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alias-sam · 6 months

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Pierced by a Golden Soul

Chapter 3. High School Never Ends

Platonic Jojo's x Reader

Summary: Fate is a bizarre concept with countless more bizarre implications. In life sometimes such extraordinary events happen that the only reasoning left must be fate. The tragedies that constantly befall the Joestar bloodline for example may be the unluckiest series of cards drawn in human history, or perhaps the work of a greater power. There is no way to tell for sure. Had Dio Brando or Jonathan Joestar moved slightly on a divergent path the world itself would be left very different. The fate or luck of the noble Joestar bloodline has led to destruction of evil likes of the Pillar Men and DIO. This story is of a similar caliber to that of the other Joestars (as I am sure you are familiar with them). This is a story of lost souls, compassion, hope, and above all fate.

Word Count: 2,243

(Crosspost from Wattpad, full fic is already posted there.)

What had you done to piss the universe off so badly? As you tried to enter school you were halted by a teacher that you didn't even recognize.

"And why may I ask are you skulking around here?" She drawled, standing to block you from getting past.

"Excuse me ma'am but I need to..." You tried to sidestep her but she moved back into your path.

"I asked you a question. Do you have a reason for being late?" She was obviously not interested in whatever answer you were planning to give. She was already pulling out a notepad and pen.

"I slept through my alarm." You lied.

"Do you understand how many times I hear that excuse in a day?" She sighed dramatically as you watched her write out a detention slip. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes at her attitude. "I hear it every day from attempted skippers." She sneered accusingly before placing a one-day detention slip in your hand. "Now get to class." She ordered, waving you off.

"Ma'am I didn't even-"

"Talk back and you're getting another day."

........

Yeah, needless to say you walked to class with a two-day detention slip in hand. Thankfully your punishment didn't start until tomorrow which left you at least a day to come up with an excuse for your maternal guardian. You trudged into Biology class and quietly made it to your desk. Listening to the random flow of conversation among your peers was entertaining. The main topic today was your up-and-coming group project, something you had heard about already. The reason it seemed to be so interesting was that the teacher was assigning partners randomly.

With your recent luck.... you could totally see this was going to end well for you.

The teacher had everyone take their seats, and went over details for the project again. Most of your fellow students were just waiting in anticipation for their group members to be announced. He listed off several people's names, often they were followed by groaning. From what you could gather he paired people who would otherwise never interact.

"Y/n Jones you'll be with Blake Greenmin, Timothy Buggles, and Vita."

Yep, people who you would otherwise not volunteer to work with. You weren't friends with them, but you were intimately aware of their reputations.

Blake Greenmin for example. An incredible student known for his near flawless grades. (At least to the teachers) Everyone in the student body knew that he sold answer sheets for homework, tests, quizzes, and even exams in the boys' bathroom. The one thing nobody could figure out was how he always managed to get the sheets without staff noticing. He also had a nasty habit of being late to classes, resulting in frequent detention. You were 99% sure you'd be joining him there tomorrow. When you looked over to his seat, he gave you a mocking wink and smile, you looked away with a groan. In your experience he was a self-centered prick. He loved messing with people for no discernible reason.

Timothy Buggles. He ran the music club. An average student, just a bit of a wallflower. You looked over to where he was sitting, he was quietly scribbling something in a notebook. You had actually didn't mind being paired with him in comparison to the other two. You'd worked with him before and found he was a reliable partner. Unfortunately, Tim was like you in many respects. He was marked a 'loner'. Sometimes when students were giving him trouble you would tell them to knock it off. Tim never asked you to do it, and he never talked to you after each ordeal. You could never tell if he appreciated you interfering or not.

Then there's Vita. Most teachers called him by his last name. Now that you were thinking about it, you didn't know his first name. Vita was a student that missed an inordinate amount of school. When you looked around, you found his seat to be empty. The times he did show up he scared people off. Many outlandish rumors surrounding him claimed he was a vampire or something. You weren't anticipating he'd be much help for this project.

You were expecting to start working immediately, but the teacher stopped everyone when there was a knock at the door. You were greeted by a pulling sensation; you couldn't place when but you had the inkling you'd felt it before. The teacher answered it and happily led in a familiar man.

"Everyone this is Mr. Kujo." He introduced the newcomer. "He's the marine biologist I said would be visiting us to teach about the recent fishing problem." You didn't remember the name but you instantly recognized the face. It was that guy you pulled out of traffic just yesterday. "You will most likely be seeing him around the school. Mr. Kujo is working with the science department to spread pollution and endangerment awareness."

Your teacher continued to drone on about your project and the marine biologist. All of the monotonous chatter left your mind to wonder off. You tried to figure out what that pulling sensation was, it wasn't your clothes or the chair, did it have to do with that stand thing? Before this morning you had no idea what your ability was called, but now you were curious beyond belief. You had so many questions about these so called 'stands'.

Your mind continued to generate questions surrounding this morning's incident and formulating educated guesses. This caught the attention of your teacher who noticed you distracted look.

"Y/n. Please pay attention in my class." You jolted from your daydreaming, immediately shooting a quick 'sorry' to him. A few students around the room laughed. You sunk into your seat and quietly wished for the school day to end.

The period did eventually finish, but only after a lecture boring enough to put the entire class to sleep. When the bell finally rang you started to move on to your next class. The hallways of the school filled with a hum created by many voices chatting at once. You were placing a book in your locker when two voices rose up above the normal volume.

"Buggles!" Someone roughly hit a locker near you. "What are you up to today?" The tone of this person was teasing, and blatantly meant to intimidate.

"N-nothing." Came a quieter voice. This one you immediately recognized.

"Oh yeah? Then what've you been writing in that notebook all day?"

You looked across the hallway to see your newly assigned project partners, two of them at least. Blake was leaning against a locker; Tim was hugging a notebook to his chest.

"Please. I don't want any trouble." Tim muttered, quietly shrinking underneath Blake's scare tactics.

"Give me that." Tim looked deflated as Blake snatched his notebook from him. You watched the interaction from the sideline before deciding to intervene. Blake had a big reputation, so usually people were hesitant to stand up against him. Students didn't pay any mind to the scene. They all just moved from class to class.

"We're supposed to be working together for the foreseeable future. Why don't we start our partnership on good terms?" You stood yourself between Blake and Tim. Blake gave a suave smile, turning on a more welcoming persona.

"My! Y/n, you make a wonderful point." Blake took a step closer to you. "We should try being friends. I guess I can start by giving this back." Blake held out the notebook, proceeding only to drop it at Tim's feet. "Woops." Blake then sauntered off down the hallway, chuckling as if what he had said was clever in some way.

Tim dejectedly picked up the book. He glanced at you before walking off to the opposite hallway. That left you alone. You weren't mad about Tim walking off or anything, you just wondered if he was okay. Ultimately there wasn't much for you to do about Blake, so you continued on your day as well.

The day ended after a few more grueling hours. When the dismissal bell rang you collected your bag and started your walk home. As you passed the courtyard of the school your 'fan girls' gawked and whispered to each other about you. Thankfully none of them followed you around today. After leaving the courtyard you were left to a quiet solitary walk, that is, before you got to the intersection. The light cleared people to walk but traffic continued to flow, you glared at the light, almost expecting it to fix itself if you did so.

A figure next to you started to step off the curb, you stuck your arm straight out to stop whoever it was from becoming roadkill.

"Hey watch it buddy!" A distinctly feminine voice growled. You looked over at the person, about to explain yourself, but you weren't faced with a tourist. No, you had seen this person very recently. "Oh! Y/n?" She was a bit shocked to see you but immediately the blonde gave a smile. "Hi! I didn't know you walk this way!"

"Umm. Hi?" You awkwardly looked up to see that traffic had stopped and motioned for Jaya to cross with you. When you both made it to the other side of the street you continued. "Of course I walk this way, I live right over there." You motioned to the bakery just up the street from where you were.

"Huh. Guess I didn't really register that yesterday!"

"You should really pay attention to that light. Everyone in the area knows what kind of a hazard it is. Are you new around here or something?"

"Sort of? Iv lived in town for a few months now. My brother usually takes me but, I just...had to start walking to school recently." A saddened expression came over Jaya's face. A silence fell between you two but it was soon broken by Jaya "So.... Are you like- okay?" She was eyeing you up and down. You knew what she was referring to. She was looking at the bandages peeking out from your jacket sleeve. You gave her a once over, she looked no worse for wear, especially considering she had almost been mugged. When you saw her forehead, you were perplexed. There was no bandage on it, and it looked almost completely healed. Maybe her cut was even shallower than yours? No. Something felt off about the fact there wasn't a scratch or bruise to be found on her.

"I'm fine, but how are you doing?"

"I got away ay-okay thanks to you. I more meant like are you...okay as in....."You gave her a questioning look. What was she getting at?

"I just said I'm fine." Jaya looked like she was biting back a question. She almost looked embarrassed. "If you have something to ask me spit it out. I don't bite."

"Are you like-... part of a gang or something?" Jaya blurted out. "Its not like I'm going to call the cops or anything! Its just, some people at school were talking about you. It sounded strange since you seem really nice." Jaya rambled on. "You also jumped directly into a fight which is kind of weird? Not that I'm ungrateful or anything! You really saved me back there. I-" She cut herself off when she saw your bewildered expression.

"No. I'm not in a gang, not yet at least." You actually laughed at the absurdity of the question. "Man do people at school love to gossip. Wonder what inspired that one." Jaya was relieved that you weren't offended by the question. She had indeed noticed how opinionated her fellow students were. "As for the ordeal this morning... it was a bit of a fluke." You admitted, but you thought back to all the times you had seen people antagonize those weaker than themselves. To be frank it made you sick. "I took quite the beating but that's all right. I saw you in danger, and it was my decision to jump in. A truly good person has no fear when it comes to helping others. Those who watch and do absolutely nothing are useless. At least that's my take on it."

Jaya held back a laugh, poorly, before just letting it bubble past her lips.

"That's so cheesy!"

You rolled you eyes but agreed with her. It was defiantly an odd thing to say, and to a stranger no less. But it was indeed how you felt. You were always compelled to help people as if it was a deeply engrained part of you. Jaya's laughing halted when you both got closer to the bakery. She looked concerned.

"Did that guy get arrested?" Jaya was looking down the alley where you had left the mugger that morning.

"No......he uh got away." You explained, internally freaking out over the fact he disappeared. The fact he was gone was a good thing...right?

"Well, I guess this is your stop." Jaya remarked. "Guess ill have to be careful walking home with the guy still around."

"How far away do you live from here?" you asked. Jaya responded by pointing up the road to a massive apartment complex. "Why don't we walk to school together then?" Jaya lit up. It was never hard to make her happy about something, she seemed easily excitable.

"I'd love that!" Jaya waved as you entered the bakery. "See you tomorrow then!

"Yeah. Bye." You waved.

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yumichikah · 8 months

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"Ayasegawa-kun." His first response to the Eleventh Squadron's Fifth Seat.

"I wish I had more time and a much better organized schedule." A couple of his fingers tilted his straw hat down just enough to hide his eyes, smirking.

However, the Captain Commander smiled and finally, he handed him a small gift between those velvet hands. "I must apologize for this delayed salutation, it was not my intention. I hope you understand."

If things were easier for him, the story would be different.

"I hope you had a wonderful day with the ones you respect, love and admire. And wishing you a prosperous year." Inside the package, a generous paycheck.

"You arrived at the squadron a few months ago with a budget issue. I tried to solve that inconvenience, and I have failed. But here is my contribution.

I am aware of your hard work to rebuild your squadron. You are making a lot of sacrifices, and I appreciate that. Your loyalty to your squadron and your Captain, it is something that I do not see often."

Birthday Peacock 2023!

The whole birthday celebration had already died down and work resumed as normal when the head-captain had approached with a generous gift. Yumichika had not expected Kyoraku himself to drop by, seeing as the man was busy all the time nowadays and there really wasn’t any work-related reasons for them to be in contact that often, seeing as even their respective divisions’ barracks were situated pretty far from each other. But then again this sudden visitation definitely was quite a pleasant surprise – it always felt like such an honor when someone of this caliber had spared a moment to think about the former Fifth seat, not to mention them remembering about his birthday.

”Ah, Kyoraku-sotaicho, you shouldn’t have--” the bird exclaimed as he heard what the envelope handed to him was concealing. The purple eyes were widening as manicured hands took in the weight of this gift since it seemed to be much more than what just about any acquaintance would be willing to let go of for someone they weren’t incredibly close with. This act of generosity meant budget reliefs for the whole Eleventh division as it didn’t even cross the beauty’s mind to keep it all to himself(though he rarely got gifted bigger sums of money in the first place). Family came first, that was how it had always been after finding his best friend and joining the squad back in the day. Any little bits of change helped in the current situation that they had been wrestling against ever since the war for sure. So many men ended up as casualties so building up and repairing things was definitely taking way longer than usual.

”Thank you, sir!” the excited exclamation was soon heard before a gesture of gratitude was shown, the lower ranked shinigami bowing deeply in front of the older soul and feeling oddly emotional. Usually nothing that was said really got through to the peacock’s tough, sparkly exterior, but the financial help combined with such praising words kind of pushed his buttons in a right way that resulted in him squeezing those pretty eyes shut to keep them from watering. Gosh, it had been a way tougher year than he had ever admitted even to himself. Not that he had had much time to stop and think about it anyway, seeing as him and Ikkaku were promoted to higher seats now which resulted in them both working on lieutenant level responsibilities. The paperwork still fell on Yumichika’s shoulders as always, but at least he didn’t have to partake in all the lieutenant gatherings and whatnots since that was the baldy’s job.

”I promise I’ll use your contribution to improve our situation at the Eleventh!” the continuation sounded soon after, envelope being held tightly against that lean chest that was still facing downwards in that bowing gesture. Holding the position was partly thanks to the immense amount of gratitude wanting to be expressed, yet mostly to keep the emotional reaction out of sight for now until everything would be back under control. Showing such a weakened facial expression to a higher up wasn’t something this proud and stubborn man was about to do any time soon, after all.

#aegisdux #asks #Birthday Peacock 2023!#//You made Yumi emotional! It was fun to write it out!#//Thanks for the ask fren!

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iamthecomet · 1 year

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oh yeah, i agree with you that rain is the only in the pack who's patient enough to play games like elden rings and stuff... games with an actual story

and he would definitely wreck everyone in PVP cod or overwatch or valorant

this conversation from yesterday got me thinking abt the ghouls's favorite videogames so here's my hc (coming from a person with very little experience in gaming):

dewdrop loves horror games with blood gore jumpscares, all that shit. like, I'm sure he loved the mortuary assistant and i think the only "long" game he has the patient to play is resident evil, just bc of the jumpscares you can get and the fighting zombies and shit (don't let that boy anywhere NEAR the niche youtube creepypastas videos like the mandela catalogue or the backrooms)

swiss is probably some shit like wii sports or just dance BUT he also loves mario kart and super mario 3d world. he also plays fall guys with rain sometimes

aether, well, i feel like he likes the old games better like legend of zelda: a link to the past, super mario bros 3, and maybe mega man zero? but one day he walked in on rain playing the last of us and he was liking the game so much, it became sort of a routine for the both of them to have rain playing while aether watches. they'd do that every friday night and they both cried when the game ended

mountain i think is the one that doesn't play games a lot, but the ones he likes is like stardew valley and cats and soup

idk what rain's favorite game is lol, he has a lot of favorite games but what i DO know is, he loves playing pokemon on gameboy advance.

satan, this ask is huge, I'm sorry

-📼

So, from a person with moderate gaming experience, these are great. Let me expand on them a tiny bit because I can't resist.

Dew is absolutely the horror game guy. Both the serious and stupid ones. He tries, repeatedly, to get others to play the really scary ones with him just so he can watch them get jump scared. He got most of the ghouls to play Man of Medan with him over the course of a single evening. They ended up sleeping in the common room together that night. Yes. Even Dew. (I'm not talking from personal experience with this one, not AT ALL). Swiss KILLS it at Just Dance. The Ghoulettes do too. The four of them play it together ALL the time. I think he also enjoys the classic fighting games, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, Soul Caliber. He plays those with Cumulus a lot. Cumulus usually wins.

I think Mountain plays games WITH others, but not usually alone. So it's mostly games like overcooked (this ends in a fight, every time), borderlands, whatever horror game Dew is pushing on them this week, Mario party--that kind of thing. Also occasionally Animal Crossing. In my mind, I think Rain's favorite game is something like Diablo. Classic. Can be played with his friends. Can be REALLY difficult, or very easy, depending on how you play it. And easy to play over and over again. Sunshine always wins at Mario Party somehow even though she claims she has no idea what she's doing. Cirrus is almost as good as Rain at shooters, and no one knows how or why.

#comet comments #ghost headcanons #📼 anon #nameless ghoul headcanons

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thebookbin · 1 year

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To be Taught, If Fortunate

Becky Chambers

Publisher: Harper Voyager Genre: scifi Year: 2019

Can I just say Becky Chambers is so goddamn good at what she does? How does that saying go? If Becky Chambers has a million fans, I am one of them . If Chambers has ten fans, I am one of them. If Chambers has only one fan, that is me. if Chambers has no fans, that means I am dead. It's so true. In this novella, Becky imagines a optimistic future, where humanity comes together to tackle the problem of climate change. That isn't enough to sway those with their eyes set on the stars, and a stateless populist organization has pulled its resources to pursue space exploration, with a true altruistic mindset of "leave no trace."

While alien life plays an important role—this crew of four would not be in space if there weren't alien planets to explore—the heart and soul of the novel is the crew itself. The story is structured as a mission report, sent from the Lawki 6 to earth, after they have lost contact. Engineer Ariadne O'Neill is the one conveying the message on behalf of herself and her three crewmates: meteorologist Elena Quesada-Cruz, geologist Jack Vo, and biologist Chikondi Daka.

The story is framed around an unprecedented event, so although Ari is relaying a mission, she is somewhat more personable than strictly scientific. In the beginning of the novel, when Ari says she loves her crewmates more than anyone in the universe, it's easy to write that off, but as the story progresses it becomes apparent that it is remarkably true. Ari knows her crewmates down to their souls, knowing where and how Elena prefers to sleep, can tell when Jack is nearby just by the cadence of his footsteps and spends hours with Chikondi having theoretical discussions about ethics and the meaning of life.

