#i have a few orders just sitting around waiting and i’m sorryyyy

[piierrote]

oh btw order processing is on hold for this week just cause i’ve got a cold and i don’t wanna be processing orders and potentially spreading my cold through the post <3 if you ordered over the weekend i’m hoping to be fine by friday and sending stuff out then!!

[nonstoplover]

Café  ~ Dave Franco

masterlist

Summary: (Y/N) loves spending her time in her favourite coffee shop, but what she’d never imagine is that one day it becomes more than just grabbing a coffee, spending time with a specific brown haired boy…

Words: 2.7K

Approximate reading time: about 10 mins

A/N: this was my first actual request, and it was so long ago i’m sure you already forgot about it, @mcrvellouslystcrk​ but i didn’t, and after this long time i’m here with the finished product. i’m sorryyyy for taking so long, i had a terrible writer’s block, but now inspiration came back and i finished it in only a couple days. hope you enjoy

The smell of freshly brewed coffee catches my nostrils as I enter the small, indie-themed café. I take a deep breath happily like a real coffee addict when I feel the familiar calmness spread through my veins because of the oh-so-loved smell.

I look around, gladly noticing that my favourite table at the back of the room, next to the furthest window is left free, as if it’s waiting only for me.

I quickly walk towards the wooden furniture, placing my coat and scarf on one of the chairs as a signal that it’s taken before stepping to the counter to ask for the coffee I always order.

The girl behind the counter only glances up and she already recognises me, a smile appears on her face as she moves to start making a coffee for me.

“The same as usual, am I right? How are you today?”

“Yes, exactly. I’m great, thank you, a little tired.” I answer, smiling back at her.

“I’m glad you’re feeling great.” She beams up at me, pausing for a moment before speaking up again, finishing up the final touches on my order. “Let me tell you this one thing though, today has been absolutely crazy. So many people came in, even a couple celebrities!”

“Oh, really? I haven’t seen anyone.” I quickly look around to see if there is anyone famous around, but don’t catch sight of anyone except the bored businessmen and hippie-looking writers typing away on their laptops.

“It’s quite a surprise that your table stayed free to be honest. Some movie is being shot near here, all the crew and staff comes to take a drink. Which is of course great, because the more orders, the more money, and also you can meet a lot of famous people, but you know, I can’t take a rest if there are so many people…” She hands me the familiar reusable paper cup. “But enough of my ranting, have a nice time here as usual and enjoy your drink.”

I stroll back to my table, sitting down. A happy sigh escapes past my lips as I finally taste the hot beverage on my tongue, and I quickly reach in my bag with my free hand to take my book out. It almost opens up by itself at the page I finished reading the last time due to having been read a few times already.

Calmness spreads all over me again right away, making me forget all my problems and nervousness as I take in the words from the lovely smelled pages.

Not many minutes later out of nowhere I hear a gentle cough from above my head as the shadow of a body appears in the corner of my eyes, standing next to me. I look up to see a man with a cup similar to mine in his hand, mouth smiling down at me but his eyes stay hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

“Hello. Sorry for disturbing, is this seat taken?”

“Oh, no, it’s not, feel free to sit down.” I’m quick to reply, pulling my things closer to me on the wooden surface to free up more space on it.

“Thank you,” he smiles and as he sits down, a strange feeling comes over me. I know this man. “I’m Dave by the way.”

And all of a sudden I know why he seemed so familiar.

He’s Dave Franco. The Dave Franco. I’m sitting at the same table with Dave Franco.

These thoughts run through my mind swiftly, his name repeated every other second as a wave of recognition hits me, but I’m quick to re-gain composure and half-recover from the shock I’m feeling and I try to act like I don’t know who he is.

“Ah, I’m… I’m (Y/N).”

“Beautiful name,” he announces before taking a sip of his drink. “Mmm, it tastes absolutely fantastic.”

“Yeah, this place is the best in town.” I slowly drink from mine as a shy smile spreads across my face.

“You come here often?”

“Yes, once a week. I used to come here almost every day but I realised that I’m going to spend all my money here and soon I’ll gain more weight than I’d want to, so I reduced the number of my visits to only once in a week. It’s my happy place. Here I can calm down whenever I need to,” I speak, words flying out my mouth rapidly. “Ugh, sorry, I’m rambling about my nonsense to a stranger.”

“Please, don’t apologize, I’m interested,” he smiles my way before lowering his head, eyes probably noticing the book laying in front of me. “What are you reading?”

Oh, well, that’s it. You can’t hide it anymore. He’s gonna find out that you know him.

“Nerve. I saw the film adaptation a while back and loved it so much that I decided to read it,” I mumble, staring right at the mentioned book, not being able to look up at his face.

A few second long silence comes as an answer and I glance up to see the blush creeping up his cheeks as he processes my words.

“So you’ve seen the movie, eh?” He finally says, voice a bit raspy before clearing his throat.

“Yeah.” I can’t tell which one of us is more embarrassed and flushed red at the moment, but I can’t take it after a while and look back down at my hands resting on the table.

“Then you know who I…” his voice gets more and more quiet as he speaks, slowly dying off, as he’s not being able to finish the sentence he has started.

“Yep, I know who you are, Dave Franco. I admire your work actually,” I say quietly, making sure no one else around us hears my words, my eyes still casted on my hands.

Only a couple seconds later I get the courage finally to raise my head up and look at his face, somewhere where his eyes are probably situated behind the sunglasses, and I’m trying hard to calm down, or to at least look like I’m calm from his point of view when in reality inside my chest my heart seems to burst with excitement.

“Oh,” is his only response.

“You alright?” I ask as he starts uncomfortably shifting. Did I say something I shouldn’t have?

“Yeah, yeah, of course. I’m just a bit… surprised,” he pauses in the middle of his sentence, probably searching for the right word.

“Surprised?” I cock an eyebrow at him in confusion.

“I’m not used to get this reaction from girls who know who I am.”

Then probably my trying has succeeded and I do look like I’m calm.

“Well, you know, it doesn’t have such a huge impact on me. I’ve met with other huge celebrities in my life.”

He clears his throat, seeming even more uncomfortable by now.

“I’m only joking. I’ve never met any famous people before actually,” I chuckle after seeing his expression.

“Oh. Oh!” Dave kinda exclaims in realization. “Then how are you so calm?”

“I’m not.” I admit with a blush appearing on my face.

“Then you’re a great actor,” he smiles before moving to take another sip of his drink.

“I don’t think so, but I have to admit that it feels nice to hear this coming from an already proven to be amazing actor.”

Now it’s his time to blush. He shakes his head before an adorable giggle rolls out from his mouth.

“What?” I laugh. “It’s not like you didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, but I can’t get used to hearing it from a random pretty girl I just met at a random café.” Dave looks at me, his eyebrows half raised, appearing from behind the sunglasses.

Hearing those words I can’t keep looking at him and turn my gaze away. I stare into my cup, watching intently how the steam slowly flies up, out of the brown coloured beverage.

“So, (Y/N). What do you do? Work? College?” Dave speaks up again and I take a deep breath before looking back up, only to see that he has lowered the accessory sitting on his nose, and he’s now watching me curiously with nothing in the way of his set of lovely, brown eyes.

“So, David. I’m a uni student at the moment but I’m also working. So technically both.” I keep a straight face on, a kind of challenging one to be exact.

“What do you study?”

“Psychology.” I answer, and he freezes for a moment, his eyes gleaming with interest before probably deciding on to simply continue interviewing me.

“What do you work?”

“I’m a waitress.”

“Oh, nice. Where?” Dave nods.

“A nearby restaurant.”

“I see, you pretty much like this neighbourhood.”

“You don’t even know it all.” I chuckle. He’s just about to speak up again when I lean closer and as a top secret I whisper the answer to the question I know he’s just about to ask. “I even live in this neighbourhood.”

“No way.” Dave gasps, leaning in above the table like me.

I nod, glancing around to see if anyone else heard what I said, staying in character the whole time. When I look back into his light brown orbs, he breathes out a quiet ‘why’ and I can feel the air coming out past his lips on the skin of my face.

Suddenly I’m more than aware of the fact that we’re only a few mere centimetres away from each other’s face.

A shiver runs down my spine and then moves through my whole body as Dave leans back in his seat and starts laughing.

“I actually still believe that you would be a terrifically awesome actress.”

“Well, thank you.”

“Wow, no resistance? Where’s the girl I got to know a few minutes ago? All rebel and stuff.”

Laughter takes control over me as I watch, well actually almost admire his whole presence as he sips from his cup again, his eyes never leaving me, even for a second.

“After this improvised scene we just did I think I see what you mean,” I shrug when my laughter finally quietens.

“Maybe I should introduce you to my manager. You know, to see if you’d get a role in something.”

“I’m pretty sure I would get the leading role in any movie without making a real effort.” I smirk.

“Can I be honest with you?” Dave all of a sudden leans forward again, a serious expression spreading across his cheeks. I nod curiously and he continues. “I miss the old shy (Y/N). I don’t like this sarcastic, cocky new version.”   I burst out laughing, so hard that I have to grab at my sides as it starts to hurt, quickly losing my breath. People sitting around us cast curious or even irritated glances towards me, but I can’t help it and I keep on laughing.

A few minutes pass by with only my laughter and other various background noises filling up the air before I try to calm myself down. After taking a few deep breaths I manage to sit back up straight and look at him.

He’s watching me with something different in his eyes. Something I would describe as adoration, but that can’t be true. Why would he ever look at me like that?

“That’s what you get after getting to know me.” I speak up to divert my thoughts.

“Yeah?” He grins, the previous look in his eyes decreasing but not fully disappearing.

“Yeah. I’m usually described as a pretty sarcastic person. People also get annoyed with me quite often,” I admit, curiously waiting for his reaction.

“We have to meet more then so I can get to know you, you made me interested. Now I wanna see why people get annoyed.” Dave looks at me with a daring gleam in his eyes.

My heart stops for a second at his obviously flirty answer. Why would he want to meet me?

“We’re both quite busy people from what I can tell. How do you wanna do that?” I crook my neck, glancing up at him intrigued from the new, different angle.

“I don’t know yet. We have to figure it out.”

About half a minute passes with neither of us speaking, but the intension of our stares grows more and more as we can’t tear our gaze away, trapped in the depth of the eyes of each other.

“I was serious, I hope you know that,” Dave speaks again with his expression turning less playful. “I want to meet you again.”

A blush makes its way to my cheeks as his eyes soften, him still not taking them off me. “I’d love to meet you again, too,” I answer quietly.

“Amazing!” He grins.

Another few seconds pass in a comfortable silence, the type that’s filled with deep, maddening thinking.

“Actually, I admit, I’m still not sure why you wanna do that,” I speak my thoughts out loud. “You don’t even know who I am and if I’m crazy, like at all. Nothing.”

“I know. We only met a few minutes ago.” His eyes are still the same soft and I’m effortlessly melting in those auburn irises.

“Exactly.”

“Well, only in a few seconds you woke an interest in me. And I have this weird feeling that we could be great friends.”

Friends. So that’s what he wants. Only friends. I feel like something just hit me hard in the chest. Of course, why would he want anything more? How could I be so stupid?

“(Y/N)? (Y/N),” the concern in his voice breaks me out of the train of thoughts that goes on in my head. "Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking.”

“I have to go back to set now, but I wanted to ask for your number.”

The butterflies in my stomach start flying around again but I stop them, knowing that it’s useless. He only sees me as a friend. He only wants to be my friend.

“Oh, sure. Give me your phone.” I say, faking a smile on my face, my thoughts still swirling about how much of an idiot I feel like at the moment for thinking I could ever be more to someone like him.

Dave’s right hand is already holding the phone prepared for this, so in less than a moment he places it on the surface of the table. I grab it, typing in my number and name before pressing save and placing it back in his palm.

I’m still somewhere deep in my thoughts, not paying real attention to the situation when I notice him staring at me, clearly waiting for something.

“What?” I ask.

“Give me your phone as well. Or you don’t want my number?” Dave jokes but I can see it in his eyes that he’s truly worried about yes being the answer to his question.

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” I stutter, quickly reaching into my bag to pull my phone out, unlocking it and almost throwing it in his hand because of the speed I want to do it.

“Whoa whoa whoa, slow down, I’m not in that much of a hurry,” he laughs.

I let out a nervous chuckle, trying to get away from my previous thoughts, not letting them come back.

“Okay, here you go,” he puts it down and stands up before speaking again. “Well, talk to you later.”

“You too.” I turn my head up towards him. He pushes his sunglasses back up to over his eyes before flashing a heart melting smile at me.

“Have a nice day. It was a pleasure to spend my break with you.”

“Yeah, it was pretty nice to meet you. Have fun on set.”

He nods, both our smiles matching the other’s, bright and happy, before he turns away and starts making his way towards the door. He turns back once more and while taking a few steps backwards, speaks up one last time.

“Sorry for not letting you read.”

I only chuckle, shaking my head as a signal that it’s not a problem.

The smile stays on my face the whole time while I’m drinking the last few sips of my coffee, not even touching my book again, just staring out of my head to the table in front of me.

When I finish, I quickly place all my stuff back in my bag and stand up, pulling on my jacket.

“Saw you had a nice company.” Maddy, the barista appears next to me out of nowhere, a piece of material in her hand to clean the table I was sitting at.

“You did?” I ask back, confused that she isn’t freaking out by the fact that it was indeed a famous actor.

“At least he looked pretty decent from behind,” she speaks without looking up at me, and it becomes clear to me why she’s so calm.

“Didn’t he face you at the counter though?”

“Oh yeah, really… ” Maddy pauses with a thoughtful expression on her face, then suddenly seems to remember the situation more exactly as she continues with an explanation. “He had his sunglasses on at the time, I couldn’t see his face.”

“Oh, I see.” I move my head in a nod, accepting that she didn’t recognise his face without the full view of it like I did.

“So, was he good?” She winks at me.

“Yeah, pretty handsome.” I blush, remembering how my conversation with Dave Franco turned out.

Maddy finishes cleaning and folds the cloth in her hands, smirking at me.

“I saw you exchange phone numbers, so… fill me in with the details next week.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” I giggle.

“Have a nice week!”

“You too, Maddy.” I call out while making my way towards the door and stepping out of the café.

Crisp early spring air enters my nose as soon as I close the door behind me, and I take a deep breath, enjoying the chillness that fills up my lungs in no time.

Feeling refreshened and happy I glance up at the light blue sky, squint a bit because of the sun that’s shining bright down at me, and as a joyous smile reaches across my face, I start walking away in the direction of my apartment, feeling content in my heart.

.::the end::.

Part Two here

masterlist

[venusloveslobotomies]

Pyromania (Bucky x Reader) 4

 Summary: (Winter Soldier-Endgame Insert) You’re an enhanced HYDRA agent who negotiated her way out of being a weapon. You’re now the nurse/ aid of the Winter Soldier. You end up escaping with him and follow him in and out of danger while slowly developing feelings for each other.

