#i started a fire at my parents house in their fire place that normally takes my mom or dad like 20+ mins

[trans-librarian]

Call me a pyro main because I am flaming. Also I start fires for fun.

[slut4thebroken]

Second Chances

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Pairing | Emmett x reader

Summary | Emmett takes advantage of your kindness and hospitality.

Warnings | Smut, 18+, non con, emotional manipulation, praise, guilt tripping, very large age gap, painful sex, first time, breeding, crying, bro has hella trauma fr.

Words | 2.5 k

Notes | Direct result of my Emmett brain rot (Also two fics in one day??🫣)

Ao3 link | <3

Masterlist

“Here you go.” You smiled, handing the steaming mug to him. 

“Thanks.” His voice was quiet as he took it from you and held it in his lap. 

“What’s your name?” You asked, sitting down next to him, hoping you weren’t intruding too much. He paused for a moment, seemingly debating if he actually wanted to make conversation with you and give you “personal” information about himself. 

“Emmett.” He finally said. 

You gave him your name and watched as his eyes dragged down your body, taking in every inch of you. With a blush, you cleared your throat and looked away for a moment to gather your thoughts. “Are you sure you don’t need anything else? Are you warm enough?” He looked over you again with a neutral expression that made you squirm a little. 

“Actually I’m still a little cold. Is there anywhere I could go that’s inside?” 

“Oh- yes! Of course.” You said quickly as you got to your feet. “My parents will be out of the house for another couple of hours so you can use some extra blankets and maybe lay down on the couch for a while.” You smiled. He didn’t return the expression as he stood up and followed you for a couple minutes until you finally walked up a porch to the front door. 

“Okay, let me just grab another blanket and then I’ll start the fire place as well.” You ran off to retrieve a blanket and when you came back, he was sitting on the couch looking around the room. 

He gave you a small “thank you” after you handed him the blanket and you could feel his eyes on you as you walked forward, then kneeled down in front of the fireplace. “You live here with your parents?” He suddenly asked, almost startling you. 

“Yeah. Since there’s three of us, we got our own place. A lot of other people had to share.” He hummed in acknowledgment and you finished up with starting the fire before turning around to face him, finding his eyes already on you. “Can I get you anything else?” 

“This is more than enough.” He said softly. 

“Okay… Well, I’ll let you rest. If you’re hungry I can try to make something?” You offered with a kind smile. 

“Actually I’d rather talk with you.” 

“Oh-” You said, eyes widening in surprise— He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would want to make small talk with a stranger. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes. It’s been a while since I’ve talked to someone like this.” You hesitantly got up and sat down next to him on the couch. 

“Like what?” You asked curiously. 

“So loud… and about things other than survival.” His voice was still quiet, but this time there was a bit of a solemn undertone to it. 

“Oh.” You bit your lip, trying to think of what to say, but not really knowing how to approach this. “You never… had anyone to talk to about normal stuff? Surely it wasn’t all survival.” You can’t even imagine what he must have experienced. When he suddenly looked away and clenched his jaw, you realized that you might’ve over stepped. “I’m sorry, that was— I shouldn't have pried…”

“It’s fine. I had a family, but they’re gone now.” He still wasn’t looking at you. Taking one last sip from the mug, he leaned forward, then placed it on the coffee table. 

“God, I- I’m so sorry.” You said quietly. 

“It’s silly, but… I miss being able to hug them— to hug people.” He finally looked at you again, this time with a sad smile. “I remember the last time I felt someone’s touch… 11 weeks ago.” That must have been when his family died…

“Would you like a hug?” You offered nervously, hoping you weren’t too bold again. He studied you for another moment before nodding. 

“That would be really nice.” Once you had his approval, you moved closer and wrapped your arms around him, letting him do the same even though his wet clothes were starting to dampen yours. He let out a quiet breath and relaxed into the embrace. “Thank you… I’ve been so lonely.” He whispered, making you frown. 

“You won’t have to be anymore. The people here are very kind, you’ll make plenty of friends.” 

“I can tell.” His voice was a little amused now and he pulled back just enough to look at you. “If it’s not too much trouble… could I hug you a little more?” 

“Of course.” You said instantly, then let out a startled sound when he lifted you onto his lap so you were straddling his thighs. You thought he meant more as in for a longer period of time, not.. this…

“Thank you.” He said again, pulling you closer and burying his face in the crook of your neck. You were stiff for a few seconds, still trying to process this new development, but finally you relaxed into him and hugged him a little tighter. “I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like.” He whispered against your neck. 

“To hug?” You wondered, trying to understand. 

“Yes. But also the gentle touch of a woman.” A blush took over your face and you cleared your throat awkwardly. “You know, my wife… I was with her when she passed.” He said quietly. You were already dreading where this was going, not sure you could handle learning about any more of the pain he’s suffered since the start of everything. “I had a really hard time understanding and accepting this… but she said she wanted me to move on. To be happy again.” One of his arms stayed wrapped around your upper body, but the other moved a little lower, pulling you closer so your hips were also flush with his. 

“Emmett…” You said quietly, trying to pull away, but he just tightened his grip and you finally felt the bulge pressed up against your heat. You tried not to gasp at the realization.

“Shh… It’s okay. I just— You look so much like her…” You had no idea what to say. You’ve never been in a position like this before. “I’m sorry.” He suddenly pulled away and you stared down at him in confusion. “I’m sorry. I don’t deserve this. Not after everything I’ve done— everything I didn’t do.” Your lips parted, but no words could come out for a moment.  

“You deserve feeling safe and cared for. Everything you had to do was for the sake of staying alive.” At least you assumed it was. Honestly you have no idea what he’s done. “And it’s not your fault— what happened to your family. You did everything you could.” You said softly and he started shaking his head. “Yes. You can’t blame yourself, Emmett. Maybe that’s why your wife said that to you before she passed… because she knew how much you’d struggle with it.” 

“You remind me of her so much.” He said through a choked sob, making you freeze. You had no idea he’d get so emotional. Not knowing what else to do, you just pulled him back into the hug and held him tightly. “That’s exactly the kind of response she would’ve given.” He croaked. In response, you just hugged him even tighter. 

“It’s okay…” You whispered. “I’m so sorry, Emmett. No one deserves to go through what you have.” 

“It hurts.” He cried, making your heart ache for him. 

“Tell me what you need. How can I help?” You said quickly, not wanting to see him like this any longer. 

“Can I— can I kiss you?”

“What?!” You choked out, making him pull back to look at you. The tear tracks on his cheeks were far less than what you thought they’d be, but maybe they just wiped off on your dress. 

“Please. I miss her so much and… god you look exactly like her.” He whispered, bringing a hand up to cup your cheek. 

“I…” You’ve never kissed anyone before. Are you really about to give it away to a stranger you just met less than an hour ago? “Emmett…”

“I know I don’t deserve it— I know. But I just… it hurts so bad, I can’t take it.” He all but whimpered, making your hesitant expression melt into something softer and more sympathetic. 

“…I’ve never kissed anyone before.” You admitted quietly and you swore his eyes darkened, but it was too hard to really tell. 

“I know I’m asking far too much of you— I know I don’t deserve your kindness,” 

“Stop saying things like that.” You frowned. “You deserve kindness, you deserve to feel loved, just like everyone else.” He stared at you for a moment, his eyes still glossy with tears, then he was suddenly leaning forward and capturing your lips in a kiss. You let out a muffled sound of surprise and brought your hands to his chest, trying to push him away. In response, he snaked his hand around your head to grasp your hair, holding you still as he moaned quietly. 

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled against your lips. You let out another startled sound when he suddenly threw you off of him so you were laying on your back on the couch. Before you could move away, he was crawling over you, kissing you again as his hands roamed your body. 

“Emmett-” You tried to say as you continued pushing his chest, but he was too strong. “Stop!” 

“I know.” He panted before snaking his hand down your stomach all the way to the apex of your thighs. He slipped under your dress easily and roughly cupped your sex, making you whimper. 

“Emmett, please stop.” 

“I will. I will— I just need this. I haven’t been with a woman in so long…” He whispered. “I promise I’ll be fast.” 

“Please don’t,” You whimpered, already feeling tears brimming in your eyes. 

“I know. I’m sorry.” His hand suddenly left your body to open his pants and free his cock, then he was pulling your panties to the side and lining up. 

“Please! I- I’m a..” You sobbed, trying anything to get this to stop. 

“I’ll be gentle.” He promised, then faltered and added, “At least… I’ll try to be.” When you felt the head of his cock drag through your folds, your body went completely rigid. 

“Please! Emmett, please don’t,” You cried, still trying to push him away. 

“Shh…” The blunt head of his cock was against your entrance now, pushing as hard as possible, trying to fit inside you. When he finally breached your opening, his hand slapped over your mouth, muffling your shrill scream. “Oh— fuck… I'm not gonna last.” He moaned loudly, letting his head drop down for a moment. The tears in your eyes were finally falling and you sobbed almost violently behind his hand. Your crying only got worse though when he continued pushing in. 

“Almost there.” He whispered and you let out an anguished sob in response. It felt like you were being ripped open as he continued pushing deeper, a lot farther than what you could comfortably take. “Good girl… Just a little more.” Your body was trembling from the pain and you started clawing at him, trying anything to get this to stop. But he was undeterred. When he finally bottomed out, he let out a low groan that was overshadowed by your cry of pain. 

“I know… I’m sorry. Fuck, you feel so good. Just like how she felt.” He whispered. “I think she’d be happy that it’s you.” He gave you a small smile, then slowly pulled out until only the tip was inside before forcing it back in. 

“Please!” You cried, the word coming out muffled from behind his hand. 

“God- your cunt is so good.” He groaned, picking up the pace, making you cry harder. 

“Stop! Please…” You whimpered brokenly. 

“I know, baby. I’m almost done, I promise.” He said breathily. You tried kicking your legs, thrashing under him, pushing him away, but he was too strong. “Just a little longer, you’re doing so good.” He removed his hand, but before you could scream, he was kissing you again. This time, he shoved his tongue passed your parted lips, licking into your mouth in a desperate, almost feral manner. That, along with the fact that you couldn’t focus on this kiss because of how hard you were crying, made it incredibly messy and sloppy and wet. 

He snapped his hips into you, chasing his orgasm as he kissed you like he’d never be able to kiss anyone ever again, making it feel like you could barely breathe. Mostly because of the kiss, but also because of how overwhelming the pain of the stretch was. He continued kissing you and his facial hair felt scratchy against face, only furthering your discomfort. 

“I’m close.” He whispered against your lips. At least it was almost over. “I haven’t filled up a cunt in over a year.” He practically growled, making you stiffen again. 

“N-no… Emmett, please don’t. Please pull out.” You begged desperately, trying to speak coherently through all of the crying. 

“I thought you said I deserve this? That I deserve to finally be happy after everything.” He frowned, making you falter. 

“I didn’t mean… this.” You choked out, not sure what else to say. 

“I know…” He said quietly, letting his eyes flutter shut. “I’ll try to pull out.” 

“Emmett, please. You have to,” He leaned down and cut you off with another kiss as his thrusts became even rougher. 

“You’re such a good girl…” He murmured against your lips, breathing heavily as he neared his release. “So good. I’m gonna make you mine. I’ll take care of you, just like I took care of her. But we’ll be safe this time...” You shook your head, unable to do anything else. “No monsters, no illness— It’s gonna be perfect. We’ll even have some boys, yeah?”

“No,” You sobbed, quickly feeling defeated. You couldn’t stop this no matter how hard you tried. “Please, Emmett… I just turned 18, I- I can’t…” He moaned quietly when you said that. 

“Shh. Yes you can. I’ll help you, baby, we’ll do it together.” You shook your head in disagreement as you continued to cry. “Fuck,” He choked out, eyes closing again. “Ready?” 

“No— no, Emmett… please. Please pull out!” You yelled, making him curse under his breath. With one final groan, he forced his cock all the way in, pushing up against your cervix uncomfortably. 

“Oh, good girl.” He moaned, lazily rutting into you as he rode out his high. “So fucking good. So tight… milking every fucking drop.” He said proudly, making you cry harder at the verbal reminder that he just came inside you. 

“Emmett…” You whimpered, feeling his cock twitch inside you. 

“Thank you.” He said through a breath. “Thank you so much.” He almost sounded like he was about to cry in relief and that made you falter. This man has been alone for weeks, just haunted by the memories of his family with no real outlet or source of comfort. So when someone finally offered him some… he jumped at the chance immediately. You probably would’ve done the same, had you lost your entire family. 

“And I meant what I said. I’m going to keep you safe this time, I promise.” He said quietly, reaching down to feel where his cock was bulging your stomach— where a baby would be growing soon enough. “All of you.” 

[from-beyond-the-woods]

Alright I'll bite. I live in Israel, yes. I served in the army, yeah. Does Israel mistreat Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank? Absolutely. My friends who are still enlisted tell me about the shit show that goes in there every day. I get it, there are a million reasons to hate the government and the IDF and whoever else you point fingers to. No side is innocent.

But assholes on motorcycles and in pickup trucks broke through the fence, entered civilian towns and military outposts alike, and just started MASACARING EVERYONE. THIS SHIT IS UNPRECEDENTED. And some MIGHT tiptoe around the point, and say that taking over outposts is fair because it's an occupation force and colonialism and what have you, but for fucks sake

They entered civilian homes. They shot everyone who moved. In locked houses, they set the home on fire and shot the families as they fled. I heard the phone calls - people screaming and begging for their lives as terrorists are walking around their home, stealing possessions, massacring everyone.

They didn't just murder colonialists, militants, occupying forces. They murdered kids who should've gone to school today. Parents working local agriculture, teachers, normal guys with an office job. They murdered dozens of elderly people who couldn't run away.

Not only murdered. Kidnapped. Living and dead, put on pickup trucks and herded back to Gaza. Stripped naked, desecrated and paraded around Gaza. I dare you to tell me the party goers, who were at a rave near one of the Kibbutzim near the fence, deserved to be shot at as they ran to safety. Hundreds of people missing. My Instagram stories filled with their faces, and a phone number attached - "help us find our loved ones. Contact lost. If anyone knows anything-" and at this point I skip them because there's nothing I can do.