The most compelling part of the novel for me, is the ending of their stay on Opera. They have been trapped in the Lawki 6 for weeks under a tumultuous ocean, and everybody's nerves are frayed. Ari, the mechanic, the engineer, whose job it is to keep everything running, tries to bolster her teammates but in turn, eventually, each rebuff her efforts. When they finally make it back into orbit, Ari has a sort of mental break, where she puts on her EVA suit and is tempted to commit suicide by drifting away into the stars. When her crewmates notice, Jack and Elena try to get her back in the spacecraft. Jack considers going after her, even with the disastrous consequences with the airlock open. But it's Chikondi—asexual, introspective, gentle Chikondi—who gets her back inside by asking her an inane question. But it's not the question that matters, it's the implicit acknowledgement that they haven't been taking care of her as well as she'd been caring for them.

Because the story is told in a mission report format, we really don't get to see any of Ari's recovery, and part of me really wanted to, but the rest of me acknowledges the perfection of this novel.

And how I know Becky Chambers is truly a masterclass in her craft, is the choice the crew makes at the end of the novel. They are presented with what is seemingly a two-choice problem. And no matter what we would choose as the audience, our choice would ultimately be selfish. When the crew chooses a third option, an option I wouldn't have even considered, I'll admit I was taken aback. But after ruminating on that for a while, I think there would be no other ending so fitting for a novel of this caliber.

Storygraph | Bookshop.org | local houston

★★★★★ the polycule in space I've been wanting stars

We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate. Kurt Waldheim, Secretary General of the United Nations Message recorded in the Voyager Spacecrafts, intended for extraterrestrials Mission Launched 5th September, 1977

#to be taught if fortunate #becky chambers #book review #found family #polycule #science fiction #five stars #2019 #fav #queer #profound #pretty prose #short stories #women writers #cool worldbuilding #harper voyager #featured

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rats-and-clovers · 2 years

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“curse of tradition”

[chapter 1: “father knows best”]

synopsis: a pair of leprechaun twins are being raised into a tradition honoring household within a small, hidden forest village while their father tries to lead them down the path of tradition, discipline and respect. a path that they very soon find themselves disagreeing with

warnings: implications of sexism and toxic masculinity

---

on a marvelously perfect afternoon in spring, two leprechaun children were born.

the wish of the parents to have a child was so great, that it was not only granted, but resulted in a wonderful pair of twins. a little girl and a little boy.

“they´re beautiful..“ the parents said as their children giggled and laughed.

that was the perfect beginning..yet, it was the beginning of a story that was just as sweet as it was bitter..

let us begin.

the more feminine of the two, would receive the name Cornelia. she was a cheerful and pretty little girl, rarely seen without some kind of flora in her hair.

she loved everything that was colorful and sweetly scented, which was how she grew very fond of all forms of plants, but mostly flowers.

her twin brother, who would receive the name Cornelius, was also a kind and gentle soul. he hated any and all forms of violence and would rather run his mouth off in an hour long argument than to ever raise his hand in physical retaliation.

despite that, he was unfortunately not safe from getting injured in other ways. the boy was very clumsy, often tripping on his own feet and causing a huge mess. vases, plates, glasses..he ends up breaking a lot of things around the house.

their parents never outright stated it..but considering how often they would brush off Cornelia´s faults, but focus on Cornelius´.. it wouldn´t be too far off to assume that Cornelia was their ´preferred´ twin.

although..would you really call her ´preferred´ if her quirks were secretly observed in great detail by their father, who would point them out and shame her for them as a means to make her change herself?

in reality, neither of the twins had it easy..

they were raised in a quaint little leprechaun village in the middle of a forest. cute little cottages were sprinkled all over this little meadow, where it´s inhabitants lived safely and in harmony.

none of them had to worry about anyone ever finding them, as, if you didn´t possess the magical abilities of a leprechaun, you weren´t able to find this little village, or the meadow for that matter. but of course, the powers of young leprechauns weren´t quite on that caliber, which is why their parents would share their own powers with them by funneling them into wearable objects. be it talismans, brooches or, in the kelly twins´ case, their hats.

it was the two rascals´ tenth birthday as their father, Harold Kelly, bestowed this honor upon them and proudly gave them their hats, while the two children´s faces were still smeared with cake.

they weren´t quite sure what to think of these things, but were still excited, because hats were traditionally a part of a leprechaun´s clothing. not that they really understood traditions too well..their father just always talks about traditions as if they´re the best thing ever..so surely it must be good.

“thank you papa!!“ the two said in perfect unison as they jumped up and gave their father a big hug.

while the two were going back to munching on their cake, Marsha Kelly, their loving and doting mother, pulled her husband aside.

“Harold, aren´t they a bit too young for this?“ she asked. “I mean, what if they run too far out of the village and lose them? they wouldn´t ever find their way back! they could-“

but Harold shrugged his wife´s worries off.

“pah! don´t be silly, Marsha. they´re ten years old! it´s about time they receive their hats!” he said.

Marsha was about to object, but she simply couldn´t as she saw how happy and proud her little angels were of their new accessories.

she sighed and let it be. maybe her husband was right and she was just worrying about nothing.

and a few years later, she forgot all about her worries.

that wasn´t too uncommon for her, as she knew that her husband was always in control of the situation and knew what was best. and with the twins now being young teens at the age of fifteen, it was time for him to lead them onto the right path.

“hey, Cornelia!“ the twin boy called out chipperly for his sister as he showed her the gift their father gave him this morning. a weight, meant for building muscle. the poor boy had a lot of trouble carrying it, let alone hold it, but he still looked pretty happy about it.

“isn´t that dad´s?” Cornelia asked, to which Cornelius excitedly nodded. “yes! he said if I use this, I will become stronger and more confident!” he said proudly.

as previously mentioned, Cornelius hated violence. which, of course, his father knew. but the young boy was also very shy and..not as confident as he would like to be. so a little muscle training might just be what he needs!

but his first step to achieving that goal, would be to figuring out how to lift this thing at all.

he had to use both hands to carry it and also used them both to try and lift it past his knees, eventually making him collapse with a loud grunt. “Connie, can you help?” he asked, as his sister giggled at how silly this whole scenario looked.

“of course, hold on!“ putting her hand delicately over Cornelius´ and counting to three, the two lifted the thing up and set it down on their desk.

“thank you, sis“ Cornelius said breathlessly, already feeling a sting in his upper arms. the girl only giggled, pressing a kiss to her brother´s cheek. “I think you need a bit of practice with something lighter first..” she suggested. “you´re right..”

Cornelius rubbed at his arms, a little disappointed in himself that he was already tired, despite the fact that he didn´t even do much of anything with this new device yet.

he let himself fall onto his sisters bed as she sat back down. before he came in, she was busy reading one of her mother´s books about flower arranging. and as soon as that piece of literature was back in her hands, she used the opportunity to shove it in her brother´s face. “look at this bouquet! isn´t it the prettiest you´ve ever seen?”

the page she opened the book on showed a very elegant, pompous bouquet of roses and orchids, held by a beautiful young woman in a long, white dress.

she giggled as she heard her brother say “wow..” clearly he was just as much in awe of this beautiful arrangement as she was!

“oh I wish I could go to the flower field again!“ she said, her tone sad and her expression longing. “remember when we used to always play in those fields as kids?“ Cornelius asked, smiling brightly. “yes!!“ the girl agreed in a squeal, hugging the book close to her chest.

“we had so much fun! and all those colors and scents!“ she sighed, her mood slowly dropping as she laid down on her bed. “but I´m too old for that now..“ her gaze went up to the ceiling. “it´s not proper for a lady to play in the dirt.“

those were the exact words coming from her father´s mouth on her thirteenth birthday. of course, she was upset about this stupid rule. what he said made no sense to her, but eventually..she came to realize that he was right. none of the other young girls in the village ever played in the flower fields. and Cornelia wanted to be just like them! a proper and elegant young lady! so she had to act like one..

she took a deep breath as he felt her brother´s hand over her own and sat back up. “I hope I can arrange such a beautiful bouquet one day as well..” she said. “I´m sure you will!” Cornelius assured her, jumping up from the bed and picking up Cornelia´s clover crown from their desk. “after all,” he went on one knee in front of her, and placed the little clover flower crown on her head as if it were made from gold. “you are the elegant flower queen, master of all flora~” he was talking like a noble knight, making his sister laugh as she straightened her back “that is right, now kneel before your queen, knave~!” she said, joining in on the little roleplay. “oh queen Cornelia~” Cornelius said, but as soon as he said that, the twins couldn´t continue as they were already laughing too hard at that point.

the girl hugged her brother tightly, pressing another kiss to his cheek. “thank you, Cornelius!” she said. “you´re welcome, Cornelia” he replied, hugging her back.

as nuts as their father´s rules and advice was sometimes, the twins were always obedient and listened to every word.

all Harold wanted was to see his kids succeed and they wanted that too.

Cornelius wanted to be just as confident and strong as his father and Cornelia wanted so badly to be as elegant and gracious as her mother.

if that involved some weight lifting and having to make some sacrifices, then that was fine..right?

#original story #Cornelia Kelly #Cornelius Kelly #Cornelia x Cornelius #kellycest #shipcest #leprechaun

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sleepykittypaws · 1 year

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Best and Worst of 2022

Remember last year when I thought 183 new Christmas movies were too many?

Well, the joke is most definitely on me, because this year there were so many more. 243 to be exact, a 33% year-over-year increase, and that's just across broadcast, cable and streaming. If you add in new holiday titles available via digital purchase/rental, DVD and/or theatrical-only, the total jumps to 316 all-new Christmas movie offerings for 2022, the bulk of which premiered in the final 9 weeks of the year, across a record 53 linear networks and streaming platforms (see below).

Hallmark-43

Lifetime-26

Tubi-21

Netflix-14

GAF-14

UPtv-12

Hulu-10

BET/BET+-10

Prime Video-6

HBOMax-5

Crackle-5

PureFlix-5

ION-4

VH1-4

Discovery+-4

FoxNation-4

CBS-3

AMC+-3

UPFaith&Fam-3

Roku-3

Freevee-3

ViX+-3

TVOne-2

OWN-2

Showtime-2

Starz-2

Shudder-2

Xumo-2

Vudu-2

NBC-1

CW-1

Bounce-1

Paramount Network-1

Comedy Central-1

Cartoon Network-1

Nick-1

LMN-1

BYU TV-1

AppleTV+-1

Disney+-1

Epix-1

Britbox-1

Pluto-1

Plex-1

Pantaya-1

Chicken Soup for the Soul-1

OctaneTV-1

DivaBoxOfficeTV-1

Full Moon Features-1

Arrow-1

Fandor-1

QVC+-1

TBN-1

Amidst all that content we got some real gems. Not only did I watch more new movies than ever before—in large part because my kids told me they were getting too old for our annual animated special advent calendar (sob)—and once again ranked them in real-time as I did so, but found more I loved than ever before, too.

After 2021 saw zero made-for-TV movies I felt were truly "four paw" worthy, this season saw 3 debuts that I felt strongly enough to include in my all-time favorites list, the most since 2018, and a record 11 movies that I'd give my personal highest 🐾🐾🐾🐾 rating to.

Since I never, ever strived to watch everything new, even when there was a lot less of it, my picks below aren't meant to be the unequivocal best or worst of all that’s out there, just the new holiday fare I managed to sample this season. And even though I watched almost no non-festive content from November 6-December 25 that was still only a drop in the bucket considering the absolute avalanche of Christmas content that now drops annually.

Since I only watch what I hope to enjoy, there's a whole lot of holiday dreck never even considered sampling, as well as plenty of stuff I was interested in that I just never found time for. But of what I did watch in 2022, here's what I liked most, and least this holiday season…

Best Made-for-TV Holiday Movie

With the trips to theater more rare than they were pre-2020, and streaming services having more widely varying budgets than your average cable channel's "movie of the week" model, this category can be a little hard to contain, as it's not really fair to compare even a mid-budget streaming title with shot-in-15-days Hallmark fare, but for my head-to-head comparison purposes this category consists, broadly, of movies with a no more than a 7-figure budget, and shooting schedule of a month or less.

There are definite quality variations within that range—you will for sure notice the budget differences between a $1 million and $6 million production, or 10 versus 25-day shoot—but it at least feels fair to rank those movies against each other, rather than, say, the $100,000,000 estimated production of something like Spirited.

My favorite of the season ended up being not only my first watch of the year, but one that had premiered in 2021 in the U.K.. The Sky original, A Christmas No. 1 (a.k.a. A Christmas Number One), which quietly made its U.S. debut on Tubi in early November. Starring Frieda Pinto and Iwan Rheon, the story of a music exec desperate for a holiday hit, and a musician who doesn't want to sell his song to her cheesy boy band, took turns I wasn't expecting based on that basic premise. Knowing little going in probably helped sell this one for me, as did the high-caliber acting, some genuine laughs, and really good original music. Not without its own well-worn formula, A Christmas No. 1 just felt so much more like a "real movie" than your typical U.S. made-for-TV holiday title, even if they were awkwardly attempting to hide Pinto’s obvious real-life pregnancy.

My second-favorite of the season was also somewhat unexpected.

VH1 entered the holiday movie fray in 2021, with forgettable results in terms of both ratings and quality, not to mention the baffling decision not to stream titles on Viacom-owned Paramount+, so was somewhat surprised to see them putting out more movies in 2022, but they finally made a good one in All I Didn't Want for Christmas, one of the few VH1 holiday titles that didn't rely on existing VH1/MTV talent and/or IP.

Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe was fantastic as a woman frustrated with her stagnating life and career who writes Santa a drunken letter, Loretta Devine great as her well-meaning, but overbearing, mom and Kel Mitchell charming as the elf sent to help her. All I Didn’t Want for Christmas was funny, heartfelt and a truly original ride.

Sidibe has fantastic comedic timing and this story offered a rare fresh take on a classic Christmas set-up. A shame that just as they're finding their Christmas movie feet, VH1, which underwent a massive corporate shake-up in early November, is unlikely to produce any further originals. Glad we at least got this gem and hope to see Sidibe in more holiday movies.

No. 3 on my list is Hallmark's big swing, Three Wise Men and a Baby, starring Andrew Walker, Tyler Hynes and Paul Campbell, who also co-wrote the script with Kimberley Sustad.

This was a laugh-out-loud funny comedy that even cleverly carried over Margaret Colin, here playing the adult sons' mom, from its Three Men and a Baby inspiration. Just a joyful holiday watch that both played with the Hallmark formula and reveled in it.

Others worthy of extra mention from Hallmark, Hannukah on Rye, their first truly good Hanukkah romance (to my mind anyway), the almost-great Ghosts of Christmas Always, which I enjoyed very much as is, but could have been an all-timer with a different ending, and Hallmark's first-ever lead, same-sex holiday romance, The Holiday Sitter.

In just a few years Hallmark has gone from a network whose fare I found ever more bland and uninteresting, to dominating my top 10 of the season list. Every one of which I would, by the way, wholeheartedly recommend to fellow Christmas movie fans.

A Christmas No. 1, Tubi

All I Didn't Want for Christmas, VH1

Three Wise Men and a Baby, Hallmark

Hanukkah on Rye, Hallmark

Haul out the Holly, Hallmark

Ghosts of Christmas Always, Hallmark

Falling for Christmas, Netflix

Reindeer Games Homecoming, Lifetime

Lights, Camera, Christmas!, Hallmark

The Holiday Sitter, Hallmark

Worst Made-for-TV Holiday Movie

It wasn't all accolades for Hallmark. A Holiday Spectacular was reportedly Hallmark's most expensive movie ever, and while it looked relatively lush, filming in the real-life Radio City Music Hall and filled with period cars and costumes, the whitewashing of the Rockettes’ shameful racial history more than just took me out of the story, it ended up making me actively angry.

Hallmark has made so much progress in the past three seasons, to see them running cover for what was once called “one of the most racist organizations in American entertainment,” made me queasy.

Discovery+ started making holiday originals in 2021, and their first effort, Candy-Coated Christmas, was one of my least favorite movies of the year. This year they delivered four originals, and while I had higher hopes given the talent involved, bowed out of two others before (barely) making it through Designing Christmas. A charming cast really couldn't save this very rote, and oddly infomercial-feeling, home design story, that felt like you were watching an extended commercial for other HGTV programming.

As Hallmark rises in my estimation, Lifetime falls. Once a reliable provider of my holiday favorites, Lifetime's last three seasons have been subpar, at best, with this being their worst-ever. Stopped watching so many of their movies this year, eventually just gave up on the network altogether. Only Reindeer Games Homecoming stood out as being worthy of what was once my holiday go-to network. Even their marquee movies with bigger stars no longer provide a reasonable expectation of quality. Didn't make it much past the 15-minute mark for either A Christmas Spark or Santa Bootcamp, despite strong casts, and while I watched all of Steppin' Into the Holiday, couldn't exactly tell you why, since the Mario Lopez-Jana Kramer joint was painfully lifeless and ultimately dumb, as well as boring.

Netflix also had some real clunkers this season, including Christmas with You. I was really looking forward to the streamer giving us a bigger budget, Latino holiday story, but should have known when they changed the name from Christmas Quinceanera to something this boring, the movie would follow suit. Chemistry free, nonsensical story with lifeless performances from usually charming leads. Snooze.

Best Theatrical Holiday Movie

This category could more accurately be called “bigger budget,” as higher-end streaming productions tend to dominate this category now. Though most of my 2022 faves did get a theatrical run, that’s just not where I personally saw them. And, as I said in the made-for-TV category, as streaming originals start to dominate the Christmas movie conversation, the distinction between what is "made-for-TV" and what's "theatrical" can start to feel a bit arbitrary, especially when you're comparing movies that cost $100 million to make, with those that filmed for $10 million, but still far exceed a typical Hallmark or Lifetime movie-of-the-week budget.

In total, I saw 10 holiday movies this year that I think mostly fit into the "theatrical" category, even if only half of them played in theaters. (Being the homebody I am, I saw them all from my sofa.)

Spirited

Violent Night

This is Christmas, Sky/Epix

Your Christmas or Mine?, Prime Video

Something from Tiffany's, Prime Video

About Fate

Spoiler Alert

Bar Fight, AMC+

A Christmas Story Christmas, HBO Max

The Noel Diary, Netflix

Spirited was not only my favorite of the season, but one of the best modern musicals I've seen. Watched it twice this year, and anticipate it becoming a regular part of my annual Christmas movie rota, as it's already one of my all-time favorites.

