#i had another call today too about a different job and the salary is too low for me to be commuting an hour and a half every day on the tra

[littlecutiexox]

.

[junghelioseok]

heart-on.

↳ your one-night stand definitely isn’t relationship material, but maybe—just maybe—your manager’s son is.

◇ hoseok x reader ◇ smut | strangers to lovers!au ◇ 10.1k [1/1]

❛❛ my boss is always telling me how perfect her son would be for me and she promises he’s coming to the next holiday party and don’t worry he’s heard all about me too and ALSO there’s this dude i slept with once a couple of months ago and sometimes he still sends me dick pics when i ask him to at 3 in the morning cause seriously dude’s got a good dick ❜❜

notes: welcome to the first installment of the serendipity series! we’re starting with hoseok, because, well, have you met me? 🤣 be warned, however, that this isn’t anywhere near as edited as i’d like so i’ll probably give it another read/edit tomorrow but for now!!! here it is!!!

⇢ series masterlist. | inspired by this post.

warnings: dirty talk bc hoseok’s got a bit of a mouth on him, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it, kids!), sexting. dick pics, obvi. brief mention of a dead pet goldfish :(

You’re refilling your mug when you hear it. Voices filter out from the kitchen, floating past the coffee station where you’re pouring yourself another drink and hanging in the open air of the hallway that leads back to the rest of the office. They’re familiar voices, too—voices that belong to the resident gossips of your workplace. Lottie’s pitchy, nasal tone melds with Hyejin’s higher one, their conversation interrupted every so often by an exaggerated exclamation or gasp from Sandra, the third and final member of their trio.

“Haven’t you heard? Carolyn’s divorce was finalized over the weekend, the poor thing.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine how she’s feeling. I mean, getting back into dating at her age? Goodness!”

“And now she’ll be all alone at the holiday party, too. How sad is that?”

“It’s tragic. Poor thing.”

Rolling your eyes, you grab a packet of sugar and tear it open, upending it over your mug and watching the crystalline granules fall into the dark liquid within. You know for a fact that Sandra and her husband can’t even stand to be in the same room for an extended period of time, considering how they’d spent most of last year’s holiday party talking to entirely different groups of people. You’d sat two tables away from them during dinner, and they hadn’t even made eye contact once. And as for Lottie and Hyejin, well, you’re certain that their relationships aren’t much better. All three of them are miserable people as far as you’re concerned, and you make a mental note to check in on Carolyn—a sweet woman in her thirties who always keeps chocolate bars in her purse—on your way back to your desk.

“Sheesh. Vultures, the lot of them. Don’t you think?”

You whirl at the sound of your manager’s voice. Kyunghee Jung is a dark-haired woman in her late fifties, and she laughs when she sees your startled expression, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Easy! You’ll spill your coffee if you’re not careful.”

“I’ll probably have a heart attack first,” you reply, pressing a hand to your chest. “What was your job before this? Some kind of intelligence operative? Are you a super spy?”

Kyunghee laughs again and joins you at the counter. “Nothing even remotely as exciting as that,” she answers, plopping her mug down beside yours. It’s decorated with what looks like every color of the rainbow, a massive smiling sunflower taking up the majority of the surface, and the only remnant of the ceramic’s original color is on the very edge of the handle where there’s a lopsided little patch of white. The piece is clearly handmade, and a stark contrast to the simple mint green cup that houses your coffee. Looking at it, it’s impossible not to smile.

“I love that,” you remark, inclining your head at her mug. “Was it a present from one of your kids?”

“Hoseok,” she confirms, running a fingertip along the imperfect handle fondly. “I’ve told you about him before—he’s right around your age.”

You chuckle. “Right, I remember. That’s why he’s the perfect match for me, right?”

“Come now, there’s more to it than that,” Kyunghee defends, waving a hand. “But yes, to answer your question. He gave it to me as a birthday present when he was eight.”

“Well, you never told me he was an artist,” you tease. “Does he have an Etsy? Can I buy one of these off him? Does he do custom orders, maybe?”

Normally, your manager is more than happy to play along with your jokes, but today Kyunghee fixes you with an uncharacteristically serious look. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” she asks. “He’s coming to the holiday party, after all. I figured you could finally meet.”

You blink. Kyunghee has been making offhand remarks about how well you would get on with her son, Hoseok, for over a year now, but you’ve never even come close to broaching the topic of meeting him. You don’t even know anything about the man beyond the fact that his name is Hoseok and that he works somewhere downtown. He also favors tall socks and yellow suspenders if the framed photograph on Kyunghee’s desk is any indication—or at least, he certainly did when he was still in diapers. Whether he still does, is anyone’s guess.

“Wow, I had no idea he was even interested in coming,” you manage when you’ve recovered from your surprise. “Did you bribe him?”

If Kyunghee notices that your voice is a few pitches higher than usual, she doesn’t remark on it. “Oh, you know. I just told him that this would be his last chance to score free booze on the company’s dime.” She laughs. “Three more months and it’s going to be all beaches and sunshine for me. I might even become a cruise person in my retirement.”

You gasp and slap a hand to your heart. “Kyunghee! Think of the environmental impact!”

“I said I might!” she retorts immediately. “Sheesh. Even in my old age, it’s hard to conveniently forget how shitty and unsustainable those damn boats are.”

You pick up your mug and raise it in a salute. “Well, the oceans thank you.”

“My husband doesn’t,” she answers with a sigh. “He’s been dying to book one of those trips that stop all along the Mediterrannean coastline, and I can’t exactly blame him.”

“That is tempting,” you admit. “You’ll have to send photos, if you do end up going.”

“You’ll be sick of me and my photos before the first day is even up,” she promises. Then she pauses, her eyes darting toward the kitchen where silence has fallen in the last few minutes. “Speaking of being sick—you think the vultures are still hovering around in there? I haven’t had lunch yet, and I need the microwave.”

Obligingly, you edge a little closer to the kitchen doorway and poke your head around the frame, scanning for Lottie and her sidekicks. “Coast is clear. Enjoy your lunch, Kyunghee.”

She nods and raises her mug at you, returning your salute. “I always do.”

///

As soon as the work day ends, you fall into your usual routine. Your commute home is easily walkable on nicer days, and though the winter weather is brisker than you’d like, you decide to walk for the sake of stopping at the convenience store on the corner of the block.

Once you arrive back at your apartment, you change into your comfiest sweats and a loose tee. You turn on some music while you throw together some dinner, and settle onto the couch half an hour later with a full plate and Netflix. Television is a welcome distraction from the events of the workday, and you manage to get through three full episodes of your current show before your pesky brain decides to revisit the events of today, replaying the conversations that you’d both had and overheard.

There’s no denying that you’ve been single for quite some time now, and for the most part, it’s been by choice. Ever since graduating from university, you’ve chosen to focus more on your career, and it’s paid off both in terms of the important position you hold in your company and your above average salary. And yet, you can’t help but think back to the gossip you’d overheard earlier—about the supposed tragedy of being single and attending the upcoming holiday party alone. Your mind wanders to Kyunghee’s son, Hoseok, and how he’ll be in attendance this year. You wonder what he’s like, and whether he really is perfect for you, as Kyunghee seems to be so fond of mentioning.

And then your mind goes to Jay.

You met Jay two months ago, on a well-deserved night out after a hellish workweek. The bar was crowded, and the music coming from the neon dancefloor in the back was just loud enough to drown out your inhibitions. That, combined with the alcohol swimming through your system, made you bold. You sashayed your way across the dancefloor, dodging inebriated bodies and swaying limbs as you fixed your attention on the head of pale lavender hair and deliciously broad shoulders that awaits you just behind the bar counter. The bartender is nothing short of gorgeous, and you’ve thrown all caution to the wind. Sure, several other women are eyeing him like he’s their next meal—several men are, too—but you need another drink. And while he prepares it, you plan to flirt.

A lot.

The bar counter is sticky with spilled liquor, but you don’t pay that any mind as you lean across it, the wood digging into the narrow strip of exposed skin left by your cropped top. “Hi!” you call, and the bartender looks up from where he’s just finished pouring a round of shots for a group of raucous young men.

“Hi yourself,” he says, his pillowy lips stretching into an easy smile. “What can I get you?”

You pretend not to notice the way his eyes flicker down to the dip of your cleavage and instead put on the sultriest smile you are capable of mustering. “Vodka soda,” you tell him, injecting a bit of purr into your voice. “A bit of lemon too, if you have it.”

“Trust me, I have it,” he assures, his smile growing as he reaches for a clean glass and a clear bottle. “Name’s Jin, by the way. I’m here all night, if you need anything e—”

A loud clatter and the sound of breaking glass interrupts the rest of his sentence, and all eyes at the bar go to the source of the disturbance. Conversations stutter to a halt, and even the thumping bass of the music seems to dull. Jin darts to the other end of the bar, where you can see that one of several barstools has fallen to the ground. There’s a man on the ground as well, surrounded by shattered glass and spilled dark liquor, and your eyes widen when you realize that you know him.

And arguably, a little too well.

“Fuck,” you mutter under your breath. People are starting to lose interest in the spectacle, turning back to their own conversations and continuing on as if nothing had happened at all. The man is beginning to clamber to his feet, and a few people lend a helping hand as Jin begins barking out orders for everyone to step back so he can sweep up the broken glass. You seize upon the opportunity, latching on to the nearest arm and pulling them close so you can hide behind them. Vaguely, you’re aware of them sputtering in surprise, but you only have eyes for the man who had fallen off his stool, watching him carefully as he brushes himself off and tries to play it cool despite the sizable patch of whiskey soaking his white shirt.

“Hey, uh…” Your human shield is speaking. “Are you okay? You’re squeezing me pretty tight.”

That draws you out of your daze. Abashed, you loosen your grip on his arm and look up into his face, your throat going dry when you realize how handsome he is. His black hair is parted over his forehead, a stray strand falling into warm brown eyes set above a straight nose and an inviting mouth. There’s a freckle above his top lip, just shy of the center, and your inebriated brain wonders just what it would be like to kiss it.

“I, um—” You clear your throat and try again. “Sorry about that. I just didn’t want him to see me.”

Your newfound companion raises an eyebrow and glances over his shoulder at the drunk man, who is now being ushered out of the bar by his buddies. “You know that guy?”

You nod, cringing. “Yeah, his name’s Trent. I… may or may not have dated him for a few months last year.”

The man laughs out loud. “You dated a Trent?”

“What, like you’ve never made a questionable life choice?” you challenge. “Besides, you shouldn’t judge someone based on the sins of their parents. It’s not his fault they gave him a terrible name.”

“Sure, but it is on him for going along with it,” he replies with a shrug. “I would’ve changed my name as soon as I could if my parents had named me Trent. But hey, that’s just one man’s opinion.”

You laugh. “Okay then, Not-Trent.” Relinquishing your grip on his arm, you let your fingers graze his hand before pulling away entirely. “What do you say we continue this conversation over a drink?”

The man, whose name is decidedly not Trent, catches your fingers in his and gives them a gentle squeeze. “Happily.”

One drink turns into two, and then three. By the end of the hour, you are feeling pleasantly warm, the alcohol spreading through your veins like molasses and turning your surroundings into a hazy blur. The music has grown even louder, pounding against your eardrums, and you grab onto Not-Trent’s wrist as he sets his now-empty glass back down onto the counter.

“Do you wanna get out of here?” you ask, raising your voice to be heard over the thumping bassline. “I can’t even hear myself think.”

“The parking lot’s out back,” he suggests. “Why don’t we get some air?”

You nod and stand up on wobbly legs, cursing your decision to wear heels when you stumble into your companion. He steadies you with a gentle but firm hand, and you don’t miss the way his touch lingers on your lower back, his palm warm through the material of your blouse.

Together, the two of you pick your way through the throng of swaying bodies on the dancefloor. The bassline thuds in your ears, dark and hypnotic, and you can feel the reverberations thrumming across the slats of your ribs and echoing in the cavern of your chest like a second heartbeat.

It’s almost a relief, then, when you step out into the cool night air. Your ears continue to ring for a few seconds, but it soon fades and leaves behind only the muted hum of traffic from the street and the faint sound of music from inside. At your side, Not-Trent releases a long breath and leans against the brick wall of the building, and you turn to take in the steep slopes of his side profile as he tilts his head up toward the velvety night sky.

He’s handsome. Dressed in ripped jeans and black leather, he’s a sight to behold, and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t been craving a bit of intimacy for quite some time now. The alcohol swimming through your system makes you bolder than you normally would be, and you reach out to lay a hand on his arm. He turns toward you with a silent question glimmering in his irises, but you simply step closer, until you’re pinning him against the wall with your body and you’re breathing the same air.

“Hey,” you say, your voice an airy whisper. His eyes are near obsidian in the dimness of the parking lot, illuminated only by the orange glow of the streetlamps on either end, and your gaze flickers down to his mouth before roving to the freckle that sits upon his top lip. “Kiss me?”

Your companion’s eyes widen. His lips part, but no words come out, and you’re about to repeat your question when he finally finds his voice again.

“That’s really… that’s not a good idea.” Awkwardly, he clears his throat, but the hoarseness of his voice and the harsh bob of his Adam’s apple give away his true desires. “Look, you’ve been drinking. We both have, and—”

You cut him off, pushing up to your tiptoes and planting a messy kiss to the soft dip just beneath his bottom lip. “Don’t care,” you mumble against his skin. “I want you.”

Your companion laughs weakly. His hands find their way to your waist and pause there, as if he can’t decide whether to push you away or pull you closer. “You don’t even know me,” he murmurs.

“I don’t have to know you,” you reply. Your fingers drag down his chest, trailing along the delicate silver necklace that rests against the black of his shirt. From the chain hangs a round pendant, the surface engraved with the letter J. Slowly, you trace it with a fingertip, the metal shining even in the dim light, and satisfaction blooms in your heart when your companion’s throat bobs again. “I want you,” you breathe, soft but insistent. “Isn’t that enough?”

“I—” He clears his throat and tries again, and you wonder if he realizes that his hands have slid down to your hips, or that there’s a growing hardness against your lower stomach that’s becoming increasingly harder to ignore. “Look, I’m flattered—really, I am. And you’re… I mean, fuck, you’re gorgeous. But I don’t think we should do anything when you’re clearly not in the right frame of mind to be making this kind of decision, and—”

“And, nothing.” You wind your arms around his neck, pressing close and grinding subtly against the bulge in his pants. You smirk when he releases a low hiss from between his teeth, and hide it by laying a trail of kisses along the stretch of bare skin exposed by the dip of his collar. “Stop being such a gentleman,” you whisper. Your fingers trail down his chest, past the silver of his pendant and down to the faded denim of his jeans, teasing at the cool metal of his belt buckle. “I want this. But if you’re not interested, I can always go back in there and—”

The rest of your sentence dies in your throat. Your companion has tugged you flush against him in one smooth motion, and your gasp is cut off by the firm press of his mouth against yours. Immediately, you melt into the kiss, and a moan tears from your lips when he spins you around and pins you against the brick wall of the building.

“You’re a spoiled little thing, huh?” His breath fans hot against your cheeks, and you shiver when you meet his eyes and see the dark promise reflected there. “Used to getting what you want, huh, princess?”

Your breath hitches at the endearment—something your companion doesn’t miss. “Oh, you like that?” He chuckles hoarsely, and when he speaks again it’s in a rasp that sends heat straight to your core. “What else do you like, hmm? You want me to be rough with you, princess? Or should I be gentle and treat you like a queen?”

You reach up, raking your fingers through his hair and skimming across the soft strands of his undercut before finding purchase at his nape. “You talk too much,” you whisper.

And then you’re crushing your mouth back against his, whining when he immediately takes back control of the kiss. His grip slides downward, his fingertips digging into the skin just above the curve of your ass, and you squeak when he grabs the back of your thigh and hooks your leg around his waist.

“You feel that?” he rasps into your ear, nipping at the delicate shell and chortling when you keen. Your skirt has ridden up dangerously high on your spread thighs, and you let out a soft whimper when he grinds harshly against your center. The lace of your panties and the denim of his jeans are the last barricades between you, and you wonder, vaguely, whether your companion has a bit of an exhibitionist streak when he slides one of your sleeves down your shoulder and begins kissing a trail down to the swell of your cleavage. “You feel how hard you’ve gotten me?”

You lean down, kissing the soft spot where his jaw meets his ear before letting your teeth graze against his skin. “Why don’t you do something about it then?”

He hisses out a sharp breath, his hands tightening their hold on your hips. “You’ve got quite the mouth on you, huh? I can’t wait to make you eat your words.”

Any retort you may have had is interrupted by a sudden swell of music and the sound of a slamming door. Whirling to face the source of the noise, you immediately spot a familiar head of lavender hair atop broad shoulders encapsulated in the black uniform of the bar. Jin hasn’t noticed the two of you yet, his attention fixated on his cell phone screen, but he looks up when you let out a little squeak of surprise and shove your companion’s chest in an attempt to create some distance between you.

“Hey.” Jin raises a hand in greeting, a knowing smirk curling his lips. “This phone call shouldn’t be too long, so please. Don’t stop the party on my behalf.”

Heat floods to your cheeks. There isn’t much use protesting against his insinuation, considering the rather compromising position you’re in. Much to your relief, though, your companion simply huffs out a chuckle and waves Jin off. “Thanks, man, but we’ll get out of your hair.” Lowering his voice, he turns back to you. “Coming, princess?”

You nod. He offers you his hand, and you take it gratefully, adjusting your skirt so that it drapes properly over your hips and thighs again.

“Have a good night!” Jin calls after you, amusement lacing every word. You can’t work up the nerve to respond, and luckily, you don’t have to. Your companion leads you around the corner of the building, where several rows of cars are parked beneath an orange streetlamp. On this side, the exterior brick wall is painted with a mural, and you admire the colorful galaxies and nebulae swirling amidst silvery white stars and the word serendipity spray-painted in pale blue.

The last car in the row is parked just beneath the letter Y, and it’s here that your companion stops. The sleek black vehicle has an almost vintage feel to it, and you glance up when you hear the jingle of metal.

“I’m guessing this is yours?”

He nods, pulling a set of keys from the pocket of his leather jacket and inserting one into the lock. “Yeah. You like it?”

“It’s beautiful,” you tell him, tracing the edge of the passenger window “Makes my car look like a total piece of shit by comparison.”

Your companion chuckles, pulling open the driver’s side door, and you catch a glimpse of your reflection in the window as he presses a button to unlock the rest of the doors. Your hair’s a bit of a mess and your mascara has smudged beneath your right eye, and you hurriedly swipe at it as your companion turns his attention back to you.

“So,” he says. “Now what? I can give you a ride home, if you want.”

Deliberately, you let your gaze drop down to his crotch, where his bulge—albeit waning—is still visible. “Seriously? I thought you were going to… what was it again? Make me eat my words?”

And just like that, it’s as if a switch has flipped. His eyes darken to obsidian, his lips settling into a stern line, and you barely have time to draw in a breath before he’s caging you against the side of his car and molding his mouth to yours. Your lips part beneath the onslaught, and he wastes no time in dipping inside to explore, licking into you until you’re both breathless.

“Inside,” he breathes once you’ve broken apart, and you instantly obey. You wrench the door open and all but tumble into the backseat, and he isn’t far behind as he slots himself between your spread thighs. Your hands fly to his shoulders where you help him shuck off his leather jacket, tossing it carelessly to the front where it lands in a heap on the dashboard before focusing your attention on the hem of his black t-shirt. Your companion obliges you as you push it upward to expose his toned abdomen, grabbing it by the collar and pulling it off the rest of the way when your reach falls a little short in the cramped interior of the backseat.

“Your turn,” he whispers when you try to reach for his belt, his hands settling around your wrists. “It’s only fair, princess.”

Pouting, you let your hands fall limp in his grasp, and he chuckles as he leans down to pacify you with a kiss. Deft fingers find the hem of your blouse, pushing it up until you can twist out of the material. You throw it aside with no regard for where it lands on the ground, and lay back as your companion drinks you in, his dark gaze raking across the lacy black lingerie that decorates your curves and skims you like a second skin. “Fuck,” he breathes, his voice hoarse with a combination of amazement and disbelief. “You’re stunning.”

You smile, trailing a fingertip from the dip of his collarbone down to the silver necklace that sits prettily against his bare chest. “You’re not so bad yourself,” you tell him, tracing the letter engraved into his pendant. “Jay.”

Your companion—newly dubbed Jay—smiles back. “You’re something else, princess,” he murmurs, before leaning down to kiss you again. He explores your mouth thoroughly—languidly—before moving down to nip at your neck, and already, you can feel the beginnings of marks beginning to form, blossoming across your skin as irrefutable proof of your tryst.

It isn’t long before Jay frees you from your bra, watching with carnal fascination as your breasts spill out of the lacy material. You whine when he reaches out to cup one, his palm hot against your bare skin, and he smirks crookedly when a pinch to your nipple makes your back arch off the leather of the seat. “So pretty,” he rasps. “I can’t wait to see how you look stretched around my cock.”

“Stop waiting, then,” you tell him, trying again for his belt buckle. This time, he lets you fumble it open, leaning back to watch you work with hooded eyes and a lazy little smile. Emboldened, you push aside the denim of his jeans and free his cock from the confines of his underwear. He’s hard and hot and heavy in your palm, and your tongue darts out instinctively at the sight of the pearlescent precum beading the tip.

“Jay,” you murmur, thumbing across the head of his erection and smirking when he hisses in pleasure. “Fuck me.”

Jay seems to consider your demand, mischief flitting across his features before he manages to school his expression into something more neutral. “Where are your manners, princess?” he asks, pushing your hand away and giving himself a few long, slow strokes. “Say please, if you want it so bad.”

For a moment, you consider refusing. Jay seems to be the type of man who enjoys a good game, but between the state of his cock and the earlier interruption, you’re pretty sure he’s nearing his limit. And even if he isn’t, you are. And so, you shelve your pride for the time being, and trail a hand down the length of your bared body as you bat your lashes up at him. “Fuck me, Jay,” you repeat. “Please. Want your cock so bad.”

His answering smile is equal parts amusement and satisfaction, and altogether sinful. “That’s my girl,” he rasps, before shoving your panties aside. Lining the head of his cock up, he enters you in one smooth thrust, and you moan as your walls stretch to accommodate his girth. You’re more than wet enough to take him in his entirety, your eyes fluttering shut when he bottoms out, and he groans hoarsely as he takes a second to relish the feeling of your walls gripping him so tightly.

“Fuck. You’re so wet, princess.” Jay dips a thumb into your slick, spreading it across your clit and rubbing a few experimental circles around the sensitive nub. He groans when you clench around him, his hips stuttering, and you squeeze around him again just to hear him grit out another curse. “Shit. I’m not going to last long at this rate.”

“Don’t care,” you murmur, rocking against him and sighing when the motion sends him a little deeper into your core. “Just fuck me, Jay. Please.”

Jay leans in, a dark lock of hair falling across his forehead as he plants an indulgent kiss on your waiting mouth. “Anything for you, princess,” he breathes. Slowly, he pulls back until only the tip of his cock remains inside you. Then he’s slamming forward, and you can’t even find it in yourself to care about the obscene sound of skin slapping against skin or the way the car rocks. Jay’s thumbing across your clit in tight circles that he times perfectly with the rock of his hips, and you wonder whether the rapidly building pleasure in your belly is due to your dry spell or if he’s just that good. You can feel every inch of him as he fills you up repeatedly, his brows furrowed in concentration and his dark hair flopping as he drives deeper in search of the spot that will have you seeing stars.

You know he’s found it when the pleasure in your belly spikes, your back arching off the backseat. Your skin is sticky against the dark leather and you’re certain the sweat gathering at your temples has destroyed the last of your makeup, but Jay alleviates your concerns with a particularly well-timed thrust and a harsh nip to the soft spot at your clavicle. You keen out something unintelligible, and his lips stretch into a smirk against your skin.

“That’s it,” he encourages. “Cum for me, princess.”

That’s all it takes for the mounting pressure to snap. Your body collapses into a searing orgasm, the pleasure flaring out like a supernova and spreading through your veins like wildfire. “F-fuck, Jay—” you gasp, your fingers scrabbling at his back for purchase and no doubt leaving scratches in their wake. “Fuck, you feel so—”

The remainder of your words trail off into garbled nonsense, and Jay huffs out a strained chuckle as he begins chasing after his own orgasm, rutting against you in a way that both prolongs your pleasure and sustains his own. “Shit,” he groans, his eyes fluttering shut. “Fuck, that’s it. Look at you—taking my cock so well. So pretty and perfect and—”

Whatever he was going to say dissolves into a groan as he gives a few more erratic thrusts before his release overwhelms him. Creamy warmth floods through you, and you rub his back tiredly as his head drops onto your shoulder, his breath flaring hot against your skin as he rides out his orgasm.

It takes several long seconds for the pleasure to recede. Your legs are still shaky when Jay pulls away, straightening up and tucking himself back into his jeans. There’s an empty ache in your core now that you are no longer stuffed full of his cock, and already, you are missing the feeling. Still, you push that aside as you sit up, adjusting your panties and wincing at the wetness that soaks the material and sticks to your skin.

“So,” Jay says after a moment’s silence, and you glance over at him when he huffs out a short chuckle. “That was fun.”

“Not bad at all,” you agree weakly, an irrepressible smile tugging at your lips.

Jay grins. It’s a bright, infectious grin—and it’s one that you’ve already grown rather fond of in the short period of time you’ve known him. It’s a grin that showcases his perfect teeth and crinkles his eyes into crescents, and one that all but forces you to grin back.

“Here, give me your phone,” he says, and you watch as he punches in his number once you hand it over. “Just in case you ever wanna do this again,” he tells you, handing it back. “Don’t be a stranger, princess.”

You glance down at his contact information, saved under the moniker you’d given him and affixed with a short string of emojis. “I won’t,” you tell him, chuckling. “In fact, I just might take you up on the offer.”

-

The screen of your laptop has long since gone dark, and you stretch your arms overhead before waking it again. Rolling your shoulders, you navigate back to the main Netflix menu, hovering over the resume button and watching the trailer loop in the background.

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t think about Jay often. You’ve texted each other quite often since that night in his car—usually when you’re bored and alone and have had a few too many glasses of wine in the evenings. You’ve found yourself tapping on his name instinctively during those odd, ambiguous hours—when late night and early morning meld together and you’re aching for a bit of relief.

And as if he knows you’re thinking about him, your phone buzzes against the coffee table, the screen lighting up with a familiar name.

[11:22pm] Jay 😘🍆💦: thinkin about u, pretty girl 😘

It’s followed by an image, and your heart rate picks up, thudding loudly against your ribs as you open it.

Fuck.

Your memories of Jay’s face—made all the more hazy by the alcohol and the amount of time elapsed since your first and only meeting—truly don’t do him justice. Though the photograph cuts off just above his nose, you can still admire the sharp angle of his jaw and the fullness of his puckered lips. His skin is golden against the white of his t-shirt, and you lick your lips before thumbing across your screen to respond.

[11:23pm] You: yeah? what else are you thinking about, hmm?

His response is instantaneous.

[11:23pm] Jay 😘🍆💦: thinking about that pretty little pussy of yours

[11:23pm] Jay 😘🍆💦: how good it looked in that pic u sent me tuesday 👅

You barely even notice the way your hand begins trailing down your body, pushing aside the elastic waistband of your sweats. It’s as if you’re on autopilot, as your fingers find their way to the damp spot growing on your panties.

Yeah? you write back with your free hand, already teasing at your clothed folds with the other. Tell me more.

///

It’s an uncharacteristically warm Friday morning when you find yourself in the elevator with Jimin, a good friend of yours who works on one of the lower levels of your office building. “Morning,” he says as he steps in, a large iced coffee in hand despite the fact that it’s still very much the middle of winter. Then he squints, leaning a little closer. “Oh my god. You got laid!”

“Oh my god, not so loud!” you hiss, whacking him on the shoulder and jabbing the button to close the elevator doors. “And no, not exactly. I’ve just been texting Jay.”

“Texting, sure.” Jimin mimes air quotes around the word and rolls his eyes. “You’re sexting him, and we all know it. How many pictures of his dick do you have saved on your phone now?”

“Oh my—” You sigh, trailing off. “Can we not talk about this right now?”

“Right, of course.” Jimin takes a sip of his coffee and pretends to check his watch. “When would you like to talk about it then? Do you need to check your calendar? Can I book an appointment for later this afternoon?”

You stick your tongue out at him. “Shut up.”

Jimin just grins, his lips puckered around his straw. “So, how’s Jay? Have you asked for his real name yet?”

You shrug. “What’s the point? It’s not like we’re friends or anything. We’ve literally only met the one time.”

“Yeah, but that’s just because you’re a coward,” Jimin points out. “What’s stopping you from meeting up with him again? You have his number. You have at least one photo of his dick. Ask him out already!”

“It’s not that easy, though,” you sigh. The elevator doors open to let a few more people in, and you move to the side and lower your voice so that only Jimin can hear. “Jay—he’s not exactly boyfriend material. I mean, we fucked in his car the first night we met.”

“So?” Jimin frowns and takes another sip of his iced coffee. “You talk about things besides sex, don’t you? You definitely told him about your goldfish dying, at least. I mean, you told him before you even told me!”

“Yes I did, and he was appropriately sympathetic about Mustache’s passing, unlike some people,” you sniff. “Get over it already, won’t you?”

“Never,” Jimin replies, ignoring your pointed jab. “I’m sure you only told him because you knew you could get a sympathy sext out of it. How many dick pics did you get out of that night, anyway?”

“You’re gross,” you tell him, punching him in the arm. “Not to mention that’s exactly why Jay’s not boyfriend material. He’s perfectly happy with—whatever it is we’re doing. I can’t just ruin that by asking him to get dinner.” You frown, gnawing on your bottom lip. “I don’t want to make this into something that it’s not.”

Jimin hesitates. “Fine, okay. I guess I can understand that.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a pause, as the elevator makes a few more stops. You watch the numbers crawl higher, and know that you’ll soon have to part ways with your friend..

“Hey.” You nudge Jimin with your shoulder, just as the elevator doors close and you begin the ascent to his floor. “Wanna know something interesting?”

Jimin looks up from his phone, where he’s scrolling through Twitter. “Always.”

“My boss’ son is coming to the party tomorrow.”

Jimin’s eyebrows disappear into his ashy blond hair at your revelation. “Kyunghee’s son? Hoseok, or whatever?”

You chuckle. “The one and only. She’s found about a million ways to bring him up in conversation this past week. She thinks we’re a match made in heaven.”

“Wow.” Jimin releases a long breath. “I wonder what he’s like, then.”

You shrug, adjusting the strap of your work tote over your shoulder. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”

///

The morning of the party, you wake up to an empty refrigerator. Half stale cereal and the last dregs of milk from the carton become your breakfast, and you munch on that as you mull over the contents of your closet. You’re still in your pajamas, but you pull out your comfiest jeans and a sweater to change into after you finish eating. Then you turn to your collection of dresses, rifling through them and mentally debating the merits of each material and color.

You could go in one of two directions tonight. On the one hand, this is still a work party, and as such your attire should probably maintain a certain level of decorum. But on the other, you’re meeting Hoseok Jung for the first time tonight. You aren’t necessarily looking to start anything with the man, of course, but you do want to look good. With that in mind, you eventually settle on a deep red number that you pull out of the very back of your closet, made of a silky material that skims your curves and accentuates your best assets. Laying it on the bed, you begin your hunt for a pair of matching shoes. Twenty minutes of searching and another five of agonizing later, you step into the bathroom, intent on showering and getting on with the rest of your day.

Upon exiting the bathroom, you decide that tackling the state of your refrigerator takes top priority over your other weekend errands. Sitting down at the dining table, you take stock of what you have in your pantry, planning out your meals for the upcoming week and making a list of what you need to purchase in order to make them a reality. It’s just after one in the afternoon when you exit your apartment with a completed grocery list and your purse stuffed full of reusable canvas bags. The store is a short walk from where you live, and you decide to put in your earbuds as your feet navigate the familiar route. The temperature is surprisingly mild for winter, and the sun shines bright from its perch in the cloudless blue sky. It’s perfect weather for a walk, and the fresh air clears your mind and eases your heart.

At the grocery store, you forego the stack of baskets and instead grab a shopping cart. Weaving your way up and down the aisles, you check items off the list on your phone one by one. Eventually, you find yourself in the cereal section, grabbing a box of granola before turning to where your favorite cereal normally sits. It isn’t there, and you turn in a full circle, confused, until your gaze finally lands on the familiar box on the top shelf.

Great.

Sighing, you push up to your tiptoes, stretching your arm as far as it can reach. Your fingertips graze the shelf, but you can’t quite get a grip on the box itself. Glancing down, you scan the bottommost shelf and wonder if you can step on it to give yourself a boost.

“Need a hand?”

The voice comes from behind you, and a vague sense of familiarity sparks in your brain. Slowly, you turn around, and your entire body freezes when your gaze slides up to the speaker’s face.

“Jay.” The syllable escapes you in a near whisper. “H-hi.”

“Hey.”

Jay stands before you, looking like sin incarnate in a faded denim jacket, black sweatpants slung low on his hips, and not much else. At his throat, his silver necklace sparkles, the silver J pendant glinting beneath the fluorescent lights of the store, and you’re suddenly beyond grateful that you decided to put on a decent sweater before leaving.

“Here,” he says, stepping forward until he’s close enough that you can smell his cologne—sandalwood tinged with sweet citrus. “Let me help you with that.”

The sudden proximity has your breath hitching in your throat. Your heart thuds erratically against your ribs as he reaches around you, the denim flaps of his jacket gaping in a way that exposes even more of his bare chest. By the time he pulls back with your cereal box in hand, you feel almost faint, belatedly realizing that you’d been holding your breath.

“You wanted this, right?” Jay asks, and you aren’t sure if you’re imagining the innuendo underlying his words or the teasing inflection of the syllables.

“Y-yeah, that’s the one,” you manage, fighting to quell the uneven tempo of your heartbeat as you accept the box. “Thanks.”

“Happy to help,” he replies. Then he leans in, close enough that you can feel his warm breath fanning your cheek as he murmurs his next sentence into your ear. “Anything for you, princess. You know that.”

Heat floods across your cheeks. Your heart skips two full beats before taking off into a sprint, and it’s impossible to ignore the way your core begins to thrum, as if anticipating a repeat of that night you first met all those weeks ago. Almost instinctively, your eyes dart up to the ceiling where the security cameras are, and Jay follows the trajectory of your gaze with a low chuckle and a soft brush of your cheek with the pad of his thumb.

“Sorry, princess. As much as I’d love to get my hands on you, I’m kind of on a time crunch today.”

You can’t stop the wave of disappointment that washes over you, even if you’re in the exact same boat. “Rain check, then?”

“Rain check,” he agrees. Slowly, you reach up to touch the engraved silver pendant resting against his chest, rubbing it between your fingertips before tracing the curve of the J, and he catches your wandering fingers between his and presses a gentle kiss to your knuckles.

“You know how to reach me,” he murmurs with a mischievous wink. His gaze lingers even after he’s released your hand, and you clear your throat awkwardly before turning to deposit your cereal box into your shopping cart.

The two of you go your separate ways then, exchanging goodbyes. You finish the rest of your grocery shopping in a daze, idly going through the motions at checkout and letting muscle memory guide you back home. Your arms are aching by the time you step past the threshold of your apartment, and you heave your shopping bags up onto the kitchen counter with a relieved sigh before returning to the entryway to toe off your shoes. You throw together a sandwich as you unpack your groceries, taking a big bite as you walk back to your bedroom to look at the dress you’ve picked out. Pacing over to the closet, you double-check your shoe choice. Briefly, you debate whether or not to wear flats instead of heels.

There are still a few hours left before you have to start getting ready, so you take the last of your sandwich back to the kitchen and whip up a smoothie to go with it. You scroll through your phone as you eat, browsing through the latest news headlines and scrolling through your social media accounts. Just before six o’clock, as the sun starts setting beyond the horizon and casting long shadows across your living room, you start getting changed. You snap a photo in the mirror once you’re dressed, pulling up Jimin’s name in your phone and sending it to him.

[6:13pm] You: last chance to come tonight

Your phone buzzes with a response almost immediately.

[6:14pm] Jimin: nah. i’d hate to step on hoseok’s toes.

You laugh. Not so fast, you text back. We don’t even know anything about the guy yet. What if he’s boring? Or sexist?

[6:15pm] Jimin: if u think kyunghee raised a sexist you’re seriously deranged

[6:16pm] Jimin: now stop taking selfies and get your ass out the door! you’re gonna be late!!!!

///

Each year, the holiday party tends to be a little over the top, and this year is no exception. The company has bought out the entirety of a restaurant for the evening, and you glance around in amazement at the twinkling lights and lush evergreen boughs decorating the walls and strung up along the ceiling. An assortment of sparkling ornaments hangs from the massive tree in the far corner, interspersed between silver tinsel and more lights. Grabbing a champagne flute off a passing server’s tray, you head farther into the restaurant, skirting around tables draped in creamy linen and greeting your colleagues and friends.

“Is she alone?”

“Figures.”

The voices come from the direction of the open bar, and somehow, you just know that they’re talking about you. Lottie, Hyejin, and Sandra are clustered in the corner with glasses of wine in hand, casting glances around the restaurant and gossiping about anything and everything with a pulse. You’re sorely tempted to grab the nearest pitcher of water off a table and pour it over their heads, but you suppress the urge and instead head over with a saccharine smile. “So lovely to see you, {Name},” Lottie says as you approach.

“I love your dress,” Sandra adds. “Very slimming.”

