stabs him with a metal fence post which gets struck with electricity and revives him. It's been 6 years since his death in the 4th movie and he's very decomposed and gross but his spine and ribs are exposed at the back and he is WAY more powerful than before like HOLY SHIT. ANYWAY. Movie blahze blahze, he gets sank to the bottom of the lake again. *7*. UGH. Hold on. Okay. I'll send it in a part 2 ask bc OMG UGH 7. -Element

DUDE THIS TOMMY GUY IS FUCKING WILDIN HOLY COW- WITH A METAL ROD!?!?!?! also duuuudddeee that design sounds likenit absolutely FUCKS THAT SOUNDS SOO COOLLLLLLL WITH THE SPINE AND SHIT SHOWINH?!?!!? FUCKING BADASS MAN MY MIND IS BLOWN- but also damn despite jason being a zombie soon to be cryptid or something he sure does lose a lot since theres 12 movies LMAO

[totiredtowrite]

Haunted: How To Find A Body

Warnings - talk of d3ath, murd3r, mentions of bl00d, and some curse words

Note: The warnings make it sound really bad but I promise that this is more lighthearted than you might think T^T. This is turning out longer than I thought, may have to make a part three. (Also couldn't let this sit in the drafts any longer). If you read the first part, thanks bestie ily, and here have part two <3

Part One Here

Male Reader

Maybe rooming with a ghost wasn't so bad.

Ushijima narrowed his eyes, and looked up from the book he was attempting to study.

You weren't the worst roommate, but being around a literal dead guy was something that Ushijima never really counted on. You reminded him of Tendou, if he was dead and a little more nihilistic. You were floating around his room, the foggy, wispy version of you becoming the most prominent.

Feeling his eyes on the back of your neck, you jolted and quit poking at his bed, turning to look at him.

"...Are you going to say something or will we be at this for an hour?" You said, body shifting to a more solid version. Ushijima considered what to say as you fell onto his bed, arms behind your head in a relaxed manner.

Your solid form, (which Ushijima found out the hard way), wasn't actually all that solid. You couldn't really touch or hold anything for too long. Ushijima just thought that you could because you touch him all the time.

Getting bored, you let your body fall through his bed. Even as a (mostly solid) version of yourself, it takes a little bit of effort to hold and sit on stuff.

Ushijima turned all the way around in his chair and waited for you to get comfortable again, this time floating just above his bed as an apparition.

He bit his lip, considering the question for a few more seconds before finally saying it. "You said we need to find your body," he was clearly struggling with what to say. Seeing as he doesn't ever have the need to talk much, this was a little difficult. "How will finding it make you...live again?"

You laughed. "Finally! I've been waiting forever for you to ask!" Ushijima didn't comment on the obvious. (You really could have just told him).

You floated over to Ushijima and took his hand in your cloudy one. "When we find my body, you put the ring on. Then I'll live again!" You looked up at him. You wanted your eyes to look excited, but it was rather hard to find the glint in a dead mans eye.

Ushijima tilted his head. That made absolutely no sense.

You, sensing his obvious confusion, rolled your eyes and dropped his hand. "I kinda forgot to mention, something," you gave him a little smile, "Undead can't just bond with anyone. It doesn't happen much."

Ushijima deadpanned. "What?"

You shrugged and continued. "Most who die just kind of move on. Very few stay behind."

He still looked confused, so you huffed and continued to explain. "I've had that ring since I was a little boy. When I died I was wearing it, so it kind of kept me tethered here." You absentmindedly played with the bloodied edge of your sweater. "In turn it will allow me to live again."

He tugged on his bottom lip with his teeth for a few seconds before opening his mouth again. "Who- Who murdered you?"

The smile dropped from your face.

The silence felt a little overbearing for a minute before you spoke. "I don't really know," you continued with a sigh, "It's like as the years went on and on, I forgot more about who I was." You were back to playing with your sweater sleeve. "I feel like I've told you most everything I know about myself."

He sat silently, eyes focused on you when you spoke again.

"When I woke up somewhere away from my body, I just kind of knew what I needed to do to live again. I knew about the bonded stuff, I knew who I needed to find...It's like the information was just planted there as a default when I woke up."

He nodded slowly, still not completely understanding. "You mean to say," he tugged on the ring a bit, "ghosts aren't common?"

You nodded. "The only ones who stay behind are tethered by something. Maybe an object, maybe they were murdered and have unfinished business." You looked him in the eye. "In my case, it's both."

Ushijima looked down, a confused frown etched onto his lips as another thought struck him. If the ring was on your body when you died, how come it ended up in front of his school?

The unanswered questions don't stop here, though for now he'll have to make due with what he's got.

🂠🃑🃁🂱🂡

"Wakatoshi-kun, since when did you wear rings?" Tendou raised his brows coyly and poked at Ushijima's finger.

"My mother gave it to me," he lied through his teeth. He was surprised he could think of something that fast, seeing as he hardly slept the night before.

One thing Ushijima wasn't prepared for when it comes to living with a ghost is all the watching. You had explained that you don't need sleep, but it's still terrifying when he wakes up to you staring at him from the foot of his bed.

"Look at you Ushiwaka, what a family man!" Tendou laughed.

Ushijima nodded, and let his eyes trail to you.

You were floating around in your usual cloudy ghost form, messing with people by plucking their pencils out of their hands or shutting their lockers. You had practically begged him to let you come along the night before, and he agreed on a few conditions.

Don't do anything disruptive.

Don't make people aware of your presence.

Don't interfere with practice.

Aside from the first rule, you were doing rather well at everything else. You turned your head to grin at him from on top of the lockers. He quickly looked away and back down, pinching his temple. "Tendou, I forgot something." Ushijima forced out, not waiting for an answer before he turned to head back to the gym club room. You knew that he wanted you to follow.

"Soo Wakatoshi, what do you want?" You said with a smile, turning upside down.

"You've been mildly disruptive," Ushijima says gruffly.

You frown. "I've gotta do something you know!"

"Weren't you not supposed to be disruptive?"

"It isn't fun being dead you know," you huff and float over his head. "My body wasn't ever found or buried! I don't even get to watch people cry at my grave like some of the other tethered."

"Didn't you say ghosts weren't common?"

"Of course there'd be tethered in grave yards! Literally they have to stay until their body decomposes!" You poked him harshly in his chest, landing on the ground in your solid shape.

Ushijima looked away before speaking. "Bundle of knowledge."

You retract your arm. "Yeah, well, a lot goes into the undead care package."

Ushijima turns his body around to face away from you. "Where would we find body?" He said it more to himself than you, but in good nature, you responded anyways.

"Probably around here."

Ushijima turns back.

"I mean," you start, "if we're looking for the bloodied body of a teenage boy, we should probably start with places he'd recognize, right?"

The shocked look didn't leave his face as he lurched forward to grab your dirty sweater. "And you didn't tell me?" He ground out.

"Down boy," your body changes form faster than Ushijima could pull you closer, and he nearly fell over. "I just remembered." You rolled your eyes.

"Hopeless," he muttered.

He takes it back. Being stuck with a ghost is just as bad as he thought it would be.

[corkisms]

Dude I am super excited to read about Eldritch Duke and Eldritch Bain’s backstory!!

im soo mad i had such a comprehensive answer to this post and tumblr ATE IT so now i gotta rewrite the whole thing from memory. hell on earth :[

alright i CANNOT take credit for eldritch bain thats @des-paa-cee-toeee BABYY!!! eldritch duke came about on a whim before i knew abt despaa’s take on eldritch bain but it was soooo fun learning abt this bain and throwing ideas at the wall (discord dms) to see what stuck (exploded in the microwave). i cant speak to bain's origins bc im still learning them myself but ive got some eldritch duke facts down. readmore placed below to contain the brainspill ^_^ (and it really is one hell of a brainspill like it got way longer than i intended so sorry in advance😭)

right so dukes a university student in the late 60s/early 70s(?)

hes taking part in an archaeology project with one of his classmates in a forest near his uni (studying bone fragments, arrowheads, just collecting random samples) and keeping audio logs of the whole project

his classmate strays too far and messes around in a bunch of forestbeings' turf

the beings retaliate by possessing/driving the classmate mad

classmate offs duke via rock crimes (fly high babe) and duke gets to spend some time getting acquainted with the spirits in the trees

one of the forestbeings decides that that was kinda fucked up in hindsight and takes pity on duke, searing life and consciousness back into his broken body and resurrecting him from the mud as a nothuman trapped in a mostly mortal vessel (you work with what ya got)

this process might take a while but idk if itll make up the 20 yr gap in his lifespan yet (give that hes 20ish in the 70s and shows up in pd2 in 2017 as a 50 yr old and not a 70 yr old)

i just think hes neat!

tbh idk how i actually feel abt writing this duke au given that i think im also writing some other stuff rn but i looove gnawing on it when im spaced out during class its like my screensaver. i actually started a little smthg as a sort of taste-test for this au where its a police report on the case of duke's initial disappearance in the 70s, documenting the weird facts from an in-universe after-the-fact pov (i am such a sucker for dramatic irony its not funny) and working through the story in the form of aforementioned audio logs. pasting the scraps below

~

Friends initially report 20-year-old August Lindenhurst missing on August 18th, 1968.

Over summer break, Lindenhurst had been taking part in a month-long personal project proposed by 19-year-old Gillian 'Gill' Dorsey, both students at Dennington University. Classmates became concerned when the project's allotted time period ended and Lindenhurst had still not returned to campus. He and Dorsey were last seen entering the forest behind the main building (see map in addendum 2A) with bags one month prior. Investigators organized search teams, which found their equipment still intact in a makeshift bell tent approximately 1.8 miles from campus, and CSI later noted that the project seemed largely archaeological in nature. Around the same time the tent was discovered, a welfare check conducted on Dorsey's dorm discovered her partially decomposed body still in bed (Dorsey case filed separately, though it shares many unusual circumstances with this one).

CSI recovered a collection of microtapes from the tent in the forest, dated throughout the month as audio logs leading up to Lindenhurst's disappearance. Detective Greene was able to transcribe a majority of the logs’ content despite questionable integrity following recent storms. Following analysis of the tapes, the Lindenhurst case was changed from missing persons to homicide. Transcripts deemed relevant to the case are attached below (transcripts for the rest of the tapes available in addendum 2F).

~

and then the transcript of the first tape starts! from there the rest of the story plays out over multiple tapes as duke n his classmate (using gill dorsey as a placeholder name for no reason in particular) pick through tiny buried oddities over the course of about a month. all the while we see signs that theres Something In These Woods thrown in (discussing strange dreams in passing, unidentified voices heard on tape, odd changes in behavior seen in casual conversation, etc) leading up to the discovery of The Final Tape later on in the case, recorded on the day the project was supposed to end 

~

The original recorder was recovered in a clearing approx. 600 feet from the tent. Clear signs of a fight present in surroundings (see addendum 3A-3G). Blood at the scene matched with Lindenhurst. The recorder still contained the most recent (presumably final) microtape inside. Det. Greene reassigned for transcription.

~

and then we get into the nitty gritty of the day of the attack. the report basically concludes with “well that was fucked up” given that lindenhurst’s killer classmate is also dead under mysterious circumstances (found in bed with their mouth and lungs all full of dirt, more thoughts on that but this post is more than long enough rn) so theres kinda. no one to prosecute. the story itself ends with the whole case file being completely wiped by bain, revealing that we were just reading the report along with him the entire time as part of a background check on duke. hes troubled by the implications to say the least, like sorry man you found more than you bargained for in this funky crime grandpa!! the whole ‘coming back nothuman’ thing isnt super covered in this version of the story bc it is still just a police report and obvs cant have ALL the details but that does still happen

thoughts n suggestions n corrections welcome i love having thoughts and making words i love it to bloody pieces. i love kneading ideas in my brain like dough. also ty for reading this far mwah 😭 😭 😭

[criminol]

The Unsolved Murder of Maria Ridulph

Maria Elizabeth Ridulph was a seven-year-old schoolgirl who lived with her three siblings and parents in Illinois.

On 3 December 1957, Maria asked her parents if she could go outside and play in the snow with her best friend Kathy. After finishing dinner Maria and Kathy went outside Maria's house and played together. According to Kathy, they were approached by a tall man in his early 20s who said told the girls his name was Johnny. Johnny told the girls that he was 24 years old and asked them if they liked dolls and piggyback rides. He gave Maria a piggyback ride, after this, she went back to her house and got a doll to show him. After Maria returned with her doll, Kathy went back to her home to get her mittens as she was cold. When Kathy returned Maria and the man were gone.

Kathy went to Maria's house to tell them she couldn't find Maria. The parents first thought Maria may be hiding or playing a game and said brother to go and look for her. When he couldn't find her, Maria's parents called the police and with an hour as such of the town had begun. Despite the huge effort, no sign of Maria or the man she was last seen were found.

The abduction received national news coverage, law enforcement continued to follow needs and investigate various aspects in the area. Despite all of this, they developed no solid leads, no arrests were made and what had happened to Maria remained a mystery.

On 26 April 1958, the skeletal remains of a small child were found in a wooded area along Route 20. The decomposed condition of the body indicated it had been there for several months. The child was wearing only a shirt, and a shirt and socks. The body was identified as Maria based on the dental records, a lock of hair, and the items of clothing that were found at the scene. The rest of Maria's clothing, including her coat, shoes and an undergarment, were not found. The initial autopsy did not determine a cause of death because of the advanced state of the conversation.

The case was eventually reopened based on new information. Janet Tessier testified that her mother, Eileen Tessier, had said to her on her deathbed in 1994: 'Those two little girls, and the one that disappeared, John did it. John did it, and you have to tell someone.' Janet took this to me that her half brother John Tessier, soo to rename himself as Jack McCullough, had kidnapped and murdered Maria. She had also heard from her older sisters that Eileen had lied to investigators; providing John with an alibi on the night of the crime. Janet then made several attempts over the next 14 years to contact law enforcement, give them her information and ask them to look into her mother's statement. In 2008, Janet emailed an Illinois State police tip line resulting in the state police cold case unit reinvestigating McCulloch's background and alibi.