The unexpectedly entertaining Violent Night brings together gruesomely cartoonish violence (not usually my thing), humor and Christmas cheer in a completely unique package, despite it cribbing from, and even actually name-checking, so many other holiday classics—altogether an extraordinary and impressive feat. Think David Harbour can now claim the definitive world-weary Santa with a heart of gold portrayal, at least in my book.

British charmers This is Christmas and Your Christmas or Mine? were both sweet, lovely and a true cut above the made-for-TV fare we usually get on this side of the pond.

This is Christmas, like my made-for-TV favorite, A Christmas No. 1, was a Sky TV original in the UK, but it's slightly bigger budget (as a co-production), and same-day U.S. debut, slipped it into the "theatrical" category for me.

Your Christmas or Mine? had a fantastically fun premise—college students in love each decide to jump off their respective trains home to surprise the other for the holidays, only to each be stuck with the other's families instead—that wasn't pulled off quite as well as I'd hoped, but was still lovely and fun, with a great cast.

Also mostly liked About Fate. The New Year's-set remake of Soviet classic, The Irony of Fate, wasn't perfect, but Thomas Mann and Emma Roberts are winning enough to make it work, and I can definitely see myself watching this again in the future.

Even the middling Bar Fight had its moments, thanks mostly to its great, game cast—and that it wasn't a romance (the opposite, as it's a break-up movie) was a refreshing holiday twist.

Worst Theatrical Holiday Movie

So, that leaves my picks for “worst” as the mundane, fan service-laden A Christmas Story Christmas, which made little sense and had far too little of the humor and heartfelt moments that has made the original a lasting classic.

But even worse than that mostly dull sequel was The Noel Diary, which has convinced me that Richard Paul Evans isn't just the Nicolas Sparks of Christmas movies, they might be one in the hacky same. Poorly edited, woodenly acted, and a plot so dumb it made me want to throw things at the screen. Not quite bad enough to be "fun bad," but very bad indeed.

Best Stealth Christmas Movie

Bily Eichner’s big screen, R-rated rom-com Bros was my favorite rom-com of the year, and it's pivotal Christmas scenes, plus constant name-checking of "Hallheart" movies, makes it a stealth Christmas movie.

If you’re unfamiliar with the genre, that’s what I call a movie set during the Christmas season, or containing key holiday scenes, that isn’t specifically thought of as a Christmas film.

The holiday heavy Spoiler Alert, and more lightly holiday The Good House, which has significant Thanksgiving and Christmas scenes, are also well worth a watch.

Worst Stealth Christmas Movie

I must pick The King's Man. Yes, it came out in late 2021, but I watched it in 2022, and this franchise spin off is awful enough for its Christmas-scented stench to pollute two years. Even the lesser-than Kingsman sequel looks like a masterpiece next to this dreck.

Best Animated Holiday Special

Apple is doing a fantastic job preserving Charlie Brown’s legacy, and this year's new holiday shorts collection Happiness is a Gift Worth Giving, part of season 2 of The Snoopy Show, are absolutely in line with the heart and soul of the original Peanuts specials.

Honorable mention to the Autumn of Mickey Mouse, the latest in Disney's series of retro-look, seasonal specials that, like The Snoopy Show, really hew to the original ethos of the characters and all are smart, funny and sweet.

In case anyone wants to be a stickler and not count either of the above for being, respectively, not-Christmas centered, or part of an animated series, CBS gave us the amiable Reindeer in Here which was an original story with a good message, that I can see being added to many family’s annual rotations. Far from groundbreaking, it was still a pleasant, festive watch.

Worst Animated Holiday Special

Cannot say the same for the much more popular, Mickey Saves Christmas, which ran on ABC and striped across the Disney Channels and is now on Disney+. The story is almost non-existent, and even the animation seemed sub-par, a mix between low-budget computer generation and stop-motion.

Little kids liked it enough to make it pop in the ratings even after endless repeat airings, so I'm sure we'll see it again and again forever, but Disney knows how to do this so much better, and it feels like they just didn't bother here.

Best Live Action Holiday Special

We go from something Disney did poorly, to something they did quite well, the Marvel one-off Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. This James Gunn-written and produced mini-movie was so much fun, and even gave us two great new original songs for the holiday canon.

Did Chris Pratt frequently look like he’d rather be anywhere else? Sure, but Mantis and Drax’s capture of a very game Kevin Bacon more than made up for Pratt’s pout.

Honorable mentions here to Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery. The improvised offshoot of Will Arnett’s Netflix series paired the comedian with his Smartless podcast partners Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes, as well as Maya Rudolph.

It's very silly, often veering into stupid, but I laughed a lot. Would probably have liked it even more if not for the third act Pete Davidson appearance. Luckily, Davidson did very little. Per usual.

Also enjoyed Showtime’s tongue-in-cheek Matt Rogers: Have You Heard of Christmas? This parody of an old-fashioned musical holiday special, featured Rogers singing hits from his fictional holiday album. A good enough singer to make the comedy songs work, Rogers has impeccable timing and style, and between this special and Fire Island, as well as his hit podcast Las Culturistas, had one heck of a 2022.

Worst Live Action Holiday Special

Disney’s streaming original Best in Snow was a weird combination of competition and storyline. While this could have been interesting as strictly a snow building competition, Titus Burgess' commitment to his weird “mayor” character, a handful of seemingly unrelated animated segments, and truly bizarre pacing made this a mish-mash that simply did not work.

Best Holiday Series

The past few seasons have left us spoiled for choice when it comes to holiday series. This season saw a dearth of new, specifically holiday-set series to explore—with the caveat that I never quite found time for Per-Olav Sørensen's Storm for Christmas on Netflix—but season two of Starstruck, the lovely British rom-com on HBO Max, both incorporated the holidays and was one of my favorite watches of the year.

Worst Holiday Series

The Disney+ series sequel to the The Santa Clause movie trilogy, The Santa Clauses, was unfunny, unfestive and absolutely unnecessary. This tired Tim Allen vehicle filled with “jokes” sourced straight from Fox News held no appeal, even though I slogged through two episodes hoping it would get better.

The Santa Clauses has already been renewed for season, so clearly people are watching, but to say this isn’t my cup of cocoa is putting it lightly, so to feel free to pencil season two in as my worst of 2023 already.

Best Holiday Reality Series

FOX’s Lego Masters: Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular paired past LEGO Masters players with celebs competing for charity for a fun family watch that, at just four episodes over three nights (two regular episodes, and a double-length finale), didn’t have time to wear out its welcome.

And, though it wasn't as prominent a tribute as I'd hoped and expected, it was also still very nice to see Leslie Jordan being his hilarious, amazing, and charming self, one last time, following his untimely October death.

Worst Holiday Reality Series

Silos Baking Competition: Holiday Edition, on HBO Max, is the latest entry in the constant self-promotional churn of the insufferable Chip and Joanna Gaines, who I don’t recall hating before they turned themselves into a 24/7 brand. This dull as dishwater "competition" was a basic retread of better baking shows and barely even qualified as Christmas-y, despite the title.

Best Holiday TV Episode of an Ongoing Series

Abbott Elementary is the best show on traditional broadcast TV, and their “Holiday Hookah” episode delivered a sweet, holiday tale that also pushed forward major ongoing plot points, like the will they/won't they flirtation between Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Williams, with Janelle James predictably stealing the show.

Worst Holiday TV Episode of an Ongoing Series

Animation voice work is clearly a sweet celebrity gig, so I don't blame folks like Lisa Kudrow, Clea DeVall and Nat Faxon for cashing the checks, but both new Housebroken holiday episodes on FOX, my first brush with the series, left me seriously underwhelmed. Lots of poop "humor" and exceedingly little heart, even in what should be the most sentimental effort(s) of the season. Sad that so many talented people are making something so uninspired.

Felt like there were fewer holiday series episodes in general than in year’s past, probably in part due to smaller season orders leaving less time for holiday hijinks.

Best Christmas Advert

Watching these bite-size servings of holiday joy has long been a part of our family’s Christmas tradition. We now have a fairly well established list that we revisit annually, just like any other beloved Christmas special. Though there were plenty of note, overall 2022 seemed like a lesser year for the corporate Christmas mini-movie, though there was at least one that made me sob like a baby…“El Ruso de Rocky,” from Spanish company J&B, shows a grandfather modeling acceptance in the most selfless, nurturing way possible.

Honorable mention to Kroger’s Up inspired “The Magical Cookbook,” which poignantly captured the connection between holiday meals and memories.

Worst Christmas Advert

Old Navy’s endless variations on their hyperkinetic “Matchy Matchy” ads were a true waste of the great Jennifer Coolidge. But good for her for getting that holiday green, though.

Best New Christmas Song

2022 wasn’t quite as quite as strong a year for new holiday tunes as 2021, but I still found plenty to add to my ever-growing "Christmas Favorites" playlist.

“Night Before Christmas,” Sam Smith

“Here it is Christmastime,” Kevin Bacon and the Old 97′s

“The More You Give (The More You’ll Have),” Michael Buble (Listen, the man has an endless well of holiday originals inside of him, and will release one annually till the earth's core melts)

“I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here),” the Old 97′s

“Almost Too Early for Christmas,” Dolly Parton and Jimmy Fallon (Is it unbearably cheesy? Sure. But, c’mon, it’s Dolly)

“12 nights,” Sia

“Snow in L.A.,” Noah Cyrus and PJ Harding

“So Much Wine,” Phoebe Bridgers

"This is Christmas,” Annelise Cepero (Didn’t see Holiday Harmony, but the song ended up in my playlist anyway.)

“Naughty and Nice,” Sia

With an honorable mention to the new-to-me music from A Christmas No. 1, especially “Christmas Morning,” in both its Iwan Rheon acoustic and Scurve versions, which were probably the tunes I actually listened to most this season.

Worst New Christmas Song

Jeff Goldblum’s “The Christmas Waltz” felt like a parody where he wasn’t in on the joke, unlike his much better, actual parody holiday gig.

Best New Christmas Album

Spirited was the soundtrack I just couldn’t stop humming. Hard to pick just one standout, but did I dance around singing "That Christmas Morning Feelin'" into a candy cane on December 25th to the embarrassment of my family? 100%. And I regret nothing.

Worst New Christmas Album

Alicia Keys’ Santa Baby, while not terrible by any means, was a disappointment. I expected a standout from someone with as powerful a presence as Keys. The original, "December Back 2 June," was meh, and the standards didn't really stick either. A very ho-hum effort from a singer who is usually anything but.

Best Holiday Book

Lindsay Kelk’s cozy and romantic The Christmas Wish was my favorite holiday read of 2022. Sweet with just enough edge to make this Groundhog Day take interesting. (And, yes, my 2021 favorite read was another stuck-in-a-Christmas-time-loop tale, Holidazed, so guess I have a type.)

Best Holiday Podcast

Going to sound like a bit of a broken record here, because while the hosts changed, my holiday favorite podcast did not. Deck the Hallmark continues to be my holiday listening go-to, maybe because they put out so much content I don’t have time to try and tackle anything else 😝

Of course, always make time for the ladies of All the Feels and their holiday movie bracket, as well as Alonso Duralde’s “Christmas Movie Minute” on Maximum Film.

Favorite New-to-Me Holiday Content

With so much new this season, didn’t get to sample too much I’d missed from the past, but Hallmark’s 2020 Project Christmas Wish, starring Amanda Schull and Travis Van Winkle, was one of the more actually romantic Hallmark romances of recent years. We got to see the characters fall in love, rather than just go from "hating" each other to "being in love" in an instant. Just a well-done entry in the genre I’m happy to have caught up with.

Top 10 Non-Holiday Movies of 2022

Glass Onion, A Knives Out Story, Netflix

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Hulu

Hustle, Netflix

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Bros

The Sea Beast, Netflix

Top Gun: Maverick

Confess, Fletch

The Valet, Hulu

The Good House

Though there are plenty of awards contenders still haven’t managed to see, making this list subject to future amendment, Rian Johnson’s return to the world of Benoit Blanc was smart, funny and a whole lot of fun to watch.

Top 15 Non-Holiday TV Series of 2022

Trying, Apple TV+

Hacks, HBO Max

Derry Girls, Netflix

Starstruck, HBO Max

Peacemaker, HBO Max

Heartstopper, Netflix

Reservation Dogs, Hulu

From Scratch, Netflix

Barry, HBO Max

Julia, HBO Max

The Crown, Netflix

This is Going to Hurt, AMC+

Reboot, Hulu

Single Drunk Female, FX

Abbott Elementary, ABC

As with movies, there are a long list of series I still need to catch up on, but even with those viewing blind spots, could easily have made a list twice this long with shows I really loved (for instance, ran out of room for things like my beloved Never Have I Ever, and very good The Best Man: The Final Chapters), but no show made me laugh, or cry, more regularly in 2022 than Apple’s absolutely brilliant Trying. By the way, Trying’s regular director, Jim O'Hanlon, also made Your Christmas or Mine?

Worst Non-Holiday Movie/TV of 2022

No movie I watched all the way through in 2022 stunk worse than Netflix’s execrable Purple Hearts. The reason I kept watching is because I mistook it for the kind of cheesy, sentimental military romance I usually kind of enjoy, instead of the just plain awful, poorly acted and seriously stupid story it actually was. Literally laughed out loud at the ending. If it was slightly less polished, this one almost tips over into The Room-like cringe that could make it almost fun, but, alas.

In bad TV, Hillary Swank’s achingly earnest Alaska Daily, with its bonkers depiction of journalism-ing and overwhelming white savior narrative, made my eyes roll so often I thought I might have sprained something.

Favorite Advent Calendar

Those who follow me on Twitter, know I have a slight advent calendar obsession, particularly beauty advent calendars, so now that I’ve opened my [redacted number] of 2022 calendars, thought I’d share my favorite of the season…The 12 Days of Harrod’s Fragrance calendar contained several bottles that were each worth more than the calendar’s cost. No tiny samples here, all purse size or larger, truly high-end scents to more than sample, simply but beautifully packaged.

Honorable mention to my favorite beauty calendars, which included the companion 25 Days of Harrod’s Beauty and Liberty London, both of which featured a lot of seriously high-end skincare products, many of them full size.

And while I’m not sure I would want to monetize my Christmas movie musings, even if I could, I am open to anyone who wants to send me luxury beauty advent calendars to review in 2023 😜

Best Holiday Network

Hallmark Channel has gone from my worst to first in just three years. Their new Peacock ad-free availability meant I watched more of their movies than ever before, and they were mostly quite good.

Hallmark's newfound diversity, forged under new leadership, not only in casting, but storytelling too, means that the 43 movies they made this year actually have distinct differences from one another, instead of identical copies of the same story retold every weekend of the season. It's a breath of a fresh air and, honestly, given the quality and quantity of the content, paired with increased streaming availability, there's probably never been a better time to be a Hallmark Christmas movie fan.

Worst Holiday Network

Great American Family spent most of the year not making movies—broadcasting from early February to the end of August with zero new or original content—instead opting to fiddle with their name, after realizing the acronym GAC sounded like a cat trying to get up a hairball, only to change it to GAF, which sounds like either a mistake (gaffe), or R-rated shorthand (as in IDGAF) that doesn’t seem in line with the network’s stated "faith, family and country” theme.

But naming confusion was just the tip of the iceberg for Great American Family’s issues, many of which were unforced errors, like CEO Bill Abbott calling convicted felon Lori Loughlin, "Someone who has a track record of doing the right thing in the world at large." and “America’s Sweetheart.”

To pulling one of their holiday movies just days after announcing it, saying it didn’t “meet their standards.” Or endlessly changing their Christmas schedule, which they claimed contained “18 originals,” but actually featured movies that had debuted years ago they renamed and passed off as new, as well as several that dropped on free streaming services before coming to GAF.

But GAF’s biggest, well, gaffe of the year came when Candace Cameron Bure accidentally said the quiet part out loud to the Wall Street Journal, and admitted Great American Family’s main mission was pretending queer people don’t exist—at least not in front of the camera. Of course, when everyone acted properly horrified by her hate speech, Cameron Bure blamed “the media” even though she’d been perfectly happy to repeatedly promote the WSJ story on her own social media…Right up until she realized it wasn't going well for her online.

The good news is that Great American Family’s ratings remain absolutely dismal. The network finished 103rd out of 159 Nielsen-tracked TV networks, averaging a meagre 79,000 viewers, behind every single other Christmas movie-making network. GAF’s so-called “signature franchise” Christmas movies averaged less than 225,000 viewers and a paltry .02 (that’s point 2) in the all-important 18-49 demographic. Their highest-rated movie to date, Christmas at the Drive-In, only managed 482,000 viewers and a .04 in the demo. Just all around disastrous ratings for an ad-based network that doesn’t even have On Demand or streaming options to boost their viewership.

Of course, rock bottom ratings didn’t keep Great American Family from rolling out a “Mission Accomplished” press release that, at best, fudged the stats.

With just 7% of Hallmark’s average viewership, it’s long past time for reporters to stop credulously reporting that GAF is Hallmark’s Christmas “competition.” And shout out to Decider’s Brett White for making that point with a lot of math.

Anyway, yeah, Bill Abbott, marketing genius.

Worst Holiday TV Trend

TOO MUCH! For real this time.

Since I felt the holiday movie pace was unsustainable at least 100 movies per year ago, won't make any predictions, but does seem hard to imagine how this exponential annual increase can keep going. As cable audiences dwindle, and streamers tighten their belts, we must, sooner or later, see the holiday movie machine contract.

Yes, these movies’ annual rewatchablity, relative low cost, and ad-placement-friendly subject matter is a big part of what made them so popular, and profitable, but at some point, we'll simply run out of places to put them all, not to mention more movies fighting for fewer eyeballs in an increasingly smaller marketplace.

Well, that’s a wrap on 2022!

As for me, since I've talked about abandoning this hobby turned unpaid part-time job for several seasons now, won't make any predications there either, but do know that while I'm still interested in the inner workings of the industry, as well as still personally enjoy watching Christmas content, trying to follow the now non-stop production is way, way too much for me to promise to keep up with. For updates and info you can visit me on Twitter at @sleepykittypaw if you wish, at least as long as that platform is around/usable.

But, no matter what 2023 brings, cheers to you and yours in the New Year, and know that next year’s holiday movies are already just around the corner.

