#i feel terrible tagging him in the main tag but ahhhh

[glitchpirate]

i'm slowly turning lucien into a cartoon villain the way i stylize him at this point

[minyoongijjangjjangmanboongboong]

Sweet Dreams Chapter One

Lucid dreaming: The process of being aware that one is dreaming. Some researchers believe that in lucid dreaming, the individual may be able to change the outcome of the dream or control their degree of participation in the imaginary (dream) environment.

Description: Lee Eunbyul has been plagued with hellish nightmares since she was a child. Not the sort of nightmares you may be familiar with. There are no monsters to evade, no serial killers to outrun, no auditoriums of classmates in front of whom to stand naked. Instead there is just...darkness. Endless darkness. With professional help, the dreams come less frequently. But after moving away from home to live with her sister, Eunbyul’s nightmare returns, only this time it’s different. This time...she’s not alone.

What would you do if you had the chance to change the outcome of not only your dreams, but your life?

Genre: Romance, Drama, Fluff, Angst, Slow Burn

Pairing: Namjoon x (f) OC

Word Count: 8.0k

Tags: Non-Idol!Au, Producer!Namjoon, Bookstore Clerk!Seokjin, Potter!Jimin, Producer!Yoongi, Dancer!Hoseok

Warnings: Frequent mentions of mental illness, infrequent swearing and mentions of alcohol

A/N: Hey guys! Here we are at the start of a new series! Ahhhh I can’t believe it. I’m so so excited about this one, so I really hope you guys like it. I hope I can continue it with your support! I tried uploading yesterday, but it didn’t get much traction, so I’m trying again today! Hopefully this time it works out. Regardless, I’m really enthusiastic about this plot so I’m excited to hear your thoughts! Please don’t be shy and send feedback, critique, questions, theories, and comments my way. I’ll be sure to respond to all asks I receive within a day of receiving them! Links will be added later, so for now check my masterlist to find previous chapters!

And again, if you want to follow my Twitter, my username is @/plzpunchmebts. I’m super active over there and hopefully in the future I’ll do some livestreams/chats with you all! 

- Mercury

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Eunbyul

Some people say dreams don’t mean anything. That we assign a story to them when we wake up to make sense of all those disjointed electrical impulses, to glean meaning from the random energy. I always kinda liked that theory. Something about it is a little charming: finding the reason in the chaos. I read somewhere that dreams might serve as a form of psychotherapy, letting us deal with difficult issues without bringing them into waking life. I don’t like this theory as much. I also read somewhere that Sigmund Freud thought dreams give us an insight into our unconscious.

I really don’t like that one.

The air was quiet, half-dead after most of the customers had taken their leave, and smelled of instant coffee and old books. Rows of bookshelves lined the scuffed wood floor, endless greenery swaying in hanging baskets or draping over the tops of shelves. Distantly, I heard the sound of the old coffeemaker straining. Sunset rapidly approached on the horizon, encroaching on the city like a curtain. With a sigh, I let my eyes slide from the tabletop beneath my fingers to the window beside me, overlooking the broken outline of stout buildings, green hillsides, and ocean beyond. My eyes ached a little from straining them for hours and I took a moment to give them a rub with my palms, jimmying my glasses up my nose so they pressed into my forehead.

“Need some coffee?”

I jumped, my glasses clattering onto the old table, and I squinted up toward the voice. Chagrined, my cheeks flamed and I scrambled to grab my glasses once more, placing them carefully on the bridge of my nose so I could see him properly. There he stood, terribly handsome with wide eyes and full lips half-parted, brows raised as he looked down at me like a peculiar creature to study. Kim Seokjin.

When I took a moment to really look at him, there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like. From the caramel top of his head to the bits of smooth forehead that showed through his hair to his playful round eyes to his lopsided half-smile.

“You okay?” he asked, leaning down at the waist to examine me.

My back went rigid and I coughed a little, slamming my book shut and standing to my feet. “I…I was about to leave,” I said without looking directly at him. If I did, I might embarrass myself again.

He chuckled and watched me shove my things into my satchel haphazardly, edges of paper sticking out at odd angles and several book corners straining against the canvas fabric. With a bow, I walked past him in the narrow aisle, careful not to touch him.

“Take care!” he called, whistling as he wandered back toward the register in the corner. He greeted the customer waiting there with a smile.

I watched from the doorway for a moment, scanning him in profile. Even his shapeless maroon bookstore smock looked handsome on him. He nodded gently as the customer made idle conversation, the two of them chatting easily. He placed her books into a paper bag and slid them across the counter, resting his chin in his hand and raising his eyes to offer his full attention. The customer, a young girl maybe a few years my senior, flushed just a little and a nervous smile spread across her face, eyes flitting around as she avoided his gaze.

I sighed and pushed the front door open, exiting to the sound of the overhead bell.

“You smell like bad coffee,” remarked Gaeul as I fell onto the plush living room couch.

She sat in front of the TV on the floor, criss-crossed, nursing a can of lukewarm beer as reruns of Produce 48 droned on. “Went to the bookstore,” I mumbled into a pillow, laying face-down on my stomach with my legs bent against the arm of the couch.

She reached back and gave my arm a smack before returning her attention to the screen. “Stupid,” she said.

I sighed and nodded, reaching out my fingers toward her. Without saying a word, she handed me her can and I took a greedy sip, wincing as the stuff slid down my throat. I bumped the can against her shoulder once I was finished and silently she retrieved it. I let my arm dangle, fingers brushing the plastic-covered floor, and shut my eyes.

“Did you talk to him?”

“Mhm.”

“What’d you say?” she asked.

I opened one eye. “Something dumb.”

She nodded, gaze glued to the television. “Predictable,” she said.

I inhaled slowly, glancing toward the new mural she was working on. A nature scene, the wall behind the TV was now dedicated to a half-finished paint project Gaeul had started the week after I moved in. Green pine trees were poking through grayish fog that ended abruptly where the unpainted white wall began. She’d been following a Bob Ross tutorial after seeing a video of someone else doing it online, but lacked the followthrough to see it to completion. The floor was still covered in plastic tarps from the living room to the kitchen, and each step crinkled, but it made cleaning easier. Consider cleaning your rent, Gaeul had said when she agreed to take me in, At least until you get a job.

“Wanna order in?” she asked, eyes affixed to the television.

We’d ordered in more times in the last few weeks here than we ever had at our parents’ house, mostly because of me. Chinese food containers formed skyscrapers in the recycling bin and not one of Gaeul’s nice ceramic plates had seen use since I moved in.

I sighed, shutting my eyes once more, and gave a defeated nod. “Yeah,” I said.

I washed my hands in the quiet restroom at Hyejin’s Books, trying not to look too long at my gaunt reflection in the mirror. Since moving, my skin had gone lackluster from lack of time outside and my once-long hair was now chopped short, curling from the beach town humidity, sticking up around my shoulders. Why’d you cut it? Gaeul had asked upon my arrival at her apartment. I hadn’t answered, only shrugged. After all, how was I supposed to explain to my sister that cutting it off felt like the only thing I could do? The only thing that made me feel like I was moving forward, even a little?

I adjusted my round rims on my nose bridge and patted my flushed cheeks, nodding once as I turned on my heel toward the exit. But as my fingers clasped around the doorknob, I heard a distinctive sniffle coming from the farthest stall. My back stiffened. Was someone crying? I swallowed hard, body like firm glass, and waited with bated breath for the sound to come again. Had I been preening in that bathroom while this stranger cried? All along?

I peeked over my shoulder, just a little, and bent enough to see the ground beneath the stalls. Indeed, a pair of sneakered feet rested on the polished linoleum, and a person sitting on the ground attached to them. I swallowed hard and lingered in the doorway, awaiting another sniffle, another sign of distress.

But none came. Just silence.

And despite my misgivings, I simply exhaled and absolved myself of guilt. Whoever they were, they didn’t want to be bothered or they’d be making themselves known. I didn’t want to risk upsetting them further, or earning someone’s anger. I pushed the door open and made my way out into the narrow hallway, my mind hanging back in that bathroom.

Gently, I repositioned my meager belongings — wallet, glasses case, memo pad — back into my bag with a sigh. Seokjin wasn’t working, and while he wasn’t the only reason to come to a lazy bookstore and kill time, a place where I knew I wouldn’t be in anybody’s way, he was a big part of why I braved the two-block walk along a busy main street nearly every day. How pathetic. I stared down at the tan skin of my hands, still poised to shove a book or two in my bag, and sighed. What use were hands if they were idle?

I shook my head. A flash of that endless darkness crossed my mind. If I thought too much about my disappointments I’d have the bad dream.

