#i had alone together on queue and didn’t realize

[fakeoutbf]

.

[sangyeonsmuse]

FALLEN ANGEL

PAIRING Preachers Son Jacob x Innocent Reader ft demon Sangyeon

WORD COUNT | 3.6k

GENRE Smut

WARNINGS 18+ MINORS DNI Jacob likes corrupting you, Sangyeon tempting Jacob, mentions of masturbation, porn without plot, degradation, corruption, pet names like darling, mature language, vaginal fingering, oral, penetration,etc

SUMMARY Jacob isn’t the sweet angelic preachers son everyone makes him out to be. Behind closed

doors he just can’t stop thinking about corrupting you.

An old story of mine rewritten for tbz, i haven’t read through again so sorry if there are typos

“Jacob, tomorrow morning make sure that all pews are neat and each seat has a bible, along with the tithe envelopes, we’ll be having a few new families joining us today for sister leah’s baptism.” His father spoke authoritatively over the phone, having left Jacob alone while he and his mother went on their yearly anniversary vacation. Which meant it fell upon Jacob to take care of their upcoming service since they weren’t home.

“Yes father.’’ Jacob absentmindedly scribbled down all of his fathers orders on a piece of paper

Being the son of a preacher and the town's golden preacher's son meant that everything about him, the family, and its church must be perfect and in no shape or form show anything that presented them as anything other than pure. While Jacobs' father believed he had the perfect family and the most innocent and well put together son he had been completely wrong about the innocence of the man. Growing up his father had always taught him the things that were right and wrong in the eyes of all those holy within that list was the conjuring or deal making with demons or devils, like any kid he would listen and it would all go through one ear and out the other.

“What a daddy’s boy, still following all of his orders like you always did back when we were kids.’’ His mischievous voice cuts through the silence of the place like a knife.

“Sangyeon , I told you to stop showing up here.’’ Jacob sighs as he sits his phone down on the bed and continues to jot down tomorrow's preparations before the next upcoming service.

“Awe now where's the fun in that, i already own half your soul so there's really no getting rid of me unless you bind me to someone else.’’ Sangyeon chuckles as he kicks back on one of the benches with his hands behind his head.

And he was entirely right. When Jacob was younger, Sangyeon and him had been the best of friends, of course any outsider would assume the two hated one another the way they always bickered or annoyed one another. Jacob being the more calm and level headed while Sangyeon had always been the more risky and rowdy one. Well one night Jacob had gotten a call from Sangyeons mother telling him that Sangyeon was gone. Not wanting to lose his best friend Jacob took it so hard that he went against his morals and brought a spirit board home one night. He had been tampering around with things he knew nothing about and somewhere along the line without realizing he made a deal with a demon to bring back his friend. A demon that now not only owned Sangyeons soul, but part of his as well.

“Why is it that even through death and damnation you find ways to annoy me Sangyeon.’’ Jacob shakes his head as he finishes up with preparation notes.

“You’re the one that brought me back, stop acting as if you wouldn’t have missed it.’’ Sangyeon chuckles and sits up from the bench and as if on queue theres a knock on the door and Jacob makes his way downstairs being followed by Sangyeon. As he opened the door there you stood.

Sangyeon didn’t miss the way Jacobs gaze immediately took you in from head to toe and there was a sudden shift in his mood as well as the look in his eyes. Sangyeons lips immediately curled at the sides, a mischievous grin now decorating his lips as a lightbulb went off over his head.

“Well she’s cute cobie, is she the one you’re always moaning about whenever you jerk off alone in your shower.’’ Sangyeon chuckles as his tongue grazes over his fanged teeth, as you look up at Jacob your gaze was so sweet and innocent, Sangyeon couldnt help but eye you with an amused look on his face and a glint in his eyes.

Jacob gave the latter an annoyed look before looking back at you.

“What it’s not like they can see or hear me? Afraid they’ll find out innocent little Jacob isn’t so innocent and pure?’’ Sangyeon stands at his side and watches the interaction between the two of you.

“y/n what are you doing here? were we supposed to study today, did I forget?” Jacob speaks with the softest tone, it was enough to make Sangyeon laugh, having seen straight through his bullshit.

“Actually my parents thought that it would be a good idea to help you out with prep for tomorrow since your parents told them you’d be alone. And they wanted to make sure everything will go well with my sister's day tomorrow.” She gave him an innocent smile, one that Sangyeon found oh so enticing.

Your parents had been quite fond of Jacob since the moment you all first started attending his family's church. They saw him as a sweet well put together man , not to mention he and his family's faith seemed to be quite strong. Unaware of who he truly was behind the scenes they felt he would have been perfect for you. You, their sweet innocent daughter who they raised to be pure and sweet under the eyes of god, which you were. Never been to parties, never caught drinking or smoking. You were exactly what they had raised you to be, a good girl, one that Jacob who was also meant to be pure had thought of corrupting time and time again, but never put into action.

“You think she’s a virgin too? That’ll make it even more fun to corrupt her right Cobie? I bet she is a cute little virgin that's why you like her so much.’’ Sangyeon chimes in and Jacob simply ignores him, trying his best to focus on you alone.

“I see you don’t need to worry I’ll make sure your sister's day goes perfect, but i could still use the help, come in.’’ Jacob responds while leading you inside and over to the couch to have a seat.

“I have no doubt that it’ll be perfect my parents think very highly of you and your father.’’ She laughs as she takes a seat and adjusts her dress.

“Do they now? I wonder how her parents would feel if they knew the things you think of their daughter, she’s cute Cobie, seems innocent too, makes me want to play with her even more.’’ Sangyeons finger slid over your thigh sending a shiver through your body, you being entirely unaware of his presence caused you to believe it was simply just a chill.

“Sangyeon.’’ Jacob calls him through gritted teeth which only earns a laugh from Satoru.

“Just say the word and i’ll leave her alone.’’ His fingers slowly grazed the skin up your legs until he reached your skirt. As he watched as Sangyeon opened his mouth and flared his fangs Jacob could no longer stay silent.

“Sangyeon enough.’’ his voice was so loud it startled you for a second, you were even more startled to see another man appear at your side kneeling at eye level with your thighs.

“Now you’ve done it Cobie, you know the rules looks like she could see me now.’’ Sangyeon chuckles as Jacob silently curses himself for having said Sangyeons name in front of you.

“W-what? Where did you come from? Jacob?’’ Your eyes frantically move back and forth between Sangyeon and Jacob.

“This should be fun. Go on Cobie tell her about your deal.’’ Sangyeon leans against the couch behind her with a huge amused look on his face at his friend's sudden silence.

“Not gonna tell her? Alright, well angel i’m Lee Sangyeon a demon and Cobies best friend, Cobie here gave up half of his soul to a demon to bring me back when i died, but i could only come back under unfortunate circumstances, so guess you can say im his own personal demon.’’ Sangyeon ignores his now annoyed friend sitting there with a look of disapproval on his face.

“You know you really are pretty, I see why Jacob is always thinking about you.’’ he continues on, disregarding the silence between the three of them.

“Sangyeon.’’ Jacob finally glances at him, his eyes now darkening as if queueing Sangyeon to shut up.

“What? I just want to play with her a little. Don't act like you're some sweetheart wanting to protect her. Go on tell her about all those times you’ve jerked off thinking about her, about all those times you’ve had to force yourself to behave around her when she would show up to study sessions in her cute little skirts. What’s stopping me from playing with her now that she knows I'm here? What stops you from playing with her now that she knows you aren't as sweet and innocent as you look?’’ Sangyeons hand wraps around your neck earning a gasp from you as his other snakes around her waist.

“Just look at her Cobie, the way she trembles at my touch and looks to you just to save her and protect her from me. Be her savior then.’’ Sangyeon chuckles and licks a slit up your neck earning a soft whine from you that makes Jacobs cock twitch against his pants.

“She’s so believing in you being her cute little savior, sweet innocent preacher's son, save her then Jacob, live up to your title.’’ Sangyeons tone was quite menacing as he tries to talk Jacob into giving in to his desires.

“Jacob...’’ His name spills from your lips like a silent plea, you were looking for him to help you unaware that you had given him the very push he needed just by calling his name.

“Listen to how desperate she sounds calling out for you Cobie.’’ Sangyeon chuckles as he slides his fingers up your skirt and pushes his fingers past your folds.

“She’s perfectly ready for you to save her.’’ Sangyeons other hand holds your skirt up in place against your stomach revealing how tight you were wrapped around Sangyeons fingers. Seeing such a sight and hearing a cry spill from your lips, nothing else mattered to Jacob but this.

“That’s it show her the real you.’’ Sangyeons fingers moved so quickly against your clit that you had no time to refuse him.

“J- Jacob please.’’ You choke out soft pleas which Jacob simply ignored, he was done putting up his facade especially having gotten to see you in this position, legs spread wide on his own couch with his best friends fingers buried deep in your cunt.

“God your whining is so pathetic it makes me want to ruin you even further.’’ Jacob finally speaks, making you fall silent and Sangyeon laughs behind you.

You were completely taken back by Jacobs sudden change. Moving closer to the two of you he lets out a dark chuckle as he helps Sangyeon hook your panties to the side, pushing a finger through your folds he then brings it to the lips. This was the complete opposite of the Jacob you knew, the Jacob he pretended to be around you.

“How is she?’’ Sangyeons face had been close to your neck, you felt his fangs graze your neck as if warning you not to make one move. Which meant you were forced to keep your eyes on Jacob, watching the way his head falls back and he lets out a soft hum at the taste of you.

“Such a sweet girl, let’s take our time with her Yeon.’’ A desperate whine spills from your lips as Jacob buries yet another finger inside of you.

“Make sure she doesn't get too rowdy Yeon, shut her up until she learns to be silent, wouldn't want your parents to hear anything from next door now would you darling? Their good little girl being fucked by a demon and the person they think so highly of.’’ Sangyeon whispers near your ear before biting into the skin on your shoulder earning a loud scream. Your scream is swallowed up into Jacobs mouth as he takes your lips against his in a kiss.

While he had you distracted with his kiss he took a moment to unbuckle his belt and pull out his cock, he didn’t miss the soft whine that spilled out from your lips and into his as he kissed you. Grabbing hold of your hair he roughly pulls away from your lips before shoving his cock deep down your throat without warning.

“Shit.’’ he grunts out as he thrusts into your mouth the tip of his cock hitting the back of your throat over and over as he disregards every gag or cry that spills from your lips as well as the tears that form in your eyes slowly falling down your beautiful face.

“Shit look at how wet she is Cobie, she likes it, how cute, corrupted little angel getting turned on while she’s being used like a fuck toy.’’ Sangyeon presses his thumb against the sensitive bud between your folds, smiling at the way your body jerked and convulsed at his touch.

“And here we were thinking you were just a good little girl that did everything her parents asked.’’ Sangyeon chuckles and watches as his friend simply went crazy showing no mercy whatsoever as he abused your throat.

“Tell me princess will you still play innocebt after this, fucking someone who isnt even your boyfriend and a demon right next door to your own home, how naughty. I guess i’ll have to continue to fuck away your innocence every time i see you from now on.’’ Jacob holds a fistfull of your hair, his grunts and moans of pleasure echoing throughout the entire house so loud he would have expected a noise complaint.

“Does this make her ours? Our personal little plaything.’’ Sangyeon chimes in cheerfully earning a glare from Jacob.

“Don’t act as if you haven't marked her already I saw you bite her Sangyeon.’’ Jacob growls and the moment he gets ready to cum he could hear a knock at the door and a chime on your phone and he was forced to stop.

With a chuckle he he places you on his lap as he takes a seat on the couch, while Sangyeon slips your phone from your purse.

“Looks like mommy and daddy are at the door sweetheart, i think i'll let them know you aren’t here at the moment.”

“Remember pretty girl, you make a sound and your entire family will know their innocent yn is just a dirty little girl that likes fucking demons.’’ Hoisting up your skirt Jacob places his hands on your ass and lifts you up gently sliding you down into his cock. After having texted your parents that you and Jacob had taken a break from studying to go out into town for food, Sangyeon places your phone down and walks over to you. Hovering over you he takes a fistfull of your hair and shoves his cock into your mouth until he completely bottoms out.

Jacobs eyes fixate on your bouncing figure as he watches your desperate movements. He found both amusement and pleasure at the way you so willingly gave in to him and Sangyeon now. his breath catching at the sight. Hearing your moans of pleasure and loud exclamations, a primal growl escapes his lips. Sangyeon tightens his grip on your hair upon feeling your cheeks hollow around his cock. As Jacob caught sight of you reaching up to stop Sangyeon from fucking into your throat he’s quick to grab your arms and force them behind your back.

“Nono angel, go ahead and take him like a good girl, i'm sure you can take it baby.” he thrusts his hips up with increasing force and speed. The sound of your bodies colliding fills the room along with the sweet sounds of your moans as if you were harmonizing, a symphony of your own pleasure and desire.

His eyes lock with Sangyeons, a mixture of lust and tenderness in his gaze. "You’re lucky to even be this close to her, enjoy yourself while it lasts Yeon" Jacob warns Sangyeon before letting out a breath, his voice filled with a mix of urgency and adoration.

His sultry voice only makes you eager to have him finish inside of you. The rotation of your hips and force of her bounces became stronger. As youre riding him so desperately your eyes catch a glimpse of Sangyeon, you immediately clench at the sight of him loving the way that his head fell back and loud groans spilled from his lips at the way your lips so skillfully sucked him off.

your gaze losing all its innocence, suddenly changing into one so lustful and sensual that it would make any man crumble at your feet. In that moment you didn’t seem to care about the consequences of your actions as you had both of them invoking unawakened pleasures within you you had never felt before that day. The more they gave in to their desires the more compliant you became, you wanted them to do whatever they wanted with you from this point forward, you'd allow them to completely destroy you however they wanted.

“Looks like you’re ready to cum already Cobie, she that good?’ Your hips rotation and skill of your tongue pulling the lewdest of moans from both parties.

Jacobs body tenses under the intensity of your movements, his breaths becoming more ragged as he nears his peak. Only thing you hated about this was the fact that you couldnt take in how beautiful he looked behind you. The sweat dripping down his neck as his hair fell loosely upon his face

He watches you, captivated by the way your hips rotate and the force of your desperate bounces. The feeling of your tightness and the way you clenched around him driving him wild with pleasure. The sound of their moans fills the confession box, a testament to the pleasure they're experiencing together.

Sangyeons eyes meet yours, his own filled with a combination of desire and a hint of dominance. His hips continue to move with a fervent rhythm as he takes control, giving in to the primal urge to dominate and see you crying at the force of his thrusts into your throat. The squelching sound from Jacob burying himself deep into your cunt intensifies the pleasure building within you.

Jacobs hand wraps around your neck, his grip tightening immediately around your throat as your body convulses with pleasure, his fingers combined with his rough thrusts earning gush after gush from you, your squirting only fueling his desire further. He watches your reactions, attuned to your every whimper and moan, while maintaining a careful balance of control and intensity. With a growl, he delivers harder thrusts, his hand still firmly wrapped around your throat, his dominance and control evident in his movements. He takes in the sight of you, the way your body trembles beneath him, your moans of pleasure echoing in the room.

"Too much, pretty girl?" he taunts, his voice laced with desire. "Or is it just enough? I want to make you lose yourself, to make you completely mine. My pretty little sinner. I'll corrupt you over and over again."

As the intensity between them reaches its peak, Jacob also continues to ravish you, the both of them taking you to the brink of ecstasy. All of your bodies move in unison, a dance of passion and pleasure, until you’d all succumb to the overwhelming release that awaited.

“Fuck look at her, shes making a mess.” Sangyeon groans as he looks down on the scene before him. You had never squirted so much in your life, actually you had never even squirted before in your life. Jacobs' couch had been completely soaked after Jacob having made you do it over and over again after seeing you do it the first time. He didn’t even care even if you begged him to let you cum. He found pleasure in edging you in ways that brought tears to your eyes and had you trembling for your release.

Sangyeon took pride in the way you gazed up at him, mouth full of his cock while drool spilled down your chin, your lip gloss a complete mess.

Upon feeling your body convulse and your trembling legs against his lap Jacob knew you were reaching your breaking point. His eyes darken with a mix of satisfaction and desire as he takes in the sight of you in such an overwhelmed state. Your body trembling, the evidence of the three of your escapades staining the couch. He relishes in the marks he's left on your skin, the hickeys adorning your skin a testament to him having corrupted you. Feeling your desperation and hearing your whimpered please, His own control begins to waver. He knows the both of you are on the edge, bodies yearning for release. With a final, powerful thrust, he pushes you both over that edge. Sangyeon is not too far behind allowing you all to release in synchronicities.

A guttural moan escapes his lips as he finds his own release, the intensity of it coursing through his veins. As you ride the waves of pleasure together, he holds you close to his chest savoring the aftermath of the encounter. THe way you lay against him so fucked out and pretty.

“From now on you’re mine, no one else looks at you or touches you, the only one allowed to corrupt your pretty little mind angel, is me.”

[twistedkans]

Yours - Part Two

→ A Glorious Masquerade Malleus x Reader x Rollo commission for my bestie

Warnings: mild Rollo-typical psuedoreligious content Characters: Yuu (Reader), Rollo Flamme, Malleus Draconia Word Count: 1.7k

Part One | Part Three

(Also available on Ao3)

༻ My Soul ༺

“You are the knife I turn inside myself; that is love.” ― Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena

────────────────────────────────────────────

Malleus had a penchant for disappearing from the watchful gazes of others, to secret spots only he knew of, where he could be alone for whatever reason he desired. In only a day since arriving in Fleur City, Malleus already had a few spots to whisk away to. In this particular instance, he chose the underground tunnel systems.

You were brought along with him, never destined to meet up with the others as you had intended to. It was easy enough not to mind this impromptu escape and forget about all the reasons you shouldn’t be doing this. That in of itself was a reason, anyhow, to do something that felt wrong.

Something forbidden.

With Malleus’ hand on your back, he guided you through the labyrinthine of tunnels with confidence and ease.

“Have you been here before?”

“Only today,” was Malleus’ response.

His answer left you wondering. “How do you know where to go? I already feel lost.”

Malleus paused in his tracks and you were brought to a stop with him. He put a finger to his chin in thought. “I know not where we are headed.”

Your face dropped, and you almost felt like laughing. “Hornton, are you joking.”

To that, Malleus shook his head. “I would never lie to you, child of man.” His words made your heart flutter, as if he meant so much more than just this one instance.

When you didn’t give him a response, Malleus took that as his queue to pull you along once more. You didn’t mind the comfortable silence that fell over the two of you. Just as it was easy to speak with the fae, it was so, so easy to enjoy the tranquility with him. There was no pressure to fill the void for it was already with the other’s presence alone. What more could you ever ask for?

Nothing, that is what Malleus hoped your answer would be.

You were the only person who understood him, who could peer into his eyes and see him as more than the Crowned Prince of Briar Valley, or one of the five most powerful mages in Twisted Wonderland, or some to be both feared and revered, for you did none of that—rather, he yearned to worship you, but that was a conversation for much, much later. You didn’t treat him like something different. Through you, he could learn what it meant to be wanted.

Just as he wanted you.

You pulled your hand away from his, snapping him out of his thoughts. Once more, he stopped, and all too many emotions twisted his expression to something solemn.

“Sorry Hornton,” you spoke as you wiped your hand on your clothes. “My hand is really sweaty.”

Malleus frowned. “You have my apologies, child of man.” He took your hand between both of his, and you quickly caught on to what he was doing as tingles of cold licked your skin and dispersed the remaining sweat from your skin into nothingness.

“There, now our hands may remain entwined with one another.”

You had not the words to respond, and without realizing it, you were walking side by side with Malleus once more, hands clasped together, cooled by his magic so not even a single bead of sweat formed on your hand. It took minutes, many minutes to fully process Malleus’ kind and intimate gesture.

Although it was a bit of a dumb comment, you said, “Hornton, you don’t need to use your magic on me. I just get sweaty a lot.”

Without missing a beat, he replied, “I wish to hold your hand.”

And how could you say no to that?

“Okay.” Your cheeks were flushed pink, as were your ears, both from the cold and your own embarrassment.

As the two of you traversed the various tunnels, occasionally breaking the silence with short conversation, your heart beat fast in your heart like an overworked machine, pounding in your ear like a blaring siren, yet you felt this “siren” could only be good.

Malleus stopped you both after turning a corner and stood in front of you. He took your other hand in his and leaned close to your ear, muttering in a pleasantly spine chilling voice something so sacred to him, something taken for granted or spoken frivolously, something he knew you would not treat the same way.

With his given permission, you too handed over what to you was much the same, something so precious to the man before you, something that stirred the feelings in his heart and blossomed into something he’d never felt before.

This was true love.

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The ornate halls of Noble Bell College were near-barren and almost eerily quiet. Only the sound of your footsteps echoing against a wooden floor shiny enough to be mistaken for glass or marble. You weren’t sure where you were in the school, despite having assured Malleus you knew exactly how to get to the others when he dropped you off. One could only imagine where he might be going so close to the social’s grandiose opening as most of the other guests and students prepared for the night’s spectacle that awaited them.

And what a spectacle it would be, but you didn’t know that.

”Good evening, Yuu.”

The sudden—and rather unpleasant—familiar voice that breathed into your ear nearly caused you to jump. You whipped your head around with a frown you couldn’t quite conceal when you were greeted with the sight of Rollo, who should have had plenty of other places to be in preparation for the event that was to come.

You swallowed your nerves and gave him a cordial response. “Good evening to you too, Rollo. Shouldn’t you be helping prepare for the social?”

Something in Rollo’s eyes seemed to jump out at you, trying to lunge forward and grab you, but his figure remained still. “Naturally I have many duties as the host of this masquerade.” He spoke with more venom than his greeting to you, but it was subdued as quickly as it appeared. “However, your absence from Night Raven College’s group upon their return did not go unnoticed. That familiar of yours was quite distraught, even to tears, if I may add.”

A pang of guilt hit your chest at the thought of Grim crying over your “disappearance”, especially so soon after the incident on the Island of Woe.

However, you replied with the one thing that had persistently been on your mind for much longer than you would openly admit. “What about Hornton? Did he go back with them?”

Rollo’s expression shriveled up like a raisin, and that was enough to brighten your spirits. You held back a laugh as he cleared his throat, letting his eyes fall shut momentarily in an effort to compose himself.

Funny, you seemed to catch him off-guard quite often.

Although Rollo knew who exactly this “Hornton” was, he feigned ignorance to preserve himself, or whatever other excuse he could conjure up to not acknowledge his enemy. ”Who do you refer to?”

”Malleus, I mean.”

Curse you for speaking his name, but bless you for not elaborating, even if you only didn’t to keep this conversation as brief as possible.

Curse those flames that raged in his heart, curse the fires of hell that licked at his feet, curse that malicious gleam in his eye that brought shame upon him.

Curse Malleus Draconia, yet another careless mage who found pleasure in the sin of magic.

Curse you, Yuu, for tempting a pious man into aphrodisia.

And curse Malleus Draconia once more, for threatening to take what was rightfully his.

Yet these curses were not spoken aloud. Rollo could not allow them to be more than fleeting thoughts, the ends of threads that painted his mind like a rainbow, chains that chastised his mind and left bruises in their wake. This was his own punishment, he needn’t act further.

”No, I have not seen him.”

Your shoulders dropped. It never crossed your mind to worry for Malleus’ safety before now. You didn’t want him to be alone, to miss the social (though you knew he wouldn’t be late after receiving a formal invitation), and you certainly didn’t want him to be in any danger.

Rollo could see the thoughts swarming your mind like a dark plague. This was his chance to be the light and show you the way.

”Surely you do not worry for the safety of the great Malleus Draconia? One could presume certain…feelings to be involved in such ways of thinking.” His voice shook as he spoke, which he masked with an expression of disgust as he fetched his handkerchief from his pocket.

Your cheeks flushed red before you could reply. The fiery pits of hell opened up for their next feast.

”Or, one might conclude such irrationality to be the work of magic.”

Everything was still in an instant, like  a photograph ingrained in your mind, but Rollo composed himself once more and replied in a softer tone. “Go to the bell tower. I shall not ask you to climb all of those steps, so please wait at the bottom. I have an important favor to ask of you.”

Just like a lonesome ghost, Rollo left with not a single sound.

────────────────────────────────────────────

Had he been any other man or woman, Rollo could have feigned flattery at the prospect of being stalked by what most considered ethereal beauty.

All he felt was disgust at the monster who refused to leave him alone with his vice for just a single moment.

”Malleus Draconia.” His voice rang through the empty hall.

The man in question could only give him half a proper reply. “Flamme.” He strode towards the shorter man with fear-invoking confidence, but it was Rollo’s intention to stand his ground. “I see you’ve made special plans tonight, hm?”

”Surely you jest. We only wish to show the very best to Night Raven College’s esteemed students, but I am afraid I am unfamiliar with what may be a proper way to display my gratitude to such a unique group of people.”

Malleus chuckled. “Gratitude? For what, Flamme?”

Silence washed over them as Malleus awaited a response with genuine curiosity behind those sharp eyes. Rollo’s lack of a response only fueled Malleus’ irritation. He couldn’t be up to any good, certainly not with the way he had been acting. Malleus wanted to see the best in him after receiving that invitation, but how could he not doubt his intentions or ignore the way the boy looked at what was his.

Without a response, Rollo turned and left, and Malleus let him leave, because he knew the answer he dreaded was soon to come.

Tag List: @girl-nahh-two

[halsteadlover]

𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤

*Gif not mine credits to the owner*

• Pairing: Adam Ruzek x Female!Reader.

• Requested: no.

• Summary: one of your worst nightmares becomes reality when you find yourself stuck on a ferris wheel. And what makes everything worse, with the person you hate most… Or at least that's what you thought.

• Warnings: maybe few curse words

• Word count: 3,7K.

• A/N: hope you enjoy it! Comment, reblogs and likes are highly appreciated, I love you all <3

A thousand thoughts ran through your brain but all of them ended the same way.