Janet's sisters told investigators they too were suspicious of John. One of them said that John had molested her and other young girls when she was a child. Another woman told police that John Tessier had given her piggyback ride as a child and refused to put her down until her father had stopped him.

In July 2011, the Seattle police department, which had joined forces with the Illinois State Police in the investigation, brought McCullough in for questioning. Initially, McCullough spoke calmly and collectedly however when faced with detailed questions about the murder of Maria and his whereabouts on the night she went missing, he became evasive and aggressive. He soon refused to answer any further questions. McCullough was arrested and charged with kidnapping murder and extradited to Illinois.

That same month Maria's body was exhumed to check for further evidence, no DNA evidence was found however it was discovered that Maria had been stabbed in the neck list three times by a long sharp blade. It could be established that this had been the cause of death as the findings did not rule out other possible causes of death such as strangulation due to the decomposition of the soft tissues of the neck.

The case went to trial in September 2012. Numerous witnesses testified including Maria's childhood friend, Kathy. Kathy identified McCullough as Johnny, the man who had walked up to her Maria 50 years ago. Another childhood friend Flores testified that she had been offered a piggyback ride from a man who had called himself Johnny, she further identified McCullough as that man. Three inmates, who were jailed with McCullough, testified that he talked about killing Maria. On 14 September 2012, McCullough was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Maria Ridulph and sentenced to life in prison. He was 73 years old at the time of sentencing. Following an appeal, in March 2016, a new trial was held for McCullough. During this trial, the timing of a phone call managed to place a 40-mile distance between McCullough and the last place Maria was seen alive. McCullough was declared innocent of the crime on 12 April 2017. The murder of Maria Ridulph remains unsolved.

[baeklination]

구름 도시 (Cloud City) pt.3:l

Date: 211107

Warnings/Contains: Some cursing, general talks about the crime and autopsy report.

Characters: justice system au. Baekhyun + varying degrees of 8

WC: 6470

NOTE: The ending is a bit...mundane (?) since it's aupposed to go with the next part (I just cut them up for an easier read since bookmarking isn't possible here).

@jennxx3 @to-all-the-stories-i-love

Masterlist Masterpost Part 1 Part 2 Part 3:II

¤¤

Baek-hyun was on his third cup of coffee, waiting as Chan-yeol and his crew painstakingly dug through the ground to unearth what he presumed was another victim. Kyung-soo would take care of the body itself, but the detailed work of searching for evidence while disturbing the original scene and soil was Chan-yeol’s forte. Jong-dae sat down next to him:

“There’s a reporter camping out on the driveway now that we’ve lifted the tape”, he sighed. “Our man’s gonna be on the evening news.”

“Might as well be, Jong-dae. We already have a warrant out.”

“It’s gonna help him more than us, if he sees it”, Jong-in chimed in. “We don’t even know what he looks like now. How the hell are we gonna find him?”

“I don’t know… Let’s hear what Jun thinks when he gets here. He’ll know what to do.”

There was a surge of mumbling voices from the tent that could only mean one thing - they’d found something - and soon after, Chan-yeol peeked through the flap.

“Is Doh here?”

“He was finishing up an autopsy. He’ll be forty-five minutes, at least. What’ve you got?”

“A body. We still have to get it up, but ask Doh to hurry - these clouds don’t look too good.”

Baek-hyun knew better than to ask if he could join them, as this would be the most crucial part of the exhumation, so all he could do was sit and wait.

¤

Jun-myeon hurried through the rain and hopped in the backseat with two bags full of food.

“Dinner”, he smiled, relieved that they were all there. “Jjajangmyeon, dak gomtang, kimchi.”

“Wow, you guys from Major eat in style”, Jong-dae exclaimed. “Usually I only get to cram a hotdog down in the field.”

“You deserve it, you’ve had a real one today”, Jun-myeon explained. “Was it Park’s crew I saw leaving just now?”

“Wyeah”, Baek-hyun answered, while slurping up a mouthful of noodles. “They’ve finished with the on-site collecting. Doh’s in there now.”

“Do you know anything yet?”

“Park said she was pretty badly decomposed. And that her clothes seemed to indicate she was pretty young; late teens, early twenties. I’m gonna hang back and follow Doh back.”

“It’s gonna take half the night, Byun. Why don’t you guys go home, get some rest, and hear the results tomorrow? These guys have kids, you know.”

“No, they’re going home. Just stayed around for the free meal”, Baek-hyun grinned. “I don’t know how it’s gonna look in the morning, wanna get a jump start. Jong-dae’s going to talk to the surviving vic, and I’m going with Jong-in to shake the trees.”

Shaking the trees is what they called going down to the seedier parts of town, where the less fortunate lived and worked, to see if there was any information to be gathered. The average person would probably guess that the most upstanding citizens of town would make the best witnesses, but the truth was far from it. Living safely, far removed from the grime, they paid little mind to anything beyond their immediate bubble, whereas the prostitutes, small-time crooks and special businesses noticed everything; living in the shade meant you had to keep your eyes and ears open.

“I thought you didn’t have a car..?”

“They called from the shop, I can get it tomorrow. Finally..! Not that I haven’t enjoyed riding shotgun with you, kiddo”, Jong-dae winked at Jong-in.

“You think you’ll be able to flush Soo-man out?”

“Any tips, boss?”

“I don’t think it’s gonna be a question of flushing him out. You’re probably gonna have to find him. Leave no sto-”

“-stone unturned”, Baek-hyun chimed in. “Got it, boss.”

“And Oh Sehun?”

“We didn’t find anything in the house to indicate he knows Soo-man, but it’s too early to rule out. The best thing would be if...Well, the best thing would’ve been if I hadn’t been so gungho, going in with guns blazing at the interrogation”, he sighed.

“We all thought he had done it”, Jong-in tried to comfort Baek-hyun. “Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Exactly. And he had fricking Kim Min-seok with him - what were we supposed to think..! I still don’t get that…”, Jong-dae shook his head.

“Tell you what, Byun”, Jun-myeon said “I’ll call him first thing tomorrow. Smooth it over with the “they’re hot heads, but I’m the boss and I believe you”-routine.”

“No, Jun. I appreciate it, but I should do the groveling myself.”

“You should. But if it backfires he’ll clam up, and we don’t want that, do we? With as little as you have to go on already...”

“Yeah, you’re right… But I wanna talk to him soon.”

“Of course. It’s your investigation. I’m just giving you a helping hand. Anyhow..!”, Jun-myeon clapped his hands together and continued “I’m gonna get going. You lads have a lovely evening and I’ll see you bright and early.”

Jong-dae turned to Jong-in:

“What do you say, should we roll out to? One last adventure for the Kim Jong’s?”

“Good idea. I’m so full, I’m about to fall asleep! Especially with this rain.”

¤¤

After finishing up with Kyung-soo, Baek-hyun was knackered; physically yes, but mostly mentally. Coming home at 01.30 he changed into a t-shirt and sweats and went out in the backyard to see if Veró’s lights were on. There was a high wooden fence between their houses, but with a bit of DIY Baek-hyun and Veró had managed to make a section of it into a gate, so they (he) could pop over whenever they felt like it. Satisfied she was still up he did a quickpeek through the glass screen into her living room, then slid the door open to be met by Mongi’s tap dancing.

"Why are you peeping through my window like the neighbourhood perv, B?"

"I wanted to make sure you were alone”, he answered while scratching the dog behind the ears. “Last time I came over unannounced you were in a…" he paused and made wide eyes "...compromising situation, remember?"

"That's why normal people knock on the front door. Or call ahead. They don't go skulking in their neighbour's backyard. What's up?"

"Hmm, nothing", Baek-hyun answered, now in the kitchen with his mouth full of crackers.

"Just came over for your weekly fridge raid?"

Veró got up, nudged him away and took out a pot:

"Chilli con carne. Insta-rice in the cupboard."

"You're a rare and flavourful gem, Veró..!", he announced and gave her a warm hug.

After finishing his second dinner he stretched out on the couch and put his head in Veró’s lap.

“So you gonna tell me what’s bothering you?”, she asked, running her fingers through his hair.

“I don’t know, I just felt like coming over. There’s a lot going on at work.”

“It wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with that girl they found, under Pioneer’s bridge, would it?”

“Quite the detective are you? Aeh, you know I don’t wanna-”

“...talk about work. I know.”

“Just...Just be careful if you’re out alone, alright? Better yet, don’t go out”, he said in a firm but joking manner.

“Okay, detective Byun. I’ll stay cooped up in here until you catch the guy.”

“If I catch him”, Baek-hyun sighed.

“Of course you will, I have faith in you, B.”

“Tell that to my other fourteen open cases…”

Veró hated seeing Baek-hyun beat himself up like this, especially knowing how hard he worked and how much he cared, but there wasn’t anything she could say to make him ease up on himself, so she let it slide. She just kept on brushing his hair until he eventually dozed off.

20TH APRIL

“Oh, nooo..!”, Jong-dae cried out in a cartoonish voice, making side-to-side motions with the spoon. “The plane is going down..! Wait, I see a safe place to land - right on Mount Min-jun..!”

Min-jun was in hysterics, laughing so much he couldn’t keep his food in.

“I’m gonna have to serve him three portions the way you feed him”, Irina smiled at the comical pair in front of her.

“Did you hear that, Junnie? Mommy thinks I’m too much fun. What do you think? Do you want stern babushka, or….AIRPLAAAAANE..!”, Jong-dae asked, doing his swiping motions.

“Ae buane!”, Min-jun clapped his hands and started cackling again.

After successfully delivering a mouthful to his son, he scrunched his face with a short yelp of contentment.

“How did he come out so cute, Iri? I just wanna put him in my pocket - airplane woooo! - and take him with me to work..!”

“Speaking of which...”, she replied and nodded towards the clock “...shouldn’t we get going if I’m gonna drop you off?”

“Oh, shit, we’ve gotta run.”

“Language…”

“Sorry. Don’t use that word, Junnie”, he said and kissed him on the head.

¤¤

Waiting for Jong-in under the rain-drenched awning of a XXX shop on Louie St., Baek-hyun surveyed the people around him; who was walking, who was working? The corners were “April empty”, the heavy rain deterring everyone except for the old-timers. Hearing a low gasp, followed by the distinct sound of heels on pavement, Baek-hyun turned around in time to see a woman hurryingly disappearing round the nearest corner.

“Myrah!”, Baek-hyun called out, and jogged after her. “You’re not invisible, Myrah. Stop.”

Myrah, a prostitute in her mid-thirties, stopped and turned around with a frustrated look on her face.”

“As if the rain’s not bad enough. It’s not great for business, you know, being seen with a cop”, she scoffed.

“Who’s gonna know I’m a cop?”

“Look around, Byun”, she glared at him. “Do you see any other pretty boys in white shirts and tie here..?”

“I don’t see anyone here...”, Baek-hyun contested, holding his palm up to catch the rain.

“Funny. There’s a club down the street - maybe they’ll let you audition with your stand-up routine.”

“Two minutes, Myrah. You’d really be doing me a favour.”

She leaned back against the building wall and pretended to pick at her nails, but Baek-hyun knew she was listening to him. Making a living on the street had hardened her, but her heart was, as they say, in the right place; she knew right from wrong and that Baek-hyun wouldn’t come down to Louie if it wasn’t serious.

“Two girls. Women-”

“-streeters..?”, she interrupted.

“One definitely not. The other, highly unlikely. Fresh-faced, normal clothes, nothing standing out. ”

“Proper-like women, you mean?”

“Exactly. Anyone come round here looking for that type? Maybe a couple years back even?”

“Years? I don’t keep a diary of scumbag preferences, Byun.”

“Okay, weeks then. Last three weeks?”

“Nothing that comes to mind..”, Myrah sighed and continued “but you know I’m not big on socializing. I keep my head down until it’s time to go home. Ask Cosy, she’ll know.”

“I haven’t seen her, where she at?”

“She ain’t heavy into rain these days. Usually sits it out at Gino’s, trying her luck.”

“So should you, you’ll catch a cold out here. Here, take my jacket”, he said and started wriggling out of it.

“Keep it. That’s not exactly the look my clients go for.”

“Fine. But eat something warm today, alright?”, he said, hauling up a few bills, pressing them into her hand.

She didn’t have to say thank you - the fact that she hadn’t protested meant she appreciated it.

“How’s Micah doing?”

It was almost a magic trick, mentioning her son. Her countenance softened and her eyes got a spark in them when she talked about him.

“Good. My baby’s doing real good. He’s finishing fifth year and with his grades it won’t be long before he’s Dr. Micah”, she bragged.

“Yeah? Glad to hear it, Myrah. I’ll try to bring him something next time I come around. I’ve gotta run, my partner's probably waiting for me. Stay safe, you hear?”

“Don’t worry about me, Byun. I ain’t leaving my kid for nothing.”

Excusing himself, Baek-hyun took up his phone to answer the call that had been buzzing for the last minute.

“Hey, Jong-in, where are you?”

“I’m at the crossing on Juniper Street, but the sign on the side street says Kodak, not Louie”, Jong-in said, flustered at being lost.

“That’s the one. Drive up here, I’ll flag you down.”

¤

“Sorry, I should’ve told you the actual name of the street”, Baek-hyun apologised and went on to explain “We call it Louie at the precinct because of what goes on around here. Lewd, Louie. Get it?”

“Ah, yeah, I get it. We had names like that as well. Louie just sounded so...real.”

“We’re going up to a bar just here to see if we can find Cosy. If there’s any information to be had, she’s our safest bet. Our girl likes meatball sandwiches, so let’s pop in here quick”, Baek-hyun said as they neared a corner store.

“Is she homeless? Or I mean...can’t she afford to buy this herself?”

“Cosy? Nah, she’s not homeless, she’s a working gal. But she wouldn’t spend her money on something like this. But it’s not about that really. You see, Jong-in…”, he went on as he browsed through the aisle “...it’s about recognizing the people down here - mostly women - are human, like you and me, deserving of respect and kindness, as any other people you’d meet. Most of them started when they were too young to understand the emotional impact this life would have, and now they think they’re too old or too damaged to turn it around. Take Cosy for example. She’s been through the ringer more times than there are stars in the sky, been spit on, looked down upon by everyone - including us cops - yet she’s willing to help me out if she can. This...”, he said, holding up his bag of treats “is the very least she deserves. By the way, did you get a chance to look through the report?”, he asked, referring to the autopsy report of their newly found victim he’d sent over during the night.