But as I turned on my heel and stepped into the walkway, I heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. Perhaps if I’d have been more alert, the sound would have made me pause, but my mind still lingered on that sniffle. I was making something out of nothing, right? It wasn’t even my business, really. If they wanted to cry in a bookstore, they had that right, didn’t they? Who was I to pry anyway? And what if asking if they were okay made them mad at me?

My body collided with someone else’s. Someone solid, with more flesh and height than I had.

“Ah!” exclaimed a voice from in front of me, too loud for the mellow bookstore.

Another bookstore employee, the girl was holding a beautiful potted plant in her gentle hands, and as if in slow motion, she was swaying back on her heels from the force of our collision. With long, pin-straight black hair and a crooked smile, she was the goofy sort of pretty that made you feel at ease. Or at least, it should make you feel at ease. Unfortunately, looking at her now as she peered down at me with wide, chestnut eyes and lips forming a surprised ‘O’ I felt nothing short of panicked. She swung her hand out, seeking purchase, and clasped hard onto the strap of my satchel.

“Ah, sor-,” I began, voice weak, but before I could continue I heard the distinctive rrrriiiiip of fabric tearing apart.

Too late.

I didn’t even have time to mourn the torn-open satchel because with her pulling so hard in one direction and me still walking in the other, when the tether between us snapped she ended up yanking me down with her. Arms flailing as they scrambled to cushion my fall, my knuckles brushed something hard and another upsetting noise ripped through the quiet store, like someone had thrust open the emergency exit on a plane.

Crash!

I sat on my hands and knees, eyes wide and watering and focused on the ground in front of me to avoid looking at the ground beside me where I knew the carnage lie. Out of my peripheral, however, I saw the unmistakable array of broken pottery, mingling with moist soil and prematurely torn leaves. It seems my momentum had been strong enough to cause a casualty, and I’d grabbed the beautiful potted plant she’d been trying to protect on the way down.

“Oh no!” she cried, horror etched into her gentle features.

The two of us lie in a heap, limbs tangled, belongings strewn about in all directions. My heart was racing, face hot. I eyed the broken pot as it lay splayed out on the ground beside my fingertips. The shock and embarrassment had rendered me immobile, sitting slack-jawed on all fours, eyes wide. Why had I done that? Why hadn’t I contained my fall? Why couldn’t I keep from being in somebody’s way?

“Shoot…,” she mumbled as she scrambled toward the wreckage on her knees. She began collecting the jagged clay pieces, but before she could handle too many I jumped and clasped her hands to stop her. “Huh?” she asked, eyes round as she turned to me.

“You’ll cut yourself,” I said, eyes on the pieces.

I pursed my lips and turned the remains of my satchel upside down, wrapping my hands in the canvas as my belongings rolled around the floor, adding to the mess. I collected the pieces in my covered palm, holding the bigger chunks between my index finger and thumb.

“Thanks,” said the girl, her voice low as she used her smock to help. “I’m sorry for grabbing you on the way down.”

I shook my head, letting my mind focus on the pieces instead of the palpitations of my heart, the sweat gathering in my palms. Doctor Kim said when I felt it coming, I could circumvent it with enough focus. Just…focus on something else. So I did, watching with an almost catatonic gaze as my hands worked on their own accord, independent of my will.

“This thing was kinda expensive…,” she mumbled, sighing as I deposited the pieces I’d collected into the hamper she’d made of her smock. “I bet they’ll take it outta my pay.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, struggling to track her words as they left her mouth. Folks around the shop were staring now, spectating. It was hard to find something else to focus on when all I could think of was disappearing right then and there.

“Anyway, thanks for helping,” she said with a soft smile.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, nodding and pushing to my feet.

“I really am sorry,” she said, helping gather my things from around the floor.

I swallowed hard. “It’s okay.” I kept my eyes on the ground, eager to disappear from that book store and find a new place to spend my endless days.

I collected my things and carried them awkwardly in front of my stomach. I glanced around and found that every patron had paused their individual activities to watch the show. My throat constricted and my breaths became slightly more shallow. Before I could think too hard, I rushed out the door and down the stairs.

I sat by myself on a swing, all alone in a big, sprawling park. I’d only just turned seven, and the world seemed all at once too big and too small for me. Gaeul told me to wait for her there, wait until she was done with soccer practice so we could walk home together. But as sunset began to bleed across the sky in red and purple, the shadows started to look too long, the trees rustling too loud in the breeze. Picking at the skin around my fingernails, I slouched over my knees, eyes on the sand below that my toes couldn’t quite reach. My throat felt a little tight, and swallowing didn’t fix it any.

“Byul!” called Gaeul as she ran down the sidewalk toward me, waving her arms above her head with a gummy grin.

Upon seeing her, I smiled and slid off the swing. I ran to meet her halfway. “How was practice?” I asked, slurring a little with my missing front tooth.

She whistled and rested both hands on her hips with the smile of a champion, cleats tied and slung over her shoulder, kneepads slid down to her ankles. She was skinny, like a waif, knobby knees emerging from beneath too-big gym shorts. But to me, she looked like a superhero with the sun silhouetting her. My big sister, here to save me.

I hadn’t learned yet that there were things even she couldn’t save me from.

“Nevermind that,” she said, waving a hand with a loud laugh that crashed and echoed against the trees. “Jaehyun’s mom gave me some money for helping out with her lawn. Let’s go get some snacks at Auntie’s!”

My eyes went wide at the mention of food and I beamed up at her. Her round face was flushed, hair a mess, eyes nearly invisible with the force of her smile. And I knew that, if I had her around, I’d be okay.

“Let’s go through the woods!” said Gaeul, sliding past me on the playground path and pointing with one spindly arm towards the line of trees ringing the west side.

I stared into the rapidly darkening forest, squinting into its depths. It seemed the longer I looked, the deeper the woods became, and despite having played in those woods enough to know them like the back of my hand, something about it felt a little ominous that day.

I should’ve listened to my instincts.

“Let’s go!” called Gaeul as she jogged toward the tree line, leaving me to toddle cautiously in her wake.

I awoke with a start and stared at the analog clock on my wall. Squinting against the barely breaking morning outside my window, I saw the time. 4:03. My fingers found the empty bridge of my nose and squeezed. I grabbed for my glasses and slid them on, rubbing my jaw. There was no hope of falling asleep again, not after a dream like that.

At least it wasn’t the bad dream.

I stretched in bed and gave my fleshy thighs a squeeze, massaging the tension out of them with my fingers. My body had a tendency to seize up during dreams. Doctor Kim said it was because of my fitful sleeping habits, and that seemed to make enough sense. But it had certainly been a while since I’d felt these cramps.

I sighed, pushing myself out of bed and padding in my socks toward my yet unpacked luggage. I rifled through the clothes I’d been cycling for weeks, some of them washed and some not, and settled on an old Nirvana shirt Dad gave me before I left and a pair of shorts that allowed the warm air to unknot the cramps in my legs. Tiptoeing out onto the tarp-covered living room floor, I made my way to the front door and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes, not bothering to tie them, and slid a baseball cap on my head.

With a glance over my shoulder at the still, quiet apartment, I stepped out into the hallway and made my way to the stairwell.

Walking helped the muscles loosen up, and after thirty minutes of wandering the dawn-drenched alleyways and sidewalks around Gaeul’s apartment, my body felt relaxed again. Dawn was a nice time of day. Nobody was out yet, the businesspeople still tucked in bed, the late night wanderers making their ways home. It was just me, the lilac morning, the sleeping city, and the ground beneath my untied shoes.

Well, and the sound of jazzy lofi.

As I rounded the corner toward the arts district, about a block from Hyejin’s, I heard the muffled sound of music bumping quietly from an open window on the first floor of a narrow shop, nestled between two tall, windowed buildings. The storefront looked a little out of place in such a modern area. In fact, it probably suited the beachfront more with its brown shutters and faded turquoise paint. I approached it slowly, rubbing my bleary eyes to get a proper look at it. Who was up and working at this hour?

Park’s Pottery.

The sign was old, weathered, propped out over the sidewalk to attract attention from passers by. Well, it certainly attracted my attention. I wandered closer to the open window and peeked inside. I scanned the dim shop with a squint. It was small, but crammed with vases and teapots and bowls. Floor to ceiling were metal racks housing all manner of trinkets. The walls were adorned with tapestries, paintings, and posters from all over the place, and the floor was home to several elegant rugs, all splattered with dried clay. To the right of the front window was a cash register and to the left was an alcove with a bright, yellow warehouse light. That was the source of the music.

I crept a little closer, placing my hands on the windowpane, and craned my neck to see better. In that alcove was a spinning table and, with his back hunched over it, a young man with a bandana holding his hair off his shiny forehead. I raised my brows as I got a better look at him in profile. Dark hair and focused, serious eyes, he had cherubic cheeks and pouty lips as he worked his hands over the clay, smoothing it as it spun in rapid circles. His fingers looked capable, certain as they molded the material, occasionally dipping into a bowl of sludgy water and returning with biceps straining. It was almost like a dance. The hypnotic motions had me in a trance. He seemed so sure of himself, so confident. In control.