“Thanks,” you reply, putting on your brightest, fakest smile. “Yours is great too. How are you and your husband enjoying the party so far?”

Sandra’s face sours, and you hide your smirk in your champagne flute. Maybe it’s petty to bring up her rocky relationship, but you’ve been subject to snide comments from Sandra and her friends for years now and it’s become increasingly hard for you to bite your tongue. A few tables away, you spot Sandra’s husband, Rodney, take an enormous gulp of his whiskey and wince as it burns down his throat.

“We’re all having a wonderful time, aren’t we, ladies?” Lottie cuts in when Sandra takes too long to answer. “Hyejin’s date is over there with Rodney, and my boyfriend is fetching himself a drink. You remember Dev, don’t you?”

You nod, even though it’s a lie. “Sure. Say hi to him for me.”

Lottie’s lips curve up into a smile, her head tilting to the side, and you’re suddenly reminded of a snake rearing its head back for the kill. “So, what about you? Have you brought someone tonight, or—?”

“Hi ladies!” Kyunghee materializes at your side, her lips painted a festive red shade to match her dress. She’s wearing the disingenuous smile that she reserves for the resident gossips of your office, and you try not to let your relief show on your face when Lottie’s attention refocuses on your manager.

“So good to see you, Kyunghee,” she simpers. “Have you been here long?”

“Not as long as you,” your manager replies, nodding at the near-empty wineglass in her hand. “I see we’re already making a dent in the wine supply, and you’re falling behind, {Name}. Why don’t we go remedy that, hmm?”

She doesn’t give you a chance to respond, grabbing your arm and leading you away. Kyunghee is surprisingly spry for a woman her age, and you follow after her with some difficulty as she marches through the throngs of conversing people, all the way to the line at the open bar.

“I’d like you to meet someone,” she says, gesturing at the man standing at the end of the line with his back to you. “{Name}, this is my son, Hoseok.”

The man turns around at the sound of his name, a warm, affable smile stretched across his face. “Hi, I’m H—” he begins, but he’s cut off by your sharp intake of breath. His eyes go wide, his smile fading as his mouth falls open, and you’re certain you’re wearing an even more dumbfounded expression. “It’s you,” he says, his voice hoarse.

“Wh-what… how…” You trail off, speechless. The words flounder and die in your throat as your brain struggles to process this development, and you practically feel the way the gears in your head churn to a stuttering halt.

Because this man standing before you, the one that Kyunghee has just introduced as her son, is none other than Jay. He looks completely and utterly devastating in a navy waistcoat and matching slacks, a green tie shaped like a Christmas tree knotted loosely around the white collar of his shirt. His dark hair is parted, his undercut exposed, and you can’t tear your gaze away from the loose strand that has fallen across his forehead.

“H-hi.”

Jay—Hoseok—swallows. “Hi.”

Kyunghee glances between the two of you, her brows furrowing. “I take it you two already know each other?”

Hoseok’s ears begin taking on a scarlet tinge, the color spreading to his cheeks as he struggles to find his vocabulary again. “I—yeah. Yeah, we’ve met.”

“Right. Do I even want to know how?” she asks dubiously, before shaking her head and huffing out a sigh. “No, forget I asked. I don’t want to know. I’ll just leave you two to… catch up.”

Waving goodbye, Kyunghee disappears back into the crowd of partygoers milling around. Hoseok turns back to you, sucking in a deep breath, and you fight the urge to stare down at your toes as his gaze roves across your face.

“I can’t believe this,” he says, breaking the silence that’s fallen between you at last. “My mom’s been talking about you for months, but I never imagined that it’d be you.”

“You’re telling me,” you reply, finally having recovered your voice. “Kyunghee brings you up all the time, but I never thought… I mean, we didn’t even know each other’s names, and now…” You shrug. “Here we both are.”

“It’s a pretty crazy coincidence, huh?”

“Definitely.”

A beat passes, and then two. You’re fully aware that you’re staring, but you don’t dare blink, afraid that he’ll disappear if you close your eyes. Of all the things that you thought might happen tonight, this particular meeting wasn’t even close to making the list. Never would you have thought that the man you only knew as Jay would turn out to be Kyunghee’s son. Never would you have connected Jay to the photographed little boy in yellow suspenders on Kyunghee’s desk, or realized that they were one and the same.

From behind you, someone loudly clears their throat. Another voice calls for you to get a move on, already, and both you and Hoseok belatedly realize that you are still standing in line for the open bar. Hoseok’s eyes go wide again, and you nearly tread on his toes when you both try to move forward. “After you,” he says with a chuckle, gesturing for you to go in front of him, and that’s enough to break the tension. You step ahead of him with a laugh, catching up to the line, and Hoseok doesn’t stray far as he follows your lead.

“So, what are you drinking?” he asks, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. “Vodka soda with a twist?”

“Actually, I think I’m going to stick with wine tonight,” you reply, peering at the bottles lined up on the counter. “What about you?”

“Hmm. Jack and coke, I think. Nothing else is really calling my name right now.”

Grabbing your drinks, the two of you begin searching for a place to sit. You spot Kyunghee at a table near the front, and she smiles knowingly and offers you a thumbs-up when she catches your eye. Eventually, you settle on a table near the Christmas tree, the lights glimmering off the glasses and reflecting off your knife as you pick it up to butter a slice of crusty bread from the basket in the center. Hoseok follows your lead, grabbing a piece for himself, and the two of you munch in silence for a few seconds before Hoseok breaks it.

“You know, my mom says you’re the perfect girl for me” he says with a dry little chuckle. “Think she’s right?”

“I don’t know,” you answer. “It’s funny, though—Kyunghee’s been telling me the same thing. She sings your praises all the time.”

Hoseok laughs and scratches the back of his neck. “Oh, jeez, that’s kind of embarrassing. I’m glad she’s saying good things, at least.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” you tell him, grinning. “She’s only shown us one photo album from your childhood.”

His face crumples. “Was it the Disneyland one?”

You nod, fighting back laughter, and watch as Hoseok groans and lets his forehead meet the linen-covered tabletop with a dull thunk.

“I don’t like rollercoasters,” he mumbles into the tablecloth, his voice muffled by the material. “They make me queasy.”

“Even now?” you ask, and he nods.

“Yep.”

The clinking of a fork against a wineglass—amplified and broadcast through an array of invisible speakers built into the restaurant’s walls—interrupts any further conversation. You twist in your seat to watch your company’s leadership give their opening remarks, listening as they congratulate everyone for a great year and wish you a happy holiday season. The servers begin going out with plates of food, and you thank them as they set yours down. Hoseok does the same before raising his glass in your direction, clearing his throat and offering you a crooked little smile.

“Here’s to second meetings.”

“Third, if you count the store earlier,” you correct, and he chuckles and nods in agreement before clinking his drink against yours.

You spend the entirety of dinner chatting with Hoseok, getting to know him beyond the few facts Kyunghee has mentioned and what little you’ve gleaned from texting him the last two months. He tells you all about his dance studio, Hope World, where he teaches both contemporary dance and the occasional Pilates class. You find out that in addition to rollercoasters, he also dislikes sour foods and raisins, but he loves mint chocolate and sweet and sour pork. He also has a very low tolerance for alcohol—something he tells you as he tilts the rest of his drink into his mouth. “Should I be worried?” you ask as he sets his glass back down, and he chuckles and shakes his head, sending the loose tendril of hair flopping across his forehead.

Dessert is served, and subsequently eaten. The music is turned up, and people slowly begin finding their way to the open space that serves as an impromptu dancefloor. Hoseok rises to his feet and extends a hand toward you, and you only hesitate for the briefest of seconds before accepting it. He leads you out amongst the other swaying couples, his hand finding its way to the curve of your waist, and you rest your hand on his shoulder as he begins guiding you in a slow, simple waltz.

“So?” Hoseok’s voice is a low murmur, soft and gentle against the shell of your ear. “What’s the verdict?”

You blink. “The verdict?”

Even without looking, you can tell that he’s smiling. You can hear it in the lilt of his voice, and imagine it in the curve of his lips. “About me,” he clarifies, carefully pulling back so you can spin in a circle beneath his outstretched arm. “About us. My mom will never let me hear the end of it if she turns out to be right, but I still wanna know. So what are you thinking?”

“Are you asking if I think we’re perfect for each other?” you ask, giggling. “I don’t know if I believe in all that, to be quite honest. Destiny and soulmates—I mean, doesn’t it seem a little too good to be true?”

Hoseok hums. “Maybe. But considering all that’s happened to us in the last couple of months, don’t you think there’s a chance that it's all more than simple coincidence?”

“Maybe,” you concede. “Still, I don’t know if I can give you a verdict just yet. We haven’t even gone on a date.”

“We did do things a little backwards,” Hoseok admits, tugging you close and winding his arm around your waist. “Let me make it up to you, then. Are you free tomorrow?”

“What if I am?” you challenge.

“Then, I’d like to take you out for breakfast,” he replies without missing a beat.

The prospect of a proper meal with Hoseok Jung does something funny to your insides. Still, something makes you hesitate, and you avert your gaze as you search for your next words. “I wasn’t expecting to end tonight with a date,” you admit slowly. “I honestly didn’t even think you were interested in… well, anything beyond sex, to be honest.”

Hoseok’s face creases into a frown, and you look up again when he murmurs your name. “I understand why you would think that,” he says. “Really, I do. But honestly? I had every intention of texting you and asking you out properly. I was going to play it cool and wait a few days, which was stupid in retrospect. And then you texted me first.”

“I texted y—” You trail off. “Oh, god.”

“It seemed like you’d been drinking,” Hoseok says with a shrug, and you press a finger to his lips before he can say anything more. You remember the night in question, and you remember the bottle of wine you’d consumed. And you definitely remember the photographs you’d sent of yourself, and the ones Hoseok had been kind enough to send in return.

“Wait, so you were going to ask me out? And then I… I sexted you?”

Hoseok nods, and you groan and bury your face into his chest.

“I can’t believe this,” you mutter, and you feel laughter rumble through his chest before a hand comes up to stroke along your back.

“Believe me, I’m not complaining,” he assures you. “But I’d still really like to take you out, so what do you say?”

His gaze doesn’t leave yours for a second as he awaits your answer, and your heart skips a beat when you look up to see the earnestness in his eyes and the hesitant smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Breakfast sounds wonderful,” you whisper, and the smile that blossoms on your companion’s face is nothing short of radiant.

“Good,” he says. “Great. Breakfast tomorrow, then. Now, can I kiss you?”

You’re already pushing up to your tiptoes, your fingers fisting in the soft hair at his nape. “God, yes.”

///

“Hey, you made it!”

You beam. “Hi.”

You and Hoseok are about to commence your first date, having just sat down at a cozy little café for breakfast. Hoseok has pulled your chair out in true gentlemanly fashion, and you can’t help but smile over your menu at the few lingering snowflakes that have yet to melt into his dark hair.

“So, here we are,” you remark. “Our fourth meeting.”

Hoseok’s lips stretch into his signature grin, breathtakingly bright and infectious. “And hopefully many more.”

You grin at him. “Yeah? Too bad this is breakfast, because I’d drink to that.”

He leans forward, his grin widening. “Next time,” he says as his hand finds its way around yours, his fingers slotting comfortably into the spaces between your own. “We can do dinner, maybe. Or I can cook for you. But for now, I’m just happy that we’re finally doing this.”

You give his hand a soft squeeze. “Me too.”

“Just promise me one thing?”

The sudden seriousness of his tone has your brow furrowing in concern. “Sure, of course,” you reassure. “What is it?”

He winces. “Please don’t tell my mom about all the dick pics.”

[kitkatpancakestack]

For @ktinaj who requested another outsider POV from our favorite Target employee of Buck and Eddie setting up their wedding registry. In light of recent unsavory events with certain guest cast members, please accept this offering of established buddie because they are telling a queer-ass love story and it is a beautiful fucking thing to behold.

You can go read this and the rest of the interior designer!eddie series on ao3!

XV

Tamara Boone’s Saturday begins like most of her Saturdays do: snooze her alarm clock five times, throw on whatever half-way decent red shirt she can find in her closet, drink directly from the coffee pot on her way out the door, and roll into Target five minutes late and still ten minutes earlier than everybody else.

She situates herself behind the customer service counter and pulls a piece of gum from the pack under the desk. There will be some time before the morning rush of returns, so she slides her tablet out of her bag and pulls up her resume. Weirdly enough, simply walking around with a master’s degree under your belt does not automatically grant you access to some unseen, prestigious job market. In fact, she somehow feels even more pigeon-holed than when all she had was an undergraduate psychology degree worth about as much as two cents and a candybar. The only thing that’s changed is the size of the student loan payment she makes every month.

Whatever. She won’t be a part of the red-shirted commune forever. She just has to keep telling herself that.

A slight drizzle starts up outside, which either keeps people out or compels them to descend on Target like a bunch of wet, angry vultures. About an hour into her shift, the store is still mostly empty, so she prays to god it’s the former. Sometimes she can’t stand the boring dull drum of an empty store, but she might not mind it today.

Of course, that’s when Shea crashes into her like a bat out of hell with her box braids—blue this time, Tamara notices—swinging wildly behind her.

“Code red!” she hisses, eyes wide, wrapping her hand around Tamara’s forearm. “Tam, this is not a fucking drill. I swear to god. I saw a ring this time. A ring.”

Tamara frowns, tries to transition her brain from her pathetic resume-building skills to the apparent crisis happening before her. “What?”

“Blondie!”

Blondie . . . “You mean Buck?”

Shea rolls her eyes. “Dude, you never name them. Can’t build that kind of attachment. Didn’t anybody ever teach you that?”

“That’s for animals, dumbass. Now please pretend you are capable of emoting like a normal person and tell me what is going on.”

“Blondie,” Shea continues, already tugging Tamara off the stool. “I was outside smoking—I mean, I was outside putting change in the Salvation Army bucket—and the three of them rolled up like they usually do on a Saturday, but I saw it, dude. Blondie’s left ring finger. That shit was catching the light, Tamara, and on a side note, aren’t they both firefighters? How the hell could Hot Brunette Guy afford that rock on a city salary?”

“You have to stop calling him that, Shea,” Tamara mutters, but inside her stomach is twisting. She stopped lying to herself long ago about how invested she was in her favorite quirky group of three, and this is a decidedly exciting development. “Where are they?”

“Where else? Home Goods.”

Tamara beckons over a newer employee, who jogs up to her in a crisp polo and even crisper khakis. Poor thing. That wouldn’t last long. “Mason, I need you manning customer service today.”

Mason nods, because he’s too new to know any different. “No problem!”

“Come on,” Shea persists, and then she yanks Tamara along with her to the Home Goods sections. They peer around the corner of an aisle, and sure enough, there they are, angled toward each other, bickering in front of lamp shades, of all things. The kid is nowhere to be seen.

Beside her, Shea bounces on the balls of her feet. “Wait for it,” she sings, dragging out the last word. And then it happens. Buck rests his left hand on Eddie’s shoulder, as if to emphasize whatever point he’s trying to make, and the ring effortlessly catches the stale, fluorescent Target lighting.

Not to be melodramatic, but something in Tamara is reshaped and reformed in that moment. “Holy shit.”

“I know, right?”

“Holy shit.”

“That’s what I said!”

“You don’t think . . .”

“Wedding registry!” Shea finishes, clapping her hands together.

Tamara tries to shush her, but it’s too late, and Eddie flicks a glance around to check what the commotion is, doing a double-take when he recognizes her. He says something to Buck, who also turns, and flashes his megawatt smile.

“Finally,” he says, toward Eddie, “I can get a third-party opinion to tell you you’re crazy. Tamara, can you help us out?”

Shea snickers. “Yeah, Tamara, go help them out.”

Tamara edges forward, and doesn’t fail to notice how Shea pretends to be busy so she can eavesdrop. She stops beside the two men. “How can I help? I should mention, though, before we start, that we still don’t have a wider selection available in the back.”

Eddie’s face warms and he averts his gaze. Buck shoves his hands in his jeans pockets and rocks back on his heels, looking pleased. “Apparently, I don’t have good taste in anything. We’re loading up our registry, and Eddie always said you have good judgement, so maybe you can be my eyes.”

The stoic, fussy brunette man before her said she has good judgement? Tamara Boone, Compulsive Student Loan Borrower, has good judgement? A revelation. “Wow,” she says, for lack of anything better, and then, “you’re getting married?”

“Oh, yeah!” His hand flies out of his pocket, and he shows her the ring. “Nice, huh?”

“Really nice.”

“Yeah. I told him he could wrap dental floss around it and I still would have said yes.”

Tamara flicks a glance over to Eddie, whose face is giving her shirt a run for its money. “I’m going to kitchenware,” he mutters. “Buck, please collect Christopher from the video games when you’re done.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

Eddie rolls his eyes and disappears from sight. Tamara doesn’t miss the way Shea sneaks after him, skulking through the aisles like a secret agent.

“You know,” she says, and Buck turns back to her, “Most couples do the whole wedding registry thing online. Benefits of the great technological advancements in this here twenty-first century, and all.”

Buck shrugs, hands returning to his pockets. “Yeah, well, my fiance is a different breed. There is, supposedly, nothing that can beat spending four-plus hours in person deliberating between two blenders that function the exact same, but apparently give different aesthetics. So. We’ve been together long enough for me to know when to back down.”

“You sure you want this for the rest of your life?”

She says it in jest, mostly, but also with a degree of genuine curiosity, because she’s seen relationships completely crumble over significantly less. Buck stares off in the direction Eddie disappeared in moments ago, a sickeningly fond smile relaxing his face. “Yeah. He is without a doubt the fussiest, most annoying person I have ever shopped with my entire life, and sometimes he makes me want to put my head through a wall.” He looks back at her. “But, you know, he’s the love of my life. I wouldn’t put my head through a wall for anybody else.”

And, fucking hell, that should not be as romantic as it is.

“Anyway.” He claps his hands together, and her gaze is drawn, again, automatically, to the way the ring catches the light. “Wedding registry. Can you help me out?”

So, they spend the next indeterminate amount of time checking items off the registry. They pass Eddie every once in a while, who is always statuesque and lost in thought, and Shea is always there, mocking him when she catches Tamara’s eye. Once they check the final item, the familiar clack of a pair of crutches ambles up to them.

“Ah, Chris, there you are. I was just about to come find you.”

Christopher smiles, bumping his shoulder affectionately against Buck’s side. “I’m hungry.”

“We’re gonna stop at Pizza Hut on the way out.”

“Uh-huh. And where’s Dad?”

“You know where your dad is.”

“Having a mental breakdown because he can’t decide on a color scheme for the bathroom?”

Buck snorts, tries and fails to look reprimanding. “Chris, that’s extremely hilarious, but don’t you ever say that in front of him.”

“It’s true, though,” he mutters, but doesn’t press the point.

Tamara clears her throat. “Anything else I can help you with?”

Buck declines, and she more or less shadows them as they make their way over to kitchenware, where it is uncertain if Eddie has made any meaningful progress. She regroups with Shea, and once the two men resume their particularly fond brand of bickering, they begrudgingly return to the customer service desk.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Shea says, once Tamara has relieved Mason from duty.

She sticks another piece of gum in her mouth. “Nope. What’s it mean?”

“Next step is always a new house. And a new house means furnishing that house.”

“Shea, for someone who always gets at me for being too invested, you are reeking of hypocrisy right now.”

“I’m just saying.” Her eyes trail the group of three as they congregate at a check-out line. “Man. All I did was stalk the guy around Kitchenware, and I miss him already.”

Tamara props her tablet back on the desk. “You’re working late tonight, right? Don’t worry. He’ll be back.”

“There’s no way. Blondie would never let that happen.”

Tamara doesn’t say anything, because even though she doesn’t know them, she knows them.

And, sure enough, as predictable as the sun rising and setting every day, forty minutes before closing, Eddie makes his way to the customer service desk. His hair is matted over his head in wet tendrils, dripping onto the shoulders of his sweatshirt. Still raining, then.

“Hey,” he says.

Tamara perks up, catches Shea’s eye where she’s adjusting a wrack of athletic pants. “Hey. I have to warn you, we close in forty minutes, so whatever magic you need to make happen has a time limit.”

He winces. “No, it’s . . . it’s nothing for the registry. This is sort of something I couldn’t do while I was here.”

That piques her interest. “Oh? What can I help you with, then?”

“I ordered it ahead of time. The instructions said to come to the customer service desk.” He slides the receipt across the counter.

“Got it. Gimme one sec.” She eases off the stool and shoulders through the door to the back. Sure enough, there’s a single object sitting on the bench, with a receipt taped to it and Edmundo Diaz on the label. She hauls it back out and hefts it onto the desk. “Here it is.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” He tucks it easily under one arm. He turns to leave, and if she doesn’t ask, she knows the curiosity will kill her.

“Wait,” she blurts out. “What is it?”

There are universes of memories and secrets in the tiny smile that crooks up one corner of his mouth. “It’s a breadmaker.”

“A breadmaker?”

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t want him to know you were buying him a breadmaker?”

The tiny smile blossoms into something warm and beautiful. “He probably won’t even remember, but we saw one on a call once, before we were engaged. Before we were even dating. And he said he always wanted a breadmaker, but it felt like something you only get when you’re married, because it should be shared with the people you love. It never made sense to me, but it made sense to him.” He shrugs, shakes his head. “Anyway. Thanks, again. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

He leaves, and Shea takes his place.

“What was it?” she asks.

And Tamara replies, “A breadmaker.”

“A breadmaker?”

“Yeah.” She rests her chin on her fist. “You know, Shea, I think they’re gonna be together forever. I think they were meant to find each other.”

“What is this? Miss True-Love-Doesn’t-Exist is waxing poetic about soulmates?”

“You need to quit accosting me and start closing this place down.”

Shea gives her signature dramatic eye roll before sauntering off. Tamara counts out the till, finishes her other duties, and then swings her bag over her shoulder as she exits the automatic doors. It’s still raining, and she turns her face to the sky, but it doesn’t feel like a punishment. It feels like a promise.

She smiles, and heads to her car.

[izumi-fanclub]

A3! Translation: Chikage SR Card “A Capable Man’s Morning Routine” [ An Elite’s Morning ]

We get a sneak peek of the enigmatic Chikage’s morning

Chikage

(Well, it’s time to head back home now.)

Co-worker

Thanks for your hard work, Utsuki-san. Excuse me, but about this meeting tomorrow…

Chikage

What is it?

Co-worker

I was contacted earlier and was asked if you could do it after this on short notice… I let them know that it’d be difficult for you.

Chikage

I see… I already have the materials with me. It’s no problem. Could you please set it up for me?

Co-worker

U-understood. I will inform them accordingly.

Chikage

Alright.

(...What a mess.)

(Overtime’s pretty much confirmed… Well, maybe my schedule will be lighter tomorrow, then.)

Itaru

Here you go, the documents you asked for.

Chikage’s Boss

Thanks. I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands, you really saved me.

Itaru

Yup. Glad to be of help.

Chikage Hm? Chigasaki, it’s you.

Itaru

Good job today, senpai. It’s almost the end of the workday and you still seem so busy.

Chikage

Just a little. So, was there something that you need?

Itaru

I was just asked by the section chief here to hand some documents over.

Chikage

Our chief’s errand boy, huh.

Itaru

That’s it for me, I’m gonna go home.

Chikage

Thanks for taking the time to drop by.

Itaru

Don’t sweat it. I saw your work ethic and just had to give you a pep talk.

Good luck, then. 

Chikage

Sure.

------

Itaru

I’m home.

Izumi

Welcome back, Itaru, you’re home early.

Itaru

Gotta love miracles. If I didn’t do that favor for the boss, I would’ve left the place later.

Izumi

Ahaha. Sometimes you do favors for us too, Itaru-san, I’m grateful for that.

Itaru

It’s all good every now and then. Well, now I’m gonna go ahead and do an event rank stream.

Izumi

Ah, wait a sec! Sorry for bothering you as soon as you just got home, but there’s something I’d like to discuss with you…

Itaru

… I got a bad feeling about this, but I’ll lend you an ear.

Izumi

Thank you.

Actually, Kasumi-san asked me to consult with you about this magazine feature.

Itaru

… A special morning routine feature of part-time actor?

They also want the salary-man kind, so it’ll inevitably either be me or senpai.

Izumi

Pretty much.

Itaru

Yeaah, no.

Izumi

Come on, please!

Itaru

I have a routine I can’t expose to people. Besides, if you think about it, there’ll be more of a demand for senpai’s mysterious mornings.

Anyway, I got an event to run.

I’m going back to my room, then. I’m sure senpai will be home soon. See ya.

Izumi

Alright, I’ll go ask Chikage-san…

------

Chikage

I’m home.

Izumi

Welcome back, Chikage-san. I’m sorry, I know you’re tired, but there’s something I’d like to discuss with you…

Chikage

… Seems like today’s full of interludes.

Izumi

… So basically, I got rejected by Itaru.

Chikage

Is that so.

Izumi

Do you think it’ll be difficult for you, Chikage-san?

Chikage

… I wouldn’t mind it, no.

Izumi Eh!? So you’ll take it on then…!

Chikage

Of course, but it won’t come for free, though.

Izumi

… I-I’ll see if there’s something I can do!

Chikage

Just kidding. Well, if it’s just an interview and a studio shoot, it won’t be any different from a regular magazine interview.

Izumi

Thank you so much…!

Part 2

Izumi

So, I also have one more favor to ask. Chikage-san, may I take some photos of you getting ready in the morning?

Chikage

…Why?

Izumi

When I said I’m gonna take photos of you, I just meant to use them as interview material.

Juza-kun’s participating in the same project, and now I’m reviewing his own morning routine and using it for the coverage.

Besides, I was wondering if I could use it as reference material when I proofread the articles.

Chikage

…

Izumi

No good?

Chikage

… Only if director-san’s the only one who sees it.

Izumi

Thank you so much!

Chikage

Call out to me when you take them.

Izumi

Okay.

------

Izumi

Chikage-san, you there?

Chikage

Yeah, give me a sec.

Izumi

Oh, you’re finished getting dressed already?

Chikage

I have to leave a little early today. I have a company meeting first thing in the morning.

Izumi

I see. Sorry… If you’re busy we can do it another day.

Chikage

No, it’s fine.

Izumi

You’re almost done getting ready…

Chikage

I’m not that different from everyone else. Only thing left to do now is have breakfast and get my hair done.

Izumi

Let’s start shooting with breakfast.

------

Izumi The breakfast shoot went on smoothly.

Chikage

I just ate as usual.

Izumi

Chikage-san, it didn’t really look like you had to set your hair that much…

Chikage

Yeah, I don’t get much of a bedhead, I just lightly wet areas that bother me, and maybe use an air dryer.

*Air dryer turned on*

Izumi

I see. I envy how you easy it is for you to set your hair. You don’t use wax or anything like that? Chikage

I just use oil to condition it.

Izumi

Wow, so you just smooth it over and you’re done with it.

[ Option 1: It looks chic. ]

Izumi

That’s all there is to the process, but it still looks stylish.

Chikage

Oh? I appreciate the compliment but do you perhaps need something from me?

Izumi

No, I don’t…! Chikage-san, I just genuinely thought you’re a cool adult.

Chikage

Thank you. Then, I’ll take your word for it. Director-san can’t lie after all.

[ Option 2: Wouldn’t you like to try a different hairstyle?  ]

Izumi

Wouldn’t you like to try a different hairstyle?

Chikage

I don’t know. I’ve been arranging it to fit the roles I play as.

Izumi

True, you can wear your hair in a lot of ways in a play.

Chikage

That’s right. So maybe this is as good as it gets.

Izumi

But I kind of want to see you in normal clothes and a different hairstyle.

Chikage

Then, if director-san requests it.

Izumi

Eh, for me? … I can’t think of anything off the top of my head, so I’ll think about it.

Chikage

Haha, I look forward to it.

Kazunari

Ah, morning y’all~!

Taichi

Mornin’!

Tenma

Good morning. Chikage-san, you’re already prepped up?

Chikage

Good morning. Just a little early today. I have an interview with director-san.

Kazunari

Speaking of, I’ve never seen Chika-chon in his sleep before.

Taichi

I’ve been doing sleep sneak-attacks at training camp before, but I couldn’t get a shot of Chikage-san…

Chikage

Ahaha, I miss that.

Kazunari

Sounds like hella fun! Let’s do it at home sometime!

Tenma

Hah? We’ve done it again and again already!

Chikage

Come on, if you don’t get ready soon, everyone else will wake up.

Izumi

Fufu, it sure is a lively morning.

Chikage

It’s what you’d expect when a group of students come together.

… I guess my morning routine is getting up to get ready and leaving here early.

Izumi

(I guess that kind of casual mindset is also typical of Chikage-san.)

Itaru

Yawn…

Chikage

So you finally decided to wake up.

Izumi

Itaru-san, I thought you had to be early today…!?

Itaru

What are you talking about?

Izumi

It’s cause, Chikage-san said…

…! Was that a lie?

Chikage

Haha.

By the way, I thought you had a meeting early today?

Your department was making a fuss after you came to our department about the meeting time being moved up.

Itaru

…Really? Damn. I had notifications off during my event ranking.

I mean, if you knew, why didn’t you just wake me up?

Chikage

It’d be cruel to wake up a tired junior, wouldn’t it?

Itaru

You were totally holding a grudge at me forcing this interview on you.

Chikage

Who knows. I’ll be going now, director-san.

Izumi

Ah, yes! Take care!

.

.

.

Story Clear!

[writerpeach]

Jealousy

IZ*ONE Yena x Male Reader

9790 words

categories: smut, oral, rough sex

---

read on AFF

read on AO3

masterlist

“Good morning, everyone. You all know why we’re here today.”

Detective Kwon was seated at the head of the white rectangular table centered in the precinct’s main conference room, folding her arms and commanded attention from the other eyes in the room. It wasn’t often that the lead detective was in such a foul mood, yet given the events that led up to this meeting, it wasn’t surprising. The conference room was filled with nothing but blank expressions.

“Our mission was nothing but a complete failure and we need to find out why. Detective Miyawaki will go over everything we know right now,” Eunbi said, the harshness and frustration in her voice unmistakable.

“Yes, boss.” Sakura's usual sugary-sweet cute smile was replaced with a more serious expression. The petite detective stood out with freshly dyed pink hair, adding to her adorable image.

Sakura cleared her throat and sat up straight, taking a deep breath as she looked around the room at other members of the team.

“Our operation commenced last Friday morning at what was Patriarch Goda’s location based on information given by our informant. Detective Eunbi took point along with Detective Hyewon."

Sakura took a steady breath before continuing.

“Our teams surrounded the mansion on three separate sides while Detective Kwon led the charge. All three teams simultaneously breached and found zero members of the Goda clan inside, while the patriarch was nowhere to be found.”

"Our informant Dojima-san has never been wrong about anything we've gone to them about, so we have no reason to believe this is any different," Eunbi briefly interrupted.

"Please continue."

Sakura nodded politely. “There wasn’t anything useful inside but communication equipment. Several laptops were found by our teams, but no useful information could be taken from them as they were securely wiped with military-grade equipment. They knew what they were doing, and most importantly they knew we were coming.”

“Thank you, Detective Miyawaki. Now the question is how in the hell did they find out this information?” Eunbi asked.

“I believe I can give some insight to that, Detective Kwon.” The new voice came from a blonde woman who you had briefly met in your time helping out with the case. Her role was one of the few members of Eunbi's team that wasn’t a detective, working as the precinct’s head security analyst.

“Please give any information you have, Miss Yena.”

“This morning during a routine weekly check of our network logs I noticed some unusual activity. Upon further investigation, I noticed our network firewall had been breached, coincidentally thirty minutes before the raid on the mansion."

Yena lowered her head apologetically as she continued. “I’ve patched the breach and added tighter security to our systems. I apologize I wasn’t able to catch this beforehand.”

“You don’t have to explain. There were so many things happening, with you making sure our surveillance van was properly running I can’t say I can find you at fault. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Yes, boss. I’m on it.”

“What did they gain from this breach?” Eunbi asked.

“No sensitive data was stolen or accessed, but our logs show our monitoring systems were rerouted.”

“So they were able to access our comms? That explains how they were able to figure out the details of our plans and getaway.”

“Exactly. I’ve sent in an order for more secure headsets, as well as changed all our frequencies. It’s a mistake we won’t make twice.”

“Thank you, Miss Yena. Is that all?”

“There’s one more thing,” Yena said, placing a small metal device on the table that was roughly the size of a flash drive.

“It wasn’t a software breach but a hardware one. Someone physically installed this into one of our servers, which was how they were able to bypass our systems so easily.”

“Do we know who is responsible?” Eunbi asked.

“No, I’m afraid not, boss. Our security footage was wiped during that time period and replaced with a looped recording. The good news is I’ve checked timestamped footage and everyone in this room was accounted for.

“So you’re saying it was an inside job? That whoever attached this device works for us?” Eunbi said as she inspected the small device.

“It’s a high possibility, boss. We’re looking into it as much as we can.”

“The moment you find any information let me know as soon as possible.”

“Of course, boss.”

“Now, if there’s nothing else to discuss I believe that will conclude this debriefing. Our priority is still capturing Patriarch Goda, but now we also have to deal who was inside our systems and why. If you find any pertain information please let me or Detective Hyewon know immediately. Dismissed.”

Detective Kwon couldn’t help hide her frustration as things winded down, not that anybody would have blamed her. The room cleared out as you were left alone with Eunbi who grabbed your arm just as you were about to make your own exit.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Eunbi playfully said, caressing your shoulder and batted her eyelashes.

“Seeing as I officially work for you now, I should get back to work. Boss.”

Eunbi had brought you on as a consultant with an extremely lucrative salary that you couldn’t turn down. She knew your experience on the other side of the law would come in handy during investigations and interrogating suspects, knowing how they acted, how they worked, and how they thought. It didn’t hurt that the job offer came with a nice comfy office and the chance to be around a group of beautiful women every day.

“Boss? Look at you all formal now,” Eunbi said as her fingers played with the collar of your dark-colored dress shirt, flashing you bedroom eyes that signaled danger like prey caught in a predator's trap.

“Now that everyone is gone...mommy could really use some stress relief,” Eunbi said, her lips curling into a smirk.

“That doesn’t sound very professional, Detective.”

“Well, It’s not very professional when you rail Detective Miyawaki in our break room either is it?” Eunbi said, her tone clearly unamused as she folded her arms.

You didn't have a chance to defend yourself the door to the conference room abruptly swung open and walked in one of the leggy rookie detectives, Kim Minju. The look on her face expressed she wasn’t here to deliver anything but bad news as you both sensed the dread in the air.

“Sorry to interrupt, boss. There’s been another body found,” Minju said, trying to keep her expression muted.

“Goddammit. Where was it found?” Eunbi asked, her body tensing up as she gritted her teeth.

“It was pulled out of the river about an hour ago. It hasn’t been identified yet but forensics stated it was a male in his early fifties.”  

“Most likely another hit, this has to stop. We need to figure out a way to catch these assholes who keep endangering our citizens.”

Eunbi rubbed her temple in small circles as she contemplated what her next step was. “Thank you, Minju.”

Minju bowed and exited without another word, leaving you alone with Detective Kwon once again.

“I have to get down there right away and check things out. Guess we’ll have to take a raincheck on that stress relief,” Eunbi said, her lips fading into a frown as she flashed a look of disappointment.

“Call me if you need anything.”

                                                       ✦✦

You didn’t have much direction without Detective Eunbi at the precinct. Part of your new job entailed staying behind the one-way mirror during investigations, giving valuable advice with your knowledge of the other side to prove assistance.

There wasn’t any of that in the early morning for you to assist to, only left with a stack of dossiers from criminals given by Detective Kwon you may or may not have had previous contact with. You found yourself restless and decided on a little stroll around the precinct to stretch your legs.

It wasn’t that easy navigating your way through the precinct halls as you tried to remember where things were, using familiar posters and bulletin boards on the brick walls of the precinct.

The layout still confused you regardless of how many times you had been in this building as you exchanged pleasantries with the different officers and detectives you had met before, giving polite greetings to those you hadn’t yet.

Leaving your office you realized how little energy you had at that moment. The clock hadn’t yet made it to noon as you made a beeline to the break room in need of an energy boost, remembering the coffee there was better than it had any right to be and put any coffee chain’s overpriced roast to shame.

The quiet door to the break room creaked open as you weren’t the only one with the same idea to sneak in a little caffeine break. You found the security analyst from the morning meeting occupying the room.

“You’re in luck, I just brewed a fresh pot,” the pretty blonde said as she grabbed one of several mugs from an above cabinet. She carefully poured fresh coffee into her mug, opening three packets of sugar and poured them all at once, stirring it several times as she took a seat.

“It’s Yena, right?” you asked as you poured yourself some hot piping coffee into your own mug, watching the satisfying steam coming out. You didn’t bother adding anything, needing the strong and bitter taste to wake you up as you took a seat next to her.

“That would be me,” Yena cutely said as she slurped on her coffee, using both hands to drink it as she clearly enjoyed the taste of it as it hit her taste buds. This was your first official introduction to each other you realized, and there wasn’t a better time to get to know her.

It wasn’t unusual for the room to not be occupied given that the detectives were constantly too busy to breathe on most days, much less spend time to enjoy a meal.

“And you’re Detective Kwon’s new hire, right?” Yena asked, the color in her eyes visible as she leaned in, letting the aroma of the fresh coffee take over.

“Yes, that’s right. I’ve been working unofficially with her on the Goda clan case for weeks. I’ve been spending so much time around here she wanted me to be getting paid for it. Plus, it’s an easy way to keep me safe.”

