#he’s trying guys but I have to milk the comedy before I decide to get into the angst of things again

[1driedpersimmon]

The Kaiien bullying arc continues

[kairoot]

❝ 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 ❞ | nrk.

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 : enemies to lovers, high school au, fluff, comedy, maybe a bit of angst (idk)

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : harsh jokes probably, niki and his friends being kinda mean, light cursing, name calling

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 : by @keiipopped

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 : dancer!niki x dancer!fem!reader ft. heeseung, sunghoon, yunjin, hanni & kyujin

author’s note: context for one of the insults in here: this is when kyujin had her red hair. just so you guys don’t get confused as to why niki’s calling her ‘redhead’ 😭 kind of inspired by charli xcx’s ‘constant repeat’ ?? idk it kinda gives me enemies to lovers type vibe in some of the lyrics.

the manifesto outfits for 4Z

SS ➜ high school dancers niki and y/n can’t stand eachother. then again.. they love each other. then why is niki always being so mean? y/n’s dance group, 4Z and niki’s group, PRDX go into the school’s dance competition , battling against each other to be the face of the school’s best dance team.

—

“so, when are you gonna tell him?” hanni asked y/n as they walked side by side, carrying their lunch trays. kyujin walked on the other side of y/n, already snacking on her meal.

“hanni, how many times do I have to tell you? I don’t like him.” y/n replied, shaking her head. hanni had been going on and on about the school’s best dancer, riki, but everyone called him niki. or so he said he was the best but Y/n thought otherwise. half of the school was 4Z fan-based and the other was for PRDX.

hanni swore y/n had a crush on the boy but Y/n always denied. even though they always bumped heads, y/n did have feelings for him. she could never admit that to her team, though.

“i don’t know, n/n. you seem to give him heart eyes everytime he looks your way.” Kyujin spoke, apple still in her mouth. Y/n slightly shoved her jokingly, “what are you talking about, Kyu?” she asked rhetorically.

the three continued to walk to their table, finding the dance group’s leader, Yunjin. she greeted them as they sat down and began talking about the upcoming dance competition.

“so, have we figured out outfits for The Manifesto?” Kyujin questioned the leader.

“well, i was thinking like orange at first to go with the theme but I heard that’s what the 3 idiots are wearing.” Yunjin rolled her eyes, referring to Niki and his members, Heeseung and Sunghoon. they were both older but stuck to him like minions.

“so, maybe black? i know it’s common but some leather would be cool.” the leader suggested. the group looked at each other, trying to decide whether it was a good idea or not.

“the principal said nothing inappropriate or revealing, though..” Hanni commented. “yeah, but we’re not wearing lingerie, Hanni. just a subtle leather bottom is fine.” Yunjin scoffed jokingly.

by then, Y/n was in her own world, taking small bites of her food. she looked over to where Niki’s table was, watching all of the boys chunk milk cartons at eachother, the girls lining up at their table to giggle at their antics.

niki sat at the lunch table, laughing at his friend’s foolish behavior. his tray was discarded to the side, nothing but an apple there. he went to grab it, but caught Y/n’s eyes instead. she didn’t even realize she was staring until the boy sent a wink her way, flashing his signature smile.

she quickly averted her gaze, blinking extra hard to knock herself out of the trance she was in. the group continued to discuss their plans for the competition, agreeing and disagreeing with certain things.

“well i’m stuffed so.. Y/n, you coming?” Kyujin asked, tilting her head towards the cafeteria’s garbage pail. the other girl nodded, getting up to leave with her friend. they said their goodbyes to Yunjin; Hanni heading to her next class.

the two students walked side by side, chatting up a storm before a taller male stepped in front of them.

“let me clean this for you.” it was Niki who had offered to empty Y/n’s tray. his hand gripped the edge of it as if he had really been insisting on cleaning the tray for her.

Kyujin’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked the older male up and down. “i don’t think she wants to-“

“yo, shut it, redhead. i wasn’t asking you.” Niki snapped at her, turning back to Y/n. her expression mirrored the one that Kyujin still wore on her face.

“nah, she’s right. i’m good-“

“really, l/n. let me do it.” he shifted the tray towards him, attempting to yank it away from her. Y/n did the same thing, pulling the tray back in her direction.

“No.”

“why not?” he smirked playfully, the tray jerking back in his direction. It seemed like a game of ‘tug-of-war’ at that point. Niki was enjoying it, though.

“give it back, Nishimura.” y/n struggled to pull it this time as Niki held the lunch tray against his tall frame, y/n coming closer to him with each pull.

“wow, i’ve really got you in my embrace now, huh?” he giggled, enjoying the contact with his enemy.

“niki, seriously, give it back-“ y/n’s complaints came to a halt as red sauce splattered on her uniform top, some against her cheek. everyone in the lunchroom stopped what they were doing to see the mess. niki’s hand had let go of the tray mid-tug.

a series of chuckles came from the left side of Y/n. it was Heeseung and Sunghoon, snickering at the incident. y/n felt heat rush to her face as all eyes were on her. some others joining in with the giggles.

“seriously, Nishimura, what the hell?!” Kyujin shouted, grabbing Y/n by the arm; rushing out of the cafeteria. Y/n pushed passed Niki as he tried to call for her.

the trays were long forgotten.

y/n felt tears prick her eyes as the anger inside her brewed. Kyujin walked her to the locker rooms, silently cursing at herself for not stopping the boy.

“it’s alright, kyu. i promise.” Y/n chuckled as they walked into the changing room. she walked to her locker, finding the soft pair of sweatpants and t-shirt she packed.

“you say that but i really should have stopped him. i don’t know how i didn’t see that coming, i’m sorry.” she patted y/n’s arm, walking towards the door.

the other girl smiled, waving off Kyujin’s apology, continuing to tell her it was fine. Y/n changed into her clothes while they chatted for a bit until Kyujin had to leave.

“meet me in the gym, alright? we still need to work on our part in the routine.” the redhead said before leaving the locker room.

walking towards the gym like Kyujin told her, Y/n stopped at the door as she heard music already booming through the speakers. she quickly ran through the big doors, her conscious telling her that she was late.

she fumbled to get into the gym, only to find three sleeveless guys moving around the squeaky floor, cackling with each other. before any of them could see her, she backed out through the doors.

she scrambled to pull her phone out, leaning against the wall while finding Kyujin’s contact.

“hello?” her voice rang on the other line. Y/n planted a hand against her forehead, face palming at the girl’s carefree tone. “kyu! I thought you told me to meet you in the gym?” she whisper yelled.

“i did! but that cute guy that I told you about.. he wanted to know if I needed any help with studying.” Y/n could hear her smile through the phone. “why do you sound like you just saw a ghost?”

“only because I did, but worse. It was Niki. he was with Thing 1 and Thing 2.” Y/n scoffed, readjusting her tee. Kyujin responded with the same sound, rolling her eyes.

“how in the hell did those idiots get there before us? you know what, don’t worry. I’ll be there soon.” she grumbled into the speaker.

as the girls finished their conversation, Niki came out of the gym, neck covered in sweat. He looked around, catching a glimpse of Y/n against the wall.

“yo, l/n,” he smiled, walking up to her. her eyes widened as she looked up from her phone, attempting to turn away from the boy. he brought his hand up to catch her wrist, pulling her back towards him. “you following me, dummy?”

she snatched her wrist from his grasp, scrunching her face up in disgust. “yeah, right.”

he flashed his smile again, playfully shoving her arm. “why else would you be here, then?”

“we were gonna use the gym, but it turns out the three musketeers ended up here before us.” she snorted. niki scoffed at the nickname she gave him and his friends. he ran a hand through his wet hair, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

“what? the fab four couldn’t find anywhere to practice their 3-step routine?” he pouted, mockingly. y/n tried to hide the offended look on her face as she began to push past the boy.

“wait,” niki giggled a bit, pulling her back gently. she’d be lying if she said she didn’t get butterflies from how close they were.

“how about we share the gym? one half is PRDX and the other half is.. your team.” he shrugged as if it was the best idea ever. y/n’s eyebrows raised in disbelief.

“my team and your team in the same space? i don’t think so.” she shook her head.

“why not? we’ll practically be in the same space for The Manifesto. though, you guys won’t last that long.” he snickered a bit causing y/n to land a harsh punch against his arm.

“see? this isn’t gonna work. especially not with your buddies.” y/n grumbled.

yunjin, hanni, and kyujin stood on one side of the gym, arms crossed. y/n stood next to them, awkwardly.

“well, i’ll be damned. niki, this was your idea?” sunghoon chuckled, pointing towards the girls. heeseung shook his head as he took a sip of water, laughing with the other boy.

niki shrugged, “yeah, i mean, i don’t see a problem with it.”

“really? you don’t see the problem? or is that cause your ‘n/n’ is here?” sunghoon tilted his head. niki bit back a smile as y/n’s eyes widened in embarrassment.

yunjin rolled her eyes, becoming impatient. “whatever, can we just get the speaker?”

heeseung and sunghoon stared at each other, a laugh erupting from both of them.

“we should call them banzai and ed. they’re always laughing.” hanni whispered to kyujin causing her to snort a bit too loud. sunghoon shot her a glare, making her roll her eyes.

“alright, dumbos. we’re gonna do our routine first and then you all can practice your 1-2 step, yeah?” sunghoon shrugged, smiling as he grabbed his phone to start the music.

motley crew by post malone blared through the gym’s speakers as the girls took their seats in the bleachers. two of them talked while the two others watched. y/n was definitely watching niki a little too hard.

“gosh, snap out of your trance, y/n.” hanni giggled, elbowing the girl softly. y/n scoffed at her, shoving her back. she waved off hanni’s joke, still watching niki.

he was a really great dancer. he had a lot of flow in his body. the way he was able to make his moves so clear.

some time into the routine, y/n didn’t even realize that she had began to like niki more and more. he would look her way a few times, smiling or nodding his head towards her. she felt herself look away in embarrassment or roll her eyes at him each time.

“okay, fab four. your turn.” sunghoon breathed heavily, patting a towel against his neck. yunjin connected her phone to the bluetooth, setting it down on the floor as a marker.

the girls grouped together to slide the huge closet mirror over to their side, setting it in front of the bleachers. niki, sunghoon, and heeseung sat on the other side.

they stretched a bit before getting into place before the song could start. their song was constant repeat by charli xcx, which yunjin had been begging them to do.

y/n was too into the music to notice that niki was watching her. his head slightly bopped to the music, squinting his eyes a bit. even sunghoon caught himself watching how charismatic all of them were.

[ I hate inserting these in my writings now but a huge time skip because I haven’t written in a long time so there’s 0 creativity here and I’m not sure what they should do in the gym other than niki watching and flirting with reader from afar I’m so sorry you guys 😭 ]

everyone scrambled around the dressing room, putting on the last of their accessories. they bumped into each other, mumbling to themselves about items they’ve misplaced.

“okay, out of this place in like 3 minutes, people. we’ve seriously gotta go.” one of the mc’s, haeun peeked her head into the room, causing the girls to rush towards the door.

“before we go, i just wanna say that we will beat the little paradoxes, okay guys?” Kyujin said breathing hard. she seemed to be getting a bit nervous, which is definitely not what the group needed in that moment.

yunjin nodded her head, blonde hair bouncing. “yeah, Kyu, totally. let’s go.”

they stepped into the crowded gymnasium, the lights low and purple, students scattered everywhere. everyone still trying to get into the bleachers before the competition started.

“well, this is what we’ve all been waiting for, right, haeun?” changmin said. he was the second mc for the night, him and haeun would be keeping score and narrating the whole event.

the girls walked hand in hand to their spot behind the stage as the mcs continued their chat. they all waited until the long introduction was over and when they would start calling the groups out.

of course, PRDX was first. the girls still sat in the back, calming their nerves. y/n heard the routine song, only imagining what niki looked like on the stage.

y/n walked to the side, watching from behind the curtain. once again, she fell in love with niki’s flow. with the way he moved. in one of the moves, he turned to face the back where y/n was, which made her move back behind the curtain.

the crowd went wild for the group. they absolutely loved PRDX. but of course it was mostly girl screams that were heard.

“oh my gosh, they’re not even that good. like seriously.” kyujin folded her arms, shaking her head.

“yeah, but you’ve gotta admit. they’ve got some type of charisma to them.” yunjin mumbled, peeking outside the curtain beside y/n. they all stared at the leader in confusion.

“well, that was a sudden change..” hanni snorted.

soon enough, it was time for the girls to go on. they put in two songs for their routine. y/n caught niki’s eye as she stood in place, waiting for the music to start. he smiled, slightly cheering for them. this confused the girl but she focused back on her performance.

around the second song, the girls jumped down from the stage, surprising everyone. the crowd got louder, everyone ‘wowing’ and ‘woahing’.

by now, they were in the middle of a crowd dancing with the spot light all over them. literally and figuratively. they were making their way towards their rivals, rubbing their victory in their faces.

the boys scoffed, one of them folding their arms. niki was kind of into it, laughing at the act.

the girls didn’t stop though. y/n came to the front, really showing off in front of them. she had a point to prove. that her team really could win. that they were the best dancers.

sunghoon glared at her the whole time, never taking his eyes off of her. he couldn’t stand the smug look on the girl’s face and the fact that his friend was actually enjoying it.

once again, y/n got to into the music, not really aware of her surroundings. her members had let her have a solo, really making her shine.

before she could even make the winning move, liquid had been thrown at her, causing her to slip.

“yo, sunghoon, what the hell?!” niki shouted. more people came off the bleachers to see the second incident y/n had been caught in.

“okay, no need to be a fcking jerk, sunghoon!” yunjin shoved him, her members pulling her away. he stood there, brushing off his jacket as if he hadn’t done anything.

y/n winced at the pain in her ankle and back. niki had ran over to help her but she quickly denied.

“no, i think you and your team have did enough.” she grumbled out. he ignored her complaints, picking her up and wrapping one of her arms around him.

he walked her to the dressing room, sitting her on the big red couch,“i’ll be back with some ice, alright?”

the girl nodded, kicking her shoe off and sliding her foot up to the cushion.

he walked back to where the drinks were, grabbing a cup and filling it with ice. he saw sunghoon walking out through the gym doors, a scowl on his face.

he shook his head, bringing the ice back to the room.

y/n had thrown her gloves and vest to the side, her eyes closed.

“you sleep already, dummy?” he chuckled, sitting next to her legs, placing her injured foot in his lap.

“yeah, i wish.” she snorted. he looked at her for a minute, admiring her features. now probably wasn’t the best moment, but…

“you’re really pretty.” he looked down at her ankle, carefully placing the cup of ice on it. y/n’s heart skipped a beat as her eyes popped open.

“what?”

“i said you’re really pretty.”

she scoffed, “and out of all times, you wanna tell me this now? nishimura, you and your members have caused us hell and you wanna call me pretty?-“

“shut up, i’m trying to confess my love to you.” he smiled a bit, readjusting his position so he was facing her.

“i know i haven’t always been the nicest person. teasing you ‘n stuff. but i really like you y/n, i do. this sounds so corny out loud but it’s the truth.”

she sat up a bit, looking around. was this a dream? after all that head bumping and teasing each other, niki actually liked her?

“so, you mean to tell me that.. you were only mean.. ‘cause you liked me?” she questioned. she wanted to make sure she had this right, it was all so sudden.

“well, not at first, but yeah.” he shrugged, smiling. she shoved him a bit, looking down and mirroring his expression.

she looked back up at him, “do you really mean it? you’re not being stupid this time? you’re not recording this so you can send it to heeseung and sunghoon for some giggles?”

“y/n,” niki rolled his eyes, smile still plastered on his face. “no. i really do like you. and you’re really talented, i like that.”

she smiled once more, heat rushing to her face. it was silent for a bit until she spoke up again.

“so..?”

“so?” niki took the ice off of her ankle, placing on the floor. he turned to her again, attempting to read what she was thinking.

her smile widened, “how are we gonna tell our teams?”

taglist : (message to be added)

author’s note : kei bb, im so sorry, this was so bad 😭😭 as you can see, im not in the habit of writing long things rn, i haven’t did it in so long.

[ilovewhiteroses]

Window To The Soul Part 1.

Pairing: The Corinthian x GN! Reader   Genre: Fantasy, horror, drama Warnings: mentions of violence, some curse words Rating: 18+

You never believed in urban legends, but when you needed an idea for your next screenplay, you met a mysterious, strange man...

You looked into your fridge and sighed heavily. There wasn't much in it, just a carton of milk, a leftover slice of pizza and some fruit. You took out the milk, you saw that it was still good so you drank it. You've been at home for days and didn't know what to do with yourself.

Unfortunately, the curse of screenwriters has overtaken you: the writer’s block. Your previous works have been loved by both critics and audiences. You loved to write, but hated the attention, so you always wrote under a pseudonym to protect your privacy from the paparazzi and fans. You didn't even go to premieres, instead, when the film made from your script came out, you watched it in the cinema together with the civilian audience. You loved this because you could see the honest reaction of the viewers there.

Your works were all about human, down-to-earth topics: they were comedies or dramas. But this time you wanted to try something new that would push you out of your comfort zone. So you decided to try writing a horror film. The thought was there, but the idea did not come easily. You went to shower, put on your pajamas and fell into bed, hoping that the idea for your new script would come to you in your dreams.

A few days later, on your way home from shopping, you noticed the comic book store across the road. You've never been there before, but you thought you'd drop by tomorrow to see if you could get some inspiration.

 The comic book store was just like what you imagined: shelves full of comics, superhero posters on the walls. You went straight to the salesman, whose name was written on his name tag: David.

"Hello David. Can you help me?" you asked him politely.

"Of course! Are you interested in something? Maybe a classic, Batman or Superman?” and with that he already reached over to the shelf behind him to show you said comics.

"Thank you, but I had something else in mind. You know, I'm a writer and I want to write a horror story, but I need inspiration or something interesting." the salesman thought for a moment before realizing you weren't there specifically for the comics. He leaned closer to you and whispered.

"I don't know, how interested you are in urban legends?" you raised your eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, I don't really believe in them, but I'll listen to them if they're interesting."

"Well, listen to this. There's a mysterious guy living here in San Francisco called The Corinthian. He is rumored to have murdered people decades or even centuries ago and then eaten their eyes. Those who saw him said he had teeth in place of his eyes and that's why he wears sunglasses." you rolled your eyes at what you heard.

Did he really eat their eyes? What kind of Hannibal Lecter bullshit is this?

"Who did you hear this from? Don't say you believe this!”

"From a friend of mine. I think there may be some truth in it." the man said, you rubbed your forehead.

"Look, you may believe in this, but there is no such thing. I think that guy must have paid a few people to spread the word about him. Anyway, whether it's true or not, I think an interesting story could be written out of it. Do you happen to know where this Corinthian lives?”

"Yes, I checked it out once, he has a classic style mansion, I don't know the exact address, but I'll draw it for you." David took a pencil and paper and drew you a map. "Of course, he may no longer live there, but if you decide to visit him, be very careful!"

 In the afternoon, with the help of the drawn map, you went by car to see where The Corinthian might live. The mansion where he supposedly lived was just like the ones you've seen in the movies. It was surrounded by green hedges and a black iron gate. You were wondering what to do? Ring the bell? Rather not. You noticed that he had a mailbox, so you decided to write him a letter and give him your number. You wait a week, and if he still doesn't call, you go back to David and ask him for some horror comics. You took your notebook out of your bag, tore out a page and wrote to him who you were and why you wanted to meet him in person, and at the end you wrote your phone number. Fortunately, there was an envelope in the glove compartment of your car, in which you put the paper and then dropped it in his mailbox. You didn't see much chance that he would call you, but you tried anyway. Especially if it really was just an urban legend.

 Two days later, your phone rang, it was an unknown number. Other times you cancel it, but you had a feeling... you picked it up and said your name.

” Hello! So, you wrote to me." said a deep male voice on the other end of the line.

"Y-yes. You know, the situation is that I heard about you and liked your story and thought, if you allow, I would do an interview with you."

"We can do that. If you want to, we can meet, say, tomorrow afternoon?”

"Okay." You agreed with him on the exact time and then hung up.

Hmm, that went fast. You were a little weirded out that he didn't introduce himself. Did he stick to the legend thing that much?

When David's words were running through your mind, you felt anxious. Be very careful. You put your taser in your bag in case something goes wrong.

 The next day you arrived at Corinthian 's home on time. You got out of the car and approached the gate with shaky steps. You rang the bell and became even more nervous. I’m out of my mind! What if he really is a murderer, and I willingly walk into his trap! But then again, if he really was, he would be in prison a long time ago, you reassured yourself. Still, what's the worst that could happen? If you see that the situation is not good, you go to the bathroom and jump out of the window. At most you would break your leg and arm, but at least you would survive.

You saw a tall, blonde man in sunglasses from afar. You remembered what David had said about them…you took a deep breath, hoping it would clear your head. The man reached the gate and opened it.

"Hello! Are you Y/N?” he asked and shook your hand.

"Yes. You must be The Corinthian.”

"That’s right." he said and invited you inside, a driveway led you to the house itself. On the way, you looked at the many green plants and colorful flowers.

"I bet you have a gardener, because it would obviously be difficult to maintain such a beautiful garden alone." Your voice trembled a little, but you tried to hide your nervousness with the statement. He didn't say a word, just smiled kindly at you.

You entered the house. Towering staircase, tall ceilings, and a massive fireplace. From the inside, his home reminded you of Meryl Streep's house in ' Death Becomes Her'.

"Have a seat. Can I get you a drink?” he asked.

"A glass of water will do, thank you." Corinthian went to the kitchen, while you sat down on the sofa in the living room, put your bag next to you and took off your leather jacket. You looked around and realized how tastefully the home was decorated. He returned with a glass of water and handed it to you before sitting down on the couch across from you. You took a quick drink, as your mouth was always dry when you were nervous, and placed it on the coffee table.

"Do you mind if I take out my voice recorder?" you asked and Corinthian shook his head. You took out the recorder and pressed the record button.

"First of all, let's start with the name. What is your real name? Where did The Corinthian come from?”

"Believe it or not, I don't have a real name. I got the name ‘The Corinthian’ from my creator, The Sandman. Do you know who he is?” he leaned back on the couch as he asked you this.

"Well, I know the song Mr. Sandman. All kidding aside, I know that he's responsible for dreams.” you said crossing your legs.

"Basically yes, but he actually puts people to sleep by sprinkling sand onto their eyes."

"What do you have to do with Sandman?"

"As I said, he is my creator. You know, Sandman, or as we call him, Dream or Morpheus, is the ruler of the Dreaming. There he created dreams and nightmares. He created me, for example, as a nightmare.” What vivid imagination he has! you thought to yourself. Of course, you didn't believe a word he said, but you listened patiently, because your new script might depend on it.

"So you're saying you're not human?"

"Yes. I’m made of sand.” You almost laughed out loud at this point, but you tried to stay serious, though you had to admit that he told you about "his life" with such conviction that you almost believed it.

”Wait, what sand? You look like any other flesh-and-blood person!” you said in disbelief.

"This is only the surface. I am a physical manifestation appearing in the image of a man.”

After this you wanted to talk about something else, so you asked about his alleged murders.

"I heard that you used to kill people and eat their eyes. How old are you, then, and why did you do it?" you were drinking again. You never thought that one day you would want to talk with a strange man about his alleged murders. Corinthian ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

"Let's just say that I've been around for quite some time. The reason why I did it it’s because I wanted to see the world through other people's eyes. They say that the eye is the window to the soul – that’s very true."

You talked a little more about him, and then about you, because he was interested in where you got the idea of writing screenplays. Although you couldn't see his eyes, you felt his penetrating gaze on you so intensely that you got goosebumps.

When you noticed that it was getting dark outside, you ended the interview and arranged to meet again so he could give you ideas.

 You finally got home. You managed to remain calm throughout your conversation, although you still thought everything he said was a huge hoax. Poor man must have a boring life if he had time to invent all these crazy stuff.

It reminded you of the first time you saw him. Well-dressed, well-groomed, polite, handsome...these are not exactly the characteristics of a killer.

That word again. Killer. You still believed that he must have gotten his acquaintances to say that about him. He told a nice, fabricated story about himself, but at least you had an interesting afternoon.

 The next morning, you couldn't wait to have coffee, because you had, well, quite an interesting dream last night. You were lying in your bed when Corinthian appeared in the dim moonlight. You, instead of being scared, invited him to your bed and started kissing, then made passionate love, although you found it strange that he left his sunglasses on the whole time. You realized that you must have dreamed about him because you hadn't been with anyone for a long time and you were subconsciously attracted to him. It's true that he's a good looking guy, but you're only meeting him to get ideas, you convinced yourself. What would you want from him anyway? You didn't even know his real name, moreover he made up this impossible, "I'm a murderer and a nightmare" story.

 The day of another meeting has come. You rang the doorbell and when you saw Corinthian, you took a good look at him. You had to admit, there was something in his aura that grabbed you, and by that you didn't just mean his appearance.

“Hello Y/N! How are you?" he asked cheerfully as he let you in. He again looked impeccable.

I dreamed about you last night.

"I’m okay, thank you." you answered and followed him.

"How about we talk outside now? The weather is so nice, it would be a shame to sit inside at this time." he said and looked at the sky. You agreed with him and sat down at the garden table by the pool, where a couple of salty snacks and refreshments were already waiting for you. You chose a peach drink, which he poured for you in your already prepared glass. He also sat down and you took out your notebook to write down what he was telling you

"How's the script, have you started writing yet?" Corinthian inquired.

"Yes, I've already written a few pages." you said and ate some chips.

"That's great. I came up with some ideas, I hope you will like them." he said and you both smiled. When you saw his nice set of teeth, you again, unintentionally, remembered that there were those in place of his eyes...

He began to tell you his ideas, which you diligently jotted down like a student.

"Hm, these are good, I think I can get some exciting and creepy scenes out of them."

"Really? I thought you would say it’s too much.”

When you talked through a few scenes, Corinthian’s smile suddenly disappeared and he changed to a more serious tone.

"Can I ask you something?" the way he asked the question made you feel like the air was almost frozen.

"Of course."

"You know, you look like someone who wouldn't hurt a fly, but tell me...you never wanted to kill anyone?" he asked. You laughed to yourself for a moment and thought he was just being silly, though when he didn't laugh you realized he was serious.