I didn’t even notice when the music stopped.

But he did.

He turned his head sharply toward the desk behind him and stared at his cell phone with a sigh. He sure was pretty. But before I could admire the stranger properly, his smart, dark eyes were upon me, sweeping naturally from his phone back to his clay. I stiffened in the windowsill and, as he opened his mouth and widened his eyes, I jumped and ran down the sidewalk, pumping my arms.

What was I, a criminal?

I sprinted quickly, squeezing my eyes shut as embarrassment turned my skin into hot leather. Great, I thought, another place I have to avoid.

“Wait!” called a high, gentle voice from behind me.

I turned to glance at the stranger as he exited the building, leaving the front door swinging behind him. He took off in a jog after me, fists clenched and still dripping with wet clay. I flushed and ran faster, desperate to avoid this awkward confrontation. My throat was closing, and not from the running. Each time I glanced over my shoulder, the stranger was right there, just a few paces behind me.

As I forced myself to run faster, I felt something tug at my ankle and before I could react, the untied lace from my right shoe was trapped beneath my left foot and I went sailing through the air. I flew for a foot or two before skidding to a stop on my bare knees, crying out in pain as my palms collided with the rough concrete. Wincing, I examined my hands and let out a strangled yelp as I found the skin had begun to peel away, revealing a layer of blood.

“Shit! You okay?” asked the same voice from behind me.

Heart hammering, I kept my head low, face obscured by my baseball cap, and nodded my head. “Mhm.”

I felt him approaching as he squatted beside me, glancing over my shoulder. “Ah,” he exhaled with a sigh. “Come back with me. I’ve got a first aid kit.”

I made no move to leave my spot, sitting on my skinned knees. But the young man was persistent and, upon seeing my reluctance, huffed and grabbed me by the crook of my elbow, leaving fingerprints of clay on my skin. Without a word, he led the way back to his pottery shop and I followed like a scolded child.

Well, at least the city was still asleep.

The young man kept his serious dark eyes trained on my hands as he applied several large bandages to them. He’d already taken care of my knees, and had demanded I sit in front of the pottery wheel while he took his time dressing my wounds. After what felt like an eternity in that dark shop, he finally spoke.

“Why’d you run away?” he asked.

I stiffened. Why had I? “I…,” I began, then shook my head. My heart rate had slowly returned to normal with the passage of time, and despite this man being a stranger I felt at ease around him. Probably because he hadn’t properly looked me in the eye. “I got nervous.”

He chuckled and patted my palm, glancing toward his half-finished work on the wheel behind me. “Nervous?” he asked.

“I was watching you through your window,” I said with a sigh. “Kinda creepy.”

He glanced at me for only a moment before shutting his eyes and offering a shrug and an easy smile. “I like having an audience,” he said.

I eyed him, his soft face, his slim shoulders and the dirty smock he had draped over them. He didn’t look like a potter. “Are you an employee?” I asked.

He opened his eyes and raised his brows. “Me?” he asked, then laughed and waved his freshly cleaned hands. “No, I own this place.”

I felt my eyes go wide, but tried to manage my expression. “You’re…you’re pretty young to own a pottery shop.”

He smiled. “Twenty-four,” he said with a nod. “It’s a family business, but my dad retired and handed the place down to me.”

I hummed as I glanced around. It sure was rustic. But charming nonetheless. Like a relic lost to time. “Your pieces are pretty,” I remarked as I scanned the racks.

He hummed, patting his thighs with a nod. “Well, after so long learning I’d sure hope my wares are good.”

“You get a lot of customers?” I asked, peeking at him out the corner of my eye. This was the longest conversation I’d had with anyone since moving out here, and for some reason I was reluctant to cut it short.

He chuckled and rubbed his jaw. “Mhm,” he said. “Why else would I be out here so early?”

“You work all day?”

“Nearly.”

“Every day?”

He smiled and met my eyes. “Nearly.”

“Wow,” I mumbled as I took in the shop from this new angle. I sighed. “Must be nice.”

“Hm?”

“Having something to do.”

I felt his eyes on me as my own eyes wandered, catching on little details all throughout the shop. A painting of Venus beside the door, a bare lightbulb, unlit, dangling from the ceiling beside the checkout counter, the frayed edge of a red and purple rug. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, wasn’t even sure what I was thinking, but wordlessly I felt him shift as he sat on a crate in front of me.

“You wanna take something with you?” he asked quietly, lilting voice barely above a whisper in the silent shop.

I raised my brows. “Can you do that?”

He shrugged. “My shop.”

I chuckled and nodded. “I guess that’s true,” I said, sighing as I pushed myself to my feet. The young man joined me and gestured with one swooping hand toward the racks.

“Choose whatever you want,” he said, walking beside me as he weaved his way through the aisles. My gaze landed on a particularly beautiful flower pot sitting at eye level, just beside the throwing table. “Teapots are over here. Bowls are over there. Got a few-,”

“I want this,” I said, reaching for the pot with two careful hands.

He blinked a few times and met my eyes from the other side of the rack. “Oh,” he said, then nodded. “Alright.”

I ran my fingers over the flower pot. It had been intricately carved with swirling roses and twisting vines, leaves floating everywhere. It was definitely prettier than the one I broke, that much was certain. It looked about the right size. Hopefully they hadn’t already bought a new one.

Well, if they did I could just keep the thing for myself.

I offered the young man a tight-lipped smile and bowed my head, excusing myself to the exit. He followed beside me, eyeing the pot in my hands with a curious expression. Once in the doorway, I turned to him and gave one more bow.

“I’m sorry for spying on you,” I said, meeting his eyes carefully.

He smiled and, lucky for me, his eyes nearly disappeared. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Stop by again sometime. Maybe you can buy something.”

I nodded and smiled at the flower pot. “I will.”

“I’m Jimin, by the way. Park Jimin,” he said, holding out a hand for me to shake.

I hoisted the flower pot up on my hip and took his warm hand, shaking twice. “Nice to meet you,” I said. “I’m Lee Eunbyul.”

He smiled again. “Pleasure,” he said, waving as I slipped out the front door. “Hope to see you again soon, Eunbyul.”

I slipped through the front door of Hyejin’s Bookstore, still holding the flower pot close. I’d waited an hour for the shop to open and, allowing the morning staff a ten minute grace period to set up shop, was the first patron to enter. The shop housed two stories of books and, navigating the stacks expertly like a covert agent, I maneuvered my way to the second floor unbeknownst to the two opening employees. I hadn’t had the time to figure out which ones they were, but from the broad back and chestnut hair of the man standing at the coffee maker I was pretty sure I could guess at least one.

God, of course. During my most important stealth mission, my Kryptonite shows up.

Nonetheless, I tiptoed toward the register and, using the sides of my fingers as cushions, set the flower pot down beside the register with a wince. By then, several other patrons had begun filing in, braving the steep stairs to the second floor and lining up beside the ancient coffee machine. I kept an eye on everyone, but mostly Seokjin as he restocked the paper cups and coffee stirrers. Once I was certain the pot was placed perfectly, I took a half-step back and glanced over my shoulder at Seokjin, still unaware of my presence.

His hair was quaffed out of his face today, styled to reveal his forehead, and his skin was practically glowing. I wasn’t sure if I was more jealous or in love with the guy. Sighing, I wandered lazily toward my favorite spot by the window, resting my hands palms-down on the tabletop. A few moments passed in silence before I heard someone speak.

“Oh…,” breathed a voice from the register.

To my dismay, there stood the same girl from the day before, eyes wide as she stared at the intricate, detailed flower pot with wonder-filled eyes. She turned it around a few times, appraising it, before smiling softly and scoffing once. She swept her gaze around the bookstore and I let my head fall downwards, heart racing. If she spotted me, I was cooked. She’d know for certain who had left it there.

“Jin!” she called with a disbelieving laugh.

Seokjin jogged over toward his coworker at the register and, rolling up the cuffs of his white button-down, glanced down toward the pot. “Whoa!” he exclaimed, grinning. “Someone left it here?”

“Seems like it,” replied the girl, smiling stupefied at the gift. “I was just about to buy a new one after work.”

I had to admit to a little swell of pride at that expression. It felt good to do good, that’s what Dad always said. And even though the pot was just repayment for the broken one, I felt a little piece inside me slip back into place. Like cogs in a clock.

“Huh,” said Seokjin, and without warning his eyes found me.