“Because you used to be one of them, right?” Yena asked. Word went around quickly that Detective Kwon had hired a former yakuza, which made the district uneasy but Eunbi was fully trustworthy and quickly quelled any concerns.

“Something like that,” you responded, not quite wanting to fully respond to such a heavy question to someone you hadn’t had a prior conversation before today.

“Did you ever kill anyone?”

The abruptness of her question almost caused you to spit out your coffee.

“No, I was just a low-level grunt. Not that I was capable of it anyways,” you replied, still surprised at her question.

“You wouldn’t be here working for us if you had, and you’re right. You’re not capable of it at all, you’re too cute.”

You didn’t know how to react to that, taking a long sip of coffee. When your mug hit the table, Yena abruptly grabbed your hands, carefully inspecting them with care.

“Ah, you still have all your fingers,” Yena said, as your expression became even more puzzled.

“...Why wouldn’t I?”

“Don’t you get a finger cut off if you mess up?” Yena said with the cutest amount of laughter.

You stifled a laugh before you felt like responding to such an absurd question.

“You have to commit a serious offense for that to happen. Disobey your patriarch’s orders, kill someone you weren’t supposed to, that sort of thing. Only saw it happen to one other member.”

“Or leave the organization without warning and leak information to the police,” Yena said, putting a hand over her mouth to cover up her laughter this time.

“If they get to me they’ll cut off more than just a finger.”

“Don’t worry, Detective Kwon will make sure all your limbs stay just where they belong,” Yena said teasingly, running a finger around the rim of her mug.

“Are you and Detective Kwon...” Yena said, giving a moment of hesitation before forming the rest of her sentence.

“Are we what?”

“Are you together? You seem so close, I see the way she looks at you whenever she talks to you,” Yena said, and if you didn’t know any better she seemed at least a little jealous.

“No, nothing like that,” you said, sipping on your coffee carefully, amused at the way the conversation had changed.

“Detective Kwon and I had a very interesting first meeting, and we’ve been working together ever since, so we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well working on this case. We’ve established a very tight relationship.”

“I’m sure that’s not that only thing that’s tight,” Yena snickered. You ignored her cute little one-liner as you kept your attention on well, her. She was a real striking beauty - light blonde hair, pretty dark brown eyes, a cute nose, and the fullest red lips you had seen, definitely her best feature. There was some regret sinking in for taking this long to talk to her.

“Yena...are you jealous?” you fired back. If she could ask ridiculous out of nowhere questions then so could you. She wasn’t expecting it if the expression on her face was anything to go on.

“Jealous? What could I possibly be jealous of?” Yena asked nonchalantly, running a hand through strands of golden hair while her cheeks became reddened. If Eunbi had taught you anything it was how to read people, and Yena had a bad poker face.

“I’m too busy working twelve-hour days to be jealous,” Yena said, quick to defend herself. She broke eye contact as her hands fiddled with her coffee mug, shyly staring off in the distance. l

“I should probably get back to work. There’s a stack of dossiers Eunbi left me that I should look over,” you said.

“So soon? We haven’t been here for that long,” Yena said, looking up at the time. “That reminds me, I need to drop this report in her office. Care to come with me?”

“Sure,” you said. You didn’t really see a reason not to accompany her and weren’t actually that eager to go back to going through stacks of criminal profiles that you felt was a little more than busywork.

                                                       ✦✦

“It’s locked,” Yena said as she jiggled the doorknob to Eunbi’s office. You’re not sure what she expected given the detective had been away all morning. Yena tried again for some reason, as if she were expecting it to magically open the second time as she looked around and tried to figure out what to do.

“You can just drop it off later when she’s back from the investigation can’t you?”

“I could, but what if I forget to give it to her? It’s so easy for me to get caught up in my work that I should leave this for her, it’s important that she gets it.”

“Ah!” Yena said as she scurried away, finding who she needed just out of view. It didn’t take long for her to return, bringing one of the janitors back with her.”

“Here it is. If you could unlock it for me it would be very appreciated. Detective Kwon needed this report on her desk by the afternoon, but you see she’s away on investigation, and I have something to attend to so I won’t be here. You understand, right?”

“No need to explain, Miss Choi, I’ll get you in,” the janitor said as he looked through a giant ring of keys, trying to find the right one and unlocked the office door.

“Just make sure you lock it back up when you’re done. You have a good day.”

“Thanks, you too!” Yena said as she stepped inside and you followed her in, waiting for her to drop off the report.

“I always forget how big her office is,” Yena said as you followed her inside. Detective Kwon had moved to a bigger office, one that was deserving of after her promotion. Yena looked around the office, carefully scanning the various awards and achievements that lined the walls, once again unable to control the jealousy inside her.

“Detective Kwon...you’re so lucky,” Yena muttered under her breath with a faded smile, setting a dark-colored folder on top of her neatly organized desk, making sure not to knock anything over.

“This place is big enough to move in,” Yena said. She took one last look around the spacious office, picking up Eunbi’s signature piglet plush off her desk and gave it a squeeze before putting it back where it belonged.

“Well, we should get out of here before we get too comfortable then,” you said and moved towards the door, ready to move on and get back to whatever work you could manage to do. Your exit was soon blocked by Yena, carrying a mischievous smile on her beautiful face as she stood in the doorway.

“What if I wanted to get a little too comfortable?” she said, closing the door with one hand as it shut behind her, the thud of the door slamming echoing against the high office walls.

“I’m sure you have plenty of work as well, Ye-”

She was quick to silence you by closing the distance and pressing a fingertip against your lips, stopping any additional objections.

“Work can wait. I’ve done what Detective Kwon has asked of me and gave a full detailed report of our breach which is on her desk waiting for her when she comes back.”

“I have dossiers I need to look through to see if I-”

You didn’t finish your sentence for the second time in a row as Yena’s deep brown eyes stared into your own, and you felt her small hands playfully pushing you back as you fell onto the couch. Yena wasn’t far behind and straddled your lap, the weight of her small body comforting as her legs around your waist.

“That can wait, too.”

“Yena, we can’t-

“Have you had sex with her in here?” she said, insisting on not letting you finish an entire sentence.

“What?”

“Have you had sex with Eunbi in this office?”

“Of course not. She’s a professional and this office is for work use only.”

That was the answer Yena was looking for if the change in her expression was anything to go by.

“Let’s change that, then,” she said as she wrapped her hands around the nape of your neck, staring even deeper into your eyes.

“Unless you don’t want to, that’s fine. You can go back to your office all alone and look at a bunch of old guys who you may or may not have seen in your past life.”

“That sounds like a terrible alternative to what’s happening right now.”

“I think so too."

Without another word you felt the warmth of her full lips smacking against your own, taking you by surprise. Instinctively you snaked your hands around her slender waist, giving in to temptation with ease. Her lips were soft as silk and tasted like your favorite candy as her tongue eagerly entered your mouth played with your counterpart.

Yena showed her aggressive side as she grabbed the back of your head, wanting you to taste her deeper as her tongue danced around in your mouth as you explored her body with your hands and wanted to rip the tight black top she had that only served as a nuisance.

“Not bad,” Yena said as the kiss was broken, lightly gasping for air as she cupped your face and stared intently into your eyes. You wanted more of her, more of her addicting taste, but she had other ideas as you let her take charge.

“I’ll show you something even better.”

Yena didn’t give you a moment to respond as she dismounted your lap and dropped to her knees, eyeing your crotch as her lips curled into a devilish smirk, ruffling a hand through her hair.

“Let’s see what Detective Kwon has been keeping to herself,” she said with a lustful look on her features as she worked your pants and unzipped them, running her small delicate hands all over your clothed cock as it hardened at her touch.

“Looks like someone’s ready,” Yena giggled, biting her lip as she gave your crotch a firm squeeze and traced the outline of your bulge with her fingers. Giving your thighs a few strokes she spread your legs wide and pulled your cock out of your boxers, wrapping her fingers around it and gave a few pumps to bring you to full hardness.

“This must be one of the reasons Eunbi likes you so much,” she said as she admired your hard shaft, the feel of her warm hand on your cock sending heavenly pleasure up your body.

Yena kept the friction slow and pleasurable, lazily stroking your shaft as she pulled your boxers down to grant full access to your cock. Licking her lips she gave a long swipe of her wet tongue from base to tip. swirling around your swollen cockhead and flicking against your leaking slit as you moaned.

She explored your throbbing shaft with her wet tongue, gathering up precum on it as she needed more and wanted to move on to the main event. Yena had deep desire and lust in her seductive eyes and hunger that could only be satiated by one thing.

Yena licked everywhere she could, tasting every inch of your cock and needing you inside her hungry mouth without delay. She ran her tongue over her lips a second time and planted a tender kiss on the tip of your cock. Making sure her hair was out of her eyes, her lips parted with your shaft and took you into her wet warm mouth, causing a deep moan to escape your mouth almost involuntarily, sending electricity throughout your spine.

You felt intense pleasure as Yena’s soft plump lips wrapped around your cock, a feeling like nothing else that set your senses on fire as she slowly sucked on your swollen tip, her tongue playfully licking the underside of your shaft.

“Yena...fuck,” you moaned, tilting your head and relaxing back into the couch. Yena’s lips felt so warm and soft, the wetness of her mouth overwhelming you as she sucked you off, tending to your pleasure at her pace and keeping constant eye contact that aroused you even more.

“Do you like that?” Yena asked, spitting on your cock repeatedly and stroking it furiously, wanting your shaft nice and wet for her as her tongue wandered around and coated every surface in warm plentiful saliva.

“I do, it feels amazing,” you said, the intense pleasure causing your breath to hitch. The pleasure was intoxicating as Yena returned to working your shaft, using her delicious plump lips and tongue in tandem as she bobbed her head up and down and watched the satisfaction in your eyes that she was giving.

You let out a loud deep breath as Yena continued her oral assault, sliding her luscious lips up and down your cock with ease as she let out messy slurping noises as she enjoyed what she was doing to you. In no time at all she upped her pace, no longer content as her movements grew wild, sucking your cock sloppily in a way that matched only the way Eunbi performed oral on you.

Yena knew what she was doing as she fondled your balls with one hand, caressing your thigh with the other to bring as much pleasure as she could and amplified the intensity, leaving a trail of drool as your shaft glistened in the light.

“God, that feels so fucking good,” you moaned, running a hand through golden strands of hair before grabbing the back of her head, guiding the movements of her amazing blowjob and trying to find any outlet for the harsh spikes of pleasure taking over.

You could barely remember where you were, much less that you were in Eunbi’s office and one of her team members was pleasuring your cock.

Yena’s lips went deep, hitting the end of your shaft as she slobbered on your cock, covering every inch in her warm saliva. The endless pleasure was becoming too much as you watched the gorgeous blonde swallowing down your cock with ease.

“Fuck...if you keep doing that you’re gonna make me cum.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Yena said seductively as she rubbed your shaft all over her puckered lips.

“Cum in my mouth.”

You weren’t going to say no to that.

Yena wanted to show you what she could really do as she held onto your thighs and bobbed her head hastily, becoming a blur of blonde hair as she eagerly anticipated your release.

The point of no return rapidly approached. You couldn’t help moaning loudly at how Yena’s mouth felt, so warm, and wet, her lips so incredibly soft that it was impossible to last any longer. The look in her eyes pleaded for your climax and you weren’t going to disappoint her.

“Yena, I’m gonna fucking cum, oh f-fuck-”

Your climax struck like a lightning bolt as you felt it from your head to your curling toes. With both hands on the back of her head, you pushed Yena’s pretty face all the way down to your base, your shaft throbbing wildly as you unloaded several spurts of hot cum into her warm mouth and down her tight throat, grunting loudly with each shot.

Nothing existed at that moment as you groaned and groaned as your sharp orgasm took over your body, continuing to empty your balls into her mouth. You were both so focused on your pleasure, the way your cock was being drained dry that neither of you noticed the sound of the doorknob being turned as the door swung open.

“Could have sworn I locked this door before I left...”

Detective Kwon.

You both froze in panic at the situation, releasing the tight grip on Yena’s head as you had been caught quite literally with your pants down. Your depleted shaft plopped out of Yena’s warm mouth as she had gathered your thick and plentiful load into her mouth and you were both forced to turn your attention to Eunbi as you both gasped for air.

“Well, well, well. This isn’t what I was expecting to see during my lunch break,” Eunbi said, shutting the door behind her and standing with her hands on her hips.

“Dwrtrecrtrv-” Yena tried speaking with her mouth full of thick hot semen gathered on her tongue.

“Seems like your mouth is a little full at the moment. I hope you were planning on swallowing that.”

Yena immediately obeyed as if it were a direct order, tilting her head back as she took two big gulps and sent your load down into her stomach, licking her lips clean. She opened her mouth, letting you and not Eunbi see that nothing was left, all gone.

"Delicious."

“Damn right it is, good job. Now, care to explain why you’re on your knees sucking my new hire’s cock in the middle of my office? Not that I blame you, but how did you even get in here?”

“I had those reports you requested from this morning’s meeting, and I made sure not to forget to drop them off. There was a janitor nearby so I asked him to let me in.”

“Spoken like a true security expert. That explains the first part, but not why I found you with a mouth full of cock.”

“Well, we were having coffee together, and he’s cute. Do I need a better reason?”

Eunbi sighed. “Try and keep it in your pants, both of you. Now get dressed and get out.”

Yena headed out first as you got dressed quickly, not wanting to make things even more awkward. She gave a polite bow to Detective Kwon while hastily making her exit. You headed towards the door to make your own exit when Eunbi placed a hand on your shoulder, leaning into your ear to whisper something.

“If you’re going to fuck her later, make sure you don’t pull out. I bet she’s tight.”

Just the thought Eunbi put into your mind sent blood to your loins again. You gathered your senses and smiled at Eunbi.

“I’ll go look over those files now. See you later, detective.”

                                                       ✦✦

It was hard to concentrate on the rest of the day to say the least. You went in and out of Detective Kwon’s office, giving your input and knowledge throughout the day and thankfully not once did she mention the incident from earlier in the morning, focusing on giving what limited details she decided to give from her crime scene investigation from earlier.

Long into the afternoon you roamed the halls, heading back towards your office to go over more files Detective Kwon had assigned.

“Come with me.”

You barely heard the three words until you were dragged into a nearby supply closet. Not even bothering to switch the light on, you felt your back being pushed against shelves, small hands pressed against both sides of your face. You felt warmth against your mouth, lips that were unforgettable and unmistakable soft lips of the security analyst, Yena. You could barely see the outline of her pretty face, the darkness of the room dimly showing her blonde hair.

“I think we should find another office.”

“I’d rather we didn’t get caught again.”

“Well then, my place or yours?”

She didn’t give you a moment to respond as she pulled you into another kiss, time more aggressively, adding more tongue and biting on your lower lip. You felt powerless to resist, not that you wanted to.

“My place,” Yena said, deciding for you. “I want you somewhere Eunbi hasn’t been.”

“You really are jealous, aren’t you?”

Yena huffed. “I told you, I’m not,” she responded, giving your crotch a firm squeeze through your pants.

"It's not like she has the most amazing figure, perfect huge tits, and thighs that could crush a watermelon. Not to mention how beautiful she is, but no, I'm not jealous."

"Not even a little?"

“No, shut up, let’s get out of here.”

                                                       ✦✦

Out of the few women you had slept with from Eunbi’s team, including the detective herself, they all gave you a chance to explore their place, even so much as offering a drink before the magic happened.

Not Yena.

There wasn’t any offering of so much as a glass of water, barely did you even have a chance to kick off your shoes as you entered Yena’s apartment before being whisked away dragged straight into the bedroom.

This Yena was different from the security analyst back at the precinct, the cute girl who loved to make jokes and covered her mouth every time she laughed. This version of Yena was a little less shy, a lot more confident, and certainly a lot more aggressive.

That’s not to say you didn’t love this new side of Yena. Every move she made caught you unprepared, and before you knew it you were flat your back was flat on her black silk sheets, as you engaged in another hot and heavy makeout session.

“I want you, Yena,” you said as you tenderly kissed her sensitive neck, wrapping your arms around her slim waist again as your hands roamed all over each other’s body desperately as you found her irresistible.

“And I want you to fuck me,” she said, quick to divest your shirt off your body as she admired your bare chest.

This Yena knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it.

“Fuck me like you’ve fucked Eunbi,” Yena said. She had the same lustful stare from earlier, this time more intense and hungry.

“Eunbi is usually the one in control,” you said, matching her gaze and trying to keep up her intensity.

“Then I guess it’s your turn. Must be your lucky day.”

“Considering I got a blowjob from the hottest blonde before noon today, I’d agree with you,” you said, briefly letting Yena react before you grabbed her body and pulled her onto the bed, switching places with her. She smirked.

“Fuck me,” Yena repeated, the look in her eyes growing with intensity even more. It wouldn’t be that hard for you to give in to her demands as you dove into her neck again, sucking away at the tender skin until you were stopped.

“D-don’t leave a mark, Eunbi will kill us.”

“Then let her kill us.“

Yena took a second to think. “I’d rather have your lips somewhere else.“

Without hesitation, she grabbed the hem of her black top, lifting it up and over her head and tossing it away in the distance. Your eyes feasted on her full round breasts covered in a lacy black bra that demanded to be free.

Yena always dressed rather conservatively at work, wearing buttoned-up shirts or blouses that covered up her chest without any real hint as to what she was working with. It was a nice surprise to see how busty she was.  

“What do you think? They’re nowhere near as big as Eunbi’s,” she said, somehow disappointed even after showing off such a delicious set of supple tits.

“I think they’re perfect.”

You didn’t waste any time, allowing your hands to take over as they caressed over any exposed skin you could find as you felt her tight, toned midriff, kissing her collarbone on both sides and falling into a trance at the sight of her nearly exposed breasts.

Yena had as little patience as you did, reaching behind her back with one hand as she unhooked the clasp of her bra, hastily wanting to be rid of the piece of fabric. She watched your reaction as she removed the straps off her shoulders, stripping off the garment and disposing of it to leave her full breasts exposed for your eyes only.

You grew breathless at the sight of her exposed juicy tits, mouth salivating at the sight of perfectly pale and round mounds of flesh that nothing else no longer mattered to you.

Yena lifted her arms over her head, giving you the perfect view of her now topless body and exposed pale skin as her breasts bounced. You couldn’t resist any longer as you cupped her sizable tits, squeezing the soft flesh that fit perfectly into your hands that earned the cutest of moans from her as you kneaded them gently.

“Taste them. Taste me,” Yena said, her voice full of need as you kept your hands full, never wanting to stop playing with her large tits that felt so pillowy soft to the touch.

“Do you like my tits?” she asked, clearly already knowing the answer. You couldn’t get enough of them, both your hands and eyes were drawn to them like a moth to a flame, massaging the warm flesh as you ran a thumb over both nipples, causing them to harden against your touch and eliciting cute gasps.

“I fucking love them,” you said, immediately diving in and latching your lips around one of her stiff nipples, sucking gently on it as your other hand fondled the one not in your mouth. Yena whined cutely, her body jerking at the pleasure as your lips and tongue stayed attached to her stiffened nipple that you never wanted to leave.

Yena’s beautiful eyes closed shut for a moment as you switched breasts, your lips attacking each and every part of her voluptuous chest as you slurped on her nipples until they were drenched in saliva and swollen, suckling with purpose and desire.

She was falling apart by the second as you messily sucked her tits, and you felt the need to give her even more. You wanted her to melt into a puddle as you gradually traveled a hand down her pants, into her underwear and slipped a finger into her tight pussy.

Yena gasped and her hips bucked as your finger explored her hole, your digit being coated liberally with the slick juices that had formed. She squirmed and writhed underneath you wildly as you fucked her hole slowly, earning several muted moans as you couldn’t help but continue kissing her as she moaned into your mouth

“You’re so wet, Yena,” you said, slowly pumping into her cunt back and forth, feeling the tightness of her walls gripping your finger harshly, the wet womanly juices abundant on your fingers as you played with her wet folds two knuckles deep.

“I’m wet because of you.”

Those words brought a smile to your lips, finding motivation to move deeper as the only sounds escaping from Yena’s lips was a series of gasps and moans as you brought a second finger inside, pumping into her as deep to the very hilt as wanton desire flooded her body.  

“F-fuck, I need you inside me. Not just your fingers, I need you to fuck me. Now.”

You couldn’t quite tell if she was begging or demanding, either way you weren’t going to let her request go unanswered. You gave a few more pumps before withdrawing your wet messy fingers out of her hole before making a show of licking them clean.

“You’re delicious, Yena.”

She gave a shy smile in response, and you were quick to work the zipper of her pants, forcibly yanking down both her pants alongside her underwear. Yena was left completely naked and all her beautiful curves on display for you and nothing could make you take your eyes off her.

Yena’s nude body was impeccable, a beautiful work of art from head to toe - perfect breasts, tight tummy, plentiful thighs, and the prettiest pussy, clean-shaven and dripping wet, delicious pink flesh ready to be devoured.

Yena instinctively spread her legs for you, and while you were nothing but eager to give her a taste you frowned as you felt your face being pushed away and denied of such a succulent treat.

“I can’t wait any longer, just fuck me.”

While you lamented the loss of having her thighs around your head, you couldn’t argue with her as you quickly stripped to match her state of undress, sending clothes flying off of your body in a blur.

You were equally eager to get started as you knelt and positioned yourself between Yena’s spread legs, admiring her pink flesh dripping with arousal as you took your cock and lined it up with her entrance. It took everything in your power to not immediately shove your needy cock deep inside Yena, wanting to savor the experience of initial penetration.

Her pretty pink pussy was more than ready for your cock as you rubbed your shaft between her slippery lips, feeling the heat from between her pussy inviting you in. Yena couldn’t take much more of your teasing, unable to control herself as she snatched your shaft out of your hand and slipped the tip of your cock inside her dripping heat, parting her warm flesh as you entered her pussy for the first time.

“Oh f-fuck…” she moaned as she let go of the tight grip she had on of your cock, letting you do the rest as you pushed in deeper to allow your tip to disappear inside her wanton body.

“A little impatient aren’t we?” you teased, gingerly moving your swollen cockhead in and out of Yena’s tight pussy as the intense warmth and wetness surrounded your rigid shaft.

“Y-yes. Don’t make me beg.”

“But that sounds like so much fun,” you said as a wry smile washed over your face.

“Just shut up and fuck me,” Yena bluntly said, as if she had flipped a switch from begging to demanding. When a woman asked you to fuck her, you wouldn't dare disappoint.

You moved slowly inside Yena with a gentle but steady pace, using your hips as you gave smooth, gentle strokes, watching the slick pink lips of her tight pussy being stretched out with the first few inches of your shaft.

“More. I can take it, give me all of you,” Yena said as she let out a series of whiny moans, tossing blonde hair back and placing her hands flat on the mattress.

Yena looked up with an insatiable desire as she bit her lip, and you followed her instructions as inch by inch you slid in deeper into her cunt, keeping your eyes focused on her, only finding deep pleasure in her eyes.

Keeping the movements smooth as possible you worked every inch inside, letting her tight pussy swallow up your shaft until you had bottomed her out, sharing gasps and moans of being completely inside her.

“That’s it, just like that. Fuck, you’re so big,” Yena blurted out as she gritted her teeth, letting herself adjust to your length and gasping at the hard flesh buried inside her cunt.

“So fucking tight,” you said, unable to think straight at the sensations of you being buried to hilt inside the incredibly sexy blonde you were lucky enough to now be inside. Yena’s eyes signaled for you to keep going and you did so without hesitation, sliding every inch that had been covered in her wet juices again and again.

Yena grew relaxed as the time went on, every thrust as pleasurable as could be as you fucked, finding the perfect rhythm. You impaling her with every inch with deep strokes and you felt overwhelmed by the tight grip of her drenched wet lips.

“Does that feel good?” you asked, watching Yena carefully. It took her a moment to process your words, pleasure running its course throughout her body.

“It feels amazing. Fuck me harder.”

You were happy to fulfill her request, having your fill of build-up. Grabbing onto Yena’s slender waist, you used more power in your hips as you granted harder thrusts, driving yourself deep with every movement and upping your pace gradually.

It was a wonderful sight to see. Yena’s gorgeous naked body was rocked by your deep thrusts, causing her beautiful breasts to bounce deliciously with every pop of your hips as her pretty mouth stayed open, releasing a mass of satisfied moans. She grew progressively wetter the longer you fucked her, every inch of your hard shaft covered in her essence as kept yourself buried balls deep at the end of every thrust.

“Come on, I said to fuck me harder,” Yena said with a fire in her eyes, unsatisfied

with your current pace. You had been holding back, not wanting to hurt her and also savoring the feeling of every entrance and exit into her wet cunt.

The chains had been unshackled and you were going to give in to both of your desires, fueled by the lust and hunger in her eyes. Without the need for build-up you immediately intensified your thrusts, slamming your hips against her tight body and fucking Yena with deep strokes into her body that gave spikes of pleasure.

Your rhythm grew harsher as you pistoned into her pussy, the bed creaking and rocking against the bedroom wall. In no time at all the room filled with the lustful sounds of pleasure and smacking of hot flesh against hot flesh as your naked bodies became misted with sweat. You leaned forward and captured Yena’s full bouncing breasts with your fingertips, squeezing the soft flesh as her pretty moans grew louder and whinier.

“There you go. Pound that tight little pussy,”

With your hands full of Yena’s plentiful tits you let out your own series of lustful noises, growls and grunts that sounded more animalist by second as you kept slamming your cock into Yena, finding the perfect angle as the walls of her dripping warm hole became more of a tight fit by the second.

“Fuck, that’s so good, don’t fucking stop!”

You kept the intensity up as sweat dripped down your forehead, exerting all the energy and power you had in your hips. You didn’t care if the bed underneath you was going to give out and collapse, all that mattered was the sharp pleasure you were feeding the both of you.

“Oh my god, I’m going to cum!” Yena desperately cried out, the pulsating walls of her heat confirming her words as they squeezed your cock and released repeatedly as you continued pushing her over the edge.

Running your hands all her bare skin you felt all you could of Yena’s pale bare skin, gliding your palms over her soft flushed skin. Yena reached for your hands as you interlocked your fingers with her, feeling her small hands squeezing yours as you repeatedly drove yourself inside her and helped Yena chase her impending climax.

“I’m cumming!”

You didn’t dare stop moving your rapidly pistoning shaft as Yena came hard all over your cock, her breathing audibly speeding up as her toes curled, and her hips bucked with a mind of their own. Her orgasm was so loud and so violent as the entire bed frame shook, her slim fingers squeezing the life out of your own and pounded her straight through every second of her orgasm.

It took several moments for Yena to recover from her orgasm, coming back to life as her breath slowly came back to its usual state. With your hands still linked when Yena you gradually slowed down your hips until you were barely moving inside her, leaning as far as you could and lifted her arms over her head.

“You’re really good at this,” Yena said, every syllable gasping for air as she softly kissed your lips as she looked into with glazed over eyes.

“Good at what?”

“At making me cum. I can still feel it,” Yena said weakly, a shy smile overtaking her features. She leaned into to give you one more kiss as her eyes continued to stay half-lidded as she recovered from her euphoric bliss.

“It’s your turn now. You must be close, right?” Yena asked, catching her breath, her delicious chest heaving hypnotically.

“I’ve got a little left,” you said, looking into Yena’s eyes once more as she gave off a proud smile.

“Keep fucking me then. Take me however you want.”

You didn’t exchange any more words as you slowly withdrew your cock from inside Yena, your cock stained with her messy juices that glistened in her bedroom lights. You immediately knew how you wanted her as you grabbed her hips and turned her body over, letting you see her cute backside for the first time.

Yena quickly received your message and got into position on hands and knees, raising her tight ass and shaking it as she brought a hand between her creamy thighs and played with her splayed pink lips, looking back erotically.

“Shove that nice cock back inside me.”

There was no time to waste in a moment like this, but you allowed yourself just a second to admire Yena’s bent over body in the best position, face down into the mattress and her delicious ass raised up in preparation for what was next.

Yena wasn’t left empty for very long as you returned your cock back inside her, finding it impossible to tease her as you slid back inside with one smooth stroke. She was even wetter after her orgasm, and in this position she felt much tighter, the snugness of her walls almost too much to bear as you picked up speed and fucked her from behind.

“Oh fuuuck…”

Just like before you didn’t bother with any build-up, immediately re-establishing your pace and ramming your cock slick with her juices at a swift pace, earning sinful gasps and moans from the moaning blonde.

The view in front of you was perfect. Yena’s bent over body, the perfect arch of her back, pristine pale skin from head complete with beautiful pink lips that your cock was spearing repeatedly, it was all surreal to experience.

The air felt light as you felt the tightness of warm flesh wrapped around your shaft, you wondered how you lucked into sleeping with a fourth different member of Eunbi’s team, each woman a unique sexual experience in their own individual way.

Yena’s wide hips were the perfect resting spot for your hands as you thrusted harshly into her, giving deep firm strokes that hit her most pleasurable spot as you found her favorite angle. Her cheeks jiggled with every rock of your hips as you smacked up against her tight body, constant wetness and warmth suffocating your shaft.

“Just like that, you’re so fucking deep, oh god…”

It wasn’t enough just to take her in this position, you desperately needed more. With one hand on her hip, you grabbed the front of her shoulder with the other and pulled her back until her body was upright with yours, her sweaty back pressed up against your chest. The newly found position added for even deeper penetration and a heightened sense of intimacy, with the additive incentive of Yena able to moan closer to your ears.

“I’m starting to think you like my pussy,” Yena said.

“I love it. Your pussy feels so fucking good, I want to be inside you all night.”

“Do you like it more than Eunbi?” Yena said. “You don’t have to answer.”

You were thankful she didn’t need an answer for such an impossible question, one that you would be able to answer in a million years. Your thoughts resumed back to the dripping hot flesh wrapped around your cock that you were pounding into, desperate to take as much pleasure from her body as possible.

“That’s it, just like that! Fuck me as hard as you can!”

Yena’s lustful words and sensual moans were music to your ears. Part of you worried that you were being too rough, but when the screams and moans that were a constant stream from Yena’s lips you knew otherwise.

You did everything you could to keep Yena in this position, holding onto her body with one hand to ensure her body stayed upright. Your other hand had reached around to her plentiful chest, grabbing the breast closest to you as best as you could and squeezing the soft mound harshly all while you were ramming into her tight cunt at full speed.

“Oh f-uck! Fuck me just like this, fuck me until you cum in me!”

You hadn’t heard a better set of encouraging words all week. The room grew hotter by the second, each thrust into Yena’s warmth sending shockwaves of pleasure. Your hips worked overtime, smacking harshly against her sweaty body as the beautiful echo of flesh slapping echoed in the room.

It was your turn to be greedy as you gave everything you had, desperately craving your release the same way Yena had taken hers already. Your bodies intertwined as you ravaged Yena’s tight body, using all your leftover energy to give in to your animalistic desires.

“I”m so fucking close,” you growled, keeping up the merciless pace, each thrust being buried to the hilt inside Yena’s tight pussy, aching for your release. The loud smack against her ass, the wetness of her tight pussy, it was all far too much to handle.

“I want you to cum, I need you to cum inside me, please. Cum inside me like you have inside Eunbi, please, please cum inside my tight little pussy,” Yena begged, once again her switch being turned on as she turned in a cute whimpering mess.

There wasn’t a chance of doing anything else.

You didn’t want it all to end. The creak of Yena’s bed that you swore was liable to break at any second, the deep guttural moans that escaped her lips, and the wet squelch of her dripping tight cunt as you endlessly pounded into her, a sound that intoxicated you as it entered your ears, you wanted it all to last for eternity.

Just a few more thrusts was all you had left, at the peak of your final one you slammed hard and buried yourself deep into her dripping cunt and exploded, throbbing violently and filling her walls with thick hot cum. Yena tilted her head to meet yours and interrupted your moans with her warm lips as you filled her tight cavern to the brim with hot cum, muffled moans desperate to escape each other’s tired mouths as you emptied every drop into her hot tight body.

The look of satisfaction in Yena’s eyes was unforgettable as her pussy milked you dry, aching for more as you shared one final kiss, struggling to remember where you were. You crashed together on top of the tortured mattress, sweaty bodies stacked together as you rested inside her warmth, spent and depleted of stamina as you kissed the shoulders, neck, and upper back of the woman who you just had the most exhausting and satisfying sex with.

“That...was...amazing…” Yena said, syllables difficult to form as much as the depleted air in her lungs. Once you came back to your senses, you gradually withdrew your cock from her freshly fucked pussy, watching as your thick milky load stained her pink splayed lips and thighs, introducing itself to her expensive bed sheets.

When it was all said and done you found yourself underneath Yena’s tired and sweaty body, trying to fix the messy strands of her disheveled hair as the idea of moving a muscle felt impossible.

“You okay?” you asked, hoping you weren’t too rough on the young girl, finding stringing a sentence together in your post orgasm haze a foreign concept.

“I’ve never been better.”

                                                       ✦✦

Detective Kwon twirled her pen repeatedly as she looked over the multi-page report on her desk from security analyst Choi Yena. Several things had happened over the course of the past six hours that Eunbi involuntarily skipped lunch, only able to fit in a few granola bars and a bottle of water. While some of the terminology stated wasn’t familiar to her, she got the gist of and signed off on the necessary security upgrades, routine password changes, and additional security staff employed around the more vulnerable areas of the precinct.

Eunbi grew endlessly frustrated at the situation, finding the case at an impasse. She had investigated dozens of suspects and witnesses over the course of several weeks, all that energy put into a failed raid was causing her to lose faith in her job as head detective.

Taking a deep sigh Eunbi rested her head on her desk, trying to momentarily forget about the troubles of her job. Not even getting a few seconds of respite her phone rang, the vibration nearly causing it to fall off her no longer organized desk. She hesitated at first to answer, not only since it wasn’t usual for her to get calls after hours but also from a private number, ultimately choosing to answer at the last second.

“Detective Kwon speaking.”

“Detective...this phone call has been a long time coming.”

“Who is this? How did you get this number?”

“That’s not important. It seems your entire case has fallen apart at the seams hasn’t it? That’s rather unfortunate.”

“Listen here, whoever the hell you are I will find you and l-”

“Relax, detective. I’m not here to cause any more trouble than you already have. I’d like to offer you a deal.”

“I’m sorry but I’m not interested-”

“You’re trying to catch Patriarch Goda, isn't that correct, Detective? It seems like you’ve run low on luck lately.”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss any information pertaining to any of our ongoing cases. It’s all strictly confidential.”

“That’s too bad, then. I guess you won’t be interested in any information I have on the patriarch’s whereabouts.”

“I’m listening.”

“I can tell you everything you need to know. His hideouts, his clan members, I can even give you detailed information on his weapon supply. All I need is one thing in return.”

“And what exactly would that be?”

“You have two of my men in custody. Takabe-san and Kasuga-san. They haven’t been formally charged with any crimes if my research is correct.”

“I’ve already told you I can’t discuss confidential information, especially over the phone.”

“Then let’s speak hypothetically. If there were any men arrested under those names, were they to be released I have information to use at your will regarding Patriarch Goda.”

“How do I know this information is accurate?”

“I’ll send one of Goda’s hideouts free of charge as a gesture of goodwill. When both of my men have been released I’ll give you everything you need about him, what you do with that information is up to you, detective.”

“Why would you give up this information in trade? Are these men that important to you?”

“Loyalty is important, and these men have been loyal to me since day one. I find the patriarch’s methods detestable and I’ve seen too much unnecessary bloodshed under his command. I wish to take over his clan and become the new patriarch.”

“That sounds very ambitious. I’m not exactly convinced about this.”

“What choice do you have, detective? You don’t exactly have many options at this point I gather?”

“Fine. Your men haven’t done anything to be charged with anyways.”

“Good choice, detective. I’ll give you twenty-four hours to release my men, bring them to the pier by the northern highway at midnight. Come alone.“

Eunbi didn’t have a chance to respond when the caller on the other end hung up, Whoever it was was right, she didn’t have many options at this point.

                                                        ✦✦

“This is clearly a setup, Detective Kwon. It all sounds too good to be true,” said Sakura, the worry in her eyes visible as the sun was bright.

“I’d have to agree, it sounds like the perfect opportunity for a trap.”

“I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself. If they try anything I can distract them with these,” Eunbi said, grabbing two handfuls of her large breasts as she flashed a cheeky smile.

“We’ll have a small backup team nearby as a precaution.”

“If you really think that’s necessary, but make sure you stay far away. I don’t want them to get spooked.”

“Of course, detective.”

“This is our second chance. Let’s not waste it.”

[mosswillow]

Focus - Dark!Bucky Barnes x ADHD!Reader

Warnings! Dark! 18+ content, vaginal fingering, noncon/dubcon, smut, kidnapping, oral (female receiving)

Summary: You never should have taken the job cleaning for Stark industries. The Avengers might be heroes on the outside but something sinister lies just beneath the surface.

A/N: this is part of the Synonyms series. You can read any of them as stand alones but I encourage reading them in order if you want to read all of them. This one specifically ties them all together (but you can still read it alone and it should make sense)

This is one of those where it doesn’t feel done but I’m done writing it. I think I just hyped it up in my head too much so after actually writing it I’m like, eh it’s not as good as I thought it would be.

Word count: 3.4k

If you could just focus, everything in your life would be better.