My friends are enlisted down there. We're just a bunch of 20 year olds. My best friend is defending one of the villages who were infiltrated, she's trading shots with gunmen who already murdered half the place, she's messaging me once in a while to let me know she's alive. She should've been home for the weekend, we were supposed to watch Chicago now that it's on Netflix. Now neither of us sleeps, she's putting her life on the line and I'm wide awake terrified of the moment they call me and tell me she's gone.

This is mostly a rant. If you read all of it, thanks. I live up north, no need to worry for my safety for now. I don't have a good ending for this. Just, stay safe, I guess.

[ofjunemoment]

work it | na jaemin

Jaemin can’t quite keep a part time job; every time he gets hired, he somehow fucks up enough to be fired straight away. But he just can’t get fired from his job with you, not until he successfully asks you out on a date, anyway.

OR: How many times can your cover Jaemin’s mistakes before you blow up, or him. 

pairing — jaemin x fem!reader

genre — restaurant!au, slowburn, fluff, humour, smut (MDNI)

wc — 20k 

content — profanity, both jaemin and reader work at a chinese restaurant, kun, jaehyun, mark and shotaro mentioned, waitressing dynamics (im gonna be honest most of this is just me throwing words together and hoping for the best), smut tags below the cut :)

a/n —  *sniff* my baby.... i loved writing this so much because the dynamics is something i truly enjoy ^^ there were times i wanted to strngle myself because i just couldn’t think of how to but the scenarios into words but here it is <3 hope you guys have fun reading!!!! 

smut tags — making out, boob/nipple play, fingering, pet names, just the slightest bit of a dom/sub dynamic, lmk if i missed anything <3

Jaemin is in the back room of the pet store, looking at a big bag of dog food and a laminated paper with the number of servings needed for each pet section when he hears his boss call for him.

“Jaemin? You doing okay here?” He turns around to look at Mr Choi, showing a light smile and a thumbs up.

“All good sir, just trying to familiarise myself with each serving of the pet food before I try feeding them.” He waves the card around, the lanyard attached to it swishing around. Today was his third time coming in with a shift at the pet store, and although the place isn’t near his house, it wasn’t far from his campus either, which ultimately makes his travel easier. If he can go all this way to a lecture he won’t even remember, he can go again and again to make some cash and help his sobbing wallet.

Mr Choi grins, plump fingers clapping together in delight. “I knew I could trust you. You’ve worked in so many places so you must have adapted quicker.” At this, Jaemin’s smile strains a bit as he lays his hand on one of the food packets to seem normal. He’s not wrong, Mr Choi— Jaemin has worked at a lot of places. He started when he was fourteen at his uncle's small business in the night markets, looking after keychains and phone cases while his uncle would try to sell items with his marketing voice. His task was to answer customers when they asked for the price, and to find out the price he just had to remember the prices — and if he was really struggling, his uncle quips, you can look behind each sections name tag, where the prices are written in vibrant red.

But he was confident with the prices, who would forget that the key chains cost 500 won and the cases cost 1000 won?

Of course he wouldn’t forget, but he wasn’t correct either. The five and fifteen behind those items were actually 5,000 won and 10,000 won. And throughout the entire day when he would receive coins instead of the colourful notes his uncle was collecting, he didn’t even question it; he just thought his uncle was a top-tier marketer. Needless to say, he was ‘fired’ (he’s not sure if he was even supposed to be paid for his labour) and his parents took out the money he credited to his uncle from his savings.

You would think that the brutal action of taking someone's hard-earned pocket money would deter them from trying another job again until they were fully prepared to take on such professionalism. But Jaemin was devastated at the fact that he had lost his chore money while sitting down on a plastic stool in the hot summer's night market. And so he tried to get another job to attain back the money.

At age fifteen, for his birthday present, he had asked for a job opportunity from his parents. Reluctantly, they had asked one of their neighbours if they’d like to get their lawn mowed. After seeing Jaemin in the backyard a few times doing the gardening, they weren’t abhorred by the idea of paying him a small fee to clean their lawns. Excited, he set to work with the mowing, which was something he would do, but he didn’t remember if it was the growing bush on his left side or right that he was to avoid at all costs. Turns out it was both, which attained Mrs Choi’s sacred tea sprouts that she’d imported from one of the islands in between Malaysia and Indonesia, and it costs an arm and a leg, he recalls her saying. The horror on her face, when she saw the shaved-down plot of land, was something Jaemin never wishes on his worst enemy and all the while desires to draw frame to frame.

But of course, it didn’t end there. He worked at a convenience store and a local retail store when he was sixteen, but was fired from the first and never received his roster from the latter. He thought that maybe local stores were just too picky with their quality of work due to having to compete against monopoly businesses, and so he opted to turn to chain businesses instead. He worked at McDonald’s and almost deep-fried his instructor's hand when being taught how to work the fries, and barely batted an eye when a few teenagers shoplifted the stores’ display clothes when he was working the chain clothing store at the mall near his house. To his defence, he’d thought that they were his coworkers changing the clothes on display with their casual dress code of the workplace, and so naturally, he didn’t think much of it. His longest-lasting job was at a general retail store he was hired for during Christmas, where he lasted for three weeks due to his supervisor being too busy to catch Jaemin’s mistake.

It’s a miracle really that he’s lasted three solid days at this place, but there isn’t much he can screw up in a pet shop; so far all he’s tasked to do is feed the fishes, as they’re the easiest to feed, and discard the box with hamster and rabbit poop for compost. Surprisingly, they’re both placed in the same corner of the room, but they’re kept in different storage boxes. Jaemin remembers how green means compost, and blue means fish; it makes sense, so he just goes to the blue one and scoops one full scoop into a mini bucket, before going into the store and feeding the fish. With the compost bin, he simply fits it onto a wheeler before going out to the back and dumping it into the designated compost area.

Jaemin sniffles a bit, before placing the laminated poster back on the shelf, checking his watch for the time. “Oh,” He exclaims, “It’s lunchtime for the fishes,” His smile towards his boss might just be pushing it, but it seems like he’s doing a great job at, well, keeping this job; anything resembling ass-kissing, he’ll try. As long as it guarantees a longer stay for him of course.

Mr Choi laughs heartily, sending Jaemin a thumbs up as he slowly filters out of the back room while Jaemin heads to the blue tin. What he misses is how the relief from Mr Choi’s face turns into sheer horror, as he sees Jaemin scoop into the blue tin and drop the pendant-like substances into the fish’s designated feeder.

“Stop!” Jaemin drops the scooper into the tin as his boss yells out, his blood running cold at the sudden shout. “Jaemin..have you been using—” Mr Choi’s eyes widen as he cuts himself off, going back to the store with hurried steps. Jaemin is very confused, as he has his hand midway in the air from Mr Choi’s exclaim, standing in the backroom like an NPC only activated when a main character comes to him for a quest.

But, miraculously, he can move his feet as he hears another shout of— a woman? Or maybe it was just Mr Choi’s sheer…excitement of Jaemin’s dedication to his job? But what he sees when he gets out of the back room and into the main store isn’t a surprise party held for Jaemin and his efforts (okay, he thought that maybe this was all a ploy to just show his new staff some appreciation; he’s still sceptical about the horror in Mr Choi’s voice, can you blame him?). What he’s instead met with is his boss’ and how his hands are clenched on his already thinning scalp — Jaemin winces when he sees a strand slowly descend to the floor— as he skids left and right around the aquariums.

It isn’t until Jaemin takes a closer look and sees that the fishes he thought were sleeping are now, well, permanently sleeping; on the floor of the aquariums, save with a few floating slowly, hanging on for Mr Choi’s happiness or the longevity of Jaemin’s work streak. He later finds out that fish float when sleeping.

“Jaemin, oh my god— the blue tin is the compost bin, and the green one is the fish food! I’ve told you about this two times, there’s even a fish sign on the green tin, how could you not tell?!” Jaemin might be tripping, but he swears he can see the bald patch on his boss’ head growing steadily.

Of course, now wouldn’t be the best time for him to point out scalp care remedies, and so he settles for the next best thing; “I thought the fish sign meant that they just…smell really bad…” Mr Choi now has his hand splayed across his face before he slowly goes to rub at his eyes, and nose bridge next, probably preventing a stress-induced nosebleed.

He points towards the front of the store, where the counter sits next to the door, finger jabbing up and down. Jaemin takes this as a sign to get some tissues from behind the counter, or his boss’ water bottle that always seems to have unlimited tea; but before he can even get back to him, with his eyes still close, in the softest tone Mr Choi says “... Out.”

He would’ve stopped his job hunting there, to be honest; but he’s in the last year of his course and is living with a roommate in a separate flat from his parents, which means he has to have at least some money to buy some necessities like groceries, much less pay rent.

He tells this much to Mark when he asks why Jaemin decided to work at a gym straight after working at a pet shop, and also what his resume looks like for people to still be keen to hire someone like him. He completely evades the second question, happily confiding in his friend about the job at a gym he picked up a week after being fired from sending the fishes into a food coma.

(“…Too soon?”

“Yeah, maybe a little bit.”)

And when Mark asks how Jaemin’s day was as a conversation starter, he vulnerably confides in him about losing his job again. This time working at a gym, he was assigned the task of giving out flyers and talking to people about why they would benefit from going to the gym, according to the outline he was provided in this big binder, the corner of the cover peeling off with age. While he was trying to promote the gym and give the discount flyers, he got into a long-winded conversation with this one old man who was talking about how the treadmill ‘fucked his knee up’, which had Jaemin thinking if treadmills existed in the 1980s.

They were five minutes into Jaemin searching the creation of gyms on Naver and the old man scolding him for not listening to a customer even though he was ‘not yet a customer because you haven’t accepted the flyer, now have you?’  when his supervisor comes out and yanks on Jaemin’s ‘employee in training’ lanyard from around his neck. Jaemin wasn’t sure what factor was the tipping point, but Mark thinks it was because he was on his phone during work hours.

“Or maybe the fact that you were stuck talking to someone likely to be the last person to ever sign up to a gym?” Mark is spinning his pen as he says this, looking up from his laptop screen towards Jaemin. Mark doesn’t even write his notes by hand, so it’s truly beyond him why he’s brought a high-class fountain pen to their study session at Jaemin’s, but that should be the last of his worries.

“Actually, they did have yoga and treadmill training for those aged sixty-five and above, so I wasn’t even targeting the wrong market.”

“Are you saying you’ve been wrongfully fired?” Mark sports an amused smile at Jaemin as if he’s laughing along with his joke; but that’s the problem, he wasn’t joking.

“Don’t laugh at my demise,” Jaemin smacks Mark’s arm, and he would feel bad at the wince that the latter lets out if he hadn’t been on the receiving end of his brutal laugh-hitting habit five out of seven times in the past week. Mark slowly halts his laughing fit when he sees Jaemin sulking, suddenly turning soft.

“Alright, you know what, here,” Mark fishes out his wallet as he says this, twisting and turning his bag on Jaemin’s bed. He gives the latter 10,000 won, waving his hand out towards Jaemin’s window. “Go ahead and get some snacks, my treat. And get me the watermelon-flavoured ice cream too?”

Jaemin scoffs. “You’re only doing this because you’re too lazy to get it yourself.” Mark’s smile is sheepish.

“Well, do you have 10,000 won to spare?” That shuts Jaemin up, as he snatches the notes out of Mark’s hand with a glare.

“When I do get 10,000 won, I’m making you eat the note,” Mark’s laugh is nervous as Jaemin marches out.

The cold hold of the ice cream contrasts the warmth in Jaemin’s hand, as the walk back to his unit proves to be a good remedy for taking a mental break from studying, as he decides to take a long way back; partially because the walk through Central parks is nice, but mainly because he wants Mark’s ice cream to have melted into a gross mush when he gets back.

Walking through the park, the rustle of the plastic bag and the tree branches are the only sounds echoing throughout, with Jaemin swinging his arm leisurely. The park is a circle shapen thread of grass with benches and pathways swirling around it, adorned with a children's playground in one corner, and the park's famous Yoshino cherry tree sitting right in the middle of the whole scene. The walk from the ice cream store back to his unit, the long way, requires Jaemin to walk through the park and the line of stores and restaurants in company with the park’s facilities. For as long as he’s lived here, three out of four of the store slots have been busy with business and traffic; all but one.

Unit store 1279 is infamous for dooming local businesses whenever someone applies for its lease. Jaemin has seen two restaurants and at least three cafes open and close, all with varying reasons for closing; the landlord is a nightmare to deal with, a corner of the store leaks something green but only when no one pays attention, and lastly about how there’s a ghost that lingers near the back door, sending cold shivers down staff and patrons alike when they pass through the door.

Out of all these rumours, Jaemin truly has yet to see one of them be proven true, the landlord was friendly enough to send welcoming flowers when each business would open; and close. He was keen to feel the shiver of the ghost's presence course through his body when he visited two openings ago but to no avail.

However, the reason why he finds the store so intriguing today is related to neither of those rumours; right on the glass door of the supposed vacant spot is an estate-sealed sticker adorned with bold letters spelling out “SOLD”. Not leased, but sold, with just below the official sticker being a recruitment post, a single slip of the business's phone number flapping in the light breeze.

We are looking for part-time staff. Starting rate at 25,000 won per hour. No prior experience is required.

Jaemin shifts from one foot to another as he eyes the piece of A4 paper taped to the door. Isn't this fate? A store opening right near where he lives, willing to accept someone with no experience, and the last slip of number is left? All while Mark’s ice cream is melting in his bag. This is the universe's calling if he knows of any.

Jaemin paces around the living room while Shotaro sits on the couch, head tilting left and right to the opposite rhythm of Jaemin’s paces as he tries to look past his whizzing figure and to the TV. If Shotaro had even a single mean bone in his body, he would ever so kindly tell Jaemin to stop pacing and maybe instead stand in one place, if he’s comfortable to of course. But as far as Jaemin is aware, he flinches at the sight of a fly, and is much less able to hurt one, so, of course, he doesn’t tell Jaemin to stop obscuring his vision, and instead turns to look at him, ignoring his show.