I stiffened, ready to make a run for it, but was stunned into stillness as our gazes locked and his handsome face broke into a small, knowing smile. “Seems like someone’s looking out for you,” he said gently, still smiling my way.

I cleared my throat and glanced out the window at the pastel morning sky, resting my burning cheek in my hand and allowing my mind to wander to the faraway clouds that ringed the horizon.

I’m dreaming, I thought to myself as I examined my hands, the fuzzy edges where my brain tried and failed to remember the finer details. Last thing I remembered was falling asleep in bed. What had Doctor Kim said? If you know it’s a dream, you can wake yourself up if you try hard enough. I tried hard to feel my body, the mattress beneath it, the covers I’d kicked off of it in the middle of the night. I tried to reason myself back into a physical space, out of this dark, cold, colorless void. But the more I struggled, the more suffocating the darkness felt. I squeezed my eyes shut, but like when I was young I could find no solace in the pitch-dark backs of my eyelids.

“Alright, alright,” I said aloud with a nod, shaking out my hands. I glanced around the void for a moment, eyes scanning the depths. “Detail, detail,” I said. I managed my breathing. “Doctor Kim said to find a detail.”

I scanned the darkness, searching for something, anything, that stood out. Something that clued me in to this being a dream. Something I could use to shake my brain out of sleep. I took a tentative step forward, or rather what might have been a step, and felt the same cool air I always felt in this void. My throat was constricting the longer I spent in here.

“Detail,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut. I begged for it. I longed for it so hard I wondered if I could simply will it into existence. “A tear,” I began. “Or a fray.” I scoffed as determined tears marched down my cheeks. “A fucking shoelace!” I shouted into the nothing.

Frustrated, I fell backwards onto my bottom and submitted to the sobs that began wracking my frame. The chill bit my exposed skin and raised goosebumps on my arms. “Jesus,” I said aloud, rubbing them down through tears. “For a dream, this shit is too realistic.”

I sniffled and stared around me at the darkness. When I was young, I used to search for the end of it. I walked for what felt like miles in one direction each night, wandering endlessly until eventually I woke up.

I never did find the end.

“Because there is no end,” I mumbled to myself, kicking my toe into the nothing beneath my cold bare feet.

“Yes there is.”

I screamed and jumped upright, scrambling backwards away from the voice behind me. Gasping for breath with my heart hammering, I peeled my eyes open and saw to my horror and immense relief…

A young man.

Standing about six feet tall with kind, dark brown eyes and a dimpled smile, the man seemed…inexplicably gentle. He stood dressed in plaid pajama pants and an old t-shirt, no shoes like me, honey-blonde hair sitting like a mop atop his head, standing in all directions. He yawned and scratched his jaw, eyes half-shut. Had my brain conjured another person to keep me company?

For the first time, I wasn’t alone in here…

I adjusted my posture, staring at him for what felt like a long, desperate moment. And, without meaning to, I rushed toward him and wrapped trembling fingers around his arm. Despite my expectations, he was real. Tangible. My fingers clamped down on actual flesh. They didn’t pass through. A fresh wave of emotion swept me up and carried me away and wordlessly, hot tears rolled like raindrops down my cheeks. Still holding on to his arm, I dipped my head, leaning it against his firm chest, and sobbed.

Startled, he tried to step away from me, but I was putting too much weight on him. He coughed a little before, almost reluctantly, he raised a hand and patted my shoulder.

“Ah…um…it’s okay…?” he said, trailing off.

I sniffled. “I can’t believe it.”

“Hm?”

“Detail,” I mumbled, wiping my messy eyes on his white shirt.

“Ah!” he shouted as I leaned away and he saw the wet spots. “Oh shoot.” He freed his arm from my grasp so he could pat the stains with the pads of his fingers.

I sniffled and stared up at him, juxtaposed against the unfathomable darkness, eyes downturned to focus on his shirt. “You’re not real, are you?” I asked slowly, edging away. My brain wasn’t tidy enough to worry about a stained shirt…

So whatever he was, he couldn’t be from me.

His eyes flashed back toward me, sweet, heavy-lidded, pupils huge in the dark. “I…yes? Are you?” he asked, then squinted at me with those sweet eyes. “Have you been crying for a while? You’re very red.”

I blinked at him and took a half-step back, not trusting myself to speak again. I glanced down at my bare legs, covered only by frumpy panties and a big shirt, and tried to subtly guide the hemline down the skin of my thighs.

“You…you’re really a real person? Really?” I asked.

He chuckled. “Really really.”

I furrowed my brow and examined him from where I stood several inches shorter. His cheeks went pink under my scrutiny, but it was incomprehensible to me. “I’ve been having these dreams since I was seven and I’ve never seen another person,” I said.

He raised his brows. “Seven?” he asked. “Huh.” He peered down at me. “How old are you now?”

“Does that matter?”

“I’m just trying to make sense of it too,” he said, watching me carefully.

I sighed. “Twenty-two,” I said.

“I’m twenty-four…,” he said with a hum, rubbing his jaw with his right hand. Something about him was oddly intellectual, like he had answers to any question I could conjure. But my heart was still racing, my palms still slick with sweat. No matter how forthcoming he was, he was still a stranger in my dream. “Guess it doesn’t have to do with age. Maybe time?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, frustrated.

He glanced at me before squinting into the darkness. “Well I started having these dreams at age nine,” he began, eyeing me. “Same time you did. I was just two years older.”

“So?”

“Maybe it’s connected?” he asked with a shrug.

“Doctor Kim said-,” I began, then stopped myself short, clamping my mouth shut. I crossed my arms and sighed. “It’s trauma-based. This whole thing.”

“Is it?”

I glanced at him. “Isn’t it?”

He smiled. “I’m not so sure,” he said, then sighed and took a step forward. “Why’s it so dark here?”

“You’ve been having these dreams since you were nine and you don’t know it’s gonna be dark?” I asked, cocking a brow as I sat down on the nothing beneath me.

He blinked at me. “Wait, it’s always like this for you?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Is there anything else it could be?”

He scoffed and crossed his arms, disbelief etched into his features. “Well,” he began, glancing around. “It can be anything, really.”

“Huh?”

Before I could interrogate him further, the blackness around began to give way to something else. Like spilling paint across a canvas, vibrant colors began to bleed from behind the stranger’s back, extending forward toward me. A frightened cry escaped me and I leapt to my feet, scuttling away from the colors as they spread like a drink tipped over. At first, the colors seemed shapeless but as they grew the image began to clear up, revealing soft edges and patterns and before I knew it I was standing on a beach, golden sand between my bare toes, purplish ocean rising and falling behind the man’s back as an invisible tide drew waves against the shore.

Tears pricked my eyes as I stumbled back once again, only this time I felt the warm sand beneath me, cushioning my fall. Gaping, I sat with my legs bent awkwardly on the shoreline’s slope, staring at the endless ocean and the cliffside forming a ring around the beach.

“W-w-what the hell is this?!” I screamed, and my voice didn’t echo, it just seeped through the landscape, swallowed by the sound of the waves. My tears returned, trailing hot down my face.

The stranger approached and crouched beside me, eyes wide. “Shit, I didn’t mean to scare you or anything! It’s just-,”

“Wh-what the fuck are you?” I asked, hands trembling violently. “I-I-I’ve never s-seen it do that.”

He blinked at me, genuine worry in his soft eyes, and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I thought you could do it too.”

“Do what?”

“Control it.”

“Control what?”

“The dream.”

I swiped a hand across my face, wiping my tears, and glanced around the beach. The longer I looked, the more beautiful it was. Like a snapshot in time. The sky was drenched in shades of lilac and amber and the sun seemed to live perpetually against the horizon line, never dipping below. A never-ending sunset. When I inhaled, I could even smell the salty seawater and fresh summertime air.

“What’s your name?” asked the stranger, coming to an uneasy crouch beside me.

I turned my wild eyes toward him and blinked. “Eunbyul,” I said weekly. “Lee Eunbyul.”

He smiled gently and held out his hands for me to shake. I was struck by the memory of Jimin from earlier that morning. Was this perhaps all he was? A manifestation of my memories of the day? “Kim Namjoon,” he said as he clasped his hand around my bandaged palm. “This is a first for me too, you know,” he said as he fell onto his bottom by my thigh.

I glanced at him. “What?”

“Having someone else here,” he said with a chuckle. “Not that I think you’re real.”

“I’m not real?” I asked, eyes wide, as I pointed a finger toward my chest.

He raised his brows. “Well how could you be? It’s not like this is a different dimension. It’s just my dream, right?”

“It’s my dream,” I said. “Listen, you’re really freaking me out.”

He turned to me with a furrowed brow. “Then you’re real? Are you sure?” He then rolled his eyes and rested his chin in his hand. “Stupid question. If you’re something I made up then of course you’re gonna say you’re real.”