"Only in my mind, when someone annoyed me, but in a normal situation, of course, I wouldn't even think of such a thing." you said. You felt the same uneasy feeling again as when you first met him. You started to get scared, but the thought of the taser in your bag calmed you down.

He is just provoking me, you thought to yourself.

"I guessed that. I see you're scared, but don’t worry. I would never hurt you.” he tried to reassure you, even though deep down you were still frightened, but then you thought that if he dared to ask you that, then you could ask him for something too.

" Corinthian, do you really have teeth eyes?" you asked softly as he nodded. "I want to see."

"I can't allow that. Believe me, it's better if you don't see them.”

"Well, I'm only asking because if you really are who you say you are, I'd like to see proof." you said and gently caressed the top of his hand. He looked away for a moment.

"I’m dead serious. I only take of my sunglasses rarely, in certain situations. But if you really want proof, I can show you something. Come, let's go to the kitchen.” he said and stood up, then you went to the kitchen together. You couldn't even imagine what he might want, but you were curious.

He took out a knife from the kitchen drawer and faced you.

"Jesus, what the hell do you want with that?" you cried out in fright.

"Relax! I don't want to hurt you! Remember when I said I was made of sand?” he asked. He was also nervous about what he was about to do. "I want to prove to you that I told the truth and I really don't bleed when I cut myself."

“O-okay.” you said with a trembling voice. Corinthian took a deep breath and stabbed through his palm as you screamed. He didn't even say a word, he just raised his palm with the knife in it and showed it to you.

And he was right. He really wasn't bleeding.

He pulled out the knife as if nothing had happened and his palm stayed intact. You were trying to breath, gasping for air, suddenly not knowing what to do. You held your head and felt nauseous. Not from what you have just seen, but from the thought that this meant that he really was who he said he was...

TO BE CONTINUED…

 Tags: @thecorilove86, @e-dubbc11, @harlekin6, @jessamydreams, @destiny-rahl, @merryandrewsworld, @i-like-the-eyes, @drowningnikki,  @delicateteenagerunaway, @imjustmessy, @zealoussaladsublime, @lilithsdreams, @cloudsofcondensation, @blondehotbrook, @enkelimoonstone, @bakerstreethound, @amidalasruby, @kittycat-kai, @hopeless-07, @miss-wednesday98

@littlewierdalien, @littlefoxgirl-13, @dahlinq, @dayleis, @idealai

@icytrickster17, @belladiaz, @smileymissbee

@foodlover123456789, @lazy-queen26, @yellowwithalisp,  @onehundredyearsofyearning

@constantron, @violentviolet88, @strudelbug07, @hiraet-h-blog,  @underwater-garden, @translat0r, @mirandkimy​

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I have more to say about this link:

It follows on from this post, which I'll just link instead of reblogging to avoid putting that long thing all over people's feeds again. I'm half asleep after work but have to add a few things.

Firstly, there is one entry in that spreadsheet that's new to my collection. Yesterday, I'd set up the whole spreadsheet and was nearly ready to share it, when it occurred to me that, for all the hours and hours I've spent Googling various terms to try to get information on the elusive Chocolate Milk Gang, I'd not tried using the fact that someone people seem to refer to it as being named after milkshakes, not after chocolate milk. So out of curiosity, I Googled a few CMG members' names with the word "milkshake" instead of the words "chocolate milk". I tried a few names, but I knew the most likely name to bring up a result would be David O'Doherty, because as I already knew but that spreadsheet really proves, DO'D is the person who's by far most likely to talk about the existence of the CMG.

What I got is something I'm not sure I sufficiently appreciated last night, as I was tired from dealing with spreadsheet admin for way too long (seriously... the combined time I spent just on trying to write the spreadsheet into HTML format, and then figuring out the best way to upload/share an HTML file... way too many hours), so was focused on just adding that article into the spreadsheet at the last minute, and didn't think too hard about its significance. But looking at it again, this is fucking cool:

This article is from September 2006, just after the Edinburgh Festival. I'm pretty sure it's the earliest example I've ever found of someone referring directly to the Chocolate Milk Gang. The vast majority of that spreadsheet are explanations in the past tense - people saying they "used to be" in that gang. This one, and the Russell Howard article by Jay Richardson, I think are the only two sources that describe it in the present tense, saying these people are in that gang. And the Jay Richardson article is from 2007, so this pre-dates it.

The entire article is interesting, if you happen to be interested in the history of Edinburgh Festival comedy from the 00s, so therefore is extremely interesting to me and otherwise interesting to very few other people in 2024. But if you've enjoyed following along my obsession with that era, I recommend clicking the above link and reading through that whole article. It's an interview with David O'Doherty, based around the fact that he'd been nominated for the Perrier Award in Edinburgh that year, and had lost it to Phil Nichol. DO'D talks a bunch in that article about how awards like this are pointless and being nominated was kind of silly and he's not interested in winning it - it's relevant to context to know he would go on to win that award two years later, in 2008.

...The article does have a weird moment where they describe Jimmy Carr and Russell Brand as friends of David O'Doherty's. It's worth noting that, while a surprising number of cool comedians were apparently hanging out with Jimmy Carr sometimes around 2005, I have listened to a lot of hours of David O'Doherty in various formats talking about his comedy friends/influences/colleagues, and have never heard him describe himself as friends with Russell Brand. Or with Jimmy Carr, for that matter. I'm pretty sure he just mentioned to an interviewer that he'd gigged with those guys before, and because they'd both recently got very famous as of September 2006 (Jimmy Carr had just started hosting everything on TV, Brand was becoming a movie star), they decided to make their article more interesting by mentioning that DO'D worked with them. I'm just clarifying this to defend David O'Doherty's honour, while I'm directing people in 2024 to read an article that claims he hung out with Russell Brand - I'm pretty sure that isn't true, they were just both comedians in 2006.

Anyway, that article has some interesting comments from David O'Doherty on the nature of comedy and industry and awards and competitions, as well as summaries of his career up to that point. But obviously, the passage that was relevant enough to make it into my spreadsheet was this:

HIS MAIN EXTRA-CURRICULAR show was a series of midnight gigs as part of the newly formed , deliberately pompously titled Honourable Men Of Art troupe, in which he is joined by others who take a more considered approach to comedy, such as Daniel Kitson and Demetri Martin. The latter is probably, pound for pound, the best one-liner writer working in comedy today. "A lot of the late-night shows at the festival are just an opportunity for audiences to shout at the comics, so we wanted to try something different," says O'Doherty. "First of all, everyone was seated - we could have got more people in by using the standing space but we didn't. None of us are the hard-drinking, druggy type - in fact we're actually known as the 'Chocolate Milk Kids' because of our fondness for milk shakes." He has good reason to believe that comedy is now moving into an area away from the ubiquitous lads' material. "It's like the move music made from early rock 'n' roll to the more interesting, offbeat, psychedelic stuff in the late 1960s."

Right. Okay. What is this, David? Who the fuck are the Chocolate Milk Kids? I'd never heard that one before. Chocolate Milk Gang, Chocolate Milk Brigade, Milkshake Brigade. But Chocolate Milk Kids? Well that's just making a mockery of it.

...I have some shorter work days coming up this weekend, which I intend to use for further Googling of this chocolate milk/milkshake situation. I think I had it wrong in my previous post on this. My previous post said British people would use both the words "chocolate milk" and "chocolate milkshake" to refer a chocolate milkshake. And they wouldn't use any term to refer to chocolate milk, because it's not common enough there.

A chocolate milkshake - just so we're all on the same page - being something like this:

But after reading my post from yesterday, the British person who originally told me that clarified that that's not what he meant. He said that actually British people would use the term "chocolate milkshake" to refer to both the above drink - which is a milkshake - and to what I would call chocolate milk, which is this:

And they wouldn't refer to anything with the term "chocolate milk". And this may have been the case even more twenty years ago than it is today.

This explanation does less to clarify why they'd get named "Chocolate Milk Gang" for drinking milkshakes - because apparently British people definitely call milkshakes "milkshakes", in addition to calling chocolate milk "milkshakes". Waters are further muddied by the fact that sometimes they do refer to the gang by milkshake-based names, ie. Russell Howard calling it The Milkshake Brigade, and DO'D going with Milkshake Kids in that one article.

My British friend, who has explained to me this quirk of British language, pointed out that one explanation that would make sense is if, when they went to the diner Favorit, they were actually drinking what I, as a Canadian, would call chocolate milk. So the Canadian comedian Glenn Wool called them the Chocolate Milk Gang. And the British and Irish people in the gang described themselves as drinking chocolate milkshakes, but also used Glenn Wool's Canadian term for the actual name of their gang.

That would make sense, if it weren't for the fact that they're not nine years old. No one goes out to drink chocolate milk in the middle of the night. Milkshakes make sense, as a late-night alternative to alcohol for people who want to have a "night out" and drink something fancy but don't want to get drunk. Chocolate milk is just milk. It's a drink for children, and for sensible adults at sensible times of day, not for after late-night comedy shows.

It's also been pointed out to me that Glenn Wool is on social media, so technically, if I wanted to, I could just ask him. Which sounded like a less terrifying idea to me than the idea of contacting any other comedian, and it took me a moment to work out why it seemed that way. I'm pretty sure it's just because he's Canadian. Canadian comedians aren't impressive celebrities, Canadian comedians are people who do drugs with my brother (for the record, Glenn Wool has never done drugs with my brother, and I'm pretty sure has never met him, though as I write this as I realize it's possible he might have and I should find that out because that'd be a useful connection).

"Hey, sorry to message you out of the blue as a stranger, but quick question - did you, by any chance, call the most famous political satirist in the world a nerd in 2002? And if so, what terminology did you use?"

...I'm still half asleep. I need to go to bed.

[wuxiaphoenix]

Worldbuilding: Help Vaunted

Vampires, disease, chi, breath, and blood; it’s all connected. Western vampires drain the life from people with their blood, while eastern jiangshi steal qi from their victims’ breath. (So if you hold your breath, they can’t find you. As was well-illustrated in sometimes wacky detail in the 1985 Hong Kong jiangshi film, Mr. Vampire.)

And both kinds of supernatural killers are known for spreading disease, through bites and evil miasmas. Which gives them a lot in common with mosquitoes. Yes, down to the finding people by their breath. Mosquitoes track carbon dioxide gradients to zero in on their warm-blooded prey. If you can keep that from them, they have a much harder time finding you.

Then again, if you can successfully block a carbon dioxide trail you’ve got something airtight so bugs likely aren’t getting in anyway. Oxygen might not be getting in either. In which case you’ve got bigger problems than itchy bug bites.

So vampires and mosquitoes have a lot in common. Possibly not enough; it’d be refreshing to have vampires that could be warded off by a good swatting. Though maybe these days a good SWATting would work....

What does this have to do with worldbuilding? Research. If you want to build something, say a fantastic version of vampires, you need solid foundations. That often means going back to the oldest sources you can for your research, so you can dig up what was originally written down about a monster, place, or event before someone decided to do a Freudian analysis or (shudder) a post-modern deconstruction of what it really meant.

Don’t make a copy of a copy of a copy. That way lies the blurry gray soulless sameness of AI art and Hollywood Marvel. Instead, think of how they designed the art for Stargate: read all the history, art, and legends, then close the books and create a new vision for the story.

Obviously your ability to dig will be limited by your resources; money, time, how many languages you read and speak, and so on. But persistence can sometimes pull up amazing stuff. I recently found a free article on falconry in Joseon Dynasty Korea, for one; and I’ve dug up vampire lore from all over the place through the years. Modern horror’s focus on the gore and supernatural speed and strength of the vampire ignores the fact that traditionally, once you’ve established that there may be a vampire killing people, the real trick is finding it, so you can deal with the corpse-monster once and for all. Original lore, especially in Eastern Europe, has all kinds of bits on how to track down the vampire’s grave, how to properly stake and/or burn it, and how to trap it in the grave by way of a net, rose branch, or other devices in case you can’t dig it up and dispose of it yet.

Which is a depressingly plausible scenario when vampires spread disease. By the time you’ve pinned down exactly which grave the damned thing is hiding in, your people may be too sick and exhausted to do more than drape a net over the spot and hope to buy a few days for somebody to get their strength back. Cows need to be milked or there’ll be no cheese for the winter. Fields need to be tended. A vampire killing people may not be everyone’s first priority.

Especially if it’s only attacking one family. (Not uncommon in certain areas.) And eh, no one much likes them....

Someone once said that if you watch enough monster movies you realize the problem is less the monster and more people’s reactions to it. Like cutting corners, trying to take advantage of the situation, or just refusing to believe it’s an actual problem until it tries to eat them. Mr. Vampire shows all of these; from fengshui apprentices horsing around with magic (because guys) to rice merchants mixing long-grain rice with the mystically effective sticky rice, to the head of the local police who got his position by nepotism arresting the one guy who knows what he’s doing. Yes, it’s a comedy, but man they came so close to a mass undead uprising.

Yet it didn’t happen. Because enough people paid attention and fixed things once they realized what was wrong. Which takes brains, more than firepower.

Do your research. Help heroes win by their wits!

[rayatii]

Okay, this is gonna be an even longer one than last time.

Time for cuddles with Principessa!

Nemorino has been preparing his own meals, and developed a liking for cooking. I took him to Finchwick, and had him buy some milk. Mainly all he needs left is some bread, and he might be able to cook something other than tomato soup, until he levels up.

It's just that Principessa snoozing while curled up like this reminds me a lot of my own cat.

lmao I happened to take Adina to ThrifTea on a Comedy Night, and she has autonomously decided to improvise an amateur comedy routine 😂

Adina creating a promposal sign!

Tane said yes! (also I love Molly Prescott, the principal's daughter and a good friend of Adina, cheering at this)

I love how everyone is on their phones and Adina has already pulled out her exam book.

LMAO NOT SANTA/FATHER WINTER SHOWING UP AT A FASHION SHOW IN THRIFTEA (also in my save file he lives in Oasis Springs for some reason). And yes, Adina got herself a strawberry matcha bubble tea, and has discovered that she likes S-Pop music (the Sims equivalent of K-pop music, I guess? Very fitting, actually) by frequenting ThrifTea.

TANE WTF ARE YOU SO RANDOMLY MEAN FOR YOU AND ADINA ARE LITERALLY GOING TO PROM TOGETHER

Adina trying to increase Trendi sales on some of the looks she designed (as part of the Admired Icon aspiration) by showing off her preppy look Good Girl Chic.

Guys, this is kind of an awkward angle to be sitting looking at the stars.

It's the weekend (in-universe), so I decided to spend a bit more time with Nemorino, and his dad appeared in the morning and they hugged 😭

(which reminds me, absolutely no one has answered my poll on whether I should let the ghost cross over)

Nemorino may not see Adina throughout their adolescence, but he sure sees her father, his landlord, whenever he comes for inspections. Here he is showing him pictures.

Catching some beauty sleep before prom!

Adina's latest conquest: Tane Ngata! But this time, I will not ask him to be her romantic partner, as the Serial Romantic Aspiration requires the Sim to have a strong romantic relationship with 3 Sims at the same time, and Adina's not a cheater! She's just vibing.

(She got gold at prom, but she and Tane barely interacted.)

Jeb you're ruining the moment (also I'm hesitating whether to have Jeb Harris or his brother Gideon be one of Adina's next conquests, bc it's kinda weird to hit on 2 brothers)

Fishing to provide food on the table, other than tomato soup!

Nemorino caught a Future Cube, and when he asked it about his love life, he got this pretty bleak prediction. But not to worry, my boy! You destiny will change in time, for the better! Your Pixel God (i.e. me) guarantees it!

Uncle Pepe invited Nemorino to the Flea Market in San Myshuno, but he (Nemorino) literally doesn't have enough money to buy anything, so he left early.

Strumming time!

CLUCLU THE BLACK HEN JUST KICKED THIS FOX'S ASS WHEN IT TRIED TO ATTACK

waitwaitwait THE Agnes Crumplebottom (i.e. the prim old lady who smacks people with her purse when they engage in PDA in front of her) decided to purchase Adina's very youthful streetwear look??? (the one she was wearing when she kissed Tane after prom)

Woah there Sanook, fixing the dishwasher is pretty dangerous, make sure you don't get yourself electrocuted (she didn't get electrocuted, thank goodness!!)

LMAO not Uncle Pepe himself showing up at Poetry Reading Night in ThrifTea (then again, he might be the kind of bachelor millionaire who just does random shit in his free time)

[najatheangel]

genre: fluff, drama, and comedy. high school au!

pairing: Choi San x Reader

author's note: apart of the Ateez Summer Collab hosted by @bangchan-fairy My first official posted collab please let me know what you guys think. Enjoy your summer! ✨

word count: 5.3k

summary: After slacking off junior year and struggling to juggle responsibilities, you're stuck retaking your math course in the summer. With your future on the line, you were stuck with San to work together with you so you both can pass this summer course as seniors. You two seem to have a hard time focusing on your studies. Is it because you don't understand the work or a certain someone that's distracting you

taglist: @purplepsycho03 @melonmochimoon @neptunehobi @soleilsuhh @dundun-baby @kpopsnowball (Send me a message if you want to be added or removed from the tag list.)

Your stepmom Maria seemed to be very disappointed in you once again for letting her down this year. She had planned so many family trips, vacations, and hangouts for the whole family to enjoy this summer, but thanks to my failing this dumb math class, I have to be stuck in this school until July.

“You better be lucky I can afford for you to retake this class. Your reckless behavior has gone on long enough.” Your mom walks beside you upstairs inside Walnut Hills Highschool making sure you don’t skip out on the first day of summer school.

“Mom, you know you don’t have to walk me to class. I know what I’m doing!” You groan at her as she links her arms with you in the hallway.

“Clearly you don’t! If you did you wouldn’t be stuck here retaking this class. Now we’re almost there so keep your head high and lose the tude.”

There it was class 2A once again. This class was an absolute nightmare. I took a deep breath and slid the door open slowly with my eyes halfway open anxious to see who was sitting in the classroom.

“Welcome back miss Y/LN! Good seeing you again.” Mr. Harris said with a smile. This sucker, you had a love-hate relationship with Mr. Harris. You loved the fact that he was super nice and helpful when he was your English tutor freshman year, but you hated how he had a crush on your mom and how weird teacher-parent conference meetings would get when they would sneak off with each other in his office.

“Good morning Mr. Harris. Good seeing you again.” Your mom blushed to try to contain her excitement, but it was too obvious. “Anyways I’ll be heading my way out. She’s all yours for the summer.” Your mom gave you one last hug and kiss on the cheek before she left.

You sighed, rolling your eyes, fanning yourself already sweating from the classroom’s lack of cold air blowing. You complained again by saying.“Mr. Harris, are we staying in this room all summer? I’m sweating like a fat pig.”

“Unfortunately, yes. The PCs in the computer lab have been shut down and the school plans on replacing them with apple PCs by august. So these are the cards we’ve been dealt with. Let’s get started shall we.”

All the students in the classroom sighed, taking sips of their water bottles as Mr. Harris took attendance.

“Let’s see...We have Angela, Oliver, Chris, Yui, Y/N...Who’s missing? Choi San?”

“Here.” San slams the door open, arriving 20 minutes late with his chocolate milk in one hand and a glazed donut in the other. “Sorry Mr. Harris, I’ve overslept.”

Mr. Harris sighs, shaking his head, chuckling to calm himself down. “As expected. Just glad that you’re here, please have a seat.”

There was only one seat left which was in the front next to you and that would of course be his assigned seat for the rest of the summer.

You never heard much of San except everyone saying that he dropped out sophomore year.

You remember having a crush on him during freshman orientation when you both were shadowed by this kid named Lee Know. The whole time you were quiet, but you remembered staring at the handsome devil strutting in his uniform the whole time.

So to see him once again took you and everyone by surprise.

“Class, make sure you remember your partner’s name sitting next to you for this summer because you will work together in order to pass this class.”

“Say what?” You look over at San, who was making origami at his desk. “Good seeing again kid.” He smirks at you leaving you speechless. “Want a donut?” He reached out, handing a piece to you.

You were slamming your head on the desk thinking to yourself. “Mom, I know I promised I would finish this class, but I don’t know if I can...”

Mr. Harris had you paired up in groups of two to complete a series of word problems and online on this website called Pearson. On the bright side, walnut hills provided MacBooks for students that didn’t have their laptop, but of course, if they tried to watch Netflix, facetime with their friends, or search for something inappropriate, their laptop will be shut down for 24 hours until further notice.

The first two weeks were pretty quiet between you and San because both of you aren’t necessarily the best conversation starters and whenever San would ask you something it would only just help him cheat on an assignment or help him make up an excuse to skip class. Up until the third week hit you had enough of his excuses trying to avoid doing the work.

The third week you were assigned to work on three hours of pre-cal on the computer and you had the option to locate to a different classroom of course if you couldn’t focus in a cramped room full of sweaty students. So you and san decided to work in the math lab across from class 2A and try to work out a plan.

“Listen San I know this class is our worst enemy, but I promised my mom I would graduate next year and If I have to restart my junior year again I would die of embarrassment. So please try a little harder.” San sighs nodding to your proposal looking deeply into your eyes.

“Fine. I guess I’m in the same boat. I figured retaking junior year would make my mom mad too.” He reaches his hand shaking it with yours smiling.

Your heart starts pounding pretty fast as you're exchanging the agreement with San and you gaze your eyes back at the computer again clearing your throat.

“So, all we have to do is remember the methods Mr. Harris taught us and we'll be alright. What section are we on?” San scrolls through his laptop trying to login into his Pearson account. “I believe it's section 3.A. 20 questions which are due this Friday?! Man, Mr. Harris won’t give us a break.”

You giggled at his surprised reaction. Sometimes he can be soft which makes you melt inside even more. It made you wonder why he was always hanging around with the rebels with no future at school. Maybe life at home was rough and he didn’t have a lot of friends. All these questions were running through your head, which made you not realize that San suddenly moved closer to you.

“You need help with that problem? You were staring blankly at the screen for the past 10 minutes. Here let me show you how to do this.” San wraps his arm around you, pulling you closer to writing the answer problem step by step to help you understand it better, but that wasn’t exactly helping.

All you were doing was admiring his beautiful face to face. It made you remember the first time you saw him with his glowing melon skin, sharp jawline, the way he can pull off a white collar and a striped tie it just seemed impossible.

On top of that his knowledge in math made him 10x more attractive, but you couldn’t understand why someone as brilliant and essential as him set himself up in the wrong crowd and stuck in this situation that cost him his high school diploma.

“So that’s how you get y= 18 + 15x. Any questions?” “Yeah, why the hell are you so fine. Forget Mr. Harris, you can be my tutor.” Would’ve sounded better in your head, but you accidentally said it out loud.

San looked at you with his eyes flashing open and then he burst out laughing. “Well Ms. Y/LN if I knew you were having this much fun, I would’ve signed up for this a long time ago.”

“Same here. You know I didn’t think math was your thing. How come you're so good at it?” He sighs, leaning looking up at the ceiling as his mood changes very quickly. “My dad is an entrepreneur and a CEO of his own company.

He’s very good at math so he taught me at an early age so someday I can take over his company someday. He’s never home at times either so I’m pretty much always helping my friends with their math homework as a side hustle.”

“That must be tiring. I know that must be a lot of pressure for a 17-year-old.” San nods his head in agreement and says “It is, but hey that’s what I’ve been dealing with all my life. We got to finish these questions so we can go home early.” With the both of you panicking you turn back to your computers finishing the last set of problems.

You were having so much fun at school with San that you forgot you had to make it to dinner on time with your wicked stepmother. Ever since you’ve started your sophomore year at Walnut Hills your father was keeping his dating life a secret until he unexpectedly announced that he wanted to marry Maria. Your dad was always the playboy so it always would irritate you whenever he brings another woman into the picture.

Your father planned on marrying Maria by the time you’ve graduated high school, but that all ended in tragedy when your father one day died in a car accident on the way to your volleyball game. This is why you quitted sports, fell out with your best friends, and flunked almost all your classes. Maria has always shown tough love even when your dad was around, but that’s because she never knew what it was like to raise children and she wanted to learn to become closer to your family, but your relationship with her was always rocky.

Arriving late at night you’ve run to your house sweating and panting to your angry stepmom in the kitchen tapping her foot.

“Y/N, do you know what time it is? School ended at 5. Why are you late for dinner? This better is good missy.” You caught your last breath and then rolled your eyes at Maria’s snarky comment. “Me and my partner in my class took longer than expected to finish our assignment. Sorry, okay?”

You’ve slammed your backpack on the back of your chair and grabbed a plate of yong chow rice to eat with your family. “Don’t you roll your eyes at me? I just asked a simple question. Don’t tell me your working with that Choi San guy?”

You shook your head as you started to feel yourself explode at the dinner table, but you let her finish. “I know that because Mr. Harris told me. Look all I’m saying is you better stay concentrated on getting out of summer school and don’t fool around with these boys. Got it?”

You’ve finally snapped and stood up slamming the table with your fists. “You know what, I don’t understand why you're nagging me about every little thing going on in my life. You can’t just be proud that I finished my assignments for this week. But, no you keep finding ways to complain to me about me not working hard enough or messing around. I’m getting really tired of it. That’s why I hate it here!”

“Y/N! Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you.” She followed you all the way upstairs until you closed the door and locked it in her face. You were too tired and frustrated to be dealing with her constant ranting so you’ve just sat in your room, put your AirPods on, and blocked her yelling from the background. “We’ll talk about this another day. Psh teenagers.”

For the rest of the night, you smush your face in your pillow crying yourself to sleep. You look back on the polaroids of your dad around your room and through your phone missing his presence in your home. “Dad, why did you leave me alone with her? If it was just the three of us, things would be so different. I miss you.”

Your partnership with San seemed to improve drastically which was surprising, to say the least. All the other kids in the class however didn’t seem to improve. Some were either cheating or missing the deadlines. Mr. Harris was not pleased by the results so he found other alternatives.

“You know what class, here’s what we’re about to do. To make this a lot more fun, how about we do class activities for extra credit. Since some of you are glued to your devices nowadays we can play games like Kahoot, Jenga, and Tetris to answer questions. I can even narrow down the questions on the assignments. How does that sound?” Everyone in class chants and cheers loving the idea which keeps them even more motivated to continue working.