Your inattention follows you around like a shadow. It stands behind you, silently ruining your life while you try in vain to just focus. Just don’t forget. Just stop losing things. Just pay attention. Teachers in school would tell you to stop daydreaming, that if you just listened you could do so much better. Growing up, Your parents treated you like you would never amount to anything. They would push your siblings to do well in school but when it came to you they were silent, unwilling to spend energy on a kid who couldn’t even make it through a family dinner without getting distracted. Everyone around you would laugh at your “quirky” personality. You know that for other people you’re funny, always getting yourself into trouble and making silly mistakes. You don’t think it’s funny though and you never did.  As a kid you would frequently cry yourself to sleep. You found ways to hide your stupidity so that just maybe others might overlook your shadow. You’ve tried so hard to act normal, to make check lists and routines but it never works and you always find yourself once again brought to tears after your inevitable failure.

This is why you took the job at Stark Tower all those years ago. You knew you wouldn’t excel at school  and so you took the first job you could find, cleaning for Stark Industries. It’s something you’re actually good at and the only routine in your life you’ve been able to consistently follow. It makes you move around constantly and there’s always some different puzzle to solve. You love the feeling of finally getting out a tough stain from the carpet or finding the perfect tool to finally get to a hard to reach spot.

Now, after years of hard work and an extensive background check you’ve been promoted to cleaning the Avengers floor. You have a generous salary now, health insurance, your own place with no roommates. Some people may judge what you do but you don’t care anymore. It’s honest work and you love it.

---

You walk into stark tower, showing security your badge before heading to the elevator and riding it up to the Avengers floor. You’ve had this job for a few weeks now but you still feel nervous every day. If you’re honest you’re scared of them, the Avengers, They feel unhinged. It’s nothing they do or say. It’s the general vibe you get when you’re around them, like they’re filled to the brim with unbridled anger that hides underneath a cracking exterior. Any moment they might break completely and whatever trauma they’ve all been through will spill out and consume anyone who dares stand close to them.

You start your day in one of the many bathrooms, scrubbing every surface before taking your cleaning supplies and working your way through the floor. Every day is much of the same, you spend all day cleaning the massive Avengers living area, trying your best to stay out of their lives.

You turn a corner and see Captain America with someone, a new recruit you’ve seen around but haven't met. He has her against the wall, pushing his finger into her pussy. You stand stunned for a second.

“If I don’t take action now I might lose you and I can’t lose you.” Captain America says.

You turn and jump back behind the corner, sliding your back down the wall. You can make out some of their conversation and it sounds dramatic. She’s crying and begging him to walk away. You close your eyes and tell yourself to stay out of it. It’s not your place and if you tried to step in you could lose your job.  

You hear footsteps walking towards you. Captain America stops and flashes a smile while you stand up.

“We appreciate privacy here, you understand the consequences if you tell anyone about anything about our personal lives?”

You do know, they had you sign an agreement that said they’d take everything away from you if you talked about their personal lives in any way to anyone. If you value your livelihood you won’t speak a word about it to anyone.

“I’m sorry sir, I saw you there and didn’t want to interrupt. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but, Is… is she ok?”

He crosses his arms and looks you up and down.

“Everything is consensual if that’s what you’re asking, we enjoy a little roleplay sometimes.”

you‘re not totally convinced, something inside you tells you that he’s lying to you. He looks at you so intently and you know, despite his hero status, that he wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of you permanently if he had to. you nod your head and give a smile.

“I’m sorry if I insinuated anything sir.”

He checks his watch before quickly walking away. You exhale and pick up your cleaning supplies. As you walk past her room you stop for a second, deciding if you should knock. You back away, not wanting to interfere more than you already have.

“You’re new here.” a voice says as you reach the living room.

“Yes, I just started a few weeks ago.” you reply.

“I’m Bucky.” he walks over to you, looking you up and down.

“I have a lot of work to finish.” you back up a few steps and hold your cleaning tote in front of you. Bucky stuffs his hands in his pockets and smiles.

“I won’t keep you.”

---

Six months later

---

You walk into Tony’s suite and lean down to plug in your vacuum. A pop of red catches your eye and you pull a thong out from under the nightstand. You turn it over in your hands, deciding what to do with it. A hand comes behind you and takes it from you. You look up to see Tony Stark in front of you, stuffing the thong in his pocket.

“Mr. stark.” you gasp.

“From a one night stand.”

“Of course sir, do you want me to wash and return it to your... friend?”

“No.” Tony says quickly. “That will be all in here today.”

“I haven't vacuumed yet, do you want me to come back later?”

“No, just leave.”

You unplug the vacuum and roll it out the door, turning just briefly to close it behind you. As the door closes you see Tony pull the underwear out of his pocket and bring it to his nose.

You try your best over the next week to keep your mind focused on work. Everything starts to get back to normal.

One evening you hear a thud and someone yell out in pain. You run over to see Tony in the hallway standing threateningly over a woman.

“Is everything ok? You ask.

“We’re fine, you can leave for the night.” Tony says, waving you away. You make eye contact with the woman, looking back and forth between her and Tony. She nods and gives you a small, unconvincing smile. You turn around and walk away, wanting nothing more than to get home and take a long shower. Maybe you can forget about what you just saw.

On your way out you run straight into a wall of muscle.

“Hey, what’s the rush sweetheart.” Bucky catches you, holding onto your shoulders.

“I, uh, I’m sorry sir. Nothing, I’m just anxious to get home I guess.”

“Call me Bucky.”

“Bucky.” you say, moving away from him and towards the door.

“Hey, are you ok?” He takes a step towards you, cocking his head and furrowing his brow.

“Yes sir… Bucky.”

“Hey, you can tell me.”

“No, I can’t.” you look into his eyes, silently communicating the reason for your silence.

Bucky runs his hand through his hair and looks down.

“Your socks match.” he looks up and smiles.

“I’m sorry?” you look at your feet.

“You usually wear mismatched ones, it’s cute.”

You know he meant it to be a fun observation, maybe even a weird complement, but it feels pointed. You always lose your socks, it’s just one of the many small things that you should be able to do better but just can’t. You can’t even keep your life together enough to consistently find matching socks. You give a fake smile, used to laughing at yourself when these things are pointed out.

“Oh, yeah.” you laugh.

Bucky takes an almost imperceptible step towards you and you in turn take a very obvious one backwards.

“I’ll see you tomorrow sir.” you say.

“Bucky.”

“Bucky.” you give a tight smile before walking away.

---

Two weeks later

---

Natasha hands you a book.

“Can you wrap this please?”

“Yes ma'am, whose name should I put?”

“Say to my little bookworm, Love Nat.”

You wrap the present lovingly, putting extra care into it. You’ve seen them together, Nat and her girlfriend. Tony and Steve’s wives mostly keep to themselves but Natashas girlfriend is always nice to you, acknowledging you and thanking you when she sees you working. She owns a bookstore that you’ve visited a few times and always remembers you when you walk in.

“I think you forgot a piece of tape.” Bucky whispers in your ear making you jump. He’s started doing this, becoming more comfortable around you, touching you in small ways and getting just a little closer than what’s appropriate. You grab another piece of tape and secure a bit of paper.

“Thank you.” you say as you tie a bow around the gift and write the note. You pause with your pencil trying to remember what Natasha told you to write. You should have written it down when she told you it. You curse under your breath, wishing you had paid better attention when you were given instructions. You remember it was something easy but not exactly what she wanted.

“I have to get this back to Ms. Romanoff.” you push past Bucky.

“Did I do something to make you upset?”

You stop and look at him.

“No sir”

“Bucky”

“I just prefer to remain professional while at work,” you look down.

“What about outside of work?”

“I would rather keep that life separate. I’m sorry, I just really like this job and don’t want to do anything that might jeopardize it.”

Bucky clenches his jaw and you half expect him to grab you and push you against the wall like you’ve seen the captain and Tony do to their girlfriends and then wives. You flinch when he takes a step towards you. He reaches out, brushing the back of his hand over your cheek.

“I’m not like the others,” he whispers.

You’re not sure what to say, you just nod and watch as he steps back and walks away.

---

One month later

---

You’re doing dishes, scrubbing hard against burnt on food that was never soaked or even rinsed. One of them had a date the night before, making a complicated meal.

“How long until you get your girl?” Thor says to Sam as they walk into the kitchen.

“Tony’s working on it, probably a few weeks before I can take her home.”

They each grab oranges and head into the next room. their voices get quieter for a few minutes then louder again as they walk back to throw away their orange peels.

“I’m envious, I often fantasize about finding mine, If only I knew where she was.” Thor says.

“You have no idea where she could be?”

“I must confess, friend, I don’t even know what planet she’s on. She’s a slippery little lady.”

You stop washing dishes for a second, mind trying to dissect what you’re overhearing.

“You ok?” Bucky sets a plate next to the sink.

“Yes sir.” you reply, taking the plate and washing it.

You turn off the sink and turn around, seeing multiple dishes you forgot about. You pick them up and bring them to the sink, restarting the cleaning process.

“I think you should take a vacation.”

You look at him and raise your eyebrows.

“You’re a hard worker, and fast too.”

You nod in agreement.

“You’re… unusual to watch though.”

You set the last clean dish in the drying rack and turn your back to Bucky, taking a step away. You put your hand in your pocket to pull out your phone which holds your to do list but it’s not there. You look to your right and left and then turn back toward Bucky. He holds your phone out to you and you grab it and open your list.

“This is the third time today you’ve misplaced your phone.”

“I appreciate your concern, you’re very observant.” you bite your tongue before you say something aggressively inappropriate to your boss.

“Hey, I don’t want to hurt your feelings. You’re very smart and capable, I just noticed it’s been worse lately and think you should take a break.”

You take a deep breath.

“I’m taking next week off.” you say, grabbing a broom and walking out of the kitchen.

“Good.” Bucky yells after you.

---

Three months later.

---

Your phone rings, waking you up from a deep sleep.

“Hello,” you say sleepily.

“Hey, can you come in ASAP?” Tony says from the other end.

You jump out of bed.

“Of course, I’ll be there soon.”

You quickly get dressed and run out of the apartment. You gasp and drop your bag as soon as the elevator door opens. There’s a huge mess covering the entire living room and kitchen. There’s broken glass and furniture everywhere as well as a hole in the wall. It looks as though there was a fight and you wonder what happened. You get to work right away.

Thankfully a few of the Avengers wives come and help you clean up. Natashas wife evidently is back from a long honeymoon and you’re happy to see her. You smile at her and she frowns back at you.

“Are you ok?”

She looks away. “Just tired.”

You watch her give a tiny flinch as Natasha calls her name from the next room. Something is very wrong.

“You got this cleaned up fast.” Bucky says, taking a dustpan away from you and dumping the contents into the trash.

“I had help.” you say, looking over to where Natasha and her wife stand across the room.

You look back at Bucky and give a sweet smile.

“I was wondering if I could leave a little early on friday. There’s a birthday party for my grandmother.”

“I think you’ve earned leaving a little early after today, you’re welcome to get ready for your party here too. You can use the guest room.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Bucky.”

You resist the urge to roll your eyes.

“Thank you Bucky.”

---

You put on your dress and a full face of makeup, admiring yourself in the mirror before heading out. Bucky stands outside of the guest room door, obviously waiting for you.

“You clean up nice.”

“Thank you.”

Bucky clicks his tongue as he stares at you.

“Did I ever tell you that you remind me of someone I used to know?”

You back away.

“No, you didn’t.”

“I miss her.”

You try your best to take even breaths. The way he looks at you makes you deeply uncomfortable. You feel naked despite your dress being on the conservative side. You make the mistake of looking straight at his crotch, seeing a very visible bulge. You gulp and shift uncomfortably on your feet.

“Have a good time at your party.” Bucky says.

“I will.” you say politely before basically running to the elevator. You get in and realize you forgot your phone. You walk back to the guest room where Bucky waits, holding your phone out for you. You grab it and turn around but bucky catches your arm.

“Focus, do you have everything you need.”

You shift your eyes away and realize you forgot your wallet and keys too.

Bucky grabs your things out of his pocket and hands them to you.  

“Thank you.” you breathe.

Bucky hums and lets you go.

“Be safe,” he yells as you walk back to the elevator, this time taking it down and leaving the tower.

---

Three months later

---

You’re going to quit today. As good as the money is it’s not worth the fear and stress of working there. Not only have you become more and more concerned about the wives of the Avengers but you just can’t take Bucky anymore. You’re scared of him. The way he looks at you makes you feel as though he could decide at any minute to lock you in a room and tear your clothes off. You feel constant stress at work and have developed a tremor. No amount of money is worth this work environment. The lease at your apartment is about to end and you’ll move back with your parents until you find a new job.

You enter the avengers floor and hear yelling.

“Fuck!”

“I thought we were kidnapping women?”

“You weren’t supposed to just snatch one. Now there’s a whole mess to clean up.”

“Thor just took his.”

“He has a point.”

“Thor had that whole betrothal thing.”

“Touche.”

You make eye contact with a scared woman who is sitting on the couch with her hands tied in front of her. She mouths run and you do, running out of the tower and home. You start frantically packing a bag, throwing your phone away since you’re sure they can track it.

“There’s nowhere to hide baby.”

You scream as Bucky pulls you away from your suitcase and throws you on your bed.

“Here’s what’s going to happen.” he touches your face, smoothing his finger over your lip.

“We’re married now, Tony already set it up. I’m going to take you on a honeymoon on an island until I can trust you.”

It clicks in your head, the honeymoons. They always come back so quiet and introverted.

“What did they do to those poor girls?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Tears start forming in your eyes.

“I won’t tell anyone, just let me go.”

“This is the only way.”

Bucky’s hand travels down your body, grabbing your waistband and pulling your pants off. He puts his hand in between your legs and you squirm away, clenching your legs tight.

“Please baby, I don't want to hurt you but I will if i have to. Now open up”

You shake your head, tears now spilling down your cheeks. He slaps you hard and you clutch your throbbing face, crying out and pushing your body against the headboard. You slowly and shakilly open your legs for him, closing your eyes as he dips a metal finger in your pussy.

“I’m not like the others.”

He thrusts his finger in and out.

“They took those women out of greed. They feel like they deserve love after everything they’ve given up... we’ve given up.”

He reaches his other hand up, still fucking you gently with a metal finger, and grabs your chin, shaking your head gently until you look at him.

“I just want you to be safe and happy.”

Bucky pulls his finger out. He grabs his cock, stroking it as he looks at your naked lower half. You try to close your legs but he grabs them, pulling them open. He kisses your mound gently and you arch your back involuntarily, pushing your pussy into his face. He grabs your legs and holds you against his mouth, suddenly sucking and licking until you’re coming undone. The pleasure washes over you and you relax for a second before your mind is brought back to reality. Your legs shake as He pulls back and smiles at you, climbing over you and pushing his impressive dick in. He kisses you as he thrusts into you, grabbing your shoulders and squeezing them as he comes.

“I’m going to be good for you, this will be good.” he whispers, holding you as you cry in his arms.

---

You’re forgetful. You don’t focus, don’t pay attention. It was right in front of your face and you still missed it. You always miss it. You’ve always been someone who gets themselves into trouble, always making silly mistakes and having to pay for them.

Your shadow did it again, silently destroyed everything around you while you ignorantly looked the wrong way. If you could just pay attention.

If you could just focus.

But you can’t.

[quillsanddaydreams]

false promises

sirius black x reader

—author’s note: this idea was something that came to me before writing a paper and it just struck with me since. Sirius and you have a long history you can never get over. What happens when you finally get an opportunity to leave it all behind?

—warning(s): breakup and angst. gender neutral!reader (pronouns aren’t used).

—word count: 1,702

The sky was quickly turning black as you watched the streets the bus passed through. Today had been a whirlwind of emotions you weren’t sure you could contain. You had looked through old photographs, happy faces smiling back at you. They seem to make you feel worse, although you knew you had to do what you had planned for the day. Rip the band aid. Taking a deep breath, you stepped out and walked into the restaurant.

Your gaze immediately went over to him, his smile lighting up the room. Sirius. No other name could do him justice. James had an arm around him, enthusiastically telling the company something. Remus noticed you first. He gave a huge grin, waving at you. Forcing yourself to smile back at him, you made your way over to the table.

“Aha there you are!” James exclaimed, his eyes twinkling. “And here we thought you wouldn’t show up to a meeting you called.”

You rolled your eyes playfully while your heart constricted. Delaying worked only for so long. Sitting down beside Remus, you flipped open the menu avoiding everyone’s eyes. Especially the grey ones. He could always read you like an open book.

“So, did you all find anything interesting?” you said, scanning the menu like you had done a hundred times before. The group hummed in response.

Calling in the waitress, you gave your orders. You wondered whether any of them would continue some small talk, holding a glass of water to your lips. How were you even supposed to tell them? Sirius nudged you with his feet, making you look up at him. He raised his eyebrows wordlessly questioning you whether you were alright. Nodding carefully, you tried your best to hold your emotions in. Quiet followed, you could hear the cutlery being kept and people around your table chatting. It was as if everyone was anticipating a shoe to drop. Black spoke first.

“I know you like treating us and all,” he started as others leaned in. “But what’s the occasion for today? You’ve been so secretive about it; you didn’t even tell me.”

Your throat felt dry even though you just had some water. All of a sudden you felt as if you were exposed. Mulling over your next words, you pushed your nails into the palm of your hand. A habit you picked up as a child.

“I got a huge job offer, more of a promotion to be honest,” you began, watching their reactions. “The salary is quite something and the experience would step me up to a much higher position.”

“Whoa, that is so amazing” James said with widened eyes, cutting you off. Remus nodded along.

“And the way you were acting, we were afraid you were going to deliver a death sentence or something.”

“That is so great, congratulations!”

“It’s in Japan,” you whispered but no one seemed to hear you.

“You’ve been working so hard everyday—“

“We have to get ice-cream later!”

“It’s in japan!” you shouted, making the table fall silent again. Remus bit his lip, searching your face as Sirius just stared.

“It’s a five-year program,” you continued. “I talked to my boss and she told me this was a brilliant opportunity and that I should definitely pack up my bags.”

“You seriously aren’t considering to take up on that, are you?” James asked. Your jaw felt heavy. The silence must have been an enough answer, because no one dared to speak. Remus cleared his throat.

“Is this what you want?” he hushed as you felt tears prick your eyes. It wasn’t what you wanted; it was what you needed. You sneaked a glance at Sirius, who was still looking at you, dumbfounded.

You nodded slowly. James fidgeted.

“So this is your way of saying goodbye?” James remarked, a tad bit agitatedly.

“James—”

“Don’t James me!” he said, narrowing his eyes at you. “You’re talented. I know that, you know that. You can do without this program. And it’s in Japan for goodness’ sake! It’s miles away. Miles! Going there for five whole years means not looking back.”

“There are ways to communicate,” you said, your voice small. Even you didn’t believe that. James sat back, his arms folded.

“I hate you so much right now,” Remus said, picking at his napkin. You put your hand over his, squeezing slightly. He sighed. Sirius got up all of a sudden. You flinched. He turned to the group giving a random excuse about some work and left the table. Looking down at your hands, you heard the restaurant door close with a thud. Tears fell down your cheeks and you furiously wiped them off.

The rest of the dinner went in a strange calm. It was obvious to both James and Remus that you were just as much hurt as them. James gave you a small smile and helped brighten the mood at the table. Remus reassured you ever so often. You were grateful.

-♡♡♡-

Sirius didn’t contact you after that night. He was angry. Angry at you, angry for what you planned for yourself. It hurt you, more than you could care to admit. This playing around on your tip toes had been going for far too long. You knew your breakup with Sirius had been mutual, for both your goods but you didn’t have it in you to sit back and watch him fall into arms of people that weren’t you. Not anymore. Not when you still loved him. And you knew Sirius did too, it was how he still went out of his way to make you smile, how he loathed every single person you dated after him unable to realise that none of them could compare to him. None of them could compare to how he made you feel.

It left you to wonder at times whether the breakup was really the right decision. You reminded yourself that it was whenever the thought came up. Both of you wanted different things. Sirius never wanted to settle down and you did. After months of fighting and waiting for the other to give in to the other or come to a compromise, you realised it wasn’t going to work. You sighed. What were you doing reminiscing either way?

You checked all your bags and papers before putting on the coat ready to face the inevitable. Driving to the edge of the lake, you stopped and walked into the old abandoned warehouse. The grey walls didn’t seem haunting anymore, but inviting like an old friend. You smiled seeing a similar figure standing over the old table watching the ceiling.

“How did you find me?” he whispered, not sparing you a glance.

“I just felt the stench of complete and utter disappointment in me and followed it,” you jested but sobered seeing the look on Sirius’s face. You moved towards him slowly, gently placing a hand on his cheek cradling his face.

“Hey,” you whispered. He looked at you, his dark eyes making you lose yourself in them. “Don’t do this Sirius. You know I wouldn’t be able to leave you like this.”

“Then don’t leave,” he said simply. “I know you’re not doing it for yourself. You’re just running away.”

“You’re running away from me,” he hushed. You felt your mouth go dry. So he did know. There was no use beating about the bush, Sirius hated when people twisted up words.

“Well I am.”

“Why?”

“Why? You know why,” you pleaded. “Sirius I’ve been in love with you since I was a child. A child. We’ve been best friends all my life. Then we dated for five whole years. And now we don’t. I can’t be your ex and your friend simultaneously anymore, it’s been torture. Do you know how it feels knowing we’ll never be the same anymore? Just how much it hurts?”

“Do you think I feel good about it?” Sirius raised his voice, frustration from all those months pouring in. “Do you think I feel good about never being able to hold you close and see other men and women do it?”

“So maybe the job will do good to both of us,” you said after a beat.

“I did not say that—”

“Sirius—”

“No I didn’t. I’ll do anything for you. Give me another chance, just don’t go away,” Sirius said and you felt helpless. Sirius took your hands, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles. Tears pricked your eyes. You could remember all the time you spent with him together. Riding his bike to the sunset, singing and dancing nonsensically to songs, him kissing you softly telling you he loved you. The memories flashed before your eyes like a film reel. You could barely see anything through the salty tears welling up.

“That wouldn’t do justice to either of us,” you said after some time, your voice barely audible. “Some things aren’t meant to be. We’ll fight again Sirius, we’ll be angry at each other and we’ll end up hating each other more every day. And I won’t be able to live with myself knowing I spoiled the best relationship I ever had.”

Sirius gulped, breaking into sobs.

“Damn you,” he croaked. “Damn you for going away. Damn you for making me lose you all over again. As if it wasn’t painful enough the first time.”

You laughed through snuffles and squeezed his hand.

“You’ll never lose me. You’ll never get rid of me even if you tried—” you stopped as Sirius crashed his lips into yours, kissing you urgently. You pulled him closer by his shirt, as one of his hands went at your waist and the other held your face. Pulling away in a daze you sniffed and Sirius buried his face in your neck hugging you. Time seemed to pass by as neither of you pulled away.

“I guess I really can’t make you stay, can I?” he said as you shook your head, wrapping your arms around his body. “I’ll miss you. And I’ll show up at your door myself if you don’t answer my letters. Promise me you’ll keep in touch.”

You pulled back, wiping his face with your fingers.

“I promise.”

—as for the taglist: I don’t make taglists, I have a blog @from-my-quill which is updated whenever I post fanfiction. You could have the notifications on for it and it will work just like me tagging you.

⟨⟨REBLOGS AND FEEDBACK ARE APPRECIATED⟩⟩

[dreamescapeswriting]

The Devil Within ~ MYG [Request]

WORD COUNT: 11.3K

GENRE: ANGST! ANGST! ANGST! For a little lightness...ANGST! This is an angst fic, filled with arsehole Yoongi acts

PAIRING: Arsehole Yoongi x Maid!Reader

A/N: Just as a warning this is an ANGST fic, I’ve spoken with the person that requested it and they wanted a ANGST ending which means no happy ending and no part 2’s 

The longer you sat in the waiting room the longer you began to grow self-conscious of yourself, there were two beautiful blonde receptionists with their eyes trained on you as you nervously pulled at the skirt you were wearing. At first, you thought you were imagining things, they couldn't have been staring at you but it turned out they were. Looking you up and down in disgust as they mumbled to one another, you tried not to overthink it since you were wearing the same clothes as them only less polished. While their clothes were freshly washed, pressed and ironed yours were worn for the sixth time that week and it was only a Wednesday afternoon but you'd made sure they were clean before wearing it all. Instead of paying them attention, you tried to keep your mind on the interview. Going over everything in your head that you knew the lady you were meeting with was going to ask you. The number of interviews that you had been to you could have set up a business giving people interview techniques for a living but it wasn't a stable job like this one was. A small office job within a huge company like this was no big deal, or at least that was what you were trying to convince yourself of anyway. BigHit were one of the largest companies in Seoul and here you were applying for a job to work in their financial department something that you had never done before.

You'd gotten so lost in your own thought's you hadn't heard a squeaky door opening to reveal a man standing there in a grey suit, he glanced up from a folder and around the empty waiting room. 

"Miss Y/l/n?" You glanced up when you heard a male voice calling out your name, you stared over at the balding man that was smiling at you he looked as though he was going to be nice but you were expecting someone else. It wasn't the woman you had arranged to meet with, or if it was she was in desperate need of updating her image on the website you applied on. As soon as he realised he had your full attention he pointed at the office behind him that he had just emerged from, 

"Right this way," He told you as he walked back into what you were assuming was his office, you slowly raised from the chair and brushed your skirt off before beginning to walk. Tripping over your own feet and stumbling into the reception desk making the two girls laugh at you together. They didn't even try to mask that they were laughing at you as they continued to stare, waiting to see if you would do anything else. The heat in your body began to rise in embarrassment but you brushed it off trying to act as though you weren't bothered by their laughter and you headed into the room.

As you walked into the room you tried not to let the shocked gasp leave your throat as you looked around the room, it looked more like a study in some penthouse apartment instead of somebodies office. There was large floor to ceilings windows giving a huge view of Seoul, a large mahogany desk directly in front of the windows with a large leather office chair on one side and two red leather chairs on the other. 

"Please, take a seat and we can start talking with one another," The man said as he sat down on his chair, opening your folder to look over everything you'd brought with you. Copies of your grades, work experience, references and other things potentially bosses needed to see from you.

"I'm Sejin, you were supposed to meet with my assistant today but I managed to make the meeting instead." He told you as he glanced up at you, putting his hands together on the desk as he made direct eye contact with you. This was slightly different from the other interviews that you had been to before, the others were far more relaxed. You would be given a beverage or something before he headed straight into the interview questions,

"I suppose we should start with the hardest question, Why do you want to work for BigHit?" The question you'd been dreading but had prepared for all at once. It was the number one question that everyone hated to be asked. The thought of telling a complete stranger the truth about why you needed this job was embarrassing so you'd come up with a better idea instead.

"I wanted to branch out, expand my experiences in the business world and work for one of the best entertainment companies in Seoul," The truth was you'd been fired. Your old company was going into liquidation and fired you after no longer being able to afford your pay salary anymore resulting in you relying on your roommates for help. The last four months you'd been searching for jobs high and low, willing to do whatever it took to make sure you could keep the apartment you shared but it appeared as though the world was out to get you. No one was hiring and your roommates were going to kick you out if you didn't get a job soon. 

"That sounds like a smart move, branching out can be fun. What made you think of joining our financial team?" He stared back down at your folder and his brows pressed together in confusion as he read over your experience, 

"I don't see any finance training or experience on your records. In fact, you were in admin before." The truth was that this was the only job that BigHit had advertised and you applied for it without even looking too much into it, you figured you would get training or learn as you went along and a job was a job a the end of the day no matter what you had to do. 

"I needed to learn something new, a new skill." You lied with a convincing smile on your face but it was as if Sejin could see right through you, he simply shut your folder and sighed to himself. Rubbing the bridge of his nose as he realised he was going to have to deliver some upsetting news to you,

"Miss Y/l/n, as much as I would love to take on someone with your enthusiasm, it wouldn't be worth it in the long run. We would have to train you from the bottom up," Your heart dropped into the pit of your stomach as you realised he was telling you that you didn't get the job, he had a blank expression across his face as he sighed at you once again.

"I'm sure you'll be able to find something new somewhere else or you can keep checking our website for something similar to your old job-"

"No! Please, sir...I'll do anything, I'll work as a bin cleaner, I'll be your assistant, I'll clean the bathrooms, a bathroom attendant, damn it. I'll be a maid please, I just- I need a job...Any job," Sejin let out a sad sigh as he heard the desperation in your voice and the look on your face as you pleaded with him to take a chance on you. Your eyes were glossed over as it looked like you were about to cry in front of him, he could tell there was something going on in your life that made you this upset but he couldn't take the chance.

"I can't, there's nothing I can offer you...I'm sorry," He looked upset that he couldn't give you what you so clearly needed but if he gave a job to every person that begged him or gave him a sob story he would have lost his job years ago. 

"I'll keep you on the list if anything comes up," He promised as you got up from the chair, bowing to him before turning to leave the office. He watched you leaving, biting down on his lip as he flicked your folder open again, going over everything you had to offer including all of your work experience that was on the side. Maybe if there was something in the building he didn't know about he could put your name and number forward for it, help you get the job you so clearly needed. He stared down at your experience and smiled to himself as he saw what he needed to see. After leaving university you'd been a maid for five years before working for your previous company, he chewed on the inside of his lip before grabbing the phone from his desk and calling his assistant. The phone rang for a couple of seconds before she finally picked it up on the other end,

"Maria...Are the boys still looking for a maid?"

Later that night you were in your bedroom of your apartment packing up your clothes after your roommates said it was the final straw, asking you to leave as soon as you could.

"I'm sorry about everything, you know we would let you stay if we could afford it," Sana said as she came into the room with two full glasses of red wine in her hand, it was a peace offering since she couldn't convince the other girls to let you stay. Sana was one of the girls you'd bonded closer with over your time in the apartment, the other girls were nice but you weren't as close to them as you were with Sana.

"You guys need the rent, I understand." You took the glass from her, drinking half of it before carefully placing it down and going back to packing while she sat down on the floor at the base of your bed. The sooner everything was in boxes the sooner it would all be taken care of, you weren't sure where you were going to go since going back to your parents wasn't the best idea in the world. 

"What did the interviewer say anyway? She looked like a bitch on her image," Sana hissed as she tried to make you feel better but you sighed knowing that nothing she could say or do would make you smile right now. You began folding up one of your dresses and placed it into a cardboard box as you shook your head, remembering that it wasn't the original woman you'd gone to see. 

"It was a man, Sejin, he just said I wasn't qualified enough...Then I begged for a different job and I was still told no." She bit down on her lip at the thought of you begging for a job, she'd tried to get you a job at her office but they were already filled up.

"I'm sure something will come along, everything happens for a reason," That was the way Sana was in life, she was always trying to look on the brighter side of things and normally you would agree with her but lately it just felt as though the whole world was against you. Laughing whenever you failed at something or intentionally getting your hopes up for nothing, making you jump through hoops only to throw a hole underneath you to make you fall into it.

"It is, what it is." You mumbled before downing the rest of the wine and then letting out a disgusted hiss as you got hit by a nasty aftertaste, it was the worst wine you'd ever tasted.

"Well, I'm going to order-" Sana stopped speaking about food when your phone began to ring, it was almost 10 pm, who would be calling you this late? The two of you stared over at the phone with wide eyes as it continued to ring loudly, you were both shocked that it was ringing since everyone you knew was in the apartment. Picking your phone up from the box you saw that it was a private number and Sana smiled to herself quietly getting up from the floor. She showed you that her fingers were crossed as she nodded at you to answer it,

"Answer it. I'll go order dinner." The door to your room shut and you took a couple of deep breaths before answering the call, trying not to overthink it. It could have just been a cold caller or some pervert with your number,

"Hello, Y/n speaking." Your nails dug into the palm of your hand as you realised how stupid you sounded to the other person on the phone but you tried to keep yourself calm. 

"Hello this is Sejin, we met earlier about the Financial Admin job," A glimmer of hope sparked in your chest as you recognised his voice, you hoped he was calling to offer you the job after all but you knew you couldn't sound hopeful about it so you acted as though you may have forgotten something in his office.

"Yes Sir, I remember. Did I forget something at your office?" He chuckled softly at you as he bit down on his lip, he was still in his office staring down at your folder along with some other contracts that he had at the ready. After speaking with his clients and remembering how badly you needed a job he knew you would be the perfect one for the job he had to offer. Everyone else before you had either quit not long after starting it couldn't take the job in the first place.

"No, nothing. I was just calling to see if you were interested in another job we have to offer. It's not an admin job but-"

"I'll take it," You said rather quickly as you cut him off midsentence, he let out a breathy chuckle as you cut him off. 

"I'm impressed by your enthusiasm but I think we should speak in the morning about it. If you still want it after hearing what it is, you can start working right away." You began thanking him over and over again while jumping up and down on the spot hoping he couldn't hear through his end of the call.

"Thank you so much, sir, you won't regret this." You told him as you looked at Sana in your doorway, a giant grin plastered across her face as she saw how happy you were, she'd heard the jumping from just outside the door and wanted to see what you were excited about.

"I'm sure I won't. I'll see you tomorrow morning Miss Y/l/n, bright and early." He told you in a warning tone before hanging up, you let out a high-pitched squeal while jumping up and down once again. Sana rushing over to you, holding your hands as she joined in on the celebratory jumping giggling with you. 

"You got the job?!" She yelled out at you while you nodded at her, 

"Kind of, they've offered me a different job but with the same company. I have to go and see him tomorrow to talk things out. He said if I still want it after finding out what it is then I can have it," She stopped jumping as she stared at you with a serious expression on her face, her seriousness made you stop jumping and you frowned at her, wondering what was wrong. 

"What if it's some kind of pervert job...Like he wants to pay you for sex or...be his "personal assistant,"," She put up air quotations and you shook your head at her slapping her hands down as she continued to use air quotations followed by rude hand gestures.

"Don't be disgusting, he's like five times my age and he's married...Besides...A job is a job," You wiggled your eyebrows jokingly which caused her to slap your arm playfully and you both went back to celebrating your new job, jumping up and down on the spot.

"Good thing I ordered pizza!" She called out as she kissed your cheeks softly, 

"Tonight we celebrate! My roommate doesn't have to move out!" She sang out of tune while making a b-line for the door of your room to tell the others the good news. But before she disappeared she stood in the doorway once again,

"I told you that everything happens for a reason, things are finally starting to look up." Winking at you playfully she left the room, yelling out that you were going to get to stay longer and you collapsed down onto the bed. Smiling up at the ceiling at the thought of your new job, wondering what it could have possibly been and why he thought you wouldn't take it after speaking with him about it tomorrow.

The next morning you'd raced down to the BigHit building so you could get there for opening hours, Sejin said early but he didn't give you a specific time so you just assumed he meant as early as possible. You'd made no attempt to get breakfast, your appetite had gone out of the window after the pizza you had the night before, you'd been too busy going over everything in your head as you thought about what this job could be. Mumbling could be heard from the other side of the room and that was because of the two receptionists sitting there once again as they stared at you, talking to one another as they made it clear it was you they were speaking about. It was as if they didn't care. You had the same outfit on as yesterday but you didn't worry what they thought of you, you'd gotten next to no sleep last night all you worried about was what Sejin thought of you and what was the job he was going to give you. The door to his office opened and he was standing there in a black suit this time,

"Mina, Amber you can go on your break," Sejin said as he stared at them not appreciating the fact that they were laughing at you while they were supposed to be working, they glanced over at him then t you in silence before leaving the room. 

"If you'd like to come into my office." Anxiety began to bubble up in your stomach as you remembered what Sana had said the night before about him paying you for sex and how he had just sent out the only two workers in the immediate area.

"Have a seat," He said again as he walked behind the door of the office, pouring you both a glass of water before joining you at the desk. This time instead of your folder being on the desk there were seven other folders spaced out with initials written on them. Alongside that, there were some contracts that looked very important with different sticky notes poking out of the sides of them.

"I won't beat around the bush, I'll tell you what the job is and then we will talk business." He gently placed a glass of water down in front of you before sitting down across from you like he had done the day previous, 

"You said you were willing to do any job, is that statement still true?" You nodded with an unsure look on your face that made Sejin laugh softly to himself, 

"Don't look so worried...I've been looking for a maid for one of our groups for a while. Of course, there will be a lot of contracts and rules you'll have to abide by but if you're willing the job is all yours," Relief washed over you as you realised he wasn't going to make you sleep with him for money but just clean, cleaning was the easiest thing in the world to do. 

"Of course, What rules will there be?" He nodded his head as he pushed the contract forward, it has to have been around two-hundred or more pages long but you stared at it.

"Every rule is in there, I can't tell you anything about the group until you've signed the NDA's." You nodded and he smiled as you pulled out some reading glasses from your bag, 

"You can read up everything you like, I'll get someone to make us a hot drink and I'll be here if you have any questions at all." He reassured you with a smile, going to his laptop while you made yourself busy with the contracts that were in front of you. Everything looked so professional and serious, you could expect less from a company such as BigHit but it did make you wonder who you would be working with.

There was so much to sign on each page that by the time you had finished your hand was cramping up and it was getting dark outside. You'd taken breaks throughout the day to have something to eat, speak with Sejin and talk about any changes that needed to be made but everything was perfectly fine with the contract. Signed and dated on every document that needed to be dealt with. 

"Now that you've signed those I can tell you who you will be working for, what your job will entail and what they expect from you." Sejin slid the seven folders over to you as he smiled nervously, it looked as though he was unsure about you taking this job but you didn't care who it was as long as it paid and it paid very well. 