“I’m a real person, Namjoon,” I said seriously, meeting his eyes. “I have a sister named Gaeul and a mom named Iseul and a dad named Doyeon. I’m from Sangdo-dong-,”

“You’re from Sangdo-dong?” he asked, eyes wide.

I nodded. “Yeah,” I said, timid pinned underneath his incriminating gaze.

He furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. “Huh.”

“Do you believe me?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can I prove it?” I asked.

He eyed me. “I don’t know.”

I swallowed hard. “Do I really seem like just character you dreamed up?” I asked, rubbing my eyes. “Do you really think your brain is that powerful?”

At this he chuckled and a little bit of the tension I’d been holding in my gut dissolved. I glanced at him, bathed in gentle dying sunlight, and found my proof. There was no way my mind could conjure someone like him. Something magnificent like this scene. I wasn’t equipped like he was.

“How did you do it?” I asked quietly, still scanning his fine features, his honeyed skin.

He raised his brows. “I don’t know how to explain it. I just kind of…do it,” he said with a nod.

I blinked. “That’s super unhelpful.”

He laughed. “Well…I guess the best I can do is say…think of a vivid memory, something really sensory, and try to put yourself there.”

“So you’ve been here before?” I asked, glancing around.

He smiled. “It’s a beach in the town where I live,” he said softly. “I came here when I graduated high school. All alone. And I just watched the waves until night came.”

“And what if I want to go to…I don’t know, Barbados?” I asked.

He laughed, a vibrant, bellowing sound, and his eyes squeezed shut. He hooked his elbows around his knees and grinned at the skyline. “Then I’d say study up.”

“Have you ever done it? Created a place you’ve never been to?” I asked, my curiosity forcing my inhibitions to rest.

He hummed. “Once or twice, but it’s harder. Gotta know what you want to see like the back of your hand for it to work.”

“And you do this every time?”

“Mhm,” he said with an easy smile. “A lucid dream is defined as a dream during which dreamers, while dreaming, are aware they are dreaming,” he said, sounding like an encyclopedia. Like he had it memorized. “That’s what specialists say.”

“So this is just a lucid dream to you?”

“Is it not a lucid dream to you?” he asked, raising his brows.

I blinked, mouth agape, and returned my eyes to the sea. “I never thought of it that way,” I said quietly, picking at the skin around my nails. “I guess since I couldn’t control them…”

He smiled. “But you can,” he said. “It’s your dream after all.”

I turned to him, brows furrowed, and exhaled slowly. “It’s my dream…,” I repeated with a nod. I turned to glance at the ocean. “I think I figured out a way to prove I’m real.”

“Mm?”

“If I can show you something you’ve never seen…that would be enough, right?” I asked, watching the waves lapping the shore.

He smiled. “I suppose.”

I nodded and squeezed my eyes shut. I focused on all my senses. The scent of old wood, pancakes cooking in the kitchen, far away. The feeling of Mom’s quilt beneath my fingertips, the cool air-conditioning blowing strands of hair around my face. The sound of muffled conversation through the walls, footsteps falling through the wood-floored hallways. The way my bed looked, tucked in a corner beside the window, white sheer curtains blowing with the breeze that Mom scolded me for letting in, the dresser in the corner, the narrow door, my box of toys half-open by the bed. I saw and felt it all so vividly I was certain that when I opened my eyes-

There it was.

I blinked at the dark wood paneling of my childhood bedroom, the beams criss-crossing overhead, the shiny floor. A few scoffing breaths escaped my lips in uneasy puffs, but before I could say a single thing, a voice retrieved me from my reverie.

“Wow,” said Namjoon from beside me.

And with that, the illusion crumbled and my bedroom faded away like sand through my fingertips. The image slipped in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only the black emptiness of nothing, all around us. I swallowed the lump in my throat and stared at the blackness for a few tense seconds. It had been there. My room had really, truly been there right before my eyes. I could feel it, smell it, touch it. Like I was right there.

I glanced at Namjoon and found him smirking at me. “Well,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve certainly never seen that before.”

Before I could reply, I felt a vague tugging sensation in my chest, like I was being yanked from the inside. “Oh,” I breathed.

He glanced down at his own chest and nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

“W-wait!” I called, resisting the pull and reaching my desperate, clinging hands out to him once more. I grabbed his forearm in my hands and stared up at him, pleading. “I…I don’t wanna go yet,” I said, shaking my head. “I have so much to ask you.”

He smiled gently and gave my hand a pat. “It was nice to meet you, Eunbyul,” he said, taking a step away from me and breaking the tether of my grip. My hands fell to my sides and the pull became too strong to fight.

“Namjoon!” I called, but my voice was fading and so was he. “I’ll come back! I swear!”

“Maybe we’ll see each other again,” he said with an echoing laugh. “Maybe even in real life.”

I felt like I might cry again. So much had happened in one night. The fear I’d always harbored for this dark nightmare was all but gone. In its wake, anticipation so great it threatened to sweep me away like the inescapable force of a tide.

I awoke panting, sweat beading along my hairline. I swallowed hard past the dryness in my throat and reached for my water bottle, removing my glasses from the bridge of my nose and slipping them onto the table. I usually didn’t sleep with those things on. I drank greedily, shutting my eyes, and ran a hand through my hair before collapsing once more against the cushion of my bed. 4:03.

I huffed and set the bottle aside, lying still on my back and staring at the fuzzy outline of the ceiling, unable to see it properly with my glasses.

Again, I was awake before the sun.

Only this time, I couldn’t remember what sort of dream had woken me up.

[rqs902]

qcyn ep 8 aka the loss of some real talent..... (but also, thankfully, some needed recognition was given as well)

psa im probably gonna be posting stuff involving some spoilers soon, so ill tag them as #qcyn spoilers and you can feel free to block those posts if you dont want to see them!

awwwwwww shi mingze helping mingming get people’s attention is the cutest friendship!!! mingming is so quiet... i love a supportive mingze!!! also thank you iqiyi for giving him more screentime!! i can notice it already!

LOL sun zelin in this rap heavy group..... but this group is already the most fun group hahahah omg ye ziming talking about the fact that he knows he’s not likely gonna make it so he needs to help those kids who are more popular get better......... UGH WHY DO PEOPLE NOT RECOGNIZE THIS AMAZING CHILD. oh my goodness this is so sad.... the fact that THE KIDS WHO KNOW WHAT THEYRE DOING had to make a club dedicated to helping the kids who dont.... bc they know theyll make it instead of themselves....... that just means that they all know the next elim is gonna get rid of a whole lot of real talent. thats so messed up.... this whole montage is like iqiyi being like “thanks for helping our kids look nice on stage, once you’re done, you’re gonna be forced to leave. byeeeee” 

OMGOMGOMGOMOGMOGMOMGG LIN MO IS A CANDIDATE FOR CENTERRRR YESSSSSSSS I CANT BELIEVE!!!!! AMAZING!!!! also look at all the tyger members together aww

LOL lian huaiwei is just so funny just talking LOL. wait. so about that clip of lin mo helping chaoyuan and youwei that came out earlier this week. chaoyuan and youwei arent even in his half of the group. that means lin mo went out of his way to help them even tho he hasnt been practicing with them as closely as like huaiwei. wow he not only helped his own group but he went out to make sure everyone in their larger group got special help, AND youwei still called him “teacher” which means lin mo is probably regularly helping him. wow. man,, they didnt show any of lin mo’s group’s practice wtf........ i swear iqiyi is about to drop jia yi or something bc i thought theyd at least wanna show some of him.... but the small bit we saw of their dance wow lin mo is gonna do sooo well ahhhh he looks so good already, even in these lumpy practice clothes, im so excited to see him on stage

lol yaoyao (yao bolan) is in the super cute grouppp hahahhaha but ahh him talking about every faking their happiness really.... shows how observant and sensitive he is to his friends’ feelings, which is aw....