“Alright everyone the games won’t start today, but next week. This is the last week of June and summer school so that means we’re halfway there from finishing. You cannot screw this up. Try acing this week’s quiz with 90% everyone or no games for those with below 70%. Got it?” “Yes, Mr. Harris!” You’ve become closer to the class since it was only nine of you, but your best friends are Angela, San, and Chris. The four of you stopped for ice cream after school to study for this week’s big math test that covered five sections.

“Gosh, Mr. Harris put 40 questions on the test! What the hell is he on crack?”

Everyone laughed at Chris complaining. He would always try to find shortcuts just so he can finish playing PubG, but he always ends up getting in trouble because he procrastinates too much. The only reason he’s somewhat doing well is because of his girlfriend Angela.

She was always a straight-A student and a bit of a geek at school, but outside of school, she was a baddie. She ended up having to retake pre-cal because she wanted to offer to help Chris with homework but ended up failing with him. “Oh hush it’s not even that bad. If you would’ve done those practice problems like you were told, you wouldn’t be complaining so much.” She slaps the back of Chris' head making him spat out his dip cone.

San looks at them admiring their silly dysfunctional relationship and then looks at you mesmerized. He leans in whispering in your ear saying “Why can’t we be more like them. They’re cute together.” You turned to him, slapping his shoulder softly giggling. “We shouldn’t. We agreed to only focus on school, remember?” He looks at you pouting “Does it have to be strictly about work? Like Mr. Harris said, we can have fun with it. We are partners after all.”

You look to the side trying to avoid his gaze as you take another spoonful of mint cocoa. With your sloppy spoonful of ice cream leftover on your face, San quickly grabbed a napkin from the table and whipped your face. “Be careful, you had a little mint chocolate on your face.” He kissed the side of your lips and smirked at you right afterward leaving everyone shocked.

“You guys are hot together.”

Chris with no filter shouted out leaving you a blushing mess. You quickly grabbed your ice cream and backpack as you heard your stepmom pulling up at the dairy parking lot. “You know what duty calls. I’ll meet you guys at the same time tomorrow at San’s place just like we planned. I gotta shave my legs. Later!” San wanted to grab your arm real quick to give you a proper goodbye, but you already beat him to it by sprinting to the car.

“Honey, why did you run in the car so fast? You would have finished your ice cream-”

“No time for that, just drive Mom.” Maria laughs looking at you covering your face with your cardigan and looking at San’s pouting face playing with his spoon he just ate from his ice cream. “Reminds me of the good old days when I was in high school.” Your stepmom cranked the engine and drove all the way home.

When you arrived home you flopped your body on your bed trying to focus on finishing studying for your test by yourself, but all your thinking about San’s kiss replaying in your head over and over again. “Ugh that San man, why did his lips have to be so soft? I'm supposed to be finding the formula for x, not the formula to get into San’s heart.” You’ve pulled out your laptop attempting to send an email to Mr. Harris said that you wanted to switch partners, but you prevent yourself from pressing send through your mouse.

“There’s no point. We only have four more weeks plus he would be upset if I do that. I just need to calm down.” You’ve closed out of your email tab and finished your homework sinking in your thoughts.

“Dad, hey it’s me again, I just wanted to leave a voicemail letting you know that later on today I’ll be bringing my friends over to work on studying for our big test. It would be nice for you to meet them, but of course, I know work is more important. Anyways please come visit again sometime soon. Love you, peace.” San sighs, hanging up the phone as he sets the table up getting ready for you, Angela, and Chris to come over. San has always learned to live basically on his own growing up.

His father is always running off on business trips, his mother left him at a young age to marry a wealthy man and his older brother was already out of the country to join the Navy. His brother was the only person he can count on for family events when it came to birthdays, Christmas, and even father’s day. At least his brother could attend and catch up with his crazy high school life.

Snapping out of his train of thoughts he opens the door as soon as he hears the doorbell ring. “Coming!” He fixed his Pikachu long sleeve and parted his hair before he opened the door. He was smiling so wide after seeing it was you, Angela and Chris.

“C'mon in you guys. Welcome to mi palacio. Let’s study in the living room.”

Everyone ran to the living room pleased with the smell of pina colada candles filling the house. You were shocked that San got to live in this huge nicely decorated home yet you seem to notice that his family is not present.

You see picture frames of him when he was younger in a monster inc sitting on the fountain at Disneyland.

There was also another cute family photo of San’s best friend named Wooyoung that he met since kindergarten, but sadly they ended up cutting ties since they went to different schools.

A picture that stood out from all of them was one of him sitting on his mom’s lap when he was five smiling super hard with his pretty white smile. You’ve never seen him smile that hard and you were always curious more about his past so the family photos have shown a nice glimpse into his past “Hey y/n cmon I made some ramen. We have to pull out the flashcards so we can study.” “W-wait, but your baby pictures I want!” “No time we can look at them later.”

He winks and gently holds your hand and walks downstairs with you.

“Here goes the love birds. We have to try San’s famous spicy ramen dish before it gets too cold.” Everyone sits down at the dinner table clasping their hands together ready to dig in until the door opens.

“Surprise brother! Sorry I’m late. Did I miss dinner?” San’s brother Jinhyuk walks in with veggie wraps and steak bulgogi in his hand. San runs up to his brother hugging him super tight happier to see that he finally made it home. “Guys this is my brother Jinhyuk. Jinhyuk this is Chris, Angela, and Y/N.”

Jinhyuk smiles at everyone greeting everyone. “So what’s been going on with you guys? I know you have been stuck in school together, but what have you guys been doing outside of school?” Angela started by saying “Well so far me and Chris have been seeing each other every day. We always go to the park or the carnival when we get the chance for dates. We have also been hanging out with these two right here.”

Chris joined in saying “Exactly right. You can say we’re like the Scooby-Doo gang of course without scooby.” San laughs adding on “No way you’re definitely Scooby. Angela is Velma, I’m Freddy, and Y/N is Daphne.” Everyone at the table laughed as they enjoyed San’s ramen catching up with each other.

Jinhyuk elbows you as he chats with you in the kitchen. “Hey, I noticed that you were sitting there staring at my brother. What’s going on with you two.” Your eyes flashed wide open as you were surprised by Jinhyk’s sudden question. You faced him scratching the back of your head not knowing how to answer his question. “Well, I honestly don’t know. I think he just likes teasing me. One minute he flirts with me, the next minute he treats me like one of the guys. My mom also doesn’t want me getting distracted so I’m trying to keep my distance.”

Jinhyuk laughs and then pets your head. “Well, you both already failed at keeping your distance. I think he likes you, but since you keep running away or avoiding him too much, he feels like he’s making you uncomfortable and that you strictly want to stay as friends. I wouldn’t give him the wrong idea to be upfront about how you feel about him. You got this kid.” He grabs your empty bowl for you and washes the dishes giving you that boost of confidence. “You know what you're right. Mama didn’t raise no punk. I’ll tell him after we finish studying. Thanks, Jinhyuk I owe you the next time you visit.” You give him a thumbs up and skip happily out the kitchen looking forward to seeing your friends.

After hours of studying flashcards, everyone finally studied feeling confident in themselves about the final test of the semester. Everyone packed their things and was ready to head home since their parents were outside. You were the only one that still felt confident about your process throughout the class so you’ve decided to stay an extra hour to study with San.

“Are you sure this is right?” You put the pencil down crossing your fingers as San checks your work. “Wow yes, that is correct. See you’re doing just fine. You only got 7 wrong out of the 40 questions. Just keep using that method I taught you and you’ll be just fine.” San smiles at you pinching your cheeks. “It’s 10:30 pm. Your mom is going to be worried about you. You should start heading home. I'll drop you off.” San started putting his notebook and laptop back on his desk getting ready to leave his room, but you pull on his sleeve bringing him back down on the couch with you.

“Wait, um why don’t we watch a movie or something. My mom is out with Mr. Harris anyways they won’t be back until the morning. I kind of told her I was spending the night at my cousin’s house.”

San smiles, shaking his head gulping, sitting back down next to you. “That sounds nice and all, but I don’t want to get you in trouble. Plus you do realize you’re staying over at a boy’s house at night.” You lean your head on his shoulder holding his hand yawning. “I know I trust you. You wouldn’t do anything unless I told you I wanted to. Just for tonight please San?” San sighs, lifting your chin patting the back of your head. “Fine, but next time let me meet your mom. I want to know everything there is about you okay?” You nod linking pinkies with him. “Deal. Now let’s watch Money Heist Shall we?”

The next morning you wake up in San’s arms as you share a blanket on the living room couch. You woke up fixing his messy black hair struck by his sleeping face. “Gosh you're even more dreamy when you're sleeping.” You checked the time on your phone and realized what time it was.

Pre-cal normally starts around 10, it was 11:20. “San gets up, we're late for class! We can’t miss this one Mr. Harris is giving us get extra credit today.” San woke right up alert as he wiped the drool from the side of his mouth.

“Dang, we gotta go. Here brush your teeth real fast, brush your hair and let’s roll.”

The two of you got ready as fast you could and hopped right on his motorcycle speeding through the traffic throughout the city.

You wrapped your arms around San the whole time scared you’ll fall on the motorcycle. San felt so happy whenever you depended on him for anything. “God I love this girl. I know they say I’m too young or going too fast, but I can’t help it.” He mumbled under his breath as he arrived at the school.

“Well well if it isn’t San and Y/N. You better be lucky you didn’t miss the test. We just got done playing Kahoot.” The two of you poured with your heads looking down feeling ashamed as you walked to your seats. The two of you took one last glimpse of each before Mr. Harris handed out the test.

This was it after everything you’ve been through this past month with San and your friends. The hard work was going to determine if you actually made it through or not. Mr. Harris gave you a whisper of encouragement you never heard in a long time except for your dad. “Y/N no matter what happens I’ll always be proud of you. Finish this strong.”

Mr. Harris' words almost moved you to tears as you smiled and nodded your head right back at him. Now you understand why Maria loved him so much he was always passionate about teaching and cared about your well-being.

You grabbed your pencil and your laptop as you started getting to work. The whole time you were nervous and a few questions caused you to slip up, but in the end, you remembered how to do most of the work. San seemed to be holding up just fine so you weren’t too worried about him, Angela would always double-check her work before turning it in and Chris was surprisingly focused the whole time.

As everyone finished their tests Mr. Harris checked everyone’s grades one by one slowly seeing their process.

He stands up taking off his glasses and says. “Class...congratulations on becoming seniors! Everyone has passed summer school. See you in the fall.”

Everyone screamed cheering as the paper was flying and everyone in the classroom cheered. “Yeah, you guys hang out at the carnival!” Chris screamed and everyone followed him out.

Before catching up with everyone you called your stepmom to tell her the good news with Mr. Harris next to you.

“Mom, I finally passed. Dad’s face right now you know he’s probably crying. It was all thanks to Mr. Harris too, he's the best teacher ever.”

You can hear your mom’s voice on the other end as she gets teary-eyed. “Your dad would definitely be so happy that you passed, but also pissed because he never wants you in summer school ever again.” The three of you laugh together as you share the happy news.

“I’m so sorry I doubted you and was super harsh y/n. I love you and just want you to succeed. Your my only banana muffin I got in this world so don’t pull off any dumb crap like this ever again.”

“Yes mom, you know I will. I made a promise to dad after all. I will graduate and stay close to you if it’s the last thing I do. Love you, I'm going to the carnival with my friends.”

Maria makes kissy noises back and says “I love you too. Don’t stay out too late. Matter of fact I’ll meet you there since me and Harris have a date anyways. See you there.” You hang up feeling emotional as you hug Mr. Harris.

Mr. Harris pats you on the back saying “Didn’t I tell you she’s very proud. Now I think you need to catch up with your friends before he leaves without you. I’ll meet you at the carnival.” Mr. Harris leaves the classroom giving you one last smile and heading out.

You walked in the hallway looking all around the school for San, luckily you found him in the science lab where he’s sitting by the window with a sad look on his face.

“San. We’ve gotta meet up with everyone at the carnival. Why are you here by yourself?”

San sighs, crossing his arms.

“There’s no point in celebrating. I tried reaching out to both of my parents to tell them about one of the biggest accomplishments in my life and as usual, they didn’t answer.” You sat right next to him at the window petting his head. “You know what, how dare they? Forget them.

You have a supportive big brother, an amazing group of friends, and the best teacher a school could ever ask for. You have a family right here and we’re proud of you.”

San lifts his head up as he sees your bright smile that always makes him helpless.

“You always know exactly what to say. What would I do without you?”

He links pinkies with you. “I really can’t wait for you to meet my stepmom. She gets on my nerves sometimes and we always tend to bump heads, but we always come right back together. Dad would’ve also loved you. He was always straight to the point and never held back. I loved that confidence he always had.”

“Oh yeah he did get into that accident last year, I’m so sorry about that.”

You shake your head “It’s alright, I’m still holding up just fine. I’m just happy to have you here with me plus I get to be seniors with you and everyone else.” San looks up at you one last time slowly leaning his face close to yours until your noses touch.

“Gosh, I wonder what would happen if I made out with Y/N in the science lab? The janitor would for sure catch us in the act.” You giggle flirting with him back.

“The only thing he would have to worry about cleaning up is the kiss marks that are going to be on your neck.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you were this playful. I love seeing this side of you.”

The two of you finally exchange a short yet sweet kiss in the orange sunset peeking against the window. It was going to last longer until Angela and Chris crashed the party with a loud knock on the door.

“Hurry up Freddy and Daphne the Scooby gang has to pull up at the carnival together. You guys can finish eating each other's faces off in the car. We can’t miss the flight of fear!”

The two of you looked at each other shrugging and walked together hand in hand out the classroom. “Well, I guess we will have to finish this on the carousel.” “Indeed, that sounds more romantic than making out while being surrounded by jars of disinfected frogs in the science lab.”

The two of you catch up with the rest of the seniors of class 2021 as you look forward to your last summer as juniors together. Today was going to be the day where you go all out and live like you're gonna die young.

[shirophantomvox]

First Date with Chrollo (Human Diary)

Hello everyone! I am back with another “First Date” post featuring the Prince of Darkness. This was an anon post but I can't find the ask anywhere! I have been watching JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures lately and it is a very interesting show. Dio turned into a zombie and he’s so mean to Joseph. Anyway, let’s get into the post. The end is a bit angst-y but I did that to take a slight turn from all Fluff. I hope you enjoy! Part 2 coming sometime this week.m

It is common knowledge that Chrollo loves to read many books. When he was a child, he had time to read and that provided a great source of comfort. Although he seems to be ruthless, every human has the ability to seek compatibility and compassion. Both Hisoka and Chrollo enjoy the romance genre except Hisoka prefers to watch movies while Chrollo loves to read stories. You've known Chrollo since elementary school. You were fortunate enough to be able to move out of Meteor City and attend a better elementary school. As a child, you were an outcast and made few friends but on occasion, Chrollo would see you at a local arcade. Of course, your mother paid for the both of you to have fun but once it was over, it broke your heart because you knew about the conditions he’d return to once he left.

As time went on, you entered college and decided to invite Chrollo on campus so he could be something like a driving force for future success. You’ve been accepted into Yorknew University planning on majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Digital Art. Reaching Chrollo posed a challenge. He never responded to a few messages but on the third try, he answered with an excited response.

“Please forgive me y/n for not responding soon enough. I am more than happy to visit you. I am proud of you and your accomplishments. I do not see myself as a college man but, hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it right? I’ll be in touch.”

-Chrollo

At exactly 7 PM on a calm Fall night, standing outside of the campus’ most prominent book store, you began to sweat and your makeup began to drip. Just as you were about to wipe it off, you heard a voice call your name.

“Y/n? Is that you?” He chuckled as he questioned your appearance.

Turning around, you jumped a little at the sight before you. This wasn’t the same Chrollo you remember, of course. He had grown several feet, his face was much sharper, his arms were much bigger, had a bandana tied on his forehead, and he had a few rings on. He was dressed in a white polo shirt, black pressed slacks and black dress shoes. It’s weird. It felt like an arrow was shot through your heart.

“Are you ok? You act as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I’m fine! I’m just---You--look…”

“Ah, I see. There’s no need to be flustered. I am the same as when we were kids.”

The Yorknew Sailor Store was designed something exactly like a Barnes and Noble except the walls were painted to match the school’s colors.

The bookstore had a perfectly designed Starbucks, with a wooden finish, black and brown metal tables, beige tile floor, and glass doors.

Chrollo immediately noticed the change in behavior, one he wasn’t used to.

The students were snooty according to him and reminded him of how the city council would act towards him, his family, and those who were like him.

First, you offered to buy him a drink. The good thing about Chrollo is that if you or anyone else offers to buy something, He will not reject it. There is no such thing as having too much pride regarding him.

“Do you drink coffee?”

“Of course I do,” he replied. “But I don’t think I’ve had any of these drinks. A Caramel Macchiato? That sounds good.”

“Order it then! That will give you just the right amount of energy for today’s reading!”

To you, this was just two friends reuniting with each other but something else told you that Chrollo thought it was something more. He only dressed up like this if he was going out with someone special and even then it wasn’t an expensive Polo Short, It was his best t-shirt and jeans.

It boggles your mind how Chrollo acquired his expensive clothing but maybe he obtained a great job and is able to make a living for himself.

“I’d like to order a Caramel Macchiato.”

“What’s the name for this drink?”

“Chrollo,” you responded.

“And for you?”

“I would like a caramel Frappuccino with soy milk and no whip cream.”

“Alright. That’ll be $15.00.”

Chrollo glanced at you wide-eyed.

“It’s ok. I got it.”

You take out your card to pay and as you move out of line you bend over to whisper in his ear. “Maybe you can pay for dinner though.”

He laughed and smiled. “Of course, y/n.”

The bookstore was full of comfortable furniture ranging from light blue, dark blue, white in the lounge area. Both of you decided to sit across from each other on the blue chairs that swallowed you both as you sat.

As he read, he’d point out any interesting points in the book. He got tired of yelling across the table, so he decided to share a chair with you. He could feel the heat radiating from your body.

It was almost obvious that you all were involuntarily flirting with each other. The school was full of couples but occasionally seeing the goofy couple was the highlight of everyone’s day.

“This man was so devoted to a woman that does not know that he exists.”

“Sounds pointless,” you say, still trying to read your book.

“Well, she knows he exists but she is ignoring him and making him look like a fool in front of everyone. He says that there is something about her that he has never seen in any woman.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s her eyes, smile, intelligence, the shape of her lips, and her perfume powder aroma. Those are things that drive men wild.”

You smiled and laughed but came to a quick halt when you felt something along the ridge of your neck made you still. The hair on your neck stood up still as the invading force came in contact with your skin. It was Chrollo grazing his nose against your skin, slightly sniffing in your aroma; slowly breathing in and out.

Closing your eyes couldn’t make your sudden arousal fade. At this point, nearly everybody was looking at you both and looked away. This behavior was innocent for college culture, but it was taken as a cute gesture rather than naughty.

You blush. It was quite surprising that your childhood friend viewed you as something of the sort. It was both flattering and scary.

There’s no denying that Chrollo is handsome but if you dated him and the relationship didn't last, it could ruin your friendship.

At this point, Chrollo had his right arm resting lazily behind your back as his head and next aimed in a position that would allow his nose to lay carelessly on your neck.

“You smell delightful. I didn’t know you wore such expensive perfume. Is it….,” He sniffs again, “Flower Rose?”

“Yes! How did you know? Does your mother wear it?”

“She does now. I bought it for her a week ago and now the guys in the city can’t stay off her.”

Wow. The City. Even though it was a hell hole, it was your hell hole. How is everything? How is your mother? How did you manage to have such an expensive taste in clothing and fragrance?

Chrollo enjoys making others flustered. It's amusing to see them stutter when they’re either aroused or nervous.

On the flip side, seeing Chrollo flustered was the highlight of the century! The bad guys are used to being “bad” but expressing softer emotions makes it amazing and a reminder that they can experience them too.

Grabbing Chrollo’s left hand, you gently kiss it a few times and wink at him. He smiled, hiding his dumbfounded expression, and blushed slightly.

“I see you catch on quick.”

“I was raised in Meteor City. Just because I’m here doesn't mean I have forgotten where I come from. But I didn’t know you liked me.”

“You were the only one that trusted me and played with me when no one would.”

It felt like two magnets were pulling you closer. If he kissed you right here right now, you could just melt into a puddle but before anything happened, Chrollo’s phone rang loud and echoed throughout the bookstore.

Glancing at his phone, you saw an unknown number call, and judging from his actions he stood quickly to his feet.

“I’ll only be gone for a second.”

Hmm. That was odd. During this short intermission, you continue to read your book. Ironic enough, you weren’t into romance novels per se, you enjoyed action and comedy books!

Once Chrollo returned, his face was flushed and his soft demeanor had suddenly disappeared. He looked as if he was going to punch a wall.

“What’s wrong, Chrollo?”

He glanced at you with a somber smile, hoping to convince you that he was alright. “I am fine, y/n.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, if you count my mother being seriously injured, then yes.”

“Oh no! We can leave now, it’s fine.”

“No, it's ok. She wouldn’t want me to leave you all by yourself at this time of day.” He pointed to the night sky.

Wow! That was quick!

“What do you mean?”

“My mother predicted that I could end up with you...she also predicted that someone would be hurt or in danger if that prophecy was fulfilled. It’s sort of like give or take. In order to make someone happy, someone has to surrender their happiness and I guess it was her.”

A single tear dropped down his cheek and nothing more. He didn’t care if other men singled out his “weakness” because he’d destroy them all and he didn’t want y/n to know about his abilities until later.

The comfort of your warmth against his head provided more than comfort. He felt safe, welcomed, not judged, and vulnerable. He knew that you wouldn’t make him out to be a bad person but instead welcome him home with open arms. You were his human diary.

[talkfastromance4]

when i’m dreaming--calum hood oneshot

yeah so i’m going through something so this is very, very self-indulgent. 

word count: 2.3k

warnings: drinking linked a little with coping, going through a depressive low, best friend!calum

feedback and reblogs are always appreciated!

***

Calum notices something is wrong the minute she steps outside. He was about to take a drink of his white claw, but his eyes went to her nails when she pulled Crystal in for a hug. She typically paints them to match her mood and today they’re opalescent pink, barely noticeable but still there. In plain sight but still visible while she secretly wants to be invisible.

She smiles and cracks jokes with everyone she says hello to then when she steps in front of Calum, he sees the sadness in her eyes. They’ve been best friends for awhile now, they’ve shared secrets, stories of first loves and heartaches, their fears, their wildest dreams. But there was always something she kept hidden, tucked away in a box welded shut.

“Hey bud,” she sighs.

“Hey short stuff,” he grins playfully pulling her in for a hug. Her arms wrap around him and he makes sure to give her an extra tight squeeze.

“I’m not that short,” she grumbles in his chest.

“You’re shorter than me,” he reminds rubbing her shoulder with his thumb. Although her arms are loose around him he can feel the tension in her shoulders that she’s carrying.

“Stop hogging her! I haven’t seen her in weeks!” Ashton exclaims and Calum pulls away.

He knows it was too soon to break the hug but to keep up with her own façade he doubts anyone else sees, he does it.

“Hey, you’re the one who disappeared into the desert for all those weeks,” she jokes rising on her toes to loop her arms around Ashton’s neck.

He gives her a big bear hug that lifts her a few inches off the ground, Calum sees her nails digging into her arm as she squeezes him.

“Had to recenter myself, you should try it sometime,” Ashton teases right back. As if she was shocked, she removes herself from the hug then accepts a bottle of Mike’s from Luke.

“I can take something stronger than this, Hemmings,” she takes a large chug regardless.

“Yeah? Like tequila? I got some limes,” he jerks his thumb behind him towards the drink table.

“I said stronger not deadly. You know I can’t handle tequila,” she scrunches her nose.

Everyone else laughs but alarms are going off in Calum’s head.

“Yeah, the floor of my Tesla doesn’t like tequila either,” Michael chimes in with a tray of shots.

“I told you to pull over,” she shrugs lifting up a shot. She takes a whiff and nods in approval at his selected alcohol choice.

“I was going 75 on the freeway!”

“And that’s why I threw up. Ready?” she lifts her glass.

Calum meets her eyes as over the hands of their friends as Ashton gives an impromptu speech about friendship and long rides. He wasn’t really paying attention because when their eyes locked, he saw the panic, he saw the fear of whatever was going on in her head.

**

The next time he sees her is at the movies. Her eyes are darker along with her nails that are now a hunter’s green; camouflaged but still visible. While they’re waiting in line for snacks, he lifts her hand in his and runs his thumb over the color.

“This is a pretty color, I’ve never seen it on you before,” he says.

“Yeah, um…wanted to try something different,” she shrugs. “Do you want the blue icee?”

“Is that even a question?” he raises a brow, and she laughs.

Once they’re settled in the seats the previews start. Calum opens up the bags of sweet and sour treats while she opens the boxes of milk duds. The large bowl of popcorn (with extra butter) is settled between them, long red straws sticking out of their frozen drinks.

Throughout the whole movie, it’s an action romantic comedy, Calum keeps glancing at her. He watches her fingers disappear in the popcorn bowl, her hunter’s green nails appearing black in the dark theater. Calum’s seen enough movies to know this moment is foreshadowing the darkness she’s slipping into. He’s preparing himself for the fall but he’s not entirely sure she is.

**

Two weeks have gone by and he hasn’t seen her since the movie. Their schedules didn’t align so he decided to surprise her with takeout from her favorite Asian restaurant and chocolate cake from her favorite bakery.

When he opens the door, he hears Friends playing on her tv and he finds her horizontal on the couch. The hood of her sweatshirt is over her head, her arms wrapped around her torso, her black nails clutching the fabric.

Calum braces himself for what he’s walking into, sets the food on her counter and crouches in front of her. He pulls her hoodie back a little so he can see her face a bit better, her eyes are distant and staring off behind him.

“Hey,” he says softly then touches her hand. It’s very cold. “Y/N.”

Upon hearing her name does she finally look at him. Her eyes have filled and spilled with her tears in a matter of seconds. He links her fingers through his.

“Hi,” she mouths, her voice barely registering.

“Is this about…him?” he asks delicately.