“Are you okay?” He asks, and Jaemin finally deflates, seeing this as an invitation to rant to his roommate. Plopping himself right next to Shotaro on the three-seated couch, he links their arms together by the elbow, needing something to ground himself.

“I wanna call this place and see if I can get a job, but I don’t know how to go about it; is there such a thing as a verbal resume?”

“You mean, an interview?” Shotaro provides, hand hovering slightly in the air as he contemplates patting Jaemin’s hand in comfort, but not for long as Jaemin separates them with a look of shock on his face.

“So that’s the word I was looking for?” He frowns to himself in contemplation, before sulking right back into Shotaro’s bicep. He doesn’t think they’ve passed the phases required to get this close to his former, but he’s too stressed about fucking up another job, and Shotaro seems to not mind this sort of interaction.

“If you find it so stressful to call them and have a phone interview, why don’t you send them a text?” Jaemin doesn’t know if this is truly coming from the goodness in his heart or if this is just something that everyone knows. Either way, the words put him at ease as he stands from the couch, patting Shotaro on the shoulder in thanks.

“You’re right! They didn’t specify their expectations; they just had phone number slips and a recruitment notice. You’re a genius Shotaro,” To that, the boy flushes with a shy smile on his face, but before Jaemin can hear him say something about how he didn’t do anything, and that he would love to help you even a little bit, Jaemin has headed off to his room and is curating a message to send.

To: +82 10-7854-4793

Hello, My name is Jaemin and I am interested in working in your establishment. When can I come in for an interview?

From: +82 10-7854-4793

Hello Jaemin. We are grateful for your enthusiasm, could you stop by next Thursday at 12 p.m at the Tao Village restaurant? Please bring a copy of your resume and provide a USB of a soft copy of said resume. We look forward to hearing from you.

To: Tao Village HR person (I think)

Yes I am available :) Thank you

Jaemin was not quite sure what is an appropriate outfit for when you want to be interviewed for a job as a waitress, but Shotaro’s eyes had dimmed just the slightest when he saw Jaemin step out of his room with jeans and a hoodie.

“Is that what you’re gonna wear?” His tone was far from condescending, even with the smile on his face, he looked more like a proud mom, but Jaemin could tell when his roommate may be slightly disappointed with a poor choice, so he had gone back and dressed up in some slacks he had and a polo shirt tucked in. he hopes he doesn’t see people he knows, or worse, Mark, because he knows he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

Now he’s situated in front of the store, the ‘sold’ sticker now nowhere to be seen and a light glow shining through from the glass door, but the sun shinning from outside obscures any other view Jaemin could peak from the inside, as he sees more of his own reflection instead. Hand clasped on a clear folder and a USB with his resume, he pats his head one last time before opening the door and stepping in.

He’s been inside this store a few times over the past few cafes and restaurants, and so he’s not surprised to be met with a whole new interior. On the contrary, he’s quite pleased with the choices that the current owner of the store has made, with the walls now an even slate with ivory-coloured paint instead of the rundown orange brick that the last restaurant had. There are tables and chairs fit for two, and a last one for six people uninformed from left to right, with a counter and a curtain obscuring what he assumes is the kitchen towards the end of the restaurant.

Jaemin was too enamoured with taking in the whole place that he had completely missed the mini counter situated a bit to his left, with you standing behind, confused as to why someone has came in to simply look at the interior design and not, well, the menu.

A clear of your throat startles Jaemin out of his daze, as he looks towards you with the initial look of annoyance before his expression melts.

She’s so pretty. What the fuck? Does she work here? Is this a needed requirement? Maybe Jaemin should’ve topped up with a bit of cologne or something to truly seal his spot, but before he could embarrass himself by very subtly going to smell his shirt, you start.

“Hi, welcome to Tao Village, how can I help you?” He’s not sure if you’re using a customer service voice on him but it proves to work as he immediately thinks of how sweet your voice sounds. But Jaemin doesn’t want you to think he’s a creep who follows pretty women around and ask for their number the minute they open their mouth (he was so, so, tempted to ask for yours), so he tries a better way to ease in.

“I need to…speak to your manager.” His strong voice startles you both, as your eyes widen a bit before you lean back from the counter, now wary.

‘Is…is everything okay? My manager is unavailable at the moment.” Your eyes flit back to the curtain, where Jaemin assumes the head of this whole place is at the moment. His brows furrow further as he looks down at his watch. Twelve p.m., on the dot like the person he had texted requested. There must be a mistake.

“No, I’m sure they’re here. Maybe somewhere at the back? I need to speak to them,” he’s not sure why he’s suddenly being so demanding (he suspects that it's the polo shirt he’s wearing) but he’s nervous and he doesn’t want to be rejected before he was even given a chance to prove himself.

“I’m sorry if I offended you in any way, sir,” You voice out, now leaning back with your hand situated on the ring button placed below the counter, in case of emergencies or to be able to call for backup from the back of the kitchen. You didn’t think that you’d use it this early, “Can I make it up to you or help you in any form?”

Before you get to ring the button or Jaemin gets to backtrack, the curtains pull back and out comes a man in his mid-twenties, wearing an apron and holding a… paintbrush?

“Is everything alright?” He drops the paintbrush into its respective tray before he steps closer towards the two of you. You point at a faint smear of paint that’s caught on his cheek, mentioning silently to rub it off. Still, when he gets the memo and goes to wipe it off, he ends up smearing it further into his skin, his expression not wavering from its seriousness. It’s when he does a one-over at Jaemin that it all clicks.

“Oh! You must be here for the interview.” He pats down on his apron as if checking his bearings. “Kun said he’ll be back by now; that’s alright, have a seat.” He offers one of the two-seater tables, as Jaemin shuffles his way onward to take a seat, plopping himself on the opposite side of who he assumes is the boss of this place, as he takes his apron off and goes to brush at his clothes, before taking a look at his stained hands and deciding otherwise.

“Thank you for coming, my name is Jaehyun and I’ll just give you a brief breakdown of this place,” Jaemin nods as he rubs his palms against his jeans, thinking about how much he truly knew about this job. Come to think of it, he has no clue what the job he’s applying for even entails, just that they need staff who don’t necessarily need any experience (Jaemin does have some experience, maybe not the right kind) and were willing to pay enough for him to be able to pay his rent and only eat instant noodles two times a week, instead of the standard eight.

“We’re called Tao Village, and we offer a range of Chinese cuisines. I run this place with Kun, who was the one that got in contact with you. Both he and I cook, so we’re always in the kitchen. I have my niece,” That’s when Jaehyun points at you, which you don’t hear as you set up cutlery on tables with your earphones in, completely tuned out. “But she needs help for when we get a bit busier, or when it’s closing time; I can’t stay back because I have to wake up early the next day for the stores' essentials. We can show you the ropes but so far I just need you to work from Friday till Sunday.” Jaemin does his best to listen and store the information, but he realises that Jaehyun’s waiting for his reply.

“Yes, that should be okay,” He gave a thumbs up and a tight-lipped smile, which he slowly brings down when he sees Jaehyun’s stare on his hand.

“Great,” Jaehyun claps, standing up and reaching for the apron he placed on his lap before wrapping it around himself. “Well, the official opening of this place is on Saturday. Come in on Friday and we’ll try to acquaint you with the basics.” With a clap on the shoulder and a grimace of a smile - can it even be considered one? -  Jaehyun hands him a brochure-like menu of the restaurant, telling him that if he can memorise it as soon as possible it will be helpful.

You’re wiping down the counter when Jaemin stands to leave, and when he shoots you a barely-there smile, all you do is look away.

“You got another job?” Mark sounds surprised when he says this, and that puts Jaemin off, because, of course, he got another job.

“What was I supposed to do? Stay jobless and have Shotaro pay all the rent and food expenses?” Jaemin’s on laundry duty this week, and is being mindful of what colours are supposed to go together according to the laminated piece of paper Shotaro taped above the washing machine.

“Knowing him, he probably would offer to pay your uni fee too.” Mark tosses up a pair of bundled-up socks as he says this. “Wait, so where do you work now?”

“At the new restaurant, you know the haunted place just past the park?” Mark hums as he says this. “I’m a waitress, er, waiter there now. From Friday to Sunday. Which is good because I only have classes throughout the weekday.”

“And you barely get invited out during the weekends anyways,” Mark snickers as he says this, but misses catching the sock as Jaemin grabs a pair of used underwear and throws it directly at the boy, barely missing the undergarment as he looks at him wide-eyed. Words of ‘ew dude’ and ‘that’s gross’ goes into one ear and out the other as he picks the briefs back up and shoves them in the washing machine, closing its door and starting it off.

“Well, I have a good feeling about it this time,”

“Are you gonna blame the ghost for your- wait, did you put any detergent in?”

“ …Does it not come with detergent already?”

Jaemin picks a lint off of his shoulder, before smoothing his hand down his shirt and his pants next. He was told to wear an all-black attire, not sweatpants or hoods, so he stuck with a simple t-shirt and some black jeans.  He doesn’t know why he’s exceptionally nervous this time when all the other times he was only caught praying to last more than a weeks worth of paycheck. For some reason, he’s not keen on crossing his boss this time - Jaehyun seems scary.

Stepping forward, his hands find the handle and with one deep breath, he pushes the door. Except it doesn’t budge.

He steps back and looks through the glass of the door, seeing if anyone is inside. When he doesn’t find anyone, he pushes once more, and one more time with all his body weight; yet it doesn’t budge.

“I swear they asked me to come in at four,” He fishes his phone out of his pocket, looking at the time while his face stays squished against the door. Not even a second later, he hears the click of the door unlocking, and before his reflex could take over and help him step back, he’s launched forward and onto the ground.

“Oh my god, are you okay? Why would you cling to the door like that?” Your voice reaches his ears as he’s situated on the floor, and he then realises that his fingers were latched onto the door handle when you pulled the door to let him in.

Your slack-covered knees come into his vision first, before your face enters his view, albeit upside down.

“You didn’t get a concussion from that alone, did you?” Sounding so serious, Jaemin couldn’t help but laugh slightly at your words as he pushes himself up to his elbows, brushing at his shirt before inspecting it for any dirt. So much for looking wanting to look presentable.

“Jaehyun’s not here yet, and Kun’s stepped out just then,” Jaemin realises this is the most he’s heard you speak since the first time he’s seen you, as he sees your standing figure reaches a hand out to him, offering to help him up. He gladly accepts it, but is mindful to not pull all his weight.

“Oh,” Is all he can muster, now sheepish at the fact that your second impression of him is not any better than the first. His eyes scan around the place as he finds new additions since last week, such as a few ink-wash paintings on the wall and paper lanterns lining down the ceiling instead of the LED lamps that Jaemin saw last. Even the staff counter looks more lived in compared to the glimpse he caught before, with what looks like a brand new electric kettle and two mugs with silicone lids, one with a peach and another with a bear as their handles.

Not knowing what else to say, his eyes seek yours for any sort of initiative; hoping that you will catch his gaze and give a smile, all while explaining to him the in’s and out of this place, like how should he take orders, if there’s a particular way to fold the tissues that are placed on the tables, and if the Fujian fried rice of this restaurant is the one with or without pumpkin. Simple details.

But you all but look back at him, instead you drop your gaze away from him entirely and go to the staff counter at the back of the restaurant, picking up and taking a look at the kettle before you go behind the curtains that lead to the kitchen, out of Jaemin’s sight. He’s not sure if he’s even allowed there as a rookie staff, so he doesn’t play with his luck and instead trudges behind the counter at the door. After a few minutes of poking and prodding at things like the card reader and a pen cup, the front door swings open and in comes a tall man with red hair, holding plastic bags full of an assortment of things from food to cutlery.

“Oh, you must be Jaemin,” Jaemin straightens his back at the mention of his name, nodding his head and bowing in lieu of a greeting. The man trudges through the restaurant, the bursting plastic bags bumping into the chairs every now and then, and not long after the door swings open once more to reveal Jaehyun.

“Jaemin! You’re,” He gives his watch a glance, “On time! How pleasant, come, have you met Kun? Let’s go into the kitchen first.” Jaehyun manages to say this all with an expressionless face, but Jaemin does not feel like he’s being condescending, following his now-boss silently through the restaurant, past the main staff counter and the curtains and into the kitchen. Boxes are perched on the metal counters of the restaurant’s kitchen, filled with what Jaemin guesses are the containers for the ingredients of the dishes, and some restaurant plates, as well as takeaway boxes and bags. You’re taking out the abundance of takeaway container lids from boxes that take up two-thirds of your height, stocking them up on the top shelf.

“Kun, have you met Jaemin? I’m not sure we’ve given him a proper tour of the place,” Jaemin doesn’t think he’s gotten any sort of tour of the whole place, so all he does is politely shake his head.

Kun grunts as he places another big box next to your unpacking figure, the impact of it barely making you flinch. He looks at Jaehyun before his gaze falls on Jaemin, and with a smile and a wave of his hand, he goes through the backdoor of the kitchen without looking back.

Jaemin is guided through the whole place, with Kun showing him the storage room and the cold room, which conveniently has a sliding door; the singular bathroom of the whole place, and the main part of the restaurant.

“You don’t need to prepare much for tomorrow, it says in your resume that you’ve worked in a lot of places for short amounts of time, which gives me the impression that you can pick up traits easily,” Jaemin delivers a stiff smile as he feels Kun clasp a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Me and Jaehyun will just tell you the way we work, but first I need you to help with the unpacking. Any questions?”

Jaemin nods his head, taking the chance to now ask his burning question. “Will I get paid for today?”

Kun just laughs and pats him twice on the shoulder, shaking his head and heading to the kitchen, shoulders bunching up now and then.

Tasked with the job of organising the cutlery, Jaemin places the metal spoons and forks into the cutlery tray placed next to the plates and bowls for setting up the tables. You’re here too, wiping down the window and the glass door, emitting any sort of stain. Jaemin tries his best to not let his gaze wander on for too long, wanting to be in your good books. From what it seems, you seem just as important as both Kun and Jaehyun, so he doesn’t want to risk doing anything wrong, or piss you off. He also thinks you’re really pretty and would like to ask you out, but that’s beside the point.