How the hell did I end up in this situation?

Fate must’ve played some tricks, you must’ve committed some crime in your past life because there must’ve been a serious reason why you had found yourself stuck on a damn Ferris wheel. Suspended in the air.

There had to be a reason, because what were the odds that the Ferris wheel would stuck in mid-air just when it was your turn to take a ride.

And there had to be an equally precise reason why, among so many people, it was Adam Ruzek you were stuck with.

God probably hated you, there was no other explanation, he wanted to take revenge for some wrong things you had done and make atonement for your sins.

Why the fuck did you let yourself be convinced to get in that damned killing machine? Whose brilliant idea was it? And why with Adam among everyone?

That evening you had decided to go to a fair with your friends and some of your colleagues including Adam, Jay, Vanessa, Kim and Hailey, a good opportunity to spend time together without there being any robbery or murder to solve.

The atmosphere was light, the fair was overflowing with people who couldn't wait to try all the attractions there. Somehow you managed to avoid everything that required going ‘up’ but couldn’t escape the damn Ferris wheel.

The queue was very long and you had tried several times to escape but the words of your friends convinced you to at least make an attempt since it was quiet and the ride wouldn't last more than five minutes.

The entire Ferris wheel consisted of five small cabins that could accommodate a maximum of two people at a time and you couldn’t even ask to any of them, that the pairs had already been formed and you and Adam found yourselves exchanging annoyed glances, both being the only ones left.

You didn't ignore the giggles and looks your friends sent to both of you, making you realize they had deliberately done it to let you and Adam be alone.

Your relationship with him was, well… Weird, to say at least.

The bickering between you two was the order of the day, there was nothing you said that he didn't laugh at, making fun of you at every chance he got. That man could zap every single nerve in your body and drive you crazy with just one word and you hated him for that.

And the fact you were tremendously attracted to him despite this didn't work in your favor.

He was equally attracted to you, which is why one night – dead drunk – you ended up in his bed and woke up the next day with feelings of guilt and shame and pretended you didn't even know each other. This however didn’t last long as he wasted no time in returning to bother you and argue, making your life at work a living hell.

Adam drove you crazy, he always managed to confuse you, especially when he went from wanting to argue to making sexual jokes and flirting with you and then go back to arguing in a small amount of time.

You hated him, you hated how he made you feel and you hated yourself even more because despite this you couldn't help but be deeply attracted to him, to the point that everyone – both colleagues and your friends – did nothing but tease you and do everything to get you and Adam together, claiming to stop acting stupid because you both clearly wanted each other.

And that's how you ended up stuck on a damn Ferris wheel with the person you most wanted to be away from, about to have a panic attack.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you muttered to yourself when everything stopped suddenly. You looked around, realizing with horror you were several meters above the ground, suspended in mid-air in a cabin that continued to oscillate with every slightest gust of wind.

You pressed your back against the seat, closing your eyes and taking deep breaths, feeling the panic starting to build up inside you.

Saying you were absolutely terrified of heights was an understatement.

Adam, however, remained impassive, only huffing at the annoyance of having to be stuck there and rolled his eyes when he noticed your eyes were closed and you refused to open them. “Oh don't be dramatic now. It’s just a stupid Ferris wheel, we’ll get down soon.”

“Adam just shut the fuck up if you don't have anything smart to say,” you spat through clenched teeth, a mix of emotions between pure terror and anger coursing through you.

Adam chuckled, clearly amused by the situation. “Our little detective is afraid of heights isn't she?”.

He looked at you carefully and saw you open your eyelids as you looked up at the ceiling and continued to take deep breaths. You didn't answer him, that's why he decided continuing to tease you was great idea.

“Stop being a pussy and enjoy the view instead. Don't think I like the idea of being stuck with you either.”

Adam didn't really mean it, he wasn't really mad at you, he just madly loved making you angry and teasing you until you’d explode. You were so hot and sexy when you were angry and all worked up, he couldn't help himself even though he was aware he was being an asshole 99% of the time.

He ignored the part of his conscience that told him this was just a way to get you to stay away from him because he didn't have the strength to do it, because for some absurd reason you attracted him like a moth was attracted to the light.

He tried to convince himself it was just physical attraction, although he knew full well what he felt for you was deeper than that.

But this time you didn't respond to any of his taunts, your fear too strong to even think about what he said.

Adam continued to look at you and noticed the way your chest rose and fell quickly, your breathing was frantic, your hands continued to shake despite being clenched into fists, your gaze fixed on the ceiling. The smirk he had plastered on his face slowly disappeared when he realized it wasn't just a little fear, you were completely terrified.

“You okay?” He tried to ask you stupidly. It was clear you weren’t okay at all.

Anxiety was hardly twisting your stomach you feared you’d vomit on his shoes at any moment. Nausea was paralyzing you and the dizziness made your head spin so much you thought you’d pass out right then and there.

You didn't know why you were so afraid of heights, why the fear paralyzed you to the point you couldn't move a muscle and made your heart beat so fast it almost stopped. You just wanted to go down and put your feet on dry land and kill whoever had convinced you to get on that thing.

“Y/n. You hear me?!” Adam's urgent voice brought you back to reality for a moment. You shook your head, tears pricking your eyes which you kept opening and closing in an attempt to calm yourself a bit.

Adam realized you were about to have a panic attack so without even thinking twice, he knelt down in front of you and placed his hands on your knees, worried. “Hey look at me.”

But you couldn't seem to hear him, your body was there but your mind had flown away.

“Y/n look at me please,” he continued, but kept his voice calm so as not to make the situation worse. You opened your eyes and looked at him, too anxious and terrified to realize what he was doing. His eyes shone as they looked at you with concern, making you think for a few seconds how rare that way of looking at you was.

“Breathe with me okay?” He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. “Let's do this together, breathe with me. Breathe in…” he said “C’mon, you can do it angel. I’m here with you.”

Your eyes let out some tears and he raised a hand, gently wiping them away and making you lose your mind even more.

“It's okay, you're not alone. I'm right here.”

Was this man really Adam Ruzek? The same Adam who made your life impossible? The same obnoxious Adam?

You couldn’t believe it but you were too scared to react.

“C’mon, breathe with me,” he smiled faintly to encourage you and you nodded, starting to inhale deeply and following him, letting the air out of your lungs.

Your eyes never left each other for a second as he stayed there with you making you take deep breaths, slowly getting your breathing back to a normal pace.

“You're doing great, just keep going,” he murmured as he continued to look at you and smile comfortingly. His thumbs caressed your knees and for some strange, absurd reason this gesture comforted you more than the breathing exercises you had done up until that moment.

“Everything will be fine you hear me? They'll start this piece of junk again and we'll get out of here before you know it. Nothing will happen, you’re safe,” he spoke as his eyes scanned your facial features carefully. He tried to ignore how beautiful you were under those lights, you were so breathtaking and he couldn't stop looking at you. “I won't let anything happen to you.”

What the hell?

I won't let anything happen to you? Really Adam?

You remained silent for a few moments as your blurry eyes got lost in his. You wanted so much to be able to read inside him, to know what he thought, how he felt as he looked at you but you couldn't. God, that man was such a mystery.

You knew he was telling you those things just to make you calm down but you couldn't help but wonder if deep down he really meant those words. For an instant you convinced yourself he did, your heart wanted to think for just a second he had feelings for you.

Adam swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to stop the thoughts that tortured his mind at the moment. His expression seemed calm, but an exhausting battle between was taking place inside him.

He struggled between the desire to have you, to just kiss you right there, and the desire to stay away from you because you truly were the most annoying person on the planet sometimes.

He looked away as he sat next to you on that narrow seat no longer able to maintain eye-contact without fear of doing or saying something stupid.

A sudden gust of wind made the small cabin sway considerably, plunging you into complete panic again and almost making your heart stop beating.

A scream of terror escaped you and before you even realized it, you threw yourself into Adam's arms, looking for some kind of protection.

Adam was a little taken aback at first, not expecting this in any way but he returned that hug, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and holding you tightly to him as his fingers caressed you in an attempt to calm you down.

“Shh it's okay, it was just a little wind. We're fine,” he whispered to you, mentally praying you couldn't hear how hard his heart was beating. That was the first time you had hugged in the years you had known each other and he was about to lose his mind.

“Adam, p-please… I want to get off…” you muttered desperately, your face pressed against his chest as you trembled like a leaf.

His heart sank at the sight. You had always been so strong and brave in his eyes, as if nothing could affect you, so seeing you in that state caused him a sensation he hated, and that he was sure he’d never want to feel again in his life.

“Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. I'm here okay? You’ll be fine, they’re all working to get us all down. I promise it’ll be over soon,” he whispered, stroking your arms and tightening his grip around you even more. “Talk to me, don't shut yourself down.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

“Anything you want, just focus on me.”

You thought about it for a second and told him the first thing that came to mind. “At one point I thought about throwing you off this damn Ferris wheel.”

His chest vibrated as he laughed and you found yourself smiling back, turning serious right back when you realized what you were doing.

Your mind had decided to turn itself off when you realized what was happening: you were hugging Adam and the thing shocked you the most was that you felt really good in his arms. In other moments you probably would’ve walked away but right then you didn't want to think about it, he managed to calm you down and you needed it.

Adam leaned his head against yours, the skin of his cheek slightly pinched by your hair as he involuntarily inhaled the scent of it.

God what am I doing?

What are you doing to me Y/n?

“Well, now is a good time if you want.”

“Don't tempt me, I could actually do it and plead insanity.”

You then took a deep breath as your heartbeat returned to a normal pace and the agitation slowly passed. For the first time since you'd met, you and Adam were able to have a conversation where neither of you let out insults or threatened to put a bullet in the other's foot.

You couldn't understand how much time had passed since the Ferris wheel had stopped but thanks to Adam you managed not to think about it as he talked to you the whole time to keep you distracted.

“Can I ask you a question?” You dared to ask after a small moment of silence. You were still sitting next to each other, his arms around you and your head resting on his chest and you were almost afraid to move, fearing he’d let you go if you did.

“Hmm,” he hummed positively as his eyes looked around the cabin.

“Why do you hate me?” You asked in a voice so low you feared he hadn't heard you, your breath caught in your throat.

“I could ask you the same question.”

“I don't hate you... Well yes, but I hate you because you hate me and because you’ve been an asshole since the first day I joined the team.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re so dramatic. C’mon...”

“Adam,” you interrupted him with firm tone.

He chuckled. “Okay, okay, maybe just a little bit.”

“And why? I don't think I've ever done anything to you.”

Silence reigned supreme for a few seconds while he reflected on your words, his eyes observing the metallic ceiling.

Why did he hate you?

He had asked himself this many times but he had never been able to give himself an answer. He didn't know the real reason, you were right, you had never done anything to him, you had always been kind to everyone from the first moment. But then why?

Maybe because it easier, maybe because he knew from the very beginning you were going to mess up his whole life so hating you was the best thing he could do to keep you away, to not let himself fall for you.

But however, this inevitably happened against the odds and his will.

You took courage and raised your head slightly to look at him and at that same moment his eyes met yours. You were incredibly close, closer than you ever would’ve been even if you were drunk.

His breath tickled your lips as his eyes looked at you with so much intensity so felt like a thousand-volt electrical discharge went though your body, as if he was somehow trying to read your soul.

What the hell are you thinking about Adam?

His eyes were so hard to read, so enigmatic. They were like a puzzle and you struggled to find the necessary pieces to be able to complete it and understand what he was thinking and feeling.

He moved his gaze between your eyes and your lips, trying to maintain a neutral expression even if every cell in his body screamed to close that little gap and press his lips to yours.

But he couldn't, especially not at that moment.

And, above all, why did he think ‘not at that moment’? Did this mean he actually wanted to kiss you?

It was a question he didn't even try to answer, his mind was too clouded to think logically.

One of his hands moved to your face and with a gentleness you struggled to recognize he caressed your cheek, fixing some small, messy locks of hair. Your breathing stopped and your heart started wildly pounding again, this time not because of the dizziness and the fear of falling down.

You were paralyzed under his intense and magnetic gaze, you wanted so much to be able to say something, to break that deafening silence but the words inevitably died in your throat.

He continued to alternate his gaze between your eyes and your lips, you actually unaware of the internal battle he was eagerly fighting.

Anyone who saw you two would think this was just a romantic moment that a couple in love was sharing, anyone could see the way you both looked at each other and no one would’ve doubted you actually hated each other.

Or at least that's what you thought.

You thought you hated him.

You forced yourself to do it, as if to reciprocate his hatred, because of the way he treated you.

But you didn't hate him, not as much as you wanted to. Sure, he made your blood boil in your veins like very few other people in the world did, there were countless times when you would’ve punched him in the face after some of his pranks, but you couldn't deny how much you desired that man just as intensely.

“What are you thinking about?” He whispered as he continued to covertly caress your face. Suddenly, however, he moved his hand away, making you instantly feel the feeling of emptiness and cold that his touch had left. His fingers trailed down to your hand, still clenched into a fist without realizing it.

“What are you thinking?” You whispered back as you saw his lips part slightly. His fingers lightly caressed your skin, almost as imperceptibly as he had done to your cheek and you relaxed almost instantly, making you subconsciously hate yourself for the way your body responded so easily to him.

“Don't answer a question with another question.” His lips lifted into a small smirk and your heart simultaneously came out of your rib cage and crashed onto the asphalt.

His fingers played with yours for a while, his fingertips dragging over your skin, as if studying every feature and little imperfection. Your stomach twisted on itself as he intertwined his fingers with yours and squeezed your hand, drawing little imaginary circles on it with his thumb.

“Says the one who still haven't answered my initial question,” you replied in the same mischievous tone.

“Touché,” he chuckled “I guess… I just think it was easier.”

You frowned a little bit and he refrained himself from kiss it away.

“Easier?”.

He didn't answer this question, leaving it still hanging in the air. But the he leaned even closer to you, almost imperceptibly but when his lips lightly brushed yours, you forgot what that question was and even your damn name. “Push me away angel.”

You didn't do it even though you knew you had to.

Your brain was aware of it but your body couldn't move, instead it continued to crave his touch, his mouth on yours.

“Why?” you whispered as you brushed your lips against his again, and again, until every part of you exploded in desire and passion.

Were you going to regret it? Probably yes, but in that moment you couldn't care less, you were too caught up and overwhelmed by the hurricane that was Adam Ruzek to be able to think rationally.

“Because I might do something stupid…” he breathed out, having a hard time to keep control of himself, his hands tightening their grip on you. “Fuck… You drive me crazy.”

His lips continued brushing yours, this time in such a way you felt like you were being swallowed up by a hurricane and spat out and then thrown forcefully against a truck. Only a millimeter was missing, just a single one for the kiss you were both waiting and desiring so intensely.

You were both waiting for one of you to pull back, to realize the stupid thing you were about to do but neither of you did, even though you both knew if you crossed this line there would be no turning back. You had already crossed this line, sure, but you actually didn't remember a thing from the night you ended up in his bed.

There would be no alcohol or liquor to blame this time, just your stupid minds and bodies that didn't want to be apart from each other.

However a sudden thud made you literally jump and suddenly move away from him, panic starting to take over again as you feared your time had come. Nevertheless as soon as you realized the Ferris wheel was finally unblocked and it had started to rotate again, you let out a sigh of relief.

When you finally reached the ground, you came out of that cabin at the speed of light, almost bursting into tears when you realized it was really over.

Your gaze followed Adam for a moment, who started talking and laughing with Jay and Kim as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't been about to kiss you until a few moments before.

Your friends were talking to you and asking how you were but your mind was completely elsewhere, still stuck in the moment when you were so close to him and about to kiss.

His eyes met yours for a moment. He looked at you with such intensity that your knees almost buckled, a little smirk on his lips making your heart drop with anticipation and that was probably the first time you were able to understand his unspoken words.

Whatever happened up there wasn't over.

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[heartsaturn]

Haii! I was wondering if you can do a Steve Randle x M!Reader? :3

“love grows where my rosemary goes and nobody knows like me”

steve randle x m!reader

warnings: so much fluff that its actually sickening (and darry being everyones father figure, queue disappointed darry)

summary: the four times reader wanted to kiss steve and the one time he did.

a/n: still trying to figure out the personality of the outsiders characters so i apologize in advance. also sorry for taking literally forever to get this out, i was so busy with school work and honestly was in a writing slump. ik you said male reader but its not very specific tbh. ps i loved writing this request with my whole heart <33

———————————————————————

one

“No it’s not!”

“Yes it is!”

Steve and I were about twenty minutes deep into an argument about wether chocolate cake or vanilla cake is better.

“Tell me one reason why vanilla is better than chocolate!”

Clearly, Steve was very sensitive about this topic. The only reason I wasn’t giving him this argument was because it was honestly kind of funny seeing how angry he got over something so unimportant like flavour of cake.

“It’s just my personal preference! Why can’t you accept that!”

Steve’s face finally seemed to have contorted to a more calm expression. He probably had realized how silly of an argument this was and wanted to stop. Although, instead of him stopping he just simply… walked away.

“Steve! Where are you going?”

“I am going to get both vanilla and chocolate cake and we are going to test them together. If I like the vanilla better than you win, if you like chocolate better than I win. Deal?”

“Fine, just because I want this argument to be over.”

He slightly chuckled at that statement and I swear my heart stopped then and there.

His laugh.

His laugh.

Every time I heard his laugh it was like the first time I had ever heard it before and I fell in love with him all over again.

I just want to be more than friends.

two

The whole gang was currently having a sleepover at the Curtis house, it was a bit small for all of us but we make it work

Right now though, Two-bit, Steve, and Sodapop were having an argument about which movie we were going to watch.

what is it with Steve and arguing with people?

I had no clue what they were even talking about anymore as I just sat back and listened. Darry had gone out to get the snacks for the movie, which was a big mistake leaving everyone unsupervised. Johnny and Ponyboy were both on the floor leaning against the couch, about to drift to sleep. Finally, Dally was out on the porch smoking, probably sick and tired of hearing the the boys argue.

Even though I didn’t know what they were talking about, I was on Steve’s side. No matter what. He just looks so passionate about what he is talking about and he is the perfect volume between yelling and talking, to where its not annoying but he is still getting his point across.

He is literally perfect.

And then Darry comes back with the snacks and most definitely sees me looking at Steve with love in my eyes and I am now regretting the fact that I cannot hide my emotions.

God, I am so far gone.

three

It seemed that I couldn’t hang out with Steve alone anymore because it was the third time this week that one or more of the gang member interrupted us.

Steve and I were just as the diner by ourselves because we hadn’t had a one-on-one conversation in a while and we wanted to catch up. That is when the whole rest of the gang comes in and decides to plop themselves right at our booth, which could barely fit all of us.

Steve and I were still across from each other though, and we both gave look that said “I want to kill them for interrupting us”. We didn’t even engage in conversation with the rest of the gang, we just talked to each other.

Steve had just made a joke and I was now dying laughing. It wasn’t even that funny but it was to me and to him. After I was done with my laughing fit, I looked at Steve and we made eye contact.

Since when were his eyes so pretty?

We held eye contact for about three second, smiling like idiots, before both getting flustered and looking away.

Before either of us could say anything, Sodapop engaged Steve in a conversation.

four

I had been having an absolute shit day. First, I had woken up late, missed the school bus and inevitably had to walk to school. Second, none of the gang was at school today. None of them. Johnny and Ponyboy where on a class field trip to God knows where and Two-bit was sick with the flu. I felt more like an outsider than I usually do. Third, I got an F on an exam that is worth 30% of our semester grade. That was going to do damage.

Honestly, the only thing that I could look forward to was going to the DX after school. I wanted to see my bestfriend.

So, finally, the school day was over and I walked over to the DX, which is luckily only about a 5 minute walk from my school.

I walked through the door and immediately spotted Sodapop.

“Hey Soda! Where’s Steve?” I asked him, anxious to find my bestfriend.

“Gee, thanks for asking me how I’m doing Y/N. He’s in the back.” Soda replies sarcastically.

I just roll my eyes at him and head to the back where Steve is.

“Hey Steve!” I say, excited to finally be able to be with him after my long day.

“Oh, hey Y/N. How was your day?” Steve replies, turning around when he heard my voice. I always loved how considerate he was of my feeling and making sure that I’m okay.

“Honestly? Pretty shit.” I say nonchalantly, as if that was the normal response.

“Oh, why is that?” Steve asks, his face scrunches a little in confusion and worry.

“Just a lot. It was pretty stressful today.” I say exasperated.

“Well, how about this, we go to the drive in, just you and me, and we get dinner afterwards too. It’s all on me. Deal?” Steve offers.

“Steve you don’t need to do all of that for me.” I sigh at him. Sometimes he too considerate.

“Hey. Yes I do, it is my job as your bestest friend to take care you.” He says, grabbing my chin in the process. I genuinely thought I was going to faint. I mean like actually. Steve was grabbing my chin. And it sounded like he wanted to take me on a date? What a world I am living in.

five

The gang had just gotten out of a rumble with the socs and Steve was hurt. Bad. We had gotten to the Curtis house after the rumble and he just locked himself in the bathroom. This is very unlike Steve.

“Steve, come on, please let me in. I just want to see you.” I plead outside of the door of the bathroom, not caring that the others can see and hear me.

Quickly, the door opens and I get pulled into the bathroom and then the door shuts again.

Steve is shirtless with his wound on full display. Some fucking idiot soc had brought a blade to the rumble and had been able to get a clean cut right across Steve’s upper chest. Steve was looking to the ground, as if he was ashamed.

“Oh Steve.” I say softly, instinctively getting the first aid kit out.

“Can I please help clean your cut and bandage it?” I ask Steve lowering my head so I can look him in the eyes. He nods softly, still not looking directly at me.

I disinfect his wound, trying to be as quick and careful as possible because if I heard one more sad whimper from him, I was going to cry.

“Hey, look at me Steve. I know it hurts but you will be okay.” I say trying to comfort him because seeing him so sad and hurt, pains me.

“I’m just, I feel like I disappointed everyone tonight, you know? Like, I should have been able to protect myself, protect you but I couldn’t do it right.” He says, tears now rolling down his cheeks.

I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand the fact that he was here, in front of me, talking bad about himself. He was as perfect as human can be and he is worried about protecting, me? I’m not even injured.

In fact, I couldn’t stand it so much, that I did the only thing I could think of to comfort him.

I kissed him.

I captured his lips in a very light and soft kiss that was barely even there, yet it lasted for a while and was so electric. At first, he was just frozen with shock and I was worried I did something wrong. Then, he melted into the kiss just as I was and it was a beautiful moment.

We eventually broke apart and looked into each other’s eyes and I finally saw his dopey and joyful smile that I loved so much.

“Boy, do we have some explaining to do to the gang.”

———————————————————————

word count: 1474

[mxnsxngie]

A Piece Of My heART (H.H)

Warnings: none! Pure, tooth-rotting fluff!

Word Count: 3261 (holy crap, I didn't intend for it to be this long but oh well!)

Let Me Know What You Think!

“We totally need to get together sometime soon, I miss you so much!” your friend Aly says over the phone.

You chuckle as walk up to the door to your friends’ dorm room, knocking on the door.

“I miss you too! Is there anytime you’re available soon?” You ask her as the dorm door opens. You’re met by a smiling Jisung on the other side as he dramatically bows, gesturing you in. You laugh at his antics, whispering to him “Hey Jisung” as you walk in.

“Yeah I’m free next week! And did you just say Jisung?!” Your friend asks and you can’t help but chuckle.

“Oh awesome! And yeah I did, I’m over to visit Jinnie for a movie night. Why do you ask though?” You ask, already knowing her answer.

“Because he is so fine. I swear I would risk it all for him. You gotta set us up girl!” She says and you laugh.

“Aly you kill me” you tell her laughing as you notice a slight blush appearing on Jisung’s cheeks at the mention of your friends’ name.

“First of all, offensive. Second of all, can you blame me?!” She says over the phone.

“No I can’t. I suppose I’ll see what I can do” you tell her as you slip your shoes off. “So what are you thinking for next week?” You ask as you sit down on the couch in the living room, Jisung joining you.

You fail to notice Hyunjin starting to walk into the living room behind you due to the phone call. He smiles seeing you, excited to finally get to hang out with you again.

“How about sushi and the art museum? We haven’t been in ages” your friend suggests.

“Oooo! Sushi and the art museum? Now you’re speaking my love language! I mean, throw in coffee and a bookstore visit and I’m putty in your hands” you joke with her.

Hyunjin’s ears perk up at this. He knew you enjoyed those things as well, it’s part of why you two got along so well. But enjoying them so much that you considered it part of your love language? He didn’t realize just how much you loved the things that meant so much to him as well. He swears in that moment the crush he’s been harboring on you for a while now deepened and he knew he needed to figure out a way to ask you out.

He walks around the couch to sit by you as you finish up your phone call and begin to talk to Jisung. He smiles as you subconsciously lean against him while talking, putting his arm on the couch behind you.

“How’s Aly doing?” Jisung blushes slightly, asking you about your friend.

“She’s good! She was asking about you!” You tell him, watching his blush deepen slightly.

“She was? That’s nice! I’d love to hang out with her again sometime” he tells you, getting flustered.

“She’d love that! I’ll have to let her know!” You smile before turning to look at Hyunjin, still leaning on him. “Hi there” you say, smiling up at him.

“Hi there” he smiles, moving his arm to rest around your shoulders instead.

“And that’s my queue, catch you guys later!” Jisung says, leaving you two alone, causing you to look at him slightly confused.

“What’s with him?” You laugh, looking back to Hyunjin.

“It’s Jisung, many things are up with him” he says laughing, knowing full well that Jisung was aware of his feelings for you and always insisted that you liked him as well.

Hyunjin just had a hard time believing him, especially with being so guarded when it came to love despite being such a romantic. But he couldn’t keep his feelings to himself anymore, you were worth the risk. You two had such a strong connection and you understood him and his views better than anyone. If he was going to make that jump with anyone, it made sense it would be you. His best friend, and, as he’d recently began to realize, his possible soulmate.