Words: 1885 (approx) Chapter: 4/? Part 3

Selene Carter, age 22 (replaces Sharon Carter) (im sorryyyy)

  I sit to the side as a technician fixes Soldat’s arm. I was correct in that whatever Romanoff did to it, it really fucked with the functionality. I’m staring intently at him but I can tell there’s something going on in his head. He’s fixed his eyes straight ahead, barely blinking.   He suddenly shoves the tech across the room and instantly the soldiers point their guns at him. I’m on my feet and tensed as he sits there silently.     “Sir, he’s unstable, erratic,” The door swings open and in marches Pierce. The guns go down as he approaches Soldat.

   “Mission report,” Silence, “Mission report now,” Pierce walks forward and leans down slowly before smacking my soldier right across the face as hard as he can. My body moves before I can process my actions. I plant myself in front of him, hands sparking and muscles twitching. Pierce steps back slightly, fear flashing across his face before he can compose himself.     “Do that again,” I growl, “I dare you,” I feel a tapping at my hip and I step sideways.    “The man on the bridge. Who was he?” There’s something strange about my soldier’s voice. Pierce seems cautious as he speaks. Choosing his words carefully. His eyes keep flicking up to my face.    “You met him earlier this week on another assignment,”     “I knew him,” Pierce pulls a stool over.    “Your work has been a gift to mankind,”   I make eye contact with Petrovic who subtly motions with his hands at mine. I look down and they’ve burst into flames. I extinguish them and feel the warmth leave my back as well. Hair must’ve caught too. The other guards and officials in the room are studying me warily. Pierce is continuing with his weird speech, “And HYDRA can’t give the world the freedom it deserves,”    “But I knew him…” I snap my fingers to caution him. If he questions too much, they’ll wipe him again. And I hate watching it.   Pierce looks at me and then sighs and stands up. I walk over to my soldier and gently stroke his hair, tangling my fingers in it. He reaches up to shake me off before stopping and letting his hand drop to his lap.     “Prep him,”    “He’s been out of cryo-freeze too long,” I’m about ready to murder that tech when Pierce says the worst thing possible.    “Then wipe him and start over,” I feel Soldat start to shake. I push his hair back and kneel in front of him. It’s a painful process and it hurts me almost as much as it hurts him.    “Calm. Down. I’ll be right here,” I’m getting anxious now too but I push it down and put on a smile for him, “I’m right here. I’m not leaving your side,” His eyes reflect the fear I feel churning in my stomach as he stares at me. Petrovic taps me to back up. Soldat grips my hands and I almost just stay there but I know I’ll be forced away one way or another so I lean back down to press my lips to his head while I work my hand out of his grip.   I back up and the techs push him back into the chair and give him the mouth guard to prevent him from screaming too loud or breaking his jaw. The machine locks him in and lowers the face pieces. I know I’m shaking. Petrovic touches my shoulder in a gesture of comfort and I almost turn away but Soldat catches my eye and I know I have to watch.   I steel myself and I feel my hair, feet and hands catch. The flames snake their way up my legs, up my arms and up my neck. I notice people stepping away in my peripheral. I hear the electricity buzz its way into his head and he starts screaming. The flames turn blue then white with heat and I see Pierce walking away. I can’t bring myself to look away from my soldier screaming in pain.   I open my eyes with a start and the room is dead silent. I’ve hit the floor and am on my knees, burning the shit out of the stone ground. The procedure is clearly over but no one moves. They all have their eyes, and a few guns, trained on me. The Russians are used to it, as is Petrovic, and only watch with pity in their eyes but the Americans are tense and wary with their guns pointed straight at my head.   It takes a moment to regain my movement and as I move to stand, I notice the flames are flickering high but only orange and yellow. The heat has gone down considerably. I slowly bring down the height of the flames until there are only a few tendrils of red dancing around my hands and then only smoke clings to me.   I make my way slowly to my soldier. He’s awake, barely. I touch his arm cautiously. He eyes me warily before recognition kicks in and he relaxes. I’m lucky that due to the programming, the cryo and the simple fact that I’m the one constant in his life he remembers me despite the wiping.   He’s released from the machine and sits up. Petrovic recites the words and he switches immediately.    “Soldat?”    “Ready to comply,” I back up and tune out of Petrovic giving him the standard briefing of the situation and HYDRA.     “Y/n,” I turn back around, “You’re on site at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Not backup, not first aid. You’re with Rumlow until this one kills Rogers and Romanoff,” I hang my head and let out a high pitched moan. I really really don’t like Rumlow. He’s a type A alpha male with some sort of superiority complex and just overall unbearable.    “Can’t I just shadow him?” I jerk my head towards my soldier.    “Sorry, I advised that but Pierce prefers him to work alone,” Petrovic shrugs.   I know he wants to do more. The older Serbain man does have a heart. And that’s rare around here. He does his best to keep Soldat and I happy. I’ve known him since he was young and I’m sure he doesn’t like aging as the decades pass while Soldat and I stay young and unchanging.    “I hate Rumlow,” I mutter under my breath.   I’m flown out with Soldat by my side. He’s still nervous. I can tell. There’s so many reasons why I hate the reprogramming process. Just one of those reasons is working through him trusting me again. It doesn’t take long but right now he’s still going through his memories of me and placing me as a friend and caregiver rather than a threat or another official. I’d rather be talking to him and holding his hand right now. But I know from experience he’s completely out of it right now, just a few hours after being wiped, his eyes have been fixed on me since he was released. It’s definitely not fun. He’s probably coming to the conclusion that I’m on his side but I force myself to ignore it.   I tap my foot anxiously and pull out the small handmade chain around my neck from under the uniform. I slide my fingers over the intricate metal and Chungae’s face flashes into my mind. She’s the one who made it. I wonder briefly if she’s still alive before putting the thought out of my head. Even if she was, I’ll never see her again.   We land with a bump and I’m taken to the main control center of SHIELD while Soldat heads off to find Rogers. I hang around for a bit, uninterested in all the technology that surrounds me while the soldiers walk around, both observing and guarding. I fiddle with my chain again and wander around the room.   I pick up a pad of paper and find a pen. I settle on the floor in the corner of the room and scribble for a bit. I’m not an artist by any means. I have a notebook back in Siberia full of my drawings. Mostly just bits I can remember from my dreams.   When I snap out of my thoughts I look at the page. It’s full of eyes, my soldier’s face, HYDRA’s symbol, a moon with a hauntingly familiar face but I can’t remember where I’ve seen it, my chain wrapped around a hand, Chungae’s face.     “That’s beautiful,” I look up and see a girl with short blue hair leaning over me and studying the page.    “Thanks…”     “Really, you should post them,” I’m confused until I realise she’s talking about social media. Another advancement I’ve never had the opportunity to experience. I shrug and fold it up, tucking it into a pocket in my pants.     “I don’t like sharing them,”    “Understandable,” She smiles at me and then walks back over to her desk with two coffees in hand. Weird.    “Attention all SHIELD agents,” I stand up quickly. A voice over the PA rings across the room, “This is Steve Rogers,” Muttering fills the room, “You’ve heard a lot about me over the past few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it’s time you know the truth,” He pauses, “SHIELD is not what we thought it was. It’s been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader.” I notice Rumlow getting tense.   I slip out of the room and start walking down the hallways, looking for my soldier, “The STRIKE and Insight crew as well. I don’t know how many more, but I know they’re in the building. They could be standing right next to you,” Around this point I tune out and start thinking about where he might be.   Before I can make a decision, I hear feet pounding down the hallway. S.T.R.I.K.E. I slip into an office quickly until they’ve passed and their footsteps have disappeared.   Something tells me I need to find my soldier soon. The instinct is strong but I can’t think of an actual reason to believe it. I put it down to years of missions and knowing Soldat. Something’s very wrong but I don’t know what it is.   I hear the sirens go off and the building shakes. They’re sending the helicarriers up. I lock myself in a dark office and decide to wait it out.   I don’t know how long it is before explosions shake the whole building. I sit for a moment before I take flight. I sprint down hallways to reach the stairs and run all the way down to the ground floor and outside. I watch as the helicarriers crash. My soldier. I notice figures falling into the lake.   I walk around to find myself in the treeline near the bank. I wait. I see someone dragging another person out of the lake. I recognise the silver arm of my soldier. He reaches the bank and drops what I assume to be Rogers. He stands still for a moment before turning and heading in my direction. I step out into the open and we make eye contact.    “Let’s go,” He says, holding his hand out.  I take his hand and, as I always have done, follow my soldier wherever he goes. 

Part 5

[klutzdeluxe]

My Second Ritual - Omaha 11/6/2018

Okay. Finally, my second ritual. So it was over a month ago at this point, and I cannot believe I never put up my notes about it! It was amazeballs. Just as good as my first one in Kansas City! I met up with some super cool fans from a Facebook group beforehand and we got some supper. Some of us were VIP/photo op, so after we ate, we waited in line together. They helped me keep my sanity because I was absolutely FREAKING OUT about meeting the Cardinal. Thanks, guys! I’ve never met any sort of celebrity before. EVER.

~The moment I stepped through that curtain, I was a goner. I briefly made eye contact, felt my soul leave my body, and couldn’t look him in the face again. I shook his hand and he said, “Oh that’s quite the tight grip you’ve got!” or something along those lines. My brain short-circuits and I think I’m hurting him or some shit. I yelp, “I’m sorry!” and practically drop his hand. He wraps an arm around me and helps guide me to the photo spot because all I can do is mumble about never having done a photo op before and look at my feet. He holds me and we take the photo. I get my wits together enough to tell him, “Take care of yourself on the road!” and the Cardinal says he will and thanks me. I was so starstruck that I forgot to give my name, ask for a hug, or tell him basically anything I wanted to, so I was upset about it for a few days.

~In the end, the picture turned out decent, which is rare because I’m unphotogenic af. Plus I wrote him a card (with a cat on the front) with everything I wanted to say in it and was able to get it to another fan to give to him at their photo op. In that, I had some closure.

~We chatted with a few security guards before the show, and they really didn’t know anything about Ghost but seemed eager to learn about them. Later on, I saw the same guards bobbing their heads during the performance and taking a million pictures on their phones. It was great to see.

~To the ritual! I was third row in the orchestra pit, to my left, in which the seating was a bunch of folding chairs that would definitely not be staying in place. BOOM. Ended up right in Aether’s line of view this time. Eye contact immediately when the curtain went up during “Ashes.” Persisted throughout the whole night.

~For the record, if you’re toward the front during any show, it’s really not that hard to snag the attention of the band members. Especially if you’re a jumpy, bouncy bitch who sings along to everything like me. I was at it with my hands up the entire way through. INSTANTLY this was different than the Kansas City show. They sounded so fresh and ALIVE. You could tell they had the day off before.

~Periodically throughout the show, Aether would be jumping in time with my bunny-hopping, looking at me. It made me so freaking happy. What a goof!

~The Cardinal was annoyed about it being a Tuesday, so he made us pretend it was a Friday night instead.

~I think I got to hear him say, “For shits and giggles” at one point. I’ve never felt so blessed.

~I was one of the few belting out “Lord of silence/Desolated one/Vengeance is his” during the bridge of “Idolatrine.” Copia stared at me, gestured at me, and conducted my screechy singing.

~Waving my hands around, conducting the ghouls while they played “Devil Church” and getting various head tilts and “wtf” stares from them.

~At this point, I had been interacting with Aether from my spot quite a bit, so I cheered him on as loudly as I could during the pre-Cirice duel with Dewdrop. This time, he lost on trying to pick out A-ha’s “Take on Me.” For some stupid ass reason, my brain couldn’t figure out what the song was until I saw a video of it the next day.

~THE LITTLE GIRL GETTING CIRICED. I DIED. IT WAS SO PRECIOUS. We were all clapping so loudly for her. Also props to her for having the coolest dad in the world. I believe she did the photo op too.

~As “Cirice” ended, Aether pointed at me and attempted to throw me a guitar pick. He whiffed it, as it ended up in the hands of a man in front and to the right of me instead. Now, I missed his pick in Kansas City due to a similar circumstance, so I kind of just shrugged and pouted at him, and Aether shakes his head and throws his hands up in an apologetic gesture. I’m a bit sour about missing yet ANOTHER pick from him.

~Conducting the ghouls again during “Miasma” and just absolutely losing myself dancing to it, as you do. Aether was watching me dance. At this point, the chairs have really been moved around, in and out of the rows.

~Copia telling us to clap on the 2 and 4 of “Jigolo Har Megiddo.” The dude next to me sassed him saying, “So, 1 and 3?” very loudly. Copia stopped short and said, “NO! No, that’s stupid!”

~Copia conducting us during the vocalizing at the end of “Pro Memoria.” There’s nothing like it. It’s one of my favorite bits. Cue my screechy singing again in order to be loud.

~Dew didn’t come over to our side of the stage much but he did at some point and gave me a head tilt. I doubt he remembered me from KC. I’m kind of plain-looking.

~Swiss noticed me and started copying my dance moves during “Witch Image.” Just different ways of swaying and small hops.

~So it’s “Life Eternal” again and I’m crying. No meaningful interactions with the ghouls this time, BUT I got the smug satisfaction of seeing Dewdrop NOT interact with anyone during the song like he did with me in Kansas City. I’m horrible, sorryyyy. Chatted with some wonderful people around me during intermission.

~”Spirit” and “From the Pinnacle to the Pit” go by, and I’m getting real antsy about not still having a pick from Aether. I noticed that there is a wide open space (due to chairs being shifted and people not coming back from intermission) right in front of the stage, directly in front of Aether. “Majesty” starts up and I see that a few people have already jumped rows. I debated for a bit, looked security (who weren’t giving a rat’s ass), and climbed over seats to the open spot at the front. All of us in the VIP section paid the same price to be there, after all. Aether cocked his head at me, seeming surprised to see that I moved, and then just nodded.

~OMAHA, I’M SO PROUD OF YOU. We sang that chorus loud and proud during “Satan Prayer.” Copia was SO satisfied with us! Also his cape didn’t fasten properly so it was undone for most of the song; I nearly imploded. Also, several pairs of panties and maybe a bra were tossed onstage during this song. Copia picked up one pair and cracked a joke about, “Someone in the audience standing there bare-assed.” The other undergarments sat up there sadly, to be carried off by an unfortunate stage crewman when the song ended.

~Have I mentioned that ”Faith” is such a jam? I threw my neck out again. During the live performances, the Cardinal adds a growl during the intro that I can feel in my ass. Also Copia acts like he’s waving away a fart behind him during the “A fecal trail across the land” line. I died because it looked like he was sneaking away from cropdusting someone.

~Poor Dewdrop was so sick. During “He Is,” (I think), I saw him lift his mask a little and wipe his dripping snot on his sleeve. He went about it in a “Ewwww” kind of way.