It’s when you’re getting up from wiping the bottom of the window when you hear the clatter of plastic. Turning around, your eyes widen when you see Jaemin and the plastic forks he was supposed to put away at his feet.

“I…” There goes Jaemin’s one and only chance. He isn’t even being paid for this and he’s gonna get fired, right in front of the person he was trying to rizz up, too. Before he can say anymore and save his reputation, you whizz past him and into the kitchen, the curtains flying around you but you’re mindful enough to shut them back, not letting the sight of Jaemin with a bunch of forks splayed around him like he’s being sacrificed to the fast-food culinary Gods. He hears Kun and Jaehyun’s voices coming through the curtains, variations of them asking if everything is alright, to which you answer with the clutter of pots and pans.

Coming back with a big metal bowl, Jaemin’s eyes widen as you kneel — for the second time today — at his legs, picking up the forks frantically and placing them in the metal basin.

“Are you gonna help?”

And now he’s on his knees too. Scooping up the forks and placing them in the bowl, once every single fork is off the floor, you rush towards the undermount sink at the corner of the staff counter just as footsteps echo from the kitchen and Jaheyun’s figure emerges.

“Is everything good?” Jaemin feels paralysed, unable to decipher anything since the doom he felt spilling all the single-use forks onto the floor.

“Yup,” You answer nonchalantly, filling up the basin full of forks with water and a few drops of dish soap. “Just thought to rinse these clean first before…” You pause for a second as you look at Jaemin, before trailing your gaze to Jaehyun with a smile. “Before Jaemin organises them.”

Jaehyun simply nods his head before he trudges back to the kitchen, and Jaemin barely gets to utter a ‘thank you’ before you walk past him and into the kitchen.

“So she just helped you? That simply?” Jaemin’s smile is all but smug, as he cracks open his beer and clinks it against Marks, both taking generous sips.

“What can I say? I charmed her with my natural skills,”

“The natural skills of messing things up,” Mark scoffs at him before leaning over to get a piece of fried chicken out of the takeout box. “She probably pitied you for making a rookie mistake.” He starts munching on the chicken and hums in delight, following it with a sip of his beer. Jaemin reaches to pick up a pickled radish.

“Well, rookie mistake or not, she likes me enough to help me. You should come to work tomorrow for the grand opening, and while you’re at it bring everyone else too; I swear she doesn’t even like people,” Mark laughs in delight at Jaemin’s invitation, promising to come up with something.

Mouth full, he asks, “How long do you think you’ll last?”

“Swallow your fucking food first before jetting all your spit at me dude,”

In the same black polo shirt, Jaemin steps in at noon, just like his boss number one (Kun) asked him to, while boss number two (Jaehyun) had emphasised that calling him this early is to ease him in easier into the culinary business. Jaemin doesn’t mind, he’s just glad that he’s being paid for today's work.

He greets you with a wave as soon as he gets in, to which you wave back before going to the kitchen and announcing his presence.

“Jaemin’s here now,” You come back out and stand at the staff counter, taking the kettle and filling it up with water to boil. Going behind the counter, he places his phone and earbuds into his pocket, remembering that they were prohibited unless he’s on his break. Once the water is boiled, you pour it into the two mugs Jaemin remembers seeing yesterday, before putting it back on its stand and taking the mugs back into the kitchen.

Jaemin simply fiddles around, not knowing what to do. It looks like his presence on Friday was needed to set things up, but now that it’s all done, he can only wait for a customer to walk or call in, or either one of you to give him a command; he’s weary this time ‘round to not fuck anything up.

Coming back out right behind Kun, you busy yourself at the counter next to the door while Kun comes up to Jaemin, patting him on the back.

“Don’t worry about doing much today, it’s just a soft opening and not a lot of people know about our business anyways. I’m just expecting maybe two or three takeaway orders and just a handful of tables. This could be a good chance for you to bond with each other, yeah?” But before Jaemin could take in the fact that Kun had wanted some sort of bonding to happen, his mind got caught on the words ‘soft opening’.

“Wait, so today’s only the …soft opening.” Careful with his tone, Jaemin tries to make it sound like he’s just restating a fact rather than being surprised. Kun is too busy drinking from his hot water to notice Jaemin’s nervous front.

“Yup, Jaehyun and I decided it would be best to have a grand opening maybe after we got to test the waters out.” He places the silicon lid with the bear cover back on his cup to retain the heat, and Jaemin really can’t help but feel like something bad is brewing. But before he could even voice out a word, the door to the restaurant opens with a bell resounding, and in swarm a pack of ten or so customers, and a blob that looks like Mark.

“Yoo, this place is quite neat,” Apparently it talks like Mark too.

Both shocked still with wide eyes, trying to make sense of where and how this many people all came together into the restaurant just minutes after the soft opening, Jaemin just hopes that nothing about Mark and what seems like a club he gathered from the university can be somehow linked back to him. It doesn’t seem like the universe is keen on taking his side, however, as he sees Mark’s eyes squint and searches around the restaurant, knowingly searching for him. Jaemin doesn’t know why he hasn’t tried looking at where the general staff area would be, like at the door or where he’s currently situated, but before he could duck to hide or face his impending doom, you miraculously step in.

“Hello, welcome to Tao Village, how can I help you?” You sport a kind but mute smile, hands clasped together politely.

“Yeah, can I have, like, a table or something?”

“Sure, for how many people?”

“Ooh! Good question… I think there’s like, ten of us at the moment.”

“Is it alright if I were to ask you to sit separately? Since you’re walking in, we didn’t have the opportunity to set up. Just in two groups of three and one table for four maybe?” Jaemin doesn’t know how you do it, but his shoulders sag when Mark gives you a thumbs up, going back to the group of people all loitering around the entrance, telling them that they will just break into subunits.

Kun has somehow slipped away without any notice, which left just Jaemin behind the counter for you to encounter when you head towards the bottled water in the fridge. “Can you help me with the water? I’ll take their orders and you can just follow along first,” With a nod of his head, you press the bottle into his hands, waving him off as you reach for a server notepad, writing down table numbers and heading to the tables.

With your presence and the two chefs busy in the kitchen, Jaemin doesn’t do much but avoid eye contact with Mark and listen to you pick up the scarce phone orders that come through; trying his best to learn how to pick up such skill. After the third time of the phone ringing and Jaemin staying in place, simply looking at you to pick up the phone, you pick it up and press the answer button, before pressing it against his ear and giving an encouraging nod.

It turns out to be a scam call, with the person on the other end attempting to sell Jaemin a double-doored fridge with a touch screen and dual ice and water dispenser, all while Jaemin tries to promote the restaurant.

“With the dual dispenser, you can fill your glass up with both water and ice at the same time so your water doesn’t go too cold on the first si-“

“The mapo tofu is a great dish to order, as tofu proves to be a primary source of iron, easily accessible and cheap with the rising price of meat.”

“…It’s a Samsung model which has been on limited release—“

“Do you want the food or not?”

(The telemarketer hesitates just a bit before stating that they’ll call another time.)

Nothing else happens, you two go to the kitchen whenever a sound of the bell ringing resounds, signalling that a dish is ready to be served, and Jaemin uses all of his brain power and logic skills to pick up dishes that are for tables that Mark isn't seated at.

He successfully gets to do all that is required of him and stealthily avoids Mark, silently celebrating as he sees you place fortune cookies at every table, signalling that it’s time for them to pay the bill and leave.

But of course, nothing good ever lasts.

“Jaemin, bro,” Mark must’ve been some assassin in his past life because Jaemin barely notices him creeping up to him until he’s already wrapped in a handshake and a bro hug. “Well done dude, you barely made a mistake today. Yo, the food was good too, you should bring back some of the Mongolian lambs every now and then, yeah? I’ll see you later,” And with two claps on his back, he’s fishing his pockets for spare change as he heads towards the front counter and near the door, finding a singular coin before placing it in your palm, smiling as if he’s single-handedly pulled you out of poverty.

“Your friend?” You murmur towards him, looking at the coin in distaste.

“Yeah, unfortunately so.”

“I can’t do it,” Jaemin is shaking his head and hands vehemently; making him feel even more sick than he was.

You roll your eyes at him, holding the restaurant's phone in your hand. “You have to start somewhere, you can’t just avoid it now and expect to be miraculously good one day. I swear once you learn how to pick up phone orders you’ll only want to do that.” You explain, before putting your free hand out, palm facing up, encouraging Jaemin to do the same. Once he follows, not without a lot of hesitation, of course, you gently place the phone in his hand, closing his fingers around it with two hands before giving it a light pat.

“Now,” You pick up Jaehyun's phone that's placed on the counter, dialling the restaurant's number before placing yourself on the other side of the restaurant to cease any echoes. “I’m gonna call and act like a customer, you try writing down the order details.” With a nod of his head, you press the dial and turn the other way around, opting to look away to make Jaemin less nervous.

With a deep breath in, he picks up. “Hi, welcome to Tao Village,” He pauses, looking at you for any sign of motivation, but continues when he notices you waiting. “What would you like to order?”

“Jaemin,” Your voice sounds in the dining area and not through the phone, as you turn slightly to look at him with the phone tucked into your chest. “Some customers might not order food straight away. Maybe try asking how you can be of assistance,”

“Hello, welcome to Tao Village restaurant. Uh, how can I help?” Jaemin tries again, to which you reply with a bunch of dish names, asking for the different types of sauces that come with the mixed vegetables, as he tries his best to answer with what he remembers and writes down the prices of each dish from the takeaway menu.

“Uh, okay. Is that, did you want anything else?”

“Nope, I’m good. What's the total?” Jaemin fumbles with the calculator, shoulders hunched over the counter, punching in the numbers and writing down the total on the piece of paper. “That would be around 38,000 won.”

“Are you sure?” This time your voice is right by his ear without the phone pressed against it, your arm brushing against his side. Jaemin doesn’t even have the time to be scared, distracted by the proximity of you two as you reach over and use the calculator.

“It came up to 42,000 won. Did you forget to calculate the buns?”

“Oh,” Jaemin splutters. “Maybe, my bad.” Although this all sounds so new to Jaemin, he doesn’t feel as overwhelmed as he thought he would; with every other job he had, there would be someone assigned to help Jaemin understand the ropes of the place, but everyone else would add something on too, like how folding clothes the ‘Marie Kondo way’ was is even more efficient, even if that defeats the whole purpose of displaying a t-shirt at a department store.

You coach him through the quirks one by one, not moving on until Jaemin shows that he’s somewhat picked up the action. It all feels like a dream come true, with you guiding him as if you know that he couldn’t last a week into his job without actually knowing that. He’s just not sure how effective it will be in the long run. And it turns out that he doesn’t need to wait long to find out, as the ringing of the phone echoes in the restaurant devoid of any noise except for the soft piano background music.

Nodding your head at him, Jaemin picks up the phone and only hesitates for half a ring before he presses accept, bringing the phone to his ear and repeating the welcome phrase. It all goes well, with the customer asking if they can make a phone order for pick up, to which Jaemin replies ‘Why yes, of course you may’, and the sound of a car door closing sounds through the phones speakers, and suddenly the quality of the customers' voice sounds like hot garbage as their phone connects to their cars’ bluetooth.

“Sorry, did you say you wanted mixed vegetables in rooster sauce? Sorry, we don’t offer— oh. Oyster sauce. Yup,” You look at him with a confused look on your face, curious as to why Jaemin can’t understand the person when everything was good. The furrow of your eyebrows and the scratching sound from the phone sets Jaemin off, as the customer mutters something about ‘how many times do I have to repeat myself?’.

Jaemin writes down what he can understand, writing down the name ‘Kai’ and giving the customer the estimated waiting time, before hanging up the phone.

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” You give him a pat on the shoulder, taking the slip of paper from his hand, wincing as you take a look at the scribbles writing of the dish names and their prices. “It’ll just go up from here. Hey, tell you what, why don’t you try remembering the ingredients of our fried rice, and see if you can differentiate between which one is the normal one and the special one without looking at the names, yeah? I’ll go help set up the ingredients for cooking these dishes,” And with one last tap, you disappear behind the curtains, taking a pen with you and correcting the mistakes before providing it to the two chefs.

You’re busy talking at a table of customers when the door swings open and in walks a customer, which leaves Jaemin to tend to them instead. With a customer service smile, he clears his throat and greets them.

“How can I help you?”

“Oh, I’m here to pick up an order. Under the name Kim I think? Sorry, I didn’t place the order but my dad did.” The woman scrolls through her phone as she says this, looking at what Jaemin guesses to be an exchange of texts between her and her dad. He ducks a bit to look at the dock under the table, where all the takeaways are brought and placed with the order slip attached to them with a piece of tape. He sees one with the name Kim and picks it up, removing the attached slip and placing it on top of the counter while the lady reaches for her wallet.

“Okay, uh, did you order the sweet and sour pork, with a large fried rice?” Jaemin reads off the food, a procedure you emphasised was important when dealing with takeaway orders. The lady nods, impatient as she swings her card around. He looks at the price at the end of the paper before punching it into the machine. Once the transaction goes through successfully and a receipt is printed, the woman quickly snatches the handle of the takeaway plastic bag and nods her head goodbye. Jaemin senses that something is wrong, off maybe even, and so he looks at the copy of the receipt and the contents of the order slip, looking at the other orders waiting at the dock and their contents and seeing that they all match their slips, and so with a shrug, he sets off to go back to the staff counter.

It isn’t until ten minutes pass that his wrongdoing was confirmed, as you call for his name from across the restaurant while sifting through the takeaway orders, a customer patiently looking over to see your interaction. He pulls up beside you, squatting down eye-level to the dock like you are before he whispers, “Did I do something wrong?”

“Where is the order for Kim? The one with the fried rice and sweet and sour pork? I remember bringing it here when it was packed at the back.” Jaemin feels his blood run cold at the mention of the order, a clear replay of his interaction with the woman coming in full blast.