“You know what, that’s fair” you laugh as you get a little more comfortable. “So movie night?” You ask him, smiling.

“Of course! But! Not without snacks” he smiles, standing and holding his hand out to help you up so you can help him in the kitchen.

“Oh obviously” you say with a giggle as you take his hand as he helps you up, leading you to the kitchen. “Popcorn and candy?” You ask him as you starting getting a bowl out.

“Whatever you want” he smiles at you, reaching for a bag of popcorn and putting it in the microwave.

“Whatever I want huh? That’s a lot of power in my hands” You joke as you sit on the counter with the bowl, swinging your legs.

“Well you deserve the best. Just don’t abuse the power” he says, watching you with a teasing smirk.

“I can’t make any promises there” you tease with a matching smirk. Watching you sitting there, tucking your hair behind you ear smiling at him like he’s the only person in the world, he has an idea for how to ask you out.

While he’s getting your favorite candy he keep a stash of out of the cabinets, he takes out his phone and places an order online quickly before putting it back away so he can focus on you.

He gets the popcorn out and moves to stand between your legs, pouring the popcorn into the bowl in your hands. He looks up as he finishes pouring it, meeting your eyes that are already looking at his face. It takes everything in him not to reach out and cup your beautiful face like he wants to. “Ready?” He asks quietly, not wanting to break the moment.

“Yeah, I’m ready” you whisper back, flushing a little. You’d gotten so distracted watching him that he startled you when he looked up, catching you. You couldn’t help it really, his tall, lean frame, long blonde hair, his gorgeous hands, and of course his perfectly beautiful face.

You’d fallen for him very quickly after you met, the both of you having much in common when it came to interests and how you viewed the world around you. You both had found it refreshing to find someone who viewed it the same way and clicked instantly, as though you’d known each other all your life and were meant I find each other.

You desperately wanted more than this friendship you had with him. You wanted to be able to cuddle him, kiss him, hold his hand, and just love him as he deserved. But, you knew how he was when it came to love, and you knew that if anything was going to happen between you two, it had to be his decision. Still, a part of you couldn’t help but wish that he could someone understand all of your feelings for him as he held your gaze. You swear you saw a hint of love and longing in his eyes, but it was fine before you could be sure.

“Lets go then” he says, carefully helping you down and guiding you back to the couch, keeping his hand on your lower back the whole time. His touch warmed you and It took all your strength not to shiver at it.

He sets everything down and sits, getting comfortable and queues up the movie as you sit beside him, leaning against his side. He reaches for a blanket and covers you both with it before placing his arm behind you. You can’t help but flush a little, but discreetly lean into him more.

The movie wraps up a little while later, the both of you laughing and making comments along the way. And of course you noticed how he kept watching you the whole time. Every time you’d turn to say something to him, you’d find him already looking at you.

“That was a really good movie!” You tell him, looking up at him from where your head rests on his shoulder.

“It was! And this was nice, I’ve missed this” he tells you, glancing down at you.

“I have too” You blush a little, looking down slightly to try to hide it from him.

He reaches over with his free hand to tuck a piece of your hair behind your ear, causing you to look up at him. “Can I talk to you about something?” He asks you quietly.

“Of course, you always can Jinnie, you know that” you tell him as you look up at him, taking his hand.

He sighs lightly as he nods, gathering his thoughts.

“I know. This is just, a little bit of uncharted territory for me. But I’ve been thinking a lot lately. About, us.” He tells you, never taking his eyes off yours.

“Us?” You ask, feeling a little nervous.

“Yeah, us. You, you mean a lot to me, and I’ve been thinking recently just how much you do. I haven’t met anyone who understands me the way that you do, and I feel truly seen when I’m with you. What I’m trying to say is-“ he cuts himself off as there’s a knock at the door.

You look at the door then back to him in confusion. He chuckles at you before saying “just on time. I think this will help clear things up. Can you get that?” He asks you.

“Uhhh yeah, sure” you say, still confused where he’s going with this and why whatever is at the door is pertinent to his point. But you get up nonetheless and move to the door.

You open it and find no one standing there, but instead, a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Sunflowers mixed with roses and alstroemerias to be exact, your favorites. Because of course Hyunjin would remember that.

You chuckle with a small smile as you reach to grab them, noticing a small note attached as you shut the door. You grab the card to see what it says. The small card reads “Roses are red, violets are blue, can we go on a date, because I really love you”.

You were so distracted by the flowers and card, that you hadn’t heard Hyunjin stand up or walk over, so you jump slightly as you feel him put his arms around you from behind, engulfing you in a back hug, pulling you close to him. You relax into him, turning to look at him where his head rests on your shoulder.

“You love me?” You ask, heart soaring at the hope that he may actually love you as much as you have loved him all this time.

“Yeah,” he smiles, looking down at you. “I do love you. And I’d really like to take you out, as your boyfriend. What do you say?” He asks quietly, not taking his eyes off of yours.

You smile harder than you ever have before, reaching up to play with his hair as he holds you in his arms “I say it’s a date” you tell him before kissing his cheek.

As promised, Hyunjin picks you up the next morning for your date. He refused to tell you where all he was taking you, only promising that you would love what he had planned for the two of you. You don’t fail to notice his camera bag in the backseat, so you know whatever he has planned will be good if he brought it with him.

You talk and laugh the whole drive, and you can’t help but smile when he parks the car, realizing where he’s brought you.

“Sake?!” You ask turning to him excitedly, realizing he’s brought you to your favorite sushi restaurant.

“Sure is! Figured we’d get some food to fuel us before the rest of the day and I know it’s your favorite” he says, smiling back at you.

“You know me so well” you gasp lightly, putting one hand over your heart dramatically.

Hyunjin laughs at your antics, knowing he’d do the same. Just another reason he loves you.

“I do, how weird!” He gasps back, playing along with you. “Now come on, I’m starving” he says, getting out of the car and coming around to help you out.

After eating your fill of sushi, you get back into the car and he starts driving to another location.

“Where are we going now?” You ask in excitement, giving puppy eyes in hopes he’ll spill the secret.

“I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise! But we’re almost there!” He says laughing as he sees you pout from the corner of his eye. “And that’s not working on me this time” he says.

“It usually does” you quietly mutter to yourself. He laughs hearing you but chooses to let it go for now.

A couple minutes later, you start to recognize the area and you gasp in excitement as you start pulling up to a familiar building.

“The art museum?!” You ask, pure joy on your face as he parks and looks at you.

“No the zoo!” He laughs “yes the art museum you goof!” He jokes, messing your hair up as he ruffles it lightly.

“I haven’t been in so long!” You say bouncing in excitement as you realize something. “Oh my god, you totally overheard my conversation with Aly didn’t you?” You say, realizing he’s taking you to the places you mentioned on the phone with your friend.

“Guilty” he laughs as he gets out of the car, coming to help you out and then grab his camera bag. “To be fair though, you know I love all of those things as well and it felt like too perfect of an opportunity to miss out on” he says as he takes his camera out and loops it over his neck before taking your hand, leading you to the museum.

“Okay I can’t blame you there” you giggle as you lean into him while holding his hand.

Once you guys pay and get your maps, you set off downstairs together to start with the older art first. You slowly move from gallery to gallery together, pausing to talk about some of the pieces.

Every so often, on the couple of times you happen to wander slightly ahead of him to look at a piece, you hear the the soft click of his camera. You can’t help but smile to yourself, knowing he’s sneaking pictures of you admiring the art.

Once you’ve finished walking through the first floor together, you move up to the second. As you’re walking ahead of him up the stairs, you hear another click of his camera. You laugh and turn to him, a look of slight confusion on your face.

“I’m just walking up the stairs?” You say questioningly to him.

“Yeah, but look at this” he says, a soft smile on his face as he pulls up the picture on the screen to show you. You can’t help back let out a tiny gasp as you see it. The lighting and angle of the picture he’s taken of you is breathtaking, he’s managed to make it seem like you’re floating up the stairs.

“Oh that’s stunning” you say, looking back at him.

“No, you’re stunning. The picture wouldn’t be as good if you weren’t” he says, taking your hand and leading you into the next gallery. He sees the deep blush on your face but chooses not to mention it.

As you’re walking through the second floor, you still occasionally hear his camera go off as he snaps pictures of some of the pieces in the galleries and of you. While you’re looking at one piece, you can help but giggle as Hyunjin comes shuffling over, excitement clear on his face.

“Come with me, I have to show you something!” He says, taking your hand and pulling you with him to a piece just ahead.

“Okay okay!” You giggle as you both come to a stop. “Oh wow, this is beautiful” you say as you look at the piece he’s brought you to with him, resting your head on his shoulder. The piece is a Claude Monet, a beautiful landscape painting called “Water Lillies”.

“It is, I know you love paintings like this too and I just had to show you” he says, blushing a little over how excitable he got.

“Thank you, it’s beautiful” you whisper, looking up at him softly. He looks down and he’s taken aback at how beautiful you look, love and adoration in your eyes as you look at him. He reaches up, gently cupping your face as he looks at you.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispers, rubbing his thumb along your cheek.

“Yes” you whisper back as he leans down, gently connecting your lips with his. You reach your free hand to tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck, just holding him as he gently kisses you. You hum into the kiss, feeling the love for you that he’s putting into it. Shortly after you break apart, still close to each other.

“I love you Hyunjin” you whisper, moving a stray blonde lock out of his face.

“I love you too. You’ve stole my heart” he smiles at you as he starts leading you through the rest of the gallery.

“Oh well I’ll be rich, that’s pretty valuable you know?” You joke, causing him to roll his eyes at your antics.

“As long as you don’t lose it” he tells you as you walk out of the museum together.

“Hmmm I think I can do that” you say as you reach up to kiss his cheek. “Soooo coffee and the bookstore?” You ask as you both get back into his car, knowing those were the other things you had mentioned you love on the phone to your friend.

“Hmmmm I suppose we can, but on one condition” he says, looking over at you.

“What’s that? More kisses? “ you say laughing.

He rolls his eyes at you before responding. “Okay, two conditions. One, yes more kisses. But two, our next date has to be a double date with Jisung and Aly. I think I’ll go crazy if I have to keep hearing him talk about how much he wants to go out with her but that he’s too nervous to ask her” he says, a tone of mock exaggeration in his voice as he starts the car. “If you can do that I’ll buy you all the coffee and books you want today” he says.

“Oh deal, Aly is always asking about him and wants to go out with him so that’ll be perfect. And I get books and coffee for that? Win win for me! You do realize I would’ve said yes to another date with my boyfriend without you setting it as a condition though right?” you laugh at him.

“Oh well in that case, we can just go home then, no need to go to the bookstore if you’ll go out with me again anyway” he says with a smirk.

“No no no! We totally do! You’re so smart for thinking to ask me on another date and for more kisses that way babe! I love you!” You say quickly, knowing he likely wouldn’t turn around, but not willing to take your chances. With Hyunjin you could never be too sure.

“I love you too, you little heart stealer” he says, smiling at you fondly. He had definitely found his soulmate.

Tag List: @yxngbxkkie @channiechxn @alyszaen @l3visbby

If you want to be tagged in the future let me know! My chat and inbox are always open so feel free to come talk to me anytime!

[missing-sock-misto]

Did you get asked about your AU's? If not, feel free to talk about them!

Oooh goody no I didn’t!

I’ve got a lot. I will admit, I like what I like, so Misto getting ostracized and finding belonging and acceptance with Tugger's help is a big love. I also love when Misto is under Macavity's influence in some way, a "pet", an employee, etc. Tugger is usually friends with or loyal to Mac in some way, and then finds Misto, befriends him, then falls in love with him, and together they realize that Mac is actually bad news and they break free of his influence.). Same thing with Demeter, though with a different flavor of abuse.

I do tend to gravitate towards a more human-esque universe, as it makes the world building easier to me. CATS as Cats is easier for shorter stories.

Medieval au 1: Misto is an eldritch creature, Mac is king after the death of the previous King Deuteronomy. Prince Munkustrap is the head Knight, Prince Tugger is technically a knight but really uses his title to cavort with whatever maid or squire has caught his attention. One day he sees a shooting star fall in the forest and comes across an shapeshifting creature comprised of Void and Stars. Mac wants Misto because Magical Weapon. Misto takes on a human/catboy form, but cannot speak. Tugger teaches him sign language, romance shennanigans before whump. Sideplot of Queen Demeter and her Guard Munkustrap falling in love- possible polycule with Bomba. Medieval Au: Variant 2: There's a monster in the woods. It's been causing people to go missing for years. Finally, Prince Tugger goes in to kill it, but finds a pale faced boy instead. He befriends him, but the boy refuses to come near the castle. Does not listen to Tugger pointing out there's a monster in the woods. The boy doesn't speak, so Tugger teaches him writing and sign. (In the background, Princess Jemima complains that her imaginary friend has gone missing). King Macavity is hunting for the monster as well. It's eventually revealed that Misto is a shapeshifter/monster. He can only speak in echoes, repeating things that he’s heard in the voices he’s heard them in. He's captured and experimented on. However, Tugger realizes that they had it wrong: Misto was not taking people from their beds, Macavity was taking and experimenting on them. Misto was Jemima's "imaginary" friend, and was eventually captured by Macavity. He then escaped, but can't leave the kingdom without [Maguffin]. Queue quest to save Misto and take down Macavity.

A Little Distraction: My main au, but I'm actually kind of protective about this one.

College Au: Misto is a Dance major and hates Tugger's guts cause he's a stereotypical frat/party boy undeclared major who loves flirting with anything with legs. But then they get trapped in a closet together for "7 minutes in heaven" and Misto has a panic attack because he has claustrophobia (from abuse), and Tugger helps him calm down before Vicky gets them out. It makes Misto reconsider his preconceptions of Tugger, though doesn't stop him disliking him completely.

Later Misto and Tugger have hate sex. Or rather- Misto is going "I hate you and I hate your stupid hot face, now take your damn pants off." while Tugger is extremely amused by the entire situation. After that point, their relationship continues in secret as "strictly physical" (it's not strictly physical).

Mafia AU: There are 3 factions; Deuteronomy, Macavity, and Jones. And the patriarchs had been friends in their youth, and had created a “Cosa Nostra” alliance. But age and time had turned that alliance into a thin line. It’s an open secret that Macavity wants to rule the city alone.

(A wraith is performing hits on the Jones and Deuteronomy families. At least, any survivors say it's a wraith. It's a creature comprised of smoke, can infiltrate anywhere, and can disappear without a trace. Macavity points out his own family is not immune- but it later becomes evident that anyone who was targeted in Macavity’s mafia had displeased him in some way).

Bustopher Jones has a quiet nephew, shy and prone to falling sick. But Tugger gets a weird feeling about the kid (he's not a kid he’s like 16), and starts following him around. He discovers the boy has magical powers, and his sickness is a ruse. They become friends.

But in truth, Misto is actually part of the Macavity family, his adopted son. He had been sent to infiltrate the Jones household to act as a spy. Bustopher adopted Misto as his nephew with open arms. This fills Misto with a lot of guilt, knowing he’s betraying someone who was so kind to him. But he feels he has no other choice. Macavity encourages his friendship with Tugger, as it means he can spy on both families. But Misto’s feelings and friendship become stronger, potentially stronger than his loyalty to Macavity.

Superhero au- It's basically Batman. Tugger is a millionare playboy rockstar, Munk is the Police Commissioner who's trying to track down a masked vigilante as well as get a handle on the normal city crime. What he doesn't know is Tugger is the masked vigilante, using his charm and perceived "himboness" to get into places, then using his crime fighting persona to take down bad guys. He works with Bomba, his "gal in the chair". He gets a tip about where a catburglar, who's been pulling off impossible robberies, will hit next. He sneaks in, only to find a pretty dark haired burglar dangling from a rope from the ceiling- just in the middle of a job. Then he watches as somehow, the jewel that was in the case vanishes, and appears in the robber's hand. They have a very flirty altercation, and then Misto disappears. Bomba is busy losing her mind because YOU LET HIM GO?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?! [I didn’t ‘let him go’, he just vanished!]. Turns out Misto is working for the villain who all these plots go back to, Macavity. [This one probably has background Demelurina as a Posion Ivy-Harley Quinn like romance].

Detroit Become human au: Misto is an android who is owned by Macavity. Tugger is a college dropout and a hacking genius, but he mostly uses his abilities for chaos. He discovers that Misto has secretly gone rogue (has developed sentience and a sense of will).

I've got a variety of other aus. I think the story I'm working on currently could also be considered an au technically, but eh. I've also got my CATS as cats au crossover with Thunderwhenhepurrs's OCs, some various cryptid Mistos, and some Demestrap ones. Most are just "Vibes" and thought experiments rather than anything I'll commit to paper.

*

As for AUs I like- I do love my more CATS as Cats settings! I struggle with writing these myself, the world building often overwhelming me. I also love my crytpid Mistoffelees, where Misto isn't so much a cat so much as a demon or eldritch entity in the skin of a cat. People who capture the energy well are amazing (shout out to Cat-at-the-theatre-door, I just found their Tuggoffelees drabbles/fics a few days ago and WOW they are the perfect energy).

[saturdaynightghostclub]

Highway Hypnosis

Chapter 9: Cicely

I met an old woman in a movie theater queue in Chicago right after I graduated college. She was there alone, like me, trying in vain to make her day mean something. I noticed her immediately; in a sea of denim and cotton, she was in a sundress and sandals, the kind you wear to wade through a river when you’re hiking. She noticed me too, though I’m not sure what it was that stood out about me. She asked me where I was from; for some reason I didn’t strike her as a local. I leaned into it, just for a secret to keep, and told her I was from Seattle. And what a coincidence, she was too. “In my past life,” she explained, “I was a mermaid. It kills me to be out here with no water.” I reminded her of Lake Michigan, and she just shook her head. It wasn’t the same.

That woman stuck with me. Maybe I was projecting onto her, but I swore from that moment that I could feel her living deep inside the throes of my body, with her fist curled around my spine, dictating my every move with a benevolence I resented. I grew restless, too big for my mother’s home and entirely too small for whatever lay beyond its front door. There was an inevitability to the woman’s words; she and I would make it back home. Maybe we’d go somewhere and be mermaids together, just jump into the freezing northern waters and reject the world that had brought us up.

As I emerge from the Evergreen river’s icy current, I wonder if this counts. Is it that you can’t be a mermaid in freshwater, or is it more a matter of affinity? Regardless of how the movie theater woman would answer, I think she’d be proud of me. For some reason her hypothetical opinion of me matters more than I’d like to admit.

Jasper’s sitting on a large rock on the river bank, letting the late afternoon sun evaporate whatever cold water is left on his skin in transcendent drops of gold. He spent the night at my place last night, high on life after cracking the library code mystery. There have been remarkably few times throughout my life when I’ve been completely, genuinely at a loss for words, but waking up in his arms this morning was one of them. His face is turned toward the sky, and then suddenly it isn’t. I swim leisurely toward him as his gaze focuses on something on the beach towel to his right—my cell phone, I realize, which must mean it’s ringing. By the time I reach him and haul myself up onto the rock beside him, it’s almost too late. I don’t bother with the caller ID in my hurry to pick up the call, and the regret that washes over me immediately after the damn thing goes live is palpable.

“There you are! Thank goodness, Andie, do you know how many times I’ve tried to call you?”

“Mom? What’s going on, is something wrong?”

“Is something wrong?” My mother asks, incredulous, as if I should already know. “I have called you eight times, Andrea. Eight! And you haven’t picked up once. Care to explain?”

I don’t, but I’ll try. “Service is spotty up here, I honestly didn’t realize you’d even tried calling,” I say, followed by a weak “sorry, Mom.” I realize I’ve unconsciously pulled my knees to my chest, a position I often assume when talking to my mother. A therapist I once saw said it was part of a fawn response, which I suppose is understandable aside from the fact that it happens even during the most benign conversations.

“I don’t want your excuses, it’s not why I called,” she snaps. I figure it would be better to just let her talk, as anything I have to say past this point will be under the lens of her scrutiny, so I wait for her to continue. “I’m coming up to visit,” she says, “on the first of September. I’m staying four days, and I’ll need a ride to and from the airport.”

“Okay,” I say, cautiously, “will you send me your flight details in a text so I know what time to come get you?”

“They’re in your inbox already,” she replies, sounding exasperated. Once again, I guess I should have read her mind. Silly me. I inhale, sitting up straighter as Jasper slides an arm around my waist, his hand coming to rest on my hip. I’m not sure if he can hear anything more than my side of the conversation, but he seems attuned to my stress regardless. I cover his hand lightly with my own, resisting my body’s urge to move closer to him.

“Okay, I mean—,” I start. I can’t exactly tell her not to come; I can’t even lament that she didn’t warn me further ahead of time as, per her own testimony, she tried. “—Okay. I’ll see you soon, I guess.”

“Don’t sound so eager, it’s only your mother,” she replies sharply.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” I sigh, “I’ll see you in a week. Can’t wait.” She hangs up the phone without saying goodbye. Manners only matter when it’s mine that are lacking. I set the phone down, staring straight ahead for a moment as I close my hand around Jasper’s, lacing my fingers through his.

“Your mom?” He asks after a beat, in his soft way which, infuriatingly, makes me want to simultaneously tell him my deepest secrets and break down sobbing in his arms. How on Earth does he do that?

“Mhmm,” I hum, deciding on a dime to keep the conversation light, “she’s coming up in a week. She didn’t tell me why.”

“Sounds like a real piece of work,” Jasper says, leaning in to kiss my temple before I finally look at him.

“Yeah,” I nod, “you could say that.”

I don’t know if it’s residual teenage rebellion or the fact that I know inherently that my mother will hate him or what, but in this moment, looking at Jasper, I’m hit by a wave of Something that knocks the breath out of me completely. He is truly, completely perfect.

It occurs to me that I’ve been staring at him a moment too long when, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead, he says “What?”

I kiss him, and his small noise of surprise is submerged in a current of that sweet, slow darkness that envelops me whenever we’re together.

Jasper and I, in a rare moment of extraverted unison, have agreed to spend the evening with Joshy and Janie at her apartment above the cafe. It was Janie’s idea—she said it would be fun to have “couple friends,” but I get the distinct feeling she’s just curious about what exactly a relationship with the infamous Moss might look like—and, while she vaguely mentioned card games, I know for a fact she’s made no plans beyond sitting around on the floor and passing a bottle of gin back and forth. It’s a refreshingly low-stakes concept; in Chicago, if I wanted to socialize with anyone I needed to go to at least three bars and one late-night taco truck before we settled down for the night. I don’t think I’ve done the old “split a bottle of gin” routine since senior prom.

For some reason I expected Jasper to be nervous about the outing, but he’s not. He’s actually anything but. He even snagged some snacks from the general store on our way to Janie’s because “you can’t show up empty-handed, who raised you?”

The door to the apartment is unlocked, and upon opening it I’m met with an almost-tangible wave of sound. Music, laughter, pots and pans banging around in the kitchen.

“Hello?” I call, “We’re here.”

“Coming!” Janie responds, shortly before rounding the corner with two cocktail glasses hanging from her right hand. “Nice tat, Andie,” she grins devilishly, and after a moment of confusion my hand flies to my neck. I spin to look at Jasper, swatting him with the back of my hand.

“Oh my god, did you give me a hickey?” I hiss, a spark of satisfaction overcoming my embarrassment as his face flushes red.

“Sorry, sorry—ow, Jesus!” He mumbles, stifling laughter and backing away from my attacks until his legs hit the arm of Janie’s couch. “Okay, okay!” He says, finally allowing himself to laugh fully. “Okay, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I swear.” He’s holding out his pinky finger and, with a raised eyebrow, I link mine through it. As long as he swears.

Janie has disappeared back into the kitchen, replaced by Joshy, who’s apparently been banished for burning the popcorn. “Boys,” I say in lieu of a goodbye, sweeping into the kitchen to let them entertain themselves while I endure Janie’s inevitable bout of relentless teasing.

“I cannot believe he did that,” I mutter softly, coming to stand beside her, “I’m going to kill him. You know my mother’s coming to town in a week? Kill him for me, Janie.”

She laughs. “Spoons are in the drawer closest to the fridge,” she says. I understand her meaning; anyone who’s been the unfortunate victim of a hickey is familiar with the cold spoon trick. I search the drawer for the biggest metal spoon I can find before submerging it in a glass of ice water. Janie’s stirring a jar of something gorgeous and purple. She turns to me and says, “Honestly, I’m impressed. I didn’t think he had it in him.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t think anyone’s given me a hickey since high school. What’s that?”

“Gin, I infused it with this blue tea stuff. It’s supposed to be good, we’ll see. So, have you…?” She asks casually.

“Yep,” I reply, trying to match her tone so she doesn’t shriek in response. It’s no use.

“Yes!” She squeaks, “How was it? Was it good?”

I feel myself flush and press the cold spoon into my neck in the vain hope that it’ll bring me back to a normal temperature. “Janie, I don’t even have the words to describe how good it was.”

“Really? Oh my god, Andie! Tell me everything, I can’t believe you didn’t text me immediately,” she says, bringing her tone back down to a whisper-shout that’s no less suspicious than her high-pitched shriek.

“It literally happened last night!” I whisper-shout in response, unable to keep the grin from my face.

“No excuse!”

“Fine, fine! ‘Kay, so first of all, he has a tattoo above his knee—,”

“Ladies?” Joshy asks from the doorway, eyebrow quirked in an amused expression. Shit.

“Coming!” Janie answers brightly, shooting me a look that says plainly “we’ll talk about it later.” I almost wish it was just the two of us tonight, just Janie and I. There’s nothing like a debrief between girls, between friends; I knew I missed having non-men around, but now that I know I have at least one to count on, it's like forbidden fruit. I don’t want to hang out with the boys, I want to dish with my friends. I make a promise to myself, then: I’ll call my college friends tomorrow. I’ll tell them everything. I won’t let go of my adolescence just yet.