~At the end of that one, Aether ONCE MORE points at me and tosses me a pick. It hits my fingers and falls to the floor. I drop to my knees IMMEDIATELY and scramble to find it. I do fairly quickly, stand up, and kiss it, elatedly holding it above my head in victory. Aether pumps his fist in the air when he sees me waving it around. I tuck it into my bra because “Mummy Dust” is about to start and we’re going fucking crazy. Sadly, very few bills were dropped. I did have Copia thrusting like five feet from my face though. I am eternally grateful for that experience.

~After Aether was introduced during the break in “If You Have Ghosts,” I blew him a kiss, and he caught it and clapped his hand to the side of his face, acting all bashful and cute about it. HE’S SUCH A SWEETHEART.

~For some reason, I was thinking that this was the last song, despite having been to the KC ritual. So when they played “Dance Macabre,” I was thrilled there was still more to the show and boogied around like the idiot I am. That song makes me so happy. Again, Swiss starts imitating my dance movements, adding a little more shimmying around this time. All right. Boi’s got my attention now.

~I’m trying to get good photos of Swiss now, but Aether is pouting and keeps photobombing them whenever I point my phone in that direction, pointing at himself to redirect my focus back to him. I stuck my tongue out at him. Brat.

~Have I ever said how much I love “Square Hammer” live? FUCK. THE ENERGY. Due to it being the “last song,” I blow a kiss to Swiss when it’s all over and get one from him in return. I have perished and am very distracted for the rest of the evening.

~Copia changing his mind about pretending it’s a Friday and telling us, “It’s Tuesday. Go home!” And we boo.

~During his speech before “Monstrance Clock,” he again takes note of the little girl he sang to during Cirice and asks her how her evening was. He also substituted the word “organism” for “orgasm,” for her. Such a soft father.

~I am fully watching Swiss now and his “Monstrance Clock” hips now and GODDAMN HIM. He put me in heat with those moves, I swear. I was instantly a hot mess. I was transfixed and soooo mad that I hadn’t paid more attention to him sooner.

~There was a cute lil’ stuffed dragon sitting at the front of the stage during the song. I’m not sure if it got picked up or not.

~That moment when the lights come on at the end of “Monstrance Clock” and the stage is completely empty as the song fades out is the most HORRIBLE feeling. Because it’s over and the absence of the band members is so profound. “Monstrance Clock” still occasionally makes me sad.

~A few of us waited outside by the buses for the band to come out. IT WAS FREEZING OUT. I hate the Midwest. We didn’t see Tobias (I think they snuck him out the back to their hotel across the street) BUT we did see both Ghoulettes (THEY’RE SO BEAUTIFUL. QUEENS!) and Dewdrop (Per) walk out, along with another member I wasn’t too familiar with at the time, so that was pretty rad.

I know my summaries might come off as a little self-indulgent, but it’s how it happened in my mind. Plus everyone else’s are too. And honestly, my rituals are something I want to remember. Major kudos to the Omaha crowd. Best crowd I’ve seen at a show in a while.

[kpurereactions]

On the Fourth Day of Christmas My Admins gave to me...

Christmas Special Day: Four

Group: Seventeen

Pairing: Seungcheol (S.coup) X Reader

A/N: Hi, it’s Minlee. This is my first piece of work I’m sharing with you all. I hope you enjoy it :) 

This was the fourth year in a row that Seungcheol had asked you to go Christmas shopping with him. You always wondered why he didn’t just ask one of the boys to go with him but figured it was because he was shopping for them. He always bought men’s attire and accessories, it only made sense. You weren’t complaining though, you loved shopping with him. He’s fun to be around and always brightens up a room when he walks in.

9:30 pm Seungcheol: Hey y/n, can you go christmas shopping with me?

9:43 pm y/n: When?

9:44 pm Seungcheol: Tomorrow. It’s my only day off until Christmas

9:59 pm y/n: Okay. Where and what time?

10:07 pm Seungcheol: Hongdae! I want to beat the crowds sooo, say 11 am when most stores open?

10:30 pm y/n: K. See you.

~Buzz buzz~ ~Buzz buzz~

You grab your phone and hit the button, any button to shut your phone up.

Nngh~ you groan and look at the screen. The screen is a photo of dark snowy woods with a bright white 10:00 am showing. You crawl out of bed and straight to your bathroom. Switch on the shower and let the water run to warm up. You comb your bed hair out so there’s no knot and hop into the warm running water. You let the water get familiar with your body, washing your body before reaching for your shampoo that smelled like coconut. You never liked coconut scented things before but Seungcheol bought this one for you last year and you’ve been using it since. You squeezed some out into your hand and mixed it in your hair, let it marinate a little then washed it out. You shut the water off, grab your towel and pat yourself dry enough to not get the bath rugs so wet.

You exit the bathroom and into your room, going straight to your closet. You knew you should’ve laid your clothes out the night before but you were too lazy. You sigh at yourself. You run your finger through your hanging clothes and stop at a burgundy peacoat, take it out and lay it on your bed. You’ve decided to wear this today and will choose your outfit to fit around this.

~Buzz buzz~

You check your phone and it’s now 10:30 am, you finally decided on what to wear, your hair is dry and straighten, your makeup is done. You had decided on a simple white tee over some black jeans and a fluffy, white knitted scarf, it’s not like your coat was going to be opened anyway. It was too cold. Your make simple as well, some BB cream, powder, light peachy blush, winged liner, and a rosy pink chap-stick. You text Seungcheol to let him know you’re on your way.

10:02 am Y/N:Have you left yet? I’m omw now.

10:10 am Y/N: You better not still be sleeping.

10:27 am Y/N: Seungcheollieeeee

10:59 am Y/N: Where are you? I’m here. Waiting inside Starbucks.

You didn’t receive an answer. Soon it was 7:40 and you figured maybe, just maybe, he was stuck in traffic. But now it was nearly 8 o’clock and you KNOW he was not in traffic, so you call him. The phone rings until his annoying voicemail message comes up, it’s a recording of him saying, “Yeoboseyo. Yeoboseyo,” in the Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do rhythm, starting out low toned and then becoming high-toned. You hang up and try again. It rings for 5 seconds.

“...nnn~” is what you hear from the other end.

“Seungcheol?” you question.

“...hmm?” he answers.

“Y-yAH! SEUNGCHEOL! ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING?! WHILE I’M OUT HERE FREEZING MY BUTT OFF?!” you whisper shout into your phone. Remembering you’re inside a cafe and everyone will look at you like a crazy person. “I-I CAN’T BELIEVE yo-,” you begin again loudly, but then calm down a bit, “ I can’t believe you’re still sleeping. You’re the one who asked me to meet you, remember? I’m so annoyed by you right now.”

“Ah, Y/N, I’m sorry. I was up late last night...you know doing stuff.” He said. He was probably scratching his head right about now.

“Ew. Gross. I don’t need to know that,” you retorted.

“NOT THAT! I was putting up the tree for the kids.”

You grunted, “Don’t bother coming. I won’t be here when you arrive,” you angrily whisper shouted and hung up.

Even though you were upset, you were here for a reason, so you went shopping alone. Thirty minutes had gone by and you managed to pick up a few gifts for some of the boys already. You were getting hungry and decided to stop by your favorite cafe. You order a matcha green tea latte and a plain bagel with cream cheese on the side. Just as you were about to sit, your phone went off. You took it out of your bag and looked at it. It was Seungcheol, you didn’t want to answer so you silenced the call and let it go to voicemail. He left a voicemail but you didn’t care to listen to it. You put your phone face down on the table with your order.

~Buzz buzz~

You flip your phone over, it was a text from him now.

11:45 am Seungcheol: Y/N~~ Come ooon. I’m sorryyyy. I’ll make it up to you. Where are you?

11:45 am Seungcheol: I know you’re still here. I know you took a taxi here and that would be a waste of money if you just left like that.

He knew you too well. You hated driving and you took a taxi to any place you couldn’t walk to. That was money spent on a taxi and it would be a waste if you just went back home after only shortly arriving.

11:46 am Seungcheol: Come on. Answer meeee. Where are you?

11:47 am Seungcheol: If you don’t answer me I’m going to return your gift.

11:50 am Seungcheol: Y/N did you really leave ??? :C

11:50 am Seungcheol: I wanted to spend the day with you :C

He continued to spam you repeatedly apologizing and asking you where you were at. After about 20 text messages he finally stopped spamming your phone with texts. You figured he had finally given up and just leave you be. But as soon as your lips hit the foam whip cream on your latte. You feel two hands pounce on your shoulders, this causes you to jump in your seat and results in some of your drink spilling on you. You harshly set the cup down and turn to look at who that the idiot is. It’s Seungcheol. Seungcheol with a big, bright smile displayed on his face.

“I found you!” He says cheerfully, “I knew you wouldn’t leave. You never leave without visiting this cafe.” He sees the whip cream residue that’s left on your upper lip and wipes it with his thumb, licks it and smiles at you again.

“Go home Seungcheol. I can shop alone,” you say through gritted teeth.

“You know Y/N, you’re so cute when you’re not happy with me,” he chuckles.

You pout and turn away from him. He just kept his stupid smile on his face and welcomes himself a seat across from you. He opens his mouth to speak but before he can, you shove the other half of your bagel in his mouth and he smiles with it in his mouth. This made you giggle, but you quickly remembered you were upset with him and you shouldn’t be smiling at him. You put a straight face back on, get up and walk out the door into the cold outside. Seungcheol follows you and continuously apologizes. Doing anything he can to get you to talk to him; tugging on your coat, getting in your way, begging, pouting, and even getting on his knees, putting his arms out and confessing he did wrong.

He finally stops and sees you don’t care what foolishness he does. He finally just asks you, “Y/N, please. You know I didn’t mean to. What can I do to make it up to you? I’ll do anything. Please Y/N?”

You turn around to look at him with a mischievous smile , “Choi Seungcheol….anything?

“YES. Anything.”

You softly smile now, “Surprise me Choi. Surprise me with a gift, big or small, that you think will blow my mind and give it to me when we are done here.”

“T-that’s all?” the boy says in disbelief.

You just nod to confirm. He smiles at you and you link your arm with his. He asks you what you were able to buy and if any of them were for the boys. You nod and begin to tell him how there was this new music store and you found the best gift for Joshua and couldn’t wait for him to open it. He quickly looked at your hands and saw you weren't carrying anything musically at all. All you had was a paper bag with a bookstore name on it. You can hear him question himself under his breath, wondering what the heck “What the Book” was and why there was a store called that. You giggle to yourself but continue to tell him how you found an African Blackwood B&S, Sinker Redwood guitar for Joshua, had it wrapped and asked it to be delivered to their dorm. Seungcheol didn’t seem to care much about what had just come out of your mouth, he was still wondering about the paper bag you were holding. You put his questions to rest when you answered that you had gotten your hands on two books that are hard to come by. The first book for Wonwoo, a first edition of Tales of Two Cities and the second book for Mingyu, a signed cookbook from the one and only Gordon Ramsay. He tells you that he thinks they’ll love their gifts and also sheepishly thanks you for working so hard and letting him take credit for it.

You two continue to window shop and look through all the stores of Hongdae until it becomes dark out. You begin to yawn so you check the time on your phone, it’s 8 pm. You turn to him and let him know you need to go home because you’re getting sleepy. Seungcheol teases you because it’s so early and yet you’re going to bed so early. You retort that by the time you get home it’ll be 9 pm and you’re just gonna go straight to bed. He laughs at this and you pout.

You turn to him and ask, “So...do you have my gift?”

Seungcheol smiles brightly, “Yes! I’m going to get it right now!” He tells you to stay put, walks behind you into a small tent that’s selling small plants, cacti, succulents, etc. When he comes out of the tent he sees you looking his direction and shouts for you to turn around because you’re going to ruin the surprise. You do as he says.

When he gets closer, you can feel his presence. His warmth straining off of his body and it makes you feel a certain way. It makes you feel safe. Seungcheol taps your shoulder and waves a mistletoe above the both of you. Before you can even process what it is, your lips are met with his. Seungcheol is kissing you. Your eyes wide open, in disbelief that your best friend is kissing you. Seungcheol pulls you closer to him and deepens the kiss. You begin closing your eyes, just letting him kiss you. Kiss you for as long as he wants. You two stand like this for a moment.

Seungcheol then parts from the kiss, “D-did that surprise you?” You can see his face turn a bright rosy tone. You just continue to stare at him. He shifts his eyes, chuckles and runs his right hand through his hair, “Ah...I-I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile now,” He clears his throat. “Y/N, I-I like you, a lot..and I don’t mean as a friend...I-I want you to be my girlfriend.” The boy is now looking down not sure of how you’ll answer him back.

You’re still in shock, by the kiss, by his confession, but you open your mouth to speak hoping something stupid won’t come out of your mouth, “S-Seungcheol...I-I like you too.”

Seungcheol looks up at you and see your shy smile. He smiles his bright smile at you. He moves his hands to cup your face and kisses you again. This too, surprises you.

[caejosed]

38 degrees

word count: 3.6k

pairing: do i even have to list this our blog is called caejosed

summary: “I’m dying, Caesar. I’m on my deathbed. You’re going to come home and I’ll be here, dead,” he threw his hands up dramatically, “because you didn’t take the time to feed me some chicken noodle soup.”

notes: i think the summary gives you the gist of this pretty well but ill leave some authors notes anyway. this is just a domestic sickfic please enjoy (also i originally posted this on ao3, if you would rather read it there) 

Caesar always woke up on time. Even though someone was usually eager to keep him in bed for a while longer, he always pulled himself out of the tangle of arms and the warm blankets. Something was different this time though, he noticed as Joseph didn’t even rouse in the slightest. Usually, he would reach out, hand snagging onto Caesar’s sleeve and a mumble of “is it really already six…” following. Caesar brushed the dark hair away from his forehead, noticing how hot his skin was. He frowned, he knew Joseph would probably catch a cold, considering it had been rainy and Joseph had been stupid, but actually dealing with it was an entirely different beast.

Joseph’s eyes cracked open when Caesar laid his hand across his face, and he had to blink a few times before registering that it was, indeed, morning. The curtains stayed drawn, but sunlight shone through the small space where they didn’t quite match up, hitting just by his eyes. Joseph definitely was not a morning person, but he fought the urge to turn away from the light. It was worth it to put up with it if Caesar’s hand stayed cupping his face.

“I told you that standing out in the rain wasn’t worth it, you dumbass.” There was no bite to his words, and even if there was, the way he ran his fingers through Joseph’s hair would’ve cancelled it out. Joseph leaned into his hand, closing his eyes again, probably intent on going back to sleep. He laughed a bit under his breath, hand trailing down to Joseph’s cheek for a moment before pulling away. That seemed to be the nail in the coffin, and Joseph finally opened his eyes and pushed the blankets off of himself, sitting upright and rubbing his eyes.