OMG THEY JUST SKIPPED ANNOUNCING the lower ranks ???? i mean i get u gotta be time efficient, but thats a little too efficient??? omg but sun zelin!!! and wu chengze!!! and wu zelin!! omg wang jiayi dropped so much. iqiyi has seriously just dropped him like a hot potato wow. CHEN SIJIAN WENT UP WHOOOO lol the creativity is real in this one hahahaha his speech

ok im sorry but wtf how did these three (14-16) get in front of lin mo, excuse me???? sigh.... oh well, at least hes still within top 20, i just want him to at least make it to top 20... lol they only let like 3 kids talk...... this is just too efficient yall.....

omgosh........ shi zhan and yaoyao........... ahhhhhhhhhhhh my heart ;;;;; yaoyao’s smile......... another bg project boy is gonna leave ahhh 

yao chi’s speech omg..... the child has seriously been through a lot of mental trauma look at how much he’s shaking goodness

omg i cant believe jia yi dropped so much...... wtf.......... are people blind???? iqiyi is really about to drop him omg i really think they havent been giving him enough screentime alskdjlk wow way to randomly cut off jia yi’s thank you to zhan yu.... wtf i need more jia yi + zhan yu time.... zhan yu is like jia yi’s favorite gege.... omg zhan yu’s tears ahhh zhan yu may say that he wishes he could be the maknae but he honestly cares so much for jia yi, even tho he’s not much older than him, its so aw.....

omg i just looked up ye ziming on weibo and hes friends with guanguan, changbin, zhu zijie and zhong yixuan??? omggg fandom clash wowow 

this segment with these kids with disabilities........ i dont know how i feel about this...... it feels problematic to me....... the trainees dont know what theyre doing, so how is this benefitting these children? if anything its just to make the trainees look like theyre doing some great charity work or something, but i dont appreciate the attitude some of them have towards these kids... i get theyre frustrated and werent properly prepared to interact with them, which i dont blame them for, but its like why is this segment even a thing, iqiyi??? theyre just coming in and using these kids as a backdrop to make themselves look nice, and not actually doing anything sustainable or meaningful to help them... what good is it to get these kids to like them and get familiar with them just for them to leave within a few hours? its just another person who came and left........ 

omg guan yue is second omg good for you, child!!!!!!!!!!!!! good good good im glad, he deserves it!!!!!!!

lol they better show the other rounds of this basketball tournament in the extra clips..............

these ads are getting more and more ridiculous im ??? cowboys ??? ?

NOOOOO ZHAN YU!!!!!!!!! 37!??!!?!!! I CANT BELIEVE THEYRE SO CLOSE AGAIN!!!!! ALSKDJLKJLK FIRST ZHEN NAN 61 AND NOW ZHAN YU 37 AGHHHHHH ok but i cant even be mad at yuzhi bc i know he deserves it too.

OMG WHY THE FRICK WOULD YOU CHOOSE WENHAN /?!?!??? AGAIN!??//!? THEY SHOULD BE PICKING KIDS THAT NEED TO GET PICKED!!!!!! WENHAN IS THE LEAST OF YOUR CONCERNS GOODNESS GRACIOUS ALSKDJLASKJDL 

omg boyuan!!! they really like boyuan hahah but he deserves it too and zhuo yuan being so so happy for him is the sweetest ahhhh and junjie crying ahhh i love these 3 roommatesss

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS ZHAN YU!!!!!!! YESY YESYEYS YES!!!!!!!! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!??!? THAT MEANS WE HAVE A CHANCE TO SEE ALL 3 TYGERS ON THE SAME STAGE!!!!!!!!!! ALKSDJLAKSDJLAKSJDLJK YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS OMGOMOGMOMGG THANK YOU SO MUCH i was thinking “they really like zhan yu hahhaa they picked zhan yu last time, maybe theyll pick him again”---- THANK GOODNESS AHHHHHH ok but im kinda disappointed they literally didnt show lin mo’s reaction... only jia yi’s.... which i feel like is bc they enjoy playing off of jia yi’s emotions more.... which makes me feel (again) like theyre using the other tyger members as backdrop for jia yi, rather than respecting their friendship and group as a whole? like theyre all really amazing friends and people, theyre not just “jia yi and his friends”, if you get what i mean... but jia yi being so so happy i love!!!!! im so so so happy for them ahhhh yessssss you go zhan yu, you are amazing!!!!!!!!! get that recognition!!!!!!!

omg zhuo yuan being so happy for his friends is honestly the cutest. im sad that he didnt make it... yao chi and mingming being so happy i love!!!!!! good for yechen! his voice is honestly really nice and very unique!

frick i cant believe they didnt notice ye ziming.... and su yuhang.... they deserved better......... cheche crying ahhhh li you and kou cong deserved better too... ahhh seeing guan yue crying more than cheche or mingming crying more than kou cong, or ye ziming comforting others... its like the kids who are left are so sad for them, the kids who were actually eliminated.. this friendship is ahhhhh

man, i was just getting to know and like yaoyao and cui shaopeng too...

this is so sad for zhuo yuan and jiahao tho, like all the kids around them, physically and also in the ranking, went up, but not them.... i wonder if jiahao had been given screentime during his last stage, he wouldve gotten more votes... but bc of the hair thing, he got cut out of the ep even tho he was center......  

man, fangzhou is the last core one member left........

oh my goodness.......... that ending................. oh my goodness.................. why does this have to happen to huo zhong.................... oh goodness thats gonna be such a drastic change from huo zhong to the super cute song...... i hate to say it, but i feel like none of them would want to go there LOL ahhhhh how will guan yue choose???? laskdjlaskjlk ok im hopeful that he at least wont choose zhan yu (because hes not cute LOL) but i really really hope lin mo can stay too oh gosh.......... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh guan yue....... (i know ding feijun is also there but im guessing guan yue is gonna be the main decision maker) but if hes smart he wont choose kids who will have trouble learning a whole new dance, which means.... he is likely to take more skilled trainees....... UGH IM SO WORRIED. but tbh i guess.... even if lin mo goes from super cool handsome center to a super cutesy backup dancer.... i guess... he’ll get to challenge himself and try a new style.......... which i guess... isnt terrible........ he’ll be cute, im sure.... so as long as he can still make it into top 20, i wont be terribly distraught. honestly i feel like im being rather reasonable as a lin mo stan, like I’m not asking for him to get as much screentime as like wenhan, just at least enough so that we can tell that he exists and was there (COUGHepisode7COUGH), and I’m not asking that he be center every time or that he get into top 9, i just want him to get recognition, respect, and into at least top 20. I think he can do it!!! hes working so so hard, despite being injured, and hes helping so many other kids..... i just wish his work can be acknowledged. 

oof now thats its down to 2 votes a day... its time we see who people’s real biases are... im guessing theres gonna be some drastic changes in the rankings from here, bc the kids who are just well-liked by everyone but not actually “biased” will be dropped like crazy. i know who im gonna vote for, but im sad it means i wont be able to vote for some kids who i know will really need votes too..... but i believe you can kinda tell which kids are “bias” material and which are more just generally well-liked. that’s all im gonna say about it, but for everyone who’s voting, just choose wisely bc some kids will need your votes more than others, just saying.... 

lol guan yue’s psa to eat more fruit..... okay guan yue, okay hahahahhaha

wow i cant believe chen you and li you both got clips in the ending credits and also ye ziming even got 2 clips......... i swear they only started giving ye ziming screentime after it was too late??!!!? like they finally realized hes super funny and talented and #amazing and felt bad but ITS TOO LATE IQIYI laksjdlaklklk ill say it again ye ziming deserved better. on his weibo he says he’ll be coming out with new stuff soon tho!!! so im super excited and will def be keeping a lookout bc im sure itll be legit c: 

[allofthisnonsenseplease]

firesonic152 - 08/25/2017 have we done reckless treasure hunter au yet it feels like something that needs to happen if it hasn't XD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/25/2017 We have NOT done reckless treasure hunter AU yet! =D

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 okay so reckless treasure hunter au a la uncharted/indiana jones/the mummy/etc who's the main treasure hunter, gabe? and if so how did jack get stuck on the adventure XD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 Jack isn't the idiot idealistic treasure hunter and Gabe is the experienced traveler/best friend along to keep him from getting himself killed? XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 OMG love jack is like I'M DOING THE THING and gabe is like You Will Die if i don't help so

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 and pining along the way! =D

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 lol gabe is like a rando in a tavern who just overhears jack talking to someone about his adventure plans and gabe is  like banging his head against the bar finally just gets up, slides into the free chair at jack's table, and says hey kid i'm coming bc you are an idiot

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 XD Gabe just inviting himself along That's how he's gotten to have all his awesome adventures! He meets tons of explorers and treasure hunters of varying levels of skill and just ends up playing advisor or tagging along for fun Jack's all: 'But how do I know you're as good at this as you say?' and Gabe's like: 'What the fuck do you want, a resume?' And he invites Jack back to his place, and Jack is all cool, guy's hot and I could do with a good fuck but Gabe's walls are covered with photos from his adventures and ones of him posing with people famous in the explorer circles Jack's aiming to join

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 OMGG LOL JACK GETS THE WRONG IDEA AND THINKS GABE IS LOOKING FOR A ONE NIGHT STAND ONLY TO DISCOVER HE ACTUALLY WANTS TO COME ON THE ADVENTUREE and by the time that's made clear jack's like "GODdammit now i really just wanna fuck him >>"

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 ^^ heehee yes. good. Jack spends the entire adventure trying to impress Gabe to get into his pants and fucking shit up bc he's not paying attention. But when things DO go south, and he's actually trying to keep them alive, he's kinda badass. Gabe cant figure out if he's an idiot, or someone who could be really good at this with a bit of experience.