“Oh… that…” At this, you pause your search and look at Jaemin, whose breath hitches at the short distance between your faces, courtesy of your crouched figures. You close your eyes, breathing in deeply to calm your nerves, before straightening up at lightning speed, knocking Jaemin over and onto the ground with an ‘oof’.

“Your order is still not ready yet, sorry for the inconvenience. I’ll go and check up on the progress, did you want to take a seat while you wait?” You smile at the customer, who nods back and says something about not minding the wait. You walk over Jaemin’s bent knees on the ground, going past him and into the kitchen.

He picks himself up quickly, making brief eye contact with the customer before looking at the curtains which you walked into. He’s doomed, you’re gonna tell Jaehyun and Kun about the mistake you made, and they’re gonna come out mad with their sleeves pulled up, ready to beat the shit out of him. He should’ve taken the self-defence class his mom recommended to him when he was twelve, maybe then he could do something to make the pain afterwards not hurt as much.

But before he could think about running out of the place with the bowl of fortune cookies (compensation for the beating that is due… possibly), you come back out, heading for the sink and filling up a glass of water while you place it on the table that the real Kim sits at.

“Shouldn’t be too long, they’re just finishing up on the sweet and sour pork. Here some water while you wait.” And now Jaemin is confused. He’s still on the floor of the restaurant with his brows furrowed and mouth hung open as if he’s gonna start throwing a temper tantrum. Your eyes widen ever so slightly when you catch a glimpse of him still on the ground where you left him, but your professionalism pushes through as you widen the smile on your face with a hum, before shuffling away towards his direction when the customer looks away. Pulling him up, Jaemin is only able to offer you a few murmurs of random words to voice his confusion.

“They’re making a new batch, I figured that someone provided a similar name and didn’t know the order details, which is why they accepted it. Don’t worry, they don’t know that you mixed it up,” Jaemin feels a sense of relief wash over him, looking at you with what he knows to be his puppy eyes; you make sure to look away.

“Isn’t it like, against the rules to not tell them?”

“Well, if you like rules so much, you can go ahead and take this takeaway order to the back and confess. Or you can split its payment with me and take what you like home. While you decide what to do, I’ll call the customer you gave the wrong order to and offer some apology coupon.” If it was professional to, Jaemin would give you the biggest head; but unfortunately, this isn’t the film industry, and so he sticks to the next best thing, which is to just look at you longingly.

In hindsight, five weeks have passed and Jaemin is still an employee of Tao Village, surpassing his longest streak of two weeks and five days at the retail store. Which calls for a celebration.

“To Jaemin,” Shotaro opens a can of beer with one hand, which truly impresses Jaemin, because he didn’t think that he knew what alcohol was, let alone drink it. “Who can finally pay his half of the rent on time,”

“You’re too nice, Shotaro,” Mark clinks his can against his and Jaemin’s at the toast, taking a sip. “I would’ve kicked him out as soon as he somehow disconnected the house's water system. You guys had to shower at the campus locker rooms for a week.”

Shotaro simply laughs as Jaemin lunges at Mark. “You don’t even live here, why do you keep coming? You should pay rent at this point too, fucker,”

Mark shoves at Jaemin’s face, which was really close to biting his shoulder, effectively avoiding a months-long bruise. He scooches away on the couch, leaning against the handle and sipping his beer. Jaemin picks up a piece of takeaway fried chicken, and it’s with his mouthful when Shotaro asks how he’s liking the place.

“It’s okay, it’s not too busy since it just opened and no one really knows of its existence. Except for when Mark brought a shitton of people on its soft opening day,”

“You told me it was the gran-”

“Anyway, thankfully I didn’t get into trouble for that. But I was close all the other times…”

Mark snorts while Shotaro mumbles something about how well Jaemin is doing. “What, did you do all the cliche mistakes?”

“Define cliche,” Jaemin speaks after taking another bite of the chicken, making Mark kick at his thigh lightly.  “Like, did you spill red wine on a customer? Or break a plate, or write down the wrong order. You know, restaurant waiter cliches.” Jaemin ponders for a second at this, thinking back to his five weeks of employment at the place.

“Not quite…” He tilts his head in thought, but before he could follow it up with anything, Shotaro and Mark clink their drinks together from opposite sides of the couch.

“Then that means you’ve finally healed! Let’s celebrate while we can,” Mark and Shotaro both chug at their drinks, and Jaemin would be ecstatic to join if it weren’t for the fact that it’s only three pm in the afternoon. But also because he doesn’t think he can celebrate yet.

“Shotaro, did you know about this person Jaemin’s working with as well? He has a massive boner for her but like, they barely interact.” Shotaro chuckles at this, glancing at Jaemin whose face is now red as he stumbles for an excuse.

“She must be really nice if you like her; does she help you around a lot?” Shotaro questions, making Jaemin flush even more.

“If only you knew,”

He picks up a carton of Sprite from the ground of the cold room, goosebumps erupt all over his forearms as Jaemin hurries out of the place, closing the door shut with his foot. Shuffling past the two chefs cooking and back into the dining area, he briefly searches for you before he finds you at the basin at the staff counter, washing the used cups.

“I brought the carton,” He announces, making you turn around.

“Thanks, do you mind placing it here? You can open the carton but be careful when you put it at the edge, it can spill out.” Your fingers are covered in sud as you point at the counter next to you. With a nod of his head, he perches the carton on the counter, half of it hanging out with the cluster of items placed, not providing enough room. As he gently prods open the cardboard packaging, he glances at you, back facing him as you lather the cups in soap one by one. Before he could continue with his task with his newfound motivation (your existence), you lean over and open the door to the mini glasswasher, backing up against him as you place the cups in.

He averts his gaze quickly, eyes wide from seeing you bend over like that, not wanting to lose his feminist streak from letting his mind wander so easily. As he continues to prod at the Sprite container, he feels the briefest brush of your legs against his, and he completely splutters, accidentally hooking his finger at the opening of the carton and ripping it open, making all the cans stacked against each other topple out and over the edge of the counter, one by one making an impact with the floor.

With a screech and a poor attempt of stopping the cans in motion, he squats to make it to the cans before they fully fall to the floor. But it seems like, yet again, the universe is not on his side, because not only does he fail to catch most of the descending drinks, the bridge of his nose makes contact with the edge of the counter, making him join the cans on the floor.

“Oh my god,” You’re shocked by the view in front of you, like some sort of twisted Renaissance painting. You reach down, and just as Jaemin is about to tell you not to worry about him, and that he can just die a beautiful death with the cans surrounding him, you pick up the fallen cans, inspecting them for any damage.

“You’re lucky none of these popped open, the floor would be sticky for days,” You mutter as you place the cans back on top of the counter, separating the ones that turned out fine and the dented ones. All the while Jaemin lies there, his nose throbbing, contemplating how he’s lasted here so far.

“Aren’t you gonna tell them?” He closes his eyes as he gently presses his cold fingers against his nose bridge, soothing the pain. The answer seems to be an obvious ‘yes’ if your lack of reply is anything to go by. A few seconds pass and he feels the cold contact of a can replacing where his hands were on his features, and when he opens his eyes, he sees your face above his, inspecting him.

“What is there to say? That you’re on the ground fighting against a nosebleed?” You taunt, removing the can and inspecting the spot with the gentle press of your fingers. Grabbing his hand and opening his palm, you place the dented can you used gesturing to his face.

“You can drink it once you’re done, they won’t notice,” Jaemin sits up as you say this, bringing the can up to his nose, pressing the cold against it as he watches you go back to turning on the machine and walking away, tending to other restaurant responsibilities.

Notepad and pen in hand, Jaemin walks to the table that raised their hand at him and delivers his best customer service smile. “Hello, welcome back to Tao. Would you like to order?” You had given Jaemin the heads up to look after this table exclusively.

“They’re this group of ladies that have nothing to do but spend their significant others’ money. They come like, almost every second day; something about wanting to support local businesses. And they give generous tips. No one does that.” You sigh. “I wish I had that much free time.”

The women smile at him, seemingly charmed. Jaemin knows the power he holds, and he also knows that if he bunches up his cheeks just right, he can have any woman over the age of fifty want to pinch them.

“What a charismatic boy,” one of them comments, and he blinks his eyes and tilts his head, smile still on his face feeling just slightly strained as he politely rejects the compliment, feigning humility.

“Okay, well can we start our entrees with a set of fried dim sims and spring rolls, and for the main course we’ll have the mapo tofu, fried rice— did you say you wanted Hokkien mee? One of those too please, and a serving of mixed vegetables with oyster sauce and chicken chow mien. No mushrooms for either, please. And for drinks, we’ll just have three tsingtao’s and one glass of Shiraz.” The woman drones, and Jaemin has a bit of difficulty catching up and writing down all the dishes she’s named, and so he repeats it all back once it’s done; a practice heavily encouraged by you.

When Jaemin finishes listing the dishes back and receives four nodding heads, he smiles in thanks and head’s to the kitchen, yelling out ‘New order!’ for the chefs to be aware of. Coming back out and placing a copy of the notepad at the staff counter, his smile turns genuine when he sees you, showcasing two thumbs up.

Now bashful, he says “I think I’ve replaced you as ‘favourite waiter’ now.” His smile is cheeky as he says this, with you rolling your eyes, pointing at the fridge near the counter instead. “Stop spewing bullshit and get the drinks ready. I’ll write down the prices of each dish.” With a salute and nod of his head, he goes to fetch the drinks from the fridge and the bottle of red wine nearby, as well as an empty wine glass. Preparing the drinks, your shoulders brush against each other in the tight space of the staff counter, with you looking back and forth between the menu and the order slip. Jaemin misses when your eyebrows furrow together, inspecting the slip for something.

“Uhm, Jaemin,” He hums back in response, eyes still focused on pouring no more than one standard drink of the wine. “Did you tell the kitchen that this is the table with a mushroom allergy?”

Jaemin’s heart drops to his ass.

His posture straightens immediately, vision zeroing in on the table he just took the order of, as his head slowly turns to you, a million thoughts run around in his head. With the expression he sports, you quickly grab a pen and a highlighter, running back into the kitchen as quickly as possible. Scanning the restaurant, when he sees all the customers occupied, he slowly slips away and into the kitchen, leaving them unattended to somehow save his ass, and from a possible murder case.

“—do you mean there’s a mushroom allergy? And why did none of you tell us? Of course the mixed vegetables and chow mien have vegetables in them.” Kun speaks as he cooks on the wok, lifting it every now and then as the clang of his wok’s spatula echoes out, mixing around the satay chicken.

“He wrote it down but just forgot to say it out loud,” You bluff, pointing at the copy of the slip that Jaemin brought back into the kitchen, now adorning the words ‘NO MUSHROOM’ in bold, highlighted letters at the top. Your other hand is clasped behind your back, holding the pen and highlighter. Jaehyun momentarily stops making his fried rice, coming up to the counter, and looking at you over it before snatching the slip, his aggressive manner making Jaemin wince slightly.

With a poor squint of his eyes, you and Jaemin wait with bated breaths for him to somehow finish reading the two words. When his eyes stop squinting, he spares a look at both you and Jaemin, placing the slip back down onto the counter before reaching into the bowl containing the ingredients for the dishes, fishing out the mushrooms and putting them back from where he originally picked them up, waving you both off. And you barely waste any time, muttering a sorry and going towards the curtains, pushing Jaemin out with you.

“Sorry. Thank you.” He doesn’t know what else to say, looking at you while you ignore his gaze so close to your face, centring him back to the staff counter. You shake your head and hand at him as if to say that he has nothing to be sorry about.

“Mistakes happen. Now can you put the puppy eyes away? We have a new customer to serve.”

“I’m not that stupid to bel— Hi, welcome to Tao Village. How can I help you?”

“Jaemin, do you think you could give the Chardonnay to table three? It’s for the man with the glasses,” You ask as you calculate the total of a takeaway order you just took, glancing at him to see if he’s available.

“Sure,” It turns out that you’ve already set out the glass and the bottle, as he opens the cap and pours it in, before taking a tray and placing the glass on it. You’ve taught him a few times to hold the tray with one hand, but he’s taking it slow and only using a single hand with drinks and sauces that he’s asked to deliver, not wanting to be too ambitious. Balancing it, he eyes for table number three and said man with glasses, strategically planning to swiftly arrive and deliver the drink.

As he waltz’s his way through, with his vision zeroed in on the customer, he completely misses the lady at the table before wanting to get out of her chair, completely skidding it across the floor and making an impact on Jaemin’s side.

Everything is suddenly carried out in slow motion, as he sees the fright on the woman's face, the tilt of his body and tray towards the customer settled on the table, the white wine toppling over the rim of the glass. If he retains his focus, maybe he can slow-mo recover and balance himself, only causing the wine to spill on the ground and maybe himself. He is willing to sacrifice his (Shotaro’s) black t-shirt.

Then he blinks.

A groan echoes and silent gasps are spilt, as he opens his eyes and sees first the man drenched in white wine, and Jaemin’s hand on his arm, balancing himself. Before he could even separate himself and apologise profusely, he is suddenly grabbed by the collar, and in his head, he’s already commemorating the lovely memories he’s made here with you and mourns how quickly he has to abandon the delusion that you two will end up together.

With one eye squeezed close, he’s not sure if it’s better to expect a punch or a slap against his face, but before he can anticipate either, he hears someone say “Excuse me, sir,”

“What do you want,” The man snarls at you, as you make eye contact with him, a silent customer-service-smile sported on your face as always.

“Apologies sir, but we don’t accept this sort of behaviour in our restaurant. Violence is not part of our values. I do ask of you to let out staff member go, you’re scaring him.” Jaemin can’t help but nod his head at the man, who glares at him before letting him go and jamming a finger into Jaemin’s chest.

“This boy spilt my drink all over me, how is that a part of your values?” He yells, making Jaemin wince at the loud volume, but you merely blink, stepping forward and closer to the customer, lowering your voice in an attempt to get him to soften his, too.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused sir, but this sort of behaviour is not tolerated. If you would allow our staff to apologise and we’ll-”

The customer scoffs, “Apologise? An apology isn’t gonna fix the stain caused on my shirt. Isn’t the customer always right? Who the fuck are you to speak to me like this,” He shoves you at your shoulder as he says this, causing you to stumble back into Jaemin’s figure, whose arms shoot out and hold you by the waist.