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matsbarzal · 3 years

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Hi my dear!!! I’m here to request another fic/blurb bc I cannot get enough of all the ones you’ve written for me/others so far! 🤩💕

If it’s still available, could you please do random/au #4 the moment you look into their eyes... you just know. with Mat Barzal??? Thank you so much! 💙💙

au #4. the moment you look into their eyes... you just know.

pairing: mat barzal x reader word count: 1.2k

They always said, the day you found your soulmate… you just know. It was something in their eyes, they always said, like everything finally clicked in your soul, both halves finally complete after years of being separated by time and distance.

As the years went by, it seemed probable to you that you’d never meet your soulmate. There was never any twitch inside, never a pull or a need to go somewhere you weren’t. You had deduced it to the fact your soulmate wasn’t looking for you simultaneously, they didn’t care to find you, or they just didn’t care to find you yet.

Everyone had their examples of the worst way they’ve met their soulmate. Some while they were out for dinner with their significant other at the time, some in the middle of a rivalry high school football game, and some? Well, some apparently met in the middle of a National Hockey League game.

Number Thirteen’s eyes bore into yours from his spot on the bench, his entire body turned so he could stare at you, a look of confusion slowly fading into a look of understanding, and then he was shoving into number nineteen. Beauvillier, as his jersey said, whipped around to look over the crowd, his eyes eventually falling on you just rows back from their bench.

You could feel it, every time number thirteen looked at you, every time your eyes met for even a second. He was the person you had been waiting for, for so many years, and who was to even say you’d see him again after the game?

Both gazes were ripped off you when their line was told to get on the ice, number 13, or Mathew Barzal as your parents had told you the moment they realized what was going on. Mat had tried to keep his focus on the ice, on the puck on his stick, on the weaving players around him.

Everyone could see the distraction in his movements, the puck flying far left of the net, his speed not up to the caliber it usually was. After two periods of impeccable hockey from the Islanders’ forward, just to crash midway through the third, his teammates were confused and so were his fans.

The end of the game came quicker than you were hoping, Mat’s eyes attempting to never leave yours as he went down the tunnel. The tunnel walls cut through that almost immediately, disappointment settling in your stomach when you realized it was unlikely you’d be able to get a chance to see him again until God knows when.

“We could wait, darling? Maybe he’ll send someone to look for you?” shrugging your shoulders gently, you pursued your lips as you looked around, people eager to get out of the arena to miss the traffic that they were going to inevitably be stuck in regardless.

“No point, probably, like anyone’s even going to be able to make it through all these people. May as well just—”

Your words were cut off by the sound of something slamming against the glass behind you, all three pairs of eyes turning their bodies to look at the source. The puck didn’t leave a mark on the glass, but the person staring back at you through it sure left a mark on you.

He was yelling something, his voice illegible by the chatter throughout the arena. It was easy to read Mat’s lips when he was only saying two words multiple times in a row, hoping you’d eventually be able to hear him, or at least try to.

“Stay there,” you could even see the huff in his voice, the aggravation from the crowd taking forever to clear out, and not quietly at that.

You nodded your head back, a look of awe in your eyes as he grinned up at you cheekily. Winking at you, he quickly made his way back down the tunnel again, two of his teammates peering out around him to see what he was so eager to get to after the game.

“We’ll go wait in the car, hun. Give you some time to… acquaint yourself,” nodding at her, you watched both your parents follow the departing fans as you sat back in your seat, thumbing through your phone and eagerly looking around you every few seconds.

It was only minutes later when you heard footsteps slamming down the stairs next to you, most of the building cleared out. Turning to the sound, you were instantly met with the same eyes that had just… made it click inside of you. The pull was even stronger with you being so close to one another, even more eager to encourage you to get closer to the man now just steps away from you.

“Couldn’t have like… come to a game that wasn’t dire for our playoff push, huh? Already distracting me and I don’t even know your name?”

You couldn’t help the guffaw that fell from your lips at his words, a small grin taking over your face as you stood up and extended your hand towards him. “Y/N, sorry for distracting you. Fate works in funny ways, Barzal.”

Nodding his head with a laugh, his hand instantly engulfed yours and before you realized it, he was pulling you into a gentle hug, his arms wrapping around your back as his chin gently placed itself on the top of your head. It didn’t take much thought to hug back. For the fact he had just played almost an hour of hockey, he didn’t even smell awful.

Pulling back, the grin never leaving his face as he looked down at you. “Never thought I’d meet my soulmate, to be honest with ya. Tito, Beau, Anthony Beauvillier, always told me to just wait it out, suck it up and eventually you’d come around. Em, his soulmate, showed up almost four months ago. Guess I had to top him by finding mine in the middle of a game, huh?”

Shrugging your shoulders, you just laughed and nodded your head. “Pretty sure it’s a double-whammy for him too, you’re beautiful, and our first look is ten times better than his story.”

“Oh, I’m sure his soulmate and their story are just as beautiful. Just maybe not as great as ours.”

Nodding his head, Mat just shrugged his shoulders as he gestured to the teammate that was now standing at the top of the stairs to your aisle.

“They met in a Walmart parking lot in the middle of a snowstorm back near his hometown, he almost ran her over with his car. Tito always says she came around swinging before they even made eye contact, you’ll love them, everyone does.”

“Are we going to keep talking about your teammates and their soulmates, or are you ever going to kiss yours?”

Surging forward at your words, all elements of the previous conversation now gone when Mat pressed his lips to yours. The fireworks in your brain set off immediately, the butterflies in your stomach jumping around the moment your lips made contact for the first time. It was definitely something you wouldn’t mind happening forever, his lips eagerly pressing against yours as his hand cupped your cheek, the smile pressed into your lips a clear sign that he was thinking the same.

note: im literally obsessed with you, thank you for being my biggest supporter always!! i hope this blurb is fit perfect to the request, and thank you for requesting, ily <3

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kingofthewilderwest · 2 years

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As the trailers and images come for the next installments of the FMA:LA, I feel hype. It looks so good as it’s displayed!

I know it’s probably going to be the same caliber as the first live action. I have no blinders there. I’m not going in with the expectation it’ll be The End All adaptation. But that doesn’t make me less excited.

In many ways, it makes me more excited, because it means I can Just Have Fun with whatever Is.

Once upon a time, years ago, I argued there should be no FMA live action because I doubted it could be done justice and would only lead to disappointment. Why adapt something in mediocre quality, a mere shadow of the brilliant original?

But now, at this point, I’m just here to have fun. The first LA gave me fun, didn’t need to be perfect, wouldn’t have even needed to be halfway good for me, could have been the worst thing in the world; it gives me the opportunity to kick back with one of my all-time favorite franchises. Simply seeing a live action Hughes or Riza on screen for a few seconds is a contribution to the world of FMA and my imagination.

It’s just like the video games and movies and books and everything else, good and bad, are contributions: they provide me a richer landscape of constantly delving and exploring FMA without exhausting the media. I love franchises wherein I can always fish for more. I might rant how much I dislike the Sacred Star of Milos, but I would much rather have rich franchises that pound out the occasional dud or two! My life and fandom experience was still enriched for Milos being there. It gives me more facts, more discussion points, more angles by which to engage the world of Fullmetal Alchemist.

To be clear: I think franchises go bad when they wear the world out too thin and exhaust the story beyond what should be exhausted. There are start points and end points. If you force beyond the narrative end point, you’re breaking the heart and soul of the story. Some stories can only be small, whereas other franchises are a giant playbox wherein you can imagine many new things. FMA is somewhere in the middle, so a contribution of new materials is... a contribution!

Ergo now, seeing all these characters from the show and manga be portrayed by live action people... that’s an excitement and a positive in itself. No matter how good or bad these movies are, it’s an addition I celebrate and will keep celebrating.

#a mediocre addition is still an ADDITION and additions are NET POSITIVES #FMA:LA #Fullmetal Alchemist Live Action #FMALA #Fullmetal Alchemist #FMA #analysis #my analysis #oh look at me emerge from my hole and actually do something on this blog #non-dragons

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atsvmi-x · 3 years

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my personal characterization of eren bc i’ve been thinking about him a lot🥰 this is all modern!au bc canon literally never happened.

these aren’t x reader headcanons but i have more than enough thoughts about eren in a relationship to provide those soon!

General

Loud, brash, and loyal to a fault - you either love him or hate him (or if you’re Jean, you both love and hate him)

Those that he allows into his inner circle are friends for life. He’s easy to piss off but he’s quick to forgive when it comes to friends and family. If that doesn’t apply to you, or you cross those closest to him, he’ll hold a grudge long after the issue is resolved. You’re on his shit list for life.

He wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s literally impossible for him to conceal his emotions. If he’s angry, sad, annoyed, happy, literally anything his feeling you will be sure to know.

The same goes for his opinions. Blunt beyond belief. If he thinks something is stupid he won’t hesitate to say so. He’ll backtrack to soften his delivery if he notices that it offends other parties though.

All of these factors can lead to awkward moments. 99% of the time he’s confident enough in his stance to ignore how others might receive him but the other 1% of the time you might catch the rare sight of his cheeks heating up.

Contrary to popular belief, Eren is actually smart. Not to the same caliber of Armin, Erwin or Hange when it comes to critical thinking and analysis, but it is still above average. That being said, he doesn’t necessarily apply himself to subjects that don’t immediately interest him. However, he has impeccable game sense, making him quite the accomplished athlete.

Anger issues. Clearly. It made him a difficult child... for most of his life (and probably the reason he’s an only child) but as he’s gotten older he’s learned to manage his temper. It’s still easy to rile him up though, and it’ll be a cold day in hell before he backs down from a challenge. But for the most part his attitude is a running joke between those he’s closest with.

He has a strong moral compass and sense of justice. Not in the sense that he’s conservative, far from it. His personal ideology is: as long as it’s not hurting anyone people should do what they want. and anyone that messes with that is wrong. He’s a simple guy

Bad at flirting. He can be super oblivious and when he does catch on, he’s not smooth at all. But he’s tall and pretty so it comes off as endearing 99% of the time. It’s his boy-ish charms that save him every time.

Childhood

Cute as a button as a baby. Poor Carla and Grisha were blindsided when he hit his terrible twos.

Had no friends besides Armin until middle school when his parents adopted Mikasa.

Before Mikasa, he and Armin were the black sheep of the neighborhood kids. Eren easily alienated himself from the neighborhood kids and his schoolmates due to his brash nature. Looking back on it, he still stands with his decision since it meant he found his first friend.

(Armin didn’t fit in for his old soul thanks to being raised by his grandparents)

Super curious and didn’t realize how small he was in such a big world. On several occasions he wandered off because of his curious nature. Would have been a leash kid if leash kids were a thing when he was growing up.

Could technically be considered a school bully for talking down to kids on the playground. HOWEVER, he was smaller than other kids for a while, meaning his haughty attitude resulted in petty school yard fights that he lost most of the time. Still, he never cried and never learned his lesson.

Since we was never against a fight, he made it his mission to take up for Armin. When Mikasa joined his family he did the same for her when their peers made comments about her different looks. As we know, those roles soon reversed with Mikasa taking on a protector roll

To try and find a suitable outlet for his excess...energy...Carla and Grisha signed him up for every sport under the sun. Was pretty good too but excelled at football and track and field.

Teen

Was on a first name basis with administration during his school years for getting too invested in classroom debates. His fired up nature easily boiled over outside the classroom resulting in several fist fights

Got suspended once for said fights, but more often than not Mikasa saved him before he could get into more trouble.

So angsty. Literally a textbook case of teen angst from the loud music, dark clothes, to butting his heads with his parents he was truly a nightmare. (He recognizes this and is forever apologetic to his parents for being so difficult during this time)

Started to grow out of his rebellious phase by his junior year. There was no real explanation for it he just...did. That’s not to say that he was any less combative, he just knew what battles to pick. Good job Eren.

By the time he graduates he’s such a mama’s boy. He’s always loved him mom but now his eyes have been opened to how much of a handful he was growing up. He’s embarrassed anytime she brings up old stories but he knows it’s all in good fun.

He’s also had a major growth spurt by the time he graduates and his years of playing sports have definitely paid off. He’s a total heartthrob by his senior year and unintentionally a heartbreaker. Again, it’s hard to break into his circle, nothing personal.

Young Adult (College/Post Grad)

Commits to playing football exclusively. Not out of hopes of going pro but he just really likes the sport. He’s well known around campus between sports and his personality.

Still, he can be found with any one member of his crew at any given time. It’s rare to find him by himself unless he’s in his dorm room. He’s a total extrovert and gets bored easily when left to his own devices.

BUT he’s not a total party animal. Definitely prefers kickbacks to partying. But he will show his face if someone personally asks him to come.

Smokes and drinks the normal amount. Knows his limits and isn’t a lightweight for either. But under the right conditions (i.e. drinking games, bets, etc.) he’ll over indulge. Far too touchy when he’s under the influence.

Struggled to find his “calling” in school. Most of his friends fell into majors that they clicked with but it wasn’t that easy for him. He probably ends up with a fifth year under his belt. since he didn’t officially declare a major until maybe junior year.

Graduates with a political science degree! 1) He fooled his parents into thinking he’d go to law school which satisfied his doctor dad. 2) While he doesn’t exactly know how, he wants to improve daily life for the less fortunate and he thought this was a good step to do that. 3) He loved being able to argue for a grade during in-class debates

I know we all love streamer!Eren but I really do think he’d end up going down a creative/independent route where he’s not tied to a desk 9-to-5. It really stressed him out to think about doing thing for 50 years and then being able to enjoy life after retirement.

Other

Like previously mentioned, his music tastes were pretty narrow. But as his social circle grew and he was exposed to new genres his musical pallet has expanded. His go to genres are still heavy, but he’s not against asking what song just played if he liked it (unless you’re Jean, he’ll never give him the satisfaction).

I feel like his celebrity crush is Doja Cat. I have no evidence I just feel like he’d be into her.

Baby can NOT dance. if he tries hard he can bust a two step but usually he doesn’t usually put forth the effort though. It just gets worse if he drinks.

Very much a night owl but surprisingly, he doesn’t like to sleep in either. Feels like there’s too much stuff to do in a day to just waste it in bed. He contradicts himself though bc he can spend all morning in bed playing around on his phone (he’s addicted)

#could you tell that i love him?#eren #eren jeager #eren yeager #eren x reader #eren jeager scenarios #eren jeager headcanons #eren yeager scenarios #eren yeager headcanons #aot x reader #aot scenarios #aot headcanons #my writing

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claybrownie7566 · 3 years

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I want all the Links in the chain to watch the Polygon unraveled video for the timeline because I just made a post and now I can't stop thinking about it so here you go.

Here is all the boys' commentary on the Zelda Timeline according to Brian David Gilbert:

Sky and Four: "ok ok everything seems to be going according to plan. Ok! We are good. Nice"

*high fives

BDG: "and then Ocarina of Time"

Time: oh sweet Hylia here we go

BDG: *explains the normal two timelines

"and then there's a timeline where Link DIES. He fights Ganondorf and just can't do it so then we have a Link to the Past"

Time: Ø_O

Legend: O_O

The others: 😬

Twilight: "umm.....ok well we were right about me I guess"

Wild: *jabs Legend

"basketball"

Legend: "Shut up!"

BDG: "and then we have Links Awakening where Link goes sailing and he crashes and dies in the ocean"

Legend: O_O

LITERALLY ALL OF THEM: O_O

Wild: "Im-"

Warriors: "sheesh no wonder you're so grumpy"

Legend: "that can't be right! I went on like twenty quests before I even set foot on that boat!"

Twilight: "I don't know man"

BDG: "and then instead of having an existential crisis or hanging out with pirates-"

Wind and Time: *look at eachother

BDG: "he gets really into fashion and then we have triforce heroes"

Four: "you what now?"

Legend: "Oh Hylia help me"

BDG, lovingly: "and then it's the Legend of Zelda! The first one" <3

Hyrule: "aww"

Legend: *smiles

"everybody loves Roolie"

BDG: "then the second one. This is the same Link idk some cult wants to resurrect Ganon or something"

Everyone: *slowly turns to look at Hyrule

Hyrule: *shrugs

"what!? They didn't! I stopped them! Its fiiiine"

BDG: *explains Breath of the Wild

Wild: "Umm"

Wind: "Huh....so that's how you got my shirt"

Twilight: "and Majora's Mask"

Hyrule: "and my hat"

Wild: "hehe......yeah."

BDG: "ok I'm gonna make it worse here we go"

Everyone: *groans

BDG: "easy Zelda spinoffs. Like the one where Link learns to use a crossbow for big game hunting-"

Warriors: *rolls his eyes

"of COURSE Twi was part of big game hunting"

Sky: "yeah geez Twi we know you grew up on a ranch but you're playing into this a little too hard"

Twilight: *shrugs

"I don't think being a sharpshooter is going to hurt my reputation at all."

Warriors: "point taken"

BDG: *talks about the CDI games

Time: "who?"

Legend: *puts a hand up

"upbabababa......no. I don't wanna talk about it"

Everyone: *turns to look at him

Legend: "we aren't talking about it."

Wind: "What did you-"

Legend: "I said we aren't talking about it!"

*covers his face while the footage plays

Warriors: "oh my gosh"

BDG: *tries to explain the BS games

Legend: *throws his hands up

"is this Legend slander day!?"

Wild: "well we certainly call you Vet for a reason sheesh mate"

Legend: "I'm going to die before this video ends"

Time: "THERES MORE?"

Legend: "there's ALWAYS MORE TIME!"

Twilight: "I'm gonna cry for you"

BDG: "Tingle-"

Time and Wind: *both press fast forward

Sky: "you cant-"

Time: "no"

Wind: "not today"

BDG: "Hyrule Warriors"

Everyone: "Yay!"

Twilight: "there he is"

Warriors, about to sob: "WHY AM I NOT CANON!? THE TIMELINE WOULD MAKE SENSE IF I WAS CANON!"

BDG: "Hyrule Warriors is the second most important game in the entire timeline for how it goes everything together"

Warriors: "THATS WHAT IM SAYING!"

*counts on his finger

"Midna, Medli, Sprite, Marin-"

Legend: "what now?"

Warriors: "Ruto, Wind, Skyloft. It's all there! Everyone is there! Anytime there is a weird gap in history, it's because of ME. Do I exist on some weird plain of existence to just catch the broken pieces of time!?"

Four: "strangely poetic, but yeah I guess so"

BDG: "ok back to Ocarina of Time. Remember existential crisis? He's done! What does he do? Mario Kart, Super Smash bros, Soul Caliber 2"

Everyone: *looks at Time

Time: *smirks

"I don't tell you guys everything"

Legend: "you were in soul caliber?"