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 AHAHAHA JACK QUIT SHOWBOATING AND FOCUS he does like dumb shit too like trip and totally miss the intended booby trap, instead accidentally crashing through the very old wall

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 JACK. Some respect for antiquities, please!

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 ahahahaha gabriel's always getting distracted by cool structures and wall carvings and telling long stories about history that jack didn't even know happened jack tends to zone out and just listen to gabe's voice without really hearing the words bc it's so soothing lol

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 oh lord. XD We gotta give him something tho, don't we? What if Jack actually has a background in linguistics and can decipher some of hte ancient languages they run across, but it's like that tumblr post that talks about how it really goes, and it's all full of unclear meanings and doesn't scan well in English and he gets so distracted puzzling over it that he forgets to run for his life when traps are sprung?

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 OMG gabe knows spanish but jack offhandedly seems to be at least a little fluent in everything????

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 He surprises Gabe towards the end by having understood Spanish the whole time, and Gabe is SO annoyed and indignant over it, 'cause not all he was saying was insults and curses, some of it was about how hot Jack is and what Gabe wants to do to him, and he's just I THOUGHT YOU WERE AN EXPERT ON DEAD LANGUAGES and Jack is just -'.'- that doesn't preclude me knowing a few commonly used ones. It could be that Jack understands Spanish and a few others, but doesn't speak them well. XD Like, he can manage to order food and ask directions, so Gabe thinks he just knows basic tourist phrases and that anything quick and/or complicated will go right over his blocky, blond head

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 i love that shit he has a terrible accent but he can understand almost everything and like some really random languages too lmao

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 Jack def knows klingon. XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 AHAHA

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 and possibly elvish XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 NERD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 that's where he got his start! =D

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 when gabe is like WHAT OTHER LANGUAGES DO YOU KNOW jack sheepishly lists those off and gabe is internally like holy shit i'm in love with a Nerd

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 and he just branched out from there, and went into ancient languages 'cause they felt closer to these made up ones bc there aren't native speakers he can learn from

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 >w<

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 okay, but...Gabe being like. Klingon? Seriously?? Wait. Wait wait wait. Hang on. And he produces a photo of himself in Klingon cosplay. XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 GAAAAABE THAT'S GAY

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 XD Dude. The Klingon guy was a fukkin' teddy bear (from the few eps I remember XD)

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 i'm dying what treasure are they going after a golden corn idol?? maybe a cool red and black orb thing like the reaper souls

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 hrmmm.... XD They get to the center of the massive temple filled with deadly traps and Jack is just THE REAL TREASURE WAS THE FRIENDS WE MADE ALONG THE WAY! :D

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 AHAHAHA JACK

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 Hell, maybe Jack just wants to find some lost manuscripts or something. And he's all gaga over this treasure, but he doesn't tell gabe exactly what it is, only that it's priceless.

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 omfg it's some nerdy linguistic rosetta stone shit

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 oh also in terms of skillsets jack is the one who can Actually Aim a pistol

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 BUT HE'S ALSO THE IDIOT WHO INSISTS OF HOLSTERING IT AND BRINGING A KNIFE TO A KNIFE FIGHT????

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 they're in a situation where they need to be accurate and jack is like "GABE SHOOT THE THING" and gabe looks down at his shotgun like uh well LOLLL gabe doesn't even know jack is a good shot until that moment bc jack always insists on Punch

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 X'''D Just picturing them trying to flee the temple as it crumbles aroun them, and Jack's pack and arms are filled to bursting with clay tablets, rendering him USELESS

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 AHAHA

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 Gabe: Just DROP THEM!! Jack: They're PRICELESS!! I can't just let them be LOST FOREVER!! Gabe: It's those damn tablets or US! Jack: WELL IF YOU HAD LET ME TAKE RUBBINGS OF THEM-- Gabe: THE ROOF WAS LITERALLY STARTING TO CAVE IN ON US

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 AKJCNAEKCJNASCKK later tho gabe decides it's worth it bc he's literally never seen jack so happy

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 Oooh! Ooh ooh ooh!!! Can this be another one where Gabe is good at drawing and Jack compliments him on the sketches he does of some of the temple rooms and engravings?? And, like, it's one of the few interactions where Jack's Thirst doesn't take center stage in his interest in Gabe???? ((i <3 artist!Gabe))

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 omg yes!!!! he does the nathan drake thing where he has a journal that he just draws everything in >w< and he draws jack!!!!

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 looking thru it later, Jack finds himself included in the sketches, and he actually blushes. He puts the journal back before Gabe catchins him peeking. XD <3<3<3

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 eeeeeeeheee one of them is him sleeping

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 he fell asleep after one of their big escapes and he was still covered in dirt and shit but gabe just had to capture it

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 there's one of him bent over a manuscript he's trying to interpret, brow a bit furrowed in concentration. Next to it is a rouch sketch of his face lit up with excitement from where he'd puzzled out a difficult piecec.

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 akciaskjcnasckasnjc jack does appreciate the sassy commentary gabe adds to some of his drawings and notes lol but ahhhh some of the pages are very clearly gabe just. practicing drawing jack's face like they're unfinished and rough and slowly improving

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 awww -^^- pfft. omg. okay, but, when Jack shows up on the morning they're supposed to start their trip, he's dressed like Indiana Jones, and Gabe just snorts and says that he looks like he's form the porno ripoff. XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 AHAHA the nathan drake look suits him better i think can u tell i'm in love w nathan drake

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 I've seen your posts from the game. ^^ ((i actually have not seen/played anything from your list, except i think i saw part of The Mummy a long time ago. Also, the heart-ripping-out scene from one of the IJ flicks))

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 WAIT SERIOUSLY YOU'VE NEVER SEEN.... INDIANA JONES LIKE. NOT EVEN THE FIRST ONE ??????????

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 Nope. I was v young when i accidentally saw the heart thing and it kinda freaked me out. ^^;;;;;;;;;

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 WELL LISTEN YOU GOTTA the second movie isn't even the seCOND MOVIE IS THE WORST ONE ANYWAY WATCH THE FIRST AND THE THIRD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 XD no scary ritualistic murders in those?

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 NO JUST A GOOD TIME AND LOTS OF PUNCHING NAZIS well there is a bit at the end of the first one where they melt a bunch of nazis with the power of god but

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 i feel like i might have seen a clip from that??

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 you almost certainly have oh my god i can't believe you've never seen indiana jones please fix this

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 XD my dude, there are HUGE FUCKING GAPS in my pop culture awareness

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 THE THIRD ONE HAS SEAN CONNERY IN IT I'M

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 I KNOW WHO HE IS!!! =D

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 WATCH!!!! THESE MOVIES OH MY GOD i don't know if i can continue to associate w you if you don't

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 W O W okay i see how it is XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 YES YOU DO WATCH INDIANA JONES

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 I'll add it to the list of stuff I need to watch =)

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 ADD IT TO THE TOP OF THE LIST I WILL LITERALLY BUY YOU A DVD OF IT OFF AMAZON AND SEND IT TO YOU IF THAT'S WHAT IT WILL TAKE

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 No, no. Don't do that. I'm sure I can find it on youtube or something.

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 skjcnskjscnskejcn anyway this got so off topic XDDD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 which one's the first one?

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 I WAS LITERALLY JUST ABOUT TO TALK ABOUT GABE DOING THE CLASSIC INDIANA JONES MOVE OF SLIDING THROUGH A CLOSING DOORWAY AND LOSING HIS HAT AND HAVING TO GRAB IT AT THE LAST SECOND BUT YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT raiders of the lost ark

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 I've seen it referenced in, like, EVERYTHING I'm familiar with bits and pieces. Like, I know he fukking shoots some guy threatening him with a sword. XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 YES ALCJNAEFKJN AND SO MANY CLASSIC LINES "asps. very dangerous. you go first" "snakes... why'd it have to be snakes" "bad dates" SO MANY GOOD LINES

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 hahaha we had these felt critter hats when I worked at Michael's and one was a snake and i put it on and joked about making an asp of myself and no one at work got the pun ._.

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 ksjvnskjnaekucnaec that's a quality pun right there my dude .... ANYWAY WHAT WERE WE TALKING ABOUT

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 anyways. Gabe nearly losing his beanie while sliding under a closing trap door

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 XDDD jack: FORGET THE BEANIE GABE OH MY GOD gabe: I LET YOU KEEP YOUR TABLETS jack: YOU CAN BUY BEANIES IN A STORE GABE!!!