[thatlovinfeelin]

Little Did I Know -three- Jake "Hangman" Seresin

Katherin 'Kate' Buckley lived and worked on the Seresin Family Ranch her whole life. Now she has the pleasure of helping run it. She loves her way of life, loves the simplicity of it. That is, until Jake Sersesin shows back up, looking extremely worse for wear. Slowly, Kate learns that she knows nothing about the man she used to call her best friend anymore. Meanwhile, Jake realizes he doesn't know how to live this kind of life anymore.

“Mount up, and be quick about it,” Kate told Leah, “I have maybe an hour.”

“Why’d you bring me a horse then?” Leah questioned as she hoisted herself into the saddle. 

Kate shrugged before gently urging Echo forward, “Better keep up, we’re going to the creek.”

Leah let out a big sigh before giving her horse a kick. Kate was racing in front of her, laughing about how Leah couldn’t keep up. The two girls hadn’t raced one another in years. Or at least, they hadn’t raced on purpose in years. 

Leah bit her lip and kicked a little harder as well as giving several vocal queues to her horse to speed up. She inched closer to the older woman, but she still knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up with Echo if Kate decided she really wanted to run. Echo might as well have been as fast as lightning, she could out run any of the stallions on the ranch, just like Kate could easily show any of the cowboys where they belonged. 

The creek came into view just as Kate gently tugged on her reins, “Okay, easy girl. There you go.”

She leaned forward so she could rub Echo’s neck.

“I forgot how fast you two are,” Leah sounded out of breath as her horse trotted up next to Echo. 

Kate flashed a smile before dismounting and tying Echo to a nearby tree, “C’mon, we have some things to talk about.”

“Is this about Jake being back?” Leah asked, sitting down on one of the logs, “Because honestly, he’s not-”

“No, it’s not about him,” Kate cut off Leah, “It’s about you hanging out where you don’t belong.”

“What do you mean exactly?” Leah questioned. 

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Leah,” Kate rolled her eyes, “He’s bad news.”

“Oh…him,” Leah nearly whispered, “It was stupid.”

“Yeah, kiddo, it was stupid,” Kate replied bluntly, “However, I did the same thing when I was your age. Lord knows I had my fair share of the new young cowboys, but my dad doesn’t own the ranch. It’s different when both parties are on payroll. Your daddy signs the damn checks.”

“I know,” Leah sighed, “I’m just tired of being alone.”

“Well, fucking a cowboy is not the way to stop feeling lonely,” Kate told her softly, “To them, you’re just a conquest. CJ is a douchebag at the very least, he thinks sleeping with you gives him something, some way to stop being the bottom man. Which is not the case after the way he talked about you.”

“He-”

“He’ll be the bottom man until pigs fly,” Kate didn’t allow Leah to ask any questions, “I have your back, and your best interest in mind. You know that. You’re damn lucky Paul, Adam, and Dustin do too. They can keep the boys from talking when I’m not there. But honey, you need to stop this. No more, for your own sake.”

“I feel like I need the distractions more now than I did. He’s home and he’s hurt…he won’t talk about any of it,” Leah’s voice broke, “We almost lost him…he wouldn’t let them call us until he was being discharged, and even then…He’s my big brother, and I love him, but it hurts to even look at him right now.”

“Anytime you need to get away, you just call me. Or go see my mama, you know how much she loves you,” Kate offered, trying not to think about Jake, “The two of you can make pies together, like you did growing up.”

“Still doesn’t change the fact that dad hates coming home, mom is drinking herself to sleep every night and Jake is hiding from all of us. I don’t have anyone in that house that actually cares about me.”

Leah was crying now. But she was trying to hide it behind her long blonde hair. Her head was dipped down, and she kept trying to act like she wasn’t wiping tears away. She was just like a Seresin, refusing to let anyone see her be anything other than strong. Kate felt her heart crack as she wrapped her arms around the young girl. 

“But you have plenty in the bunk house,” Kate reminded her, “If you need to get away from the house, if it gets too much….I’ll pull out of the bunk and put Paul or Adam in charge and you and I can stay with my parents. Okay? We can be your family for as long as you need us, you know that.”

Leah nodded slowly, “I know. I was so excited to have him home again….but I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

“Do you want me to go talk to him?” 

“No… he wants to be left alone.” 

That didn’t stop Kate from repeatedly banging on the front door of the guest house several hours later. The sun was already setting, turning everything shades of gold and pink. When Kate didn’t hear any movement inside, she banged even harder against the heavy wooden door. 

“I know you’re in there,” Kate yelled, “Open the damn door, Seresin.”

She banged again before hearing a loud thud, “I’m coming, damnit.”

The door flung open a minute later. Jake’s hair was sticking up everywhere, and he was leaning on one crutch. He looked even worse than he did when she saw him last night. She finally allowed herself to look at him. He wasn’t the boy she grew up with anymore. 

“Why are you here?” Jake grumbled. 

“Because your sister desperately wants her big brother to be a part of her life,” Kate stated, “And instead he’s locked himself away here.”

Jake swallowed a thick lump in his throat before shaking his head, “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She scoffed and walked past him to get into the house, “I know that I’ve been here for Leah everyday since you left.”

“And I can’t thank you enough for that,” Jake said gruffly, “But you don’t get to butt in on this.”

“The hell I can’t,” She hissed, turning around to face him, “She’s more my sister than yours. I was here when she went through her first breakup, I’ve protected her from the guys that just wanted the status of being with a Seresin. I went with her when she needed to find a prom dress, or one for graduation. I’ve given her somewhere to run when your other sisters come home. I’ve been here, Jacob, you haven’t. You left and never looked back.”

“Don’t put that on me,” His voice was low, yet he didn’t move from his space in front of the door, “Don’t blame me for this.”

“Your baby sister just wants to spend time with you! You haven’t been here long enough to do that in nearly a decade,” Her voice was even louder, “I don’t care what you have to do, but get your shit together enough to spend time with her. Because she’s an amazing person, and you don’t know the first thing about her.”

“Is that it?” Jake wasn’t even looking at her now. His attention seemed to be on the floor just in front of his feet. 

Kate felt something deep in her chest. She wasn’t particularly mad at Jake for how Leah felt, but any sort of anger she might have been harboring disappeared. He looked broken, and not just physically. For a moment she wondered how bad he really looked underneath his big hoodie and sweatpants. She could see the cut across his cheekbone and the bruising. She could see the boot on one of his legs. But she couldn’t help but wonder about what was going on underneath everything else. 

“Yeah,” She whispered, licking her lips, “That’s all. I uh- I told the cowboys to keep clear of the houses. No one will bother you.”

“Aside from you,” He said softly. 

“No, uh, I’m sorry-” She squared her shoulders, “It won’t happen again. I apologize for interrupting your evening, Mr. Seresin. I’ll show myself out.”

“Kate-”

“I’ll have mama cook up some more food for you next week,” She said quickly as she made her way towards the door, “Dad can drop it off.”

Jake struggled to take a step towards her, “It’s better for everyone if they don’t know.”

“No,” She felt her heart sink, “It’s only better for you.”

Hours later she found herself in a bar with the rest of the boys. Since it was a Saturday night, they were all free to let loose a little bit. They never did any hard work on Sundays, that was Mrs. Seresin’s one rule of the ranch. Sunday was for rest. 

“Here, got you another,” Paul nudged Kate’s arm with a cold beer bottle. 

“Thanks,” She took a large gulp, watching a couple of the guys dance with some girls from town, “At least they’re having fun.”

“Well, why aren’t you? Still thinking about the younger Mr. Seresin?”

“Jake, his name is Jake, paul. You know that, you’ve used it plenty of times growing up,” She rolled her eyes, “And yes, still thinking about that asshole. I’m always thinking about him.”

Paul then took a long sip of his beer, “He’s a jackass.”

“I think something bad happened. He seems, I don’t know…broken? Maybe? I don’t think he’ll talk to anyone about it though,” She admitted before gulping down half of the beer, “I’m honestly a little worried.”

“He’s a big boy,” Paul shrugged, “He can handle himself. You don’t have to take care of him anymore.”

“Oh, I know. Old habits and shit though,” She laughed, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, that rodeo cowboy has been making fuck me eyes at me for a while now. I plan on seeing what I can do about it.”

“Call me, I’ll come get you in the morning.”

She winked at him from over her shoulder, “Who said I was spending the night?”

Paul smiled and leaned against the bar, “Yes ma’am.”

Kate wasn’t sure what time she stumbled back onto the ranch. She was glad that she had her own place to go back to, instead of her parent’s house. The boys in the bunkhouse could keep quiet if she showed up with a split lip, or the faint tint of bruising somewhere else. They all seemed to get more protective over her for a while. Not quite baby her, but make sure that she knew that they all had her back. Slowly, everyone would forget about it. Until the next time she came home like that. Tonight was one of those nights, a split lip and the hint of a bruise forming on her jaw.  She knew she’d have finger prints on her arms, maybe her legs too. But that would be something to worry about later. Now, she just needed to sleep off the headache and the emotions. 

One thing about Kate, she never knew how to pick a man.

[icedmatchatae]

Cien Años | KNJ

Pairing: Best Friend Namjoon x Best Friend Reader

Genre: Hanahaki AU, Angst, Fluff (barely)

Summary: A sad story of two best friends who loved each other for different reasons.

Warning: UR GONNA BE SAD, namjoon being in denial, oc being out of the loop, flashbacks :(, a lot of crying from everyone, mentions of death (nobody dies tho!), mentions of surgery, illness, unrequited love, there's somewhat of a happy ending!

Word count: 15.1k because I'm a menace

Note: Italics are flashbacks.

A/N: Inspired by the song "Cien Años" by Natalia Lafourcade & Pepe Aguilar. My friends told me to write a story about it...so I did.

I've also cross-posted this originally on AO3 as well! Enjoy~~~

You closed your eyes and inhaled deeply.

Trembling fingers gripping onto your daisy bouquet as you controlled your shaky breathing. You faced the closed doors, waiting for the queue. One by one, you saw your bridesmaids leave you until you were alone. A light sheen of sweat expanded on your back; luckily, the laced fabric hid your nervousness of today.

What awaited inside would be your most anticipated life-changing event yet. Once you leave there, two souls become one, purposeful promises are committed with expected hardship to overcome. The day you are officially united with the love of your life.

You’ve been waiting for this day, and you couldn’t wait any longer. At the other side of the doors, there stood your soon-to-be husband smiling like a maniac. You wanted this so badly, nervous because the ceremony separated you from your soulmate. But it’ll be okay.

Because he was worth it.

-

He was dressed in a suit with his hands intertwined behind his back.

His mouth opened in awe at the sight of you. You slowly walked down the aisle with your father at your left side. His arm linked firmly around yours. With bittersweet eyes, he looked like he didn’t want to let you go but knew he had to for the best. 

Your dress flowed down with grace, the train behind dragging along the carpeted floor. Your effortless beauty that it shined through your sheer veil. You held onto your favorite flowers, handpicked by him, and will forever keep them in your memories.

Your smile beamed through your family, friends, and esteemed guests, but he could tell how anxious you were deep inside. He knew how much love you had in you, how much soul and care you had to offer. He knew everything about you. After all—

Namjoon has loved you ever since you were younger.

-

When you first met Namjoon, you were about 11. The smartest nerd in school was your partner for a science project. Between the introduction and the first place win, you’ve gotten to know him much better and enjoyed his presence.

It baffled you to discover the lanky boy with thick-rimmed rectangular glasses and who wore velcro shoes listened to Nas and Eminem. Did you mention that he had a bowl cut? Because he did.

He only fascinated you, even more, wanting to befriend you, not realizing he would be one of the most influential people in your life. He quickly became your best friend, and you were inseparable. You graduated high school and college together and even were roommates for many years.

You never saw life without him, your best friend.

Being together more than half of your life, Namjoon didn’t realize the day he met you was the first sign of him falling in love with you.

“Why do you have so much sugar?” Namjoon questioned, observing you next to him when you pulled out a ziplock bag of sugar packets. You pulled one out and ripped it open. You shook the pouch over your mouth, collecting the sweetener on your taste buds. He unapologetically grimaced at you.

“It’s a snack; also, since my mom said I’m too young to drink coffee, I took all of the sugar in our house since I get so much energy.” You simply explained, offering him a packet.

He paused and sighed, joining you in eating packets and packets until you both were a giggling mess.

You were pretty odd, almost lacking social cues, but he couldn’t be one to talk since he was awkward himself. Your aura was not something he was used to, but he never regretted it and grew to love your unusualness. It was one of the characteristics of why he loved you dearly. 

Your bright smile, aggravating yet endearing personality, and how much you gave yourself to others wholeheartedly created a rippling effect on his heart. But almost too much as it lets you get hurt by others. 

He remembered the day you came home with shedding tears falling on your face. He was working on a group essay in your shared living room with Jimin, a friend and peer from his classes, when a loud bang disrupted their concentration.

“He cheated on me!” You sobbed as you dropped your things to the wooden floor. You quickly spotted your best friend and tackled him. You clutched onto his shirt, pushing your head into his chest with your cries staining the fabric.

Without second-guessing, Namjoon wrapped his arms around your fragile form, kissing your hair. He rubbed your back as you continued to sob at your broken heart. He eyed Jimin, apologizing for the interruption, but he understood. The shorter man gestured for him to text him later before departing your home.

After your weeping died down, you explained how you saw your boyfriend of seven months cuddling and making out with another girl at a coffee shop on the other side of the city from where you lived. With the bit of courage you had, you confronted Seokjin and threw your boiling hot tea at him before running away.

Namjoon was angry for you and wanted to beat Seokjin up for doing this to you. But what’s worse, this wasn’t the first time something had happened. You were hurt by many others before because you gave too quickly; you gave the benefit of the doubt to those undeserving of it.

You tried your best to learn from your mistake and took extra precautions, but somehow the next man in your life gets trickier and more conniving than the last.

“Why does this happen to me?”

You sat on your apartment complex’s rooftop, looking at the bright glowing city. It was past midnight; Namjoon thought it was a great idea to get some convenience store snacks and ramen while you get some fresh air.

“Like was I a descendent of Judas?” You rhetorically asked.

“I’m not a theology major, but I don’t think Judas had any children.” He pointed out as he slurped his noodles.

You glared at him and his intelligence, “Don’t correct me now.” You slammed your ramen bowl on the makeshift table made from a stack of wooden pallets. “I thought he was the one.”

“I know you’re hurt, flower. Hurt is only temporary. You’ll heal; it’ll take time, though. It’s really shitty that it happened to you.” His comforting words eased your emotional state, using his nickname for you.

It wasn’t anything cute. He only does it because you told him you used to eat flowers when you were younger. Your parents were scared and brought you to the hospital, it was a whole thing, but he liked to pick on you and made sure you wouldn’t forget your stupidity.

“Is there something wrong with me? Be honest.” You genuinely asked. Your puffy eyes met his, waiting for his response.

He stared at you. Underneath the full moon and the illumination from the cityscape, faint shadows fell onto your features. Your irises sparkled with the dimming sense of hope in you. He hated seeing you like this, seeing the light in you slowly giving up.

He placed down his bowl before reaching for your hands. He intertwined your fingers together, comparing the size difference between you two. He grinned lightly, but enough to display the dimples on his cheeks.

“Seokjin was stupid and never realized what was before him.” He answered, licking his lips and tasting the spice of the meal. Your mouth curled at his words, holding his fingers tightly around yours. “Nothing is wrong with you, just your taste in men.”

“Hey!” You let go of him and slapped his shoulder, pouting your lips. “Stop it!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He chuckled, putting his hands in surrender. 

“I’m questioning why you’re my best friend.” You seethed through your teeth.

“Flower, you’re one of the most special people.”

You snorted at his comment, “Nice try.”

“It’s true.” He countered. His smile faded a little, noticing your lack of confidence. “Special people like you will get infinite wishes that your little heart desires. Everything you hope for will come true. You’ll get what you truly deserve, flower. It’ll just take time.”

You gazed back at him. The twinkling lights in your pupils appeared at his reassurance. “Thank you, Joon. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

It was a common exchange between you two, but little did Namjoon know, it held a deeper meaning.

Though Seokjin never saw what was in front of him, Namjoon never noticed what he had until it was too late.

-

Years passed, and you eventually moved on from your heartbreak, having Namjoon by your side. You seemed happier and cheerful while he watched you. But you never were with anyone ever since.

You went on to bigger and better things, like landing a high-paying corporate job after college. Namjoon also was doing well, from being an intern climbed his way to the top in being the art curator at the national museum. You were both proud of each other and your accomplishment, always cheered one another on when times got tough.

However, despite your successes, you agreed it was time to move out of your janky apartment and part ways. It was a harsh transition since you’ve seen each other every day for over ten years, but you made it work. You promised to text and call every day and update anything that happened.

Namjoon could never leave you and you the same back. Again, you and he were inseparable.

You two scheduled dinner at the end of the week. Ever since you got promoted, your schedule restricted you from spending time with him, but you kept your promise to call and text. Namjoon was currently working on his first major project for the museum and was excited to tell you all about it. You couldn’t wait either.

But for now, he had lunch with Jimin at a café since the shorter finally had time in his hectic residency life.

“It was so wild. I saw anything like it before.” Jimin talked about a patient he had and their diagnosis, Hanahaki Disease.

Jimin explained how Hanahaki Disease was this exponentially progressing illness that stemmed from unrequited love. Flowers–the popular indication of the disease–bloom in the person’s lungs and heart and can only be intensified. His patient had stage four of this Hanahaki Disease.

“I’ve read about it in the books, and cases were rare. Seeing it first hand was very tragic.” Jimin sighed, recalling his experience.

“What does stage four mean?” Though Namjoon was skeptical, he was interested in this so-called disease.

“It means the roots from the flowers have grown into his respiratory system. He came in choking on his blood and coughing up sunflowers.”

“Why sunflower?”

“It was his wife’s favorite flowers.” Jimin’s face gloomed lower. “Poor guy caught her cheating, and the painful love was too strong.”

Namjoon hissed at the thought, “I feel for him.”

“Yeah, so at that point, he either dies or gets surgery to remove the roots.” The shorter concluded. “Sorry for the depressing story, but I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“You’re good, man,” Namjoon reassured. “Though you saw it, it’s quite an unusual diagnosis, don’t you think? I mean, doesn’t it sound far-fetched? Like love really made that happen?”

“It does, but you won’t think that way if you saw it in front of you. Love can do a lot to someone.” Jimin reasoned back. “There’s little evidence on it, but it does happen.”

The pairing sat in silence, processing the tragic story. Namjoon wondered how severe love has to be for you to end up like that. He had never really experienced that kind of love before; it wasn’t hard to love, in his opinion, but loving someone had to be chosen wisely and thoughtfully. Love shouldn’t hurt. 

“Anyways, besides me and flower vomiting patients, how are you and the art life?” Jimin changed the subject to a lighter feel. He knew about Namjoon’s project and was impatient to see the final product. “How’s the project? What was it about again?”

“It’s going great. Stressful, but I’m enjoying every bit of it.” He smiled, thinking about his passion. “I guess your story was a great transition to my project. It’s about love. Various meanings and interpretations of love worldwide, so I’ve been obtaining many pieces overseas to display them.”

“Ahh, so you’re gonna get typical ones like The Kiss by Gustav Klimt or that one by Picasso?” Jimin semi-mocked, incorporating very little knowledge about art.

“No, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Namjoon rolled his eyes, munching on his salad. “The museum wanted me to go through a different approach and find more modern and recent artists.”

“So, like up and coming artists?” The shorter asked, and he hummed in response. “I guess, what type of approach are you having with love?”

“Well, love is more than a feeling. It’s hard to put into words. It’s an essence that can be explained through various points of view.”

“Yeah, Mr. Smartass. Stop being so technical!”

“I’m just saying! Love causes emotions. It’s a concept to profess desires and connectedness to someone within an individual, so that’s why that Hanahaki Disease seems exaggerated.” Namjoon argued his thoughts. “I’m not saying love doesn’t exist or anything. It’s here somewhere.”

“This is why you don’t have a girlfriend.” Jimin scoffed, leaning back into his chair. Namjoon ignored his comment like usual before his phone pinged a message.

It was you, and he was delighted to open it. A picture of your lunch, or rather lunches. He saw another plate from the opposite end of the table. It was probably Ryujin, your coworker buddy you spent your time with.

“Is that ___?” Jimin had a devilish smile on him.

“Yeah?? What about it?” Namjoon replied to you with, “Bruh, that looks bomb. Enjoy!” And locked his screen before paying attention to his friend before him. “You know we communicate a lot.”

“Yes, I know the many instances.” Jimin agreed. “But seeing you smile just by a text says more than you say. Actions speak louder than words!”

“Jimin, we’re not going through with this again.” The taller shook his head at his friend’s persistence. “I told you I don’t love her like that. She’s been my best friend for years!”

“Yeah, but I don’t see you giggling, kicking your feet, and twirling your hair thinking about me.” Jimin retorted, folding his arms over his chest. “You probably don’t notice it since you’ve been with her all this time, but you give one another so much, more than friends usually do.”

“Maybe, it’s just you because you end up sleeping with your opposite gendered friends.”

“Hey, that was three times! And I was drunk for two.”

“Point is that ___ and I have been best friends for years . Neither of us did anything like that in the time being and never will.”

“Because you never made a move and acknowledged yo—”

“Jimin.” Namjoon interrupted sternly, wanting to end this conversation. Jimin never understood your friendship with him and constantly suspected that there was something more than what met the eyes. He could sense it, but Namjoon refused to listen.

“Fine, I’ll stop.” Jimin sighed. “At least acknowledge my words.”

Namjoon gulped his iced coffee and thinned his lips, “Maybe.”

He should have listened.

-

After dinner, he took you to the museum. Due to his respected status, he had the privilege of possessing the keys to artistic treasures. It was a way for him to move back and forth with any work beyond the public hours. And because you had the privilege of being his best friend, you could see the Love exhibition he finalized that morning and now waiting for the official opening in two weeks.

The stepping of your heels echoed within the empty museum. Your eyes scanned through the beautiful artwork before you, enchanted by the different styles and meanings, yet they all revolved around one concept: love.

You stole little glances of Namjoon, his attention invested in the paintings as he passed by you. You appreciated his passion for his job, bringing purpose to his life and those around him. He gave you comfort and solace in your chaotic life, and no amount of gratitude can equate to his actions and words.

However, you were nervous around him this time, playing out what to say and do. Sure, he never cared before, but you were a bit self-conscious with this one. You wanted to approach it right. After all, what he said and did matters to you. He was important.

Your eyes landed on a particular piece, never seeing anything like it. The painting contained four bodies. Two of which embraced one another on top of a hill as birds and flowers bloomed around them. Hues resembled joy and, of course, love. As you shifted down the mountain, the third subject laid down, surrounded by colors of gloom and sorrow. Wilting flora consumed the body. The complete opposite of the couple on top. However, the final form was rather strange because you barely saw it. You could see the background behind it, almost like a ghost.

“I see you found my favorite piece in the exhibit.” Your best friend announced with a grin. You were too into the painting to realize he stood by you. He carefully inspected the artwork, absorbing the emotions it gave and the purpose of the artist’s creation. 

“Why is your favorite?” You wondered, your eyes still attentive to the piece.

“To be honest, I’ve met with the artist before during my work trip in Mexico. Great guy, his interpretations were so philosophical that it expanded my knowledge that it only left me wanting more from him.” Namjoon expressed. “This is my favorite piece because, for once, he had something that portrayed a specific visual he wanted to convey, and I’m also sure that many people can relate.”

“And that is?”

“It’s a story.” He began. “A depressing one. Once upon a time, a man and woman fell in love, and they lived happily ever.”

“That doesn’t sound too sad.” You chuckled.

“You didn’t let me finish.” He mentioned, making you shut your mouth. “As the couple danced to their love, they never realized that someone from afar also fell in love with her. That’s him.” He pointed to the covered body. “All the flowers he sent her returned to him, and he slowly died from it. The last body is him, but he’ll forever roam the world with this emptiness inside. But at the very least, he can stay afar, looking at her and seeing her happy.”

“Ouch, that fucking hurts.” You pouted at his description. No one should ever go through that.

“The painting is called Cien Años by Pepe Lafourcade.” He informed. “Pepe said if he lived 100 years, he’d think of her for 100 years.”

“Tragically captivating.” You nodded before shifting your eyes onto your best friend, who was already gazing at you.

Namjoon swore his world stopped by witnessing you and your very radiant form. You looked much healthier now, caring for yourself and enhancing your beauty more than yesterday but less than tomorrow. He observed a new necklace on you, perhaps a treat for your hard work, he assumed. You deserved it. You always did. He saw you like you were the only one in the world, his world.

And no one could compare to you.

He wished to be with you as long as he could.

His stare flustered you a bit; you’ve never seen anything like it. You thought you were seeing things and had some assumptions in your mind. But you merely pushed them because they weren’t necessary anymore.

You broke the eye contact as you focused on your feet. You had to speak to him. “Joon?”

“Yes, flower?” He crouched down, trying to find your eyes, laughing at how timid you were. It was peculiar to act like this with him. He didn’t want to say anything when you first met up. He wanted you to tell him naturally.

You gave up and finally faced him again. Your large doe eyes were his favorite; he never told you but enjoyed seeing them. “I have to tell you something. Something important.”

“Oh, how important?”

“Kinda big? Uh, serious, actually.”

“How so,” He was being playful, but that’s only because he was unaware of how much the words that came out of you will affect him in the long run.

“I’ve been dating this guy for the past six months…uhhh, Jungkook is his name, and I’m falling in love with him.”

Jungkook.

Jeon Jungkook.

-

Namjoon’s attention focused on you as you reached the end of the aisle. Your father gave you a goodbye kiss before he lets go of you. You turned away from him and smiled gently, with giggles in between biting your lips. The unconditional true love flashed in your eyes.

But it wasn’t directed towards him.

Instead, it was for the man in front of him. The groom.

Jeon Jungkook.

The love of your life.

-

“I’m sorry, who?”

Namjoon was utterly stunned at what you just said. You were dating someone for a while, and you didn’t tell him? Your best friend? Now you’re in love with that guy?