Time: *nods

Legend: "d-do you need a hug?"

Time: "it's fine let's keep going"

Twilight: "I feel like we should address this, but that was me in super smash......"

Sky: "I was in Mario kart?"

Wild: "I was in both.....with Fable actually"

*smirks

Legend: "you WHAT"

Wild: *cackling

Legend: "we will have words later sir. Also rip Time"

Time: "yup. No fun for me since smash bros melee."

BDG: "but while you were doing that Ganon got resurrected so....that's on your conscience"

Time: "PLEASE I ALREADY GET NO SLEEP LEAVE ME ALOOOONE"

Twilight: "dang he really just called you out"

Four: "This timeline is terrifying"

BDG: "Sonic is also in this timeline"

Hyrule: "Aww yes! That was awesome!"

Everyone: ???

Hyrule: "what? I can have fun too"

BDG: *explains the Skyward Sword Manga and the Link before Sky

Wind: "wait who's that? Why isn't he here?"

Sky: *sighs

"First is a tricky case. He dies in the war with Demise. Sun says there was no point he could've left to join us or he would've. Maybe we will get to meet him, but he has no point in time to join us.....unless we broke him out of prison but that'd be bad."

Time: "Prison?"

Sky: "Long story."

Everyone: *tries to process the rest of the video

*collapses on the floor when it's over

Time: "I hate our life"

*mumbles of agreement*

#linked universe #Zelda Timeline chaos

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savagetrickster · 4 years

Text

Stay with Me | BNHA

request: Hi! Can I request a scenario where Bakugou thought that reader was starting to lose interest, but in reality reader is just really busy and doesn’t realize she’s treating baku differently and Bakugou confronting her about it then it ends with some fluff fluff. 💖 p.s luv ur work

anime | character: bnha | bakugou katsuki x reader

word count: 1949

themes/warnings: soft!bakugou, insecure bakugou, college AU

a/n: sorry for not posting a fic in such a long time, I’ve been SO busy. so anyway, okay I kinda went little off-track and ended up writing the way it is shown below but i hope you’ll still enjoy reading this, though i have to say I’m not really fond of how it turned out. this fic has not been beta-ed so pardon me if you find any cringey error.

The city of Musutafu moved as sluggishly as possible for a city of its size and caliber. It was one of those days when the moon was mostly hidden behind the clouds.

Kirishima let his eyes roam the street outside. The inhabitants of the boulevard were constantly on the move despite being a Saturday; it was a startling contrast to the cafe they sat in where a comfortable nonchalance clung to every aspect of the little business.

The slow, sleepy music playing from the speakers.

The casual yet practiced movements of the baristas as they prepared the orders.

The lazy, idling manners in the way the customers brought their cups to their lips. Carrying every bit of thoughtlessness and indifference in their actions.

Well, almost everyone but them.

A perplexed frown pinched between Kirishima’s brows as he turned his gaze away from the window beside them.

Bakugou Katsuki had been sulking at the window ever since he plopped into the seat across him.

He had been sitting in brooding silence for what felt like fifteen minutes and the expression on his face hadn’t changed. If there were any at all, it was only that his scowl grew bigger.

“As much as I like hanging out with you, I have to say this is getting a little…weird.”

Kirishima briefly flitted to the counter to see curious eyes on them, “My colleagues are starting to think we’re dating.”

Tonight was the fourth time Bakugou had come to find him right as he was knocking off from his part-time job this week.

“Who gives a fuck about what they think?” Bakugou muttered gruffly, finally looking away from the outside.

Kirishima had known him ever since they met in middle school to know the scowl on Bakugou’s face was…well, his default expression.

Long enough for him to tell at one glance that the scowl he’d been seeing on Bakugou’s face was different. This one seemed to come right out from the depth of his fierce vermilion eyes — Bakugou was upset.

And it was about you.

No matter how hard Bakugou tried to hide how much he was a sucker for you, Kirishima could always tell.

Even though they had matured into college students, Bakugou was still the same stubborn guy who wasn’t the most comfortable displaying his affections openly.

Mere mentions of you would soften the scowl on his face, and the rough edge in his voice. It was easy for anyone else to miss the difference but it was obvious to Kirishima.

His grumpy complaints about how clingy and touchy you are were one of their common topics in their conversations. The annoyance scowling in his eyes when he did was always subtly soft and warm.

But something changed, as Bakugou had mentioned, in the recent two weeks.

Nights in his dormitory room were spent alone. He was so used to falling asleep and waking up, to the sight of you curling up right next to him.

The last time he saw you were from afar, watching you rushing off to somewhere.

Dates with you, even as simple as a meal in the cafeteria was scarce.

Your replies to his texts were late and sometimes curt. The usual ‘good morning’ and ‘goodnight’ from you, if you didn’t spend the night with him, were no longer…usual.

Sometimes his messages to you would be left hanging for days before you replied.

The tone when Bakugou was telling him about all these strange distances between them was nonchalant, but the scowl on his face told Kirishima a different story.

Kirishima tried to think of something to say, but all he could think of in the end was the same thing he’d been saying ever since Bakugou shared this with him.

“Stop worrying man, she’s probably just busy?”

Bakugou’s face carried a carefully blanked expression as he raised his eyes to meet Kirishima’s.

“…Or maybe she’s losing interest in me.”

His arm was tucked between his pillow and his head as his other held his phone to his face. Vermilion eyes stared blankly at the quiet chatroom he shared with you, particularly fixated on your last reply to him.

Two days ago.

The gloom hung over his gaze these days were like the dreary seasons of dull, gray monsoons.

The hopeful morning sun filtering into his room through the wooden window blinds above him was a startling contrast, and so was the lively laughter ringing out from the basketball court somewhere near the dormitory blocks.

Probably some idiots shoving snow at each others’ faces, Bakugou thought seethingly as he clicked his tongue in annoyance at a particular spike of volume in the ruckus downstairs.

It was Saturday and the morning was already—

His eyes flitted to the time written in the corner of his screen.

— halfway to noon.

A quiet sigh left him.

Like on Saturdays, he should be on the way to meet you for your usual brunch. Except things weren’t quite ‘usual’ anymore.

Bakugou released another sigh as he let his phone fall away from his face along with his raised arm, landing on the bed under him with a muffled ‘plop’.

His forehead ridged with a scowl. Just how did he fuck things up?

His memories sifted through the times he called you names and how you would still smile back at him like he was your whole world as if he didn’t just call you an idiot, a nerd, or a moron.

A bitter taste of guilt entered his mouth.

Maybe he shouldn’t have assumed that you knew he was feeling affectionate when he did?

Perhaps you’ve grown sick of him? And realized that you didn’t need a shitty boyfriend who called you insulting names or would shrug off your affections as if they were annoyances.

His jaw clenched to his gritted teeth as a frustrated hiss slipped from him.

Shit, maybe he did fuck up afterall. Fucked up big time.

And he was probably going to lose you. Everything that made you…you.

The way you smiled at him with a loving, bright glint in your eyes as if he was the one who put the stars in the sky.

The sweet kisses you love to plant on his lips and forehead.

How your hand would hold onto his — small but warm with your love.

Bakugou felt his throat swell with the presence of forming tears as his heart twinged in his chest.

The idea of losing all that spurred a rush of panic in him.

Bakugou shot off his bed, put on the nearest shirt and jeans he could grab, and hurried out of his room.

The first place Bakugou thought to look for you was your dormitory but his worst fear made him hesitate at your door, with a hand hovering over its handle.

In fact, he’d thought about doing this for the past two weeks but the wisps of doubts whispering nasty things wouldn’t let him.

His jaw clenched to his gritted teeth.

What if there was someone else—

Bakugou shoved the unfinished thought aside; it was unbearable to even think about that possibility.

His scowling gaze snapped to his hesitating hand and his lips instantly curled into a sneer to a spark of irritation within.

What was with him? He was starting to remind himself of Deku, hesitating outside doors with twiddling thumbs like a wimp.

He was Bakugou Katsuki and he should be announcing his arrival by bursting through one.

Man, you thought you could finally enjoy a good night’s sleep after countless of sleepless nights.

But no…nope.

The heater just had to break down at an ungodly hour when you were still trudging through the last thesis for your project and you could find no other alternative places to work on them.

Bakugou came across your mind but again, it was crazy late or more accurately, early to budge into your boyfriend’s room.

Like every other night, you’d been tirelessly working on it so you could finally submit the project you’d been assigned since two weeks ago.

It was the infamous final year project you’ve dreaded ever since you heard about it from your senior — dubbed as ‘the project from hell’.

And indeed, it was a project from hell. It seemed to suck out your very soul. The exhaustion weighing you down like lead ran bone deep, that even lifting your head off your pillow was such a struggle.

With a broken heater sitting uselessly in your room, you’d spent the whole night wrapped in your blanket, with the lingering winter chill prickling at your skin.

So you couldn’t help sighing at the sudden warmth enveloping your body after spending the night shivering away under your blanket at the mercy of the dropping temperature.

Your arms found their way around the heat source.

You didn’t see the tender curl of his lips when you sighed blissfully and nuzzled into his chest or the softening glint in the usual fierce edge held in his vermilion eyes.

It was like nestling inside a warm cocoon that…

— awareness seeping into your groggy senses pried your eyes open.

…breathed.

What or rather who greeted you lifted you right out of your morning grogginess and struck you with an overwhelming barrage of emotions.

“…Ka-Katsuki!” You missed him so much.

Along with how the shadows and sunlight filtering in from behind you fell across and highlighted his chiseled profile, there was something about the way his intense eyes looked down at you with his head leaning against an arm.

This sight gave your heart a fluttery squeeze.

You weren’t sure why Bakugou looked so strikingly handsome like this — maybe it was because you haven’t seen him for awhile?

“When did you come in here?” Words started pouring out of your mouth.

You’ve always wanted to vent and rant about the dumb project to Bakugou so there was too much you wanted to say,

“Oh my god, you’ve no idea how much busy I was these few weeks-” but the brooding look that hadn’t left Bakugou stopped you.”…Katsuki?”

You’d never seen Bakugou look this down before, and it didn’t sit right with you.

You hesitated but asked anyway.“…What’s wrong?”

The cloud that fell over his eyes told you that something was definitely wrong.

“…I’m sorry, (Name).”

You grew concerned as you tried to understand his unreadable demeanor. “What’s this about— ”

“Are you losing interest in me?”

Your next breath was caught in your throat at his strange question and the only thing you could do was blurt out a —“What?”

You watch him exhale carefully with a bewildered look.

Bakugou didn’t even care how he looked to you now.

“Look, I know I’m a huge fuck-up as a boyfriend and you probably think I don’t care about our relationship cause I act like I don’t.”

There was so much to say, so much guilt brimming inside him.

“But shit, I do care.”

He was desperate.

He didn’t want to lose you. He couldn’t. He loved you but he was an idiot for not showing that to you.

So he needed to let you know now.

His hand on your waist pulled you up to him and his eyes were pinned on yours.

Your mouth opened, then snapped close at the silent, blazing gleam in his gaze.

Your voice had fled at the way he stared at you.

Longing and heavy with remorse.

“Stay with me,” His lips brushed lightly across yours as his voice cracked with an aching need.” …please.”

He kissed you and the world fell away.

#bakugou katsuki #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugou imagine #mha bakugou #bakugou x reader #bnha bakugou #bnha x reader #katsuki bakugo imagine #bnha katsuki x reader

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alias-sam · 3 months

Text

Pierced by a Golden Soul

Chapter 36. Mother Knows Best

Platonic Jojo's x Reader

Word Count: 1,740

(Crosspost from Wattpad, full fic is already posted there.)

"Good afternoon darling!" Senora Jones' voice rang in tandem with the doorbell. You lightly hummed in greeting. Your mother stood up from cleaning out a display case to meet you. "Quite the weather we've been having."

"You're telling me." You sighed, shaking off some water from your shoes. Despite your dampness, Senora Jones gave you a hug. You noticed her unusual lack of an apron, and a noticeable pep in her step.

"How did that talk with your friend go?"

"How did you know I...oh right!" For a moment you thought she was talking about your encounter with Learco. "They were too busy to talk. I just went for a walk instead." You laughed nervously. "I'll get on my shift." You sidestepped your mother and headed into the kitchen to start washing dishes, but you were met with an empty sink. "What the?"

"I decided to close early today. I barely get to take days just for myself." Senora Jones chuckled as she entered the kitchen behind you. "Business was slow anyways."

"Great. I'm glad!" You smiled having already noticed your mother's light mood. She was always busy, always working to keep up the business and taking care of you. It wasn't very often she took time for herself, even as a kid you noticed how she'd work herself to the bone. "Have anything you want to do with your newfound freedom from adulting?"

"Just one." Your mother threw you a mischievous smile.

.............

"We haven't done anything like this in a while." Senora Jones laughed watching you shuffle through VHS tapes.

"And it's an absolute shame." Eventually you picked out a movie and set it to play. "I miss doing this."

"Me too." Your mother sighed, watching you situate yourself next to her on the couch. "Which movie did you pick?"

"Which do you think?"

Just as you said that the opening screen for 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly' lit up the screen in front of you. Spaghetti westerns were an integral part of your childhood, no thanks to Senora Jones' Italian roots. You'd practically been raised on Clint Eastwood's movies. Even if the films were made in the sixties, you had a certain respect and love for the cinematography and musical scores. The movies were where you had learned a fair bit of the Italian language. Senora Jones owned a tape of the English and Italian versions. At this point the VHS tapes were worn down from the amount of times they had been rewound and rewatched. As the movie went on you could practically recite the whole script, cue every pistol shot, and narrate every stare down as it happened. Even so, you were at the edge of your seat until the very end.

......

"What are you feeling for dinner?" Senora Jones sighed as the final scene faded out.

"Old reliable?" You smiled.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Your mother laughed already standing up.

"Why don't you take a load off?" You stood up quickly making your mother falter. "I've made pizza with you a million times!"

"Last time I let you cook in my kitchen unsupervised I lost a toaster oven." Senora Jones looked at you skeptically.

"That was forever ago!" You defended yourself indignantly.

"That was three months ago darling." Senora Jones corrected gently. "We'll work on it together; I know how clumsy you can be."

"I know...remember the cupcake incident?" You quirked an eyebrow. Senora Jones led you into the kitchen, already heading to get out ingredients.

"That was a Mother's Day to remember." Your mother laughed. Comfortable silence followed as the two of you prepared dinner. It was a well practiced ritual, familiar and calming. This was the most normal you had felt in awhile. For just a moment you let yourself forget about stands and strange metal shards, you let yourself solely focus on the pizza dough in your hand. It didn't take long to get the fully built pizza in the oven. Senora Jones set a timer as you wiped some stray four from your hands.

"So..." You trailed off, leaning against the kitchen counter. "How are things?"

"I already don't like where this is going. I know what you're going to ask and I don't have to answer you." Your mother sat on the counter next to you.

"You're always meddling in my social life, thought I might return the favor..." You shrugged with a mischievous smile. "All I want to know is what a kind, young, and very pretty businesswoman is still doing single."

"Don't you start this again you dork!" Senora Jones laughed.

"Anybody would be lucky to have you. I sure am." With an exaggerated sigh you looked over at your mother. "The real problem is finding someone good enough for you."

"You sound like my mother." Senora Jones rolled her eyes.

"She must have been very wise."

"She was."

......

A few hours later you found yourself cleaning the living room. Senora Jones was in her bedroom reading, so you decided to tidy up. After fixing the blankets on the couch you found yourself sorting through a small stack of papers on the coffee table. It was mostly just bills and documents related to the bakery. Just as you were about to set the papers aside a business card and brochure for some kind of medical clinic.

"What's this?" You mumbled, picking up the items. The picture of the clinic looked familiar.

"What's what?" Senora Jones poked her head into the room, a copy of 'The Sign of Four' in hand. You jumped slightly from the sudden presence. It was easy to forget that your mother had ears sharper than a bat.

"This." You said, holding up the pamphlet. Senora Jones froze, a sheepish and hesitant look crept across her face. Without so much as a word your mother set aside her book and invited you to sit with her on the couch. She took the pamphlet from you, taking a moment to look down at it. A multitude of complex feelings swam in your mother's eyes.

"Do you remember much about when you first came to live with me?" She asked, looking up at you with a soft smile.

"Not really." You admitted. It was a time in your life you'd rather forget. The memories were foggy and dark, but the feelings left behind still hurt. "I had a lot of nightmares I guess..."

"Yeah. You did." Senora Jones sighed. She had comforted you every night of your first year together. "Do you remember the therapist you used to see?" You paused, wracking your brain. It had been a long time, at this point you had almost forgotten you ever saw a therapist as a kid.

"Dr. Hill right?" You asked. The card still in your hand read Dr. Cypress Hill. "That was forever ago."

"Y/n...?" Senora Jones mumbled softly.

"Do you think I should go back?" You asked quietly.

"It's not my choice to make darling. I know you've been going through something lately." Senora Jones leaned back in her seat, opting to look up at the ceiling rather than your conflicted and grim expression. "I planned to give you the contact information for the clinic myself, I didn't think you'd come across it yourself. Even back then Dr. Hill told me that if you ever needed anything to give her a call."

"I'll give it some thought." You assured your mother before putting the card aside.

"That's all I can ask." Senora Jones smiled. Without thinking about it, you pulled your mother into a hug. She seemed surprised by the sudden act of affection at first, but quickly wrapped her arms around you.

"Thank you." You sighed, gently letting go. Before you could fully break away your mother pulled you back in, giving you one last squeeze.

"I originally came in here to tell you I'm headed to bed." Senora Jones mumbled, stretching her arms a bit.

"Goodnight."

........

The sun had set, the house was silent, and you were left alone to your thoughts. Clutched tightly between your fingers was the business card. You had a choice here. There was a right and wrong answer here. You stared down at the card and surprisingly felt like throwing it away. Did you even have the time to do this? You could probably handle your mental health on your own...right? Immediately you shook the tempting thought away. You had a bad habit of doing what you could to avoid getting help. Right here, right now, you needed help.

Granted, a therapist wouldn't exactly help solve your stand user problems, but talking to somebody would probably be good for sorting out your scattered and anxious brain. After long personal deliberation you found yourself in the living room once again. It was after office hours, but you grabbed the phone and decided to leave a message.