“Barely. Hye-jin woke up so ill this morning, I had to get Yong-sun ready and drop her off at my parents house. I really tried”, Jong-in moaned at the start of his morning.

“Oh. Is she..?”, Baek-hyun raised his brows in a suggestive way.

“No, no, no. She is not pregnant..!” Jong-in affirmed, but paused for a moment. “She can’t be…”

Baek-hyun laughed and gave him a dunk on the shoulder:

“Seems you’ve got that firepower, daddy Jong-in”, he teased, as they walked into Gino’s.

¤

From the cubicles dressed in worn out red leather and the knock-off Tiffany lamps in the bar, to the bartender turning a blind eye to the man getting an - undoubtedly paid for - handjob in one of the stalls (what business was it of his it of his if it earned him a bigger tip?), Gino’s was an altogether depressing affair.

“Now, what’s a fine man like you doing in a joint like this?”, they heard someone call out.

Looking behind him, Baek-hyun saw Cosy sitting in one of the booths.

“He’s trying to find a fine woman like yourself.”

Baek-hyun couldn’t help slathering on the butter every time he saw her.

Cigarette in hand; her full bosom being held in check by the thinnest straps of a silver top with a napkin-size white skirt to match it was obvious that Cosy’d been around the block more than a few times.

“How’ve you been, mama?”, Baek-hyun smiled while sitting down.

“Better than you, by the looks of it”, Cosy replied pointing at him “You haven’t been sleeping, B. And who are you, sugar?”, she asked.

“Good morning, ma’m. I’m Kim Jong-in, Byun’s colleague”, he answered politely, shaking Cosy’s hand.

“You're barely dry behind the ears, son. I hope B’s taking good care of you.”

“I’m older than I look, ma'am. But Byun is looking out for me...ma'am.”

This wasn’t Jong-in’s first encounter with a sex worker, but most of his experience with them came from his patrol days, where the conversations mostly were kept to “move it along” or some form of warning about booking them. Sitting down with Cosy, who knew no strangers, was a new experience and it made him flustered.

“Okay. But if it changes, you know where to find me”, she said with a wink.

“I have a girlfriend”, he hurriedly replied, his face getting flushed, to the amusement of both Cosy and Baek-hyun.

“Relax, Jong-in”, he chuckled. “Cosy knows better than to solicit illegal activities.”

Cosy looked in the bag Baek-hyun had placed in front of her:

“Sandwiches, chocolates, mints...You must want something important, B…”

Baek-hyun slid a photo of Min-young across the table.

“You got any girls like her here? Or anyone asking?”

Putting her cigarette out and picking up the photo she could tell right away:

“This girl ain’t from the streets, B. Who’s looking for her?”

“No one. She’s dead.”

“Poor child…”

“Yeah, and I’ve got another one. But no fucking clue where to look, Co. Thought someone might’ve been round here before this happened? I know you girls barely report to us when things happen…”

“Well, you got a picture of the guy, a sketch?”

“It’s old”, he said, hauling up Soo-man’s high-school photo. “He’s gonna be around forty now.”

“Oh, sugar, what am I supposed to do with this? They already look one and the same to us.”

“I know, Co”, he burst out, running his hands through his hair. “That’s what I’m saying. I don’t have a clue..!”

“He’s from Blue Meadow”, Jong-in interjected, giving Baek-hyun a moment to calm down.

“We don’t exchange home addresses… But if he’s from there...forty years…”, Cosy mused, lighting another cigarette. “With this weather he might be indoors. The comfortable type. You been to see Seung-woo?”

Baek-hyun’s demeanour quickened:

“Suny? The peep parlour?”

“Yeah. He says his cameras are fake, don’t wanna scare away the customers, but I’m not too sure… Not for the girls sake, that’d be the day, but he been robbed a couple times in the past…”, she shrugged her shoulders.

“When’s he open?”

“That weasel..? Wouldn’t miss an opportunity to make a nickel these days. It’s open twenty-four seven, B.”

¤¤

Shutting the engine off, Jong-dae gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath. Riding alongside Jong-in for two days had been fun, but there was nothing like the feeling of being behind the wheel of his own Pontiac beauty. He’d arranged a meeting with Soo-man’s first known victim at a bespoke cafe in midtown.

“Jeez, can I even order a black coffee here...”, he mumbled when he saw the painfully hip interior.

Scanning the place a young woman caught his eye; she looked hesitant, not knowing what the man she was meeting looked like. Jong-dae made his way to her seat:

“Aiko..?”, he asked in a low but warm voice, not wanting her to feel exposed.

“Yes”, she nodded. “You’re...the policeman?”

“Yes, detective Kim. Jong-dae”, he answered and showed her his badge. “May I sit down?”

“Of course, please”, she gestured, now a bit more animated. “I’m sorry, I’ve been so nervous waiting, I don’t know why. It happened such a long time ago...”

“No, I understand, you don’t have to apologize. If anything I should, for asking you to meet with me.”

Aiko started to say something, but quieted down as a waitress approached.

“Good morning, sir. Would you like to order?”, she said with a chirpy tone.

“Hi. Black coffee, no sugar, please and thank you.”

“I’m sorry, we don’t serve plain coffee”, she said with a downturned mouth before she continued “Espresso, or americano? Or should I bring the menu over..?”

Jong-dae ground his teeth internally, but flashed his most amiable smile:

“Espresso will be perfect, thank you. Make it a double. Do you want a refill?”, he asked Aiko.

“I shouldn’t, but what the heck. I’ll have another cappuccino, please.”

After receiving their coffees they resumed their conversation.

“So… What is it you want to know? I don’t know how much I can say that you can’t read in the report”, she said, nervously tapping her mug.

“I thought we could just go over the incident again. Sometimes things fall through the cracks when they type up a report, or you might realise you remember something you didn’t say earlier. When you’re in shock it can be difficult for the brain to process the events immediately afterwards… And you were only...nineteen, is that right?”

“Yeah, nineteen. Well, I… I’d just gotten off the bus, I’d been at volleyball practice, when it happened.”

“Do you remember what time it was?”

“It...must’ve been around eight. I’d been at school before so it was a weekday, but I can’t remember which day exactly.”

“That’s alright. Do you remember seeing any people around, anyone getting on or off the bus the same time as you?”

“Just people I know. Well, not like friends or anything, but I recognised them from the neighbourhood, you know.”

“People who usually are on the same bus?”

“Yeah, exactly. It was going into winter so it was cold, so there wasn’t anyone hanging out, sitting in the garden or anything like that.”

“It said in the report you thought he was injured. How do you mean?”

“He was hunched over, sitting on the ground, holding his arm sort of like this”, Aiko explained, putting her arm across her abdomen. “And he...he made this sound, like he was hurt.”

“Did he say anything? Ask you for help?”

“No, he just sat like that until I reached out. I guess I was gonna put my hand on his shoulder, but he pulled me down, or towards him and somehow turned me...I can’t see how it happened - even later when I went over it in my head - it was so fast, I just…”

Jong-dae recognized the look on Aiko's face all too well; he’d met countless victims with the same, bewildered and almost surprised look as they tried to understand how things had happened. Just as he was about to say something Aiko started again.

“Before I knew it he dragged me into the alley - I don’t know if there are any pictures - but there was this walkway I guess you could call it, between the houses so there were fences on either side.”

She gestured with her hands, but when her eyes caught Jong-dae’s notepad she asked to borrow it. Sketching up the lines of the pavement, houses and walkway she put an X on it and continued:

“Here’s where he was sitting. Right by the walkway, so he just pulled me in like this”, she said, drawing a line with an arrow to indicate the direction.

“And you came from here..?”

“Yeah. And the bus stop was back here”, she said, writing the word bus on the paper.

“Did he say anything then?”

“Mayb… Maybe he told me to be quiet..? No, I don’t know, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise, it’s not your fault. Can I ask, the man who helped you, Christopher, do you happen to remember anything about him? Where he lived or worked?”

“He didn’t live on my street, I didn’t recognize him…” Aiko stopped and thought about it. “We didn’t talk much. When the police came he went with one of them, to give his statement I guess. Don’t you have his last name in the file?”

“We do, but unfortunately we’ve been unable to find him. I thought I’d ask while on the matter, but it’s okay. Could you tell me the rest, if it’s not too difficult?”

“Where was I… Oh, yeah, so he pulled me in and - he had his hand over my mouth - and I ended up on the ground and he was…” Her voice faded as her hands came up to her chest “...on me. I knew he was gonna rape me and I wouldn’t be able to stop it. I tried to get away but it didn’t matter how much I wanted to, ‘cus he was stronger than me. You think you’d be able to kick and scream and get away by sheer willpower, but it was nothing to him. He was so heavy sitting on me and I couldn’t breathe with his hand over my mouth. I can-”, Aiko stopped as a shiver went through her body. “I can still feel the grovel rolling under my shoes as I tried to get up… If Christopher hadn’t been there right then. I know how lucky I am. What..?”

“Oh, I guess my poker face isn’t all that good”, Jong-dae smiled and scratched his neck. “Not being raped is not luck. I hear a lot of victims comparing their situation to the worst case scenario when really it’s a normal situation they should be comparing it with; it’s your basic human right to be able to walk down the street without being attacked.”

“Yeah, I know. I just...you know”, Aiko shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah, I know. I just have a few questions left..?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“I know it was dark there, but did you notice anything distinctive about him; caught a glimpse of his face, any pattern on his clothes, a certain smell..?”

“No... When I saw him in the light I didn’t pay attention to anything in particular, he was just wearing black, or dark blue. I think he wore a hooded shirt, sweatshirt, ‘cus I remember the hood looking different than his jacket; the jacket was kind of shiny, like a windbreaker. He looked like a jogger. Young, twenty-five, thirty maybe.”

“Height, weight..?”

“Nah… Average? Around 175 I think. And his body looked normal, not big or thin, you know.”

“Right...okay. Well, that’s it for me”, Jong-dae said, putting his notepad in his pocket. “If there’s nothing else?”

“You probably can’t tell me, but did someone else get hurt? Is that why you suddenly wanted to talk to me?”

“You’re right, I can’t, since it’s an open case. But there’s been a development that might have something to do with what happened to you”, Jong-dae let her know, fairly certain she would get the gist of it.

“Will I...have to testify or something?”

“No, no. It’s not come to that. I know I just dragged your past up, but try not to think about it too much. You have nothing to worry about, Aiko. Really.”

¤¤

"Ugh, why even bother taping if this is the quality?", Baek-hyun sighed when he saw the grainy mess not even his tech guys could clear up, on the screen. "We're not gonna get anything from these videos."

"Don't waste your time then. Hand 'em over to the civs, let them do it", Jun-myeon suggested.

"Nah, I wanna do it myself. If I can't tell them what to look for there's no point is there?"

"Then why-"

"I'm gonna know if I see it, Jun."

"Techs can't do face recognition on this..?", Jong-in, also dismayed, interjected.

"Double bad luck; grainy video, grainy and old photo. Not a good combo."

"Hey, what's this? Looking at your home videos, Byun?", Jong-dae joked when he came in and sat down. "Slacking off waiting for detective Dae, ey?"

"More like straining… How'd it go?"

"Nothing much, her memory was pretty much the same as back then. But she drew this", Jong-dae said, hauling up his notebook. "I didn't see a picture or description of the exact place in the file, so that's new, right?"

After hearing Jong-dae retell what Aiko had said when drawing the picture Baekhyun raised his brow.

"So he had at least some knowledge of the area. None of us are thinking he just stumbled upon the darkest part of the road by accident?"

They all agreed this was something, circumstantial as it may be, that further pointed to Soo-man as the perpetrator.

Finding nothing on the tapes for an hour they’d decided to order lunch and make it a matiné.

“We could probably pull the surveillance - ketchup?”

“Just a drop”, Jong-dae signed to Baek-hyun.

“...but you never know. Some are stupid enough to go back.”

“If we’re lucky he doesn’t know we’ve been there. If he doesn’t see the busted lock on his door… Or the archeological site in his backyard…”

“If he’s that dumb I’m gonna be embarrassed we haven’t caught h-”

“YOH!”

Jong-in’s loud outburst got their attention. Scrambling for the computer he was in a state that made Baek-hyun’s heart beat faster.

“Look..!”, he said, backing up the video to pause it, showing the hooded face of a man. “Look, look! That’s him, isn’t it!?”

“Pfuck, ih is!”, Jong-dae shouted through the hamburger in his mouth.

As if waiting for final confirmation, they both looked at Baek-hyun with anticipation. He brought his hand to his mouth, rubbing it to and fro, as if he had a moustache, but didn’t say anything for a while.

“When’s this from?”

“Eh…” With a few clicks on the computer Jong-in found it. “The thirteenth.”

“You don’t even need to ask”, Jong-dae interjected. “You’re a cop. You know it’s him!”

He knew Jong-dae was right; even with the poor quality he knew.

“Jong-in, go get Jun. Tell him we’ve got a new pic.”

¤¤

“Let me have a look, where she at?”, Baek-hyun asked, trying not to show his excitement.

When Jong-dae pressed the key there was a toot and flickering at the end of the garage. As they got closer Baek-hyun realised Jong-dae hadn’t been joking around the other day when he said his ride was also “a little something something”.

“Damn, is that a Pontiac? What is it...68’?”

“Close. 67’.”

Where Baek-hyun tended to pretend his car was nothing special as people ooh:d and aah:d over it, Jong-dae did not, smirking widely with content.

“You probably feel a little embarrassed about bragging about your car now, right? Right?”

“Hey, I wasn’t bragging about her”, Baek-hyun waved his hand. “I just answered your question...”

“You were!”, Jong-dae said, bursting out in laughter. “You totally were, Byun!”

“Okay, I admit… I didn’t think you’d be rolling up in something like this. Although I should’ve guessed”, he said, pointing at Jong-dae in his leather jacket. “Horsepower?”