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 X'''''''''D Gabe: YOU CAN BUY PLAYDOH AND MAKE YOUR OWN FUCKNG TABLETS

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 AHAHAHA so when do we get to shoot jack >w>

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 Well, do you want a dramatic, one-time thing? Or do you want Jack to be a walking target? Kids running through a village square shoot him with water guns. They run across a reclusive village and he gets shot with blow darts. The bad guys graze his arm during a chase. Gabe finger guns his way out of small problems, leaving them for Jack to solve. XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 lolllll jack gets doped up by a blow dart and gets all sleepy and cuddly

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 d'awww X3 Gabe acts more bothered by it than he really is, and hopes that Jack won't remember much when he wakes up. -^^-

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 >w<

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 !!! okay, so what if Jack, in SUPER NERDY FASHION has a rosetta stone-shaped tattoo on his back filled up with, like, a personal motto or something written over and over in all the dead languages he's learned with room towards the bottom for him to add if he learns a few more. and Gabe teases the hell out of him for it, but the first time they sleep together, Jack's on his knees and Gabe's behind and when Gabe traces over some of the writing in response to Jack's demand for touch, Jack gasps out the words in whatever language Gabe is tracing.

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 OH MY GOD DUDE OH MY GOD????

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 ^^ the first two ar Klingon and Elvish. XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 lmao fuckin NERD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 OF COURSE

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 ooooo damn i wanna draw that tattoo and it's a dumb motto like one of the things he says in the game like "no guts no glory"

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 eat your yogurt

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 AHAHA

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 "i love the smell of charcoal in the morning"

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 X''''''''D Jack says it in horribly accented Spanish after Gabe goes through all the ones tattooed there, and that's when Gabe realizes that he knows more than he'd let on. He starts going much harder, murmuring all sorts of flithy things in Jack's ear which only gets Jack even more riled up.

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 iunuyghcrfyvkhbihbijni WHEN DO THEY GET TOGETHER THO do they find an ancient ring or something and jack jokingly puts it on gabe's ring finger

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 SURPRISE IT'S CURSED AND POISON-TIPPED PRONGS POP OUT WHEN IT HEATS UP TO BODY TEMPERATURE

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 LOLLL

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 ((i read a horror story like that once, only it was a bracelet and also not scary)) pretty jade ring? ^^ or Gabe finds something like that and tosses it to Jack who fumbles it, but manages to catch it and glares and then notices there's an inscription and it's something about a long and happy future and much fertility between the giver of the ring and the reciever i dunno maybe jack nearly gets his dumb ass killed 'cause he had to choose between saving the tablets or gabe's hat and he chose both and nearly fell into a pit

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 OMG

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 OR! What if, running through the traps, they think they make it out safe until Jack notices one of  the poisoned darts in his ankle and, like, passes out. When he comes too, Gabe just full on kisses him and is like I THOUGHT THE POISON HAD KILLED YOU but Jack is just 'What? No. It's a thousand years old it's lost all its potency. i just haven't slept since I started taking pics of all these new writings that need translating.'

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 OMGGG I LOVE THAT SO MUCH gabe stares at him and is like "WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT YOUR TERRIBLE SLEEP HABITS LATER" and kisses him again

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/26/2017 Jack has no issues with this turn of events. XD

firesonic152 - 08/26/2017 >w<

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 jack tries to convince gabe to fuck him right there in the ancient temple gabe is sure that's a good way to get some kind of obscure disease

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 Gabe: Gross, Jack. Didn't they used to conduct virgin sacrifices on that altar? Jack: Well, I'm not a virgin, so Gabe: ENTIRELY not the point.

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 gabe, mumbling: also "virgin sacrifices" referred to virgin blood as in blood that hadn't been used in a ritual before, not someone who had never had sex before but jack: jack: fuck me now

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 okay. p sure in those campy ass movies with melting nazis, virgin sacrifices are EXACTLY what they sound like

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 XDDDD i want a scene where gabe is trying to read latin and pronounces it like italian and jack is disgusted

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 XD

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 jack: i can't believe it gabe: what jack: i'm actually Unattracted to you right now

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 Cue Jack scooting in so close to Gabe that he ends up with Gabe's arm around his shoulder as he points to teh line Gabe was mispronouncing and walks him through it.

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 eeeeeeeeeeeeee jack: all "c"s and "g"s are hard... gabe: lol jack, smacking him: FOCUS THIS IS SERIOUS

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 Ah!! That sort of thing continuing after they've gotten together, and Gabe can bait Jack in close by mucking up his pronounciation and then yank Jack into his lap to cuddle him and Jack actually won't object 'cause he's too busy lecturing! XD

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 EEEEEEEEE gabe starts kissing jack's neck and jack is like "I'M LITERALLY NOT EVEN IN THE MOOD FOR ONCE THIS MAKES ME TOO MAD"

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 Gabe, as his hands wander lower on Jack's body: Come on, mi sol...I just want to see how long you can keep up that perfect enunciation.

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 kjnskjcnksjnckjnd bc of course jack is the nerd that can Speak Latin he starts muttering angrily in latin as gabe gets more and more thorough gabe's goal is to get to the point where jack doesn't have the brain to do that anymore

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 X3 go go gabe!

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 it takes a surprisingly long time like gabe is already fucking him and has bowled him over onto his back

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 Jack has switched over from whatever he was reading to shouting encouragement and praise in Latin. Gabe is startled by how effectively that works on him.

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 HEEEEEEEEEE BEES!!!! gabe doesn't really know what he's saying at first until one of the phrases is really similar to spanish and he's like Oh

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 Gabe's a bit surprised at some of the stuff Jack translates for him later, but Jack just kinda smirks and asks if he really thinks people have changed so much over time.

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 >w> also in the reckless treasure hunter au when do we get to the part where gabe gets cursed by some artifact and becomes reaper lol

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 They've been together for a while, still traveling all around the world to check out beautiful or strange sites. At one location where getting almost all the way to the heart of the crypt was a total breeze, Gabe starts getting antsy while Jack is puzzing over an inscription outside the last door. Gabe: Let's just go on in. There's probably LOADS more interesting stuff inside. Jack: Give me a bit longer. I think this is a warning. Gabe: About what, dust? Jack, this place has been a cake walk. ... . . . Jack. Jaaaaaaaaaack. Jackie. Hey, Ja-- Jack: Gabe. Gabe: Yes, mi sol, mi luna, mi estrella brillante? Jack: See those pictograms? I'm about 90 percent sure they mean 'curse'. Gabe, laughing: Oh, come ON, Jackie! Don't tell me you believe that shit! Jack: I don't know what I believe because I haven't finished translating yet. But go ahead, go ahead. Touch the cursed door. Gabe: Well, I mean, if you're almost done-- Jack: No, no! You wanted SOOOO badly to rush on ahead. Be my guest. I dare you. Gabe: ...I really think you'd be safer with me around, so if you're almost finished... Jack: I double dog dare you. Gabe: . . . if i get cursed, it's YOUR fault. Gabe gets cursed. It's both their faults.

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 LOL GABE IDIOT MOVE the curse IS convenient for exploring though he can just walk through traps to trigger them and then jack can follow with no worry

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 oh, how sweet. -^^-

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 also now jack gets to give gabe bullshit forever about not listening to him and gabe is never allowed to complain about jack insisting on reading Everything without it getting thrown in his face

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 XD so...not running with Jack feeling HORRIBLY GUILTY about daring his boyfriend to get cursed? lol and then being so awfully conflicted when they figure out that Gabe has shadow tentacles now?

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 WELL OF COURSE THAT TOO jack just covers it up with snark and sass until it becomes a problem naturally aijcnaskjcn he starts losing sleep to study harder bc maybe if he could just have translated faster...

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 jack you don't have any sleep to lose

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 he like lies in bed with gabe until gabe falls asleep and then gets up again which... makes him extra clumsy when they're adventuring

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 oh dear oooh...what if Jack keeps talking about finding a way to break the curse and even tho Gabe's been pretty chill with it, they start getting into arguments until Gabe finally agrees and calls in some of his old adventuring buddies for suggestions and one of them is all 'oh, so this is that newbie you were complaining about? the one you said was going to be the death of you??' and jack is just well. great.

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 sekjnsakjncsd cue gabe's old adventuring buddies picking on jack a bunch? XD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 and jack feeling more and more like crap, so he pushes himself more when they're exploring while still losing sleep to study more.

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 why is he like this who are these asshole adventuring buddies anyway wth XD doomfist i guess?? and widow??

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 Rein & Ana

firesonic152 - 08/27/2017 awww but they're nice people gabe can't punch them out to defend jack's honor

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/27/2017 Well, I mean, if they're ribbing on Jack for actual things he does/Gabe said, then whatever. Maybe they make fun of Gabe too for getting himself cursed, and that's what Jack actually snaps at them over.