“His name is Jungkook, and we—”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He felt offended and angry by your decision. It wasn’t like you. You told him everything. You told him about Seokjin the second you talked to him. The name was vaguely familiar. He had heard it before. Wait—

“Isn’t he your boss?” Namjoon asked incredulously.

“Well, not anymore. I got promoted and transferred to another department, remember?” You tried your best to explain yourself. “I mean, he technically is. He runs part of the corporation.”

“W-why? H-how?”

“We had to keep it a secret. I couldn’t tell you….”

“Couldn’t tell me? Me, your best friend?” He forced a laugh, but there was nothing funny in his tone.

“I’m sorry, I—”

“Flower, how could you be so fucking stupid like that? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

Namjoon regretted those words the second they came out of his mouth. Your facial expression said it all, insulted and hurt by your best friend. Your face became sour with your lips trembling. God, you hated how sensitive you were being. But like you said, what he said or did mean so much to you.

So it hurt when he didn’t support you.

He took a step towards you, but you stepped back. “___, I—”

“I thought you’d understand.” Your eyes were glossy, blinking away to fight the hurt from being released. You shook your head, “Like how my best friend usually is. I thought you would be supportive.”

Silence drowned you two. Namjoon had no words, all he could think about was how much he disappointed you. You said nothing and couldn’t bother dealing with him. Like what he told you if you didn’t want to deal with the situation right now, just walk away.

So you did, leaving him alone in the museum as you called Jungkook to pick you up.

-

Namjoon couldn’t comprehend what he was feeling right now. His breath shivered at this indescribable tension in his stomach and chest. His fingers were finicky, needing to do something to keep the thoughts at bay. But all through his mind was you. He remained unfocused, especially since you didn’t reply to his texts or answer his calls. The unknown of what you were doing and how you felt bothered him, distracting his brain away from everything around him.

You were in love with your boss, and he had no idea. He couldn’t recollect any hints or say about you dating someone. Sure, you’ve gotten happier, but he thought it was because of him…that you were spending your time with him…

If he was honest with himself, he wasn’t mad that you didn’t tell him. It was probably the rational thing to do since Jungkook was well-known in the business—Namjoon had to search him up. It was most likely to keep word from spreading, and no one knew. 

In fact, he was more uncomfortable than you were with someone. He has seen what happened to you in the past and didn’t want you to get hurt. He knew nothing about this Jungkook guy and feared the worst from him yet.

It was the night of the official opening of his exhibition, and you still weren’t talking. This was the longest you haven’t spoken to each other. It made Namjoon stay up at night running a busy mind. He started getting worried, thinking he fucked up your whole friendship and his shitty remarks. He was so upset with himself that he wasn’t feeling well.

Namjoon was weary for a couple of weeks, with a scratchy throat and a loss of appetite. It was probably stress from everything that was going on with planning and, of course, his dilemma with you. Hopefully, after tonight, he’ll be a little bit better. Though he begged to differ when he developed slight coughing in the morning.

The murmur of guests crowded the museum’s main lobby, some of the artists that he collected for the exhibit also attended. Unfortunately, Pepe wasn’t here due to conflicting schedules, but he gave his wishes to Namjoon.

People went up to him, admiring and congratulating him and his work. Namjoon could only smile politely and share his thanks. It was a big day for him, and if it was a success, it’d open him to a new world of the arts. Famous artists and museums would know him, and his approach to his work would get recognized by many.

Yet, his mood was down, hoping that a certain someone would see him on a day like this.

“Sup, bro!!” A few invitees glowered at the person for the loud disruption, but he did not care. “Calm down, don’t give me dirty eyes. I’m probably more educated than all of you combined.”

One of the security guards came toward his friend, “Excuse me, si—”

“It’s Dr. Park,” Jimin corrected before grabbing a flute of champagne from the waiter. The guard was about to protest, but Namjoon raised his hand, reassuring them that he was, unfortunately, an important guest. He winked cheekily at him through his slit-like eyes with his pride held high. Security glared at the doctor once more before leaving the premises.

“Jimin, don’t make a scene. It’s bad enough they see us together.” Namjoon exhaled, swirling his drink with a straw.

“How is it bad? We’re besties! I’m so proud of you.” Jimin shrugged but slowly changed his tone to a more serious one as he looked at his friend’s expression. “What’s wrong? You don’t look too good.”

“I’m fine, just been coughing since this morning.” Namjoon cleared his throat, but the shorter knew there was much more.

“Haven’t talked to her since?”

Namjoon sighed and nodded, “I’m worried I fucked our friendship.”

The doctor bit back his tongue. He needed to comfort his friend now, then tell him off later. “She’s upset, but it won’t be enough to stop your friendship. She’ll come around; she just needs time.”

“I know, but—” Namjoon swore he stopped breathing. From across the room, he spotted you. He didn’t think you’d come. His pupils dilated at your appearance. You were absolutely breathtaking like you were prized artwork in the museum, capturing the hearts of anyone who came by.

His heart weirdly skipped a beat.

Your eyes met his, then smiled at his success and waved. You headed in his direction. However, the closer you came, the more he realized you weren’t alone.

Hand in hand, a tall, strong-built man followed by you. His round eyes observed the area while his mouth was agape at the ambiance. His features were strong yet soft, and he looked approachable. He was around your age, reasonably young for someone running part of a whole corporation.

“Joon,” You greeted before letting go of the man to hug your best friend. You shocked him, his body stiffening up, then relaxing at your familiar warmth and comfort. He wrapped his arms around you, firming his grip. “Congratulations!”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” His eyes watered up, not realizing that he had held back tears since that night. You were finally here with him, and the emotions let loose.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad anymore.” You promised as you pulled away to look at his face. Some tears fell down to which you wiped them off with your gentle thumbs. “I’m sorry I didn’t reply; that was a bitch move.” 

“No, you had every reason.” He begged to differ. “I didn’t even give you a chance to speak.”

“Next time, we’ll communicate better.” You proposed, and he nodded quickly, knowing that your friendship remained strong as ever.

“Yay, you made up. What about me?” Jimin pushed his way into you. You giggled and hugged him too.

“Hello, Dr. Park. Long time no see, looking dangerous as ever.” You said.

“Hello, ____. Long time no see, Looking ravishing as ever. And yes, always dangerous, but no one needs to know.” He smiled boldly, then shifted his attention to the man biting his lips, holding a bouquet. “Who might this be?”

All your attention goes towards the newcomer, bulging his eyes but letting out a bunny-like smile. Carrying some flowers with one hand, he used the other to wave and bow.

“This is Jungkook…my boyfriend.” You revealed to the two men.

Right on cue, Namjoon coughed harshly. He gulped some water and tried clearing his throat again. You raised an eyebrow at him, but he gave you an okay signal.

“Jungkook, this is Namjoon.”

Jungkook handed you the bouquet, then he went up to the taller man and shook his hand with both of his, “Hello, Namjoon. It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard nothing but great things from this one.” He gestured to you. Namjoon accepted the greeting and nodded silently. He needed to be civil, at least for now.

“And this one is Dr. Park Jimin.” You presented. “Remember, he’s a doctor.”

“And don’t you forget about it,” Jimin added on. Jungkook shook his hand as well. “I heard of your corporation. I saw on the news that you opened two new shelters for mothers and children. You do great work.”

Jungkook blushed and smiled, “Oh, yes. Thank you. It was a hard process, but I hope to do more of them in the future.”

“Oh, these are for you.” You said, passing the bouquet to your best friend.

Namjoon inspected the flowers—daisies, his favorite flowers because they were your favorite.

“This is a celebratory gift for your first solo exhibit and an apology.” You continued gazing at your best friend, trying to communicate telepathically, which Namjoon was fully aware of.

Somehow that hinted Jungkook into saying, “Dr. Park, do you think you can accompany me to the hors d’oeuvres? Let’s leave these two to talk.”

Impressed at his request, Jimin nodded, enjoying the man so far. The shorter glanced at Namjoon to give him some good luck before joining Jungkook’s food adventure.

There, you both were alone but not really knowing how to start this. This was the longest you’ve been apart, let alone fight like that. In fact, you rarely fought. There was nothing that came in between you two until now.

“He seems nice,” Namjoon commented about your new…boyfriend. “His mannerisms are a bit mechanical, though.”

You let out a chuckle, “He’s nervous. He wants to impress you.”

“Big CEO wanting to impress a small-time art curator? That’s new.”

“Well, big CEO knows that the art curator means a lot to me.” You went along with his saying. “He wants you to like him.”

“Why would he care about what I think?” Namjoon muttered, feeling a bit jittery. He held the bouquet tightly to keep his movements in control.

“Because he knows that I care about what you think.” You replied. “He was sad when I told him how you reacted because he was afraid. He doesn’t want you to think badly of him.”

“Not wanting to compare, but it’s hard not to after how many before he treated you.” He frowned as he said his thought out loud. “I don’t want you to get hurt, flower.”

You smiled softly at his care towards you. That’s what you loved about him. “Joon, he’s not going to hurt me. I can tell you that.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I made the first move.” You revealed. “And though he’s stern and serious about his work—bless his soul—he is so shy, Joon. He was a nervous wreck, confessing his crush on me. It felt like I was in high school.”

Namjoon couldn’t imagine it. At first, he didn’t think that shyness would be a characteristic of Jungkook. Then again, he doesn’t know anything about him. He didn’t accept him at all, probably not anytime soon for safety precautions. 

“He’s the first man in a long time for me, and I’ve been careful. He’s been careful. I actually asked him to keep it between just us two because I didn’t want my coworkers knowing about our relationship.” You elaborated. “But he suggested to at least tell our loved ones if we wanted to be serious with each other.”

“You’re serious with him?” Namjoon spoke softly. A sharp, quick pain pushed through his stomach, leaving an unpleasant feeling. Yet he didn’t try showing it; he didn’t want you to worry about him.

You nodded at the thought of Jungkook being steady with you. “Yes, that’s why I was afraid of telling you about him. I wanted you to accept him too.”

He coughed again, shaking his head. “I’m accepting of him, yet if I’m being honest. But I’ll try to.”

“He knows about my past too, and he swore he’s not like that.” He coughed harshly this time. You handed him some water that he accepted. “Joon, are you okay?”

Namjoon chugged the cup down and exhaled slowly. “Yeah, I think I have an upset stomach. I got a bad cough from this morning.”

“Make sure you take care of yourself, okay? I don’t wanna beat you up if you’re not being healthy.” You scolded, and it only made him laugh.

“I’ll be fine, flower. It’s just been stressful, from the event and our time apart.”

Your mood died a little, being guilty about what you did. “I’m sorry again. I promise to never do that again.” You grabbed his hand to squeeze some comfort in him.

His body got hit with another blow, but he bit his lips to dull the pain. “You worry too much, flower. It wasn’t your fault. You were also worried about me, too, no?”

You nodded, “I was. I care for you too much not to.”

“The feeling is mutual.” He reassured. “Then we should just enjoy the night and days to come.”

You couldn’t help but hug him. You missed him so much, crying to Jungkook about him. He knew you cared for your best friend and hoped that you two would reconcile. 

“I love you, Joon.”

“I love you too, flower.”

Again, a standard practice, but Namjoon didn’t realize his love changed from yours. 

-

Namjoon couldn’t hate Jungkook.

The more he was around the guy, the more he realized how chaotically sweet Jungkook was. He was just like you, an odd presence but very lovable. The only thing he hated about him was that he kept winning at everything, yet he was still humble about it.

Jungkook made initiatives to hang out with you and your friends from time to time just so he could understand your life and engage with those you loved. He hung out with him and Jimin, too, without you, and it was a fun guy’s night. He put so much effort into what he wanted, and he did it with ease. It was easier to like him.

Your relationship was growing healthy, and Namjoon was happy for you. You needed something like this, and he could only hope that Jungkook would continue that with you.

On the other hand, Namjoon has been on a stump. First of all, his event was a huge success. His networking multiplied, getting busy with upcoming projects. He’s been traveling internationally, attending conferences and parties, meeting other curators like him, and even making new friends like Jung Hoseok, who was overseas as a curator in Madrid.

So what was his stump?

Well, for a few months now, Namjoon has had this stomach flu. He’s been getting random fevers, uncontrollable shaking, sharp pains in his chest or abdomen, and not eating regularly.

The worst part of it all was his cough. It didn’t improve since that night, it seemed to have gotten worse. He felt the need to scratch his throat, even having the urge put his fingers down his mouth and take care of the itch himself.

He went to the doctors, and they assumed the same. They provided him more potent medication every visit, but it didn’t feel like it was working. Was it because he was growing older? Did he need to start working out and caring for his body like that? It was bothering him, distracting him from his work, and he couldn’t do anything about it. 

If only he knew, his condition worsened with time.

-

“And now for the bride and groom to say their vows.” The ordained minister proceeded.

Before you proclaimed your love, you held your hands with Jungkook’s, focusing on him. You took deep breaths, collecting your memorized speech that you suddenly forgot. Your eyes told that you were stuck, but Jungkook helped you.

“Anything you say, I will love for. Hell, you can call me irritating and I’d say thank you.” Little giggles responded to the groom’s joke. You rolled your eyes, then remembered why you loved him in the first place.

“When I first met you, I was afraid of loving again. I was hurt and disappointed so many times. I don’t even know how many tears I shed throughout that journey. I felt like giving up and never loving again.” You started your vows. “But then you changed that for me. Though I was scared, you helped me back up and had so much patience with me. I don’t know how you do it. Jimin even questioned it.”

Namjoon looked back and saw his shorter friend nod to your speech before putting his eyes back on you.

“You brought nothing but joy in my life. Yes, we went through difficult times, but we made it out, and I know we’ll do that again in our marriage. You’ve accepted not only me into your life but also my family and friends you’ve grown to love.” You sniffled, not wanting to cry, but you just had to. “Thank you for loving me at my best and even my worst. Thank you for not giving up on us. You are the love of my life, and you make me happier than I could ever imagine and more loved than I ever thought was possible.”

Namjoon heard sniffing from Jungkook, who let out tears faster than you. Upholding the role as best man, he kept tissues in his back pocket just in case. He pulled them out and tapped on Jungkook’s shoulder. The groom accepted the gesture and handed one to you and then to him. 

“I vow to honor you, listen, laugh with you, and cry with you. I just hope you do the same back. You make me so proud, proud to be called your wife. I love you, Jeon Jungkook. I can’t wait to spend my life with you.”

-

Namjoon didn’t know when it started in terms of the other symptoms, but he remembered the first time he specifically saw it.

Jimin threw a Christmas party at his house and invited people you didn’t really know besides him, Jungkook, and Namjoon. Everyone else was people from the hospital he trained at, his party friends, the list went on. Nevertheless, it was a casual party with cute little games he had prepared.

You, Jungkook, and Namjoon talked amongst yourself in the corner. You and Jungkook had matching grinch Christmas sweaters. After a year of being together, you and Jungkook were more comfortable in front of people with your relationship. A few kisses and hugs here and there, but you liked to keep your relationship with him private.

Still, the public display of affection was prominent, and it disgusted Namjoon. It may seem like a joke to others, but it really did gross him out. Whenever you cuddled up onto one another or just plain out kissed, Namjoon’s upset stomach or chest murmurs intensified.

Like now, he kissed your cheek, and Namjoon felt a dig in his torso. His face turned sour, exhaled slowly as he palmed the ache.

“Namjoon, are you okay?” Jungkook looked at him with concern. “Are you having chest pains again?”

“Yeah, but it’s gonna go away again.” Namjoon brushed it off. “It comes and goes from time to time.”

“Did you go to the doctor again?” You asked.

“Yes, flower. I went the other day. Since I told him about my chest, they had me do an x-ray. They said they’ll call me, but I don’t think it’ll be any time soon ‘cause of the holidays.”

“The holidays shouldn’t be an excuse to keep my best friend from being healthy.” You pouted, earning laughs from your boyfriend and best friend.

“Honey, don’t worry too much.” Jungkook patted your head. “Namjoon is grown to make his own decisions and choose what to worry about.”

“I’m gonna have to agree with, JK, flower.” Namjoon agreed. “Plus, we’re still young. I’m sure whatever they find, it’ll be easy to fix. There are also not many health issues on both sides of my family, so I’m chilling.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes, “Your ease is so annoying sometimes.”

After that conversation, Jimin chimed in and pulled all three of you to a game of “Nogpong.” The four were split into pairs: You and Namjoon and Jimin and Jungkook. Losers had to do what the winners said.

Jungkook and Jimin had experience playing these games, but you and Namjoon’s teamwork was unmatched. The teams went back and forth, missing cups, shooting them while making the opposing chug the eggnog down.

Your team had two cups left while they had five. It was your turn to throw a ball. Jimin threw insults at you to distract your concentration, but you tried to ignore that little man. You threw the ball, earning another point.

“You suck.” Jimin spat back before downing the drink.

It was now Namjoon’s turn. He focused on the final cup, being so close to winning. But his coughing grew harshly at that moment, sounding like it hurt. There was so much phlegm that he grabbed a napkin from a tissue box to cough up. He expectorated all he could into the tissue, ultimately feeling better. But when he saw the content in the cloth, his pupils dilated in shock.

What he thought was mucus was actually blood. He noticed that he could taste the unpleasant taste of iron in his mouth. He gulped down the remnants and stuffed the trash in his pocket without thinking.

“Some cough, Joon. Are you sure you’re okay?” You furrowed your brows at him.

“Flower, I’m okay.” He said again. “Let’s just finish the game.”

You weren’t as convinced, but you had to let it slide for his sake.

Namjoon nodded towards the guys about how he felt before going back to the game. He shot it into the cup with ease, cheering at the close win. All you had to do was score in the same cup.

It was all on you now. If you make this, victory was yours and Namjoon's. Sure, there was nothing to lose, but bragging rights were substantial to you. You held your breath and threw the ball.

You won!

You and Namjoon yelled like deranged individuals, celebrating your alcoholic game victory. Jungkook and Jimin took their loss like champs as they shook hands.

Namjoon held you by the waist and jumped in joy as you threw meaningless insults at your boyfriend and friend. In this position, something in Namjoon sparked. He watched you bad-mouthed them, but you looked so elegant, so beautiful doing it. He saw the fluttering of your lashes, the curve of your nose, and the soft plush that was your lips.

You being in his arms was so soothing. The warmth you produced heated his larger frame. It felt so right. He wished to stay like this forever with you. 

But those thoughts caused a downward spiral in his stomach. His head was light. He immediately turned green, his chest feeling like it had been shot multiple times. His throat was open as everything he consumed started moving up. He pushed away aggressively as he covered his mouth, running to the nearest bathroom.

He disregarded the calls at him as he slammed the door open. He rushed to the toilet and pulled up the lid before vomiting everything in him. He purged so explosively that he thought his eyeballs would pop out of his head, and snot ran down from his nose and onto the top of his lip. He felt the sweat dripping down his face. Damn, this was the worst complication yet.

The three of you followed behind him while you took the lead. You bent towards your friend and rubbed his back as he threw up. You both stayed like that for a few minutes. Jimin had to go back to calm his guests down while Jungkook went to get water for Namjoon.

“Namjoon, do you want us to take you home?” Jungkook asked. “We can bring your car back too?”

Namjoon couldn’t say no. He knew he didn’t feel good, so he nodded.

“Let me grab your things, Joon.” You stood up and lightly patted his back. “I’ll come back quick.” You said before leaving with Jungkook.

He retched up once more, releasing all he had left closed eyes. When he opened the inside, his heart dropped. He thought his vision deceived him. No way could this happen. It was impossible. There was no reason to have it.

What he assumed he puked was the pasta and wine from the party was actually more blood. But that wasn’t the most alarming.

He always thought of them as simple and beautiful to look at, appealing to the eye, but it was hard to think of daisies in that way when his blood coated the fresh petals, and they came out of his body.

Namjoon was now lying in bed, wide awake and petrified. He was dubious, couldn’t find common ground in what he experienced. Maybe he was hallucinating; the very reason was that he wasn’t feeling so well. Maybe the blood-covered daisies were seen to cover up the horrible sight of regurgitated Alfredo pasta. But the sickly fragrant scent of the flowers begged to differ.

Okay, if he were to have it, how did he get it? He needed answers. He wasn’t in love with anyone, right? He never loved anyone like that. The only people he loved were his family. Sure, Jimin was fucking annoying, and he loved the dude, but he was in love with him.

The only person left was you and…no. He didn’t, he couldn’t, he shouldn’t. He can’t . There was no damn way.

He refused to believe.

Yet Namjoon remembered it clear as day.

An urgent early call from his doctor’s office sent him waiting in the examination room. He was restless, with dark bags under his worn-out eyes. He didn’t even bother to change. He was in his Ryan bear pajamas.

He scrolled through his phone, seeing the multiple texts from you and Jimin. You both were worried and wished him to get better while greeting him a wonderful Christmas. You sent a bomb of pictures of you and Jungkook with hearts to cheer him on, and it was enough for his heart to throb. He locked his phone and threw it in his pajama pocket. 

His doctor, Dr. Min, came back into the room with a stoic expression as he read Namjoon’s file. “Good morning, Mr. Kim. I apologize for the short notice, especially on Christmas. But I just had to meet with you.”

“No need to apologize, Dr. Min.” The man said. “I was kinda glad you called. I—” He paused, trying to regulate his breathing. “I wanted to confirm.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow, “Did something happen recently?”

Namjoon bit his lips and nodded, getting antsy at the anticipation he caused. “I vomited, and I-I saw…blood and…,” He couldn’t say it. If he said it, he feared that it would come true.

Dr. Min didn’t let him finish his sentence as he nodded. Pulled out of his file was his recent x-ray. He brought it to the mounted screen and turned the lights on, displaying the condition of Namjoon’s body.

Roots grew through his lungs and around his heart. The silhouette of stems flourished all over his respiratory while the flowers weren’t as developed but expected to bloom soon. Bits of petals scattered around rested on his sternum with the most on his heart.

“I’m sorry, Namjoon. You’ve been diagnosed with stage three of Hanahaki Disease.” Dr. Min declared. “I know this is hard for you to take in, but I would like to tell you that my staff and I will do our best to help you in your next steps. But first, I’d like to ask you a few questions. Is that alright with you?”

Namjoon stayed silent, viewing his x-ray. He could only nod as the pain consumed his form. This was the truth, the reality he was living in.

“Do you know how long you’ve experienced symptoms?”

He shook his head.

“You did say you’ve been coughing for a while. Is that still happening?”

He nodded. 

“When you coughed, was there blood?”

He nodded.

“Did you find petals?”

He shook his head.

“But when you threw up, there were petals?”

He nodded.

“When you vomited, was that the first time?”

He nodded.

“Do you love them?”

That very question snapped him out of his trance. He scowled at his doctor, wondering why he asked a personal question.

“Excuse me, Dr. Min. But isn’t that personal?” Namjoon couldn’t help but spit venom. He just found out he has a severe illness, and now his doctor wanted to know about his love life?

“It may seem personal, but this disease connects to love.” Dr. Min explained. “Namjoon, it’ll only worsen if you don’t admit it. That’s why the flowers are developing rapidly.”

He looked at his doctor, holding his stare. His eyebrows scrunched on his forehead with a large frown upon his mouth. Dr. Min waited patiently for his response, knowing what was gradually happening to him.

Thinking deeply about the question, his consciousness popped with a vague image. The picture subtly grew vivid at each second. Colors were lively, edges were pronounced, and the shapes were visible. By the time it was clear and detailed, a memory flashed in his very mind.

He stood on top of a roof. Inspecting around him, he realized it was his old apartment building years back. He saw the crowded shining city spanning across his vision. Buildings stood high and lit, groups of people walking down the streets, but still, he could only hear the soft white noise of the night. Light instrumental music resonated through the rooftop. It was all nostalgic. He missed the view, but more importantly, he missed the memories made here.

“Joon, dance with me,” A gentle voice begged as a small hand tugged his relatively larger one.

His head turned, presenting him with the prettiest, perfect sight. The glow in your skin shined brighter than the moon and sun combined. Your large glittering irises electrified his entire being. Your laugh rippled goosebumps on him, filling his body with sensation. Your smile captivated his very mind and soul. You intertwined his fingers with yours, your warmth coursing through his veins.

Everything about this was perfect. He never wanted to leave. He wished to stay like this forever. He loved every feeling. He loved every minute. He loved the memory. He loved the vision. But essentially—

He loved you.

Namjoon was in love with you, has been this entire time.

But you didn’t love him back.

You were in love with someone else.

The confession only brought painful tears to him as he let his emotions run loose. He scrunched his nose, sniffing uncontrollably. His mouth quivered hopelessly as little whimpers escaped. His gaze went down to his lap, noticing his trembling hands.

He never thought of the day he finally understood what love was. He was too analytical with his beliefs in the past. But he also gave himself some credit. Love was still an essence that powered emotions. All these interpretations and meanings were interconnected. You couldn’t have this without the other. It was more than a concept, more than a feeling.

Love was larger than life itself. Love was greater than anything in the whole universe. It was impossible to put a limit to love. 

Perhaps, Jimin was right. 

Love can do a lot for someone. 

-

Namjoon refused to tell anyone about his condition. Not only did he have to say to them that he was slowly dying from unrequited love, but he would have to reveal his true feelings for you.

He couldn’t deny them any longer, he loved you with all his heart, and it was killing him. But if it had to be anyone to do it, it had to be you.

He knew he couldn’t tell you. You would blame yourself, crying to him that you wished you would have loved him back. But you did love him.

Just not in the way he loved you. It wasn’t your fault at all. You were the type to make anyone fall in love with you. Namjoon had to just be part of that statistic. 

He knew he couldn’t have you, you were with Jungkook, and you loved that man dearly. He was good to you, the best even, probably more than Namjoon would have done. 

For the following months, he continued occupying his life with work. He had to focus on things other than you since you were on his mind every waking moment. He thought it was best to keep his distance. Maybe the flowers inside him wouldn’t flourish rapidly.