“You have to nurse me back to health, Caesarrrrrrrr…”

“Don’t. You know I have work today, but I’ll call your professors for you.”

“Wow, so generous,” Joseph’s tone sharpened, waking up enough to be sarcastic, “It’s not like you could, I don’t know, call your own boss too!”

“I can’t skip work to babysit you.”

“I’m dying , Caesar. I’m on my deathbed. You’re going to come home and I’ll be here, dead ,” he threw his hands up dramatically, “because you didn’t take the time to feed me some chicken noodle soup.”

“I don’t think chicken noodle soup can cure life threatening illnesses, and I don’t think a cold is-”

“Well, maybe you’re wrong! Maybe, I’ll just die from the depression, from knowing that my loving boyfriend would rather go and stand, scanning books for eight hours, rather than to stay home with me,” he said as he threw himself back down.

“I guess you’re gonna have to live with that weight,” Caesar chuckled, watching Joseph’s dramatic feigned sadness turn into a grimace, sitting back up from the bed and pulling Caesar’s hands into his own. This, Caesar had learned, was what Joseph looked like when he was pleading. He had the privilege of seeing it a few times before, most recently when Joseph had begged him to order pizza, insisting that, even though it may not taste good, it was part of New York culture to eat shitty pizza delivery while watching reality TV on a Friday night.

“Caesar! Just- You know, I stood in the rain to pick you up from work-”

“Is this my fault now? I didn’t tell you to pick me up from work, I know how to take the subway-”

“Do you?”

Caesar bit his tongue, glaring down at Joseph. His lopsided smirk twisted into a frown as Caesar stood up from the bed and walked over to their closet. He knew the number one way to make Joseph feel bad for teasing was the silent treatment, Joseph’s worst nightmare was his teasing going unappreciated. So, Caesar tugged the door open, reaching to sort through all of his hanging shirts as Joseph shifted in bed. The creak of springs was telling, and soon arms wrapped around Caesar’s sides. He smiled to himself, as a hot forehead pressed into his back and Joseph started mumbling.

“I’m sorryyyy….”

Caesar weighed his options of teasing Joseph or letting him off the hook. Obviously, the former seemed more fun, but. Joseph was already sick. He had dealt with Joseph getting stupidly worried about making him actually mad with his jabs. Having to actually take off work because Joseph made himself even more sick from worrying was not on Caesar’s schedule for this week.

“It’s… okay. But I’m not staying home, it's just a fever. Obviously you aren’t even that sick, you’re walking just fine.”

“Caesar….” Joseph tightened his hold, making it hard for Caesar to even shift and pull the shirt he chose off of the hanger. His face really was burning up, making a hot circle in the shape of his cheek press in between Caesar’s shoulder blades, as Joseph turned his head and sighed, dramatically. Caesar found himself stifling another laugh, while this wasn’t his favorite side of Joseph, he knew it was a side he would show only to him. Well, him and Lisa Lisa. And maybe Suzi too.

“Get some sleep, drink some water, you’ll get over it.”

Joseph relented. He knew, if after this amount of begging Caesar still wasn’t giving in, it was a lost cause. That didn’t make him throw himself into the bed any less dramatically though, or make him act any less weak when Caesar handed him a bottle of water, insisting that Caesar opened it for him. It didn’t make him let go any sooner when Caesar reached out a hand to check his fever again, and pulling his hand off of the thermometer to lace his fingers with it, savoring the last moments Caesar would give him before he ran off to work.

Caesar rolled his eyes, but squeezed Joseph’s hand nonetheless.

“You’re not going to die without me for a few hours.” He brushed Joseph’s bangs away from his forehead again, pulling the thermometer from his mouth.

“You never know what the future holds!” Joseph said, now free from the limits of having to hold it from under his tongue.

“Well,” Caesar started, looking down at the miniscule screen, “with a fever of thirty eight degrees, I might be wrong after all.”

Joseph’s eyes widened, “No kidding. Isn’t the average temperature supposed to be-”

“Oh.” Caesar laughed, just for a minute, looking at Joseph’s confused expression. “Celsius. In American-”

“Fahrenheit.”

“-it’s one hundred. Try to get some sleep,” he ruffled Joseph’s hair, knowing he could get away with it considering Joseph wasn’t going anywhere today. “Okay?”

---

Joseph was not getting ‘some sleep,’ or any sleep at all. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since Caesar left, but he had been tossing and turning in bed for what felt like hours. His head had started aching, and every time he opened his eyes everything was masked in a fever stricken blur. Struggling to decide between piling blankets over himself and throwing them all to the floor, he decided it was time to just get out of bed.

Maybe it was the fever that kept him from sleeping, but it didn’t seem unlikely that his restlessness was a result of him either. Joseph had never been good at falling asleep, or holding a sleep schedule. He just slept when he was tired, and if he wasn’t dead exhausted, he wasn’t going to fall asleep. It wasn’t really a good habit to have, but it had stuck with him since he had left his grandmother’s house. With no one to push him to go to sleep and wake up at the right times, he fell into it. Thankfully, he did have someone to push him now.

And, although he wouldn’t admit it to anyone besides Caesar, trying to sleep without Caesar next to him proved to be a struggle too.

He realized he had been standing there for a while, and finally reached to pull all of the blankets he had pushed off of the bed into his arms. The walk to the living room was short, with only a couple stumbles on the way, and he unceremoniously dropped the blankets onto the couch before following suit much the same way.

In elementary school, he would’ve been ecstatic to have caught a cold and be able to stay home from school, but now he was just dreading the work he would have to catch up on, and the wait for the next few hours until Caesar came back. He didn’t have anything to do , without going into school. He had hobbies, sure, but none of them really went together with a cold. Trying to read comics when everything seemed blurry seemed like a death wish. Everything else was an outside activity, and he already knew if he left the apartment in this state Caesar would kill him. Joseph would probably kill himself, too, trying to navigate to the stairs.

He considered calling Caesar, before he realized he had left his phone in the bedroom, and sighed at the thought of walking all the way back just to bother Caesar and probably be met with a “did you try sleeping?” and a quick quip of “well, try that!” before being hit with the dull tone of an ended call. He wasn’t even sure what time it was. For all he knew, it had only been ten minutes since Caesar left, and he definitely wouldn’t be happy being called back so soon.

The lack of any clocks in their living room didn’t help either, though Joseph could only blame himself for that. Caesar had told him it would probably be helpful to buy at least one, but Joseph argued that it was a waste of money, when they could just look at their phones for the time. It definitely ranked pretty high on their ‘stupid arguments’ list, but also on their ‘arguments Joseph had won’ list. It was the only one, after all.

He was regretting that decision now, as pulled the blankets over himself. He decided, if nothing else, he could at least put on the TV for some background noise, and then try to sleep with that. Not thinking that, considering it was a television, he could just check the time on that too. So he slept, or at least he tried to, closing his eyes after turning on the news and listening to the anchor babble on about some breakthrough at the zoo. And finally, finally , he drifted off.

It didn’t take long after that, though, for the door to swing open.

Caesar took a few quiet steps into the apartment, slipping his coat off and dropping it onto the coat hanger. He had caved, coming home at lunch with a quick explanation to his boss that it was a ‘medical emergency.’

As much as he had argued with Joseph this morning, he spent the entire morning worried. Was Joseph sleeping? Was he even still home? What if he left anyway- well, that would be ridiculous, seeing as he had almost fallen down just walking back to bed this morning, but he wouldn’t put it past him. And, they didn’t even have anything to eat at home. Not anything Joseph would be able to make, fever or not. So that was what Caesar used, to convince himself that going home wasn’t worrying too much.

He set down the plastic bag hold his convenience store haul onto the coffee table, bottles of orange juice falling against cans of soup as he sat back on the couch next to the pile of blankets that wrapped around Joseph. The blankets shifted, and hand snaked out from under them, blindly patting around on the couch next to him until his hand hit Caesar’s leg. At that, the blankets were thrown off and Joseph was looking at him.

“It’s not even dark out-”

“Are you complaining?”

Joseph frowned at him, pulling the blankets back up, “No.”

“Did you sleep?”

Joseph stretched, leaning back into the couch, “I was trying to.”

“Sorry, did I interrupt you? I can still leave-” Caesar’s laugh was cut short by a pillow hitting his face, and when it fell he could see Joseph had turned away, the blankets pulled up over his shoulders.

“Are you going to answer?”

“Caesar,” Joseph sounded exasperated, as he threw himself back and over Caesar’s lap, “I’m tired. ”

“Don’t you need to eat?”

“Sleep sounds better.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to sleep in bed?”

“Caesar. ”

“Jojo,” Caesar struggled to hold back his smile, a laugh sitting in his chest.

“I know usually this is your catchphrase, but just shut up .”

Caesar shrugged, but it went unnoticed as Joseph closed his eyes and let his cheek rest on Caesar’s stomach. He dropped the remote into Caesar’s hand as soon as he felt him lean over to look for it, and after Caesar changed the channel to something less boring, they stayed like that. Joseph dozed off again, as Caesar chuckled at something that was nothing more than background noise to him, idly running his fingers through Joseph’s hair and feeling the fever, which had definitely not gotten better, still making his skin burn.

The TV faded away, and he started thinking. Maybe he should make Joseph get up and eat, or at least drink something. Was it better to just let him sleep? He had some experience nursing people back to health with his younger siblings, but back then it wasn’t like they really had the option of doing anything but sleeping it off.  

Time slipped away faster and faster, hours going by with him and Joseph there on the couch, his hands idly running across Joseph’s face. A day off every now and then isn’t too bad, even if it’s just being lazy like this. Quiet moments like these were kind of hard to come by, when you were dating someone like Joseph. He didn’t dislike the playful banter, but times like these left his heart feeling lighter.

Just like the times when Joseph would lean against him in the subway and take his hand, dropping his head to Caesar’s shoulder and recounting all the pains in his classes that day. Or when Joseph would wake him up, in the middle of the night, a little bleary eyed but still definitely Jojo, babbling a quick “you know, I love you right?” And Caesar would laugh through his nose, looking at Joseph like he had just asked him if he knew the sky was blue. “Of course, and you know I love you too.”

Finally, Joseph shifted off of him, making Caesar’s trip down memory lane quickly detour into the present. He had been putting off getting up and being productive, the excuse of “I can’t wake up Joseph!” being easy to latch onto with him sprawled over his lap. Now that he had curled in on himself, away from Caesar’s lap, it was kind of hard to convince himself with that. After a bit of internal debate, trying to decide if he could waste just a couple more moments soaking in the silence, he stood up.

Whether Joseph woke up from the shift of the couch cushions, or from Caesar accidentally banging a cabinet open too loudly, no one knew, but he was awake either way. He looked over at Caesar, quietly heating up soup on their small stovetop.

“What time-,” his voice cracked, and he started over, “What time is it?” It seemed to just now be catching up to him that he hadn’t had anything to drink since that bottle of water that morning.

He leaned off of the couch, reaching into the plastic bag Caesar had left on the coffee table and retrieving a bottle of orange juice. It definitely wasn’t cold anymore, after sitting there for a few hours, but it was better than nothing. The warmth that clasped his heart after the thought that Caesar had bought it specifically for him was just an added bonus.

“It’s past seven.”

Caesar poured the soup into a bowl, forgoing using an oven mitt on the uninsulated handle and immediately regretting it. His grip slipped for a second, as he tried to fight the reflex to just drop the pot completely. He swept up the bowl and a spoon in his hands, deciding that maybe using a napkin to shield his palm this time would be a good idea.

Joseph looked expectant, but Caesar walked right past him and into the hallway. The huff of anguish from Joseph was followed quickly by the sound of him getting off of the couch and dragging all of the blankets with him. He dragged them along the floor, ignoring the nagging thought in the back of his head telling him Caesar would nag him about it later, intent on following Caesar.

He nearly tripped on the trail of blankets running by his feet, but managed to keep from falling as he turned and followed Caesar through the open door of their bedroom. He had all but forgotten Caesar’s comment about how he should sleep in bed instead of on the couch, but when Caesar walked to the far side of the bed and cocked his eyebrow at Joseph, he remembered.

“You could’ve let me eat first .”

“Yeah, and then you’d fall asleep immediately after, and when you woke up you would be complaining about how your back hurts, like the old man you are.”

“You’re older than me!” Joseph stalled his dramatic hand gestures to crawl on top of the bed and take the bowl of soup from Caesar, sticking his tongue out at him before sitting back.

“Plus, I wouldn’t be very happy sleeping alone.”

Joseph choked on his first spoonful of soup, and Caesar took a seat next to him on the bed, handing him the napkin that was left in his hand. Joseph had neglected to grab it, in his rush to take the food from Caesar.

“You know,” he wiped his mouth, “you could try being sweet when I don’t have boiling hot soup in my mouth.”

“Picky.”

Joseph rolled his eyes, deciding eating was a better option than replying. Canned chicken noodle soup wasn’t the best thing he had ever eaten, but at that moment he kind of doubted it. The headache that dully throbbed in the back of his mind wasn’t something he enjoyed, but everything else about that moment, he wished he could stretch it out.

It was dumb. They had moments like this every night, when Caesar came home from work. Joseph would pull his head out from the stacks of books and papers that had surrounded him, and he’d smile at Caesar. Caesar would commend him on actually doing some homework, his tone a mixture of teasing and genuine admiration. The energy to go back and forth wasn’t there for either of them, though, and soon they would both tumble into bed.

The difference this time was that they could soak in it for longer, even if Joseph had slept through most of the time Caesar was home. Caesar leaned over to pick up the blankets from the ground, frowning at them but letting Joseph forgo a lecture (for now). It couldn’t be too bad, he kept their floors pretty clean. That was what Joseph’s eyes were telling him at least, as he raised his eyebrow at Caesar.

Joseph finished his soup, setting down the bowl on the nightstand next to him, but with Caesar’s eyes narrowing at him he groaned and stood.

“You really are a tyrant.”

The trip to the kitchen and back didn’t take as long as he expected. Or maybe he was hurrying without realizing, crashing back into the warmth of the bed again only five minutes after leaving it. The blankets had been spread out over the bed in the time he had been gone, free of any dirt (though he didn’t expect any to be there, anyway.) Obviously, nothing was going to stay neat for very long when Joseph was involved, and he pulled the blankets up to throw them over both himself and Caesar. He heard Caesar sigh, but he didn’t say anything further.

“I never thought I’d be tired at before seven,” he admitted, leaning his back against the wall their bed was pushed up against. He looked down at Joseph, face buried in the mattress, snorting at the sight.

Before he could laugh too much, Joseph pulled on his arm until he moved to lay face to face with him. At this point, it was getting hard to even tell Joseph was sick. His face wasn’t burning hot anymore, and he seemed less fatigued and stumble-y than he had in the morning. Was it even possible to get over a fever in just one day?

“Are we going to break our tradition of a goodnight kiss?”

Caesar bit his lip, a habit he seemed to fall into whenever he actually thought about something. It was cute- Joseph thought it was cute.