About a year ago he chipped away at the welding on the box. He knows it involves a guy. He knows it’s about bad timing. He knows it’s about deep emotions.

She nods and the tears erupt more. She buries her face in her hands then adds another layer by hiding in the pillow.

“Nope, nope, hey,” he tugs on her arms. She’s pliant and allows him to drag her in a sitting position. He takes the place where her head was then brings her onto his lap. “I’ve got you, I’m right here.” He murmurs and pulls her hoodie down so he can rub at her hair.

She sobs loudly into his neck. Calum holds her as tight as he can, murmuring comforting words in her ear. Her sobs would subside, but he wouldn’t let go until she did. She’s very good at keeping her emotions at bay and even better at keeping people further away from her harbor. She doesn’t ask for help often, she doesn’t open up too much and when she does it’s always the footnoted version.

Three episodes of Friends later, her hold lessens, she gives a big sniff and peels herself away from Calum. He uses the sleeves of his shirt to wipe at her tears and nose.

“Have you eaten?” he asks, and she shakes her head. “I brought food. I’ll heat it up for you.”

She nods and falls back onto the couch. He rubs her knee then heads into the kitchen. When the food is prepared on plates he brings it to her and she takes it, scarfing down the first few bites heartily.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she finally speaks when her plate is empty.

“I know,” he nods looking over at her until she meets his brown eyes. “It’s okay.”

Calum ends up staying the night, his mind reeling from what the history is with this mystery guy. His thoughts get away from him as he stares at the ceiling above the couch. Was he some celebrity that kept her under the radar and broke her heart repeatedly? A Prince from some far-off country that got her hopes up and crushed them again and again?

He’s tossing and turning until he hears the shower turn on. Sad songs play over and over on her speakers, her voice singing along with the yearning words. Ghostin’ by Ariana and When the Party’s Over by Billie replay one after another.

She’s really hurting.

Calum bounds off the couch and opens the bathroom door.

“Y/N?” he makes sure his voice is a little louder than the music.

A sniff. “Yeah?” her voice is thick.

“Just want you to know I’m here,” he shuts the door and sits next to the shower.

His heart aches when he hears her crying again, the vocals echo and bounce off the tiles. Her sadness fills the room just as it’s filled in the hidden box of the guy who’s making her feel this way.

Four more repeats go by and the shower is finally shut off. Calum scrambles off the floor, sees her tug the towel from the door of the shower. Her shadow figure wraps it around herself and she opens the door. Her skin is red from the hot water, as are her eyes and cheeks from crying more tears. He grabs another towel and helps dry her hair while she stands there avoiding her reflection in the mirror.

“It’s been five years, why do I still feel like this?” she asks quietly.

“It hurts the most when it meant something.”

He left the bathroom after he dried and brushed her hair then waited for her in her bedroom. There’s pictures on her desk from high school. Her and some guy at prom. Her and the same guy a little bit older posing in a selfie on a couch, drunken smiles on their faces. Her and the same guy a little older again posed outside.

This must be from that box. She’s cracked it open and Calum is staring at some of the pieces that have broken her wholly.

“His name’s Henry,” she explains suddenly behind him.

Calum turns to her voice. The drastic change from the happy girl in the photos to the sad girl before him startles him. He remains silent to let her speak or to go into silence again. She moves onto her bed, sitting in the center and tucks her legs against her chest.

“We never dated. But we were always…together. Together in the physical sense for four years,” she continues. Calum joins her cautiously on the bed and listens. “Back and forth always. After every relationship we fell back into each other. He’s the longest relationship I’ve had, and it wasn’t even a real one.

“We cared about each other, and…I think he loved me. Time wasn’t on our side. It was too much or too little, I don’t know,” she shrugs. “Just when I think I’ve let go; I dream of him. Then he’s on my mind for days. And now this time…” she shakes her head and Calum pulls her against him. “I went on socials and I found out that he um…he’s a dad now. And I feel so stupid because that could have been me if we kept what we had. I feel stupid because a part of me wanted it to be me.”

Calum doesn’t fully understand the ins and outs of their relationship, but four years of physical affection and a rock to lean on, that’s a lot of history. He also doesn’t fully understand how this guy didn’t make it official with Y/N. She’s the perfect best friend with a big heart.

Calum wishes he knew her in school because he would have been the one to take her to prom. He would have been the one take her to movies and dinners and surprise her with flowers. He would have made it official rather than keep her guessing.

“I’m really going through it and I don’t know how to get out,” she whispers sadly.

“I think…” Calum heaves a big sigh and kisses her wet head. “I think you’re just cracking the surface of breaking free. I can tell he meant a lot to you and you meant a lot to him. Even if he never said it, you’ll always be a part of him just like he’ll be a part of you. Someone that important won’t just poof away.”

“But I want him to, it hurts.”

“I know it does, sweetheart. I’ll help you in any way I can, okay?”

“You’re so understanding and you’re so good, but I don’t want to cry over another guy when you’re here.”

“That’s what best friends do.”

She turns her head and gazes up at him. He notices the storm in her eyes aren’t as dark, her lips are chapped from the cracking of memories she spilled out.

“Calum, you’re more than my best friend.”

He hears a deeper truth in her statement, and it causes his breathing to quicken. The subtle yet very noticeable flick of her eyes to his lips causes him to react. He gives her a quick peck, but that smallest touch sent an enormous shock through his system.

They settle against her pillows, the kiss wasn’t awkward, but it filled them both with questions. Questions that will be answered at a different time because right now he wants to hear this most vulnerable part of her life. She takes his hand in hers first and plays with his fingers while she talks.

He makes comments and asks questions to try and understand a bit more. Calum kisses her head when her voice starts to shake. Hours go by and the sky starts to lighten, birds are awakening.

“Hey,” she says right as he’s about to fall asleep. They talked all night, but she quieted down about twenty minutes.

“Hm?” he opens his eyes.

“We match.”

He looks down at their intertwined fingers when she taps on his nail. His polish is chipped away from chewing on a hangnail then smiles at the black color. He lifts their hands and kisses their knuckles.

“I feel what you feel.”

“What exactly do you feel?”

“I felt you slipping. I can sense your emotions when no one else can, and I guess I painted my nails subconsciously because I didn’t want you to be alone in the dark,” he explains. She’s quiet for a moment and he thinks she really fell asleep this time.

“Thank you. I don’t think I’ll be this bad again.”

“If you are, I’ll be here. I’ll always be here.”

“Cal?”

“Hmm?” he sighs. It’s getting harder to keep his eyes open, but he doesn’t want her to stop talking. He doesn’t want her out of his arms.

“When I’m dreaming tonight it will be of you.”

**

Taglist: @calpalirwin @myloverboyash @loveroflrh @cxddlyash @princesslrh @spicylftv @notinthesameguey @itjustkindahappenedreally @calumance @thew0rldneedsmcreycghurt @sarcastically-defensive17 @another-lonely-heart @devilatmydoor @thatscooibaby @suchalonelysunflower @dead-and-golden @mymindwide @blackbutterfliescal @redrattlers @karajaynetoday @quasighost @i-like-5sos @creampiecashton @calpops​ @littledrummeraussie​ @sexgodashton​ @f-mu​

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

just for fun: which kamen rider characters/groups do you think have the best shot at catching the lupin III crew? this would probably have to be without their rider forms because stopping time or kicking them into oblivion or w/e is obviously cheating

Anon, darling, my husband and I spent about an hour talking through every main Rider of the modern era because of this question, so here's what we determined, in order:

Godai actually couldn't--he's got a lot of skills, but none of them are really investigative--and moreover he wouldn't worry about it if they weren't hurting people. Ichijo would be forced to put up with the impressive but vaguely embarrassing Zenigata-sempai (who was of course in the Japanese police force before joining Interpol) for about a month.

Shouichi could and absolutely would catch Lupin and crew, and they wouldn't realize it until the trap closed, because they think the owner of the restaurant they've been setting up in is just kind of a genial idiot. Zenigata would love Hikawa, who would be both flattered and a little alarmed ("Wait, is this my future? I don't think I want this to be my future.") Also, Fujiko would be a little frustrated to find Shouichi completely oblivious to her charms.

Shinji couldn't do it. Nobody in Ryuki could do it, and moreover they're a little preoccupied, thank you.

Kenzaki and the rest of the Blade folks couldn't catch Lupin either, because they are simply not that crafty.

Hibiki-san probably couldn't manage to catch Lupin, but, like Godai, also wouldn't put effort into it. He's a man of action, he fights monsters, crime-solving really isn't his jam.

Tendou could catch them. We know Tendou could catch them. Tendou's good at everything.

Ryotaro would absolutely catch the Lupin crew entirely by accident, and it would be a whole comedy of errors, where they sort of set up base camp in Milk Dipper and keep running into Ryotaro when he's possessed by different Imagin and it'd get really confusing and U-Ryotaro and Fujiko would have a whole thing...it'd be a lot.

Wataru is a bit too shy and retiring to put a lot into crime-solving, but he could take Goemon in a fight, because he's still a Fangire even without turning into Kiva. Zenigata and Nago would bond terrifyingly. In the end, though, Taiga's company would not be robbed, because they signed up to steal from a regular corporation, not one staffed entirely by vampires.

Tsukasa could catch them, because his powers include being good at whatever he needs to be good at right then, but he wouldn't, because why upset Daiki by getting his buddies arrested?

Shoutaro and Philip might be able to do it, but there'd be a lot of coincidences involved. Shoutaro and Jigen would probably meet in the Windscale boutique at the beginning of the story and get into a friendly argument over hats or the appropriate break length for men's trousers or something. Zenigata would find Terui a little alarming; Terui would find Zenigata maddening.

Eiji couldn't and wouldn't. Not his scene.

Gentarou definitely couldn't catch the Lupin crew, but they would also end up calling off whatever crime because this guy's just too nice.

Haruto, like Wataru, has powers even when he's not a Rider, and would catch them with magic, which Lupin would loudly declare to be cheating.

Kouta could not. Kouta is not crafty. Nobody in Gaim is really very crafty. Takatora would try very hard, but he wouldn't manage it. Lupin & Co might call off robbing Yggdrasil, though, once they find out that the company's mostly trying to rebuild the city now.

Takeru couldn't catch Lupin and his people, but they would decide not to steal whatever treasure from the temple anyway, because why disappoint that guy?

Emu absolutely could not.

Sento could, but only in such a way that would allow his to exhaustedly announce the plan of his that they've been playing into the entire time. He would be very pleased with himself.

Sougo is not even a possibility here. He'd love Goemon, though.

Aruto could not catch them. They have already robbed Hiden Intelligence. It's too late.

Touma...I don't think he could catch them, but I think Jigen would like him.

Ikki and Vice could and would catch the Lupin crew, but it'd be another comedy-of-errors situation--they're not actually trying to catch anyone, Ikki's just irrepressibly nosy and a busybody and he'd do it by accident.

[stayndays]

𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 - 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧

my gift to @wingkkun for @kafenetwork‘s holiday treats event!

genres & tropes - fluff, minor angst, comedy, misunderstanding(!!!), magical boarding school au (hogwarts but not really), dorm neighbors au, best friends to lovers au, shy!chan, extroverted!reader, gender neutral reader, chan’s pov

disclaimer - the entire fic is based around the fact that the reader was kinda accidentally drugged with a potion, two swear words, chan likes an unnamed female character (but hey in this case he likes everybody!!)

word count - 5.1k (uhm?? what the fuck?? this is coming from the blurb writer guys what the hell happened)

summary - bang chan does not have a crush on you. actually, he has a crush on his partner in potions class, and decides to do something about it… until it goes all wrong, and the liquid of a love potion is running down your throat. now, chan has to deal with your lovesick antics for a week while trying not to become infatuated with you himself. spoiler alert: it’s a lot harder than it looks.

a/n - it is i, penguin anon, the dude who made that survey for stayblr writers, a friend of your own friends, yes hi lol KJFSKDF honestly, this could be a very confusing fic to some people, as some things don’t line up, i will admit that! that’s mainly because i frantically put this together in the last two weeks while preparing for midterm exams, so not all the ideas i had in mind lined up correctly. regardless, i hope you enjoy this, especially you kai ^^ 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨, 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞

Bang Chan does not have a crush on you.

You’re his best friend, his next door dorm neighbor at the boarding school he goes to. He comes to you for one subject, while you come to him for another. You’re the person he sits next to at lunch, and the counterpart to his timid personality. You are anything but his crush.

He does, however, have a crush on the cute girl he’s partners with in potions class, aka, not you.

“So,” you start off, tapping your feet repetitively on the wooden floor of Chan’s dormitory, the chair you’re sitting on face away from the desk it accompanies. “Let me get this straight.”

Chan nods for you to continue, playing with the blanket threads on his bed to anxiously wait for your response.

“You’re going to make a love potion for your crush to drink?” you confirm with him, to which he nods, lips pressed together tightly. Chan can easily tell how flabbergasted you are at his simple, yet elaborate idea, wheels turning in your head. “But this could go wrong in so many ways! How are you going to get her to drink it anyways? How are you even going to get the ingredients to make the potion?”

Chan scratches the back of his ear, which is slowly growing red by the second. A nervous grin slowly growing on his face before he answers you. “You see... that’s where you come in.”

He notices the deadpan on his best friend’s face and winces.

“...You want me to steal the ingredients, don’t you?”

Chan nods timidly.

It’s not Chan’s fault really, Chan believes, as you’re known for being a master at being sneaky. Not only can his own clumsy hands barely lift up a pencil before dropping it onto the ground, he has to be a role model to the younger students! It’s only right for you to do the job instead.

“Fine!” you throw your hands up into the air in exaggeration. “What do I get in return, though?”

“Hmm...” Chan ponders on your question, tapping his chin in thought. “Banana milk for a week?”

“Pleasure doing business with you, sir.”

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 

Bang Chan has made a huge mistake. It’s the kind of mistake that’ll affect his entire school year, undoubtedly. The kind of mistake that he’ll scream out at 2 am into his pillow, not only because it’s highly embarrassing, but also because it could ruin everything.

It all starts with a carton of banana milk.

The plan, originally, was quite simple. Chan had seen his crush fold open a carton of banana milk in class and gulp it down right in front of his eyes. Well, while he pretended to be busy looking up something in his textbook, at least. By gifting her banana milk, that was actually drained out and replaced with the love potion he brewed, not only would he seem like a nice person to her, she would be infatuated with love for him. 

Two birds hit with one stone. Simple as that.

Until you came in, strolling down the hallway Chan was leaning his back on, eyeing the pastel yellow carton in his hands. He knows that his first period is potions class, he knows that you greet him every morning with that same smile on your face while he waits outside for the classroom doors to open. However, he should’ve known that openly holding a container of banana milk in his hands for everybody passing through the hallway to see was not a good idea.

And that’s how Chan ended up where he is right now.

“Hey, Chan!” You approach him with a grin, hair thrown back messily. “First of many banana milks you got for me there?”

Chan’s breath gets caught in your throat while you look up at him expectedly. His eyes continue to shift over from the paperboard box in his right hand to your bold eyes.

“Um- Er- I-” His fingers curl tighter around the drink, but his voice just so happens to fail him out of all the times in the world.

And then his head fails him, and he nods out of pressure.

He watches your eyes light up, and your hands lightly touching his own as you snatch the drink from his possession.

You rip open the opening to the carton. Pressing your lips against the entrance, you pour the drink into your mouth and down your throat, all in one go, right in front of Chan. His mouth is slightly agape at your bold actions, his head screaming at him to tell you what you just did in hopes that you’ll snap out of it before it’s too late, yet he stays silent.

“Hmm, the liquid is more like water than milk, but at least it still tastes like banana!” You gently crush the carton before patting Chan on the shoulder. His eyes widen when you pause, and then laugh in a dazed manner. It’s almost as if he can see the hearts forming in your eyes.

“Thank you, Channie. See you at lunch!” You wave him off in a flirtatious manner, something he’s never seen you do to anybody in all the years he’s known you, and his heart pounds faster with worry.

Soon enough, he falls out of his stunned trance and presses his back against the wall shamefully, slowly sliding down it. He’s too anxious to care about the weird stares he’s getting from other students going down the hallway, curling himself up into a ball.

“WhydidIdothatwhydidIdothatwhydidIdothatwhydidIdothat-”

“Chan?”

Chan’s head shoots up from his position on the ground, only to lock eyes with his crush’s worried eyes. He gasps quietly before rocketing up from the floor, brushing himself off, startling his crush. “Y-Yes?”

“Why were you slumped down on the floor like that?” He watches her scanning his face while he bunches up the sweater he’s wearing with his hands. “Your face is really red too… should I take you to the nurse’s office?”

“Oh! Uhm, no, it’s okay. I feel fine. Class is starting in a minute, regardless,” Chan reassures her, and fortunately to him, she doesn’t question it any further and changes the subject of their conversation.

Yet, his back of his mind sends him flying back to what happened previously. The flashbacks of you drinking that love potion right in front of his eyes sends a pit down his stomach, churning it to make him feel sick and lightheaded. He ponders about how much he screwed up this time, thanks to his stupid brain and timid decisions.

That love potion you drank was not meant for you.

You are not his crush.

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨, 𝐭𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

Bang Chan is a fool, a dunce, the embodiment of stupidity.

At least, according to his two closest friends besides you: Lee Minho and Seo Changbin.

“You’re such an idiot, Chan!” Minho cackles as he bangs his fist repeatedly on the wooden table of the school’s dining hall, accidentally sending his hot chocolate flying all over the place as he flinches.

“I have to agree with Minho on this one,” Changbin, who’s passive behavior is the opposite of Minho’s wild personality, tells the oldest boy. “You really messed up on this one.” He continues to flip through the pages of his textbook after cleaning up Minho’s mess with his wand.

Chan groans, letting himself fall onto the table pathetically, head first. He covers his eyes with his hands and shouts in agony, making Minho laugh even harder. Eventually, once the rowdy student calms down, he shakes Chan’s shoulder to get him to sit back up again. “No, but seriously, what are you gonna do now? They’ll be completely obsessed with you for the next couple of days.”

“A week, actually,” Changbin corrects, flipping to a specific page of his potions textbook and displaying it to the two. “A love potion's lasting effects depend on the amount you give the drinker.”

“And a milk carton holds like, a liter of liquid? So if you multiply those numbers, it’ll for sure last an entire week, which started yesterday,” Minho points out with his finger, directing Chan’s eyes to the info on the page. 

Chan lets out a deep exhale, scratching his scalp as he processed the information. “So, do any of you have advice for what I’m supposed to do?”

“Don’t look at me-”

“I know, Changbin, you’re too focused on your studies to find a partner. I’m mainly asking Minho, our designated player in our year.”

“Well,” Minho cracks his knuckles before answering. “I’ve never accidentally drugged somebody with a love potion before, so unfortunately you’re all on your own. Fortunately, however, Y/N’s coming right your way!” Minho points cheekily to behind Chan, making him whip his head around.

And there you are, walking right towards them.

“Channie!” you stroll on over to the trio of boys with a pep in your step and a grin on your face. “Let’s go to Insanis!”

Chan’s ears perk up at the name of his favorite cafe near campus, always serving the best scones and cinnamon rolls he’s ever had, and the fact that you know his love for the place. However, he comes back to the realization that you’re under the effects of a love potion, so he shakes off the blush that’s threatening to appear on his cheeks.

Slowly starting to feel under pressure at the fact that you’re waiting for his response, he nods his head repeatedly with a shrug, packing up his belongings spread out on the slightly dirty, wooden surface. Your face lights up at his agreement, and you eagerly wait for him to stand up. Chan waves off his two friends, ignoring Minho’s snarky smile and Changbin’s desire to laugh right then and there, and exits the dining hall with you holding his hand.

You’re going to be hard to deal with these next few days, he thinks.

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐰𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

Chan thinks you’re going crazy.

You’re acting like a drunk person whenever you see him, completely helpless of your own mind. Then again, you’re the one who drank the love potion a couple days ago.

He just didn’t realize how strong of a potion it was.

“Channie!!” you holler out to him from behind, crunching snow beneath your feet as you try and keep up with his pace. “Let’s go into the snow! Come on!”

He turns around to your grinning face, eyes drifting over to the bobble on the beanie you’re wearing that’s covered in snow. You point excitedly to the thick snow next to the outdoor path you two were walking along. “But we have astronomy class in half an hour, and I have to meet up with my potions classmate during that time, remember?” Chan objects, giving you an uncertain look.

You whine dramatically with a pout, stomping to him and grabbing his wooly coat, yanking him with you. “It’ll just be for five minutes!” Leading him off the pathway, the two of you entered the snow covered grass field. Chan shakes his head at your childish, yet heartfelt actions, watching you turn back and fall onto the snow back first without hesitation. 

“You know I’ll get sick if I-”

“You’re underestimating my healing skills, Bang. Now get in the snow and freeze your ass off with me,” you point to the snow below you, slowly feelings your fingers become numb despite the knitted gloves you’re wearing.

Chan breathes out a laugh at your desperate attempt to get him to join you, shaking his head as he finally accepts your offer. Unlike you, he slowly sits on the ground at first and then lies down on his back hesitantly. The cold feeling of the ice on his back makes him shiver, and you giggle at his reaction while making a snow angel. 

The two of you stay like that for a few minutes, taking in the sudden silence of the campus grounds and the snow falling on each other’s faces. Chan’s body is as stiff as a board by now, but he endures it for the sake of your enjoyment. That is, until he finally decides to get up after checking the analog watch on his wrist.

“Hey! Do we really have to go now?” you yell at him with wide eyes, making Chan roll his own.

“Yes, Y/N,” he pulls you up from the snow, turning you around so he can brush off the snow sticking onto your back. “Now I have to meet my classmate in just a few minutes.” 

“Why her?” you whine once more. “Do you like her more than me?”

Your sudden question makes Chan pause for a few seconds, before shaking off the feeling of his heartbeat slowly gaining speed. “D- Don’t worry about it. Now let’s go.”

“Hey! Answer my question!” 

You realize that not even Chan knows the answer to your question.

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

Chan is a shy person when it comes to affection.

This day, however, he realizes that you are the exact opposite of him.

You and him have a routine every Thursday where you’d come into his dormitory at 7 O’ clock sharp to study until his brain was filled with herbs and spices he has to memorize for his gardening elective. It’s not his fault he didn’t get into the magical musics class like he wanted to, and got stuck with becoming a botanist instead. You, on the other hand, usually had trouble with your spells class, always pronouncing the Latin words slightly off. The two of you would study until it’s pitch dark outside, and then Chan would walk you back to your own room.

However, Chan already anticipated how this study session would be different.

He flinches slightly when he hears a set of knocks on his door already, checking the clock on his studying desk. Chan shakes his head out of disbelief, and opens the door without even checking the peephole.

“Y/N, you’re ten minutes early, why are you-“

“Chan!” Your face lights up and wraps your arms tightly around Chan’s torso, catching the boy off guard. “I missed you.”

“You- You saw me yesterday though,” Chan tries to tell you, checking the hallways just in case other students were around to possibly witness this. “and the day before, and the day after that, and-”

“Yeah, yeah, but even if I don’t see you for a couple hours, I still miss you,” you admit with a sudden, shy tone, burying your face into his chest. Chan feels himself flare up at your actions, catching him off guard. Not once have you ever expressed affection like this towards him, always settling for high fives and fist bumps, possibly even a side hug if you’re feeling nice. 

“Just uh, come in. I heard from my potions classmate that our upcoming quiz for spells is quite hard,” Chan makes you let go of the hug against your will, and awkwardly guides you inside of his dorm. 

“Ahh, why do you always mention her?” You question him with curiosity flowing through your voice, sitting down on his bed casually and tossing your schoolwork next to you. Meanwhile, Chan goes back to his spot on his desk chair. “It’s like you’re obsessed with her.”

Chan’s ears flare up at your remark, but at the same time, he fights the urge to call you out on your antics for the past few days. Thinking about it, it definitely wouldn’t do any good for you, and you needed his help for your upcoming quiz. “Nothing you need to worry about, Y/N.”

“But-”

“Let’s get to studying,” he urges for you to start with him, to which you roll your eyes at, but place your textbook in your lap regardless. Chan smiles softly at your willingness, and gets to work as well.

Typically, the statement “study until it’s dark outside” applies for at least three fourths of the year, especially since you two tend to stay on campus for the summer simply because you both liked the area. However, once winter rolls around and the snow starts falling, the sun is up for a lot less time, sometimes even disappearing by dinner. Chan knows this well, so the two of you instead set a timer for two hours and pray that you won’t get distracted by each other’s antics.

What Chan did forget is how jumbled up you get once the sun goes down.

“I’m already sleepy...” you mumble out behind Chan’s back, rubbing your eyes with your index fingers. 

Chan scratches his head, contemplating his next move. To be fair, it’s quite difficult to get a love sick person to do what you want, even if you’re the person they’re in love with. “But Y/N, we’ve only been studying for an hour and a half.” He decides to move his stuff to his bed to join you, his joints already becoming stiff from sitting on such an uncomfortable chair.

“Yeah but I’ve had a long day-” you lean over so you can rest your head on Chan’s shoulder. “Even though I wanna spend more time with you, I kinda just wanna sleep...”

Chan freezes up, cursing you for being so sleepy at times like these, cursing you for being so affectionate towards him these past few days, cursing you for being so-

“Fine, you can sleep.”

You smile with a daze, closing your eyes. Mumbling a small thanks of gratitude, it’s the last words Chan hears you say before you drift off. Chan finds himself not being able to focus with the weight on his shoulder, twirling the pencil in his hand back and forth. He lets out a sigh, at last realizing how he’ll never get another word written down in his situation, and uses his wand to place his work away and close the light. Pulling up a spare blanket for the both of you to share, he finally closes his eyes as well.

Until Chan realizes that if his crush did the exact same gesture to him, he wouldn’t treat her nearly as well as he did for you.

You don’t know that, though.

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲

Bang Chan is not good with love. 

If it hasn’t already been clear enough. Although he’s had quite a few crushes in his teenage life, including the one he has right now, he’s never had the confidence to confess or god forbid ask somebody on a date.

So why not ask the person who’s under the spell of a love potion for advice?

Sure, it’s a far stretch, even Minho agrees, but maybe, just maybe, Chan could get something good out of this week.

He catches you off guard one day, bright and early before class, while the two of you were heading to your locker. 