The curtains leading to the kitchen skid aside, and out steps Jaehyun. It all feels so dramatic if Jaemin were to look at it from a perspective of an outsider, as Jaehyun walks over to you three, his figure looming over all of you.

His smile is blinding, dimples forming on both his cheeks as he clasps his hands together. “Out,” Is all he says, hand now facing the door of the restaurant.

The man blanches. “But—”

Jaehyun merely shakes his head in a stern manner, smile suddenly dropping, pursing his lips as if taunting a child. Without making contact with the customer, he guides him gently towards the door, before the man gets the memo and stomps his way out. Jaehyun turns to the remaining customers at the table, providing a formal apology and confiding in them that they simply don’t tolerate this sort of behaviour towards their staff.

“Would you like to pack away your remaining food? You can pay at the counter just at the front, thank you for your understanding and apologies for the inconvenience,” And with that, he steps back into the kitchen, curtains shutting close as if they barely jostled. As you and Jaemin pick up the plates and pack the food into takeaway containers, Jaemin slowly approaches you, his arm brushing against yours.

“Are you okay,” He asks, voice solemn. It never feels nice to get yelled at by a customer, Jaemin’s just used to it, but he forgets that it can take a toll on different people.

Your smile is shy, barely looking in his direction as you click to close the lid of the container, grabbing both of your containers before placing them in a takeaway bag. “Yeah, I’m okay.” without a second glance, you walk to the front counter, giving the bag to the customer as well as the receipt.

“Can you two close up? Kun and I have to get up early tomorrow to make it to the fish market before the good quality scallops all sell out.” Jaehyun says this later in the day, as he folds his apron and places it on the staff counter. “I’ve already mopped the back. Do you have the keys?” He looks at you as he says this, to which you nod and give a thumbs up. With a nod of his head, he goes through the back door of the restaurant, leaving you two alone. Jaemin mops as you wipe the tables clean, preparing them to be set up once again tomorrow. Silence engulfs you two, with the only sounds being the slosh of the mop in the bucket and the scrape of chairs as you manoeuvre around them.

Jaemin decides that this is a good time to speak up. “Thank you for doing that,” He continues pumping the mop into the drainer part of the bucket, removing all excess water before plopping it back down. “I wouldn’t have minded if he had smacked me,” At this you laugh, cheeks bunching up cutely making Jaemin’s heart flutter.

“Did you want him to smack you?” You look into his eyes this time, the lights of the restaurant reflecting in your iris’. Jaemin thinks he could get used to this.

“Are you kink-shaming me? I doubt that’s allowed within the Tao VIllage values,”

“I’m not too sure. Hey, why don't we talk to the boss about it tomorrow?”

Jaemin’s grin is cheshire-like, “Wouldn't be the worst conversation I’d have,” At that you raise an eyebrow, to which he throws a wink. A comfortable silence engulfs the two of you, as you continue with your tasks, working around one another and you avoid the places Jaemin has freshly mopped while he manoeuvres himself around you.

It’s when you’re outside of the place and locking the doors, sizing up and down the door to put all the locks in place when you speak up. “You don’t have to thank me, by the way. People make mistakes, and Jaehyun would be less mad at me than at you. Plus, Kun doesn’t care like that either, as long as he can run this business, you can break as many cartons of drinks as you desire,” Looking over your shoulder, you catch Jaemin gazing at you, the same puppy eyes leering at you. Looking away, you pick up your stuff from the ground, wanting to bid him goodbye and completely disappear, maybe quit this job and move countries and settle down with a farming family of seven that don’t mind an additional one person to work their fields and pet their cows as a form of cattle therapy. Anything but face Jaemin’s face abd his ridiculously handsome features.

But before you could begin your progress, Jaemin calls out your name, making you turn around to face him once more. Thankfully, there’s no sign of the puppy eyes, but he is smiling.

“Since it’s a Sunday and we have a day off tomorrow, do you want to grab some food with me?”

The warmth from the broth and fishcake in your cup seeps into your hand, preventing them from getting too cold in the Autumn breeze. Jaemin counts his notes under the red and yellow haze of the fishcake stall, handing them to the old lady once he collects the right amount. The woman snatches the notes once Jaemin presents them and counts them twice, nodding her head in dismissal when she’s done.

Picking up his cup, the two of you manoeuvre yourself around the park and settle on a free bench, looking out into the lit-up park, with parents and kids at the playground while adults settle their picnic mats and huddle around near the fairy-lit trees; the Central park seems to be teeming with more people with the sudden shift of seasons, as people embrace the coming cold by celebrating in their own ways. Kids scream at the top of their lungs when sliding down a steep slide, and adults teem with laughter as they swish their wine in their plastic glasses.

Picking out a stick of fishcake from the cup full of broth, you blow on it a few times before biting into it, settling into the park bench more comfortably as the warmth of the food engulfs you. Excluding the bustle of people, you and Jaemin sit quietly as you indulge in your food.

But the silence doesn’t last long. “I don’t know how kids are so agile at such a young age. Like, aren’t their bones basically jelly?” Jaemin points at the few kids climbing up ropes at the playground, taking them to a tall slide as a reward.

“It doesn’t look too hard,” You quip, head leaning closer to Jaemin as you look at the kids climbing up vicariously. Jaemin turns to look at you, making you realise just how close you leaned in. “You think you could climb that?”

“At my age? Easy,” You scoff, leaning back and away, now feeling more flustered. If Jaemin catches on to your behaviour, he doesn’t make it obvious, sipping on the broth in his cup and opting to ask you about your favourite playground equipment.

“Thank you for the fishcakes,” You pat your stomach, smiling at your coworker.

“Of course,” He rocks back and forth on his heels the two of you standing at the edge of the park, ready to part ways. “I can never have a pretty girl like you be deprived of such Autumn goodness,” Jaemin teems at you as he says this, ready to receive some sort of backlash for his behaviour.

Imagine his surprise when you slightly guffaw, before stopping yourself with a hand to your mouth and a straight face. “If you think I’m so pretty,” You start as you turn around, slowly beginning the walk back to your house. “You would do more than just buy me a 3,000 won snack; I think pretty girls like me deserve more. No?” And with a wave, you continue your walk, leaving Jaemin with wide eyes and a slightly concerning grip on his cup.

It’s been eight weeks since Jaemin started working at Tao Village as a waiter, and he hasn’t known peace throughout.

It’s not that the pay is bad, or that the people around him treat him terribly. The pay is generous enough and as rarely as he sees Kun and Jaehyun on his shift, even if they’re a curtain width away from him, they’re nice and give him a container of food after every shift. And you’re an angel on earth, helping him whenever he fucks something up, and saving his ass nearly six times since he’s started working here.

The problem is that he makes those mistakes. And he has to go out of his way to not make these mistakes, and after every shift he feels like he’s worked five days with no break when in reality he just had a five-hour shift and a very generous thirty-minute break, eating hot and sour soup while you tell him about the weird customers you’ve encountered, asking him to rank them from most to least smashable with the details given from your anecdote.

Speaking of you, he thinks you're the epitome of his worries. Ever since he slipped up and basically confessed to thinking you’re attractive, you’ve been tormenting him, torturing even. If he were to tell you this, you would deny it all. And of course you would, because—

“I’m not doing anything,” You reply when Jaemin asks what you’re doing with the order slip that he’s just written down on. With a pen in your hand and a separate order slip, you’re copying down everything word for word instead of just taking Jaemin’s one to the back like normal.

“Yes, you are. Why are you making a copy of my slip— Are you ripping it to pieces?!” Jaemin shrieks, which catches the attention of the patrons in the restaurant, earning him a light smack against his arm.

You sigh, “Look, Jaehyun doesn’t like it sometimes when the slip looks too messy. There’s already a lot of oil and water being splattered on these poor things the minute they go past the curtain.” You shake the paper in your hand. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, you grab Jaemin’s hand, not looking at his face in case he’s flashing those eyes again. Jokes on you, because he’s also blushing, so you’re doing him a favour.

“Your handwriting isn’t messy, they’re just used to mine. I don’t want them to make a fuss over nothing,” You pat his hand and head to the back, not before reminding him to check on table number seven.

Looking at his left hand, the hand which you grasped hours ago, he holds it to his chest and prays to whatever holds power to keep him strong. He doesn’t know if you’re doing these things on purpose, or if he just has a weak heart.

“You barely go out of your room, so I’d say the second option is more likely.” Mark quips, tilting his body to the same side that his kart skids in the game. Jaemin lies down on his bed arm slung over his eyes as Mark plays on his console.

“Am I just due for a good fuck? Is that why I’m basically busting whenever she brushes past me?”

“Yo,” Mark sounds concerned now. “Brushes past you? Like, it’s just the accidental skinship that makes you horny?”

Jaemin sits up now, wanting to prove himself innocent despite the words he uttered just seconds ago. “You have to understand, I think she’s doing it on purpose.”

“I’ve seen your place Jaemin. The staff counter seems like a tight fit, I don’t know how she can be doing these things on purpose.” Jaemin huffs at that, falling back onto his bed again. He doesn’t know how to explain to his best friend that he isn’t delusional, so he just mutters a ‘whatever’ and tries tickling him, wanting him to lose the game and get last place.

“Yup, your order is just right here. So it’s just the large special frie—” His voice gets stuck in his throat repeating back the order to the customer when he feels a figure pressed up against his back, and with a glance to the side he sees you leering over, looking at the slip he holds in his hand. When he makes eye contact with you, you barely give back a nod of your head, encouraging him to continue reading.

“Sorry. Uhm, just the large special fried rice, and two servings of the spring rolls,” You lean in even more, and Jaemin can only thank the great heavens above for the bit of privacy that the takeaway counter provides. He feels the plush of your breasts pressing against him, leaning against him while you reach over below the counter to some pens, opening the notebook of table reservations and writing in a new booking.

He only messes up putting in the total price of the order twice on the machine, before the customer picks up his food, leaving you two behind the counter. Just as he’s about to turn around and say something, you separate yourself from him, patting him on his shoulder and closing the notebook shut.

The first thing he does is find his bearings, as he clutches a hand at his chest, then his neck, and lastly his ears, feeling how hot they were. Next, he has to somehow find a way to see if he just made that whole scenario up. Looking at where you now were, which was at a table, conversing with a customer, he was a few seconds away from losing his mind. But his thoughts were confirmed when you glanced a look at him, the corner of your lips lifting ever so slightly before you continue speaking to the table.

Jaemin doesn’t know how long he can last.

He now knows how long he can last.

Unsurprisingly, it’s not long at all. He doesn’t know if what you’re doing is on purpose, or he’s just infatuated with you enough to now notice these things, but all he can blame it on is the fact that it’s been some time since he last got laid, and so that’s why he’s getting flustered by your proximity these days.

But he also thinks that you might be doing some things on purpose; like squeezing past him in the tight margin of the staff counter to wipe some inconspicuous water stain, bodies brushing against each other in a tight squeeze, or inspecting his hand for too long after he’s delivered a sizzling plate of Mongolian lamb to the table, in search for an injury you both know is not there if he hasn’t already blatantly dropped the whole dish onto the table. Or that one time when you both went to the cold room, with him reaching up for the carton of beers while you kneel to get the soft drinks, side to side. You had momentarily lost your balance while pulling out the boxes from the back, resulting in your hand clutching at his pants, wanting to regain your balance.

“Oh, sorry,” Your words are a clear contrast between your actions, as your hands linger on for longer, lashes fluttering when you look up at him, the light of the cold room twinkling in your eyes. Jaemin swears he feels your hands squeeze ever so slightly before you let go, shuffling out of the room with a carton tucked by your side.

He doesn’t know how to confront you about it; it’s not that he doesn’t enjoy the sudden burst of attention he’s receiving from you, it’s just that it’s both not enough and too much. He wants more but he doesn’t want to risk popping a boner while taking a sixty-year-old woman’s order.

Every time he thinks he’s got you cornered, something always comes along to save you, like the call of a customer, or Kun coming through the curtains to get some hot water, even though his sightings are as common as blue moons.

So when Jaehyun asks you two to restock some of the items into the storage room as a part of your closing shift, Jaemin thinks the opportunity is basically being graced into the palm of his hands.

“The stuff might be a bit heavy, so be careful with your posture when picking up the boxes,” Jaehyun tuts, scrubbing his wok clean. “And remember to lodge something between the door, it still gets stuck from the inside. Don’t go home too late, but also don’t half-ass things as well.” Jaemin almost shivers when he hears her mom echoing back the same things to him in his head.

“Jaemin, do you know that door wedge we have at the back? You can use that, sometimes even I forget. Kun’s trying his best with the handle.” He steps over the freshly mopped places, going past and at the cashier, placing your tips in your dedicated storage boxes.

“Okay we get it Jaehyun, but if you keep speaking we won’t be done unti—” The front door shuts before you can finish what you were saying, but you only let out a light sigh before finishing up with the mopping, with Jaemin drying the cutlery with a towel.

“I’m gonna start with the boxes first,” Jaemin nods his head at you, seeing you go through the back door and towards the storage room. Jaehyun and Kun were kind enough to place a few boxes inside, but there were some still littered outside.

When a few minutes pass and Jaemin is all done, he still sees the extra boxes outside, not having moved a bit. He calls for your name, just to see if you’re back there.

“Yeah, I’m here, just—” You grunt, balancing the box on your knee as you take its contents out, placing them on the shelf. “Trying to sort this. Can you help me with the boxes outside? Be careful with the door, I have my shoe lodged there.” Jaemin rolls his eyes at the third reminder of the day, before shutting the lights off from inside the restaurant and picking up the boxes near the door, stacking them on top to only use one trip to the storage room. The light from within shines a silver lining across the now dimmed restaurant, as Jaemin nudges the door open with his leg, careful to avoid your shoe as you had advised.

He places the boxes down with a groan, straightening up and stretching his back. “That was a piece of cake,” He smiles cheekily at you, to which you barely react, handing him the box you were balancing, opting to take the items out from his hands, making the process more efficient.