“We can compromise,” he settled, kissing Joseph on the cheek before he could question it.

Joseph beamed, wrapping his arms around Caesar’s waist. “You’re really cute, you know?”

“I’ve been told,” Caesar chuckled, well past the stage in their relationship to get flustered at the simple compliments Joseph dropped. It was easy to fall asleep like that, Joseph’s arms around him and his resting on Joseph’s hip. Joseph’s heartbeat thrumming steadily, when Caesar moved to rest his head against his chest.

---

The morning came too fast, and Caesar awoke with a headache pounding all of the thoughts out of his head. He fumbled, finding the thermometer used yesterday still on their nightstand (washed off, of course.) Seconds felt like hours, and he would’ve fallen asleep with it still taking his temperature if Joseph hadn’t woken up to pull it away from him.

“Wow! Thirty nine, you’ve beaten me Caesar.”

[dong-hyucks]

Hello~~ How about a Lee Chanhyuk (AKMU) angsty imagine? 😅 I don't really have ideas I just appreciate these siblings so much, but maybe, how about something like he thinks you're cheating but really you're not and w/ a fluffy ending pls💕 thank you so much

Cheater ; Chanhyuk

Characters: Chanhyuk / Reader / ft. SoohyunGenre: Angst (happy ending)A/N: do ! not ! cheat ! on ! your ! significant ! other ! ! just ! dont ! this is v bad, im sorryyyy

Masterlist

   Hate. Hate. Hate.    You down on your lip as you looked through your mail. Frankly, you were sick of it all. Ever since your relationship with Chanhyuk, one half of the Akdong Musician duo, had been revealed to the public, every letter you had received had been hand-written words of disgust, anger, and hatred. To be quite honest, you were somewhat impressed by your boyfriend’s fans ability to find more things to dote on, whether it be your fashion choices to the way you styled your hair. It was different every time, but at the end of the day you knew they all held the same message.

   You don’t deserve him.

   He deserves better.

   You could go on, but you’d rather not. With a sigh, you took the new letters and put them with the rest; in a drawer located in your kitchen. A pile of hateful letters had begun to build after a fan had followed you home. Whenever he came over, you always told him not to open it; as it contained rather embarrassing photos of yourself. Lying to him felt terrible, but you couldn’t bring yourself to tell the truth.

   You just wanted it all to end; all of the letters, all of the e-mails, all of the posts about you. You wanted time to go back, to when you and Chanhyuk were a happier couple, back when your relationship had been a secret. You scoffed at yourself, feeling internally belligerent toward your own thoughts. Before, you had wished for your relationship to go public. You had wished you could have dates with Chanhyuk without hiding, without fearing being caught.

   In hindsight, you should’ve been content. You shouldn’t have rushed Chanhyuk to get permission from YG Entertainment’s president to reveal your relationship. You should have waited until you knew you could be strong enough to deal with the backlash.

   In the end, you weren’t strong enough. Not at all. You were weak under the spotlight of his fans. Not that he knew, anyway.

   Chanhyuk had seen posts and comments about you. It was inevitable. You, however, had told him you could deal with it, and that it’d go away soon. Yet another lie.

   Even six months later, you couldn’t deal with it.

   It didn’t go away.

   You couldn’t do anything. You didn’t have the power to stop all of the hate from coming to you, nor did you want his career to fault. It didn’t take long after the hate had begun that you decided to brace the pain. Accept it.

   Now, you were even lying to yourself.

   A knock sounded at your apartment door, pulling you out of your thoughts. You glanced at the clock; 1:27. You had nearly forgotten about your date with Chanhyuk. Taking in a deep breath, you forced yourself to smile as you opened the door, revealing your boyfriend of four years.

   He looked tired, but he had a small smile gracing his features. “Hey, [Y/N],” he said happily, bringing you into a hug before entering your apartment. “Ready for our date?”

   With a nod, you gestured down the hall, to your bedroom. “I just need to get something really quickly,” you smiled at him again before trudging down the hall. You hid yourself in your connected bathroom, your heart racing. You glanced at yourself in the mirror. You had very eye-bags and your lips were chapped. You looked like a mess.

   Shaking your head, you applied some lip balm and ran a hand through your hair in hopes of looking more presentable. You smiled again, staring down at your reflection. You nearly laughed at how fake you looked.

   Without missing a beat, you went back out. Chanhyuk was waiting at your dining table, fidgeting with his phone. When he heard you coming, he looked up with a smile.

   Your heart hurt at how sincere he looked. With a deep breath, you took his hand.

   “Let’s go.”

   Your date had started out fine. Chanhyuk took you out for ice cream (he had to take his mask off, which resulted in a group of fans flocking to you), completely oblivious to the sneers and glares people around you had been giving you. Whenever he’d look in anyone’s direction, their once nasty expression turned kind. Like always, you thought with a slight frown.

   Not that you were any different. Whenever Chanhyuk would glance at you, you’d show him your best smile. You made it appear that everything was okay and that you weren’t, in any way, unhappy. The thought hit you then; you were just like his fans– pretending that all was well.

   “Where do you want to go next?” Chanhyuk asked with a giddy expression. When he saw the funny look you had been giving him, he chuckled. “Sorry,” he mumbled bashfully, his shy nature appearing, “I just missed you is all. I’ve been up to my neck in practices and performances lately. This is our first date since a couple of months ago.”

   “It’s okay.” You nearly winced at your tone. You truly hadn’t meant to sound so disinterested, and now Chanhyuk was the one giving you a look. “I’m proud of you,” you said through your teeth, “AKMU is gaining a lot of recognition; it makes sense that you’re busy.”

   Chanhyuk looked eternally grateful as he wrapped an arm around your waist, pressing his lips against your temple in a small gesture of gratitude. “What did I do to deserve such an angel?” he asked, looking at you with a grin.

   I could ask the same thing, Chanhyuk.

   “Let’s go to a cafe. There’s a new one a few blocks from here,” you suggested. “I heard it’s good.

   Chanhyuk agreed, pulling you along with him as you walked. As you made your way through the streets, you noticed people had been pointing cameras at you. Bowing your head, you bit your lip nervously. Chanhyuk, unfortunately, noticed your sudden distress. “Is everything okay?”

   Your heart panged. Chanhyuk was such a gentleman to you– you felt horrible for lying to him all of the time. Shaking your head, you glanced over at him before diverting your eyes. “I’m fine.”

   You wanted to punch yourself. Your exhaustion with the situation was catching up with you. Everything you had been saying sounded devoid of emotion, he was probably going to suspect something’s up. You kept your head down, missing the hurt that flashed in Chanhyuk’s eyes.

   He knew you were lying.

   The rest of the walk was silent, with you never lifting your eyes off of your own feet. Chanhyuk had let go of your waist, opting to simply walk beside you. You rubbed your arm, biting your lip for the umpteenth time that day.

   The two of you soon reached the cafe. It was almost full, aside from a few empty tables, and was buzzing with laughter. Luckily, Chanhyuk had put his mask back on, so you weren’t recognized immediately. “Go sit down,” Chanhyuk said, his voice sounding strained. “I’ll order for us.”

   You nodded, retreating to an empty table located in the corner of the cafe. You stared at the table, losing yourself in its pattern. You didn’t dare look up in fear of seeing another fan. You were so out of it that you didn’t even notice Chanhyuk sitting across from you with two drinks. “[Y/N]?”

   You jumped at his sudden voice, looking up at him with wide eyes. Chanhyuk looked worried. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been acting weird all day.”

   You licked your now dry lips as you sputtered out your answer, “I’m fine. You don’t have to ask.” With a quiet thank you, you took the drink you assumed was yours, bringing the cup to your lips. Chanhyuk frowned at your behaviour. Something was definitely wrong, he just didn’t know what.

   His thoughts raced with numerous possibilities that may explain your down mood. Maybe you didn’t like the cafe, maybe he smelled bad (to which, he tried to inconspicuously smell himself), or perhaps you were just having a bad day. He shook his head subtly, keeping his eyes on you as he slowly took sips from his cup. Even if you were having a bad day, you would’ve told him.

   Right?

   Before he could come to anymore conclusions, his phone rang. You glanced up for the first time in a while. He apologized to you quickly before taking the device out.

   Soohyun    Accept ✓ | Decline

   “Hello?” his voice was hushed as he spoke. You watched as his face dropped, his eyes nervously moving to look at you before looking down at his lap. “What do you mean? I thought we had the day off today.”

   Ah. He was being called to work.

   It didn’t take long before he hung up, turning to look at you with guilt. “I was called in–”

   “I know. It’s okay; you can go.”

   Chanhyuk looked shocked at your seemingly nonchalance, almost to the point where he felt hurt that you would just wave him off like that.

   “I– alright. I’ll see you later.”

   You stayed there in the cafe, your once hot drink going cold. You stared at the empty seat across from you and frowned. Silently cursing yourself, you dropped your head into your hands.

   “Excuse me, are you alright?”

   You looked up and saw a man, who couldn’t be that much older than you. He was wearing an apron with the cafe’s logo so he must be an employee. “I’m fine,” you lied again. The man rolled his eyes, moving to sit across from you. You blinked at his boldness, pushing yourself back in your chair.

   “I’m Hyunbin, it’s nice to meet you.” You stared at his outstretched hand skeptically, before shaking it. “I saw your boyfriend leave. Are you sure you’re okay?”

   “Why do you care?” you asked with a sigh. You didn’t mean to sound so foul, but your mood had dropped quite a bit once Chanhyuk left, and Hyunbin mentioning it didn’t exactly make you feel better. “Besides, don’t you have other customers to tend to?”

   Hyunbin chuckled at your attitude, leaning back in his chair with a raised brow. “My shift just ended and I’m bored, so hey– why not talk to the sad looking person in the corner.” He looked at you as if he expected you to laugh at his excuse of a joke. When you kept a straight face, he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

   You rolled your eyes at him. “Glad to know I’m a form of entertainment for you,” you muttered, moving to leave.

   Before you could even leave your chair, Hyunbin reached over the table and held your wrist, keeping you in place. “Wait,” he said, his carefree expression gone serious. “I was kidding.” He paused for a second, furrowing his brows as he thought hard about something. “You don’t even have to tell me what’s wrong–”

   “Nothing is wrong,” you cut him off.

   Not caring, he continued. “You can just talk about anything! Puppies, kittens, the sky, the coffee; anything.” You stared at him curiously. Why did he care so much? “Because you look sad and I don’t like seeing people be sad.” You blinked, only then realizing you had voiced your thoughts outloud. “C’mon, just sit down with me, please? I’ll even buy you another drink; yours is cold.”

    The thought of a free drink tempted you. He was right, your drink did go cold, but you were still cautious. With a sigh, you relaxed in your chair, crossing your arms. “Fine.”

   You watched as he lit up with delight, before bounding off the the counter and ordering. You rested your chin on your palm, glancing back at him. The thought of just freely talking to someone was tempting. As much as you wished you could do the same with Chanhyuk, you worried that you would slip and expose everything you had been hiding.

   Memories of the letters you received that morning flashed in your mind, making you frown.

   “You look sad again,” Hyunbin whined, as he sat across from you. He had the same drink Chanhyuk had ordered for you in his hand. He placed it in front of you before sitting down again. “What’s up?”

   You raised a brow, “I thought I wasn’t being forced to talk about it.”

   Hyunbin laughed, shaking his head. “Let’s talk about anything. Maybe it’ll lift your mood.” You pursed your lips. “Okay,” he mumbled, sensing your hesitation, “I’ll think of something.” He did, and he thought for a very long minute. “Music! What kind of music do you listen to?”

   You couldn’t help but realize how the male in front of you resembled a puppy. Throwing caution into the wind, you opened your mouth to respond.

   Chanhyuk panted as the music slowly came to an end. He held his position until it the song completely faded away, then proceeded to collapse onto the cold floor of the practice room. Soohyun, who was in the midst of packing, frowned at her brother. “Go take a break,” she told him, noting the exhaustion that was apparent in his expression. “You’ve been dancing straight for hours.”

   He looked over his shoulder at her, making her gape at him. “What’s up?” she asked, putting her bag back on the chair it was once on. “You haven’t said a word since you got here and now you look all depressed. Did something happen on your date with [Y/N]?” Soohyun put a hand on her hip, her brows closing together as she inspected Chanhyuk’s expression. When he didn’t answer, she sighed. “Did they get upset because you had to leave?”

   After staying silent, Chanhyuk finally shook his head. “[Y/N]… looked upset for practically the whole date.” He grumbled something incoherent under his breath, pushing his hair back. “They’ve been like this for a while and I have no idea why,” he mumbled, frustrated beyond belief. He remembered how down you looked as you walked before, his heart clenching at the thought. “Maybe I did something.”

   Soohyun took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she thought over Chanhyuk’s situation while he moved to turn the music back on. Chanhyuk, due to being very later to practice, had to keep practicing for the amount of time he missed; which was two hours. Soohyun, however, was allowed to leave. “I can go over to their apartment and ask. Maybe they’ll tell me.”

   “Why would they tell you what’s wrong but not me?” Chanhyuk asked, his voice low. Soohyun frowned at her brother’s pitiful kicked puppy look.

   “There are some things [Y/N] might not be comfortable with telling you yet.” Though she felt bad saying it, she knew it was the truth. Some of her friends had confided her with things they couldn’t tell their significant other in the past, so perhaps you was going through something similar.

   When Chanhyuk nodded, Soohyun went back and grabbed her bag. “I’ll text you,” she bid goodbye, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she tightened her ponytail.

   Their manager was outside the room, fiddling with his phone. “Ready to go?” he asked, putting it away after noticing her. She nodded, following him down the hall and out of the building to their van. “Could we make a quick stop? It shouldn’t take too long,” Soohyun asked after buckling herself in. The manager nodded, following her directions in silence.

   It wasn’t long after they entered the van that they arrived at your apartment. “I’ll be here,” the manager nodded at her, taking the car out of ignition. Soohyun bowed quickly before rushing into the apartment building. She didn’t have her mask on her, so she had to hide her face with her sleeve. Making her way up to your floor via the elevator, Soohyun tapped her foot, humming to Akdong Musician’s new song. The elevator dinged and she bounded down the hall to your familiar door.

   Upon turning a corner, Soohyun stopped dead in her tracks. She watched with wide eyes as a man wrapped his arms around you in a hug. You weren’t pushing him away at all– you were smiling up at him. “Thanks for tonight, Hyunbin. It really cheered me up,” she heard you say to him.

   Soohyun held in a gasp, covering her mouth. You weren’t cheating on Chanhyuk, were you? She felt anger bubble in her stomach. Yes, she adored you; Soohyun thought you were really nice, but Chanhyuk was family and came before anyone, including you. Taking her phone out, she took a photo quickly before turning on her heel and walking off before either of you could see her. She couldn’t confront you directly, especially not out in the hallway where anyone could see.