"I suggest taking those home to look over since starting Monday you'll be working for the boys." The boys? You glanced up from the folder from Sejin to the initials on each folder once again, KSJ, MYG, JHS, KNJ, PJM, KTH and JJK. It made your heart pound as you realised who it was you were going to be working for and Sejin could read you like a book,

"Their preferences for how they like their rooms being done is in their folders. I'll have you a keycard made for Monday morning and I'll take you to meet them myself. They can be daunting at first but they're lovely, I promise." You nodded along with him and he smiled as you collected the folders together,

"I would suggest packing a bag, you'll be staying with the boys. You'll have your own apartment but you're expected to be on call for them whenever they may need your assistance.

"Oh...Living with them? Isn't that a little extreme?" You remembered skimming over your holiday days in the contract but you'd been in such a rush to sign it all and make sure you had a job you hadn't even taken notice of living with a band. 

"It's all a necessary part of the job, it'll be like having roommates, I'm sure you and the boys will get along just fine," He told you as he got up from his desk, ready to see you out of the door for the night.

"As I said, go over every detail in their personal folders. It'll tell you what they do and don't like in their rooms, what they want you to clean and things like that." You nodded trying to keep yourself under control as you headed into the reception area, it was empty since it was almost 8 at night.

"Do you need a ride home? I'm sure I can drop you off..." You shook your head, thanking him anyway as you headed out of the office building taking in the cold air and trying to clear your head from the spinning it was experiencing.

It was four in the morning and you were still reading through all of the folders that you had for each of the members of BTS, all of them wanting specific things for their bedrooms but never being too over the top with anything. All of them except for Yoongi that was, while the other boys just wanted you to do basic cleaning of their room every day and changing their sheets once a week it appeared as though Yoongi wanted more than that. 

The bedroom must be :

Cleaned every day, nothing moved out of place unless specifically asked to be moved and told where it is placed. 

New sheets every three days made with the covers folded at the top. A blanket at the bottom of the bed and pillows fluffed properly. 

Hovering the floor once a day, mopping the floor once a day

Dusted over everything once a day, making sure the computer and pianos are cleaned properly without streaks on the buttons or screens

The bedroom must smell like specific aftershave that I will provide 

At first, you didn't know if it was to be taken seriously or not, all of the guys were portrayed as these super nice guys but now it seemed as though Yoongi was demanding and wanted to treat you as someone who would wait on him, hand and foot. 

"Is he serious?" You mumbled to yourself as you poured another mug of coffee for yourself, staring over the words again and again. The others just wanted basic cleaning in their rooms but the rest of the dorms/building was where you were needed most. Doing everything you would have expected to do on a cleaning job but this was outrageous even for a celebrity.

Monday morning you'd made it your mission to talk to Sejin about everything Yoongi had down in his chart, wondering if it was some kind of joke or if it was serious. 

"It's serious, he has a strict way he likes his room," Was all he had told you earlier in the day and now you were making your way into the building where the dorms where. 

"The boys are on the 5th and 6th floor. You'll have your own room on the 7th." He explained as he pushed a card into the elevator slot and clicked on the floor he needed, hanging you the card when he was through with it. Your name was on the front of it along with the BigHit logo,

"Don't lose it, you won't be able to get a replacement." He said as he continued going up to the 5th floor with you, standing in silence as you went up on the different floors. 

"Have they had maids before me?" You were curious to know why the boys didn't have a maid until now and if they had maids before what had happened to them.

"They did, they all quit without reason. You're the first one they've had in about six months. They've been in need of one for a while," He laughed nervously as he turned to look at you, this didn't make you feel any better. Quit without reason? What did that even mean?

"The boys are all at work except for Jimin and Jungkook, they don't have projects that they're working on so they'll give you a tour of the dorms." You stepped out on the fifth floor to be greeted by a large living space, the lift opened straight into it. An open area with a kitchen off to the side and then down the hall were some rooms that seemed to be locked off. 

"Jungkook? Jimin?!" Sejin called out as he dropped keys down onto the counter and waited for the members to come to him, a door slammed from down the hall and Jimin appeared with a smile on his face. 

"You must be Y/n!" He said in a happy tone, shaking your hand as you smiled at him. 

"Nice to meet-" You stopped talking when you heard running coming from the other side of you, Jungkook was standing there sweating. 

"I was just working out when I heard Manager Sejin, it's nice to meet you Y/n." He bowed to you so you bowed back smiling as he turned to Sejin. 

"We'll give her the tour, you can leave her in trusted hands," Sejin laughed sarcastically before turning to look at you. 

"You have my number in case of emergencies, remember the rules and I guess this is it. I'll bring over your copies of the contracts later." He waved goodbye before getting into the elevator, leaving you with the boys in uncomfortable silence as you stared at one another. 

"So...The tour?" You suggested, trying not to make everything more awkward but Jungkook clapped his hands together. 

"I'll shower, Jimin show her where everything is on this floor and then we'll head upstairs." You smiled as he rushed off leaving you with Jimin who was still smiling at you, 

"You can relax, we know there are a lot of rules but honestly they're easy to follow and we're easy-going." He assured you as he pointed over at the hallway he had appeared from, 

"This floor is basically everything you already see. The living room, kitchen and dining area and then these doors lead to different rooms." He began taking you down the hallway, all of the walls were painted the same white colour making it look bigger than it probably was and the doors were all a light brown colour. 

"This is the cleaning supply room, BigHit keep it stocked so you won't have to go out and do that but everything you'll need is in here." The door opened and inside were three walls of shelves, stacked with every cleaning supply you thought someone could ever need. 

"Then the next room is the laundry room. There's a washing machine, dryer and an ironing board if we ever need it," He closed the cleaning closet and opened the next door, this one was larger than the other. You could stand inside this room with the door closed and still freely move around unlike the cleaning closest which looked as though it could barely hold a mouse inside of it. 

"The only other rooms on this floor are the bathroom which is right there," He pointed over his shoulder at another identical door and then down the hall where Jungkook had vanished to, 

"The gym. You won't have to worry about cleaning the gym. They have a professional come and do that...All you have to wash in there would be the towels and they're kept in a basket outside of the door." You wondered how you were going to remember all of this but you nodded along with what Jimin was saying and as if he could read your mind he smiled, 

"Relax...Trust me, it'll just feel like you're living with some brothers and you'll do it like second nature. Taehyung and I normally do a lot of the cleaning anyway since we're used to it now. You don't have to worry about doing our rooms," It was a relief to know that you weren't going to have to do all six bedrooms every day along with Yoongi's room which was going to take up a lot of your time anyway. 

"The second floor awaits," Jungkook said as the elevator doors opened to reveal him standing there, his hair was thrown into a man-bun and he was in fresh clothes.

"The sixth floor is basically just all of our bedrooms with en-suites then one main bathroom on the end," Jimin explained as you all got into the lift together, Jungkook tried to make conversation with you unlike how Sejin let you ride in silence. 

After the tour was given to you by the boys they let you go up to your room to chill for a little while, wanting you to get relaxed in your room and unpack. The room you had was a huge bedroom with a small kitchen area to yourself, nothing much. One counter with a small mini-fridge and a kettle for yourself, then there was a joint bathroom to your room with a large corner bathtub, shower and toilet.

"You're starting to clean now?" You heard Jimin asked as he came down the hall to you, you'd brought down the washing from outside of the gym and began loading the machine. The boys each used the laundry-shoot so their clothes were already in the laundry room whenever you needed them to be done. 

"I figured I could get a head start, I'll do the washing and then clean up the kitchen after you've all eaten." With Jimin conversation felt easy, you didn't feel awkward around him and it was as if the conversation just naturally flowed between the two of you.

"After we've eaten dinner? You're eating too, you can eat with us." He chuckled softly as he noticed how your eyes had grown wide at the thought of eating with the rest of the guys. 

"It'll be a good way to break the ice and get to know us all better. As I said, it'll be like having brothers around you," He nudged your side before winking playfully and heading out of the room leaving you speechless as you started the machine up. Having all of the boys treat you like a sister would be nice and make your job a lot easier, 

"Y/n? Wanna play a game for a while? I need someone to beat this level with me," Jungkook asked as he heard you coming out of the laundry room and back into the living room, 

"Sure...What are you playing?" You questioned as you walked over to the sofa, sitting down beside him as he handed you one of the Nintendo Switch controllers. 

"Smash Brothers, prepare to lose!"

Dinner with the boys had been insightful to what you had to look forward to, Namjoon had brought Thai take-out home with him and you all sat around the table getting to know one another. They apologised for Yoongi not being there but he was working on things at the studio and would probably be home later than the rest of them, or that was how it was most nights. You'd gotten to know each of them and they'd gotten to know you more since all they'd known so far was everything Sejin had told them. 

"He said you really needed the job, what happened?" Jungkook asked as he helped you put the dishes away from dinner, you looked at him not knowing if you should tell him the truth or lie but there was something about his eyes that just made you want to tell him everything. 

"My job before this went into liquidation and my roommates were going to kick me out unless I found something new...BigHit was my last chance before I would have been on the streets." You admitted as you closed the cupboard, Jungkook was staring at you with wide eyes. He'd figured you just really wanted to work for the entertainment company and that was why you'd been so desperate, he hadn't expected that. 

"Going home?" He questioned but you rubbed your arms while shaking your head, 

"Not really an option, my parents weren't that great and I didn't want to go home to them with no job...But now I have a job so it's great." You admitted with a smile on your face, thanking Jungkook even though he hadn't been the one to hire you. 

"Glad to help, you should get some rest." He told you as he looked over at the time, it was almost midnight and he was crashing soon. 

"I'll head up to bed soon, I'm just going to sort the laundry out." You admitted as you disappeared down the hall to the laundry room. 

By the time you were done figuring out whose clothes were whose it was almost 1:30 am and the elevator dinged to let you know someone was on the fifth floor, you poked your head out to see if it was one of the boys who couldn't sleep but you saw Yoongi standing there instead. You froze. Yoongi was the one person you hadn't been introduced to yet and it was the early hours of the morning, he looked pissed off so you weren't going to go bounding over to him with a smile and introduction. Backing back into the room you wondered what to do with yourself, looking at the piles of clothes and then back at the now-closed door. 

Yoongi had seen you already when you poked your head out of the door but he didn't bother saying anything, he walked into the kitchen grabbing some food and a bottle of water before heading up to his room for the night. Too tired to introduce himself to you and stick with the pleasantries when he knew you would quit within a matter of time just like all of the other maids the boys had had. It was just a matter of when and why. All of them quit eventually, either not being able to hack the jobs the boys had or because they were far too lazy to do anything the boys needed them to do. Yoongi was sick of getting to know new maid after new maid only for them to up and leave within a matter of days or weeks so he decided he wasn't going to bother getting to know you. He didn't see the point in maids anyway when he and the boys could look after themselves, it was nothing but a person getting in their way around the house and why should they have to deal with that? It was why he always gave such a long list of demands in his part of the contract, he wanted it to be off putting to the maids that would think about working for them. Who would honestly put themselves through this just for some money?

The first two weeks of working for the boys had been going brilliantly, you'd been getting along great with all the boys but you'd grown a close friendship with Jimin and Jin who would regularly help you around the dorms when they had days off or spend time with you whenever you had nothing to do which wasn't very often. Most of your days were filled with doing Yoongi's bedroom and the others in the mornings and then the rest of the day was filled with hovering and mopping each floor, dusting every room on each floor of the house. Cleaning each of the bathrooms, sometimes more than once a day if the boys had been messy. Clothes were always piling up on you since they were seven boys each of them wearing different sets every day sometimes more than one set a day so you were constantly doing the laundry. Except for today, today was your day off and you'd gone home to your apartment to visit Sana telling her about your job. Although you couldn't tell her who you were working for you told her that it was a lot of fun, even if it was a little white lie.

Working for the boys was fun but working for Yoongi wasn't, as time had passed at the dorms you couldn't help but feel Yoongi had it out for you. At first, you thought it was all in your head since he was such a nice guy but as more time passed you began to realise it wasn't. He would always give you daunting tasks to do, piling more and more on top of them as if you were his personal assistant. Just yesterday he had you building a brand new bookcase for his room, only to tell you that he didn't like it and asked you to take it back to the store for him. Yoongi was always making sure you were the one doing basic tasks for him around the house as well, testing his food for him, buying him things from the store when no one else would go for him or doing things a personal assistant would do. When it first started happening it wasn't so bad but as time passed you realised the tasks were getting worse and worse as if he was testing you on purpose and he was. When Yoongi realised you weren't going to quit as easily as the other maids had done he'd decided to turn things into his own mind game wanting to see just how far he could push you before you quit. Pushing you as far as he could before you would snap, it was more fun than watching you do the housework anyway. None of the other boys knew about his plan, of course, he could see how much they liked you already which only made him hate you more. 

You were his new source of entertainment and he was coming up with different ways he could push your buttons and see if he could break you. Today was the first in many tests he was doing that would affect your work, when you'd finished separating all the colours in the laundry room he "accidentally" broke a plate in the kitchen to grab your attention. Whilst you were cleaning up the glass he snuck a red top between the whites and hoped you wouldn't notice until it was too late. Then all he had to do was sit back and wait for the timer to finish.

"Hey Y/n, I was wondering if you were done with-" Hoseok stopped speaking when he walked into the laundry room to find you holding his white shirt that was now stained a bright pink colour. Panic flooded your body as you saw that it was now a completely different colour than it was when it went into the washing machine. Your heart was practically trying to leap out of your chest and run out of the building,

"I-I didn't do it, I must not have seen whatever dyed it inside of the machine Hoseok. I'm so sorry," Your voice cracked as you looked at Hoseok, you couldn't tell if he was mad about the shirt but you were scared. The shirt looked as though it cost more than you were ever being paid and it wasn't as though you could just run out and buy him a brand new top when it was that expensive. Yoongi smirked from the sofa as he heard the panic in your voice show up, he glanced over his shoulder to look at Hoseok who had his back towards him he wanted to see what would happen when Hoseok got mad at you. Hoseok was the calmest one out of the boys so if he kicked off at you it was surely enough to make you rethink working for them.

"I love it," Hoseok called out, taking the pink shirt from your hands and holding it up to his chest as if he was modelling it without trying it on.

"What?" Yoongi mumbled to himself as he watched Hoseok smile brightly turning around and posing in front of you.

"No one has a pink version of this designer top, it makes it all the more special." Relief washed over you as he walked away from you, your heart calmed down you went back into the machine pulling out a red shirt that must have dyed the rest of the washing but you knew you'd separated everything, you checked four times before starting the machine.

Week by week and day by day things went wrong for you all of the time, it was like the apartment was haunted and throwing mean tricks at you. It started with the boy's laundry all being dyed at least four times a week which was stressing you out to the point where you wouldn't leave the laundry room until it the washing machine had finished its cycle. Yoongi hated that you were starting to take precautions with everything so he had to step up his game, making his room messier and messier every night so you would have to spend more of your time in there than anywhere else in the dorms but nothing was working. He was going about it all wrong and he realised it now. Stepping things up to the next level he began to "accidentally" break things around the apartment, glasses, mirrors, plates...Anything that he could break and make it look like an accident would be broken but it still wasn't enough. It felt as though nothing Yoongi could and would do would be enough so he started to take your sleep away from you in any way that he could, starting with late-night food runs. 

"Y/n?" You turned around while you were half asleep to see Jimin staring at you, he was dressed in Chimmy Pj's and holding a glass of milk when he stepped into the elevator to see you there. It was almost 2 in the morning and he couldn't think of a logical reason for you to be awake when he was sure you'd been up since 3 am the day before.

"Where have you been?" All you did was hold up a bag of what looked like warm food and hummed tiredly, resting your head on the wall of the lift as you waited for it to start moving again, 

"Yoongi wanted something to eat but the delivery driver wouldn't deliver it here so he asked me to get it," Jimin frowned even more as he heard that Yoongi told you to get him something to eat when they were all perfectly capable of getting their own food for themselves.

"Why didn't-"

"He's in the middle of a song, I didn't want him to lose his groove," Jimin sighed as he watched you get out on the sixth floor and began to tiredly stumble your way over to Yoongi's room knocking on the door for a second before a tired Yoongi opened the door, snatched the food from you and headed inside. 

"Goodnight Jimin," You mumbled as you headed past him once again, into the elevator but Jimin was still shocked at the action from his Hyung.

Eventually, Yoongi got bored of watching you push yourself past not sleeping and running on maybe one or two hours of sleep a night and decided to move on from that tactic, instead he was going to try a more direct approach to things. Face you head on.  

"Why do you work for us?" You froze when you heard a voice come from behind you, you thought the dorms were empty for the day but Yoongi was standing directly behind you. 

"Because I need a job..." You backed away from him, he never spoke to you unless he was after something or one of the boys asked him to talk to you. Even then the conversation was blunt and straight to the point, this time you could sense he was up to something and it didn't sit right with you. 

"I mean why...Did you think we would all start sleeping with you if you worked for us?" You dropped a mug onto the floor as the words left his mouth, 

"Because we wouldn't, we wouldn't go near someone as poor and pathetic as you," Each word seemed to cut you deeper than the last and you just stared at him wondering what you ever did to make him this spiteful towards you. 

"Or did you think you could sell stories about us to the press? We've had that one before too," He scoffed remembering one of the maids that tried to sell a fabricated story to the media, the boys all had stories that they gave to each maid for testing them. If the story was ever attempted to be leaked they would know exactly who did it  and that maid would be sued, 

"Why would I sell stories about you? I earn enough here," You mumbled as you began sweeping up the bits of broken glass from the floor, making a mental note to replace Jungkook's Bakugou mug the next time you went out shopping.

"You earn enough? It doesn't look like it, look at what you wear," He stared you up and down and it felt as though someone had just pulled a rug out from underneath you. Where was all of this coming from? Why was he suddenly attacking your appearance and personality out of nowhere when he had no idea who you were as a person. 

"You're nothing but a no-good maid who should just quit, we don't need you or want you here," You ignored him as you went back to washing up the dishes but this only seemed to anger Yoongi more, he hated being ignored. 

"Are you that fucking poor you'll put up with the constant breaking of items around the house? You'll put up with me dying all of the clothes just to see if it'll piss the boys off?" He laughed loudly as he watched you, your whole body tensed giving away that you were uncomfortable or something he had said was the truth, 

"You're poor?" He scoffed once again as he laughed looking you up and down,

"I mean no wonder. I think that's the sixth day in a row you've worn that shirt and those pants together. Filthy." He spat at you, his tone laced with venom as he gave you a disgusted look as if you were nothing more than something he had just stepped in but you counted to ten inside of your head trying to stay calm. 

"You've been dying the clothes? Why?" He hated that you were asking him about something so calmly, he stared at you waiting for the anger to come but it never did. 

"Why aren't you pissed?!" You ignored his question as you drained the water from the sink, trying to walk away from him but he took your wrist in his grasp forcing you to look up at him. 

"Can you go and make my bed, I don't like the way it's been made today." You stared at him in disbelief, he'd already had you remake the bed four times that morning. 

"I already-"

"Is that backtalk? I might have to talk to Sejin about the way the staff speak to us," You swallowed the lump in your throat and nodded at him. 

"I'll go and make the bed-"

"I want fresh sheets but I want that bedding. Wash it and have it dried before I get into bed tonight," He ordered as he cut you off mid-sentence, you nodded at him in silence heading up to the bedrooms and you wanted to scream out in anger at him. Reminding yourself that you needed the job and you needed the money.

Months went by but the mind games with Yoongi continued to grow and get worse, he had basically turned you into his personal assistant as well as a maid for the boys. You were lucky if you got two hours of sleep a night on the things he had you doing, just dumb things that no one would ever think of doing he wanted you to do. Polishing each of the awards, cleaning the bathroom downstairs and then making sure all of the cupboards in the kitchen were dust-free because his hayfever was acting up. There weren't enough hours in the day for you to get everything you originally did do as well as the extra chores he was throwing on top of you. Threatening you with the, "I can have you fired," line that he loved throwing around whenever you looked as though you were close to yelling or snapping at him for everything he was making you do. Tonight you were finally going home to your old apartment for some time off since you needed to take your holiday days,

"You look exhausted," Sana said as you laid on the sofa with your head in her lap, you nodded at her whining as you felt your head beginning to spin. It felt as though your head was ready to explode. The week you'd had was giving you a huge migraine and you didn't want to go back to the dorms tomorrow but you had to, you only had tonight off since Yoongi needed you back in time for the party they were throwing. You were in charge of cleanup after it. The boys thought it was weird that Yoongi was the one throwing a party when he didn't like going to them that often but they went along with it anyway.

"Maybe you can take some sick days?" Sana whispered as she ran her fingers over your cheeks, biting her lip as she realised how hot your face was to the touch. It was the first time she'd seen you in over three months and it was starting to worry her that you weren't taking the days off that you were supposed to. You weren't supposed to be working every day as you had been and it was starting to show that you were overworking yourself more than you said you were.

"When was the last time you went to the doctor?" She questioned but all you did was hum at her, her cold hands laying on your head was all you could think about. It was nice having a cold compress on your forehead but you went back to her question, you couldn't even remember the last time you had a day to yourself, never mind going to see a doctor.

"I've been busy," You grumbled at her, not wanting to admit the truth about your lack of sleep and troubles at the dorms, she would only make it into a larger deal than it needed to be.

"I'm going to crash, I'll see you in the morning," She watched you anxiously as you made your way into your old room, not bothering to shut the door or change out of your clothes before you dropped onto the bed and almost instantly fell to sleep.

There was that noise again, a shrill beeping sort of noise that kept coming and going, sometimes getting louder than before. You groaned trying to reach your hand up to touch your head but it felt as though you weighed the same as a bag of bricks, 

"She's waking up," A voice you knew said as you tried to move again, the beeping got faster the more you began to wake up and you opened your eyes to bright light. Once you adjusted to the new lighting you looked around the room to see the boys standing around your bed, 

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" You mumbled trying to seat up in the bed but you let out a squeak as you felt a pain radiate through your body, you looked down to see an IV drip attached to your arm and then a heart monitor on your fingers. That explained what the annoying beeping was that you'd been hearing over and over again. 

"You're in the hospital," Jimin said as he looked at you with a worried expression plastered across his face, you glanced at each of them and they all looked as worried at the next included Yoongi who was staring at Jimin. 

"You idiot, she can see she's in the hospital, Don't be dumb. Go and get a nurse," He hissed making Jimin mumble under his breath before turning to leave the room, the other boys all went back to asking you what had happened and how you got there. 

"I don't know..." The last thing you could remember was going to bed in your old apartment and then everything was black, 

"Miss Y/l/n, I see you're awake now. It's good to have you back, you gave us quite the scare." You frowned at the male doctor who began talking to you, telling you what had happened. Sana had found you the next morning and you were out cold, not responding to any touch or shake so she brought you in. 

"It seems as though you just overworked yourself and had a pretty bad migraine. I'll prescribe you some strong painkillers for the pain and advise you to take some time off work," As Yoongi listened to the doctor explain that you were overworked he began to felt guilty for what he'd been making you do over the last months of you working for them. He knew he was responsible for making you work so much and yet you still continued to work for them despite being around this overworked to the point you were hospitalised you were still willing to go through the hell he was putting you through. 

"Yes Doctor, I'll talk to my boss and arrange some time off." You lied as you waited for him to leave the room, turning back to the boys with a weak smile. 

"I'll just do light work around the dorms if that's okay?" The question was said to all of them but directed mostly at Yoongi who nodded his head before ditching the room. The guilt on his chest felt like somebody was trying to crush him and he knew he had to lay off you and stop treating you the way he had been.

It was your first week back after taking some time off, the boys had been kind enough to let you stay in your room in their dorm while you recovered. Bringing you food whenever they could and making sure you didn't lift a finger until you were feeling 100% better. All week had been refreshing, nothing bad had happened and Yoongi had left you alone. No longer treating you as his own personal assistant he let you do your own jobs that you were originally hired to do. 

"I was thinking we could go and have dinner tonight, we can all order our favourite take out," Jungkook said as you were making his bed with him.

"We should do that, it'll be fun." You told him as you put the pillow down onto his bed, looking over at him with a smile, he insisted on helping you do his room even though you'd told him you'd felt fine all week.

"How about we play some video games-" Jungkook stopped speaking when he heard a loud crash coming from down the hall, it sounded as though someone had just thrown something at the wall. The two of you stared at one another in worry before heading down the hall to find Yoongi attempting to clean up broken glass from the floor, mumbling to himself.

"Let me do it before you hurt yourself," You mumbled as you realised Yoongi was going to hurt his hand if he didn't stop but he couldn't. He hadn't meant to break the glass frame, it was supposed to be a surprise for you from Jimin but now it was ruined and smashed to pieces on the floor. 

"I'll get the dustpan and brush," Jungkook called out as he ran for the lift, leaving you and Yoongi as you told him to stop picking up the large shards of glass but it was too late, he let out a yell as a piece sliced into the palm of his hand, 

"Fuck! That's your fucking fault!" He yelled out as blood dripped onto the floor, 

"You're nothing but a distraction! Fucking idiot!" He continued to yell out but you ignored him, grabbing his wrist as you began to drag him in the direction of the bathrooms as he continued to haul verbal abuse in your direction, reminding you why you were so stressed from before.

"Look at you, you can't even fucking say anything because you know I'm right don't you. So desperate for cash you begged for any job and are willing to put up with me," He laughed as you continued to clean up the small cut that was on his hand, keeping the tears in as much as you could despite how much his words were hurting you. Wondering how he found out that you'd begged for a job that day you went for a meeting, 

"Begging for a job, pathetic." He scoffed once more and you finally lost it. Letting the tears you'd been holding in for months stream down your cheeks as you looked up at him.

“You really think I have a choice? Do you think I enjoy putting myself through this every day?” Tears poured out from your eyes but you didn't even notice them now, you were too angry to care that you were crying in front of the one person who made you feel the worst. 

"Do you think I enjoy letting you do this shit to me? Using me like a fucking personal slave?!" You yelled out as he stared at you in shock, he hadn't expected this to come from you. 

"I put up with everything you've thrown at me! Fucking ruining the laundry I did, breaking plates so that I would have to clean it up, being your person errand girl," You said as you remembered every little thing he'd made you do for him from shining his shoes down to making sure his folds on his laptop were organised properly because god forbid he actually do something for himself. 

"I let you ridicule me day after day because I needed this job. Not all of us are some rich fucking celebrity who likes to shit on other people who have nothing," Jungkook froze outside the bathroom door as he heard everything Yoongi had put you through. 

"I kept my mouth shut when you overworked me to the point of being hospitalised and what? I rest for a week and you decide to start it up again?" He didn't know what to say so he just stared at you, 

"I'm fucking done." You threw his hand back to him and he hissed at the cold air hitting his wound but you didn't care anymore, you stormed out of the bathroom and into the lift. Not noticing Jungkook who had gone into the bathroom to speak with Yoongi after you left. 

Sejin stared at Yoongi from across his desk, Yoongi felt as though he was in some kind of intervention. The boys were all stood behind him while Sejin told him off for everything. As soon as Yoongi confirmed to Jungkook that what you said was true he told everyone, not wanting him to get away with it. 

"Do you think she'll sue us? Tell the press?" Sejin questioned as he threw his pen down onto the desk feeling fed up with everything,

"That's what you're worried about!?" Namjoon was red in the face with anger as he stared from his manager to band member, neither of them seemed to care that they had put a human life through hell for months. 

"Do you not realise what Yoongi did?!" Yoongi stared down at his lap, he could already feel the same guilt crushing feeling he had at the hospital creeping back into him and it was feeling even worse now that he'd snapped at you before you quit without warning. The boys did nothing but yell at him for the car ride to the studios and he knew he deserved it, he deserved so much worse than they were going to do.

"You'll go and apologise to her, you'll make sure that she plans on telling no one this story and if she wants...She can contact me and we'll talk about compensation for what she went through," Namjoon went to say something but Sejin held up his hand to silence him, 

"I don't want to hear it. Yoongi will go and say sorry." The room fell into silence as they all stared down at Yoongi who was still sitting there, his hand wrapped in a bandage. 

"Now!" The boys yelled in sync with one another watching as he got up from the chair and stormed out of the office.

Opening the door to your apartment the last person you thought to see standing there was staring back at you, a bouquet of flowers in one hand with a box in the other. 

"What do you want?" You asked plainly as the smile faded from your face, looking at the presents before back to his face. 

"I wanted to say sorry for everything-"

"And you think presents will do that?" You cut him off, he licked his lips as he let you cut him off. You had every right to be angry with him and say whatever you wanted to say to him.

"No. I just...This is from Jimin, it was what I dropped earlier and it was an accident...I wasn't trying to break it on purpose...You have to believe that I feel guilty for everything I did and said before you were in the hospital...I thought if I pushed you too much you'd quit but you just kept working." You scoffed at him as you rolled your eyes, 

"I needed the job. Now I'll be homeless in a couple of weeks," You took the present he said was from Jimin and placed it onto the table just inside the doorway of your apartment not wanting to move. 

"Sejin said to call him...He'll be more than willing to compensate for what-"

"You mean to pay me to be silent with my story?" You raised your eyebrow at Yoongi who nodded his head. 

"I feel so guilty, you have to believe I never meant to hurt you this much," You stared at him in disbelief, 

"How could you not mean to hurt me? The hell you put me in?" You stared at him reading his face as you realised he really did feel guilty but it wasn't because you got hurt or you were upset it was because the boys were mad at him, he felt guilty because though around him made him feel that way.

"You only feel guilty because you got caught," You mumbled to him but he shook his head at you, trying to talk but his words came out as a stutter, 

"I’m underneath your skin...Aren't I? The feeling of what you did to me crushing you? Now I'm the heavy burden that you can't bear...Ironic," You told him as you nodded your head smugly enjoying the fact that the person who had put you through hell was going through the exact same thing as you were. 

"Don't worry, I won't tell my story to the press. I'll keep my mouth shut. Tell Sejin he can keep his money I'm not interested." Yoongi stayed silent but you waited to see if there was anything else, 

"Do you still need the job?" You debated it as he questioned you, debated going back and acting as though nothing had happened but you shook your head. 

"I'll find something else." You mumbled, folding your arms over your chest as he attempted to give you the flowers once again. 

"I'm sorry-"

"I won't ever accept it, if you were sorry you would never have done it," He knew you were right but he still couldn't bring himself to move even after you shut the door in his face and disappeared back into your own apartment.

Jungkook walked into your apartment yelling out that he was there and you came down the stairs and jumped onto his back, 

"Hey, you're late." You whined as you took the ice cream from his hands and wandered over in the direction of your sofa, he sat down beside you and wrapped his arm around your shoulder. 

"I had a long day. We all had to record a song for, In the soop, you should have seen Yoongi running into the booth." It had been a year since you quit working as a maid for the boys and although you and Yoongi were never going to be the best of friends you'd managed to move past what he had done to you and put you through managing to deal with one another since you and Jungkook had begun dating not long after quitting. 

"I bet it was funny," You laughed as you leant up to kiss Jungkook's cheek, pushing play on the movie you were watching together.

Tagline: @lyoongx @mitzwinchester​ @rjsmochii​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @taestannie​ @innersooya​ @sw33tnight​ @sweeneyblue1​ @jin-from-the-block​ @acciocriativity​ @that-anxious-bisexual​

A/N: If anyone ever treated me or someone I care about this way he would be out on his asssssssss

[azucanela]

chapter iii

pairing: bakugou katsuki x fem!reader

warnings: cursing. mentions of violence. mild violence. 

word count: 2k

summary: the internet is enamored with the idea of y/n l/n and bakugou katsuki, two renowned pro heroes, dating. the first issue? the pair rarely interacts. the second issue? apparently, they hate each other, not that anyone knows about that bit. of course, after one night of many mistakes, the whole world knows.

series masterlist

MAYBE SHE WAS OVERCOMPENSATING, but at least overall productivity of the agency was up. If Y/N was honest, throwing herself into her work probably wasn’t her best idea, in fact one might consider it self destructive. But.. she was frustrated. And the pent of emotions of not only herself but those around her had to go somewhere. 

And what better place to put that energy than her work?

Of course, as she slams a villain into the wall of concrete before bringing their hands together and handcuffing them, all Y/N feels is boredom. Dissatisfied, unfulfilled. Although it had taken her a while to separate her own emotions from that of others when she was younger, it doesn’t take much effort to determine that those feelings are entirely her own. 

In a job like hers, boredom was something to be grateful for, something to welcome with open arms all things considered. And busy season would be coming up for heroes, so Y/N probably should be grateful for the lack of activity. And yet… The calm before the storm was always rather unnerving. 

Y/N can hear the sirens of the police, brows furrowing as she sighs. Dragging the man she had just apprehended along with her despite his grunts of protest. Y/N watches as a police car pulls around by the entrance of the alley she’d cornered him in.

He was just a petty thief, but Y/N had been trying to keep out of the spotlight for the time being, unless her assistance was warranted. And thus far, it hadn’t been.

Inhaling deeply, Y/N watches as an officer exits the car, a smile coming across their face as they see her. “Hey Empatha!” They wave, and Y/N can’t help but offer a small smile and wave of her own back as she hands the criminal over to them.

“Hi, everything alright at the precinct?” It’s meant to be a polite, simple question, but Y/N can practically— literally— feel the way the officer lights up at the question. As though they’d been meaning to bring it up. Y/N had interacted with most of the Police Department briefly, so they weren’t entirely unfamiliar but… that didn’t mean Y/N wanted to stick around for long.

They shrug, pushing the thief into the back of the car despite his protests and shutting the door on him. “We had some plumbing troubles earlier— or something like that I don’t know… but yeah. Everything has been good. Kinda.” 

Unsureness is bleeding into their tone, so Y/N raises a brow as she finds herself asking, “something on your mind?” 

The officer offers Y/N a sheepish smile, “we could really use your help on one of our cases, the Stain Copycat, I assume you’ve heard?” 

Nodding slowly, Y/N finds herself wanting to exit this conversation, and soon, “I can look into sending someone from the Agency but it’s Hawks’ choice.” She looks around with a frown, “I have a feeling the press will be here soon so I should get going, but I’ll be in contact.” She says with a smile, taking a step back before disappearing into the shadows.

Telen’s ability. Y/N borrowed it frequently, and from the soreness of her body, Y/N had a feeling that they’d had quite the day as well. He was capable of teleporting through shadows, light was a major inhibitor but it was an incredibly useful ability and had saved her life a countless number of times. Whether that was literally or from… conversations like that one. 

Y/N had been avoiding Endeavor’s agency since far too many of her old classmates were sidekicks there. As much as she wanted to help, her presence wasn’t necessary. And she had heard about the Stain Copycat case, the one who had yet to be caught, the exception. Hawks had mentioned it during one of their calls recently, so technically she wasn’t lying when she said someone would be sent over to help. 

Just not her. Anyone but her. 

With a sigh, Y/N finally appears in the locker room of the agency. Welcoming the smell of blood, sweat, and probably tears.

It had been a long day, and Y/N quickly decided there was no better way to amend that than with coffee. She’s changing into her civilian clothes— having ended her shift at the agency for the day— inside the locker room dedicated to such things. Patrol had been mostly quiet today, which she was grateful for, but that didn’t make her any less suspicious as to why things had been so quiet. 

Y/N makes her way out of the locker room once she’s changed, and through the agency, offering a smile to Telen as she finally steps out of the agency doors. “You alright today? I can feel the soreness.” She says, walking backwards as she speaks to him, while he holds the door open for the both of them. 

Telen offers her a smile, “yes. It appears I took quite the hit.” He brings a hand to the back of his neck, “not the best day.”

Y/N raises a brow, “wanna come with me? I’m gonna get a drink, maybe something to eat at the café a few blocks from here.” She’d always enjoyed Telen’s presence, he was calm, quiet, but good company nonetheless. Someone who listened, but could certainly maintain a conversation. They’d been working together for a few years now and Y/N had grown to like him. That and she would be returning later regardless seeing as Lorelai had requested a coffee herself. 

Telen shakes his head, “I still have one more patrol, but if I happen to come around there, I might stop by.”

She nods, raising her hand to wave to him as one final goodbye before turning on her heel, and almost instantly a rush of wind is hitting her, though she finds it refreshing as she stares to the sky, a grey color, clouds shielding the sun from view. 

It’s a nice day, she decides, looking to her left. Hawks had placed his agency rather strategically, and by strategically, that meant nearby a café she had been going to for longer than she could remember. Y/N was close friends with the owner now, and many of the employees there. So her presence wasn’t anything astonishing, though Y/N had offered time and time again to advertise their business, they’d always declined. The owner had insisted it was nice being a small business, rather than one swarming with customers. 

Y/N had made the shop her safe space, most of the time, those who recognized her seemed to understand her desire to be left alone. And it was relieving, to be normal for a moment. Not to say that she was special or anything, but life as a hero was… an overwhelming one. She’d been lucky to evade the press earlier.

It doesn’t take long to arrive, a short walk is all it takes before Y/N is opening the door to enter the small shop. Almost instantly, she’s greeted with a bag of chips to the face, having been thrown by a grinning Lily, one of the longtime employees that Y/N had known for years now. “Hey superstar.” 

In response Y/N groans, moving to cover her face in the scarf she’d worn and bury her face inside it, cheeks warming in embarrassment. “Shut up, Lily.” Her eyes drift around, “where’s everyone else?”

Lily shrugs, already moving to make Y/N’s usual as she replies, “we’re a bit short staffed today.” She looks to Y/N, “we haven’t seen you in a while. Been too busy for us, have you?” Her words are teasing, but Y/N finds herself feeling bad for not visiting more often. Her schedules become more busy as the time for announcing the top heroes draws near, more meetings, more events, more press conferences. And with her little scandal with Bakugou, she would likely have to give up even more of her time.

“Never.” Y/N finally replies, moving to stand at the counter and placing her bag of chips there. Y/N pulls out her wallet.