“480. It’s originally 360, but you know. Ap, watch the polish..!”

Baek-hyun rolled his eyes and took his hand away from the roof.

“What, I just got her back..!”

“What was she in for anyway? Looks pristine to me.”

“Just some work on the body, she had a few knicks and cuts.”

Considering the reaction Baek-hyun had gotten for merely putting his hand on the car he doubted it, but the look on Jong-dae’s face told him to let it lie. Changing the subject he clapped his hands:

“Let’s get going. You wanna race?”

“You wanna lose?”

¤

As soon as Baek-hyun got out of his car he could see Suny hurrying towards the door, trying to lock it, but Jong-dae had caught it too and put his foot in between to prevent it.

“Ah! Stop mangling my foot!”, he shouted when Suny continued to press on the door.

“For fuck’s sake, Suny, we see you...”, Baek-hyun cut in, sighing.

“It’s closed. I’m taking my lunch break.”

“Quit horsing around or I’ll book you for assault.”

With that Suny quickly opened the door with a few bows.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, detective. I didn’t realise your foot was there.”

“Yeah, well maybe you won’t realise when it’s up your-”

“I think he gets it”, Baek-hyun interjected, putting his hand on Jong-dae’s arm for him to loosen his grip on Suny’s shirt.

“I could have you arrested for this, you know!” Straightening out his shirt he sat down and gawked at them. “Well, what do you want? Coming in and ruining my- can you not stand by the door? Scaring away my customers... ”, Suny muttered.

“That’s actually what we wanna talk to you about”, Baek-hyun said and hauled up his phone. “This guy. You know him?”

After giving it a glance he shook his head.

“Never seen him.”

“Christ, Suny, it’s from the video you gave us!”

He squirmed a little and continued to shake his head.

“Hm… Okay”, Baek-hyun nodded his head and turned to Jong-dae. “Let’s ask the girls if they know him. And guys.”

“Yeah, I’m sure the guys will be real helpful when they see my badge”, Jong-dae smirked at Suny.

“Ya, ya, ya! Okay, okay! Let me have another look. The lighting in here…”, he said, gesturing with his arm. “I couldn’t see properly.”

To Baek-hyun’s surprise, Suny actually took a good look at it. Holding up his arm for them to wait he went over to one of the booths and knocked on the door. Baek-hyun couldn’t tell who was in there nor what was said, but he felt a spark of anticipation when Suny came back.

“Yep, it’s him. He comes in here sometimes, but I don’t know his name. Came in, I guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“He only came for Mina, but she quit two weeks ago.”

“Mina, that’s her real name?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not a nickname?”

“Do you have a photo of her?”, Jong-dae added, understanding that it might very well be Min-Young having a secret side of her life.

“What am I, the president of her fanclub? No, I don’t have a photo. When they go, they go.”

“Where’d she go?”

“She moved upstate somewhere.”

“Because of him?”

“No, to be closer to her family. The girls don’t know who’s looking, it’s mirror glass. She doesn’t know that guy. She never said anything to me about it if she did…”

“Then how did..?”

“She came out when he started raising his voice about not being told Mina quit, that’s how she knew him.”

“You had an argument?”

“I wasn’t here, it was one of the other guys. It wasn’t a big deal, he complained and left as I heard it”, Suny said and shrugged his shoulders.

“Two weeks ago she left, you said?”

“You need me to write it down? Two weeks!”

“You need me to tell the guys back there your fake cameras aren’t so fake after all?”

“Why you always gotta..! Trying to be an upstanding citizen…”

“This her?”, Baek-hyun asked, holding up the photo of Min-young.

He could tell from Suny’s reaction that it wasn’t, but the way he jerked back his head told Baek-hyun it was something.

“That’s not Mina. But she looks like her. She looks a lot like her.”

¤

Wrapping up the interview with Suny they stepped out on the curb and looked at eachother.

“A lot like her..?”, Jong-dae echoed Suny’s words.

“So, where are we with this..? The gap between the murders is ‘cus he found Mina..?”

“Some perps will. They stop for months, years even, but… It’s not the norm.”

“So we assume there are women in between Min-Young and yesterdays?”

“Have to. I’ll call my boss, ask him to get someone to go through Jane Doe’s with similar M.O.’s. You do missing persons?”

“Yeah, I’ll call Jun right away. With any luck we’ll have something on our desk by morning. Alright, let’s call it a day. Bright and early tomorrow, Jong-dae.”

¤¤

Jong-in hadn’t been looking forward to reading the autopsy report of the girl they found last night, having heard from Baek-hyun that it wasn’t the usual find. Sitting down with a cup of coffee he saw the picture as soon as he opened the file on his tablet - she really had been mummified. Roughly knowing the timeline for decomposition of a body, yesterday Jong-in had imagined it had reached skeletonization or at least major bone exposure, not that it - she - would look so human. Her skin was almost black, and it stretched tightly across her bones and remaining flesh, making her look like a wooden statue. Jong-in kept staring at the picture in a mix of disbelief and sadness.

“Like she just fell asleep…”, he whispered to himself.

A phone ringing brought him out of his daze and on to reading Doh’s report. She was still an unknown person, a Jane Doe, but “development of wisdom teeth would suggest the female was in her late teens or early twenties at the time of death”. Damage such as bruising or sexual assault couldn’t proved or disproved since the soft tissue was both distorted and discoloured by the mummification, but the remainder of rope, now hanging loosely around her wrists told Jong-in that a similar pattern to Min-young’s would be likely. He’d hoped there would be something distinctive to go on when searching for her in the database, like an old injury, braces, or fixation screws, but there was nothing. It seemed her age and remainder of items found next to her would be their best shot, so he logged in to see if the analysts had gotten anywhere with them, but they were still labeled “pending”. Dismayed - and tired - he leaned back in his chair with a loud sigh when Jun-myeon’s voice caught his attention.

“You still here? The others headed home already.”

“I was just reading the report from Doh…”

Jun-myeon gave him a little smile of encouragement, since he also knew what it said.

“But…”

“Yes?”

“What happens to her if no one claims her?”

“You don’t know?”, Jun-myeon frowned in surprise. “If no one comes within a year, she’ll be buried.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I mean since she’s...a mummy. Will she stay like that, not decompose because the change in conditions?”

“I…”, Jun-myeon started, but paused and pursed his lips. “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Doh.”

Jong-in mused for a bit before he was interrupted.

“Go home, Jong-in”, Jun-myeon said and tapped the table. “You have a wife, don’t you?”

“Uhm… She’s not my wife, we’re not-”

“Go home.”

¤

Even after being home for twenty minutes, Jong-dae still hadn’t gotten out of the car, so it was no surprise to him when Irina came out into the garage and sat in the passenger’s seat.

“It looks as good as new...”

“Right? When I got in the seat, came out on the road…”, he sighed and shook his head. “How could I’ve left her for so long?”

“You wanna be alone?”

“No, I’m fine. I was just thinking, spending a little time with her. Let’s go in.”

Having forgotten about his foot he cried out when he took off his shoe.

“What’s wrong?”

“This idiot down at Louie”, Jong-dae answered, taking off his sock to see if there was any damage. “He mangled my foot in the doorway.”

Knowing her husband wouldn’t whine over nothing she suggested maybe he got a fracture and should go to the hospital, but Jong-dae insisted it was only a bruise.

[thesunshinebunny]

Congratulations on the 200 followers, you deserve it!!! I would like to ask Layla the following: how did the Riddle, Leona, Kalim and Azul react to your gender? Did you tell them openly or was it accidental?

Thank Youuuuuuuuu soooo much dear anon!!!! I freaking love you all, I'll never tire of saying it. Now...Layla will answer your question ;)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well...each one was a different experience, each revelation wasn’t the same as the last one...ehhhh, ok, sooooo this was what happened:

Riddle Rosehearts

After his overblot, I was the one who took him to the infirmary to rest and get some sleep. I stayed by his side all night while I sang a little lullaby that my mama used to sing to me, as my father told me, when I was still a baby.

The next day Dire Crowley went to see Riddle and recommended me to get some rest.

“Ahhh, Rosehearts-kun, how are you feeling? Can you remember yesterday’s events?”

Riddle shifted heavily on the infirmary bed at the noisy interruption of Crowley. “Vaguely, but yeah...where is Layla?”

“Ohhh, I recommended her to get some rest. She looked very tired after so much fighting, poor thing, even without magic... *sob* *sob*”

...

“...She?”

“Yes indeed, Layla is a girl...you didn’t know?”

Let's say, after that day, Riddle had a hard time looking me in the eyes without blushing. Cute

Leona Kingscholar

Ok, sooo this: I spent many days training in Savanaclaw at the insistence of Crowley. Well, it wasn't directly what he asked, instead, he ask me to go and take a few pictures of Savanaclaw’s dorm (I don't know why, I'm not a photographer, but since he gave me the ghost camera, that's been my part-time job, I guess) and within minutes, Leona had me by the ankles to join the training.

And that training lasted several weeks. I could feel how I was getting stronger, but apparently not at the rate Leona wanted. He even made me practice Magift.

"It’s problematic to see how it’s still difficult for you to trow with calculation"

"Well I'm trying, I've never played it before, I'm not a natural player like you" I threw a new disk to the rim, but this one got halfway.

"Tch, you're terrible at throwing, what are you, a girl?"

Uhhh, that boiled my blood.

"YES, I AM A GIRL"

Unconsciously I had lowered the training hood and tightened the shirt below, revealing my outlined bust. Leona's eyes were wide open, unable to take his gaze off my chest. "Is being a girl an insult to you?"

I think that threw him off his feet and made him want to trow himself at the sun. Poor Leona and lucky at the same time. Ruggie told me that in Afterglow Savanah they respect women a lot, otherwise you end up dead or worse...I have a slight suspicion that I will never hear Leona disrespect me again.

Azul Ashengrotto

Remember the time Azul wanted to take over the Ramshackle dorm? Let's say I gave that octopus a hard time.

"So it's a deal, Prefect?"

My eyes were glued to the contract, unable to reason calmly. On one hand I had Jack telling me not to do it, that I was going to lose at the very beginning, and on the other, I had my poor Grim, begging me with his little eyes to save him from this calvary. Being the leader of our dorm, I had to take care of him, but I didn't want to play Azul's dirty game either.

"Azul...can I have a moment with you, alone?"

Jade and Floyd came out with smirks on their faces, but Jack and Grim were the hardest to leave me, perhaps uneasily.

"Soo ... what do you have to discuss with me so privately?" I could see in his eyes he expected to play around with me, but it was me who would end up playing with him.

"I want you to reconsider the deal, I'm not going to sign the one you just proposed to me"

"So I don't see why you're still here, I'm have not time to waste, I'm a very busy man, I have more clients to deal with..."

"Then I'm going to propose another deal" That was what made his eyes shine with interest. I had his attention.

"Oya? And what could that be?"

"I can give you my body, but not the dorm" His interest fell to the floor, and he gave me a disgusted gesture. Damn octopus.

"Sorry, but I don't swing that side. I'm not attracted to boys"

"I am a girl"

Ah well, I got his interest back, but I think I got the wrong reaction. At the end I ended up signing the first contract, but I won the image of a Azul blushing from head to toe, and before the door to the VIP room closed, I also won the image of a half transformed Azul.

Kalim Al Asim

With Kalim, the situation was much more fun, or so I think. It was a very hot day in NRC and my dorm didn’t have an air conditioning or gardens with a lot of shade and cold draft, so I was suffering...a lot.

I walked into the school with the intention of getting a gallon of water out of the kitchen to keep Grim and I cool when I met the Sun itself at a corridor. 

He looked with great joy, as if the heat of the day did nothing to him, unlike me who was melting. And apparently he realized that, because he grabbed my hand and led me directly to his dorm... which is in the middle of a desert and the sun beats much harder. 

That day I thought I was going to die from a heat wave. RIP Layla.

BUT, to my surprise I came across a huge fountain, full of water and people swimming and playing in it. I had found an oasis in the middle of the desert.

“Scarabia may be one of the hottest dorms at school, but it has a lot of fountains and a huge oasis a few miles away. You will never melt here”

My savior.

"Take advantage and take a good dip"

That happiness was short-lived. Not that I had a problem getting into the water, but I didn't have a swimsuit at hand and even if I did, I would be surrounded by a bunch of guys...what a shame. Seeing my indecision, Kalim picked me up like a bride and shot toward the fountain.

"Wait, Kalim, hang on a bit"

There was no time to react, in a matter of milliseconds I was already inside the fountain. I heard how Kalim laughed under the water and how the screams kept coming from the others. 

I came to the surfaced for air, although the cold water had alleviated the unbearable heat, I knew what was about to happen. It was seeing Kalim's decomposing face and noticing how the screams began to stop that my underwear was showing under the uniform shirt.

Sooo, I had to ease the situation. I playfully splashed Kalim once, twice, three, four times, until the water entered his mouth, making him pay attention to the splashes and keep playing. I wanted to see that huge smile again.

When the others saw Kalim's smile return and see how he splashed and dive into the water, their smiles and screams came back.

Yeahhh, it wasn't that bad.

[supertweetycherry]

DIE HARD || [iv. Girl Talks and Boys]

—Pairings: BTS x OC

—Genre: BTS Mafia Au, Slight Fluff, Angst (a lot of it), Heartbreak, Thriller

—Ratings: 18+ | MA Content | R

—Warnings: Abuse, Rude Behaviour, Fighting, Blood, Death, Weapons/Blades and Mentions of Sex, Mentions of Killing.

—Summary: She belong to them. They belong to her. It’s simple as that. Period.

—Word Count: 7k

 Navigations -> Masterlist || MASTERPOST <<Part 2 || Part 4>>

Chapter 3 - Girl Talks and Boys 

“—the local law enforcements in South Korea are still working on the case of the famous murder mystery of the Lee Enterprise executive director, Jung Jae-hee. The case has become a global interest as it is related to the world’s most dangerous and notorious gang of the decade. Tweets, news articles and unseen videos are being surfaced around the web, with ‘Bangtan’ trending on social media. It is being speculated that the notorious group of viscous killers are residing here in America, causing fear and a state-wide panic around the country. The United States government has yet to say anything official about the rumors. Till then, the focus has been shifted onto the murder case and the increasing mafia activities in South Korea—”

Yoona hummed to herself as she sipped onto her herbal tea for the tenth time in the past hour. Her small fingers cupping the warm cup as her ears continued to pick up the words of the nearest news channels playing in the large cafeteria.