But you were adamant in keeping him close. You confronted him, going to his work. Your irritation dissolved once you saw his sunken face and the dark in his eyes. He convinced you that he wasn’t eating adequately since he was constantly working. Then you begged him to have lunch with you, and he couldn’t say no to you. He was too weak.

Too weak for you.

He gave in and, at the very least, texted and called you, but less than before. Sure, he hung out with you and Jungkook but was less engaged. Lately, when you asked to hang out, he told you he was busy or needed to fly out last minute.

When in reality, he went to the hospital for his condition.

“You’ve been taking the prescription, correct? Three times daily?” Dr. Min inquired. And Namjoon nodded. The doctor examined the man, he looked weaker, but somehow his body was stronger in motor and movement than the regular people who had this illness. 

Hanahaki Disease cases were rare and the first for Dr. Min’s long-time patient to be diagnosed. It wasn’t as successful, but when it did, there were still some downfalls, but the individual would be okay in the end. The doctor felt the need to provide the best for him, not fathoming what he was going through. 

“Good, it helps the flower wilt. It doesn’t stop the process completely, but it gives more time.” Dr. Min clarified. “Your bodily functions are still running normally, so that’s good. But I can’t say you’re getting any better….”

His health was deteriorating, the symptoms increased, and not a day went by without him coughing or throwing up petals. 

“I know, doc.” Namjoon sighed. A nurse came in to check his blood pressure. 

“Since you’re at a high stage in this, it’s hard for a cure unless….”

“No.” The man interrupted, knowing what he was going to say. “She’s been dating a friend for a while now. Great guy and loves her dearly..”

Dr. Min noted and nodded carefully at his response. “There’s also surgery. Many people who were diagnosed refuse to take it; that’s also why the fatality of Hanahaki is high. However, a small percentage who do, don’t feel love for the other person. But there are consequences.”

“Like what?”

“It is likely you will never feel love again. The memories of your love for that person won’t exist anymore.”

“Isn’t that worse?” Namjoon knitted his brows. He feared a life without loving, without loving you. He’d probably feel empty inside, lingering around like a ghost. “How can someone live on without love?”

“I…I don’t know.” And for once, Dr. Min didn’t have the right answer. Namjoon accepted what he said; it wasn’t his doctor’s fault. He was only suggesting possibilities. “It’s just another option because, at this rate, the illness is going into the four-stage.”

“And what happens at that stage?”

“If something were to happen that speeds it up, the flowers would bloom all over your lungs, and you will die before the end of the year.”

-

To live without love or to die with love.

A question that has been running through the mind of Kim Namjoon. He didn’t have much time left, but he couldn’t get himself to make a decision.

Obviously, he didn’t want to die. There was still much more for him to do. He wouldn’t be able to do what he wanted. But…a life without love? How would that be plausible? No human would walk on Earth with no love in their body because everyone has to love something or someone deep down.

But the thing that heated his mind was never loving you. He has fallen in love with you since you both were 11. Every drop of love in his body was for you. You were the one who would give meaning to his memories. How would he survive moving on after you?

Namjoon was deep in thought when fingers snapped in front of his face. He blinked back into his surroundings. He was in his office, trying to email Hoseok about some future collaborations.

The culprit, Jimin, rested on one side of his body with his hands on his hips. He had a concerned yet annoyed face on him as he inspected Namjoon. “You’re wasting our precious lunchtime together zoning out.”

Namjoon rolled his eyes, quickly finishing up the email and sending it to his fellow art curator. As they walked up the street to the cafe, Jimin couldn’t help but take multiple takes at his friend.

“Stop staring. I’m not a fucking picture.” Namjoon caught his friend’s gaze.

“Dude, you don’t look so good.”

“Wow, thanks. That definitely helps with my self-esteem.”

“Stop joking. I’m serious.” Jimin refuted. “You look sicker. You barely eat, and you keep having colds.”

“I told you, Jimin. I’ve been going to the doctor, and it’s just stress—”

“ I’m literally a doctor. I can tell that this is more than stress. If you have something and you’re not tell—” An incoming call from Namjoon stopped Jimin’s rant. The shorter’s mouth thinned as he faced forward, waiting for the crosswalk to turn green.

Namjoon pulled his phone out, assuming it was Hoseok. But it was actually Jungkook. He rarely called and usually preferred texting to his introverted self. Nevertheless, he answered and greeted the man.

“Hey, thanks for answering. I really needed your opinion or like help with something.” Jungkook spoke out.

“No problem, man.” Namjoon grinned. “You know I’m always here to help. What’s up?”

“Well, I don’t really know how to say this….”

“You literally sound like ___ right now. It’s baffling.”

“Ugh, I—okay, fine. Obviously, you know ___ and I are together and in love, right?” A pain in his chest hit hard as Namjoon cleared his itchy throat. The crosswalk turned green, and the two began walking across. He hummed in response for Jungkook to continue. “Well, I’m gonna propose to her, and I want you to help me with her ring. You know her taste better than I do and—”

Namjoon stopped. He couldn’t hear anything after that. Jungkook started to sound like the adults from the Peanuts series. The words “I’m going to propose to her” echoed in his brain, repeated like a broken record. Was he hearing it correctly?

“I’m sorry, what? You’re what?” Namjoon forced himself to ask, praying that what he said wasn’t true.

“I’m proposing to ____? I want you to help me with t—”

His vision went fuzzy, his head feeling heavier than normal. His mouth became dehydrated while breathing went rapid. Namjoon couldn’t control his body shaking; everything went numb. His eardrums inflated, unable to hear the horns honking but only a long ringing sound amplified within seconds.

Jimin reached the end of the crosswalk but looked back to see why wasn’t his large friend was by his side. Jimin let out a sob. He saw his friend fall forward, dropping his phone. He ran up as he watched Namjoon vomit blood in the middle of the street.

He got down on his knees in distress, rubbing his friend’s back as he pulled out his phone to call an ambulance. Some people crowded the scene, even going as far as getting out of their cars to help them.

While Jimin instructed the hospital on their location, Namjoon gagged harshly, feeling stuck with something burning through his throat, almost like it was too large to even consume, let alone retched up.

“Yes, please. We’re here at W 6th and Namu Avenue.” Namjoon pushed as hard as possible, and the content finally came out. “Perfect, thank you,” Jimin said before ending the call. “They’ll come in five mi—Joon.…”

With barely enough strength, Namjoon open eyes and turned to see his friend’s aghast expression. Jimin felt himself grieving over him, the tears burst out of control and ran down his reddened cheeks. So Namjoon looked away, unable to see his friend’s crying. Then he suddenly realized why—

There lay blood-stained daisies in the pool of crimson, enough to make a bouquet. Loose petals plastered around, mocking creating a large heart surrounding the arrangement.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jimin whimpered, resting his forehead on the taller’s back. He felt the tears staining his shirt, but that was the least of his problems.

-

“I’ll give you two some time alone,” Dr. Min told them. He looked at his sickly patient, then towards Jimin. “Maybe talk him into it.”

“Thanks, Hyung.” Jimin nodded. Dr. Min excused himself and closed the door while Jimin kept his eyes on his friend. 

After the incident, Namjoon lost consciousness. Jimin was there every step of the way and almost recklessly used his authority to get his friend help. Fortunately, Dr. Min was his supervisor and a good friend that came quickly when he found out what happened to his patient.

Namjoon woke up to them discussing his choices regarding this illness, but he stayed quiet and drank water. He knew Jimin was upset at him for not telling about his condition but was more afraid of him telling you , someone innocent in all of this.

“I know you’re still not feeling well, but I need to know, as your colleague, your friend, your brother, fuck as me! Someone who cares so much about you!” Jimin huffed, feeling frustrated at the situation. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Namjoon chuckled, but nothing was light about it. “You really think I’d tell her? She’d blame herself, and it’s not her fault.”

“At least, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sure you’d say the same thing as Dr. Min….” Namjoon glowered, inspecting the needles and tubes attached to his wrist. “This is something that’s my problem. Because in all honesty, Jimin, what would you have done? You can’t tell me I shouldn’t love her. You can’t tell her to love me. There really wasn’t anything you could do.”

“But…but…I would have been there for you.” Jimin sniffed, his eyes glistening at the sight of his friend. “I would stay by your side even if you were getting worse. No one should go through this alone.” He walked up and gently clasped his hand, noticing how weak he’s gotten.

“How long since you’ve known?” Jimin licked his lips, trying to see any more pain in him.

“I don’t know, but the first time I saw flowers was during your Christmas party.”

“So you’ve been keeping this a secret for almost a whole year?” The shorter released his hold to pace around the room, having many emotions riling his body. “Joon, you’re dying, you know that? There’s no cure unless you do the surgery? Why haven’t you said yes?”

“Because there are consequences to it that I don’t know if I’d accept.” Namjoon had to stay calm. It was better this way, thinking it’d make his friends hurt a little less. “Why live a life without love?” Jimin kept silent, gathering his reasons for the hypothetical question. “The doctor said if I do the surgery, I can’t love again. Go on my life not loving? I’d live an empty life. I wouldn’t get married, have children, see them grow….”

“Technically, you still can.”

“Jimin, life would still be empty, and it would hurt everyone around me, including my parents, you, Jungkook, ___.” He cried at your name. “I can’t live without loving her. It’s hard. I loved her since I was 11, Jimin, and as it pains me to see her with someone else, I have to let her go.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that you’re dying!”

“And if I don’t love, I would be dead inside.” Namjoon smiled bitterly. “I lose either way.”

Jimin sighed, brushing his fingers through his hair. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying his best to talk to him. “While you were unconscious, I talked with Dr. Min. He explained to me how there was a recent study on post-surgery for Hanahaki. There were about ten subjects. The researcher found that despite the common knowledge of not loving, there’s a 50% chance that you may feel it again.”

Namjoon’s eyes glimmered towards his friend, “What? How’d you get this?”

“Yoongi Hyung didn’t know much about the illness, so he had to go through studies and experiments to learn more about it. He stumbled upon this one issued almost two years ago by one of the nation’s prestigious schools.” Jimin articulated what he absorbed from his superior. “There’s still hope for you.”

“Jimin, I don’t know…I don’t feel like gambling my life like that.” Namjoon was uncertain. He was stuck in the middle because either he loved again or didn’t. With the adversity he has been under, the universe wasn’t on his side on this.

“You’re not gambling your life; you’re finding reasons to live, to love.” Jimin reasoned. “You can do all the things you wish to do. You shouldn’t give up, Joon.”

“I-I need time to think this through….” He concluded. There was the temptation to all of it, but he needed to think carefully about his decision. Right now, he’s emotional, Jimin’s emotional; this whole thing is an emotional mess.

“Though Dr. Min can’t say this, I can. You don’t have much time left. That scene triggered you going into the final stage. I don’t want you to die.” Jimin spoke his thoughts. “But whatever decision you make, I’ll be right by your side.”

“Thank you, Chim.” Namjoon nodded. “D-did you tell her? About my condition?”

The shorter breathed out before shaking his head, “No, I thought you would be the one to tell her. But she does know you’re in the hospital. She and Jungkook are in the waiting room. I said you fainted and threw up on the street.”

“You can’t tell her about it, please.” Namjoon pleaded. “I don’t want her to take the blame. None of this is her fault.”

Not arguing with him, Jimin questioned, “So what do we say? You’re dying, and you can’t say you have a fever.”

“Just say I have a tumor.”

“I don’t know if that’s worse or not….”

“I technically do, except instead of a tumor, it’s fucking daisies growing in my lungs!” Namjoon retorted. “Look, whatever it is, she can’t know that I have Hanahaki because she’ll find out I’m in love. She can’t know this, please.”

Jimin bit inside his mouth, “Fine, I won’t tell her, but make your decisions on the surgery soon.”

-

“Oh, Joon!” You cried, rushing towards him. You threw your hands over his body and sobbed. Jungkook trailed behind with a stuffed koala with a ‘Get Well’ balloon, then Jimin was the last to come back in before closing the door. 

Namjoon didn’t like how sad you looked as he hugged you back. He caressed your hair before parting away to get a glimpse of you. You were whimpering, snot running down your nose, crocodile tears shedding, and the spark of pain yet relief in your eyes.

“Jimin told us what happened. We left work and sped here, we waited for hours, and… why didn’t you tell me you had a tumor?” You had so many questions, but this was taking priority.

Namjoon glanced at Jimin, who had his arms crossed over his chest. He nodded slightly, keeping the promise.

“Uhh, I didn’t want you to worry.” He answered softly.

“Now you’re in the hospital, on the brink of death!” You were hurt; he kept it from you, but more so, scared for his life. You didn’t want to lose your best friend.

“I’m sorry, it’s complicated…Doctor said I could go through surgery, but….”

“But? But what? Why don’t you?” You reached for his hands. It was a thing you used to do as children, and you did find a way to comfort each other.

But though it was comforting, it was also intensely painful for Namjoon.

His heart throbbed, but he contained the ache. He pushed your hands off of him and rested them on his lap.

“It’s just…it’s complicated.” He responded the best that he could without lying. He’s already lying so much more than he did in your entire friendship.

You stared at him, trying to comprehend what he said. You needed to understand, and you had a hunch that he wasn’t adequately telling you.

“Do you think you two can leave, so we can talk privately?” You rotated back at Jimin and Jungkook. The sense of desperation was oozing through your contact.

Jungkook nodded without missing a beat, understanding the privacy needed. He placed the koala on the table and mumbled reassurances to the taller. Jimin said nothing but followed your boyfriend out and closed the door behind him.

Now you two were alone.

It’s been a while since it was just you and him. You missed it. Though you tried your best, your days grew hectic, and schedules were tight, being unable to hang out with your best friend.

You observed his state, he lost the honey color in his skin, and the darkened puffs around his eyes were accentuated by his bloodshot eyes. His hair was matted and greased, not having its usual volume. His body looked thinner, seeing his bones popping out every now and then.

“I never would have thought you’d end up like this.” You spoke truthfully. “It pains me to see you like this, Joon.”

“I know, flower.” He agreed, not wanting to look you in the eye. It really could be damaging to him.

“Are you doubting the surgery? Is it the cost? The quality, because I can help you—”

“No, it’s not like that, flower. I promise.” Even at his weakest point, he strived to make you not worried for him. “It’s…there are consequences to the surgery that I don’t know if I could live with.”

“What do you mean?”

He tried getting himself together to come up with a reasonable explanation without saying too much, “The doctor said I’d lose feeling to some parts of my body.”

“And so…”

“So, I wouldn’t live my life the way I want to.” He sighed, thinking about his tender memories with you. His eyes started to swell at the possibility of it disappearing. “I would feel dead inside. I don’t know if I can survive like that.”

“Did he say anything else? Is there something that can counter that? I—was this only option?”

“He talked about some study on it and said there’s a 50% chance I could feel again. It’s just risky, you know? I’m shooting through hoops for it, and I’m….” His voice trembled in tone. “I’m tired. I’m tired of all of it. I wanna give up.”

“No, I refuse for you to give up.” You disapproved.

“No, it’s okay—”

“It’s not okay, Namjoon.” You seethed with rage, standing up from the bed.

“Look, flow—”

“No, I won’t let you. You used to tell me to never give up, stay hopeful, and that I’ll get better with time.” Your eyes welled with tears at the very thought of Namjoon giving up on himself. “Now that you’re giving up, you’re telling me to be okay with that?”

“Why not?” He bawled back.

There it was, what he’s been hiding from you—the loose, broken pieces shattered instead of being taped together like everything was fine.

When he first found out, he lost all hope in what he had to offer the world. He didn’t want to act upon being a human and grieve on his experience. It wasn’t like him. He wanted you to see him be okay and happy and work his way through life and obstacles with ease like he always wanted for you.

This was the first time you saw lost. 

“I’m already dying. What’s the point, ___?” He broke down. “I can’t be strong anymore. It made matters worse. Look, I failed myself. I failed you as your best friend. I’m really a failure. I’ve been blinded by hope and being content, not noticing that I’m getting worse.”

You took in his words, trying to understand him. You saw him fall into a pit of insecurity and despair. It was scary for you, this being one of the few times you saw him like this. It was usually the other way around, and for that, you needed to be there for him. Comfort him like he did with you, care for him like he did with you, continuing on his side with love and support.

“Remember when Seokjin cheated on me, I asked you why things like that happened?” You pointed out, taking a step to sit back down.

“Yeah, you were a mess. You couldn’t stop crying.”

“Yeah, but I slept good that night.” You chuckled, earning a slight smile from him. “You said hurt is temporary, and you’ll heal from it.”

“Wow, I said that. I must have been a liar.” He joked, causing you to snort at his self-deprecation. He shifted his head out to the window, the sun setting for the day, bringing a soft, warm hue into his bleak room. 

“No, you were telling the truth, and things got better.” You said. “But then I asked you if something was wrong with me because bad things kept happening.”

“What about it? There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“You called me one of the most special people out there.” You grinned, reaching over to his hands and intertwining them into yours. “If I’m one of the most special, Namjoon, you’re irreplaceable.”

He finally faced you. Your face was touched by the golden hour, the dried tears reflected. All the hope he once had was migrated onto you. The building of hope he helped you through the years was finally reflected. It was your turn to give back.

You sniff-kissed his palms, and it didn’t hurt him for once. It melted his troubles away for a split second and made his heart skip a beat in the way it was supposed to be.

“No one in this world can match you. You are like no other. You brought better days than I could never imagine, always thinking of others before yourself.” Your promising irises said it all, the truth of himself within. “The universe gives the hardest challenges to the most powerful, resilient ones because it knows how much you can endure. It’s testing you.”

Your grip was firm, more robust than his, as he applied pressure to your hands. “Once it’s over, you will be rewarded vastly. It’ll give you the best things, you name it. You won’t regret anything your heart faces and desires. Good will happen to someone like you. Please don’t give up.” You wheezed out, sobbing into your linked hands. “You’ll be alright, I promise. We’ll be here for you. I’ll be here for you.”

Namjoon joined closer to you, his forehead resting on the top of your head. You felt his tears dripping on your scalp, but that didn’t matter. You then embraced one another, refusing to let go. The dimming sun cascaded your shadows onto the white walls of the hospital room.

Serene was anything but you two. Instead, a fire ignited within, blazing a rush, lighting up the untapped potential inside both of you. The flames grew when together, too powerful for the world to see. So it was decided they had to stay apart, as they’re not always meant to last. Still, without their mirrored flame, if one died, so did the other. 

Separation should never be permanent with you and Namjoon. 

The day was young. The window was opened to lure fresh wind into his nostrils. He’s been in this room for days, but he won’t be in here any longer. He eyed the skinny cylindrical vase, and a single daisy emerged into the half-filled water. The decor was a small gesture from Jungkook, who got the idea from Jimin. 

Though alone, that one daisy carried purpose to its life, creating beauty and awing anyone that surrounded it. It was the last one he probably would see for a while.

A knock interrupted his gaze from the vase. Following the sound, he found his doctor in the doorway with a bright smile.

“Ready?” Dr. Min asked.

Namjoon closed his eyes and breathed a final deep, flower-filled breath.

“Ready.”

-

The ceremony was absolutely breathtaking, with nothing but large smiles on everyone. Laughter filled the air, food filled their stomachs, and you and Jungkook’s love filled the entire reception. Everyone felt your eternal love, resonating with that very feeling in their own lives.

All but Namjoon.

After the successful surgery, he recovered quickly, bringing joy to your lives. But he lost his loving memories with you. He still remembered who you were, how you grew up, and the memories you made with him. He even knew why he had the surgery in the first place. But he doesn’t remember or feel ever being in love with you.

He was your best friend who you platonically loved.

Namjoon didn’t know what love was all together. It was something he couldn’t fully grasp. If someone were to ask, he gave an indefinite answer or a simple ‘I don’t know.’

He did feel like a big hole was in his chest, finding it difficult to get anything to fill it up. Days were long and tiresome. Things happen, things don’t. It was all mundane for him. He felt numb to the world at times. He doesn’t know if he regretted his decision.

But if there’s one thing he knew was that he cared. He cared a lot about his friends, work, and family, never wanting them to feel down or hurt. If they needed him, he’ll come in faster than you could say his name. He enjoyed being there for them. It made him happy.

But not enough to love, whatever that was.

You were his best friend he cared for.

He cared so much that he helped Jungkook plan his proposal with you and the wedding. Jungkook even begged him to be his best man, to which the taller agreed with flying colors.

In your opinion, the ask to be his best man was unexpectedly more notable than your own proposal.

Namjoon watched you and Jungkook dancing on the floor, nothing but smiles and stolen touches between the two. Even when crying, you were still happy with your husband. He was glad you finally found someone worthy enough for you, also glad you weren’t wasting your time with stupid boys who only cared about their dicks in something.

He wondered what it was having that, but he felt nothing. The crater in him only expanded. Was it even possible for him? It didn’t seem as interesting, so he pushed it aside.

“Hey, you okay?”

His head turned to see Jimin sitting beside him at their designated table. The doctor offered him a glass of wine, which he gladly accepted.

“Yeah, just watching.” He shrugged.

“You holding up alright?”

Namjoon’s lips twitched in dissatisfaction, “I think I’ve been before. I don’t know.”

Jimin peeked at the newlyweds and asked, “Do you’d ever tell her?”

“It happened; it’s already in the past. Just gotta move on.” He sighed. “Again, I know she wouldn’t forgive herself if I told her all about it.”

“I understand.” The shorter nodded, swirling his glass in his hand.

“But I will tell her what’s happening now. I think she needs to know that at least.” He took one more sip before putting it down on the table. He got up and headed in your direction.

Jimin smiled, seeing the last moments of you and your best friend together.

Namjoon tapped on your husband’s shoulder, catching their attention. He cleared his throat and pushed forth his hand in front of you. “May I have a dance with my best friend?”

Jungkook beamed at him and nodded willingly. He palmed the small of your back and assisted you to your friend. “Just don’t fall in love with you.”

You all laughed as Namjoon snorted, “Gross, never.”

Jungkook walked away, leaving you to sway to the soft beats of the music. You wrapped your arms around his nape while he palmed your sides firmly. He wasn’t the best dancer, but this was manageable. You both swayed seamlessly together, almost like your bodies were conditioned to.

You looked up at him. He was much healthier, cheeks protruded like when you were children, and his body grew thicker as he ate well and exercised more. But what pressed you was his eyes. Though being better, they struggled to keep luminosity. Some days were high; others were low. You assumed he had gotten moodier after the surgery, but still the authentic Kim Namjoon.

“Ummm, though I want you to enjoy your wedding, there’s something I needed to tell you. It’s important.” He announced as he took the lead in the dance. He unexpectedly twirled you around, making you squeal and grab the collar of his suit.

“You’re not dying again, right?” Though the tone seemed sarcastic, you hardened your face.

“No, I’m not.” He scoffed, playfully rolling his eyes.

 “Good, you’re not allowed to leave me.” You pouted cutely. 

“Well, I can’t say that I’m not gonna leave.”

“Huh, what do you mean?”

“I got a job offer to work in Madrid. Remember Hoseok? He referenced me to one of their museums, and they liked my work.”

“Oh, Joon! I’m so happy for you.” You congratulated him, then squeezed him tightly in your hug. “You’ll do great. When do you leave?”

“In a few months, I told Hoseok I needed some time to transition and finish up some work. I think it’ll be good, you know? A new change after my…tumor. Maybe I’ll feel better…I’ve been feeling stuck. I know I didn’t tell you right away, but you had the wedding and planning….”

“I don’t care. It’s fine. It’s understandable.” You smiled endearingly at your friend. “You know I’ll always love you, right?”

Namjoon crooned, “I love you too.”

Of course, he didn’t think he meant it, not grasping the words. It held no effect on him. But he knew that you enjoyed saying it to him, so to avoid any suspicions, he says it. 

“You’re gonna be so far.” You frowned.

“Hey, I’m gonna call. We’ll do video calls now, and you’ll be able to explore Madrid vicariously towards me.” He promised, holding your form.

“You better…”

“Okay, enough about me. How do you feel?” He changed the subject to the meaning of tonight. “You’re a married woman.”

“It’s weird. My last name is now Jeon.” You stated. “I’m not used to it.”

“Could have been worse. Could have been Kim.” He quipped, making you throw your head back.

You scrunched your nose. Your grin morphed lower as a thought came up. “You remember Seokjin, right?”

“My God, why are you bringing up your ex on your wedding day?” He retorted. You gave a stern look, but it didn’t cause him fear. “But yes, what about him?”

“It wasn’t much about him. It was something he said after we broke up.” You squinted up as if it helped you remember.

“And?”

“Well, I ran into him in the cafeteria. It was like during finals. You weren’t there. You had your art analysis exam.” You recollected from the back of your mind. “He apologized, but it didn’t matter. But he told me he cheated because he knew he couldn’t win.”

“I know I’m not that experienced, but I don’t think a relationship is about winning,” Namjoon commented, still having the urge to punch that guy.

“No, no. He wasn’t like that. But I didn’t know what he was talking about at that time.” You breathed deeply and sighed. “He told me it was because of you.”

“Me? What about me?”

“He saw our friendship and deemed it as a threat.” You uncovered. “You and I were so closer, he felt like he was in the way and that he lost before it even started. ”

“But it wasn’t like that, right?” He probed, not thinking anything more. However, with your long pause and the discomfort on your face, it made him raise a brow at you. “___, speak please.”

“He got me thinking—what if it was you?” You shared. “That the love was much more than what we showed.”

The hypothetical question consumed his mind. It’s been a while since he was deep in thoughts like this. They were always meaningless and showed no impact. Similar to this one, inside him went blank.

“Can’t fathom it….” He could only say.

“I thought he was nuts, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought about wanting it to happen.”

That’s when Namjoon blinked dumbfounded at you. What did you mean by that?

“What did you say? W-why say it now?”

“Because it was in the past, and it stopped after meeting Jungkook.” You answered, reminiscing about those thoughts and feelings. “Now we’re good, happier now, and just look back at it and laugh.”

“You said it was in the past now. What did you think?” Namjoon wanted to understand, curious about what you were hiding from him.

“That…that I liked you. Maybe even falling in love with you??”