"Hi... I'd like to schedule an appointment with Dr. Hill..."

.......................................

Blake watched as the mass of maggots at his feet tore apart yet another animal carcass. It was a sickening sight that even he couldn't find any joy in watching. Blake still didn't understand what triggered these things to attack. That's why he was here. Blake's first encounter with the creatures was almost a week ago now. They scared and fascinated him, and he reveled in the feeling.

Tonight he was going to... experiment. Blake approached the mass, all the while minding his distance. When he was close enough Blake reached into his pocket, taking out a small packet of lunchmeat. He threw a few pieces at the gathering of maggots and it landed just beside them. Blake watched, waiting for a reaction, but nothing happened. He proceeded to throw more pieces directly into the grouping, but still, the meat went largely ignored.

Curious, and perhaps a bit annoyed at this point, Blake summoned his stand and made a copy of himself. The copy walked right up to the creatures without any kind of response. Blake made his copy bend down, pick up a single maggot, and bring it back to him. He gingerly pinched the grub between his pointer finger and thumb. It made an attempt at burrowing into the boy's hand, but Blake simply applied more pressure on the creature to keep it still. Once again, Blake summoned his stand, and commanded it to make a copy of the maggot. Nothing happened. Irritated, he made several more attempts at copying the maggot to no avail. Blake glared down at the little monster before a smile broke on his face.

"Interesting..." Blake trailed off before mindlessly squishing the maggot between his fingers.

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ah-ga-seven · 3 years

Text

Till’ The End of Summer - Chapter 13

>> series masterlist <<

Pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Reader

In a Nutshell: College!AU, Rich Kids, Friends to Lovers, Fuckboy athlete Yeonjun, Overprotective Best friend Soobin, contains all of TXT and other Idol cameos, Omnipresent perspective.

Synopsis: You and Yeonjun are caught up in a cat and mouse game because of unspoken feelings and endless pining for each others’ attention. With the summer break approaching and lots of college parties, will you finally get a chance to explore your feelings for each other; even though the world and Yeonjun’s reputation makes things complicated?

Word count: 11,5K

Genre: Angst, Fluff.

Warnings: Heavy angst.

A/N: NOT the final chapter.

“Yeonjun…” his name came out like a whisper. You didn’t know what to do or say. You couldn’t fathom the betrayal and hurt that he must be feeling right now.

“No, there has to be some type of explanation to this. She wouldn’t do this. Why would she? She practically raised me.” He wasn’t listening, just rambling. Trying to make sense of why he heard her voice on the other end of the line.

All of you stayed silent, looking at him with concerned and horrified facial expressions.

“Why would she do this. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Hyung…it does kind of explain why you could never find anything. She’s an in-house maid, she could have erased all traces and-”

“No, shut up. She wouldn’t do that.”

“Yeonjun maybe-” Mia tries to talk but Yeonjun cut her off too.

“No, no. Stop. I don’t want to hear it. This woman, she’s the one that sat with me at night so I didn’t have to eat dinner alone, she bathed me, fed me, read me bedtime stories. It can’t be her.” He didn't know who he was trying to convince. Maybe himself?

Yeonjun wasn’t stupid. He knew what it meant when she answered the phone, but he couldn’t accept it. How could he ever trust anyone ever again if this turned out to be true?

He turned around on his heels so he didn’t have to face you guys, getting lost in thought as he pursed his lips together while running his hand through his hair. He was trying incredibly hard not to cry, until the thought of almost losing you crossed his mind, making a tear escape anyway.

He threw his head back, wiping the single tear from his eye, not wanting to break down in front of all of you. He needed to stay level headed and think rationally. But why was it so god damn hard for him this time when he always managed to pull through?

“She knows how much I love y/n,” he mumbles to no one in particular, but you all heard it and suddenly your heart wrenched in your chest.

He really does love you.

Even though your relationship was far from, well…a relationship. Yeonjun never shied away from expressing his feelings out in the open. Ever since he realized he loved you, he basically never shut up about it to the people around him; even under these circumstances.

You watch him with sad eyes. You didn’t get time to process what happened to you literally minutes ago, but none of it mattered anymore.

You had to set your feelings aside to be there for him.

You’ll heal from it some other time…right?

“Maybe getting to her would cause your breakdown? Meaning you won’t go for the CEO position in the future. You told us she’s the one who told you to come back here, maybe it’s because she didn’t want you to ruin her plans…” Mia says trying to piece things together, and Yeonjun hated to admit it; but it made perfect sense.

Lita knows that if he lost you, he’d completely break down and lose focus. He'd lose the will to succeed because he wouldn't have anyone left to live for.

He’d rather die than have anything happen to you, and maybe that’s dramatic, but it was no lie.

You got up from your chair and walked over to him. You hold onto his forearm before moving in front of him to announce your presence in case you’d startle him, and when his eyes landed on you his pained facial expression completely disappeared.

It’s like you were a remedy to his broken soul. Every time he laid eyes on you, touched you, or kissed you, he healed a little.

You don’t say anything and just wrap your arms around his waist, pressing your cheek against his chest. His heart was beating fast as he wrapped his arms around you to hug you back. He needed this. He needed you.

All you wanted was for him to be okay. For everything to go back to normal and to take away his pain but all of this was just too fucking crazy to wrap your mind around.

He rested his chin on top of your head and closed his eyes in solace as he sighed. Giving himself a second to breathe before he untangled himself from you without making eye contact.

“I have to call my mom,” he mumbles without emotion.

You look at him a little puzzled, as did Soobin and Mia who gave each other looks of confusion at his suddenly changed attitude.

He always does this. He always pushes his emotions aside in the blink of an eye and gets back to business as if it’s nothing.

Yeonjun disappears into your bedroom with his phone as he closes the door behind him. The closed door was enough for all three of you to understand to give him space, and so you did.

With a heavy head and a heavy heart, you sit down at your dinner table again, not feeling Mia and Soobin’s worried eyes on you as you bury your face in your hands. Soobin scooted closer to you and rubbed your back in warming up and down motions to assure you of his presence and Mia, who was sitting across from you, simply grabbed your hand with both of hers.

You sit like that in silence for god knows how long. You were trying to piece things together and process everything that has happened to you and then it hit you.

Every decision Yeonjun has made up until now was to protect you from the unimaginable which somehow became imaginable.

And suddenly you felt bad for hating him. You hated him for loving you enough to let you go in favor of your own wellbeing. But God knows you did not think of any danger of this caliber.

It was only months ago that your meaningless crush on Yeonjun got the best of you. If someone from the future would’ve told you that this would be the outcome of pursuing him, you’d probably punch that person in the face for being ridiculous, yet here you are.

Completely and utterly broken, afraid, tired, and still in love.

And despite everything, you’d still choose to be with Yeonjun if you got to hit the re-do button.

Yeonjun emerged from your bedroom and as you heard the door creak open your head immediately snapped into his direction.

His face held an expression you couldn’t quite read, so you sigh. You bite your lip in anticipation as you watch him pull out a chair of your dining table, waiting for him to sit down and speak up.

“My mom didn’t believe me at first.”

“What? Why?” Mia asks with big eyes.

“Well, can you blame her? She has worked for your family since you were born hyung, this is a big accusation.” Soobin says as he tries to comfort Yeonjun by patting the hair that had grown out in the nape of Yeonjun’s neck. His eyes closed at the physical comfort and he leaned into Soobin’s touch for a split second. The sight was endearing, yet extremely sad.

“She told me she’s letting her people look into it. We can’t contact the police or talk to anyone about what happened. We’ll have to keep a low profile and return to our regular lives so we won’t raise suspicion. My mom will keep me updated and send security to keep us safe in the meantime. They’ll be on guard from tomorrow morning, we won’t even notice they’re here.” Yeonjun explains as if he’s leading a business meeting. All that was missing was a PowerPoint presentation. “Also, that’s evidence,” he says pointing to the cracked phone and the knife in the middle of your dinner table. “We need to put it somewhere safe and make sure no one else touches it.”

The three of you look at him a little dumbfounded.

“What do you mean by her people?” Soobin asks.

“Private detectives,” Yeonjun answers as If it’s nothing.

Private detectives, security, assassins, betrayal. What in the fuck has your life turned into? The things people would do to get to the Choi’s fortunes baffled you, and once again you were at a loss for words.

“Yeonjun, that’s a lot to process,” you say rubbing your forehead as the pain returns. Your hangover never really left you and now it was replaced with a whole new one.

“So, if we have security starting from tomorrow morning…what about tonight?” Soobin asks looking from you to Mia and back to Yeonjun.

“I suggest I stay with y/n. You stay with Mia.” Yeonjun says with a straight face.

You stare at him and make eye contact, and just before you wanted to say something, he interrupts you; knowing what you were going to ask him.

“Please don’t ask me if I’m okay y/n, I’m not.” He sighs as he avoids eye contact, playing with his fingers to distract himself from all of your eyes on him. “I’ll completely shut down if I let myself feel right now. I need to be level headed. I’ll deal with it later.”

Later. It’s always later with him, but when will later be too late?

You all stay quiet for a short while. Your minds going into overdrive and suddenly you felt crippling anxiety wash over you as the memory of that man trying to break your lock comes back to you.

Yay, another trauma to add to the list.

“What if he comes back…” you say in a whisper. Your voice cracked in fear and Yeonjun’s eyes darted to yours. Immediately heartbroken as you pulled your knees up to your chest. Hugging yourself to feel something warmer than the chills running down your spine at the thought of not feeling safe in your own home.

“I’m not leaving you,” Yeonjun says with determination in his eyes.

You all had school tomorrow, and if you all had to act as if nothing happened tonight, the four of you would need at least some sleep.

After going over the game plan once more paired with a lot of convincing that you’d be alright with just Yeonjun being here, Soobin left with Mia.

Aside from everything, you were glad they left together so they could talk and hash a few things out. Even though you didn’t know what your dynamic with Yeonjun would be like once the two of you were alone together, having more people in your apartment would only make you even more restless than you already were.

The truth is, you had no idea how to act around Yeonjun anymore.

Too much has happened and too much was weighing down on the both of you to be able to talk about it; so when you closed your front door, you froze before turning around.

He was on your couch, furiously typing to what you assume to be his mother and you know better than to ask about it, so you just awkwardly make your way over to him.

“Uhm…I still have a few of your clothes here. You could shower and change if that makes you feel any better,” you say as you look at him, anxiously waiting for him to look back at you.

He lifted his head from his phone and stared at you, and then at his surroundings as he only now noticed that Mia and Soobin had left already.

His furrowed eyebrows relaxed as he laid eyes on you, and his shoulders fell in relief as he nodded.

“Yes, thank you. I’ll go do that,” he says with a soft smile and an almost too polite tone.

It was as if you were strangers. The tension in the room was noticeable so you averted your attention on the box filled with his stuff next to your front door.

“I-it’s in there.” You stutter as you get up. Silently retrieving it to hand it to him.

You were going to send his stuff back to him, figuring your relationship was basically doomed in the past week.

He held a neutral facial expression as he took the box from you. His fingers lightly ghosting over yours as he grabbed it from your hold. “You packed my stuff?” he asks as he sets the box aside on your couch.

He wasn’t hurt. In fact, he completely understood. But in some way you wanted him to be hurt.

You wanted him to show you any other emotion than the stoic expression he was holding now.

“I…well, y-yeah.” you avoid his stare out of insecurity, and he seemed to notice.

“Hey, shhh. I don’t blame you. I get it, really,” he says as he got up from the couch, getting to eye level with you.

He gave you a faint smile as he caressed your cheek with his thumb.

The Yeonjun you fell in love with would litter your face with kisses to make sure you felt reassured. He’d hug you tightly. Try to make you smile and hold you until you felt better. But the Yeonjun in front of you just turned around, grabbing the box again before he made eye contact once more. “Go to bed, don’t be afraid. I’ll be sleeping on the couch so nothing can happen to you okay?”

You nod absentmindedly, avoiding his eyes.

He gave you one last look before he made his way over to your bathroom and locked the door. By doing this he created a distance he hadn’t created before and suddenly you felt hollow.

'Oh my god, he locked the door.' you think to yourself.

He’s distancing himself from you because he’s in pain. But he wouldn’t tell you that with actual words because he didn’t know how.

And if he broke down now, he wouldn’t stop.

You stood there in the exact same spot for at least another 30 seconds. Listening to him turn on the faucet of your shower.

There was nothing you wanted more at the moment than to join him. Massage his sore muscles, and hold him close to be his security blanket but you can’t. And even if you could, you don’t know if you should.

After chugging down a glass of cold water while staring at your front door in paranoia you reluctantly made your way to your bed.

You were tossing and turning, trying to hear if Yeonjun already finished getting ready for bed.

When you heard the faucet close and the door of your bathroom unlock, something inside of you hoped that he’d change his mind and crawl into your bed with you, but after 5 long and agonizing minutes of waiting, you gave up on the probability of him doing so.

You hated this.

You hated that he was so close, yet so far, and you hated even more that you were the one who created this distance.

The two of you never got to really talk, meaning he was just being respectful and mindful of your wishes. He was trying to give you the space you asked for but after tonight, you weren’t sure if space was what you needed.

You bite your lip, contemplating if your next move was the right one to make but after a full hour of not being able to fall asleep because of your overthinking ass, you figured you had nothing to lose.

You get out of your bed with your duvet wrapped around you like a cape and make your way to your living room silently, dragging your feet on your wooden floor.

He left a light on in your hallway, which you were happy about because you were able to see his sleeping form on your couch in the warm yet dimmed light.

He was lying on his back. His arms were crossed over his chest and his body faced your front door so he’d be able to see if anything were to happen.

As you got closer to him, you study his facial expression.

His lips were slightly parted and he was breathing slowly. He must’ve been completely exhausted to be able to sleep under these circumstances and you purse your lips together, noticing how his face still held a pained expression even in his sleep.

You unwrap your blanket from yourself and pull it over Yeonjun’s sleeping form as carefully as you could and tuck him in a little.

Your initial plan was to cuddle next to him on your couch, but given how peacefully he was sleeping you decide against it.

Instead, you move a piece from his grown out bangs away from his eyes and kiss his forehead before you got up, ready to walk back to your room until you feel a hand taking a firm hold on your wrist.

You look back in shock, feeling like you got caught. It took everything in you to suppress a yelp and when you made eye contact with him, he chuckled lowly.

He wasn’t asleep at all. In fact, he was struggling with the exact same thoughts.

He opened the covers for you, pulling you down with him without a word and you gladly accepted the invitation.

You nuzzle your face in the crook of his neck as you rest your hand on his chest. He made sure you were completely covered by the blanket as well, and held on to your waist with one hand as the other patted your head in slow, comforting strokes.

Your lashes fluttered closed in solace and he sighed, looking down at you before he kissed your forehead.

The action made you look up at him through your lashes and when you notice his lingering stare you quickly look away, resting your cheek on his chest as you sigh contently.

The cliches were all true. There really is nothing compared to feeling at home in someone’s arms, and for a moment you forgot about all the trauma and heartbreak.

You kiss his neck, feeling yourself doze off as he kept playing with your hair.

“Yeonjun…” you whisper.

The sound of your voice surprised him. He frowned as he looked down at you, halting his movements.

“Hmm?”

“Just so you know. I never stopped loving you.”

Being in a lecture hall at 9 AM as if nothing had happened last night was literal torture.

You had to hear Mr. Davis ramble about stuff you already knew about, but he took attendance so there was no way you could skip out on it without failing his class.

Though you had gotten a good night’s rest, it was hard to concentrate with everything going on and it was even harder to concentrate knowing you were being watched.

Yeonjun’s mom wasn’t playing when she said that you’d all get personal security as quickly as dawn came. They followed you around disguised as regular college kids and kept their distance. In some moments you forgot they were around but when you looked over your shoulder in the lecture hall as you felt a pair of eyes on you; the reality of things hit you again.

The lecture hall was filled with at least 200 students, so no one would bat an eye at their presence. They blended in perfectly, which was both reassuring yet scary because anyone with malicious intent could be doing the exact same thing.

You kept looking around the lecture hall with suspicion, completely zoning out and not paying attention. Mia, who was sitting next to you was dozing off, so you nudged her to keep her awake.

“You didn’t sleep?” you ask as you move a piece of her hair from her line of sight.

She sighed, shaking her head as she fixes her posture.

“No, Soobin and I stayed up all night to talk and once we fell asleep it was 5 AM,” she whispers.

“Did you…work things out?”

“We talked, we’re nowhere near how it used to be but we agreed on working through this.”

You smiled to yourself. Good. They were both miserable without each other, and even though there were a lot of things left unsaid and unresolved, you were glad things were slowly going back to normal.

“How about you? Did you and Yeonjun talk about it?” She asks looking over her shoulder to see if no one was paying attention to your conversation and you catch yourself doing the same.

“No. I didn’t know how to, and he made it obvious that he didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, he’s going to have to sooner than later.”

You nod in agreement. You basically haven’t solved anything with Mia, but it was nice to have her to talk to about all of this. Sort of? There was still a lot of communicating to be done but first, this whole Lita situation had to be fixed.

“We never got to have that conversation back in your apartment either,” Mia says as she reminisced back to the moment your lives turned into an action movie.

“We will, soon.”

“Ladies!” your professor's voice bounced off the walls loudly and you immediately knew you were being called out for talking in his class.

“If you want to talk so badly you should’ve just joined the debate team,” he says clicking his tongue, and suddenly everyone's’ eyes were on both you and Mia.

So much for keeping a low profile...

“Sorry.” You both say in unison.

Just before Mr Davis was about to continue his lecture he made eye contact with you and stopped in his tracks. “Wait, y/n right?”

You frown in surprise, and so does Mia. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Stay after class, there's something I need to talk to you about.”

Your eyes dart to Mia’s but she just shrugs, equally as confused as you are. You simply nod at your professors’ request and just like that he continues his class.

For the remaining half hour of the lecture, you were starting to wonder why he’d want to see you after class. When the lecture ended, you waited for most of the students to exit before you approached him on the stage with Mia trailing behind you after you asked her to.

Your invisible security guards waited outside of the door, and luckily Mr. Davis didn’t notice.

“I’m sorry Mia, this is a private matter.”

Mia gave you a look but you just nodded that it was ok. You were dying to know what was going on by now.

“I’ll see you at lunch,” she says, and you nod as she walked out.

One of the security guards left with her, trailing behind her in the hallway and the other still stood at the entrance of the lecture hall. Watching you and Mr Davis while also skimming his surroundings with his eyes.