   Despite her suspicions, Soohyun hoped to every deity there was that she was wrong.

   Chanhyuk leaned against the mirror, his hot breath fogging up his reflection even further. Beads of sweat travelled down his temple as he chugged down his bottle of water. He paused when he heard his phone go off. He wiped his brow, dragging his feet over to where he kept his phone. He had received a text from Soohyun.

   Did she already talk to [Y/N]?, he thought, opening the text quickly. When he saw what the text contained, his heart dropped. His already heavy breath grew heavier, his eyes widening. Along with her small message, I’m sorry, Soohyun had sent a picture of you and another man.

   You looked happy.

   Though completely exhausted, Chanhyuk felt himself grew angrier by the second the longer he stared at the photo. He hadn’t seen you truly smile for months; so why were you smiling like that with someone else? His eyes trained on your shoulder, where the man had his hand. He seemed familiar, but Chanhyuk couldn’t remember, nor did he care.

   Without a second thought, he went to your contact.

   You were still smiling when you entered your apartment, having just sent Hyunbin off. After he asked you about music, the two of you hit it off. You talked for hours, something you only realized when his boss came out and told you that the cafe was closing. Hyunbin had then offered to walk you home. If it hadn’t been close to midnight, you would’ve declined his offer, but since you had to walk you didn’t see a problem with it.

   At the end of the night, you were even able to tell Hyunbin about the hate letters you had been getting. Hyunbin had comforted you about it, offering advice on how to get passed the hate. “You should tell him about the letters,” he had said before leaving, “he’ll understand why you’ve been acting so distant if you do.” With a nod, you decided to tell him in the morning, since he may be tired or busy from work.

   Before you even reached your bedroom, your phone dinged, signaling you were getting a text. You smiled when you saw Chanhyuk’s name pop up, but it wasn’t long before your happiness dwindled.

   Chanhyukie ♡ ; 11:39 PM   Let’s break up.

   You wanted to scream. Tears fell from your eyes, as your body shook. Your knees buckled causing you to collapse, your things falling around you with a loud thud. Soon, you got another notification.

   Contact Chanhyukie ♡ has blocked you.

   Weeks had passed since then. It was announced that you and Chanhyuk had broken up, the massive amount of articles about it adding insult to injury. The hate letters and emails seem to have ceased, but in their place was the burning feeling of sorrow. Everything seemed much too melancholy to you. Hyunbin had visited your apartment, obviously seeing some of the articles, but you never answered the door. You had only left your apartment to get groceries, but even then you were barely out for an hour.

   No matter how many times you texted or called Chanhyuk, you knew he wouldn’t answer. He did block you and it seems that Soohyun did as well

   Hyunbin had also tried to text you, but you muted his contact. You couldn’t bring yourself to block him, but you truly weren’t in the mood to talk to anyone, unless it was Chanhyuk. Call it selfish, but you didn’t want to talk to anyone but him. You wanted answers, and you wanted to tell him about everything.

   You trudged through your apartment, making your way to the kitchen. The photos that had been hanging on your refrigerator door were turned around. They were, after all, photos of you and Chanhyuk. There were so many around your apartment, you were almost shocked to see the abundance of photos that reminded you of your relationship.

   You flinched when someone started to pound on your door. You sighed, going over to the foyer. “Hyunbin if that’s you, stop. I’ve already gotten complaints from the neighbours about you making too much noise,” you scolded, hugging your blanket around you tighter. The knocking stopped, but you didn’t hear the sound of ceasing footsteps.

   “If you don’t want anymore complaints, open up,” you heard Hyunbin say. With a groan, you opened the door. Hyunbin jumped at the sight of you– being very transparent with his thoughts.

   “Look,” you mumbled, tired, “just go home. I don’t know why you keep bothering with me, we hung out once.”

   Hyunbin’s expression dropped, the corners of his mouth conforming into a frown. “I thought we were friends,” he mumbled with a hurt look. You groaned again, opening the door completely. You cursed yourself for giving in so easily as he brushed passed you and into your apartment.

   “How are you?” Hyunbin asked after you closed the door. You narrowed your eyes at him, before turning away.

   “Take a guess,” you muttered, taking a jug of orange juice out of your fridge. He watched in silence as you poured a glass, sliding it over to him over the counter. Hyunbin made a noise, jumping to stop the glass before it slid off the counter. You poured yourself a glass before leaning against the stove to look at him.

   “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you break up?” Hyunbin asked after taking a sip, “I thought you said you were going to tell him about the letters. You looked down at your glass, tracing your finger over the rim of it. You swallowed thickly before looking back up.

   “He broke up with me. Through text.”

   The look Hyunbin gave you was one of offence and shock. He hastily placed his cup on the counter and made his way over to you. Bringing you into a hug, he rubbed your back slowly. “He must’ve been a real asshole to break up over text,” he grumbled, pulling away.

   You shook your head, looking down once again. “No, Chanhyuk’s not an asshole. He’s quite the opposite, actually.” You, like Hyunbin, placed your glass on the counter. “I just wish he told me why he broke up with me, or at least unblock me so I can ask and explain my attitude.”

   Hyunbin huffed. “You know what you need? A shower–” You gave him a glare. “– and some time outside.” Before you could object, he brought your glass up to your mouth, effectively silencing you. “Don’t lie to me, I know you’ve barely been out since you broke up.” He began to frown, “do you not have a job?”

   The thought of a job hit you suddenly. You let out a moan of frustration as you covered your face with your hands. “I was looking for a job before the break up. I completely forgot.” You thought of your soon-to-be empty wallet and frowned. Getting a job added to your list of stressful things in your life.

   “Hey,” you mumbled after a moment. “Is the cafe hiring?” Hyunbin’s eyes lit up, exactly like a puppy who got a treat for being good.

   You stood with a straight back as you smoothed over the wrinkles on your apron. Hyunbin had helped you update your resume and eventually, you got hired at the cafe. It was great to do something after moping around uselessly for three weeks.

   At first, it was truly difficult. Some of the customers had recognized you as Chanhyuk’s ex-lover and some had the nerve to ask you very personal questions about the entire ordeal (questions that Hyunbin had helped you out with). It didn’t take long before you knew how to deal with such customers yourself, something that Hyunbin bragged about for you.

   “Hey,” Hyunbin poked his head into the room. You glanced up from the coffee machine and up at him. “Can you take over for me? A customer just ordered a drink I haven’t taught you yet.” You nodded, quickly finishing the current drink before heading out. You made your way to the cash register without looking up.

   “Caramel macchiato,” you called, placing the drink on top of the counter. You glanced over at the next customer in line, freezing when you made eye contact. You hadn’t expected them to go to the cafe though it was, of course, possible. Forcing a smile, you clenched your fists beneath the counter, away from their eyes. “What can I get for you today?”

   Soohyun and Chanhyuk looked at you with wide eyes. Though they had caps and masks on, you could very easily recognize them, having spent the past five years with the siblings. Quickly, Soohyun elbowed Chanhyuk in the stomach, who seemed to be too surprised to answer.

   “I’ll have a medium iced coffee and he’ll have the same, but a large,” Soohyun answered, obviously still in shock. You nodded, entering their order into the register. “That’ll be ₩5500,” you spoke through your teeth, trying your hardest to keep smiling, just as your boss had instructed for you to do.

   After exchanging the necessary amount of money, Hyunbin came back out with the complicated drink. You narrowed your eyes at him, noticing that it was a simply a cup of black coffee, the first drink you had learned to make. “I’ll take over now, [Y/N],” he said with a grin. You poked his stomach in retaliation, smiling naturally when he flinched away from you.

   You looked back to the siblings, who had been watching your interaction, before rushing to the back to make their orders. You felt as though you couldn’t breathe when you were out there. Holding a hand against your heart, you leaned over the metal counter. You were thankful that it was a slow day, otherwise you would’ve had to rush.

   Quickly making their drinks, you came back out and called their orders. Before they could even get the drinks, you stumbled back into the backroom. Hyunbin followed after you, frowning. “What was that?” you mumbled, gently hitting his shoulder. “You did that on purpose, you jerk.”

   “I’m sorry,” he drawled, “I thought seeing you would make him feel at least some ounce of regret but they just left as soon as they got their drinks.” He quickly dodged your hand when you moved to jab his stomach again.

   “Go back out there,” you shooed him out. “We still have customers you know.” With a pout, Hyunbin followed your orders. Now, alone in the room you closed your eyes. You could hear your heart pounding.

   Damn Chanhyuk, you thought, damn him for still having this affect on me.

   After his shift, Hyunbin closed up the cafe. Because it was such a slow day, a few of your other coworkers were allowed to leave early, leaving you and Hyunbin. You had gone home an hour before, with Hyunbin’s permission, leaving him alone. He sighed, walking off in the direction of his home.

   He saw you beating yourself up earlier, after seeing Chanhyuk. He felt horrible for making you face him again, when it appeared that you weren’t ready. On the other hand, he felt angry. How could Chanhyuk just break up with you out of nowhere? Through text, no less. Truthfully, after hanging out with you, Hyunbin had started to feel something for you, but he wouldn’t dare act on his feelings.

   He could tell that you still loved Chanhyuk.

   Hyunbin looked up. He always passed the YG Entertainment building on his way home, something he thought was really cool. He stopped walking upon seeing a duo walk out, talking to each other distinctively. It seemed that they saw him as well because, after looking in his direction, they stopped talking.

   Though he felt scared, Hyunbin walked over to them. “Chanhyuk,” he began, “could I talk with you?” Chanhyuk exchanged a glance with Soohyun, who wore a worried expression. “It won’t take long, or rather, it shouldn’t.”

   Chanhyuk nodded, ushering Soohyun to their company van. He and Hyunbin moved away from the van for privacy. “What do you want to talk about?” Though his words were proper, Chanhyuk’s tone held hostility and caution.

   Hyunbin tilted his head. He assumed that Chanhyuk could figure it out on his own. “[Y/N],” he answered simply. “I want to talk about [Y/N].”

   Chanhyuk paused. “Go on.”

   “Why did you break up with them?”

   Chanhyuk looked surprised for a second, before he looked away, scoffing. “I thought they’d be able to put the pieces together, but guess not.”

   Hyunbin narrowed his eyes at him, “Put the pieces together? You broke up with them over text without an explanation. How could [Y/N] simply put the pieces together?”

   “They weren’t faithful,” Chanhyuk mumbled, “Probably hadn’t been for weeks before we broke up.” Chanhyuk turned and glared at Hyunbin, “Don’t act like you don’t know. Soohyun sent me a picture that day– a picture of you and [Y/N]. Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t see it before. They were always so distant and they would shy away from me–”

   Unable to contain himself, Hyunbin reached forward, grabbing Chanhyuk by the collar of his jacket. Anger coursed through his veins, as he shook the boy violently. “You think [YN] cheated on you? With me?” he spat, glaring at him. “You’re a real idiot, you know that? [Y/N] would never do something like that, much less with me.”

   “What–?”

   “No matter how I feel toward [Y/N],” Hyunbin confessed, “they will never feel the same. You know why? Because they still love you! I don’t know why but they do. They still love you even though you refuse to see the truth.”

   Chanhyuk tried to push Hyunbin away, but he was both taller and stronger than him. “You want to know why [Y/N] started acting strange? Because every goddamn day they received hate. I’ve seen them– the letters they stashed away in the kitchen. You didn’t even hear them out.” Recognition flashed through Chanhyuk’s eyes once he mentioned the kitchen. “They pretended to be okay because they didn’t want to worry your sorry ass. Even now, they still pretend. After you left the cafe, [Y/N] retreated to the back and was distracted for the rest of their shift because of you.”

   With a huff, Hyunbin let go of Chanhyuk, not bothering to help him when he lost his footing and fell back. “[Y/N] never cheated on you,” he said, backing up. “And you’re an idiot for not seeing that.”

   Without another word, Hyunbin walked off to his house. Soohyun watched him walk away from the van, surprised when Chanhyuk didn’t follow. Exiting the vehicle, Soohyun went back to where they had walked off to. When she got there, Chanhyuk was still on the ground, staring at his shoes. “Chanhyuk?”

   It didn’t take long before she realized he was crying. “They didn’t cheat on me,” he stuttered, wide eyed. “I broke up with [Y/N] and they didn’t even cheat–” he cut himself off, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Guilt struck Soohyun like a truck at full speed. Her brother’s sadness was because of her, and no doubt [Y/N] had suffered as well.

   Biting back her own tears, she fell to her knees and hugged him. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled into his hair. “This is my fault.”

   After a while of just sitting on the ground, Soohyun felt determined. She got up, dragging Chanhyuk with her. “We’re going to [Y/N]’s apartment and you’re going to make up with them,” she decided, pulling him into the van. After telling their manager the address again, she turned to Chanhyuk.

   “I’ll apologize for the misunderstanding as well,” Soohyun said with a sad smile, “This all happened because of me after all.” Chanhyuk didn’t refuse to go, nor did he speak. He merely nodded, and watched the scenery pass by as their manager drove to the apartment building.

   When they arrived, Chanhyuk could almost feel his heart pounding out of his chest. He felt nervous. You probably weren’t going to forgive him; he had broken up with you in such a heartless way and then ignored you for weeks after. The ride in the elevator was suffocating, both of the siblings drowning in guilt.

   When they reached your door, Soohyun stopped. “Stay out here for a second, yeah? I don’t know if [Y/N]’ll be ready to see you out of nowhere.” Soohyun pushed Chanhyuk a few doors away before knocking on the door.

   You opened the door seconds later, startled upon seeing Soohyun. Before you could close the door, Soohyun stopped the movement with her hand. “What do you want, Soohyun?” you asked, your voice weak. You trained your eyes on the door handle, unwilling to meet eyes with the woman who you called your best friend prior to the breakup.

   Soohyun frowned at your disheartened state, her heart panging when you refused to make eye contact. “I just want to explain some things,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. You finally looked up at her. Soohyun held sincerity and guilt in her eyes; enough to make you give in. With a sigh, you let her in, closing the door behind you.

   Soohyun pursed her lips, pressing her fingers against one another in hopes of calming her nerves. “Chanhyuk broke up with you because of me,” she said quietly. You whipped your head toward her, a feeling of betrayal hitting you quickly. “The day he broke up with you I came here, and when I did I saw you with the man from the cafe. I made assumptions and I sent a picture to Chanhyuk, which lead to…” she trailed off.

   You stayed silent, absorbing the information quietly. “Do you,” Soohyun’s voice brought you out of your trance. “Do you still love my brother?”

   The apartment went silent. The chatter of your neighbours buzzed through the thin walls of your apartment, their voices being the only obvious noise. You thought back to earlier in the day, when they had visited the cafe. Just seeing him again made your heart race out of control. You started to laugh weakly, surprising Soohyun. Running a hand through your hair, you looked to Soohyun with glazed over eyes. “Yeah,” you said simply, your voice cracking. “I do. It’s pathetic of me, but I still love him.”