It has been few days since the actual incident and people are still continuing to hear the old, recycled news over and over again. The amount of channels covering this piece of segment for the last few days has left a large gaping hole in Yoona’s ears. She was sick, tired and exhausted of it.

Yes, a murder happened in her home country.

Yes, the victim was her former boss.

And yes, the culprits might be the worldwide famous gang called ‘Bangtan’. A native Korean gang who had appeared out of nowhere.

So what? Deal with it! 

Yoona sighed loudly as she buried her face into her arms. Her ears picked up the change in the news reporter’s voice. It seemed more feminine now. Pulling her head up a bit, she glanced at the large TV as a new segment rolled in.

“—moving on, the three-day search for the two college girls in Beverly Hills has now come to an end as the local authorities here in the downtown Los Angeles, discovered a series of dead bodies in the Chinatown district of the city. A total of five girls were found, dead and tortured, with their vital organs missing from their bodies. Two of those bodies matched the description of the two missing girls while others are still unaccounted for. The bodies have started to decompose suggesting that they’ve been dead for quite a while before a citizen of Chinatown found them in a ditch near his area—”

The 26 year old groaned and rubbed her ears in frustration as the segment ate her brain up, again.  She dipped her head back into her arms, pushing the warm beverage away from her fingers. Sure, she felt remorse, pity and sadness for the dead girls but it also annoyed her that her surroundings are filled with so much of negativity. It triggered her in a way that she didn’t like.

That is until... a large folder slammed onto the white table infront of her. The loud bang that erupted from it was enough for yoona’s tired, aching muscles to tense up again. She had to hold down her cup tightly before it could jump and topple down the table due to the vibrations.

“You know, a small warning would have been sufficed.” Yoona said slowly as she threw a slight glare at the person who dared to interrupt her personal ‘me-time’.

“Bitch please. You should be happy that a mere peasant like you has the honour to be in my holy presence. Not even kings can afford me.”

This only earned the intruder a mocking eye-roll from the 26 year old beauty.

“Don’t you have work to do, your highness?” Yoona mocked as her shaking nerves relaxed. She pulled herself up and continued to drink her warm tea. But it wasn’t warm anymore.

“Not when there’s juicy gossip.” Her friend smirked before shoving the said folder in Yoona’s direction. Yoona stared at it blankly. It was black in colour and looked quite thick. “It’s about Jung Jae-hee.”

“No.”

The mere mention of the late director was enough for Yoona to do a 360 turn and never look back again. She picked up her cold tea and left the small table she was sitting on.

“Yuriii...”

“No, Suzy.” Yoona ignored her friend’s whining as she dumped her cold tea through the drain before leaving the blue coloured cup in the sink. “Why are you all so obsessed with her death? People die all the time. Just get over it.”

The little shiver in the older girl’s voice should have been enough for Suzy to stop pestering her friend. But like the stubborn chick she is, Suzy continued in her voyage to tell the new juicy gossip she had discovered recently.

Yoona didn’t like it when her only friend gave her a sudden smirk before pushing her right through the fire exit’s door and right into the stairs that suddenly appeared in her view.

“Suzy!” Yoona exclaimed when she realised that the younger girl had practically kidnapped her.

“Shush.”

“But—”

“I said shush, Yuri. I need some girl time with you. And this, my friend, is the best way we can relish our old memories, considering hardly anyone looks our way these days.”

That was true. Yoona couldn’t deny that fact. They were the noisy, cheap girls of the company. No-one gave them a second glance unless they needed a one-night stand or something. Yoona wasn’t exactly sure how they gained that reputation. She had never been active in her love life unlike her friend, Suzy. Yoona had kept herself quiet, timid and hidden most of the time. Infact, she’s a pure virgin, with no skills at batting her eye lashes at any pretty boy. So, why?

“You want us to bond over a murder case?”

“No, I want us to bond over the world’s most dangerous species... boys.” The girl exclaimed, making Yoona groan.

Boys is a topic that Yoona tends to stay away from. There are just too many old and painful memories associated with them.

“Come on, don’t be a spoil sport. There are many varieties in here.” Suzy insisted as she pulled Yoona near the steel railings where they found a clean spot to sit on. The older girl didn’t like how open and wide spread the exit was. She peeked down to see an array of blue stairs leading down to the ground floor. They were designed in a zigzag formation, continuing on and on for what seemed like, forever.

It wasn’t Yoona’s first time at being kidnapped by her friend. Suzy had done that to her many times on multiple different occasions. But today, the familiar scenery of the descending stairs was unwelcoming. Not to mention, the see-through glass that acted as the walls of this passageway was too exposing and open for her taste. She could literally see the giant skyscrapers from here with a visibility record of 100%.

Yeah... Lee Enterprise is too rich for their own good.

“So, this baby here—” Suzy held up the thick folder. “—was delivered to the queen boss this morning. And like the curious, evil person I am, I snagged it before she could have a chance to read through the papers.”

Yoona raised her eyebrows at this before shaking her head in disappointment.

“No wonder files kept disappearing around Ji-Soo. She’s too dumb to notice her surroundings.”

“Exactly.” Suzy smirked before flipping through the pages. “And that is how ARIA files must have been stolen from her desk. She really needs to invest in a good secretary.”

Yoona couldn’t help but smile at this. Her uncle’s plaything ‘ARIA’ has been unresponsive for the past few days. The files continued to be missing while no-one has any idea as to what has been going on with ARIA. The large casino building is one of their major money-making sites here in the American branch.

“Anyways, back to the topic, there’s a postmortem report in this folder indicating that our lovely girl, Jung Jae-hee, might not be so innocent as we thought.” Suzy teased, flickering to a page filled with numerous Hangul symbols. “I’m not great at reading Hangul, but by the look of this, I can tell, Jae-hee had an intimate intercourse with her killer. It was right before she was killed. How exciting is that?”

Yoona was spooked by her friend’s glazed eyes.

“Exciting? How is it exciting?” She questioned.  

“You very dumb dumb bimbo...” Suzy groaned, hitting Yoona on the head. “Jae-hee was known to have a special, unique taste in men. Whoever she chose to be worthy of her attention, was a diamond from the rarest mines. Think about all the boys that surrounded her. Danny, Brad, Jackson, Bambam and our very own, Taemin.”

The older girl scoffed at her eldest cousin’s name.

“Taemin had a crush on her?” Yoona asked, whacking her brain to remember all the interactions between the two people she despises.

“He still does. Why do you think this baby is here in my hands?” Suzy said in glee, pointing at the opened folder.

“So, what’s the point?”

“The point is that my dear Yuri, Jae-hee had an impeccable taste in men. Which means whoever she had sex with was just as impeccable as her taste. Wanna see who that could be? There are few delicious choices in here.”

The older girl felt scared at her friend’s weird taste in men. She wanted them to bond over a series of hot killers? No thanks.

“No.” Yoona said, shaking her head. “You seriously have a messed up kink regarding these ‘delicious choices’. I’m not interested.” She continued, standing up on her feet.

“Honey, you haven't experienced the dark, steamy side of the world of guns. So women up and sit down.” The younger girl pressured, tugging down on Yoona, forcibly. The force of the little tug, sent the older girl spiralling down onto her bottom.

“Ya!” Yoona shrieked but was ignored by the younger girl.

Suzy threw a smirk in Yoona’s direction before she opened her mouth to recite the names of the killers like an intimate, sex broadcast on a radio.

Yeah, she was that crazy.

“Suspect number one: Do Kyung-soo. Code name is D.O. Height is unknown and DOB is unknown. His occupation is being a freelance hot-headed assassin. He has a body count of 256 people including both women and children. He fights with his hands and bites with his mouth. Known to be very brutal with his victims and has a large thirst towards sex. He’s the maniac elf that even the local law enforcement can’t control.” Suzy read off the folder as Yoona sighed in defeat. She made herself comfortable on the stairs before glancing at the photo of the man that her friend was so intimately reading about.

“The guy looks normal to me.” Yoona commented, not feeling any kind of attraction from the young-ish looking boy. “He’s a bit cute, but not cute enough.”

“You hardly feel anything towards any boy, sweetheart.”

Yoona forced a smile back in her friend’s direction. If only her friend knew about the lost boys from her past.

“So, who’s next?”

Suzy gave a bright smile to Yoona. She patted the older girl in affection before flipping the page to the next person.

“Suspect number two: Kwon Ji-yong. Code name: G-dragon. He’s a sniper, mainly works for the local gang called ‘Big Bang’. But it says here, he’s known to have involved in various assassinations of high profile victims. He’s a bit old for our age but still, he has an impeccable taste in women. Who knows Jae-hee might have fucked him before she departed to hell.”

Yoona looked closely at the picture. The guy looked a bit familiar. Or was it his eyes that reminded her of someone?

“Wait...” she said slowly, letting an old memory resurface. “Isn’t he—”

“Yup. The one and only.” Suzy nodded, cutting her off with a wicked smirk. “Jae-hee must have been one lucky girl to bang one of the most wanted criminals in the world.”

Kwon Ji-yong, AKA the G-dragon, was one of the snipers who was involved in the assassination of Donald Trump, the deceased president of United States of America. The attack took place an year ago. Upon deeper investigations, it was revealed that a series of snipers and killers were hired to kill the president. It was a month of horror for all of Americans and the president himself. There were so many attacks, so many explosions, the streets were flooded with criminals trying to get to the 73 year old man. But in the end, it was the two Asian killers who managed to cut the old man off. And Kwon Ji-yong was one of those Asian killers. The only one who had his face plastered on every news channel.

“Wow..” Yoona gaped at the new information.

“I know right? When I saw him, I had the same reaction.” Suzy commented, running her fingers through the photo. “Too bad he's a wanted criminal. I would have loved to bang this beauty.”

Yoona cringed at the cliche.

“He has a tattoo.” She offered, trying to get Suzy’s glazed eyes off the photo. “A large insect tattoo.”

“So he does.” Her friend teased with a devilish smirk.

“And multiple ear piercings.”

“So he does.”

“He’s not good. He’s bad.”

“Doesn’t matter to me.” Suzy countered with another smirk. “After all, bad boys are known to bring the heaven to you.”

Yoona groaned at her friend’s infatuation with criminal boys. The very first year into their friendship, Yoona had discovered the crazy obsession of bad boys that lives inside the younger girl. It peeked out from time to time whenever the younger girl’s sexual frustration increased, which by the way was a lot of times. Maybe that’s why the 24 year old was no longer a virgin. The pure innocence was lost in a dark, steamy one night stand three years ago.

“You’re still stuck on that boy, aren’t you?” Yoona questioned when she saw Suzy fingering the little trinket in her neck. It was a little necklace piece shaped into a Bluebell, hanging dangerously close to her round cleavage. It always makes a bell like noise whenever it was moved by her fingers or her olive skin.

“Who?” Suzy asked, snapping out of her glazed look. She was still fingering the little necklace.

“You know... that tall, steamy, purple-haired sex god who let you ride him for hours and hours.” Yoona teased, finally enjoying the moment.

A small hue of red appeared on Suzy’s cheeks. Her lips curled into a small smile as a warm feeling entered her chest.

Yoona chuckled at the blushing young girl. That boy must have been very special to cause the great Bae Suzy to blush like a little girl.

“Hush... stop laughing. It’s not funny. We’re going off topic!” Suzy exclaimed, flicking at Yoona’s obvious giggling state. “Yuri, Stop!” The younger begged. “We have to focus on Jae-hee!”

“Oh come on!” Yoona whined, flicking at the folder. “I’m more interested in your steamy one night stand than this folder full of lazy criminals.” The words caused Suzy’s ears to turn red. “Come on, let me do the honours.”

A terrified look appeared in Suzy’s eyes. Before the younger girl could react, Yoona had already snatched the folder out of Suzi’s fingers before throwing it over the railings. It clattered down the small, narrow gap quietly before a loud thump was heard indicating that the thick file has touched down on the ground floor.

Suzy gaped at her friend’s actions before looking down the railings. Yoona followed the same movements, only to discover the large heap of flying papers still descending down the stairs slowly due to the air and their light weight. The black folder itself was lying limply on the bottom floor like a dead man.

“Y-you just... oh my god!” Suzy couldn’t form the words. She looked so shocked that Yoona tried not to look too guilty. Looks like her habits of being unpredictable were acting up again. “That was Ji-soo’s file you dumb child! I was gonna put it back. But now it’s...”

“Don’t worry, she’ll just think it’s lost like the ARIA files.” Yoona shrugged before pulling the younger girl away from the railings. “Now tell me more about your knight in the shinning armour.”

It’s funny how Yoona changed her mood so quickly. A moment ago she wanted nothing more than to run away from Suzy’s constant prodding into her dead boss’s case and now, she wanted nothing more than Suzy to tell her about the dreamy boy she encountered in her euphoric adventures three years ago. She didn’t even care about the giant stairwell that was now flooded with colourful photographs and Korean paperwork outlining the details of a very sensitive case around America and South Korea. Something that could put a lot of people in a tight spot.

“Please?” Yoona begged, trying not to cringe at herself. Suzy looked tormented between her friend and the file on the bottom floor. After few seconds, she sighed in defeat.

“Why do you want to know so much about my man, lady?” Suzy countered, not liking the sudden interest.

Yoona grinned to herself. I’m interested because then you will forget about that stupid murder case and not give me anymore of those painful headaches that I’m already dealing with. She played the words in her mind.

“Because I love a good romantic story.” She beamed at the younger girl. Lies. I hate romantic stories. They always end up with a sad ending. Like mine did.

“Fine.” Suzy agreed, still giving her friend a suspicious look. She clapped her hands before opening her mouth to recite the memorable night once again. But before she could, a loud noise from down below interrupted them. They both panicked as they heard a hoard of footsteps making up the staircase.