You take a deep breath and face your teacher. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Yes. Yes, I did.” He walks over to his desk and retrieves a stack of papers from his drawer and you immediately recognize the front page.

It’s the research paper you wrote right before summer. It is the paper you finished writing in the cafeteria when Soobin basically forbid you to date Yeonjun after he came over to your table to flirt with you. The irony of it all was off-putting.

You totally forgot about it. That paper resembled a new beginning in your life somehow, but why would your teacher want to talk to you about it? Was it that bad?

“Did I fail it?” you ask with concern evident in your eyes, but your teacher just gives you a look of confusion and starts laughing at you.

“Fail!? y/n this is the best paper I’ve read in my career as a teacher, that’s 20 whole years.” He says as he sat down on the edge of his desk, giving you a warm smile

Your eyes widen in surprise. “What?”

“Yes, in fact. I sent it to a former colleague at Brown University, and they were so impressed and intrigued by your hypothesis that they want to fund your research.” He exclaims excitedly.

“I don’t….I don’t think I’m following sir…”

“They want you to spend a semester there, so you can carry out your research. Your return depends on your work tempo and the development period. They’ll provide a living space and take care of all of your expenses. This is huge. y/n. None of my students have gotten an opportunity like this. This is quite the offer and to be blunt. I think you should take it.”

Your mind goes into overdrive.

This is huge. Absolutely huge. A prestigious University like Brown had enough faith in your research to invest actual money into it. How did this happen?

“This…is a lot to take in,” you say a little dazed as you rake your hand through your hair.

“I know, I will send you an email with all of the details. Give it a good thought and let me know by the end of the week. If you decide to go, you’ll leave as soon as possible. I’m so excited for you! You have no idea how big this could be for your future. This could re-write a lot about what we know about neuroscience. It’s groundbreaking.”

He gave you a pat on your shoulder as he started to pack his things into his briefcase. Leaving you with your graded paper in your hand as you look down at it.

You scored a 100.

A hundred? How did this even happen?

It took you a full minute to collect yourself before you were able to walk out of that lecture hall.

You silently made your way outside, taking a deep breath of fresh air before sitting down on a random bench to think things through, but when you heard the door open behind you with your designated security guard nonchalantly standing beside the door as he tried not to disturb you, you scoff in annoyance.

This had to stop. Quickly. You wanted your life back as soon as possible.

You swallow harshly as you stare at the large document in your hands.

Would you be able to leave everything behind for half a year or longer by yourself? Would you be able to leave your friends? Gyu, Tae, Hyuka, Mia, Soobin…Yeonjun.

You couldn’t imagine leaving him out of all of them. Even though Soobin and yourself haven’t spent more than 1 week apart since birth it wasn’t necessarily him you were worried about.

It was Yeonjun. What would this mean for your relationship? And what kind of partner would you be if you decided to leave him behind in the midst of the hardest time in his life?

He needed you and you needed him. But you also knew that you couldn’t let an opportunity like this go for the sake of an undefined relationship with someone who caused you more harm than good.

This was a lot to think about but then it hit you that you didn’t even have the freedom to think.

You checked the time on your phone and realized you were running late to the only class you shared with all 6 of them; Advanced English.

It’s a class that mixed both different years and majors, and all of you applied for it during that picnic before summer, just for the hell of it. All of you wanted to share at least one class together and it was the only available option.

“Shit,” you huff under your breath before you quickly grab your things and make a run for it. Your security guard had trouble following you unnoticed like this, so he decided to keep an even larger distance.

As you make it to the classroom, it was already completely filled as you were the last one to arrive. Your shadow stayed outside, sitting down at an individual study booth where he could keep an eye on things, and you couldn’t be more glad that he didn’t follow you inside.

You apologize to your teacher for being late and make your way to a random table, avoiding the one your friends were sitting at.

All of their eyes darted to you in confusion, but Yeonjun and Soobin looked at you a little worriedly.

“Is she ok? Did she not see us?” Taehyun asks as he cocked his head to the side.

“She had to stay behind in our other class, maybe she’s upset?” Mia explains, shrugging her shoulders.

“Stay behind? Why?” Soobin asks raising his eyebrow as he looks at you with concern.

“I don’t know. Mr. Davis asked me to leave before he spoke to her.”

Beomgyu sighs. “He’s a dick. I hope he didn’t yell at her. He was my guidance coach last year”

“He’s only a dick to people who don’t do shit in his classes,” Hueningkai states rolling his eyes, which earned him a hard punch to his upper arm from Beomgyu.

Yeonjun watched you closely as Gyu and Hueningkai bickered as background noise. He could tell you were stressed by the way you were tapping your heel on the floor while you keep clicking your pen on your notebook. He sighed, closing his books as he grabbed his stuff.

Since the class was about to start, people were looking at Yeonjun for suddenly switching seats. You had no idea what was going on until you hear the chair next to you being pulled back.

Your eyes meet and your anxiety vanishes. He sat down without a word, taking your hand under the table while intertwining your fingers together in an attempt to calm you down.

He didn’t know what had you so out of it, but he figured being hunted by some unknown man commissioned by his housemaid was enough to have you lose your mind.

A few girls seemed to notice Yeonjun’s sweet actions which made them audibly swoon at his loving gesture, which made Taehyun, Beomgyu and Hueningkai gag a little while Mia and Soobin just gave each other knowing looks.

He rubbed those comforting circles into your hand and kissed your temple quickly before averting his attention back on the board.

Luckily this class was followed by a lengthy and desperately needed break. When your professor dismissed you all earlier than expected, your friends make their way to your table just as quickly as Yeonjun turned to face you fully.

You weren’t sure what to tell them yet, but you knew they had questions as to why you were late.

“Hey? Are you ok? Why did Mr. Davis make you stay back?” Soobin asks as he sat down on the corner of your table.

Beomgyu started to randomly play with the ends of your hair, Mia stood beside Yeonjun and Hyuka and Tae stood beside you waiting with anticipation.

You got up, clearing your throat. “Uhm, he wanted to talk to me about the paper I handed in before summer.”

“Oh no, did you fail?” Beomgyu asks with sad eyes.

You shake your head, pulling the report out of your bag, placing it on the table so all of them could look at it.

“A 100!?” Taehyun gasps.

“Wow. You fucking nerd.” Beomgyu says rolling his eyes. “This is why you’re down? What’s wrong with you.” Hueningkai adds as he gently nudges your shoulder.

Yeonjun looks from the paper to you with big and proud eyes. He gives you a tender smile as he caresses your cheek. “This is incredible. I’m so proud of you,” he speaks with sincerity.

You bite your lip as you nod absentmindedly and force out a smile.

“Can we go have lunch. I’m starving.” Taehyun says as he walks out of the classroom first, followed by an equally hungry Beomgyu and Hueningkai.

As they left Soobin turns to you. “Ok, so what’s really wrong.”

“Nothing. The whole being followed everywhere thing is just getting to me I guess.”

“I’m so sorry.” Yeonjun says as he avoids eye contact. His tone was somber, and suddenly you feel bad.

“Hey, look at me,” you say as you tug on his chin. “None of this is your fault. You can’t blame yourself for what’s happening. This is out of your control, do you understand?” your tone was stern as you spoke to him. You talked to him as if you were trying to make a child understand something but it was necessary.

You needed him to understand.

He bit his lip, wanting to disagree with you but Soobin jumped in to back you up. “She’s right. Don’t beat yourself up over this. Everything will be okay.”

You had one more class left for the day but you decided to skip it, not being able to focus on anything else other than the life-changing decision you would have to make soon.

You desperately needed to consult someone about this and even though things weren’t quite the same between you two, the only person you can confide in about something like this was Mia.

Soobin would be too emotionally involved, and even though Mia is too, she’d be more rational about things.

She was on your couch, reading the email Mr. Davis sent you and her eyes widened right before she started yelling.

“WHAT!? BROWN! THIS IS HUGE!?”

“I mean don’t get me wrong, our school is great…but it’s no Brown University.” she gulps with enlarged pupils.

You sigh, relieved to know that she’s excited for you, but then the inevitable question came up.

“How long? Like a few weeks?” she asks with an excited twinkle in her eyes.

You shake your head. “More like a few months…6 to be exact.”

And suddenly her smile falters. “Oh…”

“Yeah…oh.” You say mimicking her as you sit down next to her.

“I- well…that’s a lot to think about,” Mia says with a pout. It was finally clicking to her why you were so out of it earlier today.

“I know…” you say as you stare into distance, losing yourself in your thoughts once again.

“What’s holding you back?” Mia asks as she studies you. You look back at her with sad eyes and without a word, she could already guess what you were about to say.

“Yeonjun?” she assumes and you nod in response.

“It just doesn’t seem right to leave him in the midst of all of this.”

“Y/n…don’t you think distance might be exactly what you need from him? If you are meant to be, it’ll be. And if you think of it. Maybe time apart is what you need. This is the perfect opportunity to heal individually and come back as better people…so you can be better together.”

Well. She has a point there.

“It’s not like I want you gone, fuck no. I’m gonna miss you so much and I’m pretty sure Soobin will fall apart without you but…y/n this is a once in a lifetime type of opportunity.” Mia says as she wraps an arm around you.

You sigh, moving into her hold to hug her. She’s surprised by the action, not thinking you were ready for that yet, you know; given everything that happened, but you desperately needed a hug right now. Mia tightened her hold on you and sighed.

“You’ll be okay. And we’ll all just be a phone call away.”

A single tear escapes from your eye and you let go of her, wiping it away while trying to contain your emotions.

You know you have to go. You really do. But what you don’t know is how to tell Yeonjun.

“Will you help me write the email to Mr. Davis? I’m going to tell him that I’m going.”

Mia gave you a weak smile, wiping away the watery remnants of your tear away from your cheek. She sighed, scooting closer to you.

“Of course.”

“Hyung, pass the ball,” Taehyun says with a raised eyebrow as he watches Yeonjun dribble the ball absentmindedly for over 30 seconds.

They had practice, and even though Yeonjun wasn’t feeling up to it at all, he knew he had to go. He had to live his life like he normally would and basketball practice was one of those ‘normal’ things.

Yeonjun snapped out of his thoughts and passed the ball to Taehyun before looking over his shoulder to watch one of the security details on the benches.

A lot of people came to watch during practice, so it wouldn’t be noticeable, but Taehyun has the wit of a mind reader, therefore he immediately caught on to who Yeonjun was looking at.

“Who’s that?” Taehyun asks as he passes the ball back to Yeonjun. He swiftly caught it, looking at Taehyun with wide eyes. “Ehm, don’t know. A scout maybe?”

Taehyun narrowed his eyes at Yeonjun and sighed. “I know you and Soobin are keeping secrets from the rest of us. We’re not dumb hyung, or at least I’m not.”

Yeonjun sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Just trust us. Once all of it is over we’ll tell you.”

“Once what is over?” he tried again.

“Taehyun.” Yeonjun’s voice was strict, it was a clear warning for Taehyun to stop asking questions but the younger one wasn’t quite having it.

He rolled his eyes, dropping the ball as he walked off to a different teammate.

The last thing Yeonjun wanted was to create a distance between all of them but he had no choice. The fewer people knew, the better it’d be.

Soobin stood in the corner, watching them closely, and approached once Taehyun walked off in annoyance.

He sighed, patting Yeonjun on the shoulder which made Yeonjun jump at the unexpected touch.

“Oh, sorry. It’s just me.” Soobin speaks as he fixes a piece of Yeonjun’s hair, which made him smile at Soobin softly.

“The boys are getting suspicious,” Yeonjun states as he eyes them from afar with his arms crossed.

“Yeah, this morning Beomgyu asked me why we were being secretive,” Soobin says doing the same.

“Beomgyu did?”

“Yeah…”

“Well then it must be fucking obvious cause he’s oblivious.”

Soobin chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, they’ll understand once we-” he got cut off by the buzzing of Yeonjun’s phone. Soobin watched Yeonjun carefully as he looked at the caller ID.

“It’s my mom,” Yeonjun says with big eyes.

Soobin lips form an ‘o’ as he steps closer to check his phone. “Well, pick it up?”

“Wait, come with me to the dressing rooms,” Yeonjun says as he drags Soobin with him.

Meanwhile, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Hueningkai were watching them run off together from the bleachers.

Hueningkai’s eyes followed them as he raised his eyebrows in confusion. “First they don’t talk to each other for a week, and now they don’t talk to us.”

“I don’t know what’s going on with them either,” Beomgyu says as he clings onto Taehyuns arm while resting his head on Tae’s shoulder. “I just want all of us to get along like we used to.”

Taehyun pouts. “Then let’s find out what’s going on with them.”

As the boys kept speculating about the situation, Soobin and Yeonjun had locked themselves in a dressing room; making sure that no one was around before Yeonjun answered the phone, putting it on speaker so both of them could hear clearly.

“Mom?”

“What took you so long?” His mothers’ voice was clear and calm, yet cold.

“I had to go somewhere secluded, I was in the middle of practice,” he carefully explains. Yeonjun always had the feeling he had to walk on eggshells around his mom, even in a situation like this. “Soobin is also here by the way.”

“Oh…well. I’m just going to cut to the chase. Lita confessed.”

Yeonjun’s eyes darted to Soobin’s equally enlarged ones as his heart dropped. He gulped, as did Soobin. He didn’t understand how Yeonjun’s mother could break the news to him in such an insensitive way.

He knew how much Yeonjun was hurting because of it, and confirmation would only make that worse, so why didn’t Yeonjun’s mother try to at least make an effort to soothe Yeonjun’s already gaping wounds?

“She did?” Yeonjuns eyes instantly started to fill with tears and Soobin noticed. Putting his head on Yeonjun’s shoulder as he quietly rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him.

Yeonjun couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that the woman that cared for him when no one else would, was a traitor. A cold-blooded traitor who was just after their money.

Was it all a hoax? Did she never care for him at all? Or did something happen that made her turn on his family?

This was the biggest betrayal of his life. If the one person that actually cared for him was able to hurt him like this, then what about everyone else? This ignited a whole new set of trust issues and yet another traumatic experience to talk about with his therapist and honestly, he didn’t know if he could take it anymore.

“She admitted to wanting to overthrow the company. But she did not admit to being behind the attempted assault to y/n. And since no one got hurt paired with the fact that there is no real evidence, we can’t incarcerate her for that.”

“What!?” Yeonjun exclaims in disbelief. “You’re telling me that we can’t press charges against Lita for trying to hurt y/n?”

“I’m afraid not…you’re going to have to fly out again to testify as a witness. I don’t want to bother y/n too much so I’ll just have my people call her for questioning, however since you are the sole heir to Choi Enterprises, I’m going to need you there in court.” His mother states as if it’s nothing.

Yeonjun’s mind was spinning. He had too many questions and too little brain capacity to be able to ask all of them at once. He swallowed harshly as Soobin motioned to Yeonjun to give him the phone, and without a thought, he did.

Soobin cleared his throat before speaking, hoping not to be out of line by doing so, but he could tell Yeonjun was having a hard time to collect his thoughts.

“Hello mam, this is Soobin. Uhm, I hope it’s ok.”

“Oh, hi. Yes, of course. Proceed.”

Soobin smacked his lips nervously, instantly intimidated by the sound of her voice yet he decided to speak anyway.

“How do we know for sure if Lita’s minions will stand down now that she got caught? And is she in jail now? I’m not quite sure if I get it. And do we need the security guards? It’s pretty bothersome and distracting to all of us…” Soobin says as he watches Yeonjun stare into nothingness.

He sighed awaiting a response. Soobin laced his fingers with Yeonjun’s to calm him down once more and it seemed to work as Yeonjun’s attention averted back to the conversation at hand.

“We won’t know for sure. But it’d be really stupid of her to try anything now that we’ve caught her. The security details will stay with you all until this is over with, that’s not up for discussion. And yes. Lita will rot in jail. I’ll make sure of it.”

Shivers ran down Soobin’s spine at the scary tone of Yeonjun’s mother. She was beyond reasoning with but could he blame her? A trusted family employee of over 20 years has made the ultimate betrayal. Soobin couldn’t imagine the hurt and anger she must be feeling right now, so he didn’t dare to go against her about the security guard situation.

Yeonjun’s lower lip trembled as he silently took the phone from Soobin again.

“Mom…” his voice was shaky. He sounded lost and scared, like a child calling out for his mother in distress.

His mother immediately softened at the sound of his voice. Her heart hurting for him as the realization hit her. She had been in overdrive. Lacking sleep and working day and night to make sure Yeonjun and his friends were safe, but she didn’t stop to think about how he’d be feeling in the midst of all of this.

Her mind briefly flashed back to when she confronted Lita in her home office, surrounded by her security and private detectives. She reminisced to the horror on Lita’s face after getting caught for the unforgivable.

She was so busy with making sure that Lita wouldn’t be a threat anymore, that she completely disregarded the fact that Yeonjun might be having the hardest time of them all.

Even though Lita was a trusted employee, their relationship didn’t go further than business, but Yeonjun was raised by her, and she completely forgot about that.

“I can’t take this…” a tear escapes Yeonjun’s eye. And another one, and another one. Wiping them away was no use as they kept coming, so he just let them fall freely. He silently sobbed while Soobin put Yeonjuns head on his shoulder, letting him weep like a baby as he still held on to Yeonjun’s hand.

His mother fell silent, unable to comfort her son because she didn’t know how.

“I’m sorry Yeonjun,” she says in almost a whisper. “I’m sorry you have to feel this type of pain. I will do everything I can to help you okay? I promise. Once the situation is dealt with I will get you the best team of people to help you with your troubles, I won’t mess up this time. I promise I’ll be there for you.”

Yeonjun sniffed, trying to collect himself to respond but he couldn’t. Promises are just words. Words that have meant nothing in his life.

“I don’t need a team of people mom, I need you,” his voice cracked. “I need this pain to stop. I just need my mother, not a lawyer or another therapist. I just need you. I need a parent.”

Soobin’s heart wrenched in his chest at the plea’s Yeonjun was making to his mother. He couldn’t imagine having this type of relationship with his own parents.

In the moment Soobin made a pledge with himself that no matter how much Yeonjun seems to fuck up, he won’t ever leave him behind. He will make sure to be the rock Yeonjun needs, regardless of his mother actually trying or not.