   The door opened.

   You didn’t have to look up to know it was Chanhyuk. No one else would blatantly barge into your apartment unwelcomed, much less after what you had just confessed. “I’ll leave you two alone,” Soohyun coughed, quickly retreating out the door. You stayed where you were, not moving to greet your new guest.

   Sighing, you turned to him. “Would you like a drink–”

   “I’m so sorry, [Y/N].” You ignored the fact that he cut you off, standing stiffly on the spot. “I shouldn’t have broken up with you like that without finding out what actually happened. That was completely unfair to you.” Chanhyuk made his way over to you, stopping a mere metre away from you. You could easily smell his cologne from where you stood, the distinctive smell bringing back happier memories. You noticed that his eyes were bloodshot.

   “You weren’t the only one who was unfair,” your voice quavered. “I was lying to you, after all.”

   With a nod, Chanhyuk moved to grab hold of your hand, freezing momentarily when you moved away. “Your friend told me about the letters you got,” he started, “I’m sorry I didn’t realize.”

   You bore into his eyes exasperatedly. “Stop apologizing,” you uttered. “What happened was because I lied to you about it. You broke up with me because I led you to think I was being unfaithful to you.”

   Chanhyuk reached out to hold you, this time succeeding. “We’re both at fault here then,” he murmured, bringing you into a hug. His warmth surrounded you, and you found yourself slipping. Whatever walls you had attempted to put up around yourself to protect your own feelings from him had crumbled the moment he walked into the cafe.

   “I’m sorry,” he choked. “I,” he paused, burying his face in the crook of your neck, “I still love you.”

   You sat at your dining table, going through your mail.

   Hate. Hate. Hate. Bills. Hate.

   You bit your lip. Pushing the letters away, you rubbed your temple in hopes of curing your pounding headache. Shaking your head, you continued through the pile. Out of all of the envelopes, one in particular stood out.

   You furrowed your brows at the baby blue envelope, flipping it over. There was no return address, the only words being your apartment number and address. You carefully opened it, revealing a piece of lined paper that had been folded with great care. It’s contents surprised you greatly.

   Dear, Mr/Miss [Y/N]

   It must’ve been hard, right? I read the articles… how can people call themselves fans when they send an innocent person hate? I think… you’re very brave for being able to smile through it all. I saw you today, at the cafe. Does that sound creepy? I swear I’m not a crazy fan! Um… anyway, I’m very happy for you and Chanhyuk! You guys are really cute together. I know it’s unrealistic to say that the hate will stop but… I wish you the best!

   From, a very happy fan :)

   You chuckled as you read the letter. It was obvious someone of a younger age had written the letter, as the writing was quite messy, though legible, and there were a few spelling mistakes. You soon felt pressure on your shoulder. You looked over, smiling at Chanhyuk who had begun to read the letter. When he finished, he too chuckled.

   “Cute letter,” he beamed, turning to brush his lips against your cheek, his subtle warmth escaping from you far too quickly. “I’m off to practice,” he announced, standing straight.

   Smiling up at him, you replied, “Drink water throughout, okay? I don’t want you fainting again.” Rolling your eyes, you stood to peck his lips quickly. “I’ll see you later.”

   You watched as he left, before looking back at the short letter. Still grinning, you carefully put the letter back in its envelope and walked over to the kitchen. You put the small, blue envelope into the specific drawer that you had once avoided like the plague. The same drawer, however, was now filled with happier letters from fans.

   You walked off, grabbing your keys and your jacket. With a deep breath, you stepped out of your apartment, feeling confident and euphoric with life for the first time in months.

what a weak ending omf

[jbinbcn]

North Trip

06-09.12.2018

Pamplona - San Sebastian - Zumaya - Bilbao - Vitoria

Long weekend trip with ESN! I had never visited the North of Spain so when I saw the opportunity to go there with ESN, I bought the ticket :D And I needed to take a day off on Friday (6.12 is a holiday in Spain). SO GOOD SO GOOD!

4 days, 5 cities, more than 1300 km !

And I could see my lovely ocean after 2 years! <3 But for sure I’ll come back there! Still so many places to visit! Asturiuuunuuus are waiting XD So let’s start from the beginning.

06.12.2018 Valencia -> Pamplona

The meeting point was at 5 ! I slept 3h... and when I was walking to the bus I passed so many drunk people enjoying the night xD Why so early? Because it’s around 6h in the bus, we could leave Valencia even earlier to have more time for visiting. I slept like dead.. I got used to it, I just sit in the bus/train/car and I sleep. The bus stopped in the middle of nowhere for a break. There was a huge restaurant-shop to enjoy breakfast. I liked that place. Nice to have something like that, not only McDonalds and Orlen hot dogs.

At 8 I enjoyed from the bus the sunrise. It was really cool one, but yeah, photos through the window...

A few words about spanish landscapes. What I noticed, Spain is sooo empty. I mean, when you drive a car on the highway, there is nothing, no buildings, no forests, nothing. Just mountains in many parts, and windmills. I mean, for me is totally different from this what I see in Poland ;) Especially those mountains, but this in -> Chulilla.

We arrived around 12:00 to Pamplona. Our first city. ESN guys took us around the center doing their best city tour. 

---In the brackets I’ll write the name in BASQUE language!--- Probably you know about Cataluña, independence and catalán language. Spain is even more crazy. In the North of Spain there is a Basque Country (es: Pais Vasco, Euskadi) - yes, we are still in Spain. It’s an Autonomous Community (one of 17). But they have own language, spanish and basque are co-official languages there. You think, yeah sure language, probably it’s just dialect, he he, no xD Euskara It’s one of the languages which the etymologists can not find origins. For sure none of the European and is a language isolate to any other know ones. It’s like magic. My personal feelings (don’t take it serious): for me it’s a language of wildness, of woodsmen, of Vikings! Like big bearded guys xD sorry 🙈

Still don’t believe me?  So let’s have a look at the examples of the words, english - spanish - euskara

my favorite one: butterfly - mariposa - tximeleta  others: hello - hola - aupa  yes - si - bai no - no - ez kiss - beso - musua beach - playa - hondartza xDDD restaurant - restaurante - jatetxea father - padre - aita  I love you - te quiero - maite zaitut ❤

Sooo? Do you agree with me that is like viking? XD BASQUE MAN TRUE MAN!

If you still think that I chose only really different words, go to wikipedia, find some article (like famous one) and change the language to Euskara and enjoy ;)  BTW, The girl from Bilbao said that Eusakara is a difficult language to learn. There are 12 gramatical cases !!!! Ok hungarian still wins - 29...  For spanish speakers:

 For others, from 1:30:

----------

But let’s back to the trip. 

Pamplona (Iruña) 06.12.2018 In polish - Irunia - is a cute version of a name Irena ;)

It’s a capital city of Comunidad Foral de Navarra (Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea). So it’s not a “basque” city - I mean, autonomous community, but it’s in Basque Country as a region (Euskal Herria).

It’s really easy to notice when you passed the border of Spain and Basque region. Unfortunately we didn't stop to take some breathtaking photos, and from the window.. you know..

Mountains appearing in the fog...

For me it was amazing! But not on the photos. Sorry not sorry.

Do you know what Pamplona is famous for? ---Running of the bulls (encierro)--- During 9-day festival of Sanfermines (6-7 of July)  First run is on 7th, at 8 am. And then day by day till the end. It’s a good time to visit Pamplona second time ;) Then I can describe the whooooole tradition. Right now just some words. Origins: 14th century, men wanted to be faster and faster with transporting their bulls to the market square. They noticed that the best way is to make the bulls excited and frightened. After a while young boys and others started to making a competition between each other - who will be the fastest in the pens without being injured and overtaken. Because spanish people are crazy, the tradition expanded popularity and nowadays it’s preserved in many spanish cities. In Pamplona tradition is more touristic now, so maybe is better to go to another city to enjoy the old tradition. Enjoy - maybe it’s a wrong word, I don’t know if I would be strong enough to watch people running and getting injured and those poor bulls which will finish at the arena for a fight and dead at the end with a long way. In 1910 they began record-keeping and since then 15 people died. Last one in 2009. On wikipedia you can check exact data if you are interested. ----------

Step by step how we visited in few hours Pamplona (with many photos).

We started at the Plaza del Castillo, center of the city, social life, concerts, markets, events. The buildings around are really beautiful and reminded me Krakow ;)

The weather was like warm autumn.. ahh <3

El kiosko is a heart of the square.

Then we just followed ESN and enjoying the city. Of course we chose city tour in spanish, si si!

Around the cathedral there was a nice terrace to have a view of Pamplona from one side.

ESN guide tour we finished at Ayuntamiento. Baroque style, lions bearing coats of arms and a trumpet-blowing angel.

FREEEE TIME, means exactly food time.

---And now food story--- Vasco Pais is known as a land of pintxos. What’s that? Do you know tapas? Yes, the same “style”, just smaller. Pintxos - small “finger” foods. Like small sandwiches (takie kanapeczki koreczki). Slice of bread with a toothpick in the middle holding the rest together. They can be warm or cold. You enter the bar and in front of you there are all available pintxos, sometimes in the menu you can find more, which have to served warm. How to order? Depends, there are 2 ways. If the plate is on the counter and pintxos are easy to take, take the plate and put there whatever you want. If there are no plates or pintxos are behind the glass, just walk around, choose what you like and then ask a waiter to serve you them. In some bars they are all in the same price so you pay for how many toothpicks you have on the plate after all, or just you pay at the beginning when they are served. Funny fact: you enter the bar and you see it a little bit (or veeeery) dirty, like the floor is full of napkins. It means that the bar is good one, visited by many locals. Wtf?! It’s more hygienic to throw it than to keep it next to your food. In pintxos bars there are not places to sit. Pintxos are for standing socializing. You have a pintxo, you talk, you enjoy, you drink txacoli (sparkling, very dry white wine). You change the bar. It’s like pintxos crawling. Of course there are competitions which bars serve the best ones. ----------

So we knew what we want to eat - pintxos - claro que si. And the best for that is street called: Estafeta (on this street bulls run during the festival). But we found “the best ones” which won some prizes last year: Restaurante Baserriberri.

When we saw the prices there… 3e for a small pintxo xDDD

But then we saw that the waiters are serving something really interesting. In the menu we checked that this pintxo - bOOmveja -  won last year some prize. Look:

The form is not eatable. It’s printed in 3d printer. Inside I tasted some parkerhouse rolls (???? butter bread?) with (as we said) sheep cheese. It was amazing, so delicious, mmmm <3 

What I found about the ingredients? Read that xDDD But I can recommend. 3,5e, smaller than appetizer but was good XD

Then we went to the plaza de castillo to eat what we still had in our backpacks :D

Uncle Google recommended us to visit Ciudadela - 16-century fortress which from the top looks like an extraterrestrial star. In 18th century it was a prison, now it’s a park to chill. We took some stupid photos and it was time to come back to the bus. 

On our way we passed Baluarte Palacio de Congresos y Auditorio de Navarra - cultural center, modern art, art art art. And we stopped on Plaza de Toros next to Bullfighting Monument to take such an awesome video (I’m wondering how many people had the same idea).

So there was nobody! Finally some old people appeared so I asked them (I knew that it’s stupid idea) if some of them can take a short video of us (because I wanted to be in the video as well…). I prepared my phone, the old man, how to stand, what to click, we did our performance.

I checked what he had recorder... eh yes.. one more time please, again, preparing everything I even clicked the start… but he clicked the stop to early xD 

Well… at least he helped!

So bus time again. Pamplona - thank you and maybe see you in July. All day should be enough if you (like me) don’t visit all museums from inside. Next city!

San Sebastian (Donostia)

My favorite city in the northern Spain !! I’d live there just because of the view and location. The other aspects I don’t know ;)

We arrived to the “hostel”. Exactly we arrived to some place in the middle of something. And behind the hill we found our hostel. If you have a car or money for the taxi - is ok, they are able to reach the place. If not, like we, only big bus, we had to climb and then go down to find the hostel. It was already dark so even we didn’t know what we are doing, darkness. Of course, mess at the beginning who is with who in the room (sorryyyy Carlyne!). But finally we managed it to be together (5!) and 6th one scotch-italiano new friend ;)

Some free time and then all the group took a public bus to go to the center for a dinner, before party, party and after party depends on your strength.

So it was night sightseeing in San Sebastian.

Of course we went to eat pintxos. So much tourists. We entered to Senra Zaharrean.

Pintxos calientes ;)

It was a little bit crowded, but we waited like 5min to get a table. In this restaurant you take a plate, put what you want, pay. If you wanna beer, the waiter will bring you. Or if you’re going to the table you can pay later.

Next step we decided to buy some % and enjoy on the beach side. Of course hiding, drinking from the plastic bag.. 🙈

And then ESN and others came and we went to do BOTELLON ---------- I think I’ve never explained what is botellon. So it’s before party. Like we meet somewhere outside with a lot of alco etc, we enjoy, drink, have some social life before going to the clubs. Clubs in Spain are open mostly after midnight, people appear there more around 1-2 because during that time you don’t pay for the entrance, or you pay less. ----------

So our botellon was on the beach, under promenade. Good place, I recommend you to visit it during your stay in San Sebastian xD

And because I love the ocean so much I was in heaven. I haven’t seen it for 2,5 years! Ocean is the power, strength. It keeps me calm but gives me the energy at the same time. I’m in trance like I wrote once on fb ;)

I spend I think 1h looking at waves, were good/big enough. Satisfying ;) But because in Dec I didn’t have any winter clothes with me and north is quite cold during “winter” I started freezing so I came back to the Botellon. It was first and last time when I could see the ocean during the night. Hope to come back soon :D

To be honest I was so tired after this first day and night in the bus. Or I’m getting old too fast. :( But when ESN said that we have a free beer in the bar Bataplan, I went there to enjoy it xD #cebula

But it was one of the worst beers ever. Ble.. Carlyne took wine and it was even worse xD So it wasn’t worth but at least was warm. Erasmus had a karaoke party there and later they were supposed to go to the club to dance but no idea.

We decided to come back to the hostel. But because it was sooo f. away we had 2 options. Walk 3,5km oooor take a taxi. The problem was that we were 5 and nobody wanted to take us, and 2 taxis - too expensive come on xD So we walked xD 40min, up and down. I felt like in Porto od Gdynia, we go up, we go down, do it again again again, do it again again again. But it was ok, I did my steps. 

The hostel was ok, just the shower “perfect size”, like you enter and don’t move. And localization - terrible. For sure not for me, but for the big group works well.

Morning we started with of course breakfast but then city tour in San Sebastian. We had to move out, take our things to the bus, leave them there and enjoy San Sebastian during the day - the weather was perfect <3

So now it’s time for photos ;)

At the beginning we had a city tour with ESN. We started next to the beach to go up for the view.

Parte Vieja - old town, just walking and enjoying. 