With no time to think, they sprinted out of the same fire exit door that they originally came through, just barely escaping the steely eyes of the eldest Lee child who was sprinting up the stairs to find the person who stole the files from his sister’s desk.

He grumbled when he couldn’t find anyone and stared hopelessly at the mess of photos and papers that covered the stairwell, revealing the origins of his illegal sources.

“Fuck.”

                                                    *******

“—it has now been confirmed that the missing vital organs of the girls found dead earlier in Chinatown, are up on the black market to be sold to the highest bidder. The local police force are trying to trace the source of origin, but nothing has been found yet. With this new killing spree, young girls are advised to stay in their homes until the culprit has been arrested. The death of these girls has raised awareness issues around—”

“I can’t believe he actually did that.” Jongin commented as he grimaced at the graphic pictures being displayed on the large TV. His elder brother who sat beside him also looked uncomfortable. “Hyung, you should keep him in South Korea. He’s too brutal for America.”

“I wish I could, Kai. But I might have pissed him off real bad this time.” Minseok admitted as he shivered at the screams he heard that day. He was a member of the mafia too. He has seen his fair share of murders and has indulged in various killings but bangtan?...  Bangtan is on a completely different level compared to him. They were ruthless and crazy-minded.

“Where is he now?”

“Honestly speaking... I don’t know.” Minseok replied with a shake of his head. He exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have a feeling he’s still here, lurking around somewhere in the city.”

A tensed silence passed through them. Their body tensed up at the thought of their cousin still roaming around somewhere in the city. It’s dangerous for that guy to be here. The man had the most unstable mind in the group despite being the oldest and most responsible. He was an obsessed freak.

“This is too depressing for my liking.” The younger joked. Minseok couldn’t help but smile at the lame joke.

“Yeah, it is.”

There was a small pause between them, before Jongin spoke again.

“I wish Chen hyung was here. I miss him.”

The words were quiet and faint to the normal ears, but with minseok’s enhanced hearing, he heard every syllable. He also heard the painful longing that was hidden behind the tone. He looked at his youngest brother with a sad smile.

Kim Seokjin wasn’t the only one who had lost his love that night. Minseok had lost one of his little brothers that day. Kim Jongdae. He usually went by ‘Chen’. He was assigned as a bodyguard for the lovely Lee Yoona, swearing and dedicating his life to protect the girl who has once saved him when he was little.

“I miss him too, bud.” Minseok replied with the same tone. He really wanted his little brother back. But it was too late. The cheerful, playful boy was gone. He died that night, taking three shots to the chest for the very girl he was trying to protect.

Unknown to the Kim family, somewhere back in their home country, in a dark, dirty cell, a man laid on the floor, whimpering from the recent torture he has just received. His face was half burnt. His body was filled with numerous scars and painful wounds. He was shaking on the cold floor as he cried himself to sleep, thinking of only one thing. His brothers.

                                                    *******

“That was a close call.”

Yoona couldn’t agree more. She was slumped down onto her soft, leathery chair, relaxing as she closed her eyes and thought about the unexpected getaway she was involved in few hours ago. All thanks to Suzy of course.  

The older girl glared at the younger girl who was invading her cubicle like a tall tree. Suzy’s eyes were focused on Yoona’s slumped state. After their hurried escape, they had separated into different directions, promising to meet up after the coast was clear.

“How can you be so relaxed, Yuri? We nearly got caught this morning!” Suzy whispered-yelled in a low voice. She was sitting on Yoona’s desk, a pile of papers acting as her cushion underneath her curved butt.

“The only thing I care about is that we escaped. And the fact that I will never let myself be kidnapped by you again.” Yoona muttered, poking a tongue out at the younger girl.

Her friend pouted.

“Oh come on!” Suzy whined. “We both know you were enjoying it.”

“Correction. You were enjoying it, I wasn’t. I was miserable.”

Wrong move.

“Fine, then be miserable forever.” The younger girl hissed before jumping off the table and leaving the workspace.

Yoona shook her head in disappointment. She was used to Suzy’s unexpected angry tantrums. Rubbing her head in complete tiredness, Yoona stood up and made her way to the furthest water station that served cold water and some cold ice cubes. Something that she truly needs to soothe the pain in her head.

Despite her bruises being healed, she still felt her body ache from time to time. The lack of a nutritional diet and her constant voyages of skipping meals produced sudden headaches and body weaknesses inside her. It sometimes affected her health in a bad way, but it doesn’t faze her even one bit. She’s careless with her existence. It’s something she has tried to work on but she never had the right motivation.

“Ahh... this feels nice.” She mutters to herself. The small bag of ice cubes was now placed against her forehead as she sipped onto the cold water quietly. The coldness from the bag was seeping into her skin, soothing the hot pain that penetrated her forehead like fire. She wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right here and then. But something stopped her.

A loud voice echoing behind her.

“ENOUGH!”

The loud volume of the voice was enough to tell her that it was coming from the nearest cabin which turned out to her uncle’s. Putting her makeshift ice bag and the water cup down, she walked further down the corridor that led to her uncle’s cabin. The curiosity cat inside her was bubbling to know the reason behind the loud voice. Her body shook in nervousness as her feet led her to a slightly ajar door. She stepped a bit closer and peaked through the small open space.

Her cousin Ji-Soo was crying as she held her right cheek with her hand. The tears that tickled down the younger girl’s face almost made Yoona regret her decision to eavesdrop. It was then her eyes travelled to the fuming figure that stood like an angry bull, pointing his angry, blazing eyes at his own daughter.

“Do you see this, Ji-Soo?” The man screeched, holding a stack of papers in her cousin’s face. “This means that someone transferred the property on their name, leaving us with no authorities over ARIA. They took possession of our one of the largest money making revenues in America. Do you know how it could affect our reputation here? Or back home? We will be mocked!”

Yoona griped the door frame a bit harder. She wasn’t surprised at the news, considering the disappearance of the property files was a dead giveaway, but she did feel a bit disappointed though. It doesn’t matter if Lee Enterprise is being controlled by her uncle right now. The company is still part of her family’s legacy. Any losses that it faces, it affected her directly. She had a sense of duty towards it. ARIA was one of the true blessings to their company. It brought a good fortune to them. So, loosing the property was a big disappointment to her.

“Appa, I swear it wasn’t my fault. I had no idea.” The younger girl whimpered as Yoona felt a pang of guilt hit her. She felt an urge to hug the girl. Despite her younger cousin’s hatred towards her, Ji-Soo was still her partially blood sister. Whether she admits it or not, they were related by blood. So, when her uncle raised her hand to hit Ji-Soo again, Yoona’s heart clenched at the sight. She held herself back from entering just in time to see another tall figure blocking the raised hand.  

Taemin.

Her oldest cousin. The brother who fiercely loved his sisters except Yoona. He stood over Ji-Soo like a protective tiger.

“It wasn’t her fault.” He said firmly, gazing into the man’s eyes who gave him birth. Yoona bit her lip in silence. She felt jealous that her younger cousin is so lucky to have such a protective brother on her side. It nearly made her miss her dead sister who promised to stay by her side forever too.

“You of all people should know that Ji-Soo would never do this, dad. The files were stolen. It’s not her fault.”

The elder man huffed angrily at his son. He exhaled loudly before returning back to his seat.

Yoona felt a bit awkward standing there. She was about to move away is when her cousin’s next words stopped her.

“I know who did this.” His voice was laced with venom. “I know who stole the papers and sold them to a bidder.” There was a forced silence in the air, before he spoke again. “The Kim Industries.”

A sudden chill went down Yoona’s back. She lost the ability to breathe for a second. It’s been years since she had heard that name.

“Don’t be ridiculous. They all died that night.” Her uncle countered, grumbling to himself.

“No, not them. Their extended family. Kim Minseok.”

Yoona felt her eyes water at the familiar name. Minseok was one of the supposed brother she had when everyone was still alive. He took care of her just like her older sister. But after that night, he never got in contact with her. She figured either the man didn’t know she was alive or he hated her for killing his brothers. Four members from the Kim family died that night. It was enough for anyone to hate her, considering they all died protecting her.

“He’s been inactive for years, son.” The eldest Lee said, resting his head on his chair. Yoona could see Ji-Soo cowering in her spot on the fancy couch. “He’s an emotional mess due to his brothers deaths.”

Guilt hit Yoona like a wave of water. Was the man she considered as her older brother was really messed up due to his brothers deaths? Does that mean he hates her?

“Kim Minseok has been very much involved with everything we have neglected, dad.” Taemin’s voice echoed through the small gap. “He’s been eating off our hands without a blink from us. I just discovered his little projects.” A slam of a heavy folder sounded among the room. “He has been gambling in the mafia since the very beginning, staying under the radar to avoid us. All the projects we have been involved in, his company, Kim industries, has been snagging them one by one. And ARIA is one of them. Even after those little bastards are dead, their family line still continued to dominate us.”

The 26 year old felt her fingers grip the doorframe tightly.

“How far off is he?” There was a thick tension radiating from the room. Everything had gone so quiet suddenly.

“Far enough to topple down the lowest of our rank in the circle.”

The circle. Yoona has heard about them before. A mysterious group of leaders. The term has come up in many of her uncle’s secret conversations when she had accidentally stumble upon them. Like today.  

There was a silence in the room before something creeked and the door she was leaning on, swung open, toppling her balance and crashing her down to the floor. She groaned slightly at the pain. That was until someone gripped her hair and dragged her into the room.

She bit onto her lips from screaming out.

“We have a pest here, dad.” Yoona gulped as she recognised the harsh voice of her oldest cousin. Her luck has finally ran out. “Let’s teach her a little lesson.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited for the fateful slap that would grace her cheek... but after a minute of waiting, it never came. She slowly opened her eyes to see what was happening.

Taemin’s raised hand was being blocked off by another arm. The arm that was covered in a stripy grey suit with the finest material known to mankind. Only one person in the family has a taste for rare things. Her uncle.

“Leave her.” Her uncle’s firm voice cut through the thick silence. Both of his children stood gaping at the man. As for Yoona, she was surprised and shocked to hear the words. Lee Sung-Woo has never defended Yoona before. Her uncle was the one who gave his wife and children permission to torment her with verbal, physical and mental abuse. He let them break her down into bits as he watched from his throne quietly, not giving any care to his beaten and bruised niece. So, why now?

“But dad—”

“I said, leave her.” The older man repeated the words with a dark undertone to his voice. His son shivered before dropping his hand to his side. Yoona glanced at her eldest cousin, only to see him glaring at her. Something told her that she was still in the danger zone.

The elder Lee turned to face her, his light brown eyes boring into her dark ones.

“Get up, Yoona. I have a job for you.” He said, giving her a genuine smile that raised red flags in her head. His face showed the kind features he had mastered over the years while his eyes reflected his true intentions towards her.

Still stunned by his words, Yoona didn’t move from her position on the ground. She still sat on her knees, dress ruffled at places and hair pulled out into a messy hodgepodge due to her eldest cousin’s tight grip on her.

A sudden pain enveloped her when the same man applied a bit of strain onto her escaping roots, causing her to whimper softly.

“Don’t push your luck, pest.” She clenched her jaw at his words, holding herself back from bitting at him. It will sign her an eternity of pain if she ever did.

Slowly but surely, the 26 years old beauty picked herself up from the floor. She stood on her feet with shaky legs as her uncle walked back to his leather chair in the middle of the room.

“I won’t ask you how much you have heard because I know you have heard everything.” The male spoke, rubbing his hands together. “And frankly, it’s a good thing you know this now.” Yoona was puzzled by his words. “Do you remember Minseok?” She nodded which earned her a small laugh from him. “He always stuck around you and your sister like a magnet.”

Yoona bit her lips. Was he mocking her?

By now, she has been forcibly pushed onto a chair, across from her uncle’s table.

“Do you know he hates you?” Her body stiffened. “I bet this vendetta he has going on against Lee Enterprise is because of you. I mean, you were the reason for the death of his brothers after all. How can he not hate you?” Yoona felt a chill run down her back at those words. Her chest ached at the idea of Kim Minseok hating on her. She knew he did, but it hurts a lot when someone say that to her directly. “You very well know who was the target that night.” Yes, she knew. Yoona was the target. Lee Yoona and her older sister. The offspring of the current Lee family.

“And you know why he—” Before he could continue, Yoona cut him off with her hand banging on the dark polished table.

“You don’t need to tell me the past because I know what happened.” She hissed, trying to keep her tears at bay. “I know they died because of me. What do you actually want, uncle?”

A sudden pull on her hair was enough to know that his bratty children are acting up again. She could feel the long nails behind this one. It has to be her darling female cousin.

“Let her go, Ji-Soo.”

“But appa...”

“Let. Her. Go.” The younger child growled before letting go of Yoona’s hair. The 26 year old was surprised at the sudden change in her younger cousin’s behaviour. One moment she was crying and the second she’s on her feet like a wild cat, ready to tear her apart.

“What do you want from me?” Yoona demanded after a full minute of silence.

Traces of a faint smile appeared on her uncle’s lips. He pulled something out of his nearest cabinet and slapped it down onto the table infront of her. She stared at it blankly. It was a large yellow envelope about the size of an A4 page.

“I want you to go on a little trip for me. It’s indefinite of course.” He pointed to the envelope. “All your tickets, identity papers and everything else is in that envelope. You are going to be starting a new life. A new name, a new look and a new identity. Congrats Yoona, you are the new executive director of Lee Enterprise for the Korean branch. You’re going back home.”

“What?!” Three different voices in the room screamed, and Yoona was one of them.

“What do you mean?” She asked, stunned at the words he just blurted out.

His children were also looking at him in shock. Ji-soo’s hand was curled around a nearby couch pillow while Taemin’s fist was turning white due to the pressure he was applying on the chair next to Yoona.

The 26 year old flinched when the leather of the chair curved inwards at the raw strength. She looked at her uncle in obvious shock and fear.

“We need a new person to take the position. It been chaotic in our home country. Since you are practically useless to me right now, I have assigned you as the acting head. The position is yours to work with.”