Lily waves her off, “on the house.” 

Y/N rolls her eyes, “I make a ridiculous amount of money, let me spend it.” She says, pulling out a few $20 bills, though Lily simply looks to her pointedly. This only encourages Y/N, causing her to keep eye contact with her as she drops all of the bills into the tip jar. “Split it with the rest of the staff.” 

It's true, Y/N’s salary was… more than enough. Hawks had never been frugal with his money, his employees were well off and she was grateful for it but at this point she had more money than she knew what to do with. She was no Number 2 Hero but her bank account spoke for itself. 

Despite this, Lily glares in response, before sliding a drink over to Y/N. “Regardless, how have you been, aside from getting black out drunk at a very important Gala and then proceeding to talk shit about—”

“I doubt she wants to talk about that Lily,” The bell by the door rings, signaling that someone has arrived, and of course, there stands Rosalyn, another one of the employees. Her hair is greying now, but she still bares the same smile and calming persona that she did when Y/N first met her. “Sorry I’m late, traffic was bad.” 

Y/N is grinning as she walks over to Rosalyn, throwing her arms around her as the pair hugs, “good to see you Ros.” Lily pretends to roll her eyes at the sigh of physical affection, though she smiles at the sight of the reunion, before heading through the door behind the counter.

When they pull away, Rosalyn pats Y/N’s head with a smile, “and you! It’s been a while, look how you’ve grown.”

Y/N’s brows furrow as a small laugh escapes her, “I doubt I’ve grown any.” If she’s honest, Rosalyn and Lily hadn’t changed at all. Y/N wondered if they viewed her the same as they used to after all these years as well. And maybe she was scared of the answer, and that’s why she never asked. She could see it, Y/N doesn’t necessarily know or remember when, but she can recall the first time she noticed that they looked at her differently. 

Things had changed at one point, and maybe Y/N’s visit to the coffee shop was just her attempt at holding onto the past. A past where she was happier, where things were simpler. 

Moving to remove her jacket, Rosalyn shrugs, “perhaps I’ve shrunk. Happens with old age I suppose.” The woman heads over to the small entrance that leads to behind the counter, which also happens to have a door to the backroom. “I’ll be back shortly,” she says. Offering Y/N a smile that she quickly returns before heading into the backroom. 

Y/N nods, taking the chips and her drink to one of many tables by the window and placing them down there to save her spot— though the shop is currently empty, she has no doubt that the busier hours will start soon. Regardless, Y/N comes to a stand to move to the display window filled with different pastries. Their new selection is certainly interesting, the sight makes her miss baking. Not that she has the time nowadays.

With a sigh, Y/N straightens her posture, when the bell rings, indicating that someone has entered. Turning Around. Y/N’s eyes widen as her mouth gapes open due to the sight of the one and only Bakugou Katsuki.

note: shorter chapter but i hope it was worth it hehehehehehe

[jenomark]

PART 1: LUCAS, THE BOYFRIEND

➔Pairing: Lucas x Reader (Female) | Ten x Reader (Female) ➔Other Members/ Characters: -.- ➔Genre: Smut (+ angst, + fluff, + plot) ➔Warnings: vaginal penetration, passionless sex, exchanging money for sex, very light bdsm and mentions of pegging ➔Word count: 5,107

➔Summary: You don’t know what you do. You don’t even know who you are. Some would call you a whore. Some would refer to you as a sex worker. All of your clients would say you’re damn good at your job.

MASTERLIST

  It hadn’t rained in months. It felt strange to hear it coming down hard enough to drown out Lucas’ snoring. You laid in bed and listened a little while, wishing that it would lull you back to sleep somehow. But your eyes were wide open and they kept searching for the clock Lucas kept on his bedside table. 2:45 a.m. 3:14 a.m. 4:20 a.m. Time kept moving as you stayed still, eyes occasionally glancing up at the water marks on his ceiling, and hoping the rain wouldn’t drip through.

 “Lucas.” you whispered. 

  When he didn’t stir, you sat up in his bed and reached for your phone. He slept soundly on the nights when you had sex, which suited you just fine. You didn’t want him turning over in the night and asking you why you weren’t sleeping. 

  You unlocked your phone, your password far more complicated than it needed to be. You and Lucas once got into an argument when he asked you what you were hiding from him. You felt too exposed, for someone with something to hide. You felt like you no longer belonged to yourself, and he felt hurt that you didn’t want to share what secrets you kept.

  Unread text messages: 56   Unread emails: 134

  Your phone wallpaper was a photo of Lucas during Christmas of last year. He was smiling and holding up a gift you had bought him: an expensive watch nestled in black satin. You remembered the moment well. He opened the box and nearly dropped it to the floor when he realized it was the same model of the one he’d been lusting after for years. Every little boys dream was to own an expensive watch just like their father, and Lucas was no different.

“We can’t afford this.” Lucas had said.

  You, not we. You had wanted to say it, but his family was around the Christmas tree and all eyes were on you. It was true that Lucas could not afford the watch with his low-end salary, but you could. Of course, you had to play the part of the lowly office worker with a salary fit for someone shoved into a shoebox apartment.

“Don’t worry about it,” you had said to soothe him. “You’re worth every penny.”

  And Lucas was. You were with him because he was the first man in a while to make you feel alive. He used to be more daring before he got older, used to make you laugh so hard you’d nearly piss your pants. Like all things, the older things get, the harder it is to keep them in good condition. Your relationship with Lucas never failed on the surface, not really, but there were too many things brewing underneath. You were a lot like the watermarked ceiling: barely holding it together.

  You checked to make sure Lucas was sleeping before opening your inbox full to the brim with emails from men. The descriptions were all the same: I’m tall, handsome, and worth your time. The names all basic and no doubt aliases, were lined in a row for as far as you could scroll down. Every once in a while, you would entertain one of them and look at their email, expanding it so you could see their plea. Pick me, I’m a winner. 

  Tonight's lucky winner was a twenty-three year old artist. The picture attached was of a man smiling, his whole face lighting up at whomever was behind the camera. He looked barely legal, and definitely too cute for what he wrote in his description

WinWin, 23. I want to fuck you raw and parade you around town to all of my friends.

Not today, kiddo. 

  You closed the email and set your phone back in your lap. You wondered how much longer you could keep it up.

     You were dreaming of him, which you did often. He was sitting at his kitchen table, his tie undone and resting around his neck, and a newspaper spread out in front of him. You waltzed into the kitchen in a bouncy dress, announcing your presence with a slight clearing of your throat. The picture felt very old school, static-y lines and scalloped edges. Like a dream of the past, you were bordering in housewife territory, red lipstick turning grey in the black and white film. He looked up immediately to smile at you over his shoulder. The camera panned to reveal a table with food set on it, and two children sitting in chairs.

“Is it almost ready?” he asked

  All you wanted to do was go kiss your dream husband and wrap your arms around him. You wanted those kids to pull faces, like they were really disgusted their parents were still in love after all the years. But you couldn’t move. You looked down and your little kitten heels were stuck in quicksand that was dragging you under too fast. He couldn’t save you. He didn’t even care, just went back to his newspaper. It was all white noise.

  You woke with a jolt, shooting up so fast that Lucas came out of the bathroom. A toothbrush was hanging out of his mouth, and he wasn’t wearing clothes. 

“Bad dream?” he asked, toothpaste spitting in all directions. 

  You looked at his body, just trying to collect your thoughts. Lucas assumed you were checking him out. He started flexing his muscles to make you laugh, showing you all the parts of him he’d been working out lately. You smiled for his benefit and held your hand to your chest.

“Nightmares,” you said. Lucas went into the bathroom to rinse his mouth. When he came back out, he was heading towards his wardrobe.  “Are you leaving for work so soon?”

“Gym.”

“Again?” you asked. “You went last night. Isn’t it true that if you go to the gym too much you’ll leave a very disgruntled and lonely girlfriend behind?”

 When Lucas wasn’t working out, he was at work. During the day, he was the terribly intimidating Veterinarian assistant, his pink scrubs and puppy pin making all the Great Dane’s growl in his direction. From another direction, all the women who worked there practically swooned when he walked his muscled body through the door.  

You got out of bed and opened the blinds. “The rain stopped.” 

  The view was terrible, but he got what he paid for. You watched the little old lady from across the other apartment building hang her clothes on a line. When you turned back to talk to Lucas, he was silently masturbating.

 “Oh shit,” he breathed.

  You closed the blinds quickly before he practically tackled you, lifted you into the air and swung you around. 

You screamed like you were being murdered. “Lucas! Put me down.”

  He lifted up your pajama shorts and smacked your ass. His laugh was loud and boisterous, and you couldn’t help but laugh with him. He dropped you on the bed. His big cock was swinging between his legs before he took it back in his hands and continued stroking himself. You weren’t in the mood for sex, but the sight of him standing over you made it hard to resist. 

“I have to be at work.” you said, your eyes on his cock.

“That doesn’t sound very convincing.” he laughed.

  He took your ankle and pulled you to the edge of the bed, sliding you across the sheets like hot butter in a pan. You were taking off your shorts and panties while still denying him access.

“I do!” you said. “And I need you to drop me off at my apartment so I can get my things.”

 You didn’t need to tear your tank top off. Lucas pulled the spaghetti straps off on either side to reveal your breasts. His big paws were on you as he moved closer. Without wearing a condom, he pushed himself inside of you, both hands holding either breast while he thrusted.

 There was no talking as you fucked. Lucas took your leg and placed it on his shoulder. He kissed your calf softly. There were always tender moments like that, where it felt like it was only him and you that existed in the world. His eyes were big and brown and full of love whenever he looked at you.  You hoped that when he looked into your eyes, he didn’t just see his own reflection peering back at him.

  You felt something swell inside of you with a big wave, before quelling. Lately, you couldn’t seem to orgasm with him. There was a mental disconnect somewhere between him and you, but that didn’t stop you from pretending. You moaned and told him you were coming, even though you and him could feel yourself drying up.

  Lucas lifted your ass up and held your body as he moved, his pace too fast for you to enjoy. You just stopped moaning and stared at him, your mind completely blank. Whenever he came, the veins in his neck popped out. You were expecting him to come inside of you, but when he pulled out and came on your stomach, you let him. You held him as he collapsed on top of you, his big body making it harder for you to breathe.

  Dressed in his gym clothes, Lucas sat in the driver's seat. The drive over to your apartment was silent, mostly because Lucas still hated that you hadn’t moved in with him yet. The other reason was the awkwardness that existed after you both had sex. You laid on the bed for far too long with his semen pooling in your belly button. Not bothering to hand you a towel to clean up, he very quietly got dressed. 

  Lucas had never came on you before. He had always been the romantic look-me-in-the-eyes-as-I-fill-you-up type of guy. It’s not that you didn’t like it, just that it was so out of character you were wondering if something was wrong.

“Do you want me to come inside?” he asked.

  You snapped out of your thoughts, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I think I can handle it on my own.”

  You got out of the car and walked up your steps without looking back at him. You went inside and closed the door behind you, leaning against the wood to regain your nerve.

  You didn’t like Lucas being anywhere near your apartment. He was insecure that yours looked a little better than his. Whenever he was there, he had a million questions about the things you owned. Why they were so expensive. Why it seemed like you had never lived there. You assured him it was because you spent the majority of time at his apartment, but there was always a bitter taste left in both of your mouths any time it was brought up. The other reason was that you weren’t sure what he would find if he looked hard enough.

 You ran up the stairs and unlocked your second door. You could never be too careful. Inside, you were met with a musty smell. You didn’t bother cleaning as you went, just tore through the place gathering what you needed. You stopped briefly to look at yourself in the mirror, at the way your pantsuit hugged your body. Business professional is what the saleswoman had said. It’s what all the men want. 

What do you know about what men want? You wanted to ask her.

  You moved on, click-clacking your way to your bedroom. Your bed was unmade, and there was trash strewn everywhere. You opened the door to your walk-in closet, grabbed a duffel bag and started shoving lingerie into it. You picked up a pair of handcuffs and threw them aside. Rifling through your things didn’t help you find what you were looking for. You cursed out loud and sat down in your closet, leaning your head against the wall. 

“Must be in the other apartment.” you whispered, trying to recall where it was.

 By the time you made it back to the car with Lucas, he had fallen asleep. You tapped the window and apologized for taking so long.

  Lucas pulled up in front of your office building. He hadn’t asked why you brought a duffel bag, because after his nap, his attitude was so damn chipper that he couldn’t stop smiling. He leaned over the console to kiss you.

“You know what?” he said. “I’ll walk you inside.”

There was a panic in your chest. “No, baby, it’s okay.”

  He didn’t hear you. He was halfway out of the car. Lucas opened your door and held out his hand for the duffel bag. Reluctantly, you placed it in his hand and got out of the car.

“So, what time do you work until?” you asked, your eyes on the bag he was holding.

“Late day,” he said, taking your hand with his other. “I won’t be home until after dinner. Save me some?”

“Of course.”

  Normally, Lucas would lead you, but it was your place of work, so you did the leading. You opened the door and walked inside, your heels tapping against the marble. The woman at the front desk and the security guard both nodded at you at the same time before looking back to what they were doing. You guided Lucas to the elevator.

“Are you done the same time as always?” he asked. “I can send someone to pick you up.”

“No, that’s okay.” 

  You stepped into the elevator. You weren’t the only people in there. Luckily the office building was so big that you didn’t need to know everyone. He held your hand the entire ride, giving it a little squeeze. And every time he did, you were forced to look at him and smile.

“This is me.” you said, stepping out. 

  A glass wall separated the hallway from your offices, gold lettering etched on all of the doors. Lucas had never made it this far up, so his eyes were taking in everything like a greedy child.

“This looks expensive,” he said. “No wonder they pay you so well. Maybe I should quit and get a job here.”

  You laughed. It was obligatory. You leaned on your tip-toes and kissed Lucas at the same time you ripped the duffel bag from his hands.

“Call you during break?” you asked.

Lucas smiled. “Yeah,I’d like that. I love you. Have a good day.”

 You could tell he didn’t want to leave. He was too curious about what was behind the glass wall. He could see people milling about, stacks of papers in their hands. There were cubicles and privacy offices, a break room that was too high-tech for a plain office building. 

“I love you, too,” you said. “If you just go down to the ground floor I’m sure someone can help you find your way out.”

  You waited until the elevator doors closed to walk through the glass ones, crossing the threshold like you were walking into a new world. As soon as your heels stepped down into the grey carpet, you walked a little looser, your hips swinging. You did feel professional. And as eyes were on you in every corner of the room, you were the one person who knew exactly what men wanted.

  The office. You didn’t belong. Everyone could smell it on you, that new car smell that always seemed to drive right onto their floor and disrupt everything. For many of them, you were something they couldn’t afford. Oh, how they’d love to test drive you, though. As soon as they got a tasty look at you, all cream interior and buttered seats, all eyes seemed to avoid meeting yours. You sashayed across the floor in peace, your eyes scanning cubicles and the people coming and going.

“Hey.” a familiar voice called.

  You ducked down beside a cubicle. A woman sat in a chair, her long legs bare and freshly waxed. She crossed them and swiveled her chair to face you. You picked up a paper from the floor and shoved it in your pockets. 

“You’re early.” she said.

“Needed time to change.” you shrugged.

  You put your hand on her shoulder to lift yourself up and kept walking. No one stopped to talk to you, and there was something lonely in that feeling you couldn’t put your finger on. You stopped before a door, one of the only non-glass ones in the whole place. Your manicured fingers against the shiny door knob made you pause. You caught your reflection for the second time that day, the distorted figure grimacing back at you.

  You would never open the paper so brazenly in front of other people, but it was the calm breath you needed before you opened the door. It was what would launch you, truly, from this office into the next part of your journey. You opened the paper and stared at each letter burning a hole in your retinas. 

             Sweetie, I miss you. Today’s advice is to never look behind you.

  You tucked the paper in your bra. Every inch of you wanted to look behind you, but instead, you opened the door to the dark closet and changed your clothes.

  You stepped out of the closet dressed in clothes one would find in the mens department. Sweatpants that could be worn playing basketball, a grey sports t-shirt with faded writing, and a black windbreaker. Your sneakers were white with little worn marks on the side, and your hair was thrown underneath a ball cap. If anyone thought you were crazy for entering as yourself and exiting as someone socially male passing, they didn’t bat an eye. 

  Passing by the cubicle, the woman whistled. “If I didn’t know you, I would have you bend me over this desk right here.”

You smirked. “Only if you pay me enough.”

  You threw the duffle over your shoulder and kept walking, all of the confidence in the world in the way you moved. People still looked at you, but it was in a new, illuminated light. You walked through the glass and made it to the elevator. 

“Excuse me.” you said, weaving your way past a man.

“No problem.” he said, eyeing you up as he stepped out. He stared at you until the doors closed.

  In the lobby, you waved hello to the woman at the desk and the security guard. Both were unbothered by your new attire. You swung open the front door and stepped into the sunlight where a black, unmarked car was waiting for you.

“Am I too early?” you asked the driver.

“Right on time, miss.”

 He opened the car door and you slid in, the leather feeling cool, even through your sweatpants. In a fancy car like that, you felt underdressed, but it was all in the job description. He shut the door and went around to the drivers side, any chatty banter he may have started falling short of his lips.

You took out your cell phone and unlocked it.

  Unread text messages: 72   Unread emails: 212

You looked at the very last message from Lucas sent right after he left:

             I love you more and more every day. See you when I get home.

  Trees. That was all you saw. Streets with trees lining them, parks with the healthiest limbs and most luscious green leaves. They stood proud and strong, only wavering with a slight wind. Occasionally, when you were lost in thought, they played against the glass of the car window, a kiss of a leaf here and there, as if to say, “Welcome, open your eyes.”

“We’re almost there,” the driver said. “He asked that I don’t escort you inside. I expect you know your way around.”

  You nodded, making eye contact with the driver in the rearview mirror. He was judging you, you could tell. He wasn’t new, by any means, but the lifestyle took some getting used to. When you first met the driver, you were scared of what he  thought of you, but now you didn’t spare a single thought for him at all.

 The car came to a stop in front of a three-story brick building, its red face powerwashed to pristine condition. There were flower boxes on every windowsill and forest green shutters. A wreath on the door felt welcoming, but only if you were someone who liked open invitations. In the neighborhood, that might have been plausible, but only you really knew what lay beyond the oak front door, its stained glass windows more expensive than Lucas’ monthly rent.

“Thank you.” you told the driver.

  You stepped out of the car, your sneakers crushing a twig. It was the only blemish on an otherwise clean street. You closed the door behind you and held your duffel bag in your hand. The driver waited a beat before driving off, his strict time schedule unable to be rearranged if you chickened out.

 But you would never chicken out. Before you was a place you had been to many times. Anyone who looked out of their window would recognize you, even if the flavor of you didn’t sit well under their tongue. As you ascended the stairs, no one bothered to push aside their curtain for a glimpse of the girl dressed in baggy clothes, every trace of her from this morning vanished completely.

 You walked right in.

  You were met with a smell that hit you instantly: cinnamon. Candles burned on a foyer table, the wick barely black. 

Just lit, you thought. You have to be around here somewhere.

  The home inside was cozy, deep blue accents and unexplainable modern art tucked into corners of the room. It was the home of someone with an eye for the unusual, but whose very facade made one feel more comfortable with themselves. You walked further inside, your fingers touching along the walls. When you were away, you missed the smells terribly.

“Where are you hiding?” you asked. “Little kitten.”

  You walked further inside, your shoes still perfectly on your feet. At his request, he wanted you to keep them on. You never asked why, but you expected that after you left, he got on his hands and knees and scrubbed his floor after your every footprint, in his bid to serve you. 

“Don’t you miss me?” you asked.

  There were so many doorways without doors. You weaved in and out of rooms, taking your sweet time to make sure he could hear you trampling through. You touched some things softly, and others, haphazardly. You didn’t wince as a part of a measuring cup family fell from its hook, clattering to the ground loud enough to make your teeth hurt.

“Tenny,” you said. “Come and play.”

  You wandered up the stairs, your manicured fingers tapping against the wooden railing. You let the duffel fall to the ground when you made it to the top, and rubbed your shoulders.

  If the downstairs was grandmother chic, the upstairs looked like the hallway of a sex club.The walls were deep sapphire and velvet, gold tassels dividing each door. You walked down the center, looking foolish and out of place. On your right, you went in through the first door to an empty bedroom. You looked around but could find nothing. 

“This is taking too long,” you said. “What if I just leave?”

  A sound tipped you off. Your head snapped in the direction you heard it coming from: the very last door on the left. You walked towards it, stopping before it. You rubbed the wood, massaging it in your palm. 

“My little kitten.” you cooed.

  You opened the door to find him in plain sight. His arms were above his head, his wrists strapped to a mechanism chained to the ceiling. He was naked and blindfolded, and there were headphones around his ears so he couldn’t hear anything. You stepped in but didn’t close the door behind you. You stood in front of him, watching as he mouthed the words to a song. When you pulled the headphones down his neck, he gave a little shake.

“You were right under my nose the whole time.” you said.

  You walked around him. His joints looked like they were straining too much. He could hardly keep himself up right. And yet, he began to smile as you made your way back to him.

“How long have you been waiting?” you asked.

“An hour.” he said, his voice hoarse.

  You took off his blindfold and was met with the most mischievous eyes. He looked you up and down, his cock twitching right as he got to the sneakers on his carpet. You had been in the room before, so all of the sex toys and contraptions lining the walls didn’t bother you. People liked to play, and in your line of work, you would do whatever they wanted for the right amount. 

 His name was Ten. He was your age, but there was something about him that felt older than your years. His eyes were that of an old soul, his body young and supple. You scraped your fingernails against his chest and watched him close his eyes and quiver.

“Should I leave you here for another?” you asked.

He shook his head. “I need you to hold me.”

  Ten was one of your favorites. It wasn’t so much about the sex but the companionship. Sure, there were things he did and wanted you to do to him that were a bit different, but your attachment to him was hard to explain. 

“Before I hold you,” you began. “I need to know I can’t disappoint you.”

He opened his eyes. “I don’t think you ever could.”

“You put too much faith in me.” you said. 

  You reached up to unhook him from the ceiling. He whimpered in pain as his arms fell. You massaged his shoulders and brought him against your bosom. Ten’s hair tickled your chin. You were scared to tell him that you forgot his blanket, that it was in your real apartment with the life you hid from Lucas. 

 You wrapped your arms around Ten and kissed the top of his head. You owed him honesty, so you opened your mouth and told him that you forgot the thing he wanted most from you. Tears welled in his eyes, and for a second, you thought about breaking the arrangement and asking if he wanted his money back, but Ten took your hand and started leading you out into the hallway.

“We can do the comfort blanket next week,” he said. “This week, we’ll do something else.”

  Briefly, he showed you the man he was when you weren’t there. He was straightened up and assertive, his eyes more disobedient. It was rare that you were privy to how he was when you weren’t there, but it was always refreshing that somewhere underneath it all, there was something you liked to think of as a friend.

  Ten brought you to a room with only a bed in the middle of it. An island of sadness is what you always thought of it. You remembered when you had found him there sprawled on his stomach, his puckered, wet asshole waiting for you to fuck it. You did as he asked, the money too good to turn him down.

  Ten waited for you to get on the bed by yourself. Before you did, you made sure no hair was peaking out of your ball cap before you stretched your body across the sheets. Ten climbed in and tucked himself into the side of your body. He moved down so that his cheek was pressed against your stomach.

“Tell me you love me,” he said. “And that you’ll never leave me.”

You let your fingers smooth his hair. “I love you, Kitten, and I’m never going to leave you.”

  You fell asleep on the car ride home, the sound of thunder waking you up just a stop away from Lucas’ apartment. You groaned because, for once, your sleep was dreamless. It was too good of a thing to wake up from.

“Drop me off at the corner,” you said. “I don’t want anyone to see me.”

  You had ditched the clothes at Ten’s place and changed back into your pantsuit, but you had hat head and felt like your body had been run over by a truck. You cuddled with Ten for six hours in the same position, your body aching more than his was when he was chained up. You cracked your neck and got ready to jump out of the car as soon as it stopped, just in case someone in the neighborhood was nosy enough to tell Lucas.

“Thank you.” you said for the second time that day.

“See you next week.”

“Yeah.” you sighed.

  You got out and walked the last block to his apartment. The duffel was in your hands, but it was empty. If Lucas asked, it was once full of office supplies the company let you borrow that you needed to return. He would buy into the lie. 

 You let yourself into the darkness, removed your shoes like you were a zombie, and thought about collapsing right on the floor. It wasn’t even that late, but there was something about being deceiving that sucked the life out of you. Deciding against it, you walked your way to the bedroom and flipped on the light. 

 After you usually left Ten’s, you felt too soft to the touch. Some nights, you cried the whole car ride, missing something you didn’t know what you were missing. Often, you would climb into Lucas’ arms and make the most passionate love to him. You just needed to be near him, to make sure it was him who would never leave you.

  Everything looked the same as you had left it, only Lucas’ gym clothes were on the floor and one of his drawers was half hanging open. You went over to it and stuffed his shirts down so it would close properly. Your fingers lingered on the soft fabric. You brought his shirt up to your nose and buried your face in it, inhaling deeply. When you went to put it back, your hand knocked into a small jewelry box.

Uh-oh.

 You took the box out and opened it. A diamond ring sat nestled in black velvet, the name of the jewelry shop printed in silver script on the lid. Feeling dizzy, you snapped the lid shut and shoved it back where it was.

[alecxaheart]

Falls At 4419 | Bang Chan Oneshot

✎ Genre : Strangers to Lovers AU, Fluff

✎ Pairings : Bang Chan X Reader

✎ Word Count : 2.1k words

✎ Synopsis : Who could've thought that your ride to love life starts at a bus stop.

✎ Requested.

You had the usual tiring daily routine for the rest of your life. Your weekday mornings start with your alarm clock greeting you "good morning" in the most annoying beeping way as possible. What a gentle reminder, too, to tell you that it's almost time for work.

" Work again? " you groaned at the thought, hands reaching out to the bedside table to turn off the alarm.  Once you did, you forced yourself out of the bed and start preparing for today.

You were completely exhausted due to the stack of work your boss gives you.

It's to the point that it made you sleep deprived, haggard or just messy in general. You don't even know if you ever managed to cover all of that, physically, with make-up. However, when it came to your words and actions, it's noticeable when one paid attention. It's a good thing that Ms. Han was blind to that, or else you'll be told that you're lacking and higher chances of you getting fired.

But aside from every negative thing about your occupation, so far your performances were praised by your co-workers. Salary has never been a problem, in fact, you've been paid higher than expected. Maybe it's from the plus being Ms. Han's pet-sitter — for the love of all things, it had to be a cat.

You're almost done preparing for work. With your feet taking a quick slip into your black heels, you're on your way out of the house. Clacking noises could be heard each time your heels meet the pavement.

As you were headed towards the bus stop, you felt something vibrating from your purse. Opening it, you found your phone ringing. The caller ID displays the name of your boss, Ms. Han. What could be the kind of good morning greeting I'll receive from her today?

You answered it and placed it to your right ear, immediately hearing your name. " Assistant (L/N) (Y/N)! " Ms. Han called out through the other line.

" Good morning to you too, Ms. Han. You have matters to discuss with me at this time? " You replied, stopping at your tracks as you've reached the bus stop. All you need to do now is wait for the bus and keep yourself together with whatever Ms. Han may throw at you.

" I'm assuming you've already done the project for today, " You hummed in response. There was sound of a slight slip from the other line, you assumed that Ms. Han was drinking tea. " Make sure to deliver that presentation well. After that, I want you to attend the board meeting this afternoon on my behalf. Send them my sincere apologies for I have other more important business matters. "

So much for being trustworthy..

" Noted, Ms. Han. " Your ride finally came. Once it opened it's doors, you hopped in and tapped your card at a machine.

" Also, fix this week's schedule. Cancel everything on Friday, " Ms. Han added. You ended up seating at the very end of the bus, beside the window. It just happened to be the only row of seats that's vacant.

" Got it, Ms. Han. Anything else? "

" Ah, right. After the board meeting, take care of Eliza, " Her cat – you should've seen that coming. " Don't worry about the ride to my house, my driver will be picking you up. " She continued, taking one more sip at her tea. The ride was never a problem, but her cat is. Nevertheless, you accepted it since you both needed the job and money.

It didn't took that long until the conversation finally ended. When she hung up, you deeply sighed and looked out of the window. Spring was almost over, the atmosphere started to get colder. The cherry blossom trees began to slowly wither, every petal that has fallen decorated the road and sidewalk. It was both exquisite yet melancholic. Could you ever compare yourself as a cherry blossom? To bloom all over again yet someday, you'll wither once again. Possibly.

As you were gazing outside, your eyes widened as you saw someone else's reflection who sat beside you. His airpods plugged in his ears as he bobbed his head to the beat. You never knew or felt that his presence is already there, not until right now.

He's the same guy you meet each day whenever you took this bus. To be honest, he's eye-catching ever since the first time you saw him. He had the usual black outfit. Curly brunette headed, tall nose, dazzling dark brown orbs, lips — Okay, let's stop fawning over him. In conclusion, he has very well defined facial features. It was obvious that he's one of God's masterpiece, many should've envied him with that.

Despite of him always being your seatmate when the seat next to yours is vacant, you both never conversed with one another. Even with him having an eye for you from the start, no one even dared to start one.

Although, maybe today's a bit different.

The bus abruptly stopped in its tracks as the stop light just switched to red. The driver groaned and scratched the back of his neck.

At the back of the bus, there's you who is silently staring at the window. Awfully close to the window. However, when the bus hit the brakes, your forehead bumped onto the glass. " Ouch! " You groaned in pain as you held your forehead, checking if it bled and to ease the pain. The curly brunette noticed this and paused the music he's playing on the phone. He shifted in his seat to face you, " Are you okay? ". Your eyes met his worrisome ones and it made your heart skip a beat. He's more dashing when he's this close to you. It also made you more timid towards him that you began to stutter, " I- I guess I'm okay.. ".

" Let me see, " He reached out to your hand that's covering your forehead. His hand accidentally touched the sore part in the process, causing you to wince in pain. He whispered an apology before carefully taking your hand off and scan your forehead. He sighed in relief, " Thankfully, it wasn't such a big impact but it did turn red. You can place ice or put an ointment on it as soon as you get off, ok? " You responded with small nod and smile, your heart melting at his kindness.

He carefully placed his hand on your head and light pushed it back, gesturing you to rest. You gladly complied and he smiled, showing his dimples. It was cute, you thought.

" Does it still hurt? " He asked.

" A bit but bearable, " You replied, closing your eyes.

" How about a small talk to distract you from the pain? "

" Sounds good to me. "

" My name's Chan, you? "

" The name's (Y/N). It's nice to finally know you, Chan. "

And that's how everything started to blossom, at the end of Spring.

After that day, you started to anticipate what's going to happen on the next days that you never complained about the annoying beeping clock at dawn ever again. Especially and specifically, on the bus. Your mornings now start with you enthusiastically getting up and preparing for work. Chan happened to bring more interest into your life.

You don't know what kind of sorcery Chan does to always know how to remove your stress or just to make your days better in general. However, you don't mind it. Instead, you're really thankful for it.

You blossomed more in Fall, like a cosmos flower. You bloomed while the rest withered.

You excelled so much at work. The company was at its rough times, yet you handled everything outstandingly that you were praised by the whole company. Even Chan was happy for you, which mattered to you most.

" I knew you were exceptional ever since the beginning, " He murmured while hugging you securely, smiling. You, too, smiled brightly and blushed at that.

It's not only you who blossomed this fall. Your love, too, bloomed in Fall.

You never knew that the potential crush you had for Chan back when he was just a seatmate at the bus would grow. You fell head over heels for his giggles, smiles, kindness, goofiness, just for him. It keeps getting stronger as more time passes that you couldn't control it anymore. This was a first ever since you started working. You never really paid attention to your love life since work was always in the way. You're foreign to this feeling, you're clueless on how to handle it.

This love is the most amazing feeling, you'd be honest. Yet you fear that you'll be rejected or wouldn't be loved back. Then love would be the worst feeling.

Although, your faith and hope will never be taken away from you until the day hasn't came yet, until there's a possibility. You'll keep hoping on his small gestures you'd like to think are hints. You'll put your love for him in the hands of faith. And with that, you became patient with him. Waiting for the time that the true feelings will start to unveil.

______________________________

찬의

Channie

Hey (Y/N)

Are you done with work?

Almost

Why do you ask?

I'll pick you up, ok?

I'm on my way there.

'That's first, yet weird.

But I don't mind.'

Alright, be careful

Seen 7:02PM

______________________________

A month has passed, you two grew closer than ever. Yet occassionally, there would be a hint of awkwardness between the two of you. One would act weirdly, stutter or get nervous around one another. You hoped that it wouldn't ruin your friendship. You valued this friendship more than anything else.

Heading towards the front doors of this company, you could see Chan's figure on the other side. Waiting for you to come out. Once you did, he turned to face you and greet you with a sweet smile. You smiled back. " Let's go? " He said as he offered you his hand. You nodded and timidly took it into yours. That's another first.

Both of you exchanged the usual conversation. Asking about each other's day, telling short stories, joking once in a while, then some comfortable silence here and there, it felt just right. It's already dark out, the city light and streetlights being the only source of light, while the moon is having the pitch black sky to itself. The streets aren't as busy as it was in the daylight. You could hear the rustling and crunching of autumn leaves as it was carried by the wind or getting stepped on.

The two of you eventually reached the bus stop, taking a seat as you wait for a bus. " Do you know the number that bus has? " Chan asked out of the blue, eyes boring on the street. You hummed in confusion, he chuckled. " The bus we always took, especially in the mornings. "

" Ohh.. To be honest, I'm completely unaware of that. " You answered, scratching the back of your neck. Once more, he chuckled then gazed at you while your attention was somewhere else. A bus was coming in your peripheral vision. Once it was in front of you, you scanned for it's number. At the very end, it's written..

" 4419, " You turned to Chan, only to find him staring at you with adoration. You two stayed like that for a few minutes. His eyes were so soft, looking ever so luminous and sparkling underneath the light. He took out a flower he plucked from earlier, placing it behind your ear. Not even tearing his eyes away from yours. " Beautiful, like a cosmos flower, " He whispered, but it was enough for you to hear it clearly. You've felt like you're continously falling, yet Chan still has his grip on you. The same grip when he first held your hand back when you've bumped your forehead on the bus. Loving, gentle yet firm. Telling that he's willing to fall with you. " I love you, (Y/N). "

With just those 4 words, you were filled with so much joy and shock. You froze on your seat. For a second you panicked on what's the right word to say, asking if an I love you too was enough or is it already too redundant.

Although you knew that Chan's anticipating an answer as the clock continues to tick, and waiting is dreadful. Chan will love and cherish anything you say to him. Just the thought of you being truly his will bring him genuine happiness, and that's enough. No need for further more explanations. Then you've came to the conclusion, that there's no other words that best describes your true feelings for him. Simple yet genuine, " I love you too, Chan. "

Now, a love fully blossomed at the end of Falls.

End.

[footballfanfictions]

The thrill of the chase - Chapter Two

Pairings: Mason Mount/OC, Ben Chilwell/OC

Authors Note: Sorry that this has taken a little longer than anticipated and thank you so much for all the love for the first part.

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

One of the main drawbacks of working with social media, is that you are always on social media and you’re constantly bombarded with information and images that make you feel downright crap about yourself.

I’d been asked to take over the instagram page of one of the high profile players at the club and his entire feed was just one supermodel and influencer after the other with the odd footballer thrown in to balance it out. They were all so stunning that it truly made me feel awful about myself, how could it not? My salary was pretty good for a new graduate but not quite good enough for weekly manicures, lip fillers and hair extensions and my time management wouldn’t stretch for that either, I barely made my eyebrow wax appointments.

I was trying to avoid looking at the player’s DMs while I posted a few pictures from the pre-season training sessions to his feed, but the notifications pinging every few minutes was getting quite annoying.

Has it been Brianna with access to his account and not me, she would have gone straight to his messages to read them. I preferred to live in blissful ignorance to the sleazy ways of the men around me. I already felt like finding a good guy was absolutely hopeless.

I had been renting a flat and I was saving for a deposit to buy a house, hoping that by the time I had saved up enough to buy that I would have found the right person to live with. If I were to attempt this alone, with London house prices I would be around  60 by the time I had saved enough alone.

The message notifications continued to come in and whoever Sam was, she was really keen.

I logged out after posting the final image and prayed I wouldn’t have to go into it again. The less I knew about their private lives, the better. It would be pretty awkward to be sat in the staff and players’ family box at a game knowing that the wife of someone I knew was cheating was close by. Best to steer clear of those complications.

Brianna hadn’t visited my office at all and by 12 I was both worried and hungry and decided to go looking for her.

I tried the kit room first but it was empty and surprisingly tidy. Dave kept a tight ship and liked everything to be in its place but it wasn’t often possible with the sheer volume of kits that needed to be looked after.

As I backed out of the kit room and closed the door, I felt something hit me in the back.

“Sorry” mumbled the voice from behind me. “I was looking for Dave, I need a new top.”

I knew who it was but I didn’t really want to turn around and look at him.

“They’re not in there, I was just looking for him and Brianna too.” I responded in an emotionless tone, shrugging.

“Why are you being so weird?” he asked.

I turned to face him then and gave him a look of contempt before I answered him. “Maybe I just don’t enjoy spending time around footballers?”

“No offence love, but I think you might be in the wrong job if that is the case.” he put his hand on the door, next to my head where I was practically pinned against the door by how close he was to me. Only then did I realise that the training top that he was wearing was ripped, front he shoulder to his navel, the material hanging and exposing his toned chest and abs. I tried to look away but he had caught me looking and was now smirking.