Rumbo! XD Better version of it. (Rumbo is a club in Valencia which I don’t like and I don’t recommend). Una mierda.

Can you see a heart?

I read on the internet about this basque dessert so we tried. Like sweet rice pudding - good one!

Ayuntamiento - It’s kind of masterpiece, no? Before it was casino, you know, politicians, businessmen, etc. 

And around:

Urgull Mendia is a hill by the ocean. It’s a perfect chilling spot for enoying the view. AMAZING!

The flag of Basque Country.

Mamma mia !

ahhh my stupid pink-eye-make-up... Sad story behind :(

Heheszki

Yes, I’m happy :))

Museo de San Telmo - the oldest and the biggest in Basque Country. From prehistory to modernity. The original part of the museum it was a Dominican convent (XVI) so it’s like mix of the styles. Yes, I haven’t visited it inside.

Unfortunately we didn’t have time for many things!!! But I’m pretty sure they are worth a visit. :(

Monte Igueldo - The view has to be amazing. You can reach it by the antique funicular railway. On the top there is amusement park and tower - El Torreón.

La Catedral del Buen Pastor - 10 000 whistles in the organ - one of the biggest in Europe.

Isla de Santa Clara - to be honest - I’ve NOT seen it !!! Writing this I’m reading some stuffs and then I see on the photos the island, I’m like wtf, there was not any island! I checked my photos, yes, on mines the island “doesn’t exist”, because I was on the other side and for me it was just one land, one coast. Eh :(  Another reason to come back! 

There is a small cafe and a lighthouse. But you can access it only between 1th June and 30th September via ferry.

Paseo Nuevo - fuck my life. Another thing which I haven’t seen! It’s a new promenade around the Urgull hill, starts in Kursaal, and finishes in the port. It’s famous for the photos with huge waves. Come on, it’s my element (no byłabym w swoim żywiole!). Who wants to join me?

Peine del Viento - one of the best-known works by sculptor Eduardo Chillida. If you wanna a postcard from Donostia, probably it will be with those sculptures. We were supposed to go there, it’s on the opposite side of the beach (Playa de Ondarreta) but we didn’t have enough time so we came back to the old town. AND if we had gone there, we would have seen also the island… so bad so bad JB. Those sculptures are so heavy and there is story behind them, but I’m not gonna write about it, not yet! I’ll go, I’ll explore, I’ll learn, I’ll take pictures, then I can tell you more - my version :D

So when we noticed that there is no time for the sculptures,  we went to eat pintxos, how it could be different. And to be honest we found finally cheap <more or less> and good ones! Oh yeah! So I recommend this place in San Sebastian - Bar Gorriti.

On the floor there were a lot of napkins so it had to be good! In this one you say what you want and the waiter will put it on the plate, what has to be served warm, he will give you in 2-3min. Here I tried txicoli, yeah, sparkling and sour. But the way how they serve it, look!

I took some bowl, it was warm pintxo and really good one! It was my favorite one I think. Inside there was kind of mixed meat, maybe some smashed potatoes and it was fried - recommend!

Next step was - to chill xD I could see so many things but what I did? I went to sleep on the beach xD It was really good siesta, I just lied down on the wall and I was enjoying my dreams. And from there we had a view on the surfers - this is surfing, not like in Valencia, minimal waves, no adrenaline, etc (but they do it in Valencia! lol).

When I wake up (15-20min, true afternoon siesta), I went to say goodbye to the ocean. Calm me baby.

Then the bus and let’s go to another city!

Zumaya

We went there only for like 45min. Why? There is an amazing view spot. Some scenes of Game of Thrones were recorded there (I don’t know which ones, I don’t watch it, sorry not sorry). But maybe you can guess from photos:

But it was the only place where was raining and was soooo f*ck… windy! Omg xD 

But it was worth it. You know, act like nothing is happening, just for photos, and then run away before you fall off. But amazing, amazing! Basque landscapes - wow!

zmokła kura.

Next city!

Bilbao 07.12.2018

We arrived when was dark already, so like always, just run away from the bus (because it stopped where it shouldn’t), take the luggage and enter the hostel. This time the hostel was more or less in the center so walking time (probably we would have walked even if it had been located somewhere outside xD). We had some time to prepare, do shopping, before leaving for botellon.

So we did. A good shopping. Just look xD We wanted to be prepared, not like in San Sebastian, just one beer. HE HE XDD

That night ESN prepared for us a dinner, like tortillas de patatas, chips chips chips, chorizos, jamones, etc.

After that we had some drinking games and then let’s go! Botellon spot was next to Guggenheim Museum - artistic botellon! And here will be the story of Bilbao xD

I left my phone in the hostel, because I’m with big group, we have a lot of vodka, just to be sure that I won’t lose it. The hostel had 3 doors to pass, entrance - code, room area - code, room - code. Better because we were 12 (!!!) in the room so impossible to share one key (like in San Sebastian). I hadn’t known that, and when receptionist saw me fighting with the “room area” door, he gave me a card with all codes and with the address of the hostel. I put it to the pocket with thinking - it will be useful. We (5 of us) started drinking during the way to botellon (you know, like there is no time). And yes, for 2 of us it was a little bit bad idea XD And when ESN said that we have to go to the club to enter before 2 (because for free), I decided to take a friend home, another 2 stayed, one left with ESN. So it was like 15min walking, more or less 2 big streets. To remind - I didn’t have my phone with me, and the other person phone didn’t work - wtf! Like just stopped, all apps from Google just stopped. We were left without a map… I just knew one street at the beginning and that’s all. So ok, we will ask on the streets. I even didn’t remember the hostel name xDDD Buuut yes, a had an address!!! <3 First person to ask - young dustman. When he showed me the map, I was like, fuck, we are lost already, after 10min we were somewhere else than we were supposed to be. Ok, he said, go straight and at the end ask someone else. But I really needed to use the toilet, like really. And then I saw some cafe in the middle of some park, it looked like private party, but the door was a little bit open, I entered like without touching, like I’m matching perfect to this open door hole. I said - HOLA, my instinct just knew were to go to find a bathroom, I used, I came back to that door, I said - ADIOS. Easy xD We asked again some people in this park about the way. Then we again asked some young guys, they look at the map and like - oooookeeeey, maybe we will take you there. They knew about crazy Erasmus life. They understood those feelings. We were walking walking walking, then they said that it’s at the end of the street. You even can’t imagine how happy we were. But then we were lost again xD My friend because of hiccup was hiding behind - glass lift xD when I was asking some group of old people (+60) about the hostel. They were like, it’s here… And then I look around, I noticed Carrefour (where we did our lovely shopping). I can not explain those positive emotions which I had that time… That happiness! When I entered the room, the rest of the group was sleeping already.. how?!?! We were walking for 1,5h hour… Love you Bilbao ;*

In the morning, breakfast, shower (we had 1 shower for 12 people, good luck), and let’s explore what we explored during the night. No idea how was our path. I tried my best, but yeah.. We went first to Guggenheim Museum. Ok, I was fascinated (I think first time) because I read a book of Dan Brown - Origin (Początek) last Christmas and there were some of the actions.

Solomon Guggenheim was crazy about abstract art, his flat started being to small for all his collection, so he set a foundation up and established museum - Museum of Non-Objective Painting. But the place was also too small. Frank Lloyd Wright designed a new building. When you think about museum, probably you think about old building, you know artistic, wow, photogenic, wow, art, wow, majestic! This one was different, was destroying all the well-known rules. The collection was growing and growing and in 80s the contemporary director Thomas Krens decided to set branches up. That time Bilbao was a dying city. There was an economic crisis, the big industrial companies crashed. The Basque government asked Krens to build of the branch in Bilbao, he asked Frank Gehr to construct it. It cost a lot of money, but was built on time and budget. Has it helped Bilbao? A lot! Maybe that’s why you know that city. ~9000 workplaces, during first 2 years more than 2 600 000 people visited the museum!

The building is made of titanium and glass. You can see there fish, flower or a sailing boat, depends from which side you are looking at (or how “creative” you are ;) ). Around the museum you can find:

Puppy - West Highland terrier, 13m, 16 tonnes, tens thousands of flowers.

Maman - “mummy”, spider, almost 10m, includes a sac with 32 eggs, meaning: mother’s protection - soft for children, dangerous for others - many interpretations.

Fire fountain - from time to time 5 fountains blast flames into the sky - I haven’t seen :/

Tulips - bunch of 7 large tulips (5m) like a baloons.

Tall Tree & The Eye - 73 reflective spheres, too deep to write.

Fog - it appears from time to time.

The entrance: 16e, 9e (students <26). Better to check the hours and if that day is open. 

We had a headphones with the guide (in english). You clicked the interesting number and you could hear the story. Take the map with you. 

It’s really big but accidentally I went first to the room with sculpture of THE MATTER OF TIME. For me it’s sooooo fascinating! It was in the book of Dan Brown and it’s not art which you should go deep in, like think why it looks like that, what the author thought, no! Richard Serra is known as an artist whose sculptures you can’t feel, you can’t get them with your eyes only, you can’t look at them and understand them. It’s all about physical feeling. When he started, people didn’t like his art, it was ugly for them. It’s impossible to show his sculptures on the photos, because they mean nothing then. You have to walk through them, they will work for you physically (no w sensie, że nie fizycznie odczujesz co ziomek chciał przedstawiać, zacznie Ci się kręcić, w głowie, albo jakieś inne takie efekty specjalne). Maybe you know those blocks in front of the Museum of Holocaust in Berlin? He designed them. On the photos - hmm you don’t know wtf, but when you walk through you should start feeling lonely, uneasy, lost. This art I appreciate :D So what about The matter of time? 8 sculptures, the lightest piece weights 44 tons and the heaviest 276 tons - wow - together - 1034 tons - wow! In the room next to it you can find everything explained and small version of it to have a better look at the construction.

After the previous night I was a little bit dizzy, but when I passed all those sculptures I wanted to die. It seriously works! It makes you dizzy, you feel like it’s closing you inside, you lose the orientation, you are lost in time. Maybe it’s better to visit this room at the end, to feel better during walking on the 2nd and 3rd floor.

One more room was quite interesting on the 1st floor. In the middle there were kind of bowels (flaki, wnętrzności, takie jelitka czy ciul wie co). In one corner just phone recording you and showing it on a big screen - lol. Kind of strange tent - no idea. Some flying big balloons, salt xD

And 3 figures of dogs. Here I listened to the record carefully but when the guide said that it’s Maria and Jesus.. well.. I changed the channel.

Next floors (2nd & 3rd) - omg so boring (sorry art lovers). Paintings, paintings… no sense, no feelings, no. Aaaaa and it was forbidden to take photos :/ I noticed it too late xD

But this painting... wtf ! Or there was one, totally black, with one white corner. No.

And then we went to eat! Pintxos, claro que si! We just were walking with ESN, but because the group was too big, we entered to the next bar. Also recommended! I liked it.

Plaza Albia

I saw that they also have those balls so I took one. Hmm it was different, not that delicious buuuuuut

The sauce was so so so f. spicy! But good at the same time, like you keep eating mmm it’s perfect, but when you stop... better to not stop XD

mniam mniam mniam!

Napkins on the floor!

Then we walked a little bit and decided to come back to the museum (there was our meeting point) and chill there.

Bilbao’s architecture:

Then we had a city tour with guys from ESN Bilbao so we learnt more about the city from true basque people :)

Beautiful sunset!

We decided to eat for a dinner CAROLINA! It’s like another basque dessert. But on our way we found bubble wafer which I always wanted to try in Krakow so... (szału nie ma dupy nie urywa).

And we found carolinas! In Poland we have something similar for winters and we call it - warm ice creams - ciepłe lody. Mniam :D

On our way to the hostel... we passed the street to the right and we noticed 10min later when we were on the top of the hill... Bilbao <3

So this night was our! Like finally we wanted to end up in the basque club! Por favor xD But this time we needed to take metro and walk a little bit (~40min in total) and we had botellon just in front of the club. But what it was a club! xDDD When we were walking from the metro we were like in the worst part of the city, between some industrial buildings, garages etc. Like wtf. And then we stopped on the parking, and we were playing games and drinking (more careful than the day before). When I asked ESN where is the club they showed closed door to one of the garages XD And yes, it was this, around midnight the door opened and you could see that this can be a club. How it was? Typical spanish club, maybe not enough of reggaeton and music to dance, like to many songs of electro something, but at all - not bad. I was thinking to walk to the hostel but when I saw the area and everything, nope, metro. Even taxi doesn’t go there xD And when we were waiting for the club, spanish people started arriving and it was like “village need for speed shows” XDD You know chicos in the cars showing their best screech of tyres (no powiedziałabym sądeckie dresy popisujące się paleniem opon, no poczułam się jak w Nowym Sączu przez chwilę).

So party in the North - checked. At least once xD

In the morning, zombie packing and let’s go to the next city!

Vitoria (Gasteiz) 09.12.2018

It’s a capital city of Basque Country (nope, not Bilbao). It’s not big one but it’s cute. We started next to the new cathedral, again we had a city tour with a girl from ESN Vitoria. It was a good tour!

This place is like social life center. During the summer old people (like +60) meet here to dance. It has to be so cute :D When I pass my 60 I’ll go to Vitoria to dance the whole night :D

This is the new cathedral. Why? Where is the old one? The old one was damaging and the city needed a cathedral so they build new one. But as I heard they are not proud of it - it’s ugly.

We started a sightseeing from a new part. Look at the architecture.

Iglesia de San Miguel

Plaza Nueva It’s like Sunday spot for locals. In the past it was a market place and bull arena. Now it’s a place to meet, grab a drink, etc. Every Sunday children come here to exchange with some posters, stamps, coins etc (pamiętacie wymianę karteczkami? XD).  

Plaza de los fueros Before it was Plaza de Abastos - for selling fresh products. New one exist for >30 years. Fuero - forum, open spacec used as market.

In basque cities they have a cool way to put the names of the streets. I like it.

In the wall on the right (second photo on the left) there is a girl. She was walled up and people say that you can hear her sometimes, well.

El Portalon c. XV, traditional basque food, not cheap one.

In Vitoria you can find some nice graffiti.

We finished out tour. Free time for food and it’s time to go back to Valencia. This time I’ll surprise you, for the lunch we ate - kebab! XDDD Because it’s big enough for 6h in the bus and it costs like 2 pintxos so.. xD

Then we walked throught the city, enjoying it last time.

Locals call it - pussy.

In the Florida parkea - the park - there was a kind of Bethlehem. We were looking or a Jesus like 15min xD asking locals if they know, they didn’t, but we found it, it was so hidden!

Nice pig XD

Like in Barcelona.

Sooo that’s all from basque cities. We took a bus to Valencia.

Super trip! I’ll come back, for sure to San Sebastian! Thank you guys! :D

And you did it, you survived till the end XD CONGRATULATIONS!

//whatHappenedInTheNorthStaysInTheNorth