“What—No!” Ji-Soo said in outrage. “That’s my position! How could you just give it to her?”

“I don’t need to explain my reasons to you, Ji-Soo.”

“But appa—” the girl looked appalled at her father.

“Leave my office. Both of you. Now.” The direct order was cold and piercing to his children’s hearts. The man who had never raised his voice on his kids, unless they did something wrong, is choosing their dirty cousin over them.

When Yoona heard the loud slams of the cabin’s door, she lifted her eyes up to the old man.

“Let’s talk in peace, shall we?”

                                                  ********

Meanwhile, miles away from America and right into the heart of South Korea, a dark figure, clad in the most darkest attire of an assassin, battled his way through a crowd of armed men as his silver blade pierced through their bodies one by one. With each duck and with each stroke of his blade, blood spilled out onto him like splashes of water. The oncoming rain from above hit him like bullets as he rolled on the wet pavement and slashed at yet another men. His clothing that was designed in the most expensive polymer, tightened around his lean figure as he bent, jumped and rolled under various stalls to avoid the oncoming slaughter of the real bullets, aimed directly at his prominent limbs.

“Ya, hyung!” A childish voice whined from behind him. “Hurry up and save me already. I’m hungry!” A young boy said, jingling the silver metal cuffs on his wrist. He was sitting on a nearby stall, sucking onto a lollipop as armed men surrounded him.

The boy was unfazed by the ring leader who tried to make him cower in fear.

“Pali, Pali hyung!” He whined again when the ring leader tried to take away his lollipop. “Ya! You little cockroach, let go of my lollipop or I swear I’ll stuff your butthole with them.”

The assassin who was in the middle of a trio fight, shook his head in annoyance. He bent and rolled on the ground, letting his blade do the work instead.

“Aish.. this kid.” He muttered to himself before throwing one of his trusty knives at the grubby hands of the ring leader. The old, puggy man screeched in pain as his right hand is pierced by a pointy blade in the shape of a Star. “Stay the fuck away from my brother’s lollipop!”

The said brother smiled and continued to suck on the juicy blob of sugar.

Another minute passed, and the assassin’s enemies has decreased in numbers. Bodies piled up the wet pavement as the last of the armed men fell to the ground with a sliced neck. The only one remained was the puggy ring leader and his two trusted men.

“Daebak! Hyung, your awesome!” The younger boy cheered, clapping his cuffed hands together like a teenage Pom Pom girl. His light brown hair also bounced as he jumped up and down.“I feel so proud. My hyung is the best!”

The said hyung scoffed. He has heard that line several times from the younger boy on many different occasions.

“You say the same thing to others, Jungkookie.”

“No, I don’t.” The boy lied, giving the elder a huge, innocent pout. The tongue that has now turned blue due to the lollipop he has been sucking, lapsed around his puffy lips like a little boy. “Pali, Pali! Save me and let’s go for dinner.” He whined again, pouting his lips and widening his doe-eyes.

“Aish...” The said assassin grumbled before raising his sword like a true ninja. He grit his teeth and charged at the last remaining set of men.

A minute later, all three them fell lifelessly on the ground with broken limbs. The younger bunny boy cheered, jumping on the stall like a little kid.

“Yay! Let’s go for hotdogs now!”

The assassin clad in black huffed and wiped his sword clean with his sleeves. He stashed it back into its holster behind him before tugging on his younger brother’s metal cuffs and pulling him off the stall with one hard pull.

The said boy stumbled to his feet before landing on the wet pavement with a thud. His pretty, child-like face turned into a scowl as he felt the rain water seep into his black pants.

“Hyung!” He exclaimed angrily.

“This is the only favour I’m doing for you, Jungkookie” The assassin said in a husky voice as he removed his face mask. He pulled his hood back, revealing a nest of dark orange hair. “Go back home or I’ll dob on you. Next time you get kidnapped by goons, fight your way out. Don’t call me for help.”

“But it’s fun watching you fight.” The boy whined innocently. But he stopped when he noticed his hyung’s narrowed eyes. “Fine. Whatever.”

And with that he pulled himself up on his feet, discarding the metal cuffs on the ground with no help. His hands swiped another lollipop out of his pocket before he skipped away, throwing a simple smirk over his shoulders.

“I swear I’m going to skewer him one day.” The assassin mumbled before shaking his head. Who is he kidding? The bright, sunny angel inside him would never let the dark ninja kill his maknae.

Stupid brotherly bonds.

Tag List: @demonic-meatball​, @youtube-obsessed-duh​, @trinityautumn​, @original-internetmonster​, @seoul9711​, @jinniesjoon94​

[thecomfywriter]

Love is in the Air

Hey guys! It’s your girl-- @thecomfywriter-- back with another post. Today, I have something a bit different for y’all. It’s actually a short story I wrote when I was 13 lol. So, here’s a little backstory before we get into it. 

When I was 13, I had a science project in which I had to describe the nitrogen cycle. We had to describe it creatively, so naturally, in your girl’s brain, that translated to “write a story”. So I did. And my oh my, the way I wrote a romantic drama about the nitrogen cycle. So, without further ado-- “Love is in the Air”.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  It all started one fateful day. You could say it was a coincidence that we bumped into each in the atmosphere, but I believe that we were just meant to be. 

   “Oh, I’m so sorry!” she said, making those the first words she ever mumbled to me, scrambling to get off of me. 

 “No, no, it’s fine. I’m sorry, that was actually my fault. Actually, I’m in quite the hurry. Have to make it up to Stem Station before I miss my animal!” I babbled on, a nervous habit of mine. “Of course, it seems I don’t have the right I.D. or something? Apparently, it’s a couples-only train…” I muttered, recalling my current dilemma. 

   “Really! Well then! What a coincidence! I was heading up there as well, but if we can’t get in unless we’re a couple… Why not pretend we’re a couple? My name’s Oxygeni Rate, by the way. Your new wife?” Oxygeni asked. Oxygeni. What a beautiful name. Only now, I have the special nickname of O2 for my sweetheart. 

 “And I guess my name is Nitrogen, your new husband!” I exclaimed, a bit too joyfully. I still remember the way she smiled at me, linking arms with mine as we practically floated to the Stem Station together, smiling the entire way. The way we travelled through the dark tunnels in the Stem, making our way to our platform, The Leaf, waiting for our animal to pick us up. 

  The trip was long, but they say when you’re having fun, time moves fast. I guess when you’re in love, it moves faster. Soon it came the time when we had our ways to part. 

   “I suppose I could come with you? I mean, I could take a detour. I’m in no rush to get to the atmosphere. Who knows when I’ll leave!” Oxygeni whooped. I laughed. Not only because of her all-too-relatable statement, but also because of the way her eyes twinkled. It was when in this moment I realized she was the one for me. Unlike most lover, she didn’t take my breath away. Oh no no… she gave it to me! 

   When we boarded that train, Oxygeni turned to me and gave me a present I will never forget. It was a necklace that spelled out the word, “Ammonia,” a word that, in our case, means fixed. Unbroken.

   I guess you could say in that moment, when we boarded the animal train, heading town it’s deep dark tunnel together, looking in her eyes, I realized without her, I was incomplete. Like a broken piece that got fixed. 

   I, Nitrogen, got fixed.

   It was in that very train we decided to get married. Make our lies into truth. After all, we had a long journey ahead of us! As we passed through the deep dark train of fixation, I became a new man. From just Nitrogen, I became Nitrogen Rates!

   “You know, I don’t think that really rings,” I laughed, looking at her smooth, transparent face, keeping her smile nearly invisible to a commoner, but broad and full to a lover. It was a secret smile. 

   The sign began flashing, signaling we were stopping at Nitrification Station. 

   “Then mash it together. From now on, we are one person. I think we should have one identity too! Nitrogen for you. Rates for me. Mash it together and we’re… Nitrate!”

   We stayed on that train for hours, not caring if we were missing our stops. In our own special way, this train ride was our own honeymoon. 

  We stopped at Decomposer Station, where everything started to go downhill. We went from a couple travelling through the dirt tunnels of the Terra Region to a +4 party when a group of three people came and introduced themselves to us. Apparently they were my new wife’s sister and her friends. 

   Her very attractive friends, that is. One who was a male trying to make a move on my lady. 

   “I don’t think I introduced myself. My name is Nitrogen Rates, Mrs. Oxygeni Rate’s loving husband,” I said, cocking my eyebrow at the daring man who flirt with my wife, right in front me. He just smirked. 

   “Oh? Did your dear wife tell you about me? I’m her high school sweetheart. Or well, ex-highschool sweetheart.”

    Yes. EX. I thought bitterly, not wanting to be on the same train as him, but not wanting to leave this flirty and shameless man alone with my clearly attracted wife. 

   “Well, Carbon, you’re more than welcome to stay at the other side of the bus. Nitrogen and I are on our honeymoon. Soo… If you don’t mind… Carbon, the Hydrogen Twins, and Oxygen, please leave,” O2 said. That was the first time I’d ever seen her rude with anyone. I suppose I should’ve seen the signs though. The way she locked eyes with Carbon, his smirk and… 

   There is was again. That secret smile. The same smile she reserved for us. 

   But like a puppy in denial, I turned my head and began barking at something else. During the day, we spent time with each other, practically glued together, really staying true to our Nitrate mashup name. The only time we were separate was at night, when we were sleeping because there was only so much space to sleep, not enough to share a bed. 

   Or at least, that’s what I thought.

    But it seemed Oxygeni and Carbon had another plans. Much closer plans. 

   It was a day later that I found out her cheating was a regular thing, that everyday of our honeymoon since they’d arrived, she’d been just that close with Carbon. 

   And that is the story of how I fell in love and stayed in love, while she moved on. That too quite fast. You would think we’d at least get through our honeymoon, but i guess not. On that very train, I divorced her, getting off at the Atmosphere Station and never turning back. 

   The very Nitrogen that had gotten fixed, that became Nitrate, was back to just Nitrogen. From being complete to incomplete. Broken, to fixed, to defixed, broken yet again. 

   And then I saw her come after me. No, not Oxygeni; she seemed to be to busy with her current high school sweetheart. But instead, Oxygeni’s sister, Oxygen came after me. And then I felt my heart flutter again as I clutched the ammonia necklace again. 

   She smiled, that secret smile that seemed to run in the family and I smiled back. 

   Who said love only happened once? 

   It seemed I was going to do it all over again. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AHAHAH It’s so cringe but I love it so much. The very fact that I made a scandalous affair story about the nitrogen cycle. 

Smh, they should teach this story in schools. Make it an illustrated children’s book.

ANYWAYS, Happy Writing! :)

[redemptionbaby]

Soo I read your fic about Hydrangea’s and I just wanna say that was absolutely beautifully done and I don’t think I’ve ever read a rdr2 fic as wonderfully crafted as that. I’m just a tad bit confused though, at the end was Arthur’s imaginary friend a ghost???

Thank you so much for these kind words oh my god thank you!!!! Seriously, this is such a nice thing to read first thing in the morning, I’m so happy you liked it! I wanted it to be a little ambiguous, it doesn’t really matter what she is, but here’s how I see it:

Reader is a girl who was murdered and buried beneath the hydrangea. That’s why Dutch says the house probably won’t get sold because of its history, he knows that there’s unsolved crimes attached to it. That’s why Arthur can only see her when he’s asleep beneath the hydrangea. So in a manner of speaking, she is a ghost! She’s worried about being dirty and ugly because she knows her body has decomposed. It’s based on an episode of an anime I like lmao

[cozycryptidcorner]

Here is a monster match for the resilient @moonlightreetops! Information about getting your very own monster match can be found here.

“INFJ, my sun sign is Cancer, moon sign is Pisces rising sign is Sagittarius, also ADHD inattentive soo...  🙃very forgetful due to depression and said ADHD. I'm very empathetic but can get a little too passionate with my emotions sometimes. I cry at every movie I see. No exceptions. I spend most of my time world building or painting for dnd campaigns.  Or reading. I also love hiking with my dogs as it's the only time I really get out of the house. I grew up in professional theater so the drama kid heart in me is still very strong. Whoever's my match needs to be prepared for a little bit of "extra", if you catch my drift.”

Your android isn’t fresh off the production shelves, not by a long shot, but he was tossed away as ‘defective’ shortly after being built. For whatever reason, though, whoever did it was sloppy, since the master switch to shut everything down hadn’t been pressed, resulting in your android being in ‘sleep mode’ for just over a decade. During that time, his software would remotely update, going with the flow of whatever the programmers would write, but his actual hardware could hardly keep up. He soon became an outdated model, as one does in this reality of rapidly evolving technology, and the updates weren’t exactly written for the machinery of his caliber. Yet, for whatever reason, his inner core kept accepting the incoming software, ultimately resulting in something inside him snapping awake.

Both he and you theorize that it must have been the time, plus the updates, and perhaps even the constant exposure to the elements that ignited some kind of self-awareness within his inner core. Or, it could just be a matter of time for all the other androids to follow, as he was without any mechanical checkups monitoring his awareness for quite a long while. Whatever the case may be, he’s present and in the moment, very much alive, and really can’t let many people in on that secret because god knows what will happen to him because of it. While it might be a little awkward for him to plaster a smile on his face and act like a shell, thanks to all the new cybernetic technologies, most androids tend to look and act very human, so he can get away with a lot more than he might of back when he was fresh out of the factory.

Since he was outside decomposing with the rest of the junk, his parts weren’t exactly in tip-top shape. It took a lot of careful, slow repairs to get him to even be able to walk again. Even though his central wiring system seemed to be in working order, most of his limbs and joints rusted over and eroded, so those also had to be either oiled and cleaned vigorously or unscrewed and completely replaced. Tiny seeds and saplings had taken to start growing in the metallic crevices of his body, so those had to be thoroughly washed out, and his standard blue steel had been tinted green with moss. It certainly was a look, that’s for sure, but not something that a functioning android can rock and still be able to stand on both their feet.