“Hey Y/N,” Chan asks you out of the blue while waving through classmates left and right. Thinking about it, it was a miracle that nobody was talking about Chan’s mishap and spreading it around. “Would you consider yourself... good at love?”

He watches you almost choke on your own spit with a worried look. You turn to him after clearing your throat with an almost offended expression on your face. “Why are you asking?”

“Well, uh, I wanna try confess to somebody..”

“What?! Who? Tell me,” you blurt out without a second thought, staring at his side profile with wide eyes. “Is it your potions classmate?”

Chan is quick to notice the gazes of your fellow classmates after you raise your voice, motioning for you to keep it down. “It’s nothing for you to worry about! I just need some advice on how to do it, you know?”

“Hmm, well...” you take a pause to think, resisting the urge to pout. “You realize you’re asking somebody who’s never confessed either, right?”

“Still, you’re more.. extroverted? Than me, so you must know more than me,” Chan shrugs, feeling his neck grow hot while he tries to explain to you why he asking you, not anybody else, without telling you the actual reason.

Your shoulders slump down in defeat, “Fine. Just- uh- ask them on a date first? If you just confess straight away, you’re most likely to be rejected because they may not like you,” you explain to him, your voice getting shakier and more quiet as time goes on. “At least if you ask them out first, they can start to like you at the date.”

“Okay.. I can do that,” Chan scratches his red ears, already feeling the queasiness in his stomach just at the thought of being rejected. “Right? Hopefully? Probably?”

You simply hum in response, looking down when Chan turns his head to get a look at you. He holds his breath out of instinct, afraid of a sudden outburst coming from you, but nothing comes. Most likely, Chan thinks, you’re more than upset because you’re not the one he’s confessing to.

It’s a poor idea, and was a poor idea in the first place.

You’re jealous, and Chan can tell.

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱, 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲

Chan tends to forget instructions.

So when he’s left out in the snow after his crush rejects him, your words from the previous day only then come back to him.

“I’m sorry,” his crush frowns once the words leave her mouth. “I don’t see you the same way.” She shakes her head, and Chan’s shoulders slump down as she turns her heel to walk away.

The feeling Chan experiences is neither his heart shattering into a billion pieces, nor the emotion of relief. It’s in between those two, for a reason Chan can’t figure out straight away.

It’s somehow not heartbreak, yet Chan still wants answers.

“Oh, uhm, one last question,” Chan perks up at the last second, his crush whipping around at the last second. “Why? Why do you not like me?”

His crush stares at him for a few moments, lips slightly apart. Then she laughs.

“It’s because of Y/N.”

“Y/N?”

“I can tell you both like each other. This week, I’ve noticed that your friend has been acting different, and although I saw that you were kind of uncomfortable with it at first, I could see you warming up to it,” she smiles. “Chan, you and Y/N have something that I will never have with you, it’s a given. I hope you come to realize that, if you haven’t already.” She nods one last time, bidding farewell to Chan for the day, and drifts farther and farther until Chan can’t see her anymore.

Later that night, when Chan reflects on his crush’s explanations, staring at the ceiling, he wonders if it would’ve been different if he listened to you more carefully. Maybe he should’ve slowed down, and instead of practically shouting at his crush that he likes her, he should’ve spoken more properly and asked her out on a date like what you said. Maybe then, he’d take her to Insanis, which happens to be his cafe of choice that you and him go to almost every week. And maybe, him and his crush would play in the snow and make snow angels happily, like how you two did a couple days ago...

No. Chan’s crush is right.

His head’s thoughts are slowly being all about you.

You, on the other hand, believe that you’ve lost him.

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲

Chan loves you. 

No matter how hard he tries to diminish his feelings for you that has grown in the only the past few days, he can’t stop himself.

From your happiness when playing in the snow, to the way you become cuddly when the moon comes up, to the explanation his own crush gave him. 

It all lines up.

“Dumbass,” Changbin speaks up bluntly when Chan reveals his realization to his two guy friends while walking to the dining hall for breakfast. Minho laughs in response as Chan rolls his eyes.

“I gotta admit,” Minho swings his arms around the two, bringing them in closely. “You only just realize now? It’s impressive how dense you are.”

“Dense? Am I really?” 

“Yes,” Changbin and Minho both say at the same time, and for once, Chan can only laugh. The trio approaches the dining table, while Chan scans the room standing up for your familiar face.

Minho, takes notice of this fairly quickly, “So, what’s your next move? It’s still a gamble, though.”

“Hmm? How come?” Chan genuinely asks his friend.

“Did you fall in love with the Y/N you’ve known this entire time, or only the Y/N you’ve seen this past week?” 

Minho’s question makes Chan silent for quite some time, sitting down slowly on the dining benches. His two friends patiently wait for his answer, Changbin in particular already digging into his breakfast when Chan finally responds.

“I think I’ve always liked them, I just never realized it.”

To Chan’s utter surprise, they both nod their heads in agreement. Changbin swallows the food in his mouth before commenting. “I think you’re right. Maybe you just had that crush on your potions classmate to state that you and Y/N are  just friends to everybody, without even meaning it yourself.”

Minho elaborates further, “And she said that you and Y/N have something between the two of you that’s unique? Then she must’ve implied that you guys have this bond that makes you two inseparable.”

Chan simply hums, taking in the information. He’s glad to know that he’s right for once, finally having a plan on what to do next. He sighs in relief, grabbing the nearest plate of food and stacking it onto his own plate, digging in. Yet, Chan still wonders where you were that morning, and how he only saw you later in the day hanging out with your other group of friends. Not even talking to him once.

You simply weren’t sure anymore.

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 

Chan has not seen you for the entire day.

It’s supposed to be the day that the potion wears off from your body, and you can finally go back to your normal self (despite Chan’s wishes), but Chan has yet to see you. Not once at the dining hall, or the hallway potion’s class is in, or even with your other group of friends who join you in history class. 

Fortunately, though, he’s able to overhear your dorm roommate, who says that you’ve refused to go to class today for reasons they don’t know. So Chan takes matters into his own hands, considering that nothing eventful ever happens in herbology class on Mondays, he decides to skip the period to head to your dorm room and approach you, with the help of your roommate giving him a spare key to enter.

The moment Chan walks into your room, a sudden chill goes down his spine, most likely because of the cold air. The lights are closed, with only the morning sun’s brightness seeping through the cracks of the window. The curtains that hang over your bunk bed, as you sleep on the bottom, are blocking his view from where you are. He closes the door gently, but makes sure he’s loud enough to alert you that he’s there. Peeking through the curtains, he sees your body covered in heaps of blankets, smushing your face into your head pillow.

“Hey,” Chan takes a seat at the foot of your bed, taking in your mellow appearance. “Are you okay? Are you sick?”

It takes you a minute to answer, and Chan starts to wonder if you’re actually awake right now, until you speak up. 

“It’s not like you to skip class, Channie,” you choose to say instead of answering his questions. You appear from your spot in your pillow, gazing up at him with a tired look on your face. “What’s that in your hands?”

“Oh, it’s- uh- banana milk. It’s for you,” Chan extends the hand he’s holding the drink out for you to take, but you don’t budge. 

“Are you sure that one doesn’t have a love potion in it instead of milk?”

Chan gets taken aback at your sudden theory. “You knew it was a love potion?”

“I could tell, even through the effects of it,” you state, finally sitting up and gently taking the milk from his hands. “Don’t feel bad though, since you’re here, I might as well tell you something.”

“During that entire week of being under that spell, I learned that-” you pause briefly. “If you already love somebody, your love for them basically strengthens by ten. It becomes something unstoppable, and you start to unravel your feelings for that person instead of hiding them. Originally, I wanted to kept those feelings inside of me forever, but because I accidentally drank that potion, look where I am now. Have you caught on yet?”

Chan could only stare at you, even after putting the puzzle pieces together. You tense up at his reaction, only fearing the worst to come out of this.

His next words surprise the both of you, however.

“That’s the best side of you, though,” Chan admits without a second thought, and you have to do a double take to see if your best friend, known for being shy and timid, really said that.

“C-Care to elaborate?” you stutter out through your shock, a light tint of red spreading throughout Chan’s body.

“The best side of you is the one you showed me last week. The one where you let your guard down instead of keeping up your confident persona,” Chan explains hesitantly and slowly, gripping his fingers tightly with each sentence. Then, he suddenly smiles, then grins, something you rarely ever see coming from him. 

“That’s the side I fell in love with.”

“Love?!”

“Mhm.”

“Really? You’re not playing with me right?”

“Mhm!”

You groan loudly once it finally hits you, pressing your forehead against his shoulder. Chan starts giggling at your reaction, the both of you finally feeling at peace with one another. It’s as if all the awkwardness and tension from the last week drifted away slowly, with Chan’s now ex-crush leaving his field of vision, only for you to come in at the right time. He wonders how Minho and Changbin will react once he reveals that he finally got into a relationship, and how the rest of the school year will pan out with you by his side.

“So,” Chan starts to snicker uncontrollably. “You really are infatuated with me, huh?”

“Ya, Bang Chan! That’s the first time you’ve ever teased me. Ever!” your eyes widen in utter surprise, punching his arm slightly as Chan laughs harder, you joining him soon after. You nudge him one last time, coming up with something to make him as equally flustered as you are right now.

“But doesn’t that mean you’re infatuated with me too?”

@skzwriternet​ @stayracha-net​ pls reblog my fic for once i beg u 

[mono-dot-jpeg]

dynamite - b. katsuki

summary; life is sweet as honey, or maybe they’re as sweet as caramel!

genre; fluff, comedy, soft bakugou, best friend! mina, fluff moments w/ bakugou, tsundere! bakugou is what i live for, 3rd year! bakugou

pairing; bakugou katsuki x reader

word count; 2.8k (if you count the lyrics)

a/n: tbh the song doesn’t really fit the theme but the song is cute and i wanted to use it in a fanfic at some point. this is my longest written one shot i think [._.]

ALSO IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! LET’S FUCKIN GO, GAMERS

the song is “dynamite” by BTS, if you haven’t listened to it, please do, it slaps. i didn’t do the entire song bc im too lazy and that’s too long to write ksdjfksdjf i have a limit :monkaW:

‘Cause I, I, I’m in the stars tonight

So watch me bring the fire and set the night alight

You were one of the energetic people in class. You had got along with everyone except the explosive blonde that was Bakugou. You hung out with Mina the most which was how you got initiated into the Bakusquad. With your Quirk, Boombox, it seemed almost perfect that you were in the Bakusquad. You converted sound into explosions though there were drawbacks (that you didn’t wanna get into) of course. 

Your classmates wondered if you had known Bakugou before you joined UA. On the first day, you challenged the male after you found out about his Quirk. Of course he had accepted the challenge and during Quirk Assessment, he had won. Ever since you had become another rival for him, but at least it was more of a healthy rivalry compared to him vs Midoriya (but I mean that rivalry got better overtime).

Thought there were several times where it seemed to be more than a friendly rivalry.

Shoes on, get up in the morn’

Cup of milk, let’s rock and roll

King Kong, kick the drum

Rolling on like a Rolling Stone

It was another normal day for you, except you were going to train with your Quirk. Music was blasting in your headphones as you mutter the lyrics, small explosions popping on your hands.

Before you could leave, Bakugou stopped you. “Oi, dumbass.” You looked up at him, sending him a smile. “You going to train?” You nodded at the male.

“Mhm! You wanna come with? I wanna practice working with my quirk! Let me practice with you!” You said eagerly.

“Ugh, you’re like an annoying puppy, you dumbass. I shouldn’t be inviting you to your own practice.” He rolled his eyes. “Of course, I’m coming with you.” He bonked your head before you rubbed the spot he had hit.

“Hey! You’re like an angry Pomeranian! You’re not any different from me! Come on! Let’s go! I’ll beat you this time!” You said, starting to pull him by the arm as he quickly protested to the physical contact but made no move to tug his arm away.

“Like you’ll beat me. I’m still gonna win.” He scoffed. “And who you callin’ Pomeranian?! You fuckin’ dumbass!” You smiled at him in reply as you btoh made your way to the training areas in UA.

“Can I play some music?” He grumbles as you take it as a sign of agreement. You smile brightly, playing your favorite music. You were experimenting if you had to be the one to make the sound of if you could use sound from other sources. You had always assumed that you had you make the sound yourself.

And so the training started. Within seconds, the sound of explosions and yells ringed in the room. Neither of you went easy on each other. It almost felt like a match in the UA Sports Festival. You and Bakugou never went against each other during it due to the fact you lost when you went against Tokoyami. You couldn’t use anything to fight against Dark Shadow well enough.

As the fight between you and Bakugou continued, you had used your quirk with the loud beat of the music. So, I can use my quirk with music! You had thought. Soon the fight ended with Bakugou winning, much to your disappointment. “I almost got you there!” You said as Bakugou sees the determined glint in your eyes, ready to go against him once again. 

He chuckled, moving his hand on the top of your head and started to ruffle your hair which earned your surprise. It wasn’t until he playfully shoved you, yelling at you, “Come on! You weren’t even close, dumbass!” You swore you saw pink on his face, maybe it was from the heat in the room (from the fight) but you weren’t sure…

Sing song when I'm walking home

Jump up to the top, LeBron

It was a day off in the dorms. You had been in your room all day pretty much. This was usually normal behavior as you played video games in your free time when you weren't studying or gaming. But more often than not, you forgot that you had to care of yourself during off days. Kirishima had went out with the rest of the Bakusquad, leaving you and Bakugou in the dorms with whoever else was there.

You were ending a comp game with some friends who you often six-stacked with. “Yeah, I’ll see you guys later.” They left the group, leaving you to play a few quick play games. You were still in queue until loud knocks echoed in your room, effectively shocking you. “Who is it?” You asked, after getting over your shock.

“Open up idiot!” Bakugou said. You feel like if he bashed any harder on your door, it might just break. You stop the queue and open the door, revealing the blonde male. “How long have you been in your room? You look like shit.”

“Well...how honest do I have to be to answer your question?” The answer you gave him was enough as he soon put you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “W-what are you doing?!” 

Ding-dong, call me on my phone

Ice tea and a game of ping pong

“You haven’t eaten have you?”

“W-well, do small snacks count?”

“No, you fucking idiot.” He took you to the kitchen, putting you down onto a seat as you huffed at him, “Actually fucking eat a meal!”

“Aw, you care about me!”

“W-what? SHUT UP DUMBASS! IF YOU WANNA BEAT ME, DO IT WHEN YOU’RE AT YOUR BEST!” You nodded, laughing a bit at his reaction. He had made some curry with rice, handing a plate over to you while he grumbled about you not eating all day and staying in your room.

“I’ll still beat you! No matter what!” You smiled before you ate. You had realized that this was one of the few times that Bakugou did this on the weekends. “But still, thanks for worrying about me!”

“Shut up! I wasn’t worrying!” His face was red. You wondered if it was from the anger or something else.

This is getting heavy, can you hear the bass boom? I'm ready (Woo-hoo)

Life is sweet as honey, yeah, this beat cha-ching like money, huh

You were at the mall with the Bakusquad (Bakugou included of course). You and Mina were gossiping and talking most of the time. You had suggested to go to the arcade but Mina insisted on dressing you up in some cute clothes before you did. But maybe Mina just wanted to buy clothes for herself as well. You didn’t mind catering to your best friend for a while. 

The boys of the squad didn’t go off too far from you and Mina as they decided to go into a video game store for a bit while you and Mina indulged yourself in the cute clothes.

“You’ll look great in it, y/n! Trust me!” Mina encouraged. You smiled nervously at the female before moving into the changing rooms to change. Unknown to you, a certain blonde had been glancing over at you from the video game store window.

“It’s pretty cute!” You stepped out and Bakugou almost choked on air. The waistband of the skirt hugged your waist comfortably as the black graphic tee was loosely tucked in. Now if you were someone else, Bakugou probably would’ve called you some dumb shit like a basic e-girl or something like that. But you pulled it off. 

“You need to buy it!” Now, Bakugou couldn’t hear you from how far the stores were. Mina took this chance. “I think Bakugou likes it.” Mina glanced over to the video game store, tilting her head to gesture you to look at Bakugou. You glanced over for a second, locking eyes with the male as you feel your face heat up.

Disco overload, I'm into that, I'm good to go

I'm diamond, you know I glow up

Hey, so let's go

You did buy the outfit. And you made your way to the boys. You couldn’t muster up too much courage, suddenly hyper aware about the blonde’s actions. You all eventually arrived at the arcade, your hyper awareness wiped away as you saw the DDR machines.

“Hey Mina! Let’s go! You think you could beat me this time?” You joked as you accidentally bumped shoulders with Bakugou, trying to call out to Mina. Mina was too busy with Kiri and Sero, making you pout. “Damn, meanie. Hey Bakugou?” You dragged out his name, earning a huff from him.

 “I don’t dance.”

“Well, it’s not really dancing! Are you scared that I’m gonna beat you?” You can feel his competitiveness flare up at the question.

“No way in hell am I scared!” He grabbed your wrist, dragging you to one of the DDR machines. “I’ll beat you, dumbass!” You laughed as you let him drag you. 

“Okay!” You stood on the colorful arrows as you picked a song. “I’ll win against you, Bakugou! This is my main game!” You said, fully confident in your skills. He ‘tched’ before the song started. As the song went on, Bakugou seemed to care less about winning and more about the bright smile on your face.

'Cause I, I, I'm in the stars tonight

So watch me bring the fire and set the night alight (Hey)

Shining through the city with a little funk and soul

So I'ma light it up like dynamite, woah-oh-oh

You weren’t one to have bad days but today just really seemed like a bad day. Hero training was more draining than usual, one of your friends from general studies seemed to be avoiding you for some reason, and you got in trouble with Aizawa today. Nothing could be worse. It was a stressful day and you weren’t happy at all.

The whole Bakusquad seemed to notice this. “Hey Bakugou, you should go talk to y/n!” Kiri suggested as the squad watched you do house work as per the punishment Aizawa had granted you with.

Bring a friend, join the crowd

Whoever wanna come along

“Why me?!”

“Well, you and y/n seem really close. Plus I’m scared that they might just snap at me. They’ve been having a bad day lately. Maybe you could help them out.”

“Aren’t you guys their friends?!”

“Just go do it, bro!” Kiri encouraged, pushing the blonde towards you. 

Bakugou went up to you. “Hey, dumbass, let’s, uh, talk after you’re done with cleaning. Meet me at my room, idiot.” He spat out at you. He seemed oddly nervous. He hated that feeling. How you made him feel like that like it was nothing. You looked at Bakugou, confused for a moment before nodding.

You arrived at the door to his room, knocking softly on it. “What did you wanna talk about, Bakugou?” Before you could react, you were pulled into his room and right into his arms. Your face was forced to rest on his shoulder as you can feel his warmth radiating on you.

Word up, talk the talk

Just move like we Off The Wall

“Y-you looked fuckin’ stressed today. You don’t need to tell me what’s wrong. You can let it out.” There was just something about his words that started to make you cry. You could feel your stress leave you as Bakugou stays silent, comforting you without words. After you finished crying, he starts to speak again, “I’m not good with words, you know this, but I’m, uh, here for you. But don’t get any ideas, dumbass!”

You looked up at him, seeing pink dusted on his face. You start to giggle. “Why are you laughing, idiot!?” He asked as you start to laugh more, your Quirk accidentally activating as it make little sparks in the air. 

“You’re-you’re just really cute!” You said honestly with that bright smile of yours. Bakugou can feel blood rush up to his cheeks.

“I’M NOT CUTE!” The blonde growled, making you laugh more. Eventually, he got over his anger. “Don’t call me cute!” But he was glad that you were happier now after you finished crying. He didn’t know if it was the sparks from your Quirk or the light from his room but you seemed to shine brighter than the sun when you smiled.

Day or night the sky's alight

So we dance to the break of dawn

You fumbled with your outfit as Mina continued to do your makeup. It was a special night. Prom night. You, of course, were going with the Bakusquad. You sort of wished Bakugou asked you out but he would never really do something like that. 

“Are you sure I look good?” You asked Mina.

“You look great! I’m sure Bakugou will like it!” She teased, sending a red flush to your cheeks. You stood up, dusting yourself off. “Ahh! You look so amazing! All the boys and girls will want ya!” You laughed at Mina’s words, tucking some of your hair back. 

You and Mina soon gathered with the others in the living room. Once you entered the room, Bakugou was pretty sure he lost his breath at the sight of you. You were so damn beautiful.

Ladies and gentlemen, I got the medicine

So you should keep ya eyes on the ball, huh

This is getting heavy

Can you hear the bass boom? I'm ready (woo hoo)

“Hey guys! You ready?” You asked, walking over to the squad with Mina having an arm wrapped around your own. You looked at Bakugou and how shocked he was, you simply smiled as you looked up at the male. He can feel blood rush to his face, soon turning away to cover his face.

You all chatted for a while until you arrived at UA. They had (conveniently) set up a ballroom like room for all the 3rd year students. It was pretty loud and crowded. It felt a fairy tale if you were being honest. It was such a magical feeling though. You loved it.

Though you didn’t join Mina and the others on the floor to dance, you were perfectly content with seeing everyone enjoy themselves as you stood on the sidelines.

“So, why are you with the damn idiots dancing?” Bakugou’s voice pierces right through your thoughts.

“I like to see them enjoy themselves. Plus I can’t dance unless I’m playing DDR.” You joked with a small smile as you sipped on your drink.

“You think they care if you’re good at dancing, look at Pikachu and his dumbass.” Bakugou slightly gestured to said male who was terribly dancing, making you laugh a bit. 

“Well, why aren’t you dancing?”

Because I wanted to just look at you.. is what he wanted to say but didn’t. “You think I dance?”

“Maybe your mom taught you a thing or two.” You teased slightly. “I would pay to see you dance.” 

Life is sweet as honey

Yeah, this beat cha-ching like money

“Then dance with me.” You looked at him, your e/c eyes glinted with surprise. “Pay to see me dance by dancing with me.” It felt everything slowed down for a moment and slowly faded. It felt like it was just you and Bakugou. Your heart is beating loudly with the music as Bakugou offers you his hand. “Come on idiot, I’m not gonna wait forever.” You can see the smirk on his face but it’s so teasing and his crimson eyes are glinted with confidence and playfulness.

Disco overload, I'm into that, I'm good to go

I'm diamond, you know I glow up

You take his hand. He leads you onto the dance floor, the rest of squad cheering you guys on. It takes you a bit but you start to get into it as much as Bakugou does. Everyone in your class and the other 3rd year classes are joining you but it only feels like it’s just you and Bakugou. 

Both of you seem to be in sync with each other and it’s like the song playing was only made for you two. 

Let's go

'Cause I-I-I'm in the stars tonight

So watch me bring the fire and set the night alight (hey)

The song soon starts to end and your hands are intertwined with his as you’re only looking at each other. You can smell burnt caramel as he tugs you closer to his chest. It’s like everything stopped when you both stand there while the song is getting closer to the end. Before you both knew it, your lips are connecting with his.

Shining through the city with a little funk and soul

So I'ma light it up like dynamite!

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

For a while, I’ve been telling myself I’m too focused on the specific Chocolate Milk Gang era, and even when I watch later comedy it tends to be stuff by people who originated in those early 00s, and I should get into more recent stuff made by younger comedians. This week, I decided to ignore that entirely and actually go to the generation before the CMG.

There’s a bit of a gap in the comedy I’ve seen, covering, approximately, the years between Blackadder and the beginning of the 21st Century. Not that nothing is in that gap. My Armando Iannucci obsession has taken me through On the Hour/The Day Today/every other Alan Patridge thing, some of which were in the 90s. Then there were Iannucci’s other 90s radio things. Brass Eye was 90s. Spaced was 90s. French and Saunders/Vicar of Dibley/Absolutely Fabulous was 90s. Technically Mr. Bean was 90s, though that still feels too much like a children’s show to count alongside the rest of this comedy. So I guess when I put that all that together, it’s clear that it isn’t a complete gap in my knowledge.

But still, there are a bunch of really fundamental 90s things I’ve never seen or heard. Various Chris Morris things. Everything Eddie Izzard’s ever done. All of those things with Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall and those other related people, which I think was actually 80s, but was entirely left out when my dad spent my childhood introducing me to 60s, 70s, and 80s Britcom via audio CDs and DVD boxsets. And until last week, everything by Lee and Herring.

There are a few reasons why I’d never sought out the Lee and Herring stuff before, all of those reasons being easily summarized by the words “Richard Herring”. Of my few reasons to not go looking for Richard Herring things, I’d say one is defensible, and the others are not really.

I’ve never really liked him. I first saw him on season 10 of Taskmaster, which came out in Fall 2020. It was the first season that came out after I got into the show, so the first one I watched as it aired, instead of all at once. And I didn’t have any good reason to dislike him. I just found him annoying.

I think I found him annoying because he was trying too hard, which is weird, because normally the Taskmaster contestants who try too hard are my favourites. I love the overly competitive ones who take it really seriously and care too much. But it felt forced with Richard Herring. Like he was trying to play a character of a guy who’s trying too hard. Which I think made me dislike him even more because of how partial I was to the overly competitive contestants, since my attachment to that style made me more annoyed about someone taking that style and doing it falsely.

I don’t even think it really was false. He’d been trying to get on the show for ages, I think he actually did care a lot about winning. But it’s like he needed everyone to know how much he cared, and the fact that he actually did care meant he really wanted to be seen a certain way, so he was forcing it too much. I don’t know, that��s the best way I can explain it and it probably still doesn’t make much sense. He also just wasn’t as funny or as likeable as Johnny Vegas or Daisy May Cooper or Mawaan Rizwan, which is how we’re actually supposed to judge Taskmaster contestants.

But it was fall 2020, I had still only recently had COVID rip actual sports away from me and was using Taskmaster pretty hard to cope with that, so I was watching it half like a comedy show and half like a sport. And I disliked Richard Herring both as a comedy character and as a contestant in the sport called Taskmaster. I so wanted him to lose. When Daisy May Cooper’s bridge fell down in the final seconds of the final live task to lose her the task and therefore the season, I swore at the TV exactly as I would if I were watching a real sport and the person I supported conceded a point, which was both extremely frustrating and rather liberating, making me remember that I could still access that feeling even in the depths of 2020 when sports were gone.