“Maybe it’s just you that puts me off.” I shrugged as I ducked under his arm, escaping from my position between him and the door.

“You really don’t like me?” He huffed. “I don’t remember doing anything to offend you personally.”

“Maybe I’m offended that privileged young lads get money, fame and praise just for kicking a ball around a muddy field. Try something more impressive, like curing cancer or performing life saving surgery, ending world hunger, ending wars.” I groaned in frustration. Maybe that was the truth of it. Why should he get all the praise and admiration that he got, just for playing a sport? There were so many incredible people in the world doing, or working towards the things in that list that never got half the praise that Mason Mount did for kicking a ball.

He looked a bit dumb struck.

I went in again, “Maybe I don’t like you assuming that I should be into you, just because you’re Mason Mount, England and Chelsea midfielder. Maybe that’s what the girls in the club that throw themselves at your feet are into, but it’s not for me.”

I made to leave and he grabbed my hand and mumbled, “Sorry, I’ll leave you alone from now on.”

I didn’t respond. Just pulled my hand from his and stormed off towards the boot room, leaving him outside of the kit room in his ripped shirt.

“Fuck it smells like feet in here.” I complained, walking into the boot room with my nose pinched between my fingers in disgust.

“When I said that I liked shoes to dad, this is not what I meant.” Brianna laughed.

“What are you doing in here, I didn’t think boots were part of your job?” I asked, perching on one of the benches while Bri sat on the floor, sorting through a massive pile of boots to try and match up the pairs. They were in all sorts of bright colours and differing sizes. If I had to guess, I’d guess that she had been at her task for hours.

“Dad and the boot guy had some sort of emergency” she shrugged.

I laughed at that, wondering what kind of emergency you could have that involved kits and boots. Maybe they hadn’t ordered the right brand or something and one of the stars wasn’t going to get his cash from his boot deal if they didn’t find him the right pair.

There was a little tap on the sliding glass door that lead out onto the pitches and stood there was the guy from the other day that had held the door to the cafeteria open for us. He looked a little sheepish.

“Are you going to let him in?” I asked Bri, trying to unbury her from the pile of boots by throwing some of them into a pile, all of the orange ones in one corner, the yellow in another pile and pink in another and so on.

“Oh yeah.” she said, standing and brushing herself off, and adjusting her skirt that rode up her thighs slightly. The guy had noticed and I watched as he tried to look away and then down at his feet. At first I hadn’t thought that his shyness was that genuine. Footballers were all confident cocky little shits in my book, I’d never met one that was shy and unsure of himself.

Bri unlocked the door and let him in.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but only one of these fits” he said, holding up a pair of lime green boots and giving Bri an apologetic smile.

“Oh shit” she said, taking the pair from him and inspecting them. “I’ve given you one 10 and one 9.5.” she looked through the pile of lime green boots until she said “aha!” triumphantly brandishing another size 10 boot. “Here you go my love.”

That as just Bri’s way, she called everyone little pet names all the time, but he didn’t know that and he was blushing profusely and I was almost certain that his hands were shaking as he laced the boots up.

“Thank you so much.” he mumbled, looking like he was about to die of embarrassment. He turned to walk back out of the sliding door, but hadn’t realised that Bri had shut it behind him, so he ended up walking straight into the glass, hitting it with enough force to emmit a cracking noise from his nose which was suddenly streaming with blood.

I jumped up from my seat and crossed the room to him, avoiding the piles of boots the best that I could, not wanting to add myself to the casualty list.

I had an unused tissue in my pocket, that I took out and pressed to his nose. It was instantly bright red and the blood poured straight through it.

“Bri can you go and warn the medical room that we need to bring him down?” I asked.

She nodded in agreement and rushed out of the room.

I put my arm around his waist and guided him back over to the benches. He sat down and I slipped my cardigan off. It was a very thin material and already a deep shade of red. I didn’t let him protest as I replaced the tissue with my cardigan. It was the best that we had, and he looked like he was in a lot of pain.

“I’ve never seen anyone get that flustered before.” i laughed, sitting down beside him. He managed to give me a pained grin.

‘It’s Bri isn’t it? Is she why you were waiting by the canteen door the other day?” I asked gently, patting him reassuringly on the back. “I wanted to send her out of the room so that I could ask you, and also to reassure you that you shouldn’t be embarrassed about this. I’ve seen Bri do a lot more embarrassing things. She’s always falling over and hurting herself. You would make quite the pair.” I laughed.

He shook his head and mumbled “I can’t ask her out”.

“Why the hell not?” i scoffed.

“She has a boyfriend doesn’t she?” he shrugged, looking really sombre.

“Ah no, not anymore. Things are definitely over between her and that prick, and between you and me, if she ever gets back together with him, I’ll give her a matching broken nose.” I bumped shoulders with his, trying to cheer him up, just as Bri came back into the room and told us that the medical room were waiting for him.

“Can you come with me?” he asked, not talking to Bri, but to me instead.

“Sure, I would do anything to get out of work this afternoon. Our twitter page today is just full of fans that are disappointed that we didn’t use the Hazard money to sign Messi.” I laughed, getting up and guiding him towards the door.

“Can we catch up later?” I asked Bri before leaving the room, she nodded and told me she would be free all evening.

As we walked down the corridor I said to him “See, no plans to see a boyfriend” and he blushed again.

One of the medical assistants rushed out to meet us and guided him into the room exclaiming “Billy, what the hell? How have you done that?”

He shrugged, clearly feeling embarrassed about how he had injured himself. So when they looked over at me for clarification, I shrugged too.

Billy wasn’t the only player needing the use of the treatment room. As he sat down on one of the chairs, I noticed that Ben was in there too.

The medic went about dabbing Billy’s nose and he cried out in pain.

“Sorry about your cardigan.” he said, looking down at the red material on his lap. He didn’t need it now that he was getting patched up.

“Honestly don’t worry about it Billy.” I grinned.

The medic then mumbled something about needing something and left the room.

That gave Billy a bit more confidence to talk about what had happened.

“And thank you for the advice about your friend.” Billy seemed a bit happier as he said that, and I could see Ben out of the corner of my eye looking over at us as Billy spoke.

“Please tell me you’re going to ask her out!” Ben laughed.

I turned to look at him and smiled. “You know?”

Ben nodded and looked at Billy with a horrified expression “Oh god, you asked her out and she punched you.”

I shook my head. “Not exactly.” I said.

“The boyfriend was here for some reason, and he punched you?’ Ben went on, standing up and coming over to Billy. He walked with a slight limp.

He stood in between us.

“Why are you in here if you don’t mind me asking?” I looked down at his leg while asking the question.

“It’s my hamstring, nothing too serious.” He smiled.

“Don’t laugh at me when I tell you how I did this.” Billy warned, pointing at his nose. “I walked into a sliding glass door that I thought was open, all because she gave me a pair of boots and called me love.” he groaned, covering his face in embarrassment.

Ben laughed and clapped Billy on the back with his hand. “Oh mate, no wonder you’re embarrassed.” he then addressed me, asking “Just how cringy was it?”

I shook my head before answering him, “I honestly don’t think it was that bad. Bri is pretty oblivious sometimes and I don’t actually think she realised the real reason for you hurting yourself. So if you were to pluck up the courage to speak to her, I wouldn’t even bring it up.”

_________________________________________________________

The next day, I was looking out at the training pitches while I waited for the coffee machine to finish making my drink when there was a gentle tap on my door.

I crossed the room and opened it, expecting it to Bri or maybe even the club photographer giving me some new pictures of the squad to use, but it was Ben.

“Hi, are you free?” he asked, giving me one of his sweet smiles.

“Yeah come in.” I said, stepping back into my office and letting him pass me so that I could hold the door open.

“That coffee smells nice”. He remarked.

“Do you want one? Or did I put you off the other day?” I smiled.

“Ah no thanks, and no you didn’t put me off. I’ve never really liked the stuff. I like the smell of coffee, it just doesn’t taste as good as it smells.” as he spoke I realised that he was holding something in a plastic bag.

He realised that I was looking at it. “It’s your cardigan. I washed it for you at home. Think I got all the blood out but it’s red so I can’t really tell.”

I was for once, speechless. It was a small gesture but it was really kind all the same. I thought about making a witty remark about it actually being his mother or an employed cleaner that washed it for him but I just couldn’t bring myself to.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to do that. It’s only an old primark cardigan.” I said, taking the bag from him.

I suddenly felt a bit flustered in his company. He had that charming smile and didn’t really look like a cocky footballer to me. He didn’t act like one much either, he was just kind of like the guy next door, or the guy you would see on Tinder with a picture of him with his mates at the only photo on the profile so you couldn’t tell which one you were swiping for.

In all honesty, he kind of reminded me of my ex boyfriend Rory. He had the same sort of look, and they had similar accents. Maybe it was nostalgia that made me find being around Ben comforting.

‘I think your coffee is done.” he said, gesturing to the machine.

I nodded and walked over to the machine, taking the cup and adding some creamer and sugar. As I stirred the cup, he leant against my desk and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Something is bothering me if I’m honest.” he said.

“What is it?” I asked curiously.

“Mason said that you told him that you hate all footballers because we’re privileged and get too much clout for what we do.” He looked slightly disappointed in me. “Thing is, I don’t entirely disagree with you. Maybe we do get paid too much for what we do, and maybe doctors and nurses deserve way more praise than we do. I also don’t think that you hate all footballers. You were really kind to Blly yesterday and he won’t forget that in a hurry. You really helped him.” he continued.

“I don’t hate Billy, and I don’t think I hate you either.” I said quietly, taking a sip of my coffee.

“That is interesting.” he grinned, as he took one of my hands and guided me over to him, to stand in between his legs where he now sat on the edge of my desk.

Instinctively I put my coffee cup down and he put his arms around my waist.

“It’s interesting?-” he cut me off before I could say anything else, by pressing his lips against mine. The kiss is soft and gentle and lasts only a few seconds. He testing me and my brain is going in so many different directions. Am I actually going back on all of my principles and kissing a fucking footballer right now? And am I only doing it because he reminds me of my ex?

He moves to pull away, breaking the contact between our lips and I let out the tiniest whimper before putting my hand on the back of his head and pulling him back in for more. This time his tongue slips past my parted lips. My hand at the back of his head grips a generous handful of his hair and one of his hands makes its way to my bum.

My body feels like it is on fire. It has been a bloody long time since anyone kissed or touched me, and I hadn’t quite realised just how starved of affection I had been until I got a taste of it, a taste of him.

The telephone on my desk started to ring,and although I tried to ignore it, I just couldn’t. My job meant a lot to me and if it were Marina or someone of equal importance I would be chastised for missing the call.

We broke the kiss at the same time and I apologised to him. He grinned and fired back that I didn’t need to apologise and that he needed to get back to training, and by the time I picked up the phone, he was gone.

[cherryrogers]

➸ call me baby {3/3}

BROOKLYN

pairing: bucky barnes x reader | biker au

warnings: Swearing, smoking.

word count: 8k

synopsis: Returning to Brooklyn for the summer after a year of travelling from city to city, you hadn’t expected to find your best friend, Peggy Carter, hopelessly in love with a biker. And when she decided to introduce you to the rest of his club, you hadn’t expected to fall for one either. That was until you met one with pretty eyes and a habit of calling you baby.

series masterlist

a/n: jfc,,, i can’t believe i’ve finally finished writing this lmao i’m sorry it took so long my dudes. thank you to everyone who has shown support for this fic, and i hope you all enjoy the final part !!💛

“I’m going to miss having you around, _____. It’s been nice having another girl here who isn’t afraid to put a shitty customer in their place.” Wanda smiled, handing you a white envelope with your final salary enclosed inside.

Folding the envelope and tucking it into your jean pocket, you chuckled heartily. “I think you and your pistol will do just fine without me. Thanks for having me here for the summer, Wan. I wouldn’t even be leaving if it wasn’t for this job.”

Her grin widened as she pulled you into a warm hug. “There’ll always be a job here for you — summer, winter, any time you need it.”

After you’d said one final thanks and goodbye to Wanda, you exited the bar doors for the last time and crossed the sidewalk to where Peggy was waiting in her car for you. In a matter of hours, you’d be spending the night in Brooklyn one last time, and your summer would be over.

Initially, you were expecting a couple of months solely spent with your best friend. Lounging on shimmering sandy beaches, drinking wine and laughing till dusk in your backyard, listening to her harp on about her dreamy new boyfriend while you rambled about all the places you’d visited. You couldn’t have imagined it to be more different than it was. Sure, you had done all of that with Peggy, but she wasn’t the only one that’d shaped your summer. Following the motorcycle ride at five in the morning with a certain biker, you’d only grown more attached to each other. He couldn’t ever keep his hands off you, and you couldn’t ever bring yourself to leave the clubhouse after a day spent with him. If the rest of the club ever caught on to yours and Bucky’s affair, then they never mentioned it. You were sure that was because of Peggy. She knew it was better to leave you be, considering Bucky was the first person you’d opened your heart to in a long time.

Some days were spent simply in his bedroom, wearing nothing but a pair of underwear under his silk sheets, constantly switching between telling one another about your lives, your childhoods, passions, fears, and stripping out of your little clothing and letting yourselves completely give into each other. Some days were spent wandering the streets of Brooklyn hand in hand, Bucky showing you all the alleys and parks he’d found Steve attempting to fight guys twice the size of him, you pointing out the diners and stores you used to drag Peggy to on the weekends in high school. Every day was spent getting to know one another though, and every day spent with Bucky was never a day wasted. The only down side to every moment your were with him was that they’d only add up to it hurting even more when you inevitably left, and that time was arriving very soon.

Peggy drove you home from the bar to collect your packed backpack and suitcase before bringing you down to the clubhouse for the rest of the night. She teased you about going soft since you’d gotten close to Bucky, wanting to spend your last night with your summer love as she called him. The girl received an unimpressed glare for the comment, but what she said wasn’t exactly untrue. If you’d told yourself a year ago that your summer in Brooklyn would find you all starry-eyed for a biker you’d only just met in June, you would’ve likely pushed aside any plan to return to the place at all. Peggy would forced your ass back to Brooklyn, of course; perhaps there would’ve always been something that led you back to your hometown, to him. Christ, you were getting soft.

There was a crease between your brows as you retrieved the envelope of cash from your pocket and gently ripped it open in your lap. It felt a little... thicker than it usually was — more than what you normally earned from a week’s worth of work. As your eyes met the wad of green bills inside, they widened in shock. Yep, definitely more than your usual salary. Way more to just be a mistake on Wanda’s part.

The large sum of cash even caught Peggy’s eye from her place in the driver’s seat. “Wanda must’ve really taken a liking to you. Perhaps doubling your salary is a plea to make you stay.”

A breathless laugh escaped your lips as you ran your thumb over the edges of the bills. “If it is, that girl knows exactly what she’s doing. Maybe travelling isn’t my true calling after all.”

While they was a playfulness to your tone, you couldn’t help but notice the brunette’s smile falter at your words. Peggy was like you in a way; she wasn’t soft, often being as upfront and stubborn as you were. However, she didn’t like opening up to people about herself all that much. Not that you were necessarily thriving in that department either, but when it came to Steve, she’d said it’d took her a while to even mention her brother’s passing to him. He hadn’t known she even had a brother before Peggy brought it up a long while after they’d began dating. Peggy possessed a lot of self confidence, and she had every right to do so. Being vulnerable and open just tended to put her at unease, and when you caught her acting a little off, it took some gentle coaxing to get her to open up.

“Are you okay?” You offered her a comforting smile, to which she didn’t quite return.

“Peachy,” She replied half-heartedly, hands tightening on the steering wheel. Glancing briefly at you, she spotted the crinkle in your brows and your pursed lips. Seeing as you never took your eyes off her, she sighed. “What is it?”

“Peggy, I don’t know how long it’s gonna be before I see you again. If something’s up, please tell me.”

Her tongue hesitantly ran across her bottom lip, fingers readjusting on the steering wheel. “It’s nothing, really. It’s just... I didn’t realise how much I’d missed having you here. I know it’s selfish, but I’d be lying if I said I was excited to see you off tomorrow.”

You shuffled in your seat, turning to face your friend more directly. “It’s not selfish, Pegs. Of course you don’t want me to go, I’m the shining light of your life—”

“_____...”

“Sorry, I know I’m annoying. Can’t help it,” You apologised, internally cursing yourself out. One serious conversation. You can have one serious conversation, come on. “I mean it, though; I don’t think it’s selfish. If you were jetting off to London tomorrow, I’d feel the same— oh, red light!”

The car came to an abrupt stop in front of the traffic lights, your seatbelt pressing tightly against you chest. Before you could reprimand your friend and tell her that putting you in hospital isn’t a viable way to stop you from leaving, she was turning to you with a surprised stare.

“You’re going to London? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I mean, I actually just made the decision five minutes ago, but yeah, I’m going to London.”

Peggy let out a disbelieving laugh. “You haven’t even booked your flight yet?”

“I didn’t even have the money to go an hour ago!” You exclaimed. “But with all this cash from Wanda, I think I’ll be able to make it there. I’ve been travelling the US for a year now, Pegs. I wanna go somewhere new. Somewhere fresh, the land of milky tea and buttery crumpets. I can go to the Queens house—”

“You have a lot of nerve saying all of this to someone who was born in England.” She glared softly, pressing her foot down on the gas when the green light appeared.

An amused smile crept onto your lips. “Hm, I will need someone to Facetime twenty four-seven to tell me all the places I need to visit, preferably English and born in London...”

“So you’ll talk to me solely because my nationality is of use to you?”

You rolled your eyes. “I might miss you a little bit too.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s hard being without you too, you know,” You spoke more seriously, catching Peggy slightly off guard. “Travelling is great and all, but some days I do wake up in my motel room and wish I was back home, spending the day with my best friend.”

While her eyes were still focused on the road, a warm smile was clearly pulling at the brunette’s lips. “Just... don’t stay away for too long this time, okay?”

“You’ll see me again before next summer, I promise.”

“Hm, I’m going to need that in writing.”

“I’ll even record a video for you; I’ll buy a tripod, get some good lighting, one of those fluffy microphones—”

Peggy cut you off with a hearty chuckle, dark, conditioned curls bouncing as she shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m actually going to miss your ability to make a joke out of everything.”

You scoffed, placing a hand on your chest in mock shock. “Christ, now that is something that needs to be in writing. I’m hiring us a lawyer, he can draw us both up contracts.”

“Dont forget to book your flight first.” Peggy chimed in.

“Right, I have a lot of things I need to do today. Bucky’s gonna have to give me a minute before he can have me to himself... and I’ll need to lend his computer.”

As your gaze averted to the passing by buildings out of the car window, Peggy grinned contentedly to herself. She could see exactly why you’d been the one Bucky had really fallen for, though she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d handle your departure to a whole other continent.

However, you’d promised you were coming back soon, and there wasn’t a doubt in Peggy’s mind that he’d be counting down the hours once you stepped onto your flight.

* * *

“London, huh?” Bucky’s voice caught your attention as he entered the office, a beer bottle in each hand.

As you confirmed the booking of your flight for the next morning, you swirled around in the cushioned desk chair, taking one of the bottles once the man had approached you. “Did Peggy spill the beans already?”

“Heard her talkin’ to Steve in the garage,” He pressed his own bottle to his lips, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Doesn’t seem like five minutes since you first arrived, when you came into the backyard in those little black and white shorts.”

Standing up, you shot him an eye roll. “I’m sure that’s all you can remember from that day, perv.”

“What do you remember then?”

You hummed, leaning into Bucky as you let his arms envelop your waist. “I remember wondering why everyone was wearing leather jackets in eighty degree weather. Oh, and that I thought you were a dick.”

The biker didn’t seem offended in the slightest at your statement, only grinning and pulling you closer. “Hm, and what about the day at the carnival? Wasn’t that a good day?”

“No, I had to endure you flirting with those girls in front of us in the drop tower line. I was almost sick before we even got on the ride.”

“Oh, that?” He let out a laugh, cheeks faintly tinting pink. “I was only trying to make you a little jealous. Seems like it worked.”

You scoffed. “It did not work,” It definitely had worked.

“You liked when I held your hand on the ride though, didn’t you?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You know what? Fine. I did,” You admitted, eliciting a smug smile from Bucky. “But I’m only admitting that ‘cause I’m leaving tomorrow. Don’t think I’m going soft on you.”

He ran his tongue along his lower lip, leaning closer to speak against your lips. “Wouldn’t be stupid enough to dream of it.”

Smiling in satisfaction, you moved an inch closer and let his lips meet yours, a warm feeling emerging in your chest. The kiss remained gentle as your fingers pushed some of his hair away from his face, before you pulled back reluctantly to breathe. Blue eyes pierced into yours after fluttering open almost hazily.

“Would it be stupid to ask you to stay?” Bucky asked quietly, though he knew the answer already.

A weak nod and an empathetic smile; you pecked the corner of his lips before stepping back completely as if you suddenly felt you’d been standing too close. Bucky had never seen you holding your tongue, but that seemed to be what you were doing as you put some distance between the two of you.

There was an uncomfortable silence, the warmth from your body dissipated and replaced with an aching coldness. Perhaps telling yourself all summer that you could worry about yours and Bucky’s future at the end of August was a terribly bad idea, because now it was hitting you — maybe there’s wasn’t a future for the two of you at all.

“I’ll wait for you, you know.” The biker’s voice broke the quiet, the words slicing through you.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, Bucky. I don’t think I can ask you to do that.” You breathed, meeting his eyes hesitantly.

“You’re not asking me to, I want to,” He stated, worrying his teeth over his bottom lip. “Unless... that’s not what you really want?”

Truthfully, the idea of Bucky seeing anyone else once you’d left made your stomach turn. In an ideal world, you’d like it if he was just yours. Only yours, because you guaranteed that there wasn’t anybody else that could make you feel the way that he did. But you couldn’t force him to wait for a girl that strayed away from their hometown for longer than they stayed, no matter how much it’d end up hurting you.

“It wouldn’t be fair, Bucky, to either of us. We can’t really be together when I’m only gonna come back for the holidays—”

“Was this just a summer thing to you?” He questioned, a mix of regret and frustration flashing in his eyes. He knew he shouldn’t have asked that, but some part of him was oddly curious to.

Your previously calm expression turned sour as you furrowed your brows and scoffed. “You’re—you’re kidding, right? Did you just— of course it wasn’t just a summer thing to me, you asshole.”

Admittedly, it hurt that he’d even had the nerve to think that. You’d asked him if you shouldn’t have started something together that inevitably was going to end and he said he didn’t regret it. While being together could technically only last for the summer months, it wasn’t just a fling. There were feelings there that you weren’t going to be able to shake off, memories that were going to be carved into your mind forever. Did he seriously think that it was all just temporary on your part?

“Then would staying really be so bad?” Bucky retorted. What he was saying was only making you angrier, but he couldn’t help but be honest. Perhaps it just hadn’t hit him that you were really leaving in less than twenty four hours until that very moment, and everything that left him mouth was coming from a deep place of, well, sadness.

You shook your head in disbelief. “You’re being selfish.”

“Aren’t I allowed to be? We’ve spent a whole summer together and this time tomorrow you’re gonna be thousands of miles away from here—”

“And you don’t think I’ll be hurt either?” You intervened, cocking a brow. “You think I’ll be skipping through the airport utterly thrilled to be leaving you?”

Bucky was silent, too silent for too long. You scoffed, ignoring the way he was biting down in his cheek and the faint glossiness of his eyes in your annoyance. “You knew I was gonna have to leave eventually, Bucky. If you knew weren’t going to be able to accept that... then you never should’ve asked me to stay that night.”

That night; no further explanation was needed to identify which of the many nights spent together you were talking about. It was that night when you fell inexplicably hard for Bucky, when you decided that you might never have the chance to fall in the way you’d fallen for him ever again and that you’d only regret not staying the night. Not letting him strip you of your clothes and shed his own, not letting him make love to you, not letting him wake up to you admiring his every feature. If he knew he wouldn’t be able to let you go so easily, then having you stay that night was purely unwise of him.

When Bucky didn’t you respond one again after a few moments, you sighed deeply, crossing your arms over your chest. Though your expression had softened, your tone was still rather cold. “It’s never been just a fling with you, and if after all the damn time we’ve been spending together you thought there was a chance I might’ve thought that, then maybe you don’t feel the way I thought you felt about me at all.”

The biker’s features fell as he watched you chew your bottom lip and stalk towards the door — doubting his feelings for you was the last thing he wanted you to do. He let his boot collide with the bottom of his desk in frustration as you shut the office door behind you.

He hadn’t meant to start a dispute. It was your last god damn night in Brooklyn, of course he didn’t want to spend it receiving the cold shoulder from you. You’d probably gone out and found the rest of the guys, perhaps even went to drag Peggy aside to tell her how much of a dick he’d just been, which he’d understand. He had a feeling you wouldn’t do that though; instead you’d go out and pretend everything was fine because you wouldn’t dare let anyone know that he’d managed to hurt your feelings — always so stubborn.

Relationships were not Bucky’s forte. It’s not like he’d ever been looking for one; he was still young, he had still wanted to have fun for a little while before finally settling down like his mother had been bugging him to since he’d moved out. While he wasn’t the type to sleep with a girl and never call them again, he wasn’t exactly the type to, well... sleep with a girl and do anything else with them. He hated the talking stages of a relationship, despised them with all his being. Everyone he knew insisted that he had to get through them to actually have a deeper relationship with someone, but he really just couldn’t will himself to do it. So when there didn’t seem to be a weird talking stage with you, he was pretty happy about it.

It wasn’t like he was forcing himself to try and develop a connection with you, he’d hardly been interested in dating anyone when you’d first arrived. But then it all happened so naturally and now look at the two of you — well, you were mad at him and he was standing in the office alone like an idiot.

He knew better than to follow you outside and try to play friendly with you in front of everyone else. Giving you and himself a bit of time to cool off and think, Bucky took a shower upstairs in his bathroom. The longer the hot water pelted his skin, the more he felt like an asshole for what he’d said to you. He couldn’t just ask you to stay for him, that was wrong for a start. That was definitely selfish. Accusing you of thinking it was just a fling too? Christ, what was he thinking? He didn’t actually think that you thought of him as a fling, he just stupidly asked that in the heat of the moment when he was frustrated that you one hundred percent didn’t want to stay.

Maybe he ought to get out of the shower before he steamed up the whole clubhouse and make things right.

As Bucky neared the bottom of the staircase after putting on some clothes and towel-drying his hair, he bumped into Steve, who seemed to be heading towards the living room.

“Hey, Buck. We’re starting a movie soon. _____’s just finishin’ her cigarette out back; you two joining us?”

Bucky plastered on a smile, shaking his head. Perhaps he sounded selfish, but watching a movie with everyone wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to spend his last night with you. “I don’t think so, man. Another night.”

“Suit yourself.” The blond patted his friend’s shoulder before allowing him to scoot past him and head outside.

The sky was a deep blue, the sparse, grey clouds almost bleeding into the dark hue as the stars began to peek through the dusky blanket. A single garden lamp lit up the area, just about showing your figure sitting on the picnic bench that’d never been replaced since they’d moved into the clubhouse. Between your parted lips rested the remains of a cigarette, smoke twirling through the slight breeze that’d picked up once the sun went down.

You didn’t flinch as Bucky slid onto the bench next to you, and he couldn’t help but let his mind wander back to when the two of you had met. At that time, he was sat in your spot exhaling clouds of smoke, not knowing who you were when you first walked outside. Fast forward to now and you were exactly where he was all those weeks ago, except now he wasn’t sure what he was going to do without you.

“You mind if I take a drag of that?” He spoke up suddenly, suppressing a smile at the way you paused in your actions.

While you didn’t offer him the stick between your fingers, your loosened grip on it silently gave Bucky the permission to pluck it out of your hand into his own, which he did. After taking a long drag of the cigarette, he stubbed it out on the ashtray to his right before turning his attention to you.

“I know we aren’t a summer fling to you. I- I know how you feel about me, because I feel the same way.”

Bucky felt himself relax a little as you faced him, no longer staring off into the night. A slight frown pulled at your lips; he didn’t like the sight. “If I was going to stay for anything, or anyone, it’d be you, you know.”

Not sure what to say, the biker only gave you a nod of acknowledgment, taken aback by the statement. He wasn’t sure whether it was a compliment or something he shouldn’t be happy with.

“There’s a difference between me wanting to stay and wanting to be with you,” You bit down on your bottom lip. “I don’t wanna stay, but if you asked me... if you asked me to stay again to be with you, I probably wouldn’t get on my flight tomorrow.”

Breath hitching, Bucky narrowed his eyes. “You’d stay if I asked you to again?”

The look in your eyes was enough of an answer. If he asked you to stay, you’d say yes. Yes to waking up beside him during the colder fall mornings. Yes to motorcycle rides to anywhere and everywhere. Yes to never having to worry about how much time you have left together, because you’d stayed; you weren’t leaving Brooklyn anymore.

Saying yes to that however, would mean saying goodbye London, to travelling. Exploring different cultures, trying new food, experiencing a part of the world you never thought you could reach as a child. No more reading in motel rooms until midnight. No more tours around cities with a camera wrapped around your neck. No more living the life you’d been dreaming of since you’d barely started middle school — you weren’t ready to let go of that just yet, and Bucky didn’t have to read your mind to know that.

“I’m not gonna ask you to stay again,” He declared, prompting you to raise a brow. “I’m not gonna be a jackass and make you stay if that’s not what you wanna do.”

To his joy, your frown slowly curled into a soft smile. “I know your heart’s in the right place, Buck. That you weren’t trying to start an argument. And— and I can’t stop you from waiting for me if that’s what you wanna do. I’ll be back at some point, but I just don’t want you to put your life on hold for me, you know?”

“I wouldn’t be puttin’ it on hold. I wasn’t planning on finding someone I— I liked so much ever, really. I don’t know if it’ll happen again,”

Your heart — it was going to explode. Who knew you’d ever meet someone that had the power to make you feel so... disgustingly lovesick.

“...unless you happen to take a liking to a London boy while you’re there...?”

You chuckled, a warm sound amid the cool night. “London, Paris, Berlin... none of those boys will ever come close to the one I have in Brooklyn.”

A wide grin spread across the biker’s lips. “Who’s the sap now, huh?”

With a playful eye roll, you couldn’t help but place your hand on Bucky’s jaw, caressing it with your thumb as you leaned in and captured his lips.

He reacted immediately, putting a hand on your outer thigh to pull you closer to his side.

Wherever you were in the world, you’d always have Bucky in Brooklyn — he hoped that you didn’t doubt that.

* * *

Too many mornings spent lazing in Bucky’s bed meant that reality hadn’t yet set in after a few minutes of being awake. It was so natural at this point, to wake up and feel the warmth of him next to you, to have your legs tangled with his and to feel his nose grazing against the back of your neck.

Turning around in his arms, you leaned in and laid a kiss on his nose, smirking at the way he scrunched it in response before pinching at your bare hip. You smacked his hand away before settling your head back against the pillow, gazing at him through your lashes.

“Have I ever told you beautiful you are?” You asked without a second thought.

Heat evidently pooled in Bucky’s cheeks, and you rested a hand on the side of his face before he could roll himself over to hide his embarrassment.

“I’m serious.” You pressed.

“I know,” He grinned, voice raspy with sleep; he knew you never lied to him, you were as honest as they got. “And no, you haven’t told me.”

“Well, now I have. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

“Shut up.”

“Never.”

Bucky sighed, tracing a hand down the curve of your back. He could keep you there forever, laying so close to him and calling him beautiful. If someone would’ve told him at the start of the summer that this was where he’d be by the end of it, he would’ve laughed in their face. “Where’d that come from, huh? You’re being scarily nice.”

“I’m trying to be sentimental, jerk.”

“Oh, right,” He smirked. “Just like last night when you told me to fuck—”

You interrupted him with a finger pressed to his lips. “I think that was pretty sentimental in its own way, actually.”

“Uh-huh,” Bucky kissed your fingertip gently. He had a feeling you were being a little softer than usual since the circumstances of the day were different. You weren’t sure when your next moment like this would be, if there ever would be one. Truthfully, there was an ache in his heart that was caused by that thought too. He sighed, almost sadly. “What time’s your flight?”

“Eleven.”

“Well, I think that leaves us enough time for me to show you how beautiful I think you are...” He trailed his hand lower down your spine and followed the curve of your ass.

You smirked, glancing over your shoulder to the small clock sat on the bedside table. It was nearly nine. There was just over an hour until you had to be at the airport...

“Thirty minutes, then we have to get up. Peggy will be up and banging on the door for us otherwise.”

“More than enough time, baby.”

That was a lie, however. It wasn’t nearly enough time, because once the two of you finally pried yourselves out from underneath the sheets, it hit you that that was the last time in a long time that you’d wake up in Bucky’s bed. The last time you’d be able to have him so close to you. It made you wonder what life would’ve been like if you met him before you first left to travel. If you’d fallen for him that hard so long ago, would you even have left Brooklyn in the first place?

You both took your time getting dressed, you tossing on a tank top and some leggings from your packed suitcase while Bucky put on his signature biker attire. He smugly asked if he could keep a pair of your underwear as a memoir; you told him to go fuck himself before planting a kiss on his lips. It was amazing how quickly he could switch between acting like a dick and being a sweetheart. You’d miss that, admittedly.

Everyone was eating breakfast in the kitchen when the two of you made it downstairs, the sound of your suitcase thumping against the steps signalling your presence. It was rare that you and Bucky ever saw the morning outside of his bedroom in the clubhouse, and that was proved by the raised brows and mock gasps you recieved when you entered into the room. You rested the suitcase against the doorframe as Bucky strided towards the counter, clearly eyeing the half-full pack of cigarettes placed on there.

As he reached for them, Steve looked up from his bacon and eggs, a frown pulling at his lips. “Hey, you can’t just smoke and call it breakfast.”

“I haven’t had breakfast for months,” The brunet snorted. “Don’t think it matters that much.”

“Have some coffee at least?” Steve pushed.

Cocking his brow, Bucky glanced over to you in hope of you having his back. It wasn’t like you’d had breakfast since before summer either, but you weren’t going to let the guy smoke for breakfast. Not when everyone else had a hot meal and the scent alone was making your mouth water.

“How about we get something at the airport?” You offered, strolling over to the seat next to Peggy and sitting down.

“You’re not going the airport so soon, are you?” She asked, sipping her coffee.

“Well, my flight leaves in two hours—”

The brunette almost choked on her coffee, prompting Steve to gently pat her back as she recovered. “Two hours? Oh my— why are you sitting down? We need to go—”

“Would you calm down?” You chuckled, placing a hand on Peggy’s forearm as she started to rise from her seat. She was right, though. You were cutting it very short by still being at the clubhouse when you wanted to grab some breakfast too. You moved your gaze to Bucky. “I mean, maybe we should go now...”

While he looked reluctant to nod, Bucky did so anyway, grabbing the keys to his motorcycle from his designated hook on the the wall next to the light switch.

“Hey genius, how am I gonna put my suitcase on your bike?” You furrowed your brows, grinning as the realisation hit him.

“Uh...”

“Bucky can take you on his bike,” The blond perked up, standing next to his girlfriend. “Peg and I can take the jeep with your suitcase.”

Looking to your best friend for permission, you smiled when she gave you a sure nod. She knew how much it would mean to you if your were able to ride with Bucky one more time. “Go on, we’ll be right behind you.”

After thanking her, you grabbed your suitcase and said your goodbyes to those sitting around the table. Though you didn’t speak to them as much as you’d wished you had, you’d still miss them. You all shared the same sense of humour, having a laugh with them was easy when you spent the day with the group, even when you were all simply lazing around the clubhouse. You gave each of them a quick hug, rolling your eyes when Clint told you to ‘have a right good time in London’ with a horrible English accent.

Bucky lead you out of the house, handing you a helmet and kissing the crown of your head quickly before climbing onto the bike. He didn’t say anything as you got on behind him, enveloping his waist and comfortably setting your chin on his shoulder. With every passing moment, you could tell that he wasn’t looking forward to finally waving you off at the airport. Usually when he was getting grumpy, you’d make a stupid comment about it and it seemed to cheer him up; it didn’t feel right to do so in this instance.

So as the the bike roared to life, you turned to look at the clubhouse. The place where you’d spent the majority of your summer, where you’d met everyone, where you’d met Bucky, where you’d kissed him for the first time, done other things for the first time. It’d become another home to you in a way, like a place you’d always be welcome back to. You hoped you’d always be welcome there anyway, even after being gone for months on end once you stepped onto your flight.

It’d barely taken thirty minutes to get to JFK Airport, Peggy’s jeep only a few cars behind you as you wound through the streets of New York. Bucky noticed when you didn’t start cussing out the bad drivers that were practically skimming the side of his bike like always, your head never leaving its place against his back. It was unlike you, but he didn’t mind. Perhaps like him you were just savouring the moment, the last ride you’d have for a while. Christ, Bucky had never felt so many emotions at once. He didn’t know whether to fall to his knees and beg you not to forget him or to kiss you passionately and tell you he’d be waiting for your return. To maintain his dignity, he decided against the former option.

Almost too fast for your liking, you arrived just outside of the entrance, climbing off the motorcycle reluctantly and spying the jeep just coming to park behind you. It wouldn’t be able to stay parked there for long, and you felt an ache in your chest as you saw Peggy stepping out of her car, Steve not far behind her pulling your suitcase along.