Taehyun, Beomgyu, and Hueningkai had their ears pressed against the door throughout the whole thing. As silence engulfed the space, the three of them looked at each other with enlarged pupils as shock took over their faces.

They put two and two together individually. Looking at each other with disheartened expressions.

“Oh no…” Taehyun says in a whisper.

You didn’t know how to tell them.

You didn’t know how to tell Yeonjun or Soobin individually so you just invited all of the boys over at once to get it over with.

It was nighttime by now and you figured you’d cook them all dinner given the fact that food always lures them to your place. Hopefully, the sweet taste of your homemade brownies would subside the bitter news you had to break to them.

Mia helped with everything, the table was fully decked out with all sorts of dishes and it was obvious you were overcompensating for something but they had no clue yet.

When they got to your apartment, Yeonjun and Soobin were missing from the group which made you panic a little.

“Damn what’s the occasion?” Beomgyu asks as his mouth waters, looking at the absolute feast you cooked up for them.

“Uhm, well. I have some news, but I have to wait for Yeonjun and Soobin to tell you guys.”

Mia awkwardly took place at the table between Hueningkai and Taehyun and Tae just stared at you. “Please tell me you’re not pregnant.”

“NO! Oh my god. Tae. No.” you give him a horrified look and pat your stomach.

“Thank god, I’m too young to be an uncle.” Hueningkai sighs in relief as he slouched in his seat.

“Yeah, when you said you were cooking us dinner cause you had an announcement to make I really thought Yeonjun finally knocked someone up.” Beomgyu snickers as he shoved a dumpling in his mouth.

You roll your eyes and look at the two empty seats. “Do you know where they are?”

Your question triggered a silence so awkward, you’ve never experienced anything like it in your friend group.

Taehyun looked at Beomgyu, and Beomgyu looked at Hueningkai; while Hueningkai looked to Taehyun to take the lead.

“I-uhh…” Tae starts, but he stopped himself. He didn’t know how much you both knew of the situation so he decided against speaking about it.

“They had some errands to run. I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”

Beomgyu visibly relaxed in his seat at Tae made up an alibi for the boys’ whereabouts, but Mia – being the hyper-aware one – narrowed her eyes at them.

The boys collectively agreed on pretending they didn’t know what was going on until either Yeonjun or Soobin would tell them themselves. They wanted to give them; and especially Yeonjun, time to process and didn’t want to push him into explaining the situation to them if he wasn’t ready for it.

Also, they felt bad for eavesdropping and weren’t sure how to start the conversation even if they wanted to.

The twisting of your lock snaps you out of the moment and suddenly fear takes over your entire body. The trauma triggered by Lita’s minion trying to break your lock last night was the cause of your shocked Pikachu face, but when you see Soobin and Yeonjun in your door opening you relax instantly.

You gave Soobin a key, how could you forget.

“Oh, I didn’t expect you guys here so soon.” Hueningkai comments, which made Gyu and Tae look at him with threatening eyes.

“Where else would we be?” Soobin asks as he walks towards the table. He greeted you with a kiss on your head, and Mia with a kiss on her cheek before he sat down next to you.

The distance between Mia and Soobin was still odd, he’d normally kiss her lips but he played it off well as he slid his chair towards the table while eyeing the food closely.

Yeonjun on the other hand; greeted you with a soft smile while simply petting your head before he sat down on the opposite side of Soobin.

The atmosphere was odd. Yeonjun was uncharacteristically quiet but you figured it was because of everything that was going on and honestly you couldn’t blame him. His head must be the fullest out of all of you, so you made sure to keep the conversation light and airy.

Your funny group dynamic slowly returned, and before you knew it, it was already time for dessert.

“I’ll help you.” Yeonjun offered as he cleared the table.

You were in your kitchen, taking a deep breath as you were cutting up the last brownie, prettily putting it on a plate with some red berries on the side.

As Yeonjun approached with the dishes, he watched you carefully. He put the dirty plates in the sink before he nudged your shoulder softly to get your attention, pulling you out of your concentration of perfectly assembling your masterpiece.

You look up, and you’re met with his beautiful soft smile. His eyes were glistening and he sighed contently. “You went all out,” he comments as he watches you do your thing. “Yeah, maybe I should deliver one to my designated security guard in the parking lot,” you joke under your breath and even though your sense of humor was pretty dark given the situation, he seemed to appreciate it as he giggled. Your heart did a thing at the sound. You missed it. You missed hearing his loud laugh. You missed seeing him happy.

“There’s actually new information I want to share with you and Mia, but we’ll have to wait until the boys leave.”

You look at him shortly before you avert your gaze back on the task at hand. You really didn’t know if the timing was right to talk about your exchange to Brown University but given the fact that you were leaving so soon, you also knew that you didn’t have much of a choice.

Suddenly you felt guilty again for leaving in the midst of all of this, but he’d understand? Right?

You nod absentmindedly and tell him to sit down with the others so you could start decking the table and once everyone had a plate, you stood at the edge of your dinner table looking at them nervously.

They all give you puzzled looks, while Mia gave you a reassuring nod.

“So…they’re Brownies.”

Soobin chuckled, raising his eyebrow. “I can see that.”

“No well…they’re…brownies for…Brown University,” you explain nervously.

“Huh?” Beomgyu breaks the silence, his eyes darting from the plate to you.

All eyes were on you by now, expectantly waiting for you to continue.

“Remember that paper from this morning?”

“The one you got a 100 on?” Hueningkai asks.

“Yes, well. Uhm. Mr Davis sort of, might’ve sent it to a representative at Brown…and they want to like…fund my research or whatever,” you say avoiding eye contact as you fidget with the sleeves of your blouse.

“Brown!? Dude. That’s…insane!” Taehyun exclaims enthusiastically.

“God, and here I thought you really were pregnant.” Beomgyu huffs. “But this is amazing!”

“Yes, congratulations sis, you really deserved it!” Hueningkai says with a bright smile.

You look at them with an elated facial expression, happy that they’re happy for you. But then you turn your head and look at Soobin who has literal tears in his eyes.

“…Soobin?” you lean in to see if your eyes were deceiving you but they weren't. His eyes really were teary.

“Hyung are those tears?” Taehyun asks wide-eyed.

He sniffed, wiping his eyes as he got up from the chair to trap you into a tight hug. “I’m just really proud of you,” he mumbles.

As you’re trapped in his bear-hug, your nerves fade. “Finally some good news,” he whispers into your ear. And you close your eyes at the solace of this peaceful moment.

Yes, it really is good news. And only now you realize just how amazing it is that you’ve accomplished this all on your own. You finally get to be happy about it now that you’ve told them.

When he let go, you finally make eye contact with Yeonjun and he had an equally proud smile on his face to match Soobin’s.

“This is amazing, y/n. You earned it.” he says with glistening pupils and your heart raced at his sweet remark.

“So, how long will you be gone for? Like a week? Two weeks?” Beomgyu asks as he chews on the fudgy brownie you made them.

Oh…shit. You didn’t tell them how long you’d be gone for.

You shoot Mia a panicked look but her facial expression only matched yours.

“Uhm…”

All eyes were on you again. They were full of hope, expectation, and pride; and for some reason, you knew you were going to ruin the moment.

“It’s…about a semester-long,” you admit, and all of their facial expressions fall at the same time.

“That’s…six months.” Soobin realizes. It hit him that his best friend; who he’s never been more than a week without, will leave his side for half a year for the first time in his life.

“Damn…that’s a long time…” Taehyun says looking from you to Yeonjun with concern.

You didn’t dare look at him, but you knew that all of them were.

Mia bit her lip as she looked at how sad Soobin had gotten, but her gaze averted to Yeonjun and her look changed from sadness to confusion.

Yeonjun was…smiling.

Your eyes found his as he smiled at you fondly. He’s dying inside, but of course, he wouldn’t tell you that. There’s no way in hell he’d ruin this moment for you.

He had to man up and show his best fake smile because he’d never guilt trip you into not going. The opportunity was too big to let go, and honestly. You being far, very far away from this whole mess kind of eased his mind.

You’d be safe.

Without him around.

“What?” he asks trying to sound genuinely confused as to why everyone was looking at him.

“Aren’t you…upset?” Mia asks carefully, which made Yeonjun look at her briefly before looking at everyone’s equally worried facial expressions, including yours.

You expected every possible reaction, except this one, and it lowkey scared you.

“How could I be upset?” he says with an eye-smile as he breaks off a piece of the brownie, shoving it into his mouth while giving all of you innocent puppy-eyes.

Someone get this man an Oscar.

You didn’t know if you should be happy or sad that he reacted the way he did. You’d rather have him yell at you for leaving him, that’d be a lot less unnerving than the scarily calm and collected man sitting in front of you right now.

“Hyung, she’s leaving for half a year.” Beomgyu tries to make this clearer, thinking that Yeonjun didn’t understand, but he did, fully.

“I know. Look, I will obviously miss y/n. But what good will it do if I let my emotions get the best of me right now? This is supposed to be a joyful moment. She’s worked for this her whole life guys. Let’s be proud and happy for her. It’s almost like you all want me to freak out?”

Every single one of you was absolutely dumbfounded by his comment. It was mature of him, that’s for sure, but you expected at least some emotion other than this capitalist smile he had on his face.

“Let’s give them some time alone,” Soobin says as he got up. “I will talk to you later.” He states as he passes by you, squeezing your hand in reassurance.

Your pupils dart from him to Mia and the rest of the boys in panic. Oh no, please don’t leave.

Yeonjun still sat at your dinner table like a robot while the rest of them quickly thanked you for dinner as they left your place, taking their brownies with them.

They all followed Soobin obediently and after Mia whispered in your ear to call her if anything popped off, she left. And you were all alone with Yeonjun.

You turn around on your heels. Making your way to your dinner table again as your heart thumped in your chest.

You carefully approach him, pulling out a chair to sit beside him and you just silently take his hand.

He refused to make eye contact with you, and suddenly you felt like the biggest dick in the universe.

“Please don’t make me say it,” he says.

“Say what?” you squeeze his hand, waiting for him to respond.

“Please don’t make me tell you that I want you to stay, because I do. But I could never, ever be that selfish.”

“Yeonjun….I’m the selfish one.”

His eyes shot up to look at yours. His pupils were dilated, alarmed, and startled.

“No, you’re not. You’re going. End of story, and when you come back, I’m going to love you just as much, maybe even more than when you left.”

Your eyes start to fill with tears, and he’s quick to notice as he pulled you into his lap, cradling you like a baby.

“Hey, shhh. Don’t cry.” his voice was laced with sadness as he watched you cry. He hated the sight more than anything and tried to wipe your tears with his thumbs.

“Yeonjun, I don’t want to abandon you.” You sniff into his neck as all the tension and nerves of making this life-altering decision get to you.

It’s not like you weren’t coming back, but 6 months is a long time. You weren’t the same person you were 2 months ago, let alone 6.

“You’re not, don’t say that.”

“I don’t want you to hate me,” you mumble as you sniff.

“I could never hate you y/n. Ever.” He assured you of his true feelings as he rubbed your back, trying to soothe your pain as you cried into the crook of his neck.

His cold fingers caressed your cheek, and he closed his eyes for a second. Listening to you cry softly in silence as he contemplated on what to say.

“This is supposed to be a good thing baby…why are you crying.”

Baby. He hasn’t called you that in a while.

"Because I don't want to leave you."

He was trying his hardest to keep it together, but to be honest he was one push away from a mental breakdown.

He needed you, now more than ever. But Yeonjun would never tell you that, cause you’d stay for him, and he knew it.

“Maybe space is what we need,” he says with a heavy heart, and your tears immediately stopped.

You look up at him. What did he just say to you?

He sighed, tracing his fingers over your lips before tugging at your chin to pull you closer. He placed his lips on yours and kissed you softly, passionately, and lovingly before he pulls away to rest his forehead against yours.

“Let’s be real y/n. Being with me has only complicated things. Maybe we can use these 6 months and try to grow separately before we can be great together…”

Mia said the exact same thing, but if he’s saying what you think he’s saying; then you honestly didn’t want to hear it.

Long-distance would be rough, but it’d be better than not having him at all.

You wipe your tears away with your sleeve and sniff once again, trying to collect yourself before you start to speak again.

“You want to end whatever it is that we have?”

“No…and yes…”

“Why…” you sounded absolutely broken as your voice cracked, it made his heart hurt for you so he sighed loudly. Looking you in the eye with desperation.

“Because I can’t love you the way you deserve to be loved y/n. At least not now. I'm...fucked up.”

You look at him with glassy eyes, shocked to hear his confession. You leaving was just the final straw. He has tried to do this before when he planned to stay back home and work for Choi Enterprises, but this was the first time he said it. With actual words.

“Why? What changed. I thought that-”

“Lita confessed.” He interrupts you before you could make any assumptions yourself.

“W-what?”

“She confessed, I have to leave for home next Wednesday to testify against her in court. Everything’s going so fucking fast…”

“Next Wednesday? I also leave next Wednesday...” you mumble softly.

His eyes grew big. “You’re leaving that soon?”

You nod, biting your lip, and notice how Yeonjun had trouble putting his thoughts into words so you encourage him by caressing his cheek, nodding at him to let him know that it was ok to say whatever was on his mind; even if it didn’t make sense.

He rubbed his temple in agony before avoiding your piercing gaze as he spoke. “I thought I had enough to deal with when my dad died, but her confessing that she was capable of doing all the things she’s done felt even worse than my fathers’ death. This time it feels like I lost a real parent y/n. I don’t’ know how to move on from this…”

“And this is exactly why I’m not leaving,” you say getting up in a hurry as you frantically start looking for your phone.

He watched you a little startled at your sudden changed demeanor and got on his feet just as quick.

“Hey, hey, hey.” He grabbed your wrists, making you look at him. “What are you doing?”

“Finding my phone, I’m calling Mr. Davis. I’m canceling the whole thing.”

“No, you’re not.” Yeonjun’s tone was serious.

“You are going. You are going to take this once in a lifetime opportunity, and change history with your research do you hear me? You could help so many people with this. It’s your passion. Your dream. And you’re telling me you’re ready to drop all of that…because of me?”

You didn’t know what else to do other than nod. Yes. You were ready to drop it all for him, but Yeonjun just shook his head in disbelief.

“No, y/n. I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For saying what I’m about to say, but you’re not going to ruin your life like this. I won’t drag you down with me. I won’t ever let that happen.”

“So what are you saying?” you looked at him with teary eyes, your pupils darting back and forth before he let go of you.

‘I’m saying that…we need to hit pause on whatever this is.” He couldn’t believe he said this.

He really didn’t. And he felt instant regret as he watched your face crumble.

He wasn’t the only one with abandonment issues, because so were you.

He promised your dad that he’d never break your heart, yet here he was. In your living room, looking at you fall apart, and he was the cause of it all.

“I’m sorry y/n. I love you. I really do. That’s why I’m doing this,” he says as he cups your face in his hands. Tears were also starting to fall from his eyes by now, and you just stood there in his hold. Completely lost and frozen.

“Please don’t hate me,” he whispered as he buried his face in your hair to muffle his soft sobs. He wrapped his arms around you tightly, holding on to you one more time before he couldn’t anymore. He took the chance and kissed you once more. You let his lips ghost over yours before you pull away.

“I could never hate you Yeonjun.”

Before you knew it, Wednesday rolled around.

It felt like only yesterday when you told your friends that you were leaving, and today you actually were.

Soobin helped you with your suitcase as the rest of them trailed behind you with long faces.

They were all there to send you off, except for Yeonjun. He had to leave early to catch his flight back home to testify against Lita in court, and honestly, you were glad he wasn't here right now. Seeing him again after your tearful goodbye was something you weren’t ready for.

The timing of things was just incredibly wrong, and you wished you were able to support him throughout the whole legal process and emotional storm he had to go through back home but you couldn’t, and you both already made peace with it.

You were a single woman again. Leaving to live a different life at a new school.

You both decided it’d be for the better like this since both of you were going to walk different life paths from now on, at least for the next six months. It wasn’t certain if things would go back to normal upon your return in the future and that uncertainty is what hurt you the most.

With a heavy heart, you turn around to face your friends when you arrive at the check-in desk, and without a word, a big group hug is formed.

“We’ll miss you,” Hueningkai mumbles into the hug.

“Even I will.” Taehyun sighs.

You let go of them with a smile, knowing you have to put on a brave face for this to not turn into yet another emotional tear-fest.

“I’ll be back before you know it. And it’s not like I’m dying guys. There’s this thing called the internet. We can still see and talk to each other.” You chuckle as you nudge Beomgyu who was pouting at you and you wrap an arm around Taehyun who was standing next to you.

You avert your gaze from the boys and make eye contact with Soobin who wasn’t the best at concealing his emotions.

He pouted as he sniffed, wiping his eye.

Mia chuckled. “Are you crying AGAIN?”

“No. I have something in my eye.”

“Yes. I can see it.” Beomgyu says as he leans forward to look into Soobin’s eyes dramatically. “It’s a dust particle called little bitch.”

“Shut up.” Soobin huffs as he shoves the younger one away, and all of you burst into laughter.

Thank god for that moment of laughter, it took the edge off and made everything a lot less emo.

You had a long talk with Soobin the night before when he helped you pack your stuff. The hard part was over with, though you could tell he was still struggling to let you go. But he knew that it was all for the greater good.

You sighed as you walked up to him for a tight hug, and as you let go of each other you give Mia a smirk “Look after him for me will ya.”

“You know I will.” She smiles at you as she pulls you in for a hug as well, and suddenly it got really warm again as the boys wrapped themselves into the hug once more.

You giggle, looking at them one last time before you take a hold of your suitcase.

The check-in for your flight had started, and you were called to move in line.

“Bye guys.”

You wave at each other as the distance became bigger and bigger, and when they were completely out of sight you’re able to breathe again.

You bite your lip, trying to suppress the urge to cry and run back to them. Run back to your safety net of the people you loved and cared for the most, but you knew you had to do this.

You were excited to start a new adventure, but you wished you didn’t have to sacrifice so much to be able to do it.

Your phone buzzed in your pocket as you sat at your gate, lost in thought while you waited to board the airplane.

Your eyes widen when you saw his name pop up in your notifications and quickly open your messenger app.

[Yeonjun, 10.43 AM]: Good luck on your new journey and have a safe flight. I wish I could be there to send you off but just know I’m thinking of you. Always.

[Yeonjun, 10.44 AM]: Take care y/n. I love you.

Chapter 14 - The Finale

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