Then Richard Herring turned up on the Taskmaster podcast, as the winner always gets to after the final episode, and he was so cool about it that I almost felt bad for rooting against him so hard. He fully acknowledged that Daisy May Cooper was the people’s champion, the fans liked her more and justifiably wanted her to win, she’d been really entertaining all season. He had some nice back-and-forth on the podcast, some good explanations for some things that had annoyed me, and was funny.

Later on he came back on the Taskmaster podcast, was again entertaining and good with Ed Gamble and had some interesting analysis, and he talked about how he’d recently had cancer, and what it was like to think he might not see his kids grow up. That made me feel bad again for having disliked him so much, because he was just a bit annoying on a TV show once, obviously I don’t want him to die of cancer.

And then… you know what? I can’t be bothered to find the source again, so I'm just going to find my old post instead. A couple of years ago, I came across something, and I already wrote about it here so I won’t write it all out again. It’s an issue I’m particularly sensitive about, because I coach teenagers, and I see how common it is for creepy adults (almost always creepy adult men – in my many years of coaching teenagers, I can think of maybe two instances of adult women being creepy toward them, and more instances than I could begin to count of it happening with adult men) to be interested in them, and I see it from their side. I’m the one they talk to about how uncomfortable it makes them, I’m the one who sees how it makes them anxious about just living in the world, I’m the one who gets to know them as people and wants to protect them and it makes me have a probably over-the-top powerful hatred for anyone who could ever see them the way creepy adults see them.

I mean, I think it’s an entirely reasonable view for me to think that adults trying to fuck teenagers is wrong. But I also know that there may be some grey areas that I don’t recognize because of my experiences. Grey areas like it might not be the end of the world for an adult man to just look at some girls who are legally of age but technically teenagers (ie. 18/19, what he called them in the original post, though as I said I’ve absolutely seen adult men look at a girl they don’t know and intentionally overestimate her age, they guess that maybe she’s 19 even though she’s clearly younger, because if she’s 19 they’re allowed to stare at her, even though 19 is still young enough for it to be creepy if adult men stare at them, just because they’re old enough so you won’t get arrested for it doesn’t mean she’s old enough so it’s actually okay). I'll go so far as to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was joking in the second quote, about thinking they might be even younger, charitably assume the reality is they were clearly 19. But even if I do that... still not okay. Still not okay. Still not okay that the fact that they looked like teenagers is what he liked, unless that in itself was some sort of joke I'm not getting.

So that’s not much of a grey area, but it is one a bit, I guess, as the story didn’t have him actually approaching the girls or anything like that. The actual grey area here, I think, is whether it’s fair to hate someone forever because of one story they wrote in one blog post over fifteen years ago, and repeated once, in just one page out of their entire autobiography (a page that was, to be fair to Richard Herring, taken out of context – though the blog post fucking wasn’t). Not even something he did fifteen years ago, since he didn’t actually do anything in the story. Just something he wrote about thinking.

So… there’s my sole defensible reason for disliking Richard Herring. It joins a number of other, less defensible reasons, all similar to why I originally took against him on Taskmaster. Since then, I’ve seen him on a few other TV shows, I’ve heard bits of his stand-up in various other contexts (never seen a full show, he just sometimes turns up on stand-up shows with multiple people), and I’ve never much enjoyed his presence. I don't find him particularly funny. I find him annoying for reasons I can’t quite define, and therefore can’t defend, and stopped feeling the need to defend when I came across that old blog post and then had a defensible reason for my dislike of him.

Oh, I do have another reason why I never sought out old Lee and Herring stuff, despite how much I like Stewart Lee’s stand-up, and this is the least defensible one of all, even worse than “I found one of them mildly annoying for no good reason”. Which is that when I got into On the Hour and The Day Today, I was looking up the team behind them. Saw some names I knew: Armando Iannucci, the reason I was there. Chris Morris, Brass Eye guy whom I know has done other exciting stuff but I’m not familiar with much of it. David Quantick, guy I’ve heard on Radio 4 sometimes. Peter Baynham, guy I know from some other Iannucci radio things. Graham Linehan, let’s just pretend I didn’t see that name so I can go on enjoying this stuff.

And Lee and Herring, on On the Hour but not The Day Today (actually I think Linehan and the other Father Ted guy replaced them for The Day Today, as I recall in a memory that I can’t be bothered to Google so I might be wrong), they were on the team but left due to “disputes”. Which put in my head the idea that there was a split between the rest of that writing team and Lee and Herring, and I think my brain subconsciously took away from that: “Armando Iannucci was on one side of a dispute, Lee and Herring on another side, Armando Iannucci has never done anything wrong, therefore I don’t like Lee and Herring”.

I say this happened subconsciously, and that’s important, because I want it clear that I’m not stupid enough to have decided this consciously, because it makes no sense whatsoever. Mainly because it was presumably some sort of legal or management dispute, not a fight with Armando Iannucci directly. They were clearly still on good terms with those guys, I’m sure there are many examples proving this but the first to come to mind is that years later Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris were both significant features of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle. Also, okay, I guess there’s an argument that Armando Iannucci may have done one or two things wrong in his entire life, Charm Offensive had its high points but also some low points, Avenue 5 had great moments but fell far short of its potential especially in season 2. Consciously, I know all this. Subconsciously, I think I may have seen they were on the wrong side of a dispute with a creative team that made something I liked, and decided I don’t like them then.

So that’s an incredibly indefensible reason to have never sought out the Lee and Herring stuff, while I was going through what I thought of as Britcom “staples” throughout 2020/2021/2022 – that when I think the term “Lee and Herring”, I have a vague and undefined aversion to it in my head, that I think might have originated from that. From a dispute I know nothing about that probably came down to some legal or financial technicalities that have nothing to do with anything personal or creative.

There's my list of reasons. Some are good, some are not. Really, one is good and the others aren't. Last week, I heard a recording of some of the jokes from the Lee and Herring catalogue, thought it was very, very funny, wanted to get the jokes properly and hear what else came from there, so I've decided to watch Fist of Fun, and then This Morning with Richard Not Judy. And just, you know, not think about the teenage girl thing. Like I do when I watch Noel Fielding. It turns out everyone in the world is terrible, we try to enjoy comedy anyway.

...I started writing this post several days ago now, but I kept stopping because I've been sick and didn't have the energy to write a bunch of stuff, and then I had to go to work and things. This took me so long to write that now, as I get around to actually posting it, I've actually finished season 1 of Fist of Fun. And have downloaded the radio series of that and Lionel Nimrod, because my sense of completism is already telling me I can't skip those. And I'm going to write about what I thought of it, but first will post this, to have a record of what I was thinking before I started it and when I didn't really know what to expect.

This is going to be a thing now, though. That's what I'm doing next. Not finding younger comedians. Finding double acts consisting of two old white guys from the pre-Chocolate Milk Gang generation. First Ince/Legge and now this. God, I hope Michael Legge has never written a blog post about wanting to fuck a teenage girl. He's written a lot of blog posts over the years. Someone tell me right now if any of them were about wanting to fuck teenage girls, so I can know that before I get any more attached to him than I already am.

[pinoyrella]

“A Love So Beautiful” Chapter 6

Chapter 6: “It’s Not A Big Deal”

FT: Tsukishima Kei, Yamaguchi Tadashi, Hinata Shoyo, Kageyama Tobio, Yachi Hitoka, Ono-Sensei, Y/N’s Parents + Manami Aoki.

TW: Mild Language

Genre: Fluff, Comedy, Angst, Coming of Age + Slow Burn

- This chapter contains mostly drama, and fluff thanks to Kageyama.

- This chapter is also slight Kageyama x Y/N

WORD COUNT: 4,800+

“A LOVE SO BEAUTIFUL” Masterlist 🌸

A/N: BA BOOM! Hi everyone, I hope I didn’t leave you guys hanging too long with that cliff hanger??? Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Thank you so much for the endless support, LUB YOU ALL!!💖

The sound of an alarm brings you to consciousness. Keeping yourself under your covers, you turn to glance at the clock, ‘07:00a.m’. It’s been two days since Karasuno had defeated Shiratorizawa. It’s been two days since you’ve gone outside. It’s been two days since you last saw him.

Groaning as you slip the warmth weight of your blanket off, you step out of bed feeling the cold tile of your bedroom floor chill you. Making your way to the bathroom, you stop by the sink, staring at your reflection.

Throughout the weekend, you have cried yourself to bed. For the past three nights in a row, waking up tired, red and sore eyes every morning. You have barely left anywhere but your room, only making occasional trips to the bathroom, and to the kitchen.

Being stuck in your room left you with no motivation to do anything at all. You were already behind in all of your studies, but you couldn’t find it in you to move from your bed.

You’ve barely talked to anyone at all, not your friends, not your parents, you’ve isolated yourself to everyone and everything. Is this what heartbreak is like? Is this even considered heart break? What is this?

You barely notice the presence that passes by the bathroom, your dad about to question why you’re just standing in front of the mirror, before his wife pulls him away into the kitchen down the hall.

“Wh- Hun?” “Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t do it” “What?” Your dad questions your mom as she lets out a sigh. “Am I not allowed to ask our daughter why she’s been in such a depressing mood for the past weekend?” 

Your mom gives your dad a sincere look of worry, looking towards your direction before back at him. “She’s a growing teenager, she’s going through adolescents. I’m sure she’s fine.” She reassures, your dad giving a sigh of frustration. “You don’t know that, what if somethings wrong? She only came out of her room to grab snacks and use the restroom.”

 “Akiteru-kun called me the other night.” “What?” “He told me Kei-kun and Y/n got into some sort of fight-” “WHAT?!” Your dad is about to storm out to teach the younger Tsukishima a lesson for hurting his precious baby, before his wife stops him yet again. “She’s going to be alright, this is her aftermath from their argument. She fought with one of her best friends, this is a normal reaction. She needs time to herself, you need to be patient until she’s back to normal.” Your mom explains, your dad pausing as he processes the information.

The sound of footsteps approaching the kitchen causes the two to turn their heads to you, as you make your way to the fridge to grab a carton of strawberry milk, not even making eye contact with them before strutting out, getting ready to exit the house for school.

Your parents share a look with each other before letting out another sigh.

“I’m heading off” You say out loud as you slip your shoes on.

You poke the straw into the milk carton as you make your way out your front gate, looking up to realize Tsukishima parked out front on his bike, waiting for you.

Your eyes widen in shock, looking both ways before booking it down the opposite side of the street. The sound of your shoes hitting the ground causes Tsukishima to turn, watching as you run off the opposite way to school.

He lets out a sigh, memories of the past Friday flashing back. He feels the same awful and heavy guilt that’s deep in the pit of his stomach, deciding its best to leave you alone for now, giving you the space you needed, before riding off to school.

You barely make it to class in time, the moment you step in through the door frame, the bell ringing exactly, as the class turns to look at you.

You quickly take a seat, pulling out your notebook and pencils as Ono-sensei makes her way in.

“Good morning class!” She says as the class greets back. “Before we start of the day, let’s take the time to congratulate the four boys in our class, for helping their team make it to Nationals last Friday.”

The class erupts enthusiastically, turning to congratulate the four boys on the volleyball team once again.

You sink your head down, the cheerful attitude making it feel like you were suffocating.

Kageyama’s the first to notice, about to lean forward to tap your shoulder before Ono-sensei resumes her announcement.

“Now that’s over with” She reveals a stack of documents from her podium, dropping it harshly. “I’m sure you are all aware, midterms are approaching.” The class groans in anguish before she continues. “I know, I know. This is the last exam before your finals, the finals that will determine your placement next year.” She glances around the class, her eyes falling on you. “I need you all to start taking this seriously.”

You gulp in your seat as she calls for Manami to pass out the study packets.

“I have assigned you all into study groups of three, you are to complete this packet by the end of next week with your group. Afterwards, we are to take the midterm, understood?”

“Yes” The class replies in sync as she begins reading off her list of groups.

Your brain is spiraling, hoping you’re not placed in the same group as you know who, hoping at least she will spare you from having to work with that stingy bean pole, or at least have one of your close friends with you, for comfort purposes.

“Yachi-chan, Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun.” You sink as she had just announced that 3 out of the 4 friends you were hoping to be paired up with are called. You are praying to every deity out there, that you will be in a group with Yamaguchi. Better yet, you rather be paired with that she-devil Manami Aoki than Tsukishima.

Just as you thought your prayers were answered- “Y/n-chan, Yamaguchi-kun-” ‘YES!’ You thank the Gods, your mind feeling the content it had deserved all weekend. “and Tsukishima-kun.”

You drop your head to your desk, causing the attention of the class to be drawn to you.

-

You groan into your arms as Yachi tries to help you emotionally. “Y/n?” “Hey” You look up to make eye contact with Manami. “Ono-sensei is calling for you” She says before taking her seat.

You wave to Yachi before making your way out to her office.

“Ono-sensei?” You peak your head in, and she notices you by the door. Getting up from her seat, she greets you, offering for you to sit on the sofa just across her desk. “Y/n-chan, please come in!” You make your way to sit before she shuts the door.

“Manami-chan said you c-called?” You nervously ask, wondering why you were called up into your homeroom teacher’s office.

“Y/n” Her voice, stern as ever. “Your grades, what’s going on?” She questions as she looks directly into your soul.

You gulp yet again as she slips a paper over the desk from her side to yours. You lean closer, seeing the paper adorned with D’s and F’s, scores below 30, and ‘FAIL’ written on the page.

You look up to her, shaken and she’s aware of it. She sighs before her demeanor softens. “You know I didn’t bring you in here just to interrogate you, but I’m concerned. Your grades have been slipping since the beginning of the semester, you used to be in the average zone, now look.” She points to a bar at the end of the transcript. “You are very below average, you are in a very dangerous zone. If you don’t pass this midterm, you won’t qualify to even take the finals. You will have to repeat this semester.” She explains.

You look up to her, eyes watering trying to explain something. She gives you the look of remorse before taking the transcript back to her end, looking at it before looking back to you. “I know this is a very stressful and difficult situation, but you need to know that as your homeroom teacher, I’m here to help and assist you in every way.” 

You whimper a quiet “thank you” before she smiles, then continuing. “I am aware of your close relations to Yamaguchi-kun and Tsukishima-kun.” The names of your two closest friends causes you to glance up to her. “That’s why I paired you up with them for the study group. They’re two of the top students in our class.” She explains as you nod to her.

“They’re also your friend, I can trust them to help you.” You sigh, “Will you be telling my parents?” She adjusts her seating position before gazing back to you. “I already have.” She says before you give her an understanding nod. 

“I know at your age, it’s very stressful with so many events going on. You’re growing and understanding more about yourself, but you also need to grow and understand more of your academics.” You give her another quiet nod, before she lets out a final sigh.

“That’s all I wanted to inform you” She stands from her seat, making her way to the door opening it, before making her way to you, kneeling and placing a hand to your shoulder. “I believe you can do it.” You give her a hug and your thanks before heading out.

Walking down the hall, you wipe your eyes with the sleeve of your cardigan before bumping into someone. “S-sorry!” You squeak before looking up.

“Boss?” Kageyama looks down and notices the red swelling in your eyes. “What happened?” He asks, taking a step closer, using his blazer to wipe off your tear stained cheeks. You sniff before looking up to him and smiling. “It’s not a big deal, come on let's get back to the class!” You grab his wrist, dragging him with you.

As you sit, you watch as Yamaguchi notices you, giving a sweet smile before making his way over. “When do you want to start studying?” He asks you. “I’m alright whenever” You reply. “Tsukki- Um, we’re going to head to my house after school to study, will you be coming?” Your mind takes you back to what Ono-sensei had warned you, this midterm is very important. “Yes, I’ll be there Yams!” He gives your head a pat before going back to his seat.

-

Just as school ends, you make your way home first, informing Yamaguchi you were going to change into something more comfortable, and pick up some of the notebooks you left.

-

Back at home, you make your way in until your parents call out to you. ‘Shit, I forgot Ono-sensei told them about my grades.’ You curse to yourself before making your way to the dining table, sitting as your parents turn to you.

“Y/n” You watch your mom slap your dad’s shoulder. “Baby, we’re not mad” She starts. ‘No, but dad is’ You turn up to glance at your dad, he looks insane trying to conceal the fume burning through his ears. “But-” And so you were scolded by your parents for the next half hour, before finally changing, retrieving your notebooks and heading to Yamaguchi’s.

-

“Y/n!” The cheerful greeting coming from the freckled boy as he lets you in. You walk with him side by side to his room, as you walk in you make eye contact with the boy you were hoping to not see for the next 10 years of your existence. You sit down opposite to him on Yamaguchi’s kotatsu, before preparing your notebook. 

“We’re going to go over what Ono-sensei taught during math” Yamaguchi says, and you give a nod, still avoiding the blonde in front of you.

The tension in the room is absolutely crazy, Yamaguchi thinks of grabbing some snacks for the three of you, but doesn’t think of leaving you two alone in the same room. He stills with his head down to his notebook, thinking of how he can help with the tension in the room.

The sound of scribbling against the poor notebook paper, and the amount of eraser marks left around causes Tsukishima to glance up to your paper, watching as you were way off path from solving the problem.

Just as Yamaguchi had thought of an idea, Tsukishima speaks up.

“The auxiliary line’s wrong.” He states bluntly before bringing his hand closer to grab your notebook. You snap back immediately, pulling your notebook away from his grasp. “There’s answers in the back. I can read it.” You state before taking the math textbook from Yamaguchi, flipping it to the end, finding the question. 

You scan the page, finally finding the question before seeing that it doesn’t give you an exact answer. Tsukishima is aware of that, he knows the textbook like the back of his hand. He watches as you struggle and stare at the page before speaking up again. “Let me show you” he lightly grabs the end of your notebook, bringing it closer to him before you quickly snatch it back, not making eye contact with him. “I’ll do it myself.” You bark.

Yamaguchi sits in the middle, his soul already gone from his earthly body, watching the situation unfold. He has no idea what the fuck to do.

“You only know the word ‘answer’, everything in your notebook is wrong.” “But that’s what I wrote myself. It’s none of your business.” Yamaguchi glances over to Tsukishima, oh no.

“I don’t want to help you at all, but I have to because it’s required in case your grade humiliates the whole class.”

You freeze, the word ‘humiliate’ that left his mouth taking you back to last Friday in the infirmary.

Yamaguchi notices your triggered state before turning to Tsukishima, pissed. “Tsukki, don’t say that-” The sound of your notebook shutting aggressively startles the two as it cuts Yamaguchi off. You begin to shove your belongings into your backpack before looking up at Tsukishima, the first time all day. “Since our good boy Tsukishima Kei says so, I won’t put shame on your great class 4.” You turn to Yamaguchi, before turning back to Tsukishima. “I’m leaving” As you head towards Yamaguchi’s bedroom door, you hear Tsukishima scoff. “Leave? Whatever you like.” “FINE!” You yell before storming out.

-

It’s been another four days since that incident at Yamaguchi’s, you’ve been ignoring both boys. A bit guilty for Yamaguchi, but you didn’t want to drag him down with your ‘humiliating’ grades, you thought to leave him alone so he can focus on his priorities, studying.

You sat at the desk in your room. Your notebooks, stationary, textbooks and study guide sprawled out, but yet you still can’t concentrate. Even worse; your desk faces right outside your bedroom window, with a perfect view to Tsukishima’s. You look up to notice as Tsukishima’s bedroom door opens, watching him walk in before you immediately jump to shut your blinds.

You huff as you sit and stare at the blank page of your notebook for what felt like another hour, before grabbing your hoodie, making your way downstairs and out the front door.

You thought, if you can’t concentrate, you ought to take a stroll to maybe help clear your mind. You feel your throat become hoarse, dried out from the walking before you notice a vending machine. You make your way over, about to purchase a carton of strawberry milk before you realize, you hadn’t brought your wallet with you. Just as you began walking to continue your stroll, you nearly bump into someone.

Immediately apologizing, cursing your mind for being elsewhere rather than the road, you look up to meet the shock expression of a familiar blueberry eyed boy. “Y/n?”

-

And this is where you found yourself, sat outside of Ukai’s shop, besides Kageyama as you play with the straw that is poking out from the milk carton. Kageyama notices your behavior, thus asking why you were walking around almost past the sunset. 

You explain to him how you couldn’t concentrate on studying for the past week, before asking him why he was out.

“I’m just on my daily jog.” He says before looking back out into the sky.

The two of you sat in silence before the growl of your stomach caught the boy’s attention. You blush in embarrassment before he gets up, going back into Ukai’s, only to come out with two kare pans in hand. He takes your hand, pulling you up before handing it to you. The two of you walk, before stopping by a nearby park.

Taking a seat on the swing, you thank Kageyama again before biting into the kare pan.

There is this comfortable silence before your whimpers causes his head to turn to you.

You sit, swaying on the swing as you continue to eat the kare pan in hand. Kageyama, having no idea what to do, reaches out to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear. “What’s wrong?” He asks worried. You look to him as tears continue to stream down your face.

You drop your hand holding the kare pan to your lap, before bringing the sleeve of your hoodie to wipe your eyes.

“Ono-sensei says, if I fail this midterm, I would have to repeat the semester.” Kageyama nods as you continue, listening to the pent up emotions you kept to yourself this past week. “It’s just, it’s not that. It would be pretty stupid to cry over something so small, it’s not a big deal anyways” You admit before he states. “Don’t say that!” You look to him, giving a soft smile before continuing.

“In all honesty, I have no idea what I’m doing.” Your gaze falling back down. “I feel silly to chase after something I know I have no chance with, that I’m not good enough for, better yet, it’s not something meant for me.” You play with the wrapper of the kare pan as Kageyama listens. “Maybe this outcome was inevitable, I mean, I guess it was never meant to be. I’m just not it.” You admit, another tear streaming down. “I had my priorities all wrong.”

Kageyama gives you a look of confusion as he processes your thoughts, then coming with an idea of what you were talking about.

He watches as you bring the kare pan back to your mouth, taking a bite, your  cheerful mood returning after expressing your emotions.

Kageyama can’t help but stare and smile as your face turns into a look of delicious satisfaction from the tasty treat in your hands. You feel his gaze, turning to look back to him, he immediately turns his to the sunset from afar.

“Boss, look” He points as you watch the sun begin to set.

As the sunset catches your eyes, you catch Kageyama’s.

How beautiful the golden hour glow cascades onto your facial features, the way your eyes reflect onto the warm sun, and the smile slowly creeping across your face.

You couldn’t think of anything else but how beautiful the sunset looked, and Kageyama, he couldn’t think of anything else but how beautiful you looked.

The sun finally sets, and you two finish the kare pans in hand. You, actually finishing Kageyama’s too, before the two of you head off.

“I don’t want to go home yet” Kageyama turns his head to you, as you walk slowly.

“Can I show you something?”

-

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here? I don’t want to intrude, Tobio!” You whisper to him as he holds the door to his house open for you.

You see as he rolls his eyes with a smile, before grabbing your hand and bringing you in.

He shuts the door behind you and asks for you to follow him, taking you to his backyard.

“Whoa-” You take a step out, as he shuts the sliding door behind you.

“Your backyard is huge! Is that an entire volleyball court?” You point to the volleyball net that spreads across his yard. “Did you invite me over just to show off your big backyard? I’ll have you know, my backyard may not be as big but-” You joke before he butts in. “No, come on I want to show you something.”

He walks closer to the volleyball net, you follow after him.

You bring your hand up to the net, grazing your touch over, feeling how worn out and used it has been. You turn to notice Kageyama bending over to pick up an object from the ground before turning to you.

You look and notice a volleyball, just as worn out and old as the net.

Your face contorts into one of confusion as he leans against the net, spinning the ball in hand.

“I used to practice with my grandfather everyday here.” He begins. “He was the one who had introduced me to volleyball, he had taught me everything I needed to know” You hear him sigh, standing from the net, looking up into the sky. “Both in volleyball, and in life.” Your eyes water, as your friend opens up to you. His gaze turns to you, “before he passed, he told me something” he walks closer to you, staring into your eyes, before lightly handing the old volleyball into your palms, his hands cupping the bottom of yours as you held the ball together. “If you get really good... I promise you... somebody who's even better will come along and find you.”

He lets go of your hands, leaving you with the ball as he looks back up to the sky.

“Though, I’m sure he was referring to volleyball with that.” He turns back to you. “I think, you can apply that saying to real life”

You bring a hand up to your mouth, trying to cancel the sob trying to escape. Kageyama immediately notices and comes to your aid. “I-I’m sorry- I’m not really good with this kind of stuff but-” He gets cut off with your sudden hug, as you sob into his chest.

“Thank you Tobio” You mumble, before pulling away. “I really needed that.” He gives you a sincere smile before the sound of the sliding door opens.

“Tobi- Oh? Is this the infamous Y/n-chan?” “Nee-san.” Kageyama calls out before she makes her way to you two.

“I’m Miwa, this loser’s older sister. Also known as, The Superior Kageyama.” She ruffles the top of Kageyama’s head before holding a hand for you to shake. You accept it, and introduce yourself.

“Wow, she’s even cuter in real life-” “Nee-san.” Kageyama gives his sister a glare before she laughs. “Are you guys hungry? I made pork curry.” You and Kageyama share a look of excitement, before the three of you making it back inside from the cold night weather. 

-

“Thank you so much for having me, Miwa-san” You bow as Kageyama holds the door open, waiting for you. “You are welcome anytime Y/n-chan” She waves as the two of you make your way out.

You two walk in silence as the cold breeze tickles your ears.

You make it just outside before you turn to thank Kageyama for walking you home, and for the sentimental night.

“Thank you for keeping me company tonight Tobio” You ruffle the top of his head, copying his older sister’s actions. “I hope I was able to help, you m-mean... a lot to me, I hate to see you upset” You turn to open your gate, missing the second half of his confession. “Yeah, you did.” You look to him. “I really needed that Tobio, thank you so much again!” You wave before heading in, he watches as you make it inside safely before making his way home.

“Y/n? Where have you been it’s late!” Your mom runs to you, worried for your safety. You explain to her and your dad that you needed to take a stroll to clear your mind off things. Your much cheerful behavior startling them, before you make your way up to your room to focus back on your work.

-

The following Monday, Tsukishima had gone to school without waiting outside your gate. He feels as this week has gone by so slowly, it feels so weird not having you around like usual. And now he has two things to be sorry for.