He handed it to you with a smile which you returned as you took it from him. Setting it beside you, you let out a sad chuckle upon realising how glazed over Peggy’s eyes were.

“I’m not about to cry, before you say anything,” She stated, plastering on a grin. “It’s just allergies.”

“Allergies my ass,” You smirked, stepping forward and wrapping your arms around her neck, grinning into her shoulder as she hugged you back tightly. You spoke again, this time more quietly next to her ear. “I love you, okay? And I won’t hesitate to fly back here and beat Steve’s ass if he does anything, I swear.”

Truthfully, you didn’t think Steve was capable of hurting a fly, never mind the smartest, kindest, most gorgeous woman you knew. However, Jay-Z was capable of cheating on Beyoncé — Beyoncé, so being a little sceptical of any man you met wasn’t unreasonable, in your opinion.

“I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” She chuckled. “You just focus on looking after yourself, alright?”

“Right,” You responded. “And... you’ll keep an eye on Bucky for me, won’t you?”

It wasn’t that you didn’t trust Bucky, or that you wanted a daily report of what he was up to while you were gone. You just wanted to know that he was going to be okay. Being apart would be hard on both of you, but you’d been doing the ‘being alone’ thing for over a year now, and you had a feeling that there was more to how he felt about you leaving than he was letting on. Even when he said he wasn’t going to ask you to stay again, you still felt like he wasn’t as okay with the situation as he was acting to be.

“Of course I will, Steve too,” The brunette assured you, giving you a final squeeze before beginning to pull back. “I love you too,” She sighed, returning to her place stood next to Steve. “Right, you know where you’re going after you arrive, yes? If not, you can call me and I’ll give you directions to the motel. If you’re hungry I know there’s a takeaway place just outside of the airport—”

“Pegs, I’ll be fine. I’m going to London, not Narnia.”

“Just— just be safe, okay?”

“Can’t make any promises.”

“_____—”

“I’m kidding! How about you learn to take a joke while I’m gone, huh?”

You smiled as Peggy rolled her eyes in amusement. Perhaps she wouldn’t be as amused if she knew about what happened with Brock Rumlow at the bar. You decided you’d tell her in London when you were in a whole other continent, otherwise she might not have let you leave in fear that you’d be getting into more trouble at English bars with assholes like Brock. Even if you did, Peggy knew you weren’t soft, you could handle yourself. She just worried that you were a little too unafraid of confrontation.

Turning to Bucky and picking your suitcase back up, you have him a slight tug on his hand. “We should probably go for breakfast now, I’ll be boarding soon.”

He nodded, offering to take your suitcase and rolling his eyes when you made a comment about him being ‘such a gentlemen’. You gave the blond a quick hug, warning him to take care of Peggy and grinning as he teased you about being more like her mother than her best friend, before saying a final goodbye to the two of them, giving your friend’s hand a final squeeze and turning away to head into the airport.

There was just over an hour until you had to be on the plane, so you and Bucky decided to head into cafe near the entrance and get a proper breakfast. Two steaming black coffees sat opposite each other on the small booth in the corner you were sat at, complimenting the stacks of pancakes dripping in syrup and sugar that you’d impulsively ordered and that Bucky had insisted on paying for, saying that you should save all your cash for exploring London.

“I’ll probably come back for Christmas.” You said in repsonse to him asking how long you’d be travelling for this time, stuffing a sliced bit of pancake into your mouth.

Bucky furrowed his brows. “Really? You’re not staying away until summer again?”

You cocked your brow, looking at him in the corner of your eye. “Why, do you want me to?”

“Course not,” He smirked, reaching out to swipe a drop of syrup from your lip with his thumb. “I hope that means you’re getting me a Christmas present then.”

A chuckle left your lips. “My return will be your Christmas present, how about that?”

The biker scoffed. “Okay... getting to kiss me when you get back will be your present then.”

“Eh... can’t you think of something better?”

He glared at you playfully, though you felt a little bad making the joke. You knew from the argument the night before that he wasn’t still one hundred percent okay with you leaving. Comfortingly, you placed a hand above his knee over his dark jeans.

“In all seriousness, though— I shouldn’t have told you not to wait for me to come back. If that’s what you really want, I can’t stop you from waiting for me. In fact, just seeing you again will be the best thing I’ll get on Christmas; I know it. Well, unless someone gets me some rollerblades. I always wanted them as a kid but my mom refused since I have issues with ‘being careful’—”

Bucky’s laugh cut you off, rolling his eyes at your attempt at covering up your sappy words with sarcasm. He could definitely understand why you never got rollerskates, however — you did have a tendency to be a little reckless. God knows what you were like as a kid.

“I’d have to agree with her on that one,” He smiled, sipping his coffee. “You have been punched in the face more times than the average person. You never told me about the other time you got punched, actually.”

A chuckle fell from your lips. “You remember me mentioning that?”

“Uh-huh.”

You sighed melodramatically. “I guess we have some time to kill — fine. So I was, surprise-surprise, in some random bar in Chicago...”

The hour you had left before your flight finished soon after you’d told Bucky enough stories from your travels to last him in your absence, and before you knew it, you’d reached the flight terminal.

There was an invisible force tugging at your heartstrings. While you were bubbling with excitement to get on your flight, to explore a whole new place outside of what you’ve always known, you hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be to leave what you did know behind. The thought of depending on somebody else, allowing yourself to let their feelings come into play with your decisions, had practically disgusted you only a few months ago. But with Bucky, it only felt wrong to cast his feelings aside.

The biker noticed the change in your demeanour as you neared the terminal, and a smile crept onto his lips. “C’mon, _____ — don’t tell me you’re gonna pussy out on leaving now.”

“Shut up,” You scoffed, elbowing his ribs. “I’m just... thinking.”

“About what?”

It took you a moment to come up with an answer. “About how everything has changed, and how everything is going to keep changing.”

You turned to look at Bucky, whose brows were furrowed. The corners of your lips upturned. “Bucky, nothing in my life is consistent. I’ve always liked travelling because where I am changes all the time, and I never feel stuck anywhere; I always feel free. And with you, I don’t feel stuck either. I want you to be a constant in my life, no matter where I am in the world or whatever else changes in it. I always wanted to get out of Brooklyn ‘cause it never felt like where I was supposed to be forever, but now I know that you’re here... well, maybe Brooklyn is where I’m supposed to end up...”

“...and I swear to God if you call me a sap for that—”

To your delight, you’re not teased for the most heartfelt thing you’d ever said to him, or anyone for that matter, but cut off with a intense kiss. Savouring the feeling, you placed a hand on the back of Bucky’s neck, letting yourself melt into him for one last time that summer. You’d found that Bucky wasn’t necessarily vocal in expressing his feelings, but that didn’t matter. The way he kissed you said more than a thousand words ever could.

After reluctantly pulling away from the kiss, Bucky didn’t let you go just yet. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders and held you to his chest, an affectionate action that he didn’t necessarily do so often. Nevertheless, you leaned into him and let your arms encircle his waist, your cheek resting comfortably against his shoulder. This wasn’t the last time you’d be so close to him, you had to keep reminding yourself of that. But you’d never felt so hesitant to leave someone behind since you’d left Peggy the first time you left New York. You found your way back to her, though, and you were sure you’d do the same with Bucky.

“On second thought, I’d be fine if you pussied out of leaving now...” He spoke into your ear, making you chuckle against his chest.

“I’m no wuss, Bucky Barnes,” You moved back from his embrace, patting his jacket. “You’ll see me again soon, don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

The feminine voice over the intercom informing you that your direct flight to London was departing soon cut your final moments with Bucky short, enabling the both of you to let out a disheartened sigh.

You leaned forward once more, pressing a soft but fleeting kiss to his lips, before giving his hand a squeeze. “Stay out of trouble, will you? At least until I get back?”

“I think I should be the one tellin’ you that,” Bucky laughed, his eyes taking in the curve of your nose and your cheekbones, the colour of your eyes and the softness of your lips; the features he’d had the luxury of waking up to every day for the past two months. Not that he could ever forget how beautiful you are, but he’d be a fool not to take advantage of looking at you properly in the flesh for the last time for a while. “Running away from a fight isn’t a bad thing, you know.”

“Practise what you preach, pal — does that mean you won’t be socking Brock Rumlow in the face next time you run into him?”

“...touché.”

A grin graced your lips as you clasped your fingers around the handle of your suitcase. “Mhm, that’s what I thought. Now, I’ve gotta get going. There might be a fight waiting for me on the plane already — a forty-five year old lady named ‘Karen’ that’s upset she didn’t get the window seat, perhaps?”

“Well, I can’t keep you waiting, can I?” Bucky stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets, watching as you began to walk in the opposite direction to him, the opposite direction to the summer you’d forever hold dear to your heart.

The smile on your face widened, your last words to him falling from your lips before you turned around and headed towards the next part of your journey, which would eventually, hopefully, lead you back to him in the end.

“I’ll see you when I’m back home.”

Home. Where you belonged. Where you’d circle back to when you’d travelled across the world and back. With him, in Brooklyn.

“See you when you’re back home, baby.”

There was a time when you didn’t believe in love. When you thought that those who did were only fooling themselves, and when you once told your best friend that you’d never fall in love. Maybe you’d proved yourself wrong with Bucky.

The reason you’d always told yourself that love wasn’t real was because you never knew what it was, how it felt. However, if it felt like gliding through a sunlit sky with all the time in the world to spare, with all the space around you to explore; if it felt like finding home in more than just four walls and a roof, but in two bright blue eyes and a soul just as carefree as yours (...and a worn out leather jacket...), then maybe you had fallen in love with Bucky.

Perhaps when you returned home, you’d let him know.

-

@dark-academics-and-florals @thefallenbibliophilequote @kimvmarvel @broco8 @domolovee @barnestruck @igotkatiepowers

[socalwriterbee]

Confessions Part 4

Catch up on Confessions

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Book: The Nanny Affair

Characters: Marie Castro x Sam Dalton, Jordan Le, Jenny

Rating/Warning: Teen+, Some Adult Language

Word Count: 2,339 +

Song Mention:

You Oughta Know By Alanis Morissette

Si Una Vez By Selena

Summary: After a breakup, Marie seeks her best friend out.

A/N: Songs that were mentioned are in italic. Tried to my best to translate the part of Si Una Vez as best I could.

Tag: @thenannyaffair-fanfics

Characters belong to Pixelberry

********

Marie patiently waited for her friend to respond to her message. If anyone can help make things better it was her best friend.

Jenny squeals as soon as she swings the door open, really finding her best friend standing before her with a new look.

“Marie, how is it possible for you to look like a thousand times better in person?” Jenny hugs her tightly, gently pulling at the ends of her hair, not knowing if she really just a chopped off a good amount of her hair.

“You can stop pulling my hair. I really did cut it.” She laughs at her friend. “Are you gonna let me in? The champagne is waiting.”

Jenny releases her, pushing her to arms length, really taking in her friends new look. Skin tight black pleather pants paired with black Louboutin pumps, a revenge red colored crop top and her newly cut hair.

Jenny drags her by the hand and leads them into the apartment, slamming the door behind them.

“Don’t kill me Marie, but you didn’t happen to bring any orange juice?” Jenny asks, making her way across the island.

Marie shakes her head at her best friend, she wasn’t surprised Jenny didn’t have anything in her apartment. She had been the one who would stock up the fridge and cabinets with food. If it had been up to Jenny, they would only have vodka in the freezer. One she would bet a good amount of money on that being the only thing in the freezer right now.

“Jenny, do you at least have something to nibble on while we drink?” Marie asks.

She places the two bottles of champagne down on the counter, watching Jenny open and close the cabinets, then moves to the fridge.

“Here put this one in the fridge while I open this one. We’ll just order something to be delivered.” She tells Jenny, handing her one of the bottles.

“I have apples.. well an apple.” Jenny points to her sad looking fruit basket.

“One that seems to be well past being edible. it’s beginning to shrivel up.”

The popping sound of the cork makes Jenny jump, pulling out two glasses and handing them to Marie. After pouring and ordering some food, Marie kicks off her heels and takes her usual spot on the sofa, when one of them is going through a breakup, tucking one leg under the other. Jenny takes the opposite side of the sofa.

“What do we toast too?” Jenny asks.

“The future.”

Marie raises her glass to meet her friends, clinking their glasses together. Jenny eyes her with some concern, wondering what her friend had been through in the last twelve hours or so.

“To the future.”

Jenny takes a good drink of the champagne, while Marie tosses her full glass back, the bubbles tickling the back of her throat, leaving it empty and reaching for the bottle to pour more.

“So Marie, what the hell happened? Wasn’t everything going well between you two?” Jenny asks while tapping her well manicured nails on the fluted glass, impatiently waiting for her to answer.

“Is this situation fit for just drinking champagne? Or do I pull out the Vodka from the freezer?”

“It’s a start. It’ll get the job done.” She gives Jenny a wide grin. “Like I told you, it’s over between me and Sam.”

“How? Why?” Jenny sits up a bit straighter, again waiting for an explanation.

“Sam caught me kissing Jordan.” Marie tosses another glass back. “No.. No..” She wiggles her finger at Jenny “Sam walked in on Jordan kissing me.”

“Why would Jordan do that?”

“He confessed he has feeling for me.”

“No!” Jenny mouths drops open at the revelation.

Marie just nods her head. Last night coming back to her, making her head spin. “That’s not all, he told me Sam was seeing Lana behind my back.”

“That uptight blonde from the house warming party, the mother of one of Mason’s friends?” Jenny asks.

“The one and the same.”

“I’m gonna need you to start from the beginning and everything in between that led you to..to this new look and you chugging champagne like its grape juice.” Her friend said.

Taking a deep breath, Marie began the events of last night from Jordan surprising her at work to him telling her how he feels about her. The moment Sam walked in on them, him storming out, not waiting to hear an explanation of what he saw. It felt like she had been talking for hours, the one break Marie took was to get the other bottle of champagne while Jenny got the food they ordered.

“You need to try this hash..it's amazing.” Jenny hands her the container, as she takes the one Marie had in her hands.

“He just walked away. Left me there standing like a fool. All because he wants space. Because I believe or believed he would cheat on me. But look at how we started, Jen. He was engaged.” Taking a spoonful of the corned beef hash, the different textures from soft to crispy pieces to the exploding flavors of the salty, spiced and sour make her moan in agreement with Jenny.

“Sweetie, don’t get mad at me but.. are you sure he wanted to end things?”

Marie notices a shift in her friend, shaking her head at Jenny. She played Sam’s words again and again last night.

“I’m positive. He wanted to slow things down, wanted space. As far as I know we’re done.”

Jenny stayed silent.

“You don’t understand, wanting to slow things down from a relationship in the dark, a relationship a handful of people knew about. That’s what he meant Jen.” Marie snaps at her.

“Ok.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to..” Marie trails off.

“Don’t worry about it. Besides I got something, that always works.”

The look that appeared on Jenny’s face was a mischievous one, one she knew all too familiar, it was the same one she would give her when Jenny was going through a rough time with a guy.

Getting up from the sofa she walks away, coming back in a few seconds with a full bottle of vodka. She grabs her phone, connecting it to the sound system.

Marie hid her face in the palms of the hands, knowing what was about to come. “Oh no!! no..no..no!” She shook her head.

“yes…yes.. yes” Jenny begins to dance before the music starts. “Come on Marie, this song has gotten us..ok mostly me through breakups.”

The beat of Alanis Morissette’s ‘You oughta Know’ fills the apartment..

An older version of me

Is she perverted like me

Would she go down on you in a theater

Marie began bobbing her head to the beat as the song went on, until she jumps up and stands on top of the couch with Jenny, the both of them singing at the top of their lungs.

And every time I scratch

My nails down someone else’s

Back I hope you feel it

Well can you feel it

Well I’m here to remind you

Of the mess you left when

You went away…You

You..oughta know

As the song comes to an end, adrenaline runs through Marie, ok mostly the alcohol they had been drinking. But at this point it’s what she needed to get every feeling out of her system. Jenny’s breakup playlist continues to play and after finishing the second bottle of champagne, they made it to the bottle of vodka

They didn’t care how loud they were singing or the noise they made from dancing and the things that hit the floor after bumping into them. It was something they did, two best friends trying to help the other navigate through this moment in life.

“There’s a song.. a song.. I want to add..add..yeah” The words coming out of Marie’s mouth a bit slurred.

She grabbed the phone from the coffee table, trying to focus on searching for the song. Swaying back and forth, she jumped with drunken glee once having found it. The Marachi/Cumbia infused ballad came through the speakers, her hips moving to the Cumbia beat.

“Yass.. Get it girl.” Jenny encouraged her as she sat down, taking a little breather.

Marie did her best Selena impression, twisting and doing flamenco moves. She began singing.

Yo, Te di todo mi amor y más

(I gave you all my love and more)

Y tú, No reconoces ni lo que es amar

(And you won’t recognize what it is to love)

Si una vez dije que te amaba, hoy me arrepiento

(If I told you once that I loved you. Today, I regret it)

Si una vez dije que te amaba, no sé lo que pensé, estaba loca

(If I told you once that I loved you. I don’t know what I was thinking, I must’ve been crazy)

Si una vez dije que te amaba

(If I told you that I loved you)

Y que por ti la vida daba

(And that I’d give my life for you)

Si una vez dije que te amaba, no lo vuelvo a hacer

(If I told you that I’d loved you. I won’t do it again)

Ese error es cosa de ayer

(It was an error that was made in the past)

Jenny cheered her on until the end, not knowing what her best friend just sang and danced her heart out too.

After a moment of trying to catch her breath, she watched as Marie fell to her knees and began crying, her body shaking as it released every emotion she had bottled up. The act of trying to be strong came crashing down around her. She went to her and hugged her, whispering that it’ll all be ok.

******

Once she had sobered up somewhat, Marie called an Uber to take her back home, against Jenny’s best efforts to try and make her stay. They had come to an agreement of her moving back in. She wasn’t going to live in a place Sam was paying for besides she couldn’t afford the rent on her salary.

Making her way to her apartment, her vision a bit impaired, she fumbled through her bag for the keys, jingling as they fell to the floor.

“Shit.”

Bending down to get them, she stumbles a bit to the side, balancing herself against the wall before she could trip and fall over her own feet. The vodka and champagne still running through her system, she could make it, once she got up it was only a few more steps, she told herself.

Marie noticed a pair of shoes making their way towards her, her gaze began to travel until they stopped on grey eyes, his lips a thin line. He was reaching down to help her.

“I don’t need your help!” She put a hand out, stopping him before he could touch her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Come on Marie, let me help you up.” Sam voiced calmly but filled with a bit of concern for her well being. “How did you get here? How much have you had to drink? And your hair, it looks..”

“What’s it to you? I’m a bit more sober then I was earlier. I’m perfectly..perfectly fine.”

Marie stood up too quickly and stumbled, she felt Sam wrap an arm around her waist, supporting her weight against his body. Grabbing her keys, he leads them into her apartment.

“Just stand there for a moment while I lock the door. I’ll take you to bed..I mean..uh help you into bed.”

“I’m fine Sam, I’m inside this beautiful penthouse you got for your mistress.” She twirls around, showing him the space around her. “So, you can see your way out. You can stand on the other side of the door to make sure it gets locks.” Marie hiccups, maybe she wasn’t as sober as she thought.

“I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re ok.”

Sam makes his way past her, grabbing her by the wrist and leading her towards the bedroom. Letting her go, he begins tossing pillows off the bed keeping just two. He pulls back the comforter to allow her to crawl in.

“Oh that’s real nice of you Mr. Dalton. Do you do that for all your employees?” Marie asked staring at him as he reaches for her.

“Get into bed, you need to sleep your over-indulgence off. I’ll be here when you wake.”

Marie starts to undress, pulling her top over her head.

“What are you doing?” The words coming out as a raspy whisper from Sam.

Marie stares at the man that left her. She was going to show him what he was going to miss. She began by taking off the heels that had been killing her since putting them back on. She unbuttoned and unzipped her pants, slowly lowering them and stepping out of them. Marie stood there in a see through black lace bralette and matching thong.

She could feel Sam’s burning gaze taking her in. She heard his breathing hitch and a smile came across her lips.

“I’m just getting ready for bed, Mr. Dalton. Just like you said.” She says coyly.

Walking pass him, running her finger tips across his chest. She climbs into bed, the softness of her sheets envelope her semi-naked body.

As she begins to doze off, the side of the bed shifts under her. “What are you doing here?” She asked him again.

She didn’t hear Sam respond, so she kept going.

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s over between us.” She yawns as her eyes begin too close. “Sam? Are you still here?”

Marie could feel her back pressing against the side of his leg. Sam caresses the newly cut strands of her hair.

“I’m still here. I’m not going anywhere..” He whispered.

“Can you do one last thing for me?”

“Whatever it is, I’ll do it Marie..I’m sorr..”

“Don’t fire Jordan.” She said before her eyelids became too heavy to keep open and slips into a deep slumber.

[mcfiddlestan]

WinterFrost Single Dads AU

Hey, ya'll. Told ya I was working on this thing. I've got about six chapters done, but I'm not ready to post it to AO3 just yet. One big reason for that is I don't have a title yet. So I thought I'd post a couple of chapters, let ya'll get a feel for it, then take any suggestions you might have.

Just a small note: I tend to name fics after song titles that inspired the story or somehow fit with the plot.

Anyhoo...here's the first chapter. I *might* post the second tomorrow. We'll see how the response to this goes.

xoxo, La

Pairing: Loki x Bucky Barnes (there are others past and future, but I'm not giving them away just yet)

Rating: M

Word count: 1,775

Summary: Loki is living a great life as a Manhattan lawyer and constantly partying with Tony Stark, his best friend. Loki's life before he came to New York more than a decade ago is a mystery for those close to him. But it's all about to come to light when he gets a call from someone in his past.

Bucky is just trying to catch a break. A few hookups with a fellow soldier led to a quickie marriage and baby -- and two years later, a quick divorce. His daughter is now eight years old and the light of his life. But he can't seem to get his shit together. Struggling to find a job and keep a hold on his sobriety, it's a one-night stand that gives him the kick in the ass he needs to be the man his daughter believes he is.

Warnings: Mature language and situations, some drug use, and talk about addiction.

Chapter 1

The sound of his front door opening and closing pulled Loki from a deep sleep. So deep, it took him a moment to remember where he was and how he knew that was his front door. His eyes opened slowly, once, twice, and then again, to nothing but the darkness of what he was sure was his bedroom. Then he felt the pounding, incessant, pulsing around his entire head. Damn migraines. Loki let out a low groan, thought fuck it, and buried his face deeper into his pillow. Moments later, the door to his bedroom pushed open.

“Rise and shine,” a deep voice sang.

Loki grumbled at the familiar voice, and slowly, he turned his body, rolling onto his back. “Why are you always so chipper in the morning? Oh, for Norn’s sake!” He threw a pillow over his face as the curtains pulled open and let the blinding daylight flood the room. “Close them! I’ve got a damned migraine!”

“Ooh. So sorry, Mr. Friggasson. There’s a cup of tea on the nightstand. Would you like me to get you some water and a couple of ibuprofen?”

Another groan sounded through the room as Loki forced himself to sit up. “Yes, please,” he answered as he rubbed at his face before reaching for the two pillows to prop them up behind him. In his sleepy haze, he remembered to pull the bedsheet over his lap to keep his modesty. Loki reached out for the teacup first, cupping it in his large hand as he took a gentle sip. “Mmm, perfect. Thank you, Fandral. And, for the thousandth time, please stop calling me Mr. Friggasson.” He sipped again, ignoring Fandral’s giggle as he rummaged through Loki’s closet. “What time is it?”

“A quarter to eleven.”

Loki sputtered into his tea. “Quarter to eleven? Why did you let me sleep so late? I have meetings today.” Loki hurriedly set his drink down and started to rise, gathering the sheet to wrap around him. Fandral was suddenly there, nudging Loki back into the bed, “Relax, Loki. You’re fine. Your early meeting was canceled, the board meeting at the Tower was pushed to Thursday, and Mr. Stark canceled your lunch meeting.”

“Cancelled? Why?” Loki settled back in the bed, rubbing at his neck. “He didn’t say. But he left the message for me before three am, and there was a lot of noise in the background. So, take a guess.”

Loki snorted softly. “That’s your boss, Fanny. Don’t judge.”

“You’re my boss. Mr. Stark only signs the checks,” Fandral said through a smile as he laid out a pair of pants and a shirt on a chair in the corner for Loki to wear for the day. “Once the morning meeting was canceled, I thought I’d let you rest a little longer since you didn’t have to rush into the office.”

“Thanks,” Loki muttered from behind his cup.

Fandral gave him a nod and turned to head around the corner towards the master bathroom.

“Any other messages?” Loki called as he set the teacup back on the nightstand. He sat back, his face contorting in pain, willing the migraine to ease up. He made a mental note to see an optometrist already.

“Yes, a few. Natasha called. She got a lead on the security break from a couple of months ago, I guess? She said she’d have a report for you on the improvements she’s already made with F.R.I.D.A.Y.” Fandral stepped out with a small white bottle in one hand, a glass of water in the other. He handed the water to Loki before popping open the bottle and dropping two white tablets in Loki’s open palm. “Also, someone’s been trying to get a hold of you all morning. He’s called four times already. No real message, just ‘need to speak to Loki urgently.’ Someone named Thor.”

Loki went still. He swallowed down the pills and water in his mouth, watching Fandral’s retreating back. A million different questions ran through Loki’s mind, but he couldn’t decide on just one to ask, nor would Fandral be able to answer any of them, judging by what he’d just said. Fandral returned from the bathroom, and Loki hoped he didn’t look as panicked as he felt. “Someone named Thor, you say?”

Fandral, staring at his phone, made a noise of agreement. “Sounded foreign, but I couldn’t place the accent.”

“Norwegian.” Loki shook his head dismissively when Fandral looked at him with a quizzical look. “Did he say how to get a hold of him?”

“Yes. At least, I have the number for you.” Fandral lowered his phone, eyed Loki, who’d gone much paler in the last thirty seconds. “Are you all right?”

Not in the slightest. “Yes. Uh, Fandral, I’m going to take a shower.” Loki rose from the bed, his migraine still there but hardly forgotten. He held the bed sheet tight at his waist and walked around Fandral. “Listen, if he calls again, tell him I will call him back as soon as I’m free. If he doesn’t, when you hear the water stop, give me twenty minutes, then put the call through.”

Fandral frowned at Loki as he followed him with his eyes. “Sure, boss. Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

“Fandral. I’m fine. Will you order some food? Get me a sandwich, please. Something toasted, turkey.” Distracted, Loki didn’t wait for Fandral to confirm. He walked into his bathroom and started the water in the shower, then moved to the sink. He stood before the mirror for a moment, thinking, fretting, irritated. Why would Thor be calling him after all this time? What could he possibly have to say to Loki? After more than ten years of no communication, Loki felt as if they were strangers.

The steam began to fill the room, fogging up the mirror, so Loki dropped the sheet and stepped under the spray. He let the hot water wash over him, easing the ache of his muscles. He took the showerhead in hand, adjusted the setting of the water, and held it over the back of his head to let the hot water pummel the skin of his neck and his scalp, hoping to make the migraine go away. Though with the newly added stress of a phone call with someone from his long-forgotten past, Loki wasn’t sure it would go away now.

Washing his body and hair quickly, after just fifteen minutes, Loki stepped out and went through the motions of grooming then getting dressed. When he stepped out into the living room, Fandral was just taking his food from its delivery packaging.

“Did he call?”

“No. Feel any better?”

Not at all. “Much. Fandral, could you give me some privacy?”

He froze with a wrapped sandwich half out of the bag. Only his eyes moved in Loki’s direction, “Um, sure? Do you want me to come back in, what, an hour?”

Loki shook his head. “No. In fact, why don’t you take the rest of the day off?” Fandral dropped the sandwich on the table and faced Loki fully, crossing his arms. “Don’t look at me like that. Nothing is wrong. I just don’t know how this conversation is going to go, and I’d rather not have an audience if you don’t mind.” He spotted a bag of chips and snatched it up, ripping it open to pop one into his mouth.

Fandral, still frowning, reached into the bag once again to split the napkins between the two of them. He repacked his meal, then lifted the bag from the table. “All right. Your phone is on the counter. I input the phone number since he called the office, not your cell phone. And – I’ll be available, just in case.”

“Thank you. Fandral.” Loki gave his back a quick pat as he paused beside him. “I mean it. Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Well, I think we both know that’s a mutual feeling.” He reached for Loki’s arm, giving his wrist a quick squeeze. “Call me later? So I know you’re all right?”

Loki nodded and didn’t move until he heard the door close behind Fandral. It was true; he didn’t know how he would function without Fandral. They were classmates in law school, and both started at equally prestigious firms upon graduation. They were good friends but fiercely competitive, too. Loki credited that manic drive to one-up each other for getting him to the top five percent of their graduating class. But after a few years, while Loki had been on the up-and-up, Fandral was drowning, barely keeping his head above water as a tax lawyer. Loki watched one of the first friends he’d made in New York crumble under pressure and struggled to help him find a way to deal. Eventually, Fandral walked away from the six-figure salary, the company car, and all the perks that came with it. Loki was impressed that Fandral

dared to do it. After a few months of getting help and finding a better mental space, Fandral moved off of Loki’s couch into a modest apartment that was a fraction the size of the loft he was in before and looked for a less-hectic job. Loki had snagged a cushy position as Stark Industries’ in-house counsel, thanks to his friendship with its C.E.O., and was still getting settled. Managing New York’s richest son’s money, company, and public image was turning out to be a full-time job. And Loki needed help. He’d already recruited Natasha Romanov, a former N.Y.P.D. Officer, he brought her on for her computer and investigative skills. So he offered Fandral a position as his assistant. Fandral took it and promised to be the best right-hand man. Loki expected he’d be bored within a month just answering phone calls and setting up meetings. But Fandral’s duties, mostly taken on of his own volition, had grown exponentially in the past five years. He acted as assistant, maid, valet, and social buffer for the notoriously introverted Loki.

Loki would be a mess without him.

Because he was starving, Loki wolfed down half his sandwich and chips, grateful that the shower, the food, and the medication had helped relieve the worst of his migraine. Taking a deep breath, Loki picked up his phone from where Fandral left it for him. His thumb hovered over the screen, over the unknown phone number. And with his heart in his throat, Loki tapped it. He listened. He waited. And, finally, after three rings, the line picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Thor.”

[wutheringmights]

Call Them Brothers - Chpt 6 Preview

Since it’s taking me way longer than I thought to write the next chapter, here’s a preview of what’s to come! (Be warned that this is lightly edited only, which means there may be some typos and awkward phrasing).

--Chapter 6 Preview--

“Embarrassing is what it is.” The general paced the central tent, hands thrown around in large gestures. “We have not one, but two holders of the Hero’s Spirit on our side—and what does Hyrule have to show for it? We are cornered in Hyrule Field. We have lost thousands of men, and for what? A scant fifty-mile radius that we have not fully reconquered. You—” Here, he returned to the table, just long enough to smack his palms on it. The bang was loud, shaking the glasses set over unrolled maps, yet Link refused to flinch. He kept his shoulders squared and his face carefully neutral. He stood before the table, too low-ranking to earn a seat. Behind his back, his hands shook. “—should be ashamed to even call yourself a hero of Hyrule.”

“I ask that you reframe from slander, General Balder,” Impa said, red eyes turning sharp. “Our aim today is to determine the best course of action for our kingdom—not assign blame.”

A cough—another general, this one younger and green around the gills. If Link remembered correctly, he inherited his position from his father. “At the very least, the display you both put on the other day was an insult to the title of hero,” he said.

“Captain Walton was pivotal in ensuring our victory against the enemy,” Impa said.

“We still lost the northern front.”

“The burden of that blame does not fall onto him.”

The young general raised his hands. “I’m only stating my opinion. Am I not allowed to voice my thoughts, General Impa?”

Link could see the covert snarl on Impa’s mouth, but before she could explode, Zelda raised her hand. She sat calmly at the head at the table, having witnessed the argument with nothing more than the tight pressing of lips. Sweat gathered at her hairline. She turned her forced neutrality onto the rest of the tent. “Wisdom is cultivated through diverse perspectives,” she said.

Link wanted to scoff. What a pushover.

“The goddesses despise us.” General Balder lowered himself back in his seat, pensive. “Giving us an incompetent fool for a hero. And what of that other hero you keep around? He couldn’t even make it through one battle. Perhaps the goddesses want us to fail.”

Refusing to let his anger show, Link subtly looked at Zelda. She sipped her wine, refusing to make eye contact.

He fidgeted. He wanted to yell at her until she spoke in his defense. He wanted to remind her that about the roles she played in all the legends—the princess always supported the hero. Their dedication was mutual. They were supposed to be equals. Yet it was always him having to swallow the disappointment of her people.

But he did his job. He kept his face neutral, but his chin high. His body felt the echoes of a cane striking his back and shoulders until he held himself like a well-bred noble man—Impa’s regiment to take an average infantry man and turn him into a poster body of legend. “I have a series of suggestions for our next series of attacks, sir,” he said.

There was a pause—the vague hope from the older generals that this young brat would give them more of a reason to be mad. But Link held his ground, and they relented.

The army would split in three, each going in a different direction. Lana would take her men and some trusted generals southward to reclaim Faron. Impa would lead the forces west for Kakariko and Death Mountain. Zelda and Link would go north through Zora’s Domain until they reached the Gerudo Desert in the east. Link had intel on enemy movements mapped for the generals to observed. He had bore through a long series of letters with Lincoln to figure out where he should assign the Knights of Hyrule. He had calculated the costs of battle, plans for where to allocate supplies, and had written a draft for a proclamation to be sent to every village across Hyrule to reassure the people the crown had the war under control.

The generals grumbled and shot out objections to each idea, and Link politely countered them. When common sense failed to persuade, Link adjusted the finer details until it was palatable. Eventually, their hemming and hawing turned into a reluctant agreement. Zelda said a few more words of encouragement and dismissed the meeting. Just in time too—Link was ready to scratch his skin off.

“Stay, captain,” Impa ordered, rising from her seat. “I would like to exchange a few words with you.”

Link remained at attention as the generals mingled for a few minutes longer, chatting as they gathered their notes and bags. They didn’t even seem to see Link, not even when they walked by.

It wasn’t until they had left that Impa rounded the table, saying, “At ease, Link. You did some good work today.”

He loosened his shoulders, smiling when Impa clapped a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at Zelda, finding her slouched in her seat, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. Sweat gleamed on her skin and, for once, it made her look sickly. Seeing her without her royal façade felt like an invasion of privacy.

“Thanks, Impa,” he said. “Now my plan just has to work.”

“It will. Despite what they say, you have never led us astray.” Impa held out a slender package wrapped in simple brown paper, tied up with string. “I got this in the mail this morning. Arrived just in time, didn’t it?”

He grinned and took the package. “Thanks. Was there any problems with the money?”

“You were short about a hundred rupees.”

“A hundred! How?”

“Inflation has already hit the kingdom. Paper’s in high demand.” Impa smirked, teasing. “I took the difference out of your paycheck.”

Link pressed his lips together. Impa had made sure his pay improved when he was promoted to captain, but a career in the royal guard did not make a man rich. Even as the hero, his salary was an insult. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry about sending money back to a loving wife and three kids. His only expense was his monthly fee to store what few of his mother’s belongings he managed to hang on to after he had to give up her tiny store in Castle Town.

“What do you have there that is causing so much trouble?” Zelda had sat up, if only to uncork another bottle of wine. Here, her royal grace had returned to the grip of her gloved hands. Link wondered if her feathery touch and lofty hands were a genetic gift passed down through the lineage of Hylia.

Link held up the package, settling back into his professional persona. “A gift for the engineer, your highness,” he said. “Today is his birthday.”

“Oh.” Zelda poured another glass of wine. “How old is he now?”

“Sixteen, your highness.”

“Not much younger than us.”

“Yes, your highness.”

She scowled at her chalice. “If you had mentioned this to me sooner, I could have given him a proper celebration worthy of a hero of Hyrule’s past.”

“I appreciate your offer, your highness. But with all due respect, he’s not one for formal events. He’s as common born as I am, so we and a few of our fellows are going to the civilian camp to celebrate. If it pleases you, we would be honored if you would join us for the festivities.”

Zelda nodded. She chewed on her lip, a hunch forming in her shoulders. She seemed shrunken, her chair gaining height. A scant ten feet stretched between them, yet she seemed like she was far away on a stage. “You honor me with your invitation,” she said at last. “But unfortunately, prior engagements have already claimed my time. Please give Link the Royal Engineer my congratulations and well wishes.” She paused, considering. “If you would be receptive, I have a friend who may attend in my stead.”

Resisting the urge to smile, Link pressed his fist to his chest in a salute. “I will welcome him with opened arms.”

She smiled, a crinkle in her eyes. They were as blue as water and reflected light just the same. Link’s chest fluttered. He felt his heart pounding against his knuckles. Her passivity always made him frustrated, but that ugly emotion always passed through him like water in a sieve.  How could it stay when she could look at him like that?

The giddy feeling carried in from the central tent. Gift tucked under his arm, he felt like dancing with every step, and he could not rip the toothy grin from his mouth even if he wanted to. He felt like a fool, but in a good way. The last time he had felt so young was when he got his first kiss back during his training days. It was a lifetime ago— he, along with Uri, Toto, and Anders, had shucked off their duties to crash a party at a nobleman’s Castle Town residence. A girl, blue blooded as they came, let him press her against a window and kiss her. He didn’t remember her face or name, but he could still taste the wine that had graced her lips before him.

Memory brought the ghost of that taste to his tongue now, intoxicating him better than any whiskey.