One of the interesting things about his type is that his synthetic skin and hair can change color whenever he feels like it, and while he might need the necessary coding for the color, once he has it, he can switch back and forth. Neon pink hair one day, then a muted, plain brown the next, it gives him an edge for blending in with, say, a rave party or a rock concert at a moment’s notice. Not that he needs to run, no, to both of your knowledge, he’s in no danger of discovery. Still, if it should it come to that, his power of camouflage might come in handy. Maybe it was a little shocking when he blinked that one time and turned his eyes blood-red, but you quickly got used to it.

Besides the fact that he can turn his skin blue the moment he wants, he looks like a regular, run of the mill person, as any signs of being made of machinery have been carefully covered up. But, like with most other androids, there are little, tiny ticks that a well-trained person might see. The way he sometimes focuses on something a little too hard, since he can zoom his eyesight in like a microscope, or the way he stands ridiculously still when at rest. Or even how he might know something about someone that may seem strange since he likes to look over a person’s social media profiles while speaking to them.

Your android likes to multitask and often has a very exact schedule for what he is doing and when. For example, he might get off his overnight charging station at five in the morning sharp, though he really doesn’t need to use it anymore, his battery has been replaced by one of those crazy nuclear fission boxes. After getting dressed in some athletic wear, he will then go for a run, not that he has any muscles to work out with. Still, he likes the feeling of the air on his face, but it helps the whole song and dance of being human, as someone will see him do the action and then internalize it without realizing it.

Then, once he gets back, he’ll make breakfast. He can’t eat, and really entirely depends on your tastebuds to do all the work, but his skill vastly improves with everything he manages to make. Once he is done with your breakfast, he will clean, and then exactly at 7:02 am, he will go off to work. His work isn’t exactly the same as, say, an office job with a guaranteed yearly salary. Your android is, after all, technically a non-citizen, and doesn’t have any of the many documents needed to prove that he’s allowed to work. Everything he does has to be under the table and off the radar.

His work, then, is a rather unorthodox way of making money. Freelance stuff, really, things that he can do quickly without having to become a full-time employee. On one end, he does photography, and since his eyes have the nifty little habit of seeing things that a human might not right off the bat, he tends to get some snapshots of things that others don’t. It also helps that he can climb, hide, dodge, and reach places that humans probably don’t want to risk. Climbing to the very top of a building just to get that photo of the sun rising over the bridge? Done, and his editor has no idea how he even managed to get it. Squeezing through a poorly constructed alley to find a nest of pigeons for a piece on animal life in the city? Good thing he doesn’t actually have to breath. It might not bring in the same kind of money as some fancy executive lawyer, but it’s just about all he can do.

Sometimes he might get frustrated when his schedule doesn’t seem to work out because he likes his life to be easy to sort and simple to categorize. It took a little while for him to be able to loosen up about the strictness of which he holds himself, slowing relaxing and allowing life to show him the wonders that is has to offer without chasing something else insistently. His photography began to improve vastly, mostly because he is now looking beyond just the object and the background, he is now looking for the soul outside of the basic image. Like humans, your android does appreciate beauty for what it is, though in a more mathematical, clinical sense. Things like flowers, shells, moon phases, or even weather patterns all hold a unique appeal to him that tends to lean outside of their traditional aesthetic sense.

Your android is very, very grounded in reality. Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t really have a concept of what ‘imagination’ is, but his thoughts, his actions, his hopes are all squarely within the realms of his perceived existence. One of the drawbacks to this is that he doesn’t often allow himself to play along with anyone’s fanciful ‘what if’ scenarios because he will be the first one to let that person know that the idea is bad, and it might get someone killed, or that it’s just not even worth doing. It takes some cajoling to get him to indulge anyone in their fantasies, but he will, if the right pointers are given, and if doing so will help someone get out of their sadness.

One of his favorite activities is to explore the outdoors, whether it be hiking, camping, canoeing, etcetera. As mentioned before, he has a unique appreciation for something organically made, because there is something rather beautiful in the realm of strange frailties. Or, better yet, the impossible perfection that can be reached in something as simple as a snail’s shell. Sometimes he might pause, completely caught up in studying the movement of a bug or the swaying of a leaf in the wind, eyes glued to a single spot in space for however long it takes him to fully comprehend every little detail that he is seeing.

There isn’t really an issue in the bedroom, either, since his brain is basically connected to the internet at all times, any kind of position or move is easy enough for him to search up, comprehend, and then execute with near-flawless precision. That’s all I’m going to say on the subject.

[iprincezzinuyoukai]

BillDip Week, Birthday Week, Day 2: Birthday Pampering

I don’t think Bill will participate fully until the last day, but he’ll have some of his scenes in these prompts.

Notes and Warnings: Post Canon.

Teeth

“Leave everything to your ol’ friend Jeff!” Jeff said with a victory pose, the other two gnomes behind him chanted.

“I just want to collect teeth from some animals,” Dipper woke him up from his daydream of greatness, “Not to die at the hands of a gnome who bathes in squirrels.”

Thinking about Bill’s birthday party had started as a mischievous thought, a fleeting thought that wouldn’t bear fruit – Until Dipper realized that maybe Bill needed to feel something more than... Whatever happened in Flatland millions of years ago didn’t concern him, and Bill would never talk about it.

None of his friends and relatives would be with them for their nineteenth birthday, only he, Mabel, and Bill... Then Mabel said about wanting to go to Portland to visit Melody, her baby was close to birth and she and Soos had moved temporarily with her family, which left him with Bill alone – To celebrate his birthday! Don’t think something wrong.

It wasn’t that Bill hadn’t celebrated their birthdays, but it’d be the first birthday he’d celebrate with only Dipper since they made their relationship official – And the demon’s first birthday, in relative terms.

Then, something came up in Dipper’s mind: What gift should he give Bill?

Bill Cipher was a demon that with a snap could have everything he wanted, gold was hidden in the palm of his hand, there was no mystery that he didn’t know – Even so, that didn’t stop Dipper from preparing his backpack and go out into the forest to ask the gnomes for help.

Bill, although he didn’t show it, put a lot of effort into his gifts – Most of them too attractive and flashy for him to use in public, especially all those who were lost treasures. So Dipper thought so hard until his mind remembered that Bill had a certain fascination for teeth, especially the teeth of wild animals and creatures.

Collecting the teeth of creatures with whom he had made friends hadn’t been so hard, it was hard to get a tooth out. The Multi-Bear, Manotaurs, Gobblewonker, and some pixies, as well as many others willingly gave some of their fangs, Bill preferred those over the molars. Now what he was looking for was the teeth of carnivorous animals – He couldn’t take those of an herbivore because most of them weren’t to Bill’s liking, the demon liked these to make everyone uncomfortable.

For that, Dipper called the gnomes.

The gnomes were fast, elusive, and could escape and get lost in the undergrowth.

Jeff, his entourage, and Dipper had already thought of a plan that guaranteed them to obtain the most fangs and the least loss of fingers, or limbs.

One of the gnomes would become the dead one, then one of the carnivores of the forest would approach, with the aroma that the gnomes gave off, it was obvious to hope that he was dead (but not decomposed), and as soon as the animal opened its jaw to take him, Jeff and the others would pounce on it and quickly dislodge one of the fangs – Dipper had asked, if possible, the one which seemed the sharpest.

But like any good plan there was always a bad part and that didn’t mean that they didn’t end up with wounds.

“Can I leave this here?” Dipper lifted the bag where most of the fangs were kept, they were finally back in the village of the gnomes, “I’ll go to the Shack for some disinfectant.”

“We’ve endured worse things.” Jeff moved his hand, dismissing the matter, “A good bath of squirrels and a butterfly for dinner will leave us as new tomorrow morning.”

“Sure.” Dipper thought, hoping to ignore whatever that means, a part of him wrote down the information so he wouldn’t forget it and record it in the Journals.

Dipper sat on one of the tree branches and diligently began to join the fangs.

Bill had a strange taste, so a necklace of teeth seemed to be the ideal gift, at least that’s what Dipper expects to happen in five days, if not, he wouldn’t know what else he could give Bill.

“Now I’ve seen everything.” Jeff commented, whistling two fingers the gnomes began to help Dipper to clean and sand the teeth.

“What do you want in exchange for this, Jeff?” Dipper asked, for their help required in the collection of teeth, he and Dipper had come to an agreement – To help him in the making of the collar wasn’t in the agreement.

“We also have our secret agenda, you know.”

[sketchguk]

Hi Hi it's 🍰 anon! How are you?? I have updates about my crush but it's not so good 😭 we hang out a couple times after I sent you asks but our conversation was so dull 😭 even in texting we don't know what to say after talking about normal things like how are you and about our day :( I don't know if this is because of our age gap?? Do couples with age gap also find it difficult to finds topics to talk about :( I don't know how couples handle it when they start talking less 😭 because our lives are so different..... But I feel bad because I really like him but he's probably bored talking to me 😭😭 or maybe he's not interested in talking these days idk 😔

Aaah I have question for au based on this 😂 do soonyoung and mc fight sometimes after the relationship?? What things do they usually fight about? -

I sent you one more ask asking how are you and what you're doing but I forgot to put my emoji 😂😂😂😂 - 🍰

Hi hi ! I've missed you and your updates <3 I hope that you are well !

I've always found it a little difficult to talk to men, especially when they're outside of my age group :-( Maybe he's busy these day, you never know!!

Think about the stuff you talk about with your friends and apply it to him perhaps ! Casually bring up something in your daily life, and I'm sure y'all can expand on it. The most mundane things can always lead to more. Tell him about the dream you had the previous night, the food that you made for dinner (and the meals you would love to eat/cook), the random fact that you learned and how cool it is (!!)

Ask questions, even if they're super random. Jump from topic to topic just so y'all can have something to chat about !! Sometimes, I'll even see Tumblr or Twitter posts that make me go "OJO, I need to talk about this with someone!!!!"

Idk if ya'll are comfortable sharing personal things with one another (family, childhood, desires, morality, outlooks on life, etc), but I'm sure you can have a little dip into those conversations. There's always a lot to unpack, and it helps to grow closer to someone ! Soo, don't stress too much about what to say because then we end up overthinking :') Send some memes here and there if you have to LOL

I guess it's easier to text him as you would an internet friend. Perhaps there's less pressure in that. I'm perpetually in the "talking" phase with all of my mutuals, and I'm basically dating all of them at this point (confirmed).

Also, idk how comfortable y'all would be with video calling each other. I feel like that's superrr different from texting, and it's an efficient way to get to know one another. All of my friends who date, they always get on FaceTime with the person they're seeing. I have never *not* seen them text exclusively. Sometimes, they call everyday, and sometimes it's in the middle of the week. And if you don't particularly like this idea, to lessen the pressure, something that I do with my Tumblr friends is watching movies/tv shows on Discord or FaceTime ! Idk if that's something that's possible for y'all given your schedules, but it's a nice activity to try out

Ah YES, Soonyoung and mc definitely fight when they are in a relationship. That has always been their defining characteristic. If anything, they're more like disputes. Perhaps the one thing that they argue about the most is the fact that they don't make time for one another :/ They're always busy, and their schedules hardly line up. They each want the other to make compromises, but it's very difficult because they're both passion driven ! They end up settling for being in one another's company (despite not having their partner's undivided attention). It sucks, but it's what they have to deal with. They also have to realize that their partner isn't choosing to study/work instead of being with them. If they didn't have deadlines, they would certainly be all over one another

As for me, I'm here as usual ! Decomposing in my bedroom !! Although I will admit that I'm in my Rory Gilmore era. I've knocked off 4 books from my tbr in the last week (mostly because I didn't hit my reading goals for April, and I tried to close the gap a little bit LOL). It's also aapi month ! And every year, I dedicate it to reading books from aapi authors. In general, I do gravitate towards these books, but I always make sure to celebrate especially in May !!

Oh and my degrees came in the mail 💛 I'm having my graduation ceremony in June yippeeee. Although I'm not sure if I'll attend because my one (1) friend said he doesn't want to go LOL. But still, I want to dress up and take pictures :') If my mom won't be proud of my accomplishments, at least I can try to be proud of myself. I'm also waiting for the school of education to share the details about our department commencement hehehe

[ssportsnews]

Ji-an and Yeon Woo-jin shake hearts

Actor Jian is expected to show off his bold charm through the movie 'Serve the People'.

Jian, who is returning to the screen after 5 years since the movie 'The Road' (Director In-bong Jeong, 2017), is in the original image through 'Serve the People' (Director Cheol-soo Jang, provided and distributed by JNC Media Group, produced by Leopard Film Company, Joy & Cinema). It is expected to captivate the audience with its unconventional and fatal charm.

In the movie 'Serve the People', Mu-gwang (Yeon Woo-jin), a model soldier who dreams of success, meets Su-ryun (Jian), the young wife of the division commander, and is in a conflict between a wall of status that cannot be overcome and a dangerous temptation to fall into it. story that takes place.

After winning the Chunhyang Jin award at the 2003 National Chunhyang Selection Contest for her beautiful appearance and elegant atmosphere, Jian drew enthusiastic reviews from the audience through the movie 'Trap' (Director Hyeong-jin Kwon, 2015) without a single word, only with her eyes. With his unique alluring atmosphere, he has solidified his position as an attractive actor by going back and forth between screens and small screens.

Then, in her new movie 'Serve the People', she decomposes into a woman who longs for her only love, and shows off her unprecedented acting transformation. She has all of her power and honor as the division commander's wife, but Su-ryun, who feels a deep thirst for her love, accidentally meets Mu-gwang, who was assigned as a cook, and realizes her intense love that she has never experienced in her life. do.

Ji-an, who perfectly expresses her training with her fatal charm, is expected to add a breathtaking tension to her play by violently shaking the mind of the matte who lived with her single belief. Director Jang Cheol-soo said, "I wanted to capture the charm of her pure soul of a person named Ji-an in her film," and praised her assimilated into her character of water-lily. Therefore, through this work, the interest of prospective audiences for the unique charm that she will show her is rising.

'Serve the People', which is expected with Jian's shocking transformation, announcing the birth of the 'new muse' in Chungmuro, will meet with the audience on the 23rd.

토토,토토사이트,스포츠토토,사설스포츠토토,사설토토사이트,토토먹튀,토토먹튀검증,먹튀검증,먹튀검증사이트,먹튀,토토정보