As his mind is in another place, he is startled by a voice calling to him. “Tsukishima-san” He looks up only to meet eyes with you, taken back by your formality, not used to you calling him that.

‘Can you please help me with this problem?” You ask, he nods before replying. “Library later?” You nod, giving a smile before heading back to your seat.

-

You two find yourselves alone in the library after school. Yamaguchi not being able to attend this study session, having to deal with volleyball stuff with Ennoshita and Daichi.

Tsukishima stares, watching as you seem very focused onto your studies, thinking of what happened, wondering how you are able to talk to him all of a sudden. Have you had enough space? Were the two of you okay now? Can he apologize?

“Y/n” He calls to you. “Yes?” You answer, bringing your attention back up to him. The two of you share a brief moment of gazing into each others eyes, before he breaks away, looking down to your notebook. “You got the answer wrong, let me help.” You agree, sliding the notebook over.

He takes the notebook, and begins erasing. You watch him until he asks suddenly, “What made you want to talk to me again?” “What?” He turns the notebook facing you, explaining the problem and what you got wrong. You nod, understanding before taking your notebook, and solving it again. There’s another moment of silence, before you slide the notebook back to Tsukishima for him to check the answer.

“I guess you can say, I have come to realize my priorities” “Priorities? What do you mean?” He asks, his eyes still on your notebook as he checks your answers. “I want to be in the top 15 students.” He brings his gaze up to that statement, looking at the burning determination in your eyes, until you blink, leaning on your arm. “Then I’ll find time to be mad at you.” You give a cheeky smile, missing the one he gives you due to your smart comment.

You take your notebook back after he informs you that it is indeed correct. You feel excitement bubble in you, “Can you help me with this problem too?” The two of you continue to study, each passing day as the week goes by. Meeting everyday after school, reviewing each term, and every lesson.

Before you realized, it was the day of the exam.

Just as you were about to grab a pencil from your case, you open it to find a letter stuck inside.

“Good luck pipsqueak” it reads. You smile, closing your case as you take a deep breath. ‘Let’s do this!’

-

A month has passed and the exam results are out.

You rush your way past the students crowding the scoreboard, finally managing to squeeze your way to the front, you immediately went on a search for your name. Your eyes scan the board, before you find your name, placed right next to the number 13. You have reached #13 in the top of your class.

In excitement, you turn around, hoping to find Tsukishima to tell him the good news. You turn only to find him in the crowd, looking towards you with a smile before walking away.

You smile back as you watch his figure walk off into the hall.

-

After school, the six of you find yourselves outside of Coach Ukai’s shop.

Hinata walking out of the store with Kageyama, a plastic bag filled with a pack of strawberry milk.

Your group finds their way to the nearby park, sitting before Hinata starts ripping the plastic from the pack, before handing each individual a carton.

“Today, we celebrate Y/n’s entry into the top 15! We will have strawberry milk instead of champagne! Cheers!” You laugh as you bring your milk carton up towards your friends, as the six of you clink the milk boxes together.

Just as you bring the straw to your lip, you catch the gaze of Tsukishima giving a sly smile, immediately turning away when your eyes meet his.

-

You split ways with your friends, making your way home with Tsukishima.

“Let’s go, quickly.” He says before he begins walking off. “If you want to go home so quickly, then carry me.” You bite back jokingly. “No” “Why not?” He takes a moment to think, letting out an audible hum. “Too tired.” You roll your eyes before catching up to him.

Staying quiet, the silence throughout the walk in much more calming than the existing tension before. But, it’s still not the same as it used to be.

As you see your houses approaching, Tsukishima calls out to you.

“Y/n.”

You turn, only to find him leaned down as he eyes you. You blink confused, before he stands back up. 

“Good job.” He gives you a genuine smile. “I’m proud of you.” What? You try fighting the blush running along your face. “Come again?” “No.” Just as he was about to turn into his house, you grab onto the ends of his shirt. It’s been a while since you last did that, and he missed it so much.

“Thanks Tsukki” You look up to him, giving him that smile he missed so much.

He brings his hand from his pocket up to your head, before ruffling your hair.

“Yeah, whatever.” You let go, waving to him before making your way inside your house.

He watches as you enter, letting out a soft smile.

-

Running up to your room, you strip your school uniform before hopping into your pajamas, immediately flying into your bed, clutching a pillow close to your chest as you look out your window, staring into his before turning to your back.

 Your eyes glued to the ceiling before you drift off to sleep, the last thing on your mind;

“I think I still like you.”

TAGLIST: @cvlliesstuff , @strawberries-en-cream , @beanst0ck , @kimiiiiiiiiii, @lucyheartfilias-wife , @lanatheawesome , @owlnymph​ 

PLEASE LEMME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS (OR IN ASKS) IF YOU’D LIKE TO BE ADDED TO THE TAGLIST!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 🌸

A/N 2: I really do wanna thank you all so much for reading! You guys are all so sweet and kind and I just ksdhjncsdjk it makes me happy knowing someone is reading my, very cliche, sappy, bad english writing. Thank you to the ends of the Earth and back! You are just so, so incredible, so very incredible 💖

“A LOVE SO BEAUTIFUL” Masterlist 🌸

[puckinghell]

The Plus One Pact | Part 1 | William Nylander

Summary: Your ex is getting married, and you don’t have a date, which means the unavoidable “why don’t you have a boyfriend” question is about to haunt you for the rest of eternity. But then there’s Will, who could be the answer to all your problems. A simple business pact, no feelings involved: that won’t be hard for you, because you really don’t like him anyways. Except pacts were made to be broken… or something. Right?

Note: This is part 1, let me know what you think about the idea of this series!

--

“I have a plan to fix this,” your best friend says, and there’s absolutely nothing worse than when Zach says that.

To be fair, when you called him in complete, blind panic, you weren’t really thinking straight. If you were, you would’ve started your tirade with a I don’t need you to fix this, but…

As it is, you forgot to say that, and so Zach is trying to fix it. That’s how your best friend works.

“I have a plan, too,” you say. You’re sitting on the floor in the kitchen, legs pulled up to your chest, and your phone is on speaker on the floor next to you. It’s quite a dramatic scene, with it being dark outside, the Toronto city lights twinkling below you; if you weren’t having a mental breakdown, you’d laugh about the high romantic comedy feeling this has.

“I’m going to throw myself off the roof and fake death.”

“If you throw yourself off the roof, it won’t be faking anymore.” Zach sounds undeterred by your possible impending death, which. Rude. Maybe you need a new best friend.

Outside, you can see the rain falling. Spring has arrived, but spring is really hit and miss in Toronto, and this week the weather has been dreadful. It kinda feels serendipitous, now.

“Zach,” you whine into the phone, “I can’t go to my ex’s wedding alone. You have to come with me.”

Zach sighs, but doesn’t say anything. To be fair, he’s already explained to you why he can’t do that – he has plans, and a wife, so - but…

“It’s so unfair.” You let your head fall back against the kitchen cabinet with a thump, and wonder idly whether you still have a bottle of wine stashed in one of those cabinets. If there was ever a time to pull it out, it’s probably now.

“I told you, I have a plan. We can fix this.” Zach sounds smug, which doesn’t do anything to help your worry.

He always means well, and he’s a smart guy, yet somehow his plans never work out too well for you.

“The plan that I have,” your best friend says slowly, cutting himself off to interject: “And don’t say no right away!”

That probably means you’re gonna say no right away.

“My plan is that you’re gonna take Willy.”

You laugh.

“Fuck no.”

--

So, it’s not like you hate William.

It’s just. You also don’t like him.

He’s always so chipper and happy, and there’s no way anyone can be that chipper and happy all the time. And he’s always confident, sometimes borderline cocky, and you never know whether he’s being nice to you or taking the piss, whether to take what he says at face value or with a grain of salt. You don’t know what to make of him, which makes you feel uncomfortable in his presence.

And then there’s the fact that he’s William Nylander.

Obviously, being friends with Zach, who loves William, there’s gonna be times when you’re around him. And whenever you are, it seems like the entire city is around him, too.

Clubs, restaurants, cinemas, even stores: you can’t go anywhere without people whispering, without a crowd forming. Sometimes people even follow you.

And you know it’s William, because it never happens when it’s just you and Zach. Even though Zach is, in your opinion anyway, just as big a deal in Toronto as Willy. So. It must be something about William as a person.

However.

The idea of having to go to this wedding alone makes you wanna vomit, or cry, or maybe both. You feel your skin crawl and your heartbeat speed up, and you haven’t had a proper panic attack in years but it feels like it’s just below the surface, when you think about having to see Noah getting married, while everyone around you is just feeling sorry for you because you’re still lonely and pathetic.

It was such a bad idea to get your entire family so involved in Noah’s life, because now they’re all gonna be at his wedding, and even your own family will look at you with quiet disappointment.

It’s too much, literally, for you to even process, and you blame that lack of mental capacity for the fact that you end up telling Zach he can arrange a meeting with William for you.

--

Toronto is still hiding underneath an everlasting raincloud, and everything about you is soaked by the time you hurry through the coffee shop door.

So far for your jacket being waterproof, then.

The coffee shop, luckily, is warm and cozy, and you wonder why Zach has never taken you there before. There’s something hipster about it, sure, with mismatched furniture and indie music playing, but it has the kinda relaxed vibe you’re always looking for.

That’s when you spot him.

He’s wearing a hoodie and a snapback, and his glasses, which somehow make him fit right in with the aesthetic of the place, as if they hired him to sit there and be pretty – shut up, you don’t like him, but you’re not blind - and drink coffee, to fit the decor.

He looks up when he sees you coming, a lazy smile appearing on his face.

“Y/N,” he says, almost amused, “this was unexpected.”

“Hey, William,” you mutter, shrugging off your wet jacket and hanging it on the back of the chair opposite him. “I’ll just go get a coffee and then I’ll explain.”

“No need.” William motions towards one of the two mugs that are on the table. “Ordered you a hazelnut latte with oat milk.” He sounds proud, and you assume Zach told him your favorite coffee order but you’re a little impressed anyway.

From anyone else, maybe you’d seen it as common courtesy, but for William, to think about that? You’ve noticed he has a habit of thinking about himself, first, so, that’s a thing for him.

“Thanks,” you say, and you must look as baffled as you feel because William rolls his eyes a little.

“It’s just a coffee. And call me Will or Willy, please. William is what my grandmother says.” His eyes twinkle when he adds: “Oh, and angry old white dudes on hockey Twitter.”

If you didn’t kinda need him, you would’ve probably kept calling him William just to annoy him a little: you’ve never really seen William – Will – annoyed, not if not jokingly. You’ve seen him happy, dejected, upset, but never annoyed.

It’s a mood he regularly instills in you, so you wonder if you could return the favor.

However.

“Okay, Will, so here’s the thing.”

You do need something from him.

“One year ago, I had a boyfriend.”

Will raises an eyebrow, takes a sip of his coffee in the most pretentious way. “Congratulations.”

“Do you want to hear the story?” you snap, forgetting for a second that you’re supposed to be nice to him. Old habits die hard.

Will holds up his hands and stills.

“So, my ex, his name is Noah. We got together when we were 16 and I thought he was the one for me. He was over at my house so much, my parents used to joke that we’d already gotten married and just hadn’t told them. He was as much part of my family as I was, and I thought we’d be together forever.”

Will takes another drink. His leg is bouncing up and down slightly; another habit of his that you really wish you could kick out of him.

“Long story short,” you decide to settle, “next month he’s getting married to the woman he cheated on me with.”

Now Will’s eyes widen, and you can tell he wasn’t expecting that. You bet he’s really not expecting your next sentence.

“So I need you to go to the wedding with me.”

It’s quiet. You take the chance to take a sip of your drink; it’s delicious, maybe the best you’ve ever had, and now you wonder whether Will spends a lot of time here cause if not, you’d like to make this your regular coffee place.

“You wanna go to this douchebag’s wedding?” Will asks, sounding incredulous. And, okay, maybe you can’t blame him for sounding like that. 

“Want is a big word,” you hum. You link your fingers together, think of your mom when she spoke to you last.

“You have to come, Y/N. I promised him he’d always be a part of our family, and if you don’t go he won’t feel welcome. Surely you’re over him, by now?”

“My whole family is going and I think my mom will disown me if I don’t go. I told you, he’s as much part of the family as I am. If I didn’t go, it’d be like… Me not going to my brother’s wedding.”

“But he’s not your brother.” Will still looks like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “He’s a cheating ex!”

You sigh. “They don’t know about the cheating part, actually.”

When you and Noah broke up, you hadn’t been in a good place. You felt embarrassed, but most of all, worthless. Like it had been your fault he cheated: if only you had been prettier, skinnier, smarter, funnier, better, he wouldn’t have had to. He wouldn’t have fallen for Betty – his soon to be wife – if you’d been enough.

So, ashamed as you were, and knowing how much your family loved Noah, you didn’t tell them the truth. You simply told them you’d broken up because you’d grown apart, become different people.

In a way, you still think you made the right choice. You don’t think they would’ve chosen Noah’s side if you’d told them the truth, but it would’ve hurt them to cut him out of their lives, and still to this day he comes over all the time to fix stuff at their house or make them dinner.

You’re thankful for the way he cares about your parents, even if he never cared about you.

You try to explain this all to Will, but no matter what you say, the deep edged frown in his forehead doesn’t leave.

“I still think it’s bullshit,” he declares, a little too loudly, when you’re done. “But at least I get why Zach wants me to go with you, now. As a barrier.” 

He’s puffing his chest a little and it would be cute if it wasn’t so typically William-Nylander-out-there, and now you’re wondering if he’s making fun of you or if he’s being genuine.

“You don’t need to be a barrier,” you say, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I just didn’t want to show up alone and have everyone think I’m still all kinds of messed up about this. I want people to know I’m doing great in life.”

When you see Will’s questioning gaze, you frown at him. “Don’t be sexist. I am doing great in life, even if I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t need a boyfriend for that. It’s just that my family seems to disagree with that.”

“That’s not just a female thing,” Will says, and he seems to genuinely get it. “My mom asks me about twenty times every week if I’ve found a girlfriend yet. She wants grandbabies and she wants them now.”

“Even with your hockey career?” you ask him. It seems silly to you, for Will’s family to focus on grandkids when Willy is still so young, living his dream in the NHL.

Will laughs. “She doesn’t care about that. She says she’s had enough of that with dad. She’s proud of me for my career, but she wants me to have the family life, too, and she worries it’s gonna be too late really soon.”

“You’re 24, not 55,” you huff. Will shrugs, but he’s smiling.

“Either way,” he says. “I can go with you to that guy’s wedding, and I can be your handsome, succesful, charming pretend-boyfriend.”

“And so humble,” you scoff, but there’s a weight lifting from your shoulders at his words.

“However,” Will continues, and the weight is back instantly. Damn it, you shouldn’t celebrate so soon. “My cousin, who lives in Calgary, has this baby shower, gender reveal party situation going on next week, and I don’t wanna listen to my entire family ask me when I’m gonna get a girlfriend for my babies every six minutes. So you have to come with me to that.”

You quickly do the thinking; one gender reveal party can’t last very long, you’ll just have to eat colored cakes and smile at people’s baby stories and chug some champagne, and then your wedding fears will be over.

However…

“Okay,” you say, “but my boss is getting married this weekend and I told him I had a plus one because I did, but Zach canceled because he’s a loser.”

Or, because his knee is bothering him and he’s doing some extra physical therapy to rehab it more. Whatever.

“So you’ll come with me to that, too, and we can practice for the real thing.”

“The real thing?” Will’s eyes twinkle and there’s an amused tilt to the corners of his mouth, and you realize you made it sounds as if you and him are gonna get married.

You glare at him and kick his feet under the table, and Will laughs a loud, obnoxious laugh that has always irked you but now that his full attention is on you, suddenly something like warm pride glows in your chest.

Maybe, this won’t be so bad after all.

Famous last words. 

[jensungf]

𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 ∞ 𝐩.𝐣𝐬

summary: park jisung was supposed to be more than a passing cloud, than a fleeting moment. 

pairing: reader + park jisung ft. childhood friend!mark genre: high school!au, angst, fluff, some comedy too cus dreamies are funny af word count: 7.7k warnings: language, mentions of nausea

author’s note: i’m super happy to announce that i hit my first follower milestone!! thank you to the 100+ precious people who decided to follow my horrid blog, i really appreciate each and everyone one of you and i hope you enjoy this story to celebrate!

this is a sequel to my story passing clouds so please check that out first before you read this.

Jisung felt sick to his stomach. Like the time Donghyuck had somehow managed to convince him, or more so, drag him against his will onto that horrid Viking ride that day they went to the theme park together. Jisung had clutched onto the bars for dear life, and he could’ve sworn that his stomach flipped-flopped inside out and back again, with his life flashing before his eyes, all while his friends laughed at his misery. But now, along with the deja vu in the form of nausea churning in his stomach; he felt as if his chest was being constricted from the unbearable weight of guilt that was consuming his body. The gloomy skies thundered outside, as if the heavens above were laughing at his misery. As if they were chanting a mantra, reminding him that he fucked up as his head replayed the words you had sobbed just mere moments ago. He should’ve known it was a bad idea then — yet only after facing the pit in his stomach and the echoes of your cries did he know how ditching you was in fact, an irreversible mistake that might’ve cost him more than just his friendship with you.

He clenched his fists, knuckles turning white from the iron-grip on his phone as his arms fell limply to his side. What had he done?

Jaemin spoke first, as the boys all quieted down from their gaming soon after witnessing the conversation. “What the hell did you do, Jisung?”

Jisung winced. Jaemin rarely swore around him, much less directly at him. He knew he fucked up, and his friends could see the defeat in his eyes. The tension in the air thickened as Jisung’s mouth parched, unable to find the right words that could give a single reasonable explanation as to why he chose to do what he did.

“I fucked up,” he croaked plainly, running his hand hurriedly through his hair. “I hurt (Y/N).”

Jaemin’s hand balled up as he narrowed his eyes. He cared for you a lot — all the boys did. They loved you like their own sister. Jaemin’s expression softened at the sight of the youngest’s agony but he remained stern. “What did you do, Jisung?”

“(Y/N) and I.. we were supposed to go to the movies together today. But I never showed up.” Jisung’s knees felt like giving out. “I didn’t think she would actually be that upset that I didn’t show up! I-I thought she would just call someone else to watch it with her, or something. I didn’t she would blow up at me...”

“How could you not expect her to blow up at you when you literally stood her up?” Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief. Jisung bit his lip in reluctance and the other boys frowned. Jisung was usually rational, and thought about his actions before he did anything. They didn’t understand what had led him to do this.

“Why did you flake on her?” Renjun asked quietly. Jisung averted his eyes, looking down at the floor. “I don’t know. I just felt like it.”

Donghyuck scoffed, “That’s such bullshit and you know it.”

Chenle’s frown deepened. Seeing his closest friend trying to deflect the truth was so unusual. He tried to piece it together, hitting the nail on the head with a simple question.

“Don’t you like her?”

Jisung’s heart twisted into knots. “What? O-Of course I do, she’s my friend.”

“No, of course you like her Jisung, we all do. I’m asking if you like her.”

A pause hung in the air as they all patiently waited for his answer (despite the obvious.)

“Y-Yeah. I do. I like her so much, guys. And I freaking messed up.” He confessed, choking up as tears prickled his eyes. “I was scared. We planned this last week while we were studying, and I thought she was joking about it being a movie date but she was actually serious and kept bringing it up.”

“That’s a good thing though, isn’t it? You could’ve made a move on her.” Donghyuck pointed out in slight disbelief.

“I know, but I got scared! I thought.. what if she didn’t like me back, and I was taking this the wrong way? I didn’t want to make the next step and embarrass myself when— if she rejected me. I knew it was childish of me to try and be cool and play it off, but… I don't know. I-I really just thought she could do better...” Jisung buried his head into his hands, his shame and insecurities washing over him. “Mark just came back into town too, and I always thought he was a better match for her than me.”

He sucked in his breath, lips quivering. “I.. I told myself that if I just chickened out then she would replace me with him or something. So it didn’t matter if I went or not.”

“(Y/N) would never do that and you know that! It’s so obvious she likes you back,” Chenle couldn’t help but grow frustrated at how unreasonable Jisung was being with the whole situation. How could he possibly even think like that?

Jaemin inhales deeply, shaking his head in disapproval. “If you really liked her back, then you would’ve thought about how your actions would have affected her and how she would’ve reacted.”

Jisung lifts his head up, eyes bloodshot as tears drip down his face. “Guys, I fucked up. I hurt her feelings and—” His breath hitched, “S-she told me that I could go play whatever games I wanted as long as they weren’t with her! I didn’t mean to make her feel like she was just someone I used to pass time or she was a game!”

“Jisung, of course she would think that way! You can’t just mess around with her feelings like that. You ditched her without even giving her a plausible reason or heads up, and you argued with her and said that we mattered more than she did, even though we’re all friends!” Jaemin huffed exasperatedly.

He pauses to catch his breath, almost sobbing at this point. “I don’t know how to fix this. What if she never forgives me?”

“I’m so disappointed in you, Jisung. How do you expect her to forgive you?” Jaemin suddenly stands up, throwing his hands up in frustration.

Everyone’s eyes widened at Jaemin’s irritated tone. He rarely ever scolded Jisung, always showering the younger boy in love and affection. He even treated him like his little brother. Jisung's mouth hung agape at Jaemin’s harsh words. He knew he deserved it, but it stung even more coming from Jaemin.

Jaemin scowled before turning his back and storming out of the room. Everyone froze, stunned.

Jeno was the first to react. “I’ll go talk to him,” he said before stepping outside of the room.

The rest of the boys turned to Jisung who was flopped on the floor, his usually tall stature curling into a tiny ball like a small child. Chenle sighed before getting up to rub Jisung’s back comfortingly.

“You made a big mistake,” Renjun says bluntly from his spot.  

“But so does everyone. Everyone has their insecurities, Jisung. You’re still growing so you still have an opportunity to learn from them so you don’t make the same ones again. But it’s a fleeting opportunity so don’t take it for other’s kindness for granted. You owe her an apology, and if you’re sincere enough, she’ll at least hear you out. You know how (Y/N) is — she’s a very understanding person.”

Chenle and Donghyuck nod their head in agreement. “We’ve all made mistakes before. It’s a part of life.” Chenle adds.

Jisung weakly mumbles a thank you, wiping the tears from his swollen face. The boys all give him a pat on the back and a tight-lipped smile. As much as they agreed that what he did was wrong, he was still their brother. It was their job to be there for him, to support him and guide him along the path even if he made mistakes.

Jeno popped in from the doorway. “We’re going to go clean up for dinner. We’ll call you down when the food is ready.” The boys all begin to shuffle out, leaving Jisung alone with his thoughts.

He feels such agonizing frustration, but he knows that he has no one else to blame but himself. He was the sole reason you had been hurt. It was his fault, his actions, that caused you pain. At the sound of your sobs replaying through his head, he squeezes his eyes shut and clenches his hands so hard that his dull fingernails pierce the skin of his palms, leaving painful indents.

However, Jisung’s head snapped up as the door creaked open again. Jaemin's eyes softened as he took a seat next to Jisung.

“I’m sorry,“ Jisung mumbles, “I really hurt her even though I swear, I never meant to. You can be mad at me. I deserve it.”

Jaemin sighs before ruffling the younger’s head. “No, Jisung. I’m sorry for what I said.”

“I really care about both of you and I know you understand what you did was wrong. It really did hurt her, but she really likes you, you know. A lot more than you think.” Jaemin murmurs.

Jisung didn’t have the heart to tell Jaemin he didn’t actually know.

Although Jisung would always jokingly fight back against the older’s hugs when he would be the one initiating hugs and coddling him, this time, Jisung’s body relaxes as he lets the older boy wrap his arms around him.

“Thanks, Jaemin.” He sniffles. The older boy can only pull him in closer.

∞

He had a lot of work to do. Jisung sighs, leaning back in his chair before scribbling “Mission: Make it up to (Y/N)” on a piece of scratch paper. He scrutinized the blank page before groaning and crumpling it up in frustration.

Jisung facepalms the table with an astounding thud, earning a yelp from across him. “What the heck, Park Jisung! Are you trying to get a concussion?” Donghyuck screeched. The chocolate milk from his bowl of Fruity Pebbles cereal sloshes onto the surface of the table and into his lap.

“Sorry!” Jisung mutters. His older brother glares at him while furiously wiping his lap with napkins. “I just can’t think of how to get (Y/N) to forgive me. I suck at all this romantic gesture crap.”

Donghyuck wails, “Doesn’t mean you can just freaking slam your head into the table! What did the table ever do to you? Also now my favorite sweat-shorts are stained.”

Renjun walks by the kitchen and rolls his eyes in disgust. “First of all, who the hell eats fruity cereal with chocolate milk— you heathen. You deserved it.”

Donghyuck flicks his middle finger at Renjun’s back as Chenle bursts out in his iconic dolphin laughter.

“Jisung, if you get a concussion in this kitchen or break the table with that empty skull of yours, Jaemin is going to break your skull. And you know (Y/N) the best, don’t you? Use your remaining brain cells,” Renjun tutted with a pointed look.

Jisung nods but whispers something about there being only one brain cell in this whole damn house under his breath.

“Yeah, I know— ‘cause it belongs to me.”

Everyone simultaneously rolled their eyes at Renjun.

Jeno sits in front of the TV, fervently smashing buttons. His eyes never break away from the screen yet he manages to pipe up. “Why don’t you start by figuring out a list of what she likes?”

Jisung’s ears perk up at the suggestion. “That’s a great idea Jeno!” However, his excitement quickly turns into a huff of exasperation. “But (Y/N) likes so many things… Anime, ice cream, watching me dance, fangirling over —”

“Me, of course!” Hyuck singsongs with a cocky smirk.

The crumpled ball of paper smacks him dead in the nose. “Ow!”

“Wait, I know!” Jisung shouts enthusiastically as an idea pops into his head. The boys all turn to look at him. “She loves the cake from the bakery down the street!”

“Ah, Neo Bakery? The one with cherry bombs and puzzle piece cookies?” Jaemin asks.

Jisung nods, flashing his smile for the first time in days. “Yeah! Can we go right now? Please?”