“Are you having fun?” Jaemin speaks again, not letting the silence between you two stretch out for too long.

“With putting these things away? Not exactly my definition of fun,” You look at him questioningly, picking up another item while glancing at him.

“Not with the packages,” He shakes the one in his hand for emphasis. “I meant ever since that night at the park, where I called you cute—”

“Pretty,” You mutter, and the word slightly shocks you both, as Jaemin sees your shoulders stiffen. You have been doing everything on purpose, because you, too, put some meaning into his attempts.

“You keeping tally on how I compliment you?” putting the box down, he opts to look at your face as he says this. It’s not every day that he gets to tease you like this, so he uses this opportunity to rile you up a bit as you do to him, body inching closer to yours.

You feel the heat radiating off of him and onto your back, as you place down the last item in your hand on the shelf and turn around, only to be startled at the proximity of you two, Jaemin inching closer with the box discarded at the side. This close to him, your eyes tilt up to look at his, mischievous iris’ grinning back at you.

“I don’t…” Jaemin’s eyes glance at your lips as you start, parted open now as your mind blanks on what to say next. The distance between your bodies shortens, and you feel yourself craving for something. A simple touch of his hand at your sides, the heat of his breath at your cheek, the soft push of his lips against yours.

Your tongue brushes the corner of your lip at that thought, an action Jaemin can’t miss with how close you two are.

“You don’t? Don’t what, don’t know what I’m talking about? Finish your sentence pretty,” Jaemin’s hand raises, and your chest flutters at the anticipation of his touch, only for it to deplete when he places it on the wall beside your shoulder, getting closer and closer.

You want to scream, needing him to just do something, anything, but your body still inches back, wanting to see how far either of you can prolong this. Jaemin notices your game, leaning his head in and bringing his lips to your ear.

“Tell me what you want. I’ll do anything for you, just gotta have you use your words, baby.” At this your eyes flutter, fists clenching at your sides to gather up the courage as his warm breath fans against your neck.

“Can you kiss me?” Your eyes look at his as you push his body back by his shoulders, wanting to look at him as you ask for him, for more. Smile slowly softening, he leans in and places a peck onto your lips, plush skin pressed against you, both of your eyes closing shut. Before you get to do anything else, he parts back slowly, seemingly done. But you’ve barely even started.

“More,” You mutter before placing your arms around his shoulders, pushing both of you closer to one another as you lean in, kissing his lips once again, catching him by surprise. His lips are only still for a split second, before he reciprocates, pushing against you, giving you exactly what you asked for.

“Your hands, please,” You mutter in between as they slowly turn from innocent pecks to open-mouthed kisses, your own hands coming to his biceps, wanting him to touch you.

“Where, baby?” He sighs against you, hands grasping yours, ready to be guided.

“Everywhere,” You clasp your hands together, before grabbing his wrists, placing one at your waist and the other underneath your boob, arching your back in encouragement and contempt of finally having him closer. And Jaemin listens well, hands squeezing and thumbing at your body over your clothes skin, before roaming them around. Slithering one behind your back, pushing your body flush against his, chests brushing as he rushes to kiss you more, lips pressing against you feverishly. Your arms wrap around his neck and shoulders, wanting your boobs to be pressed against him fully, nipples perked with arousal from him, having the both of you pushed back and against the wall as he follows your lead of wanting to be all over each other.

Except walls don’t click shut.

But Jaemin either doesn’t notice or pays it no mind, continuing his quest of ravaging your lips, not that you mind, as he squeezes the flesh of your boob and brushes a finger over your clothed nipples, biting lightly onto your bottom lip as your mouth parts slightly from the pleasure, soothing it with a swipe of his tongue.

“Jaemin,” You try calling for him, voice coming out a bit hoarse as you pull back slightly. He takes that as a sign to venture more.

“What is it, hmm? Want me to go lower?” He doesn’t wait for your reply as he angles his head down towards your neck, breath tickling against your skin as he nips at it lightly.

“No, Jaemin. There’s—” He chuckles at you, looking into your eyes with a smirk now adorning his face. He raises his eyebrows at you while he scans your body pressed against his, and that shouldn’t affect you as much as it did.

“What, does my pretty baby want more?” his smile now turns slightly giddy, placing a sweet kiss on your lips before bringing both hands to your sides, squeezing slightly making you react to the sensitive spot being handled. “I can’t fuck you here, as much as I’d love to. But I don’t wanna be looking at a box of fortune cookies—”

“Jaemin, we just closed the door.” And you physically see Jaemin react to this, as he processes your words with a confused look, before the light in his eyes dims and his face falls, looking frantically between you and the door behind you. He searches at the bottom of the door where you had lodged your shoe, only to see it past the frame, squeezed from the pressure of your bodies against the door.

He’s about to apologise profusely, mind scrambling to think of a way he can get you two out. But before he can get too far, you plant a kiss on his cheek, and another one on his lips when he turns his head to look at you. You let out a light sigh as his hands find themselves back onto your body, pushing your hands towards his jacket, wanting it off. He shucks it off and throws it behind, hands grabbing at you again as you bring your fingers to rake at the hair at his neck.

“But—” Jaemin cuts himself off with a whimper when your hand grazes under his shirt, the cold press of your fingers against his warm stomach, fingers splaying themselves against his taut muscles, grazing your nails lightly making his body flush even further.

“Fuck, the door,” He tries again, but falls short as his head falls against your shoulder when your fingers linger past the seam of his pants.

“Later, I need to feel you,” You mutter. “Someone will come by tomorrow morning anyway,”

“Oh, fuck.” Jaemin curses as you palm his dick over his pants, his hips bucking up and into your touch, wanting more of you against him. His hand pushes your shirt up, tucking it before he slips his fingers behind your back, reaching for your bra and taking it off once the hooks are undone. His hands cup at your boobs, vision glazed over you as he squeezes them together. He leans in with his mouth parted, looking up at you and making eye contact, whining slightly in lieu of asking for your permission. It’s hard to wait for your word when he’s just as desperate, wanting your touch and scent all over him.

“Jaemin, please,” You pant, hand flying to his hair and gripping softly, scratching your fingers against his scalp as an initiative. “Make me feel good, I want your mouth on me,”

He swipes his tongue against your perked bud, before blowing lightly and saying “Anything for my doll,” mouthing at your breast, before closing his lips around your nipple, sucking in as his free hand occupies itself with your other boob, slightly scraping his nail against you before pinching your tit. The pain and pleasure shoots through your body, as you moan his name, nails scratching his head.

Your whimpers and whines turn Jaemin on even more, as he swipes at your bud one last time before pulling back, tipping your face back towards him and kissing you again.

“Want your fingers…been thinking about this so much,” You reach for one of his hands, guiding him to the apex of your thighs, looking at him as you press his fingers against where you want him the most. Even through the thick fabric of your pants, the push of his fingers against your core has you whining, happy for some friction but wanting, needing more.

As his hand goes to unzip your pants, he replaces them deftly with his leg instead, pressing his knee against you.

“Fuck,” You sigh, as he presses himself closer to you, body now flushed against yours, thigh stimulating your pussy through your pants, mouth at your cheek, jaw, neck. Jaemin is completely overpowering your senses, yet you want more.

“Pretty doll, letting me do all of this to you.” he pushes your pants down, leaving you in your underwear and your shirt tucked up, fixing it every now and then to pinch at your tits, loving when you keen against him. “Wanting me to do all of this to you. Have you thought about me a lot? Bet you thought about us sneaking off right here so you could suck me off, or maybe thinking about me taking you right behind the counter, forcing yourself to act normal with my cock in you,” He hums against your ear, swiping his tongue against the shell before biting lightly on your lobe, wanting you to remember his touch all over you.

You’re not entirely sure what he's saying, yet you nod your head up and down, moan slipping past your lips at the light swipe of his fingers against your clothed core, doing anything to get him to give you more.

Jaemin chuckles, “Is your mind going blank already? I barely did anything to you baby, do I have to dumb it down for you and remind you?” His condescending tone is the only thing that registers in your head; that and the fact that he’s not doing anything, hands splayed still at your sides, his knee not pressing hard enough against you, with no signs of more.

He leans in and presses a sweet peck against you, before his hand squeezes your cheeks together, an attempt of garnering your attention back.

“If you want something,” He leans in, just a breath away, but moves back when your eyes lock on his lips and lean in. “You gotta tell me. I’ll only do what you want me to, got it?”

Nodding your head, you add a breathy ‘yes’ when Jaemin raises his eyebrows at you.

“Good girl,” He smiles, and it only makes your head just the slightest bit dizzy. But you’re brought back when you feel the press of his thigh against you once more, a friendly reminder of what you’re missing out on.

“I want your fingers,” You start, voice wavering a bit, getting shy from having to voice your dirty thoughts. But the press of his finger pads against you edges you on even more, encouraging you to continue. “Always look so good doing the most mundane things. Want you to fuck me with your fingers, fuck,” Jaemin proves to be a great listener, as he quickly makes work of shoving your underwear aside, commenting how you’ve ‘soaked through your panties and my pants, messy girl’. He rubs against your clit, building up a rhythm, before rubbing his fingers against your folds, soaking them in your juices thoroughly before the pad of his fingers press against your hole, making quick work.

“Fuck, you’re so tight,” Jaemin grunts at the squeeze of your walls against his two fingers, filling you to the hilt and shallowly pushing. “Bet you would feel so good around my cock,” You moan at his words, eyes falling shut as you rest your forehead against his shoulder, giving him better access to whisper such filthy words to you.

“So fucking dirty, getting off of my fingers in public like this. You’re lucky it’s late, no one gets to see you like this,” His fingers quicken their pace, the hot feeling in your stomach tightening as the palm of his hand smacks against your clit, other hand occupying itself with gripping your ass or tweaking your nipples. “Only I get to see you like this, messy and undone. All mine for the taking.”

“All yours,” You echo back, head burrowing further into his neck. As you feel another finger push into you, his pace making you clench tighter and tighter, you let out a high-pitched whine when his other hand comes down to stimulate your clit. Mockingly, Jaemin repeats back your moan in the same high-pitched voice, twisting the end of it to sound like a question.

“Is my baby close?” He pecks at the side of your forehead, a sweet gesture contrasting the pressure of his fingers against you.

“Please, Jaemin. Don’t stop,” You feel yourself grow hot, storage room now feeling stuffy as you separate from his shoulder, head tilted back against the door as your senses are overwhelmed.

“You’re so hot, fuck.” He smothers the pool of drool gathering at the corner of your lips, spreading it onto your cheek before leaning in for a kiss. It’s all tongue and teeth, too close and fucked out to makeout steadily, just wanting to feel him against you. Curling his fingers against you, you feel yourself ripping over the edge as he presses his other hand against your stomach and swipes his tongue over yours, sucking at the tip of your muscle before finishing it off with a peck.

“Let go, pretty. Show me how messy your cunt can get,” Fingers fucking into you, with a final rub and pinch of your clit you break off into a silent moan, hands clutching at his shoulders as you tense up, finally reaching your high. Jaemin’s fingers keep a steady pace as he helps you ride off your high, now going slower than before. But his fingers don’t stop even when you calm down, seeing how far you can go as he overstimulates you.

“Hurts,” You cry, but don’t make a move to stop his ministrations, hips pushing up into his touch, panting against his mouth when he kisses you again, pushing his fingers in and out of you. After a few more seconds though, your whine lilts painfully and you weakly push at his hand, to which he relents as he slows down the pace, before pulling them out carefully.

“It’s gonna feel icky for a bit, so bear with me,” Jaemin softly murmurs, reaching above to a shelf that conveniently holds paper towel rolls. The emptiness that is left emphasises the tiredness you feel, as your shoulders slump and you lean back against the door for further support. Jaemin folds the towel and dabs at your core, cleaning you up to the best of his abilities before he wraps his clean hand around your waist, manoeuvring you to lean against the wall, carefully pulling your shirt down and underwear and slacks back up. He slides the two of you down slowly, and you open your eyes to look at him, tiredness slowly wearing away as your heart flutters at his gestures.

“You okay?” He hums, his back now pressed against the wall, shoulder to shoulder with you as he gently smoothens his hand down your scalp, before cupping your face gently. You nod your head, leaning in and pressing a kiss against him.

“More than okay, that was so hot.” He chuckles at your words, poorly concealing the smug look that overtakes his features.

“I’m glad at least one of us had fun,” He teases, which makes you feel shy, as you spare a glance down to see a chub at the zip of his pants. He waves you off, adjusting himself a bit before sliding his hand into yours, lacing your fingers together.

“With what we did just then? I’ll be able to come for days even just thinking about you,” He laughs softly as you squeeze his hand in warning, before resting your head against his shoulder, with Jaemin reaching over for his jacket discarded earlier on, tugging it over your legs to provide warmth.

“You haven’t made a mistake today,” You mutter, breaking the silence that had settled as you play with his fingers with both your hands. Jaemin can only look at the side of your face as you say this, before getting comfortable and pressing his cheek against your head. “How could I when you have such high standards to meet? I need to be on your good side,” Your scoff holds no mean intentions, glancing at him briefly over your shoulder.

“You’re already on my good side,” He faux gasps.

“You’re telling me you liked me this whole time? I didn’t have to prove myself to you?” Jaemin squeals as he sways side to side, before wrapping himself around you and swaying you along with him.

You’re shy when you speak up again, muttering “I’ve already told you how I thought.. about you,” He tsks as he meets your eyes again, eyes going down to look at your lips that you bite nervously.

“Don’t even think about talking about that, I don’t know how long I can stay working here and pining after you.”

“But… I like— wait. Do you not like working at the restaurant?” Feeling like a deer caught in headlights, Jaemin tenses a bit at the information he let slip. He doesn’t want you to think that he’s ungrateful for your efforts, but the soft gaze that you give to him only soothes him.

“Okay, I’ll be honest. I think you’ve noticed by now that I’m not the most, flawless, person ever.”

“You’re telling me that you’ve made a few mistakes? No way,” He whines at your tease, as you bite your lip to contain your laughter, nodding your head to get him to continue.