Namjoon only wished to have felt what you said, but it was all numb. “O-oh.”

“I’m sorry. Did I make you uncomfortable?”

“No, no. You’re not, flower. I’m…I’m just a bit surprised.” He denied it, inhaling slowly and releasing his breath.

“I was too. Now thinking back, it would have been very cliche.” You giggled. “We’re breaking stereotypes.”

“We’re unmatched.” He smiled, his dimples being emphasized. “What made you stop having those thoughts?”

You tilted your head and gazed to the side of you to find your reflections. “Mmm, I think our souls were destined to meet like we had a gravitational pull that couldn’t tear us apart. I thought about twin flames.”

“Interesting concept. Tell me more.”

“Kinda like two peas in a pod. We’re one soul split in between two bodies. We see things in us that others can’t.”

“Flower, you can’t say we’re twin flames when you just married your soulmate.”

“It’s different! Twin flames just understand each other to no avail, while soulmates are naturally compatible.”

“Then how did this make you stop? Because in my opinion, it only would lead to more.” He went being a devil’s advocate for no reason. Maybe a stab at you for his past self?

“Two fires together will only create a bigger fire.” You simply explained. “We were meant to be, but we aren’t meant to be.”

The two of you continued to dance, being the few left on the floor. Your loved ones looked at you, intrigued by the strength of your bond.

And it indeed was.

You were made to test and develop your very understanding of yourselves, energy, and one another. You provided active spiritual growth as each other’s catalysts, awakening your mirrored souls. You pushed each other to release your wounds, remove any blockage that came your way, and help to lead you to true love, whether it was self-love or finding the love of your life.

Right before his surgery, Namjoon wondered what would have happened if you had reciprocated his love for you. Would it have been a happily ever after? Or ruin your friendship through the combustion too much for you both to handle?

What if you saw in him what he saw in you? What if you spoke to him like he spoke to you? What if you thought of him like he thought of you? What if life hurt you like it did with him? Would you ever love him the way he loved you?

He will never know.

But above all, he was glad to be with you, even if it meant being only your best friend. You continued your life and yourself, attached to his existence.

And if he lived a hundred years, for a hundred years, he’ll think of you.

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[beewritesposts]

i remember when we were in middle school and i watched you sing. i had never been to a concert yet, but i thought you were the most talented performer i had ever seen.

i remember when i was old enough to join band. you played the drums and i played piano. you would make stupid jokes while we practiced our songs. i hated being distracted but i always stopped to laugh at you.

i remember when i got to high school and suddenly everyone seemed so much meaner to me. you were already friends with them, but you were never mean to me.

i remember watching the mean girls fawn over you. it made my stomach hurt, but i didn’t know why. you paid more attention to them than you did to me. i was nothing and you were unobtainable.

i remember when we went on a summer trip together with band. everyone felt closer together than i did with any of them. i felt so alone until we sat in that room together talking about our lives. for the first time, you made me feel seen like i so badly wanted.

i remember when we both got casted in the school play that winter. we spent almost every day after school together on the same stage. i snuck glances at you while you said your lines in rehearsal. i wonder if you glanced at me too.

i remember when we did soundcheck at the festival theatre. we were backstage waiting for our queue. i was perched on a stool like a bird, frail and nervous. you leaned in and kissed me and suddenly it felt like it wasn’t all in my head. when our queue came i could barely get my lines out.

i remember when we sat together on the couch while we watched that movie with the troupe. you placed your hand on my knee under the blanket, more gently than i had ever been touched before.

i remember when we went on our first drive together. those were the only dates we ever had. we would park at the beach and kiss with the headlights off. now that i look back, i fear it’s because you didn’t want to be seen with me by your friends.

i remember when you asked me to be your girlfriend. you introduced me to your real friends — not the guys on the sports team who you wanted to hide me from. i convinced myself that was enough because it was more than i had been loved before.

i remember when i realized you were losing interest in me. we had barely been together officially at all, but i had wanted you for years. it destroyed me inside, but i knew i had to let you go.

i remember when i became interesting to you again. we agreed to continue our drives without a label this time. hidden kisses in the dark were enough for me if it meant i got to have some part of you.

i remember when you graduated. you asked my best friend’s sister to be your date to the prom and i bought a new dress and heels to wear as i watched you from the sidelines. i hope you liked the dress.

i remember when i moved out of that town. it had been two years since we last saw each other. i downloaded the dating apps, but i told myself i didn’t want to be in a relationship. maybe it’s because i knew you would always have too much of my heart.

i remember when we matched on a dating app. i was too nervous, so my roommate took my phone and swiped right on you. we started talking again and it felt like climbing into my bed in my childhood home.

i remember when we went for our first drive in two years. i was too scared to look at you. after all those years you still made me nervous. you kissed me at a red light and it felt like we had never been apart at all.

i remember when you told me you wanted a relationship. i thought back to how i told myself i didn’t want to date anyone. at the time, i thought it was because i wasn’t over you, but the thought of being with you made me even more afraid. they say if you love it, let it go, and if it’s meant to be yours it will come back. you came back like i had hoped, but i still wasn’t convinced that you were meant to be mine, so we stopped talking.

i remember when i saw you with your new girlfriend for the first time. you said hi to me in the mall. you sounded angry, like you resented me for being too afraid to take a second chance with you. i said hi back and walked away. i’ve barely went to the mall since then.

i wonder if you still remember these things. i wonder if you still remember me. i wonder if you see me when you look at her, or if you think of me when you can’t sleep at night. i wonder if i haunt your dreams like you haunt mine. worst of all, i wonder if you’ve forgotten me completely.

[aeoneri]

[Tacones Rojos] Chapter 12: The Goddess Who Had It All

Summary:

ACT II: GABRIELA – Gabriela has everything she could ever want - a fulfilling career, great friends, and a boyfriend that could make anyone swoon. But despite of other people's assumptions, the Goddess of Bogotá's life isn't as perfect as it seems.

– The theme song for this chapter: Dance The Night by Dua Lipa

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It had been almost two months ago since her world turned itself upside down.

Gabriela lived a fairly normal life, as normal as one could get for an indie actress who also worked part-time as a music producer. Her time was filled with plenty of highs and lows, and she loved being creative, even if the challenges stumped her out. There was nothing else Gabriela wouldn’t exchange for the world, except, maybe, for a chance to breathe. 

Whenever life became too much for her, she would put on her heels and go out dancing till dawn. Dancing brought out the truest form of herself, and when she hit the floor, there was no room for anyone to cast judgment. 

In the recesses of the city’s hottest nightclubs, she was free.

People called her “La Diosa”, the goddess who evoked allure, mystery, fate and prosperity. For wherever she went, they believed luck followed, and when she danced, she lit the room on fire. Everyone had a good time when she was around, and even if her heart was on the verge of breaking, it never, ever, showed. Gabriela kept everyone’s world turning, the same way she tried to keep her own from standing still.

Tonight, however, she didn’t quite feel like herself.

“Do you think he saved our spot, or do you think it’s already taken?” Her friend, Ávila, asked Gabriela as they made their way to La Tribu, a trendy bar that was on the edge of the city. It was a long way away from Gabriela’s place, but it was always well worth the trip.

“I don’t know, you’re the one with the number.” Gabriela half-heartedly commented. Normally she would be up to celebrate the weekend by going out to have fun, but it was hard to get into the mood after the terrible day she had. “Hopefully it hasn’t, but I doubt it.”

“And maybe you’re right to doubt.” Ávila cringed when they arrived and found a long line of people waiting to enter the building. “Looks like it’s busier than usual.”

Gabriela tried hard not to frown. She anticipated this, knowing that the place itself had a reputation for being one of the best within the area, but had hoped otherwise. Despite looking worn down with graffiti, La Tribu’s exterior was vibrant, reminiscent of the colorful houses in Cartegena. “I thought you messaged your boyfriend, Ávi!” She groaned, adjusting the straps of her dress while Ávila grabbed her hand so they could jump the queue. They got a few displeased looks from other people, but most gave way when they noticed who was cutting through. “That’s the only reason why I agreed to go out tonight!”

Ávila didn’t look pleased at all with Gabriela’s whining. “And I did, but I didn’t expect this crowd. Besides, do you think I’d let you be all alone in that apartment of yours, sulking while your no-good on-again, off-again, significant other fucks his way through the entire city?”

The comment stung. “That’s low.”

“And?”

“You know that he’s…sorry and has been making it up to me.” Gabriela defended, though there was a hint of hesitation in her tone. Was he? “I know he hasn’t been the best, but not all of our fights have to do with his past mistakes.”

“You know that you deserve a whole lot better than him, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“But you two have this long history together since childhood and whatnot, and he’s your first love.” Ávila made a face. “And I get that. It’s really sweet when you think about it, but when push comes to shove, he doesn’t even have the common sense to realize that whatever stupid shit he does, you’d be caught up in his mess.” 

Ávila always had a way with words. They were no nonsense, given their background in the cutthroat world of fashion. They believed sugar coating made matters more complicated than it needed to be, and was brutally honest where it mattered. Gabriela understood that Ávila, while seemingly rough on the outside, was completely worried for her. They weren’t good at showing it sometimes, but she knew they meant well. They had been like that since they first started together in the industry, and while Gabriela never hid secrets, there was more to the story than Ávila knew.

It wasn’t just the longstanding history — Gabriela’s predicament had more to do with the complicated and strained relationship with her family. Apart from her brother, whom she had just recently reconnected with, she had not been in contact with her parents since they kicked her out of the house. They didn’t like Marco to begin with, and if anything, they had good reason to.

“It’s complicated, Ávi.” Was all Gabriela managed to say. “He’s trying.”

“He might, but it isn’t good enough, though, Ella.”

The place was jam-packed. There were plenty of regulars milling about, but also some new faces hanging around the counter where José, Ávila’s boyfriend, was working his magic. They didn’t need to try to catch his attention —  he spotted the two instantly. “Oh my sweet wonderful man, thank god you came through.” Ávila murmured as José led them to the far end of the room, where a free booth was waiting for them. “Forgive Ella here, amor.” Ávila maneuvered Gabriela to sit. “We’re off to a rough start.”

“Nothing a drink can’t fix.” José shrugged. “If you have any requests, just let Javier know, okay? There’s a bachelorette party going on right now, and they’ve been at it hard.”

“We’ll be fine. Now go focus on your patrons.”

“I don’t think a drink would save me.” Gabriela slumped against the table. “This sucks.”

“Oh, don’t start with the pity party.” Ávila took Gabriela’s face in their hands and squished. “How many times have you gone through this? You and Marco have broken up and gotten back together more times than I could count on one hand, and don’t get me started on the scandal that’s circulating around him right now.”

Gabriela had almost forgotten about that, but now the memory of her earlier fight with Marco came back. She squashed down the uneasiness threatening to spill her tears.

As if on cue, Gabriela’s phone began vibrating in her purse. Before she could make a move to check, Ávila snatched it off her hands. “He can’t take a hint, huh?” They scowled at the screen when they saw Marco’s name pop up. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to answer.”

“I’m not.” Gabriela grabbed the phone back to turn it off. “Can we stop talking about him right now? I just want to unwind and forget about it all.”

“That’s more like it!” Ávila instantly beamed, quickly signaling one of the servers, Javier, over. “Let’s get you something really good. We’re going to party till the sun comes up!”

…

As the night progressed, Gabriela managed to forget her troubles, even if only for a little while. The drinks continuously flowed, one after another. “I’m in the mood to dance, Ávi!” Gabriela tugged on Ávila’s hand towards the dance floor. “Join me?”

“No way.” Ávila teased. “You go!”

“Pretty please? I love this song!”

“Yeah, but someone needs to watch over our stuff and you know my boyfriend can’t do it for us right now.”

“But you’ll be all alone and you’re the one who invited me out.” 

“I’m not going anywhere. Go and have some fun.” Ávila tried their best not to laugh and shooed Gabriela away. “This is your moment to shine. Show them how it’s really done…La Diosa!”

“Haha, stop!” Gabriela started giggling, the alcohol buzzing into her system. She playfully smacked Ávila’s shoulder. “I don’t even know how that nickname even stuck. I’m no goddess!”

“Trust me, you’re too humble for your own good sometimes.” Ávila snickered in response before Gabriela made her way confidently towards the crowd. “Hey, DJ!” They called out to the person handling the mixer. “Pump up the music! La Diosa is here to dance!”

…

People always wondered how Gabriela managed to balance herself in towering heels without even tripping over her feet. On any given day, she would have chosen another pair, maybe even comfortable shoes. But for times when she needed a little boost, she would pick her gorgeous, blood-red heels, and go dancing in them. The shoes weren’t always ideal to keep on for long, but it made her feel confident. Beautiful, even.

Cheers erupted from the crowd and many more joined her on the floor. Gabriela twirled and swayed to the beat like her life depended on it. All of her emotions rose up to the surface and she felt a tear run down her cheek. It twinkled like a diamond underneath the neon lights, but Gabriela didn’t care. Sweat and tears and laughter mingled with each other and it was all she lived for.

She didn’t know how long she had been dancing. The rhythm made time move differently. Gabriela was too immersed to even notice a man who moved too close for comfort next to her.

“Gabriela.”

Her euphoria was replaced with confusion. She recognized that voice anywhere. “Marco?” She whipped her head around to find her lover standing there. “What are you doing here?”

He looked disheveled, like he had rolled off the bed and dressed himself in the dark. “I have been looking everywhere for you.” Without an explanation, Marco grasped her arm and pulled her away from the dance floor. “I’m taking you home. Now.”

“Wait, wait, wait. No.” Gabriela immediately yanked him off her and for a moment, she swore his eyes darkened. “I don’t want to go home just yet. The party’s just getting started.”

Marco ran a tense hand through his hair. “Are you drunk?”

“No.” She lied. “And what’s it to you? If you’re just here to be a prick, leave. You’re ruining my night.”

He scrutinized her carefully. “Unbelievable. You’re drunk.” Marco accused. “You’re not thinking straight.”

“First of all, I’m not drunk.” Gabriela hissed, annoyed that he decided to pick a fight with her. Wasn’t our earlier one enough? “In fact, I was feeling pretty fine before you showed up unexpectedly.” Other guests had begun to notice the trouble that was brewing and watched with keen eyes. “Why are you really even here, anyway?”

“I already told you, I’m here to take you home. Why are you being so difficult, mami? ”

“Don’t you dare mami me! Do you think that coming here and suddenly acting that you actually cared would make everything better? Like how dare you think I’d go with you just because you–”

Gabriela gasped when Marco suddenly kissed her, cutting her off. “Fine. I’ll come clean. I was worried when you didn’t answer my calls or my texts. I didn’t even know if you were coming home tonight.”

She stood there unconvinced. “Look, I know doing this doesn’t make it any better, but hear me out, please.” Marco moved closer, and Gabriela could feel his hot breath near her ear. It made her shiver, and she cursed herself for feeling weak. “I wanted to apologize. I’ve been under so much pressure lately that I’ve said some things that I didn’t mean. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, Ella. I promise, it won’t happen again.”

Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like eternity. Gabriela wondered how many times he had used this line on her. How many promises had he not kept? Yet like the sorry sap that she was, she fell for it over and over again.

“Let me make it up to you.” He pleaded.

If Gabriela took the time to be honest with herself, her gut told her to move along, dump his sorry ass and walk away. But her heart said otherwise, knowing she was not quite ready to let it all go. In the end, he won out. “Okay.” Gabriela agreed, feeling herself getting sober. Nothing had changed. “Okay. Take me home.”

I’m in love with this man. He’s in love with me. We are happy.

She let Marco lead her out to the exit, but not before Ávila stepped in, blocking their way. “You.” They growled at him, stabbing a finger at his chest. “I don’t really know what she sees in you, but one of these days, mark my words, she will wake up and your lies will no longer hold power over her.”

“Ávi…” Gabriela began, but Ávila shook their head. “My friend deserves someone so much better than you.” They continued. “She is too good for you.”

Marco ignored Ávila’s rant and discreetly sidestepped away. “Sure.” He deadpanned. “Her bag please, Ávila. We’re leaving.”

Ávila begrudgingly handed over Gabriela’s belongings and watched their friend’s retreating figure. They were worried, but there was nothing else they could do. Ávila’s only hope was that Gabriela would realize that she deserved someone who truly loved her for who she was, flaws and all. They just had to wait a little longer. It wasn’t like the next person that would pass by would be the one Gabriela needed.

And as Ávila turned their back towards the bar to get another drink, someone else was on their way out, desperately searching in the cold, dark night.

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Glossary of terms (in order of appearance in-text): La Tribu - The Tribe

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[theaverewrites]

Protective!Kenma x Reader

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Character/Ship: Kenma x Reader

Word Count: 463

Format: Oneshot

Prompt: Kenma protecting you from creeps.

   You and Kenma didn’t go out very often. Both rather introverted, you spent time together at one of your houses, playing games or reading and just enjoying each other’s company. However, every now and then, you’d go out together to see a new movie or buy a new game. Today was one of those days. A new Zelda game had just been released, and you practically dragged Kenma along with you to the nearest mall to get it before it sold out.

   The mall was crowded enough, especially the game stop you were planning to buy the game at. The line was long and you figured Kenma would get bored of waiting in line, so you suggested that he look around and see if there was anything he wanted while you got the Zelda game. He nodded, and you two split. 

   You managed to snag the last copy of the game you wanted, hopping into the long line excitedly. However, it wasn’t long before you felt someone’s hand on your shoulder, pulling you into their chest. You looked up, shivering slightly when you realized that this man was not your boyfriend.

“Hey, cutie, I’ve got a good deal for you…” a deep voice coo’ed. You shrugged his hand off of your shoulder and turned forward.

“I’m not interested, sorry.”

You had hoped that’d be the end of it, but not even a moment later, his hand snaked around your waist, hanging dangerously low. “C’mon, baby, I’ll buy you the game, and then you and I can go to my house and play a… different game,” he said, fiddling with the helm of your shirt.

“I said no, don’t touch me.”

“Listen, I’m not fond of taking no for an ans—”

“What the hell is your problem?”

You were pulled out of the man’s grip and into the chest of another, this one more familiar. You looked up, sighing in relief at the face of your boyfriend, Kenma. A few people looked over at the scene in the line. “They said no, so leave them alone,” he said, sliding in line behind you to shield you from the old man. He was only a bit taller than you were, so he leaned down slightly to whisper to you.

“Are you alright? He didn’t touch you anywhere… um… he shouldn’t have, did he?”

You laughed a little at Kenma’s attempt at implications. “No, no. I’m okay, thank you.”

Kenma slipped his hand into yours as you both waited out the queue. You paid for the game and made your way back to his house. “Let’s stay in for the next week…” Kenma muttered.

You laughed again. “Hmm, sure.”

[pilothusband]

All Hail The King

Rating: Explicit (18+)

Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader

Warnings: Alcohol, oral sex, p in v sex, praise kink. I’m a horny bitch, okay? This is purely indulgent.

Word count: 5k

Author’s note: Special thanks to @wyn-dixie​ for reading this over before I posted it and for enabling this filth. ❤️ This idea entered my brain randomly and I had to write it out. Please let me know what you think! I want your feedback. If I had Photoshop I would have made an edit of Frankie with a crown for this but I don’t have it so here’s this gif instead.

The bar is humming with activity, but the table you’re nestled at in the back provides enough shelter to allow you all to converse without having to yell at each other.

You’ve been nursing a glass of water for a while now, since you’re the designated driver this week. It doesn’t bother you, though— you’re just happy to be out with your friends.

Every once in a while you steal a glance over at Frankie, who’s sitting diagonally across the table, next to Santiago who is directly across from you. Benny is to your left, his large body crowding you into the wall, and his brother Will is at the head of the table.

“Hey Fish,” Benny claps a hand on his shoulder. The force of his hand jostles Frankie’s solid body backwards a little, but to his credit he doesn’t flinch. “How are things with that girl you were seeing? Jennessa? Jennifer?”

You take a sip of your water and look down at the table to mask your interest at the sudden change in conversation.

“Jessica,” Frankie clears his throat. “They aren’t. We didn’t have much in common so she broke it off after a few dates.”

Queue the internal cheering. Jessica was a bit of a wet mop, to be honest. She never had anything to say when Frankie brought her around and she would scoff at everything that was slightly unsavory in her eyes. Deep down, you had to come to terms with the jealous twinge you felt in your gut every time she would squeeze Frankie’s shoulder affectionately, her immaculately manicured nails pressed harshly into his jacket.

“I’m sorry, Fish,” Benny said, slinging his arm around the man, the clumsy movement knocking his hat slightly askew. “Her loss, brother.”

“Here here,” Santi agrees, raising his bottle in the air. “To the king!”

Benny cheers clinks his bottle against Santiago’s echoing his sentiment. Will huffs out a laugh and Frankie groans, hiding his face in his hands.

You gape at the two men in question, but they just giggle like a couple of school girls.

“I didn’t realize I was in the presence of royalty,” you say, trying to figure out what they’re talking about. You look over at Frankie as he takes an impatient sip from his drink.

Benny just about spits out a mouthful of beer onto the table.

“Shut the fuck up, guys.” Frankie warns his friends. “Seriously.” Santi and Benny give him an innocent look. Will focuses his gaze on the bottle he’s holding, picking at the paper label, damp and curling at the edges from condensation .

Santiago leans towards you, his breath hot in your ear.

“We call him the pussy eating king.”

You thank the powers above you weren’t mid-sip, because the choked sound that emits from your throat was both involuntary and sudden. Heat blossoms in your stomach and your thighs clench together as you make eye contact with Frankie. He looks away nervously, embarrassed even. 

“So was this a self coronation or..” You trail off, grinning at the flush on Frankie’s cheeks.

“It was that really talkative chick he was seeing for a while,” Benny says, turning to you. “Brianna?”

“Brenda,” Frankie sighs.

“So Brenda crowned you the pussy eating king?” You ask Frankie, who still refuses to meet your eyes.

He grumbles in response, waving off the subject.

“Yeah, she went on about it in detail for the whole night one time. I think you were away for a work trip or something” Santiago is absolutely smirking, loving the way Frankie is physically shrinking under the group’s attention. “Come on Fish, don’t be so modest. You’re a beast in the sack, it’s a good thing!”

You smile, but it doesn’t quite reach your eyes. You remember why you weren’t there. It was because you couldn’t stand seeing Frankie so happy with another woman, so you feigned sick.

“Well, I can see why things with Brenda didn’t last,” you respond, knowing Frankie was kind of a private guy. “But hey, at least she can tell all her friends she got the royal treatment while it lasted.”

Benny, Santiago and even Will all roar with laughter, fists banging raucously on the table. Frankie huffs out an embarrassed laugh, despite himself.

“Yeah, yeah,” he takes a swig of his beer, emptying it. “I need another drink.”

“Hey Ben, what time is your fight next week again?” Will calls over to his brother. You’re grateful for the change of subject. Frankie’s had enough torture for one night and you aren’t sure how many more details about Frankie’s sexual prowess your nether regions can take.

Benny turns towards Will to talk about his upcoming match and you take a sip from your glass to try to hide how flustered you’re feeling. Did this bar get hot all of a sudden?

The glass lands back down with a dull thump and you look up to find Santiago studying you, his eyebrow raised.

“What?” You don’t mean to sound aggressive, but his gaze is unnerving, as if he’s trying to suss out something you’re hiding.

“Nothing, nothing at all.” He smirks and tips up his beer, taking a long gulp. You roll your eyes at him and look down to pick at your nails.

A few moments later, Frankie returns with a fresh beer and you can feel Santiago turning his face in your direction again to read your body language. You school your reaction, fingers digging painfully into your pint glass. Sometimes Pope is too fucking nosy for his own good.

He must lose interest after a moment though, because he turns his attention back to Benny, who’s still talking about his upcoming fight.

The topic doesn’t come up again, thankfully, and you’ve dropped all the boys off at their separate destinations, save for Frankie, who lives the closest to you.

The car ride alone with him isn’t as tense as you were expecting, since his tongue has been loosened with the fair amount of alcohol he’s had tonight. You both chat easily about the upcoming week and how much you’re dreading going back to work on Monday.

You can’t resist one smart remark though, as you pull up to Frankie’s house.

“Your castle awaits, my liege,” you quip, trying and failing to hide your amused smile as you look over at him.

Frankie throws his head back and laughs freely, opening the car door with a wink.

“Goodnight, my queen,” he bows exaggeratedly before shutting the car door.

The butterflies don’t tamp down until you’re securely inside your own apartment, locking the door behind you.

That night was a month ago, which means it’s been a whole fucking month since your brain flew the coop. Every time Frankie does just about anything with his mouth, everything else around you ceases to exist.

Take last Thursday, for example. Frankie dropped by after work to help you change your porch light, since the fixture is too heavy and the light is too high up to easily reach.

He steps up the ladder with ease, unscrewing the fixture and holding it with his left hand. He puts the screwdriver in his mouth so he can hold onto the ladder as he gingerly hands you the fixture. You grab onto it and hand him the replacement bulb so he can swap them out.

He gets the lightbulb in and gestures towards you to hand the fixture back, which he screws back in before stepping down.

“Blegh,” he wipes his mouth on his sleeve, an action that has your last two brain cells screeching to a halt. “Screwdrivers taste awful.” 

His statement is cute, self-deprecating, and you try to respond appropriately but all you can do is gape at him like a fish out of water.

‘Get your shit together, he’s wiping off the taste of rust, not your pussy,’ you try to mentally shake yourself out of your stupor, but it does no good.

He turns back towards his toolbox to drop the screwdriver in and close the lid.

“All set,” he says, dusting off his jeans. He sounds a little uneasy, probably because you’re acting like a complete weirdo.

“Thank you so much, Frankie. I really appreciate it.” You find your manners and pull him in for a hug, secretly reveling in how good he smells.

“Any time,” he tells you as he wraps his arms around you and squeezes softly.

Before he pulls away you make a spur of the moment decision, and reach up to give him a small kiss on the cheek. He’s so impossibly warm and so inviting, you can feel your heart flutter in your chest. The sparse hairs on his face tickle your chin. 