“I don’t see why not,” Jaemin grins. All the boys shrug in agreement, and begin grabbing their jackets and shoes. Even Jeno leaves his game to join. But before they knew it, Jisung had dashed out the door, his sneakers barely on. “Meet you there!” He called out.

They all share a look and collectively sigh.

“He’s so whipped.”

“Yep.”

∞

By the time they had caught up to Jisung, they had found him standing in front of the quaint shoppe pacing back and forth like a lost child. Chenle shoulder-bumps him, causing him to stop in his tracks. “What the heck are you doing?”

“I didn’t want to go inside alone… It looks kind of empty,” He says sheepishly.

“Oh my god, you big baby, just go in and—” Donghyuck froze as the door he had pulled causes him to lurch forward. He tries to open the door again, but to no avail. It hadn’t budged.

Jisung runs up to the window, squishing his face against the cold glass to peer intently inside. It was empty.

“Guys,” Jeno whistled. They whirl their head in his direction. Renjun holds up a paper with the words “CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE” emblazoned in bold letters across the page. “You have got to be kidding me,” Jisung bemoans, accidentally hitting his head against the glass window in the process. He winces and rubs his reddening forehead.

“Keep that up and you’re going to lose all your brain cells before you even get a chance to speak to (Y/N),” Chenle snorts. Jisung’s nose scrunches up at his best friends and he turns to face everyone else. “Now what am I going to do?” He whines.

“I mean, are there any other places that she’d like?” asked Renjun.

Jisung shakes his head. “No, just that place. She really likes their strawberry cream cake.”

Jaemin wrinkles his nose at the mention of strawberry before he exclaims, “Ah! I got it!” A mischievous glint appears in his eyes. “Jeno, don’t you have Doyoung’s number?” Jeno stares at him quizzically before letting out a sound of realization and nodding. He quickly gets out his phone and scrolls until he finds the right contact while everyone else’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “We’re going to go to the supermarket now, let’s go Jisungie.” Jaemin beams proudly.

“What are you talking about? The supermarket? For what?”

“I got it!” Jeno announces, grinning before shoving his phone into Jisung’s ginormous hands. Jisung fumbles with it for a bit, earning a glare from Jeno. He gives an apologetic grin before looking down to read the screen.

“Woah, what? How’d you get the recipe!?” He exclaimed. Jeno shrugs yet doesn’t bother to hide his eye-smile. “I’m friends with Doyoung. He works there part-time as one of the bakers and he owes me a favor.”

“Wait, are we going to the supermarket to buy all the ingredients?” Jisung parrots bewilderedly. Chenle rolls his eyes and smacks his best friend upside the head, “Yes, you idiot. Now can we go? I’m starving too.”

Jisung’s smile ear to ear as they all make their way down the street. He was so lucky to have them.

∞

After a chaotic trip to the supermarket which had resulted in Renjun chasing down Hyuck in attempt to murder the cheeky boy for yet again trying to steal  his order of pork cutlet “by accident,” and Chenle trying to find his favorite Chinese ramen in the wrong aisle for a good 20 minutes, they had managed to get back home in one piece without getting kicked out by the manager again. (Everyone had blamed it on Jisung for accidentally knocking over the entire tower of cans on one of the tables, but he thought it was a stupid idea to even display cans in such a fashion. It wasn’t like it was one of Renjun’s weird art competitions or whatever.)

With the help of Jaemin and Jeno who both surprisingly had not fallen into the chaos, they had successfully checked off their shopping list.

“Now, we should measure out the ingredients first and then add it in so it makes it a lot quicker and easier,” Jaemin chastises as he puts on his apron. He turned around only to be met with the sight of Jisung coughing in the midst of a cloud of dust, desperately trying to wipe the cake flour that he had accidentally spilled everywhere off his black shirt.

“Park Jisung, I banned you from the goddamn kitchen for a reason but please, for the sake of (Y/N), get it together!”

Jaemin facepalmed. This was going to be a long ass ride afternoon.

∞

Cake was probably the most difficult thing Jisung has ever attempted to make in his life.“Why is this so hard? It’s just cake!” He stares at the gloppy mixture in front of him, lifting up the whisk only to be met with the sight of chunks of things he wasn’t even sure belonged in a cake.

First, it was the struggle with just simply washing strawberries. Jaemin had looked away for a single second and nearly went haywire when he saw what the younger boy was about to do.

Jisung had moved the strawberries into a bowl in the sink, running water and had just grabbed the container of green liquid when—

“Nooooooo! No!” screeched Jaemin. He smacked Jisung on the leg and scolded him with an incredulous look. “You don’t wash strawberries with dish soap, you idiot! Are you crazy!?”

Jisung shot him a puzzled look. “Wait, you don’t?”

With the self-restraint of every fiber in his body, Jaemin forced himself  to not strangle the other boy.

Then it was this. Jaemin should’ve known it was a horrible idea to try and even think about letting Jisung do this alone, but the boy had begged about about how he needed to prove himself to you and he needed all the credit. He pinched the bridge of his nose and left to go drag someone else in to help.

Jisung was perpetually frozen in his spot, his jaw still hung open. His brain was short-circuiting at this point. If he had followed all the instructions, how did it end up like this?

“You both are idiots,” Renjun shook his head, glaring at Jaemin who had dragged him away in the middle of a Moomin marathon and Jisung who was still blinking confusedly at the whisk in his hand.

“Please, Injunnie,” Jaemin pleaded, pouting with his lips puckered out and puppy-dog eyes. “Do it for (Y/N) and Jisung! We’re all counting on you!“

“Agh, fine.” Renjun rolled his eyes before going through the recipe once again.

“Oi, Park Jisung! Snap out of it!”  

“Huh, wha—?”

Renjun grabbed the whisk from him. He stares at the horrific mixture of what was definitely not cake batter and wrinkles his nose in disgust. “What the hell did you do?” He demands.

Jisung gives him a blank stare. Renjun examines the ingredients on the table and nearly faints.

“Jisung, this recipe says baking powder, not baking soda. And it says cake flour, you blockhead, not bread flour! Why do we even have bread flour!?”

“Actually, it’s because of Hyuck’s carb obsession,” Jaemin answers.

He immediately holds Renjun back from running off to fight the mentioned boy.

Jisung chortled, “Renjun, you’re the best!“

Renjun cuts him off by locking the taller boy in a loving chokehold and laughs. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Now help me would ya?”

∞

After about five hours of continuous screaming and threats of burning down the kitchen or someone’s hair (which may or may not be all by the hands of Renjun), they managed to successfully bake the cake. Jisung collapses on the couch besides his friends, finally giving his strained muscles a break from the hardcore struggle of baking. “Who knew baking was this hard?” Donghyuck teases the tired trio on the couch. Chenle laughs in delight at their suffering, and they all shoot him a dirty look. While they rest, Jeno begins cleaning the mess in the kitchen. “It looks like a goddamn tornado flew in here,” He mutters.

“My poor kitchen,” Jaemin weeps. He turns his head to pinch Jisung’s cheeks, “Ahhhh, the things I do for you and true love, my precious Jisungie.”

Jisung groans and slaps his hand away. Donghyuck and Chenle begin helping Jeno clean the mess as well. Just as they finish, the timer for the oven goes off.

Jisung sighs before getting up. “I’ll get it.” In his exhausted daze, he opens the oven and reaches out for the hot pan before —

“Ow, fuck!” He swears, retracting his now throbbing hand. “Language!” Jaemin scolds from his seat. Chenle rushes over, inspecting his hand. “Dude, are you okay?”

Jisung winces at the pain and mumbles, “I forgot the mitt.”

Jeno walks over and chides, “Go run it under cool water.” Jaemin and Renjun turned their heads from the couch. “Are you okay, ‘Sung?” Jaemin asks worriedly. Jisung nods weakly in response.

“We have burn salve, and I’ll help you bandage it afterwards,” Jeno grabs the burn salve from the cabinet and gently applies the salve to Jisung’s hand, who flinches even with the light pressure. “Chenle, can you get the cake?“ Jeno asks.

“I got it,” he reassures, skillfully taking the cake out with a mitt and closing the oven.

“Thanks,” Jisung then frowns at the white bandage wrapped around his palm. Y/N is probably going to freak if she sees this, he thinks to himself.

Despite the pain from his throbbing hand, the boys worked together to finish decorating the cake and celebrated by enjoying some of it as well. Surprisingly despite their clumsiness, it had turned out almost identical to the one from the bakery and didn’t taste bad at all. Now all Jisung had to do was just wait until he saw you tomorrow.

As he laid there in bed that night, he felt the gaping hole in his chest that had been masked by his chaotic day. He was missing something in his life the past couple of days. A hole in the shape of you. He felt like kicking something suddenly. Like himself. How could be so foolish as to push you away because of his own insecurities? You didn’t deserve a fool like him. The lump in his throat grew.

He closed his eyes tightly that night and sent a silent prayer up into the sky before he slept. Please give me another chance to love her. To make her happy.

∞

To say that Jisung was nervous, would be a great understatement. His entire livelihood depended on this. Well, maybe not livelihood but still. He didn’t know what he would do if you didn’t at least hear him out. He had trouble sleeping last night, his doubts and worries consuming him. The boys hadn’t questioned him this morning when they saw the bags under his eyes, yet still voiced their concerns only to be brushed off with a weak smile. This was what he deserved. And now he had to do what he must in order to earn your forgiveness. He had carefully wrapped the slice of strawberry cream cake in a box, with a red bow on top. He was never really one who was good at expressing his emotions through words, much less cheesy romantic gestures like this but he had practiced his apology at least a hundred times in front of his mirror the past few days. All he had to do now was just simply tell you it. Face to face.

His stomach churned as the memory of your cries and bitter words surfaced again. He shook his head in order to try and rid himself of those thoughts, which Chenle had noticed. He gave an encouraging pat to his friend’s back and murmured a soft “Hey, it’ll be okay.”

Jisung’s face twisted in slight anguish. “I don’t know, Lele…” He sighed. “I’m really scared. I really don’t know what I’d do if she doesn’t forgive me. I don’t even know if I really deserve another chance after what I did and said.”

“Jisung, she loves you a lot and you love her too. It would be foolish to say that you’d never hurt her but you need to prove that you won’t ever try and do it again. Just try your best and know that if she hears how sincere you are and see that you’re trying to learn from your mistakes, then you shouldn’t take that for granted ever again.” Chenle reassures.

Jisung smiles sadly before a look of determination replaces it. “Thanks, Chenle. It means a lot.”

Chenle smiles. “Any time, bro.”

∞

By the time lunch rolled around, Jisung felt like a shit ton of bricks had hit him. Usually, he would’ve seen you in the morning but you were nowhere to be found. He hadn't seen you in the halls or anywhere else at all, and worry was eating him up. Where in the world were you?

He took a seat besides his friends who all shot him a look of concern. “What’s wrong now?” Donghyuck questions gently. He hated seeing his youngest brother down in the dumps and although it was supposed to be resolved today, Jisung only looked more worn out.

“I haven't seen her at all today. Do you think she’s purposefully avoiding me?” Jisung feels his heart breaking even more at the possibility that you hated him to the point where you wouldn’t even want to see his face. His head drops in remorse.

“I don’t know,” Hyuck begrudgingly admits, “But don’t you have class with her?”

“Just some. But she was absent today. Usually I see her between classes as well and I haven’t seen her at all. What if she’s sick or she’s skipping class just to avoid me?”

“I doubt (Y/N) would ever skip class just for that reason… but you should just wait until class,” Renjun suggests. Jisung nods in disappointment, his expression resembling one of a kicked puppy. The boys exchange a look of pity and they eat their lunch quietly.

They could only hope for the best.

∞

Jisung mopes for the remainder of the day, feeling nothing but pure despair for his current situation. By the time the last class rolled around, he had basically given up on even seeing you today or even ever again for that matter. He stares at the dainty bag he prepared for you in deep regret before a familiar figure passes by him. (Y/N)?

His head snaps up so quickly he’s sure he almost gave himself whiplash.

It was you. You were here. You were here!

Relief washes throughout his body. His eyes followed you as you walked to your seat, yet he feels his body tense when you don’t even bother to glance back. You hadn’t spared him a single look since you had gotten to your desk but you could feel his stare burn holes into the back of your head. You didn’t actually know since you hadn’t looked at him since before this weekend but you had a gut feeling.

Still, you were stubborn and refused to turn around and give that jerk the satisfaction of attaining your precious attention.

It wasn’t fair of him to do that when he was the one who had hurt you. He was the one who had promised you his time, yet ended up treating you as if you were disposable — something he’d throw away once he had something better to do. You weren’t his priority.

You had basically spent all weekend curled up in your room sobbing into Mark’s arms. He had picked you up from the movie theater that fateful day and consoled you until the wee hours of night, patiently listening to you rant and bawl your heart out over a stupid, stupid boy. You felt so guilty since he had just come back into town and instead of spending time catching up, he had kept you company as you binge-watched sad movies to wallow in your heartbreak over a certain idiot by the name of Park Jisung.

(“I’m sorry Mark,” you blubbered as you cling onto his figure. He sighed as he rubbed your back soothingly, hoping to calm down your tears. You mumbled into his tear-stained shirt, “I didn’t expect you to come back and for this to happen. I ruined your weekend, didn’t I?”

“Well.. you might’ve,” He said, causing you to immediately sit and look at him with watery eyes and quivering lips. You opened your mouth to cry out even more but he stopped you. “Wait—I was kidding. Sort of but not really.. but it’s okay (Y/N)! I just don’t want you to see you cry anymore.” Through your watery eyes and sniffles, you managed to smack him weakly against his chest. He gave you a tight-lipped smile before softly pulling you into his embrace, tracing circles into your back as you melted into his arms and lulled yourself into a deep, painless slumber.

Mark slowly moved his head to look down at your forlorn figure, a peaceful expression upon your features despite the fresh tears still dripping down your face. He gently wiped the tears from your face with the pad of his thumb, his heartbeat thumping so loudly that he worried it would wake you. He felt like his heart was tearing in half — from how painfully heartbroken you were, and how ironically sad this situation was. “I’ll always be here by your side,” Mark whispers to the air, knowing you had already drifted into dreamland. His heart ached. After all, he knew you would never see him the same way you saw Jisung. And he had to live with that.)

You had spent the next few nights with Mark, ugly crying yourself to sleep in his arms until the tears ran out. Asking the skies how could he could just cut you out of his life just like that? Drop you with the lame excuse that his friends were first. Did he not feel any remorse for what he did?

Stupid jerk. He didn’t deserve any more of my goddamn time or attention. No more shedding any tears. No more self-pity, you thought to yourself. You didn’t need Park Jisung in your life. You didn’t need to waste your breath holding onto what your friendship once was, what your feelings once were. You were sure of it. You had tried to convince yourself so, anyways.

You wanted to burn every trace of Park Jisung from your life, yet Mark had persuaded you not to, quietly murmuring about how you would regret it more than Jisung would soon regret his actions. You found that hard to believe but after all he had done to stay by your side, you relented to his wishes.

The time had dragged on by agonizingly slowly. It felt like Jisung was stuck in time for what felt like a million damn years. His anxiousness increased as the class went on. You were actually here! He wondered why you hadn’t showed up for your earlier classes but he thanked the heavens that at least you were here now. Yet he couldn’t help but feel more on edge.

He swallowed thickly, tapping his pencil annoyingly and fidgeting in his seat. His eyes paid more attention to the ticking of the hands of the clock than the boring teacher droning on and on about today’s lesson.

Finally, the bell rings signaling the end of class. Jisung jumps out of his desk and grabs his backpack in one hand and the bag in another, dashing outside like his life depended on it. You catch a glimpse of his escaping figure, and scowl. Did he really not want to be in the same space as you? Was it that painful for him to have you to be in his life? You felt a lump grow in your throat. A part of you had naively hoped that maybe, just maybe he would confront you and apologize. Not that you’d forgive him, or anything but… You bite your lip. He really dashed out the door just like that. You swallow the tears threatening to spill and trudge out of the room with a grim shadow cast upon your face.

You walk outside and begrudgingly scan the groups of students dispersing, searching for his face despite your internal protests. You couldn’t help it. However, by the time you reach the steps of the school, he’s nowhere to be found.

“You look like your cat just died.” You turn around to see Na Jaemin leaning against the brick wall with his signature sweet smile painted on his face. You pout and remember that he’s still Jisung’s friend. Your pout quickly turns into a scowl, and as if reading your mind — he kindly says, “I’m still your friend (Y/N). Nothing will ever change that.”

Your walls drop and he gently nudged your shoulder, cocking his head towards the doors so you both head out. “I hope Bongshik didn’t actually die, or else Jeno would be devastated,” Jaemin remarks. Your shoulders droop and you shake your head. As you walk with him, he takes a turn into the courtyard and you follow him despite the unfamiliar path.

“I know what happened between both of you,” he breathes airily. You wince at the mention of the fall-out. You hadn’t really wanted other people to know yet you guessed it was inevitable. “I know you probably hate him, but I know it’ll be okay. “

You remain quiet, unable to form a coherent sentence when your mind is constantly buzzing with thoughts of Jisung, bringing back the pain clawing inside your chest. You bite your lip. “How can you be so sure about that?” You mutter bitterly.

As you stare at the fallen cherry blossoms littered all across the pavement, you don’t realize that Jaemin had stopped. You freeze, and look up only to lock your gaze with the deep chocolate orbs of the one person you had been avoiding all day.

His eyes darted around your face searching for any telltale signs of how you felt — yet your face was only void of any emotions besides shock. Your jaw drops as you immediately turn to leave. “Wait, (Y/N), please! I’m sorry, please don’t leave— please! Just hear me out.”

You halt in your footsteps, cursing yourself for being foolish enough to even listen to him. Your heart betrayed your mind. You turned around and glared at Jaemin for even getting you in this situation — yet his eyes simply gazed with intent, almost lulling you towards Jisung again. He raises his eyebrows in anticipation and tilts his head towards the other boy. You sigh in resignation at his silent command and then turn around to fully face Jisung.

“What could you possibly say that would make me want to stay?”

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Jaemin says quietly before walking away. Your eyes widen as you realize that you would have to deal with this alone. You open your mouth to protest.

“Wait, (Y/N), please — I just need to tell you something and then you can decide whether or not I’m worth any more of your time,” Jisung interrupts, pleading with his entire soul.

Your eyes flicker to him.

He had never looked so broken.

“I thought I wasn’t worth any of your time,” You say quietly, remembering his harsh words from the other day.

Jisung’s expression drops yet he knows he can’t stay quiet anymore. “No, that’s not true,” He says firmly. “You’re worth all the time in the world.”

You can feel your heart beating out of your chest now, and wonder if he can hear it despite the mere steps that distance you away from one another.

Jisung’s nose scrunches up, and you want to laugh at his cute habit of wrinkling his nose in distaste whenever he’s disappointed that something doesn’t go his way, even despite the grave situation. He inhaled sharply before continuing. “I’m so so sorry for what I said the other day. It was the most hurtful thing I’ve ever said to anyone and I’m so disappointed in myself for hurting you. I never meant to.” He bites his lip and you stare at him. His hands fidget but remain behind his back.

“I-I like you, (Y/N). A lot. M-Maybe even love you but either way! It doesn’t excuse what I did. I shouldn’t have stood you up, but I was stupid, and foolish and the biggest idiot in the world because I was scared. When you first brought up going to the movies together, I was so happy. This is going to sound so damn cheesy and I hate cheesy, but my heart literally soared. I’m still surprised you didn’t notice how red I was,” He admitted.

You stared at him in shock. Park Jisung liked you. Even loved you. He loved you back.

“I didn’t shut up about it to the boys. But then I kept thinking. What if you didn’t mean it like an actual date and I was taking it the wrong way? I was honestly terrified. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship by making the next move even though everyone told me you felt the same way. I over thought it and then decided that I didn’t want to look like an idiot, so I had to be really chill about it in front of you, so I wouldn’t embarrass myself if you didn’t feel the same way. I didn’t want you to know how excited I was because I thought I would look desperate, or something.”

“I let my insecurities get the best of me and god, when I heard that Mark Lee was coming back, I literally felt like I had no chance. I mean, you’re the most amazing girl I’ve ever known and I mean it (Y/N). Y-You…,” He pauses and takes a breath, forcing himself to make eye contact with you. “You deserve the world and I really want to be the one to make you happy because it makes me so happy every time you laugh because of me tripping over air or you wake me up when I fall asleep during our study dates — I mean hangouts. And when I get to hold your hand and doodle all over your arms—” He rambles on. “I was dumb enough to take your time for granted and not consider your feelings. But I want to do better for you. I regret what I did and I want to turn back time to fix it, but I know I can’t so… I promise I won’t make this same mistake again.” His ears turn red and your heart can’t help but swell at his words, despite your mind’s screaming.

“But I didn’t think I was good enough or anything like Mark, who’s a lot funnier and older and smarter. I thought he would be better for you.” You want to open your mouth to protest but he continues.

“But I don’t want to be scared anymore! I don’t want to live life regretting what I did. You’re the most important person in my life (Y/N), and I know I hurt you a lot because I was scared to let you see all of me and tell you how I really felt, but I want to be better and learn from my mistakes. I don’t ever want to hurt you again and I can’t promise you I won’t, because I’m a big idiot who’s still growing, and I know I make a lot of mistakes... but I want to be your big idiot who will apologize and grow from them. I would do whatever it takes to make you happy as long as we’re happy together.”

You found yourself on a rollercoaster of emotions. You bite your lip, trying to hold back the growing smile and tears threatening to burst.

Taking your hesitation as a rejection, Jisung looks down dejectedly before revealing the bag in his hand. “H-Here,” he struggles to keep his voice from breaking, just like his heart, “I… wanted to buy you your favorite cake from Neo Bakery but it was closed so I tried to bake it myself… I know you don’t want anything to do with me anymore but please just take it. It’s for you.”

Your eyes widen as you also notice his bandaged hand and the way he winces when he grips the straps of the bag tighter. You put two and two together and take the bag. You set it delicately down on the ground before rushing to embrace him.

Jisung stumbles back a little but manages to catch his balance as you wrap your arms around him. “You stupid idiot,” you mumble into his shirt, tears welling up. “Look at how cliche this is. You know how much I hate cheesy cliches.”

Jisung stiffens before he relaxes his body to hug you back even tighter. “I can’t believe you burned yourself baking a cake for me. How dumb are you? And I can’t believe Jaemin let you in the kitchen in the first place.” You say incredulously.

He lets out a laugh at your response and strokes your hair gently. “I know,” he says softly as he closes his eyes and relishes in your warmth. You loosen your grip around his torso and step back to gaze up at him. “I can’t believe you at all. What you did really hurt me and I almost burned all your hoodies” Jisung’s eyes widened in horror at your statement. You snigger slightly. “But I didn’t. Thanks to Mark, by the way.”

“It’s okay to be insecure and have your doubts and I know we all make mistakes but please, don’t shut me out and leave me hanging like that next time. We’re friends and friends don’t do that to each other. I accept your apology — only because I know how hard you must’ve worked to bake the cake with your stupid noodle limbs and incompetent cooking skills.”

“Hey!” Jisung pouts at your words and you reach up to pinch his cheeks as you laugh. He melts at your touch and a gummy smile emerges. “But if you couldn’t tell, I really like you too. Maybe even love you,” You inhale at your own words and avert your eyes. “But if you want to make the next move then we have to work on conquering our fears… Together.” You admit earnestly, a look of determination in your eyes.

Jisung can’t help but grin even harder as his heartbeat skyrockets. Happiness overflows through every part of his body. “Thank God,” He says, pulling you in for another tight embrace. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

You both revel in each other’s arms for a while longer as the breeze gently blows against your figure. You look up at him, with the sunset shining upon his skin. His sparkling eyes gaze intently into yours before he leans down a little and your breath hitches. He pauses for a moment before his lips brush hesitantly against yours, and although you don’t feel fireworks erupt or an intense rush of euphoria, you know that this felt just right. Your noses barely brush against each other’s and your eyes flutter shut, feeling his lashes tickle lightly against your skin. He’s so glad your eyes are closed so you don’t see his cheeks dusted with a rosy pink. You slot your lips against his more, the awkwardness fading away, and tip toe to wrap your arms around his neck as he pulls you in deeper.

  He lets go first but smoothly slips his large hand into yours, fitting almost perfectly. His ears burn with embarrassment and you can feel yourself turn hot and blush fervently. Jisung scratches his neck trying to hide the fact that wow, for a kid who was considered shy — that really just happened.

“You’re not off the hook yet, Park Jisung! You still have a lot of groveling to do. Just because I love you doesn’t mean you’re forgiven, you big baby!” You announce to diffuse the awkwardness.

He smiles bashfully, “It’s okay. As long as I’m your big baby.” He leans down to grab the bag with his other hand and you blush even harder at the confidence brimming from his words. “Shall we go taste test my amazing cake?” He jokes.

You smack him and scoff, “There’s no damn way you were able to make this by yourself! Who helped you?”

He sticks his tongue out. “You’ll never figure it out.” You roll your eyes and laugh as you walk together, fingers still intertwined.

Maybe it was foolish of you to want to believe that Park Jisung wasn’t just simply a passing cloud or fleeting moment in your life. But you had hope. Hope that instead, he was the gentle breeze that tickled your nose and the warm sunshine that kissed your face on the warm summer days where you both had spent chasing each other until your lungs hurt. Or perhaps, his existence was embodied in the petals of the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard that bloomed every spring, carved with initials of young love that you had just ironically and cheesily enough, just experienced your first love underneath. You weren’t sure if Park Jisung’s existence was fleeting in itself or that the idea of forever actually existed, but you knew he himself was just there throughout every step of the way, and as much as the moments passed by and the memories faded, you could feel his love with the passing of every second.

And most importantly, you knew that Park Jisung still had your heart at the end of the day, and even if he dropped it, he would do everything in his power to put together the pieces even if it meant opening up a part of his heart that he had kept hidden away for so long and giving it to you. And at that moment, that was the only forever you needed.

author’s note: i sincerely hope you enjoyed this sequel hehe i worked really hard on this and it’s the longest story i’ve ever written! spoiler alert: there will be an epilogue/spin-off with mark in the making <33 please keep an eye out for that in the future hehe. special thanks to @neocitybynight @j-woosderland @gohyuck and @neostains for reading this beforehand!

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