Frankie clears his throat and ducks his head down, mumbling a hurried goodbye before he heads back to his truck, toolbox in hand. You don’t miss the way his lips are turned up and the crows feet make an appearance in the corner of his eyes, nor do you miss the brilliant flush that spreads over his face and down his neck.

It’s Saturday now and your torment knows no end. You decide you’re too tired to go out and opt to invite the guys over for a movie night, to which they all agree. 

You decide you’ll just have to look away every time Frankie takes a sip of a drink, or eats a handful of popcorn. Or God forbid, if he licks his lips.

The group chat has been a nightmare, with everyone trying to come up with a movie to watch. Benny wants to watch The Expendables, Will mentioned something about wanting to see Dunkirk for ages now and Santi is playing devil’s advocate, disagreeing with all of their choices but not coming up with one of his own.

Frankie has been quiet in the chat, besides initially agreeing to come over initially.

It’s 9:00 PM, you have a 30 rack of beers in the fridge and some popcorn set out for everyone. All you have to do now is wait for the guys to arrive. Your phone chimes with a notification from Benny.

Benny and the Jets 🥊: Sorry lady, I got called in for a last minute practice. Raincheck?

Ironhead 🦸🏼: I gotta duck out too. The lady wants to have a date night. Sorry!

You type out a reply to them, a little disappointed but bidding them a good night all the same.

A knock sounds on the door and you rush over to answer it. The door swings open to reveal Frankie, wearing the softest looking navy blue hoodie you’ve ever seen, along with his Standard Oil cap. He looks as unsure as ever, holding a bottle of red wine.

You chirp an over-enthusiastic greeting, internally cringe at it, and step aside to welcome him in.

“I know you like red wine, so I got some for you on the way here. I hope it’s the kind you like.”

You accept the wine and look at the label. It’s a California Zinfandel. You can’t believe he remembered your favorite wine.

“I love it, thank you so much.” You pull him into a hug, nuzzling into the soft material of his sweatshirt. He returns the hug just as enthusiastically, pulling away to kiss your forehead.

“Is Santiago on his way?” You ask, padding into the kitchen to grab a glass from your cabinet. “Do you want a glass? Or I have some beer if you’d prefer.”

“Beer is perfect, thanks,” he says a little breathily as he looks over at you. “Santiago said something came up and that he’s sorry.”

Something feels a little fishy with the three of them ducking out all at the same time, but you don’t mention it as you hand him a beer and search through your drawer for a bottle opener. A few minutes later, you’re both set up on the couch and are scrolling through Netflix for a movie.

“I have no idea what to watch. Do you?”

“Want to watch Civil War? I know the guys will bitch we’re continuing the rewatch without them but they can deal.”

You tip your head back and laugh, navigating over to your Disney+ app.

Frankie takes off his hat and sets it aside while you spread a blanket over your laps, braving a chance to scoot closer to him. He takes the hint and wraps his arm behind your shoulders, nestling you closer to his chest. You settle in and try to pay attention to the movie, despite the wild fluttering that is taking place in your stomach.

Frankie shifts uncomfortably and winces a little. You can tell he’s trying to hide it, but little does he know you’ve been watching every single movement he makes like a hawk. Or a nervous lap dog.

“Does your back hurt? I can move,” you start to get up but Frankie grabs onto your wrist and pulls you back in.

“No, stay. I just need to find a comfortable position.”

You make a soft noise of surprise when he lifts you up and pulls you towards him, settling back so he’s spread out on the couch. You’re settled on top of him, your legs stretched out over his with your back to the cushion, half draped over his torso.

This position has your heart thumping hard in your chest. His face was just a few inches from yours. All he’d have to do is tilt his face towards yours, and you’d be practically kissing.

Focusing on the movie is harder than ever. Your left hand rests on Frankie’s chest and your right is near his head. Without even thinking, you reach out and start stroking your fingers through his soft curls. He hums contentedly, the pleasant sound rumbling through his chest.

A hand makes its way up your arm leaving goosebumps in its wake, landing on your shoulder.

You brave a glance at Frankie and feel your heart stutter in your chest when you realize he’s been looking at you. His eyes are as dark as ever, twinkling against the flicker of your TV.

He closes the gap and captures your lips in a tender kiss. His lips are warm and soft, melding to yours perfectly. The brush of your mouths together is intoxicating. Your tongue darts out to lick at him and he complies, letting out a guttural moan at the sensation as your tongues meet languidly.

You shift your leg so it slots between his and both of your hands find his shoulders and squeeze them, eliciting a soft mewl from Frankie’s mouth. His hands are hot on your back and he slides one down to your ass, kneading the soft flesh over your leggings.

Your hips press into his, rutting into him, soft pants falling from your mouth– mingling with his. You need to be closer, closer, closer. He tightens his grip on your ass in response and rolls his hips so you can feel how hard he is against your belly.

“Fuck, baby,” he rasps, breaking the kiss, words tumbling out between his ragged breaths. 

You can feel yourself throbbing for him, wetness rushing to your core as his hushed baritone makes your head spin with need. Somewhere in the back of your mind you’re convinced this is a dream. That there’s no way you’re dry humping the man of your dreams on your couch right now.

You duck down to hide your expression, not wanting to ruin the moment with your anxiety and doubt. You’ll take whatever this man gives you, even if it’s just this moment. 

You busy yourself by peppering small kisses on his neck, trailing them up to his jaw.

“Hey,” he slows your movements and holds your chin with his thumb and forefinger, tilting your face up gently up to look at him.

“I want you. I want this. Do you?” 

You feel the urge to look away, his gaze is intense and laser-focused on you. Eye contact has never been your strong suit, so this was a lot for you to handle. But you fight the urge to flinch and stare back, searching to see if there was anything that will give away any trepidations. His expression remains hard set, serious but not unkind. It’s just like Frankie to have eyes as clear as day, giving away all of his secrets. They’re just like him— strong, unrelenting in their hardness and softness.

“Yes,” you reply. Your voice cracks a little, thick with emotion. “I’ve wanted this, wanted you, for so long.” 

You feel embarrassment wash over you with the admission, but Frankie doesn’t let it last long before you crushes his lips to yours in a searing kiss. He breaks it off after a moment, lips swollen and pink.

“Baby, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.”

He strokes a hand down your jaw, his thumb caressing your skin as a goofy smile blooms over your face.

“I want to make you feel good, baby,” he whispers, his thumb catching on the swell of your bottom lip. “Will you let me make you feel good?”

You blink and swallow heavily, a fresh wave of arousal flooding to your center as the deep rasp of his voice utters those words, smooth as caramel– dousing over you like kerosene on a fire.

You nod, not trusting your voice at this very moment.

“I need you to say it out loud, honey,” he says, his lips brushing against yours ever so lightly.

“Yes, Francisco,” you breathe out. “Make me feel good.”

He bites your bottom lip and tugs, then growls playfully before he grabs your shoulders and flips you over. You let out a delighted shriek, giggling as he lifts up the hem of your shirt and kisses every inch of skin that’s revealed.

“Wait,” you call out. He stops his movements immediately. “You first.”

Frankie grins. You want to press your fingers into the dimple that appears and feel the scratch of his beard under your nails. He leans back and lifts his sweatshirt over his head, the grey t-shirt he’s wearing sticks to the inside of it and he rolls both garments down his arms. 

His chest is bare to you now, smooth except for a smattering of hairs in the middle of his chest, and a patch leading down into his jeans. You want to reach out and run your hands down the planes of his torso and follow the path of hair,  but your arms aren’t long enough to reach. 

You remove your shirt, leaving you in your leggings and bra. It’s a soft lace number, a delicate pink with no underwire. You watch as his hungry gaze roams over your chest. To your surprise, he doesn’t motion for you to take it off. Instead, he leans over you, pressing a soft kiss to your lips.

 He moves downwards, tongue darting out to taste the salt of your neck. He continues his path and mouths between your breasts, one of his hands reaches out to squeeze the plump flesh in his large hand. You nipple instantly pebbles under his ministrations and he pulls the fabric aside to tease it with the pad of his finger. You moan softly at the sensation and yelp in surprise when he sucks it into his mouth and bites it, soothing the sharp sting with a flick of his tongue.

 “Mmm, love how responsive you are already,” he hums, moving down. Your back arches as his mouth makes a hot trail down the rest of your torso. You look down and notice he’s left wet patches where his mouth has been, coating you in saliva and leaving goosebumps in his wake.

 He reaches the waistband of your leggings and pushes them down, letting out a strangled groan when he gets an eyeful of your panties, the same shade of pink that matches the bra you’re wearing. 

“So fucking sexy,” he breathes.

He peels your panties down your legs and pulls them off along with your leggings, leaving you completely bare from the bottom down. You start to cross your legs to hide yourself, feeling self-conscious at how exposed you are, but Frankie grabs your thigh to halt the movement.

“You better not hide this pretty pussy from me,” he says, licking his lips.

You half expect him to dive in, but he takes a moment to look at you. He’s resting a hand on your hip. His pointer finger makes a path down, tracing an invisible line up and down your slit. You hiss at the ghost of his touch and thrust your hips towards his hand, seeking out more friction.

Frankie lets out an amused chuckle at your reaction and leans forward to plant a wet kiss to your inner thigh. You let out a shaky breath in anticipation– your heart feels like it’s beating out of your chest. He kisses up your thigh until he reaches the apex between your legs, then licks a stripe through your folds with the flat of his tongue, pulling a surprised gasp from your parted lips.

He sucks your clit into his mouth and you can’t help it– you buck up into his mouth and grab onto his hair and tug at the strands. He grabs onto the flesh of your hip and whimpers into your pussy. Despite being almost dizzy with need, you feel a rush of power knowing you have this effect on him.

“You taste so fucking good. So wet for me,” he punctuates his words with bold licks up and down. “Never want to stop.”

He changes patterns, making tight circles on your clit with his tongue. The sudden switch has you mewling and your legs clamp around his head involuntarily. Frankie grabs your thighs and wrenches them apart, hooking them over his shoulders as he latches onto your pussy. His hands are on your ass, holding you up as your back arches off the couch.

All you can do is scramble at the cushions below you for purchase as Frankie buries his face into your cunt, lapping at you with abandon. His tongue licks into you with an intensity you’ve never experienced before; it has you seeing stars.

You have no idea how he knows exactly how to manipulate your body to pull the pleasure from you so naturally. Every lick feels like it’s searching for treasure, every suck hits somewhere deep inside, reverberating through the muscles of your thighs and up in your abdomen.

He gently places you back down to the cushions and rubs at your entrance with his pointer finger, looking up at you for permission.

“Yes, please–“ you whimper brokenly. He complies immediately and plunges it into you, following with a second finger, and curls them up. His pace is slow at first and he flicks his tongue out to play with your clit at the same time. He’s soon spurred on by your moans and sets a brutal pace. You once again feel the urge to clamp around him to increase the pressure, but Frankie uses his broad shoulders to hold your thighs apart.

 Seeing his shoulders, bare and perspiring from his intensive movements, so wide and flushed, coupled with the furrow of his brow, his eyes pinched closed, makes something primal within you awaken. You barely have time to feel your orgasm coming before it’s hitting you– thighs shaking, back arching, hands in his hair. You don’t even realize it, but you;’re shrieking his name, chanting it like a prayer. He’s groaning in reply, milking you through it with his fingers and tongue, lapping up your release, syrupy sweet and indulgent.

 He doesn’t stop until you’re flinching from overstimulation. He kisses up your body lazily, taking his time before capturing your lips. You kiss him back, licking into his mouth and tasting yourself on his tongue. He grinds into you, his jean-clad erection rubs against your aching cunt and rekindles the fire, molten heat shooting through your entire body.

 “Wanna fuck you so bad, baby,” he says, panting the words into your mouth.

 You moan and break the kiss.

 “Want to take this to my room?”

 He doesn’t reply, but instead swings his body off the couch and picks you up bridal-style. He stumbles a little with the first steps and you both laugh, kissing each other with each step he takes towards your bedroom.

He tosses you onto the bed softly and you let loose another delighted giggle when Frankie flops over you dramatically, caging you in his arms. Your tongues tangle together in an impossibly sensual kiss. He’s momentarily distracted, caught up in the feel of your body underneath his with the soft touches of your tongue, and you take the opportunity to roll him over and straddle his hips.

Frankie is looking up at you as if he’s in awe, like he can’t believe you’re here right now, naked from the waist down and grinding down on his hard cock, tenting his jeans.

You move down his body and zip his fly down, pushing down the denim along with his boxer briefs. His cock springs free, hard and hot and leaking at the tip. You can’t help but lick the bead of precum, and a broken whine rips from Frankie’s throat. His hands are clenched into the sheets, knuckles white with how hard he’s gripping the mattress beneath him.

You’re bobbing your mouth up and down his length, tongue licking around his shaft and cheeks hollowing out. His moans are loud, constant. He’s babbling praise, telling you how fucking amazing your mouth feels, how badly he wants to fuck you. It’s a heady feeling, bringing a strong and quiet man to his knees like this. You love that he’s letting you know how much he’s breaking for you.

Your tongue finds its way down to his balls and you suck them into your mouth, moaning at the musky taste. His moans are high pitched now and his hand is squeezing your shoulder.

“Baby, you gotta stop,” he grabs onto your hair to pause your movements. “I need to feel you.”

You give him one last broad lick up his shaft and shift back up, and look down at Frankie to catalogue the number you’ve done on him. He’s absolutely wrecked– brown eyes blown wide, chest rising and falling rapidly with his uneven breaths.

 You remove your bra, stretching it over your head and throwing it to the side. Frankie follows the movement and lets out a needy, staccato moan at the sight of you, completely bare before him.

 You reach down and kiss him soundly on the mouth, lining his cock up with your entrance.

 “I’ve got you, baby boy,” you coo, sinking down on his length.

 “Fuck,” he grits out between his teeth.

 You give yourself a moment to get used to his size and rock into him. His hands fly up to your chest, squeezing lightly and rolling your nipples in between his fingers.

 “So fucking big,” you pant out. “So good for me.”

 It seems Frankie loves praise as much as you do, evidenced by the twitch of his cock inside you.

 Your pace is agonizingly slow. You’re trying to tease out the moment, stretch it out so it lasts forever. It doesn’t last long– you can’t stand it anymore. You bounce up and down on him, snapping your hips when they meet his.

 “So fucking perfect,” he pants out. “Wanna fuck you from behind.”

 You breathe out a moan and stop your movements. Frankie mistakes your pause for hesitation and reaches up to brush the hair out of your face.

 “We don’t have to,” he says, voice gentle, brow furrowed in concern. 

 “No, fuck. No, Frankie. I want to.”

 You gingerly get up and whimper at the loss when he’s no longer inside you. Frankie sits up, shoulders rocking forward and cock bobbing with his movement as he settles onto his knees. You watch him and bite your lip, getting on all fours and lifting your ass up in the air to present yourself to him.

 Frankie can’t help the groan that falls from his lips and sinks forward to lay an open-mouthed kiss on your pussy from behind before he lines himself up. He enters you without hesitation, hips slapping against your ass rhythmically, setting a decisively fast pace. 

 All you can hear is the filthy sounds of your wet pussy as he pounds into you, along with your strangled moans, and his heavy breathing, laced with whispers of praise you can’t discern. The waves of pleasure are too much, too strong. You can feel the familiar build up of an orgasm. Your head is in the clouds as it climbs and climbs– then crashes.

 His fingers on your clit is what does you in. Your whole body shakes and all you can do is whimper and moan around his cock while he fucks into you. The strong, practiced rock of his hips become sloppy as he chases his release, muttering words of adoration into the air as he pulls out and cums, spilling onto your back. He pulls every last drop out of his cock before collapsing over you, forehead resting on your spine as he catches his breath.

 “Fuck, baby,” he says, once he’s caught his breath. “Should have done this ages ago.”

 You both laugh and Frankie gets up to grab a wet face towel from the bathroom

A little while later, you’re both in bed, blissed out and wrapped up around each other. The movie, drinks and snacks are all forgotten. All that matters is here and now– your breaths mingling together as you kiss each other lazily, tongues probing slowly. 

In the other room, both of your phones ping on the coffee table with unheard notifications.

The first text is from Santiago.The other boys follow suit, not a minute apart.

Pope 🤦🏻‍♂️: 👑

Benny and the Jets 🥊: 👑

Ironhead 🦸🏼: 👑

Neither of you see the texts until the next morning.

 The following weekend, it’s Santiago’s turn to be the designated driver. He’s parked outside of Frankie’s house, waiting to pick both of your asses up. He starts to tap his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel after the first 15 minutes. 

“What the fuck are they doing in there?” He asks Will and Benny. They all know the answer, but don’t say anything.

Meanwhile, Frankie has you crowded against the front door, your sundress is hiked up and his face is buried in your pussy. Neither of you can hear the sound of Santi’s impatient honking over your moans.

And if you end up going to the bar sans panties because you can’t find them before Santiago is pounding his fist on the door, well that’s just a secret you and Frankie will have to keep.

Taglist: @tenderclio @softdin @darnitdraco @freeshavocadoooo @recklessworry @wyn-dixie @manalg14 @codenamewife @comphersjost @princessxkenobi @manalg14 @comphersjost @a-skov @sheresh0y @greeneyedblondie44 @blackmarketmummy @brandyllyn @gracie7209 @bootyliciousbilbo @dobbyjen

[doyoungflower]

TEN

5 ᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ɪ ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴢᴇᴅ ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ

1. When you met my mom and you said we had the same smile.

I can't really explain how much this little thing meant for me. It was the first you were going to meet my mom. We were on a kind of tour at the beginning of the year to meet our families and we had just left your home country to meet your parents. But when the time came for us to meet my family you were so nervous your hands were shaking. I tried to hold them to reassure you but it felt as holding a waterfall, they just were so sweaty. I teased you and you weren’t having it, you were really taking this seriously. So I looked into your eyes and honestly said “They’re going to love you, don’t worry”. And you asked: “How do you know?”. And I said: “Because I love you”. You burst out laughing. Of all the things I said to you in 2 years of dating that was the cheesiest thing ever. But it got you to loosen up so it was worth it.

Then the time for the first meeting came and it went even better than I had imagined. You laughed, talked, and hugged my mom as if she were your real mom. And when we were alone in the hotel room, you turned to me to say: “You know, your smile is the same as your mom. It makes me happy, makes me feel safe”. And damn, I realized I loved you because that was one of the sweetest things you said to me and as long as we were together my biggest wish is for you to feel safe with my family just the same you felt with me.

2. When you learned the dance for my next comeback so we could practice together.

Normally you wouldn’t know stuff like this. You liked the experience of getting to know everything at the same time as everyone else, no spoilers, no advantages just because we were dating. But this time was different, it was a back-to-back comeback I wasn’t fully confident in. I loved the dance and the song itself but I still felt that with the time we had to prepare I could not give my 100%. So one day, without a warning you started showing up to every dance practice. You stayed at the back of the room, eyes fixated on me and the boys and especially the teacher. When we would go home together you would spend hours in the bathroom, hiding what you were doing. But a few days later you showed up to practice again. This time with a more comfortable outfit. When the group practice was over and I stayed behind to practice more that was when you came up to me and said: “Shall we try it together?”. And then I realized I loved you because even though you weren’t the best dancer, even though you had almost no knowledge of it you still learned it just so I could feel more confident.

3. When I drew a picture for you and you hung it on the wall.

Besides dance, drawing was the second thing you loved the most to see me do. You liked how focused I became and how easy it was to turn a blank page into something so cool and pretty. You had told me so many times. Yet I didn’t think your love for it was so big as when I entered your house on one Saturday night. The first thing I saw, so big behind the sofa was my drawing. It was framed on a dark wood frame and it took me a while to process it. That wasn’t even my best drawing, I had just played around with some shapes and colors when you asked me to draw something just for you. But here we were and I realized I loved you because you gave my passions a bigger meaning. You embraced my creativity and showed it off proudly as if they were your own. And that made me like them myself even more.

4. When you pretended to be just a friend in front of fans.

First, it hurt. We were walking around on the streets of Seoul and we had just had dinner in a restaurant you loved. Your arms were linked with mine, your head resting on my shoulder as you were starting to get sleepy but then two girls came running in our direction. “You’re Ten, right?”, one of them asked squealing. And I confirmed. They looked at me happily and then at you disgustingly. “Who is she?”, they asked. And as if they had just yelled queue you started to play a new role. “I am just his cousin, don’t worry”, she replied. And the girls visibly relaxed. I gave them autographs, heard them praise me and we went our separate ways. But as soon as they were out of earshot, I couldn’t stop apologizing. You, the person who makes me the happiest man in the world shouldn’t have to go through this type of situation only because fans didn’t know their boundaries. But you held my hand, looked me in the eyes, and told me that whatever you needed to do to protect me and my career you wouldn’t hesitate to do it. And although it hurt that you needed to do it I realized I loved you because the way you cared about me was beyond anything I could ever ask. You held my hand and we walked together through life, and no matter what was thrown at me I knew I would have you by my side.

5. Every time you give my cats love.

So simple right? But every time I see you with them kissing their little noses, petting their heads, and giving them treats. I can't help but love you. You understand my love and care for them, and just like me you also love and care for them just as much. You treat them as if they were yours and in reality they kind of were. Everything that was mine was yours and in the future when our life together turned into a contract, we would have babies that didn’t have fur but were ours nonetheless. .

.

taglist: @aedreamzy | @ten94 | let me know if you’d like to be added :)

[ranhaitanisgf]

Hi! Can I request an Angry x reader who's a lot like him? (Looks mad all the time but is really just chillin)

kawata souta [angry] x reader: headcanons

[𖤐] hi anon, thanks for the request kjhdlkfjhg this was super fun to write!! i made it into headcanons because i figured that would be easier to understand than a oneshot, i hope you don’t mind :)) also, i don’t know how this lowk turned into dating headcanons, so send another ask if there’s something you want me to be more specific about!!

❧ masterlist

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✂︎ when the two of you first meet, it’s because of smiley. he’s noticed the similar way that the two of you act, and he’s thinking that it’s about time his little bro found someone like him. he’s ready to be a wingman at any given moment, and is randomly giving angry dating advice, while his little brother just stares at him with a confused look in his eyes, (he has no idea what his brother has planned for him). 

✂︎ smiley will definitely be the type to invite the both of you to hangout somewhere, and then ditch at the last second so that it’s just to two of you. of course, he’s going to be there the entire time, watching from a distance to see what was going on and everything. 

✂︎ initially, it’s pretty awkward between the two of you once you realized that smiley wasn’t going to be there. it’s like the awkward silence when the mutual friend leaves the room for a second; pretty dry. 

✂︎ angry was fairly nervous being alone with you and nobody else, since the two of you had never really talked alone before, so he didn’t really have a clue on what to say. he’d heard from others that the two of you were similar, so he mustered up his courage and started to ask you about your day, and if you wanted to head to a nearby cafe. 

✂︎ after this encounter, the two of you started to talk a bit more with each other, enough that you started to text each and set up hangouts with needing the “help” of smiley planning something then ditching last minute. 

✂︎ and of course, his older brother has been watching this all with a very keen eye, and he knows that angry likes you, but he also knows that his brother probably needs just a little nudge to be able to confess to you. and so, like any good brother, smiley will be constantly nagging his brother about telling you. 

✂︎ once angry actually does it and you two are together, expect for a lot of people to look away immediately after you make eye contact, and shift around nervously whenever you guys are near. the both of you look pretty pissed off at any given moment, so it’s understandable why they would do this, i suppose. 

✂︎ he feels really grateful that he has an s/o like you; somebody who understands that he’s more than what he looks like. it had always been a small fear of his that he would never be able to find somebody for himself because he would scare them off, so finding an s/o who’s just like him is even more amazing, because he’s able to understand you as well. 

✂︎ will definitely beat up anybody who makes fun of you for your facial expression. 

✂︎ the both of you are definitely really soft towards each, but are not sure how to express it, so the texts between the two of you are a lot more cheesy and soft than how you guys actually talk in real life because you both are too nervous to say those things out loud. 

✂︎ not a lot of people are going to know that the two of you are together, and this is almost entirely due to the fact that the two of you still get really flustered around each other, even though you’re literally dating. 

✂︎ both of your faces will probably relax somewhat when looking at the other, although neither of you will ever notice this. 

✂︎ after a while of you two being together, affection will come easier, although angry will still get flustered about it, (it’s such an easy task to get him to blush, i swear). 

✂︎ he’ll always be checking up on you when you go to school, wanting to make sure that you’re alright and that nobody is making fun of you or spreading rumors about you. 

✂︎ if you guys go to the same school, there will definitely be a lot of rumors about the both of you, and not good ones. don’t worry though, angry’s got your back. mysteriously, after a single weekend, all of these rumors had died down, and nobody dared to say anything about the two of you. i wonder why that is?

✂︎ will text you using “:]” “:^)” “:0” as reactionary emojis. very cute if i do say so myself. 

✂︎ if you fall asleep on his shoulder when you guys are on the train, he will be really nervous. not because he minds you doing it, but because he doesn’t want to do anything that would wake you up from your peaceful sleep. he will have his normal expression, but on the inside, he will be panicking every time he moves because of the train, and will check to make sure that you’re still asleep. 

✂︎ both of you will probably get approached by some delinquents who think that you both were “looking at them funny”. well, needless to say, they got their asses handed to them. 

✂︎ he’ll give you kisses a lot between the furrow of your brows, (don’t ask me why, this just seems like something he would do). 

✂︎ the first time both of you give each other actual smiles is when you guys are watching a movie, and souta looks down at you, and he just feels so lucky to have you, and he gives you a soft smile. you noticed that he was looking at you, and when you looked up at him, imagine your surprise when you see the slight curve of his lips. before you could even think about it, the same small smile stretches across your face, and the both of you will look at each other for a few moments before looking away, flustered. 

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i always mix up the twins names for some reason, and i literally almost put this in my queue with smileys name instead of angrys LMFAOKJFDHLSDKJGHDLFKGJH