“I’m just not really good at keeping part-time jobs like this. Things that need me to physically and actively do things. I once got fired from a scouts guidance group because I would give badges to the kids when they asked.”

“…Aren’t scout leaders there by volunteer? How can they fire you?”

“That’s my point!” He grumbles against you, bringing your head back down to his shoulder when you lift yourself to look at him, not wanting to look at you directly in your eyes. “And working as a waiter is definitely not easy, because I have to guess when a customer wants to order before they actually call me, and help with food and dietary needs and advice, and be smiling and happy all the time even when the old ladies pinch at my cheek and call me handsome like I’m some three-year-old golden child.” You pat at his bicep soothingly, fingers squeezing as he rambles on, letting him pour it all out.

“Well,” You bring your hands up to your lips, pressing a light kiss at the back of his hand before settling it back against your legs. “If you hate the job so much, why not quit and find something better?”

He stills as you ask this, thinking about your question. He hasn’t ventured far from the initial annoyance of having the job, not thinking of the reasons why he’s staying in contrast with the million reasons why he doesn’t want to. But the tingling feeling left at the back of his hand seems to be enough of an answer.

“Because I get to spend my time with you,” You squeeze your lips together as he says this, not knowing if you should cringe or swell at his words. You giggle lightly when you see him fall shy, hiding his face into your shoulder.

“Okay, then don’t quit,” You quip when you realise he’s not going to come out of hiding anytime soon, opting to play with your laced fingers instead. “Stay with me. You can deal with customers who ask if we have duck on our menu even when we clearly don’t, and try your best to not burn your finger on the sizzling plates, or get locked in the storage room overnight.” Jaemin feels bittersweet at the scenarios you provide, torn between what he should do.

“Or you can ask me out and then quit,” You shrug, conveniently avoiding his sudden gaze on you as he sits up. “Up to you,”

“I can do that?” You glare at him.

“I’m gonna blow up, Jaemin. I can’t believe you haven’t—” He stops you with a peck to your lips, now grinning like a maniac. “Can I be your boyfriend?”

“What will I gain?”

“Uhm… unlimited head?” You clench your grip on his hand harder. “...And a very deep and meaningful emotional connection where we fill each other's gaps and lift our—”

“Unlimited? Can you promise?” He’s about to agree without a second thought, before he sees you raise a suspicious eyebrow at him.

“..Yes?”

“Then yes, you can be mine.” He sighs contentedly now, cuddling himself back into you.

“I can’t wait to quit.”

You’re not sure when you fell asleep, but you’re woken up by the sound of a door hinge and a sudden shine of light. You try to bring your hand up to shield the onslaught of the sunshine, but the weight on your hand reminds you of your position, with Jaemins head tucked on your shoulder and yours stacked on top, hands still laced and legs slightly tangled into each other. With a squint of your eyes, you look up at the figure standing at the door.

Jaehyun’s facial expression doesn’t change much, other than the slight parting of his mouth. To you, this means that not only is he shocked still, but also somehow angry and maybe … confused? If the left side of his lip is slightly tilted down; you’re still trying to learn.

“Jaemin,” Your hoarse voice calls, shaking the boy next to you lightly to wake him up. He whines, lips mumbling gibberish into your shoulder.

“The doors open, Jaem,” That wakes him up a bit more, as he squints towards the open door.

“Oh,” He says, and then Jaehyun clears his throat. “...Oh,” The two of you rise slowly, as Jaemin places his jacket over your shoulders.

“So,” Jaehyun starts when the three of you step out of the room, the two of you now standing like students being punished for their wrongdoings. It takes all his willpower for Jaemin to not raise his hands in fists over his head.

“Funny you ask, boss. Remember when you told me not to close the door?” Jaemin thought he started off strong before he saw you looking at him with wide eyes. Jaehyun’s lip tilts to the left.

“How could you ignore the only warning I gave you? Not only did you lock yourself in that room, but her too? You know how dangerous that is, what if we didn’t have a Sunday shift to open for? This liability costs you, Jaemin.” At that, the boy feels his posture straighten.

“Am I..?” Jaehyun's frown is the strongest expression Jaemin has ever seen. He feels like doing a backflip right now.

“Fired? Of course—” And it probably is rude for him to whoop as loud as he did, but Jaemin is on cloud nine, having bagged a person like you and being liberated from having to mop the floors like clockwork. He cups your cheeks and kisses you square on your lips, laughing at the surprised squeak you let out and the bliss he feels. Taking and shaking Jaehyun’s hand, he turns and walks out of the place.

Jaehyun sighs. “This is who you were rooting for?”

Your cheeks feel hot from the sudden public display of affection, before shrugging. “He’s cute. And he’s always trying his best.” You try as your hand clutches at the sleeve of the jacket he’s lent you.

Ever since being fired from the restaurant, Jaemin feels like he now has the best of both worlds, going to the restaurant after your shift to pick you up, or spending time with you as your boyfriend throughout the week, not feeling like he only has to look forward to a shift to see your face. You’re also happy with this shift in your relationship, spending your time with him freely.

But Mark isn’t.

“I don’t know why you couldn’t have asked her out and kept your job. You don’t even get to use your twenty percent employee discount.”

“I mean, if I’m an ex-employee then I can’t see why I couldn’t.” Mark grunts as he smacks at Jaemin, leaving the latter with a pout on his lip as he rubs at his shoulder.

“I miss the Mongolian lamb, man. Can we not go back at all?” Jaemin thinks about it briefly, his mind going back to the restaurant and how you’re probably working your Friday shift at the moment. “I don’t see why not,” he hums, thinking about planning a day when both he and Mark can drop by, but he is dragged to his feet and is being pushed to wear his shoes and shrug on a jacket, before he is out the door with Mark guiding him through it all.

“Welcome to Tao Village. Oh, hi,” You look up from the slip of the phone order you just took, seeing Jaemin and Mark standing at the door. Jaemin’s lips break into a smile as he sees you, already enamoured even when you’re in your work uniform. Mark merely smiles and nods his head as a greeting, before lifting up two fingers, gesturing for a table for them.

As the boys take their seats, you go up to them with a bottle of water and ask Mark if he wants his Mongolian lamb dish for today. He clasps a hand to his chest, touched. “I can’t believe you remembered.”

“It’s all you order, really.” You write down his order into the slip in your hand, before looking at your boyfriend, who’s been gazing at you fondly, barely concealing adoration. You tap at the menu in front of him, encouraging him to voice his order.

“I want you,” Jaemin’s smile is menacing as he says this. Mark visibly shrinks in his seat, but you barely blink. “Gross, dude,”

“A dish's name, Jaem. Or I’ll tell Jaehyun that you’re here.” At that he pouts, leaning back before asking for fried rice, and a glass of red wine.

Mark gets his dish on the sizzling plate, and Jaemin spends two whole minutes trying to make sure that your fingers didn’t get caught on to the hot pan. You smack at his hand to get him back to his food, to which he flings his hand back, making impact with his glass and conveniently spilling the red drink all over. Mark blinks twice at the scene unfolding, pausing when he almost shoved a piece of lamb into his mouth, before continuing when he sees the wine only seep into the tablecloth and not anywhere near him.

Jaemin looks between the cloth and your expression. “Look at what you did,”

“What I did? Your hand was the one that smacked into the glass. You didn’t even try to catch it?” Jaemin ignores your words, waving at your words as if they’re merely pesky flies.

“It’s okay, I can forgive you but you have to compensate in another way,” He smirks at you, before his fingers slowly inch towards your waitress' apron wrapped around your waist, thumbing at the fabric tied around you. “Maybe a pretty girl like you can go out with me?”

You smile sweetly, clasping his hands into yours and rubbing your thumb into the back of his hand. You place it down on the table, your smile not dimming as you shake your head. “You have to pay for that, kind sir,” You nod your head in mock shame and guilt. Jaemin’s smile dims as he looks at the red-stained tablecloth.

“It’s part of the Tao Village policy.”

OKAY the part where jaemin *mocks.. u hehe was completely inspired by @/sunpopz haechan fic called ‘free falling’ !! give that a read bc its soso good

thank you for reading! let me know if you enjoyed it &lt;3

[nobody7102]

Not What He's Made For

Spoilers for Season 6, Episode 11

Pairing: Evan "Buck" Buckley x Reader

Warnings: Angst, mentions of pregnancy and lost pregnancy

A/N: First fic in a while, it had to be for my baby Buck. This was inspired by Billie

Main Master-List

________

Standing at the window watching as everyone gathers in his room. Buck swallows hard, seeing himself laying in the hospital bed hooked up to the ventilator, his jaw clenches with anger, an anger that no matter how hard he tries, he can't wake himself up.

Its as if the universe is playing some sick joke on him. He already talked to Daniel and the alternate version of Bobby, what more does the universe want him to learn?

Banging against the glass window “I’M HERE!” He yells over and over as the crew of the 118 slowly file out of the room. Leaving just three.

Maddie, Bobby, and Y/N,

He watches as they sit and make small talk, sometimes discussing things that the doctors and nurses have told them about Buck’s current status. After about an hour a nurse stops in to have Maddie look over some paperwork as his closest next of kin, being that their parents are still hours away from arriving at the hospital. Leaving just Bobby and Y/N.

If there ever where someone who hid their troubles well, it was Y/N.

Always seeming fine and calm in tense or hard situations as her fears screamed inside of her.

When Y/N joined the LAFD most of her previous houses would say thats what made Y/N such a good firefighter, but if you asked Y/N she would always say it was her fear that runs her life. 

And when Y/N joined the 118, Bobby was the only captain who could read through her facade. 

After a call where Y/N had to crawl through a collapsed building a year after she joined the 118, Bobby found her having an anxiety attack in her hospital room after the 118 had visited her after she was found in the rubble. Other time Bobby had learned to tell when Y/N was too in her head about anything.

And when Buck and Y/N had started to turn their situationship into an actual relationship Bobby helped Y/N learn how to navigate her fears when it came to seeing a fellow first responder, and he taught Buck how to help Y/N navigate her anxieties.

And slowly over time, Buck and Y/N became each other’s persons. They had been though so much together, from being almost drowned by a tusnami, being shot at, crawling out of a sinkhole, to fighting wild fires down in Texas, and now this.

A lightning strike. Something so beautiful yet as much as Y/N would normally have admired their beauty, right now she loathed the beauty of plasma.

The one shift she took off and now Buck’s life hangs in the balance.

Placing a hand on Y/N’s shoulder, Y/N turns her head away from Bobby to quickly wipe away her tears. “Comon Y/N… what’s going though your head?” Bobby prys gently.

Letting out a sigh Y/N shakes her head, finally turning to face Bobby. “Did Buck tell you we had a fight-” she correcters herself “or rather that we’ve been fighting…” 

Bobby shrugs slightly “He mention you two were bickering but he didn’t say over what” he takes a seat next to Y/N.

“...The fights… the bickering, whatever you wanna call it… its part of the reason why I asked for this shift off…” 

Bobby nodded his head as he listened “I get it, come back with a clear approach to everything after giving each other some space… what have you been fighting about if you don’t mind me asking”

“...Buck….. Buck thinks I don’t wanna be with him anyone…. That I’m getting tired of him, and I kept trying to tell him… show him that it isn’t the case” Y/N glances over to Buck.

“Okay… then what’s the other reason you asked for this shift off?” Bobby raised his brow. 

Blowing out a breath, Y/N shakes her head.

“If you let it sit, it’s gonna fester into something more. We both know that” Bobby sits back in the chair and crosses his arms, waiting for Y/N to talk.

She knows he’s right, if she avoids talking its just gonna sit in the back of her mind and eventually come back to bite her in the ass later. 

“...If I tell you this… no one else can know, you have to swear to me Bobby. No one… not Athena or Maddie or Eddie or Buck, no one.” She turns to Bobby.

“Y/N, if its serius enough you know Buck-”

“Bobby.” Y/N pleads “He can’t know” 

Bobby lets out a sigh, stuck between a rock and a hard place, he eventually nods his head “It stays between us, I promise” 

Slowly nodding her head, Y/N takes a deep breath and looks back at Buck one last time before she turns back to Bobby.

“... Buck and I have been fighting because he thinks I’m pulling away from him… this has been going on for the past week and a half” Y/N glances down to the floor as she continues “and I mean maybe I was a little bit like three days ago but it’s not for the reason’s Buck thinks” 

Starting to pick at the loose threads of her hoodie, Y/N shakes her head and blows out a breath before glancing to the doorway of Buck’s hospital room, making sure no one other than Bobby is around to hear her before she speaks.

“... a little over two weeks ago… I found out I was pregnant” Y/N sees the shock on Bobby’s face and cuts him off before he has the chance to speak “I was gonna tell you, I swear… but anytime we were on shift it was slow, we didnt end up doing anything super dangerous… and I wanted to tell Buck before I told anyone else”

Bobby’s gaze softens as he sees Y/N close her eyes and lean back in the chair as she takes a breath before continues. “If…. If I was pulling away, it’s because I was trying to figure out how to tell Buck” He sees how Y/N keeps her eyes to the floor as she talks, a tear starts to roll down her cheek before she brings her hand up to wipe it away. “Becuase its Buck. We all know he’d make a great dad, and a great dad deserves to be told in a great way… because Buck is worth taking extra steps to plan for so I ordered this little onesie and all these balloons and a cake to surprise him… and I know he would have loved it” Bobby can hear the passion in her voice before Y/N goes quiet for a moment to compose herself before she clears her thought.

“But then… four days ago I went to the ER because I was having some cramps and light spotting… I asked my doctor about and she said it was normal” Y/N shakes her head “But I could tell… something wasn’t-” Y/N stops herself, taking a moment before she swallows hard. “And… that’s when I learned that I lost the pregnancy…” She shrugs as she tries to maintain was little composer she has left.

“They don’t know what happened… in the ER they told me that things like this just happen sometimes…” Y/N’s voice tightnes she brings her hand up to cover her face for a moment as she tries to take a few deep breaths.

“So… for the last few days… yeah I was pulling away because I had all this stuff planned and I had to figure out what to do with it now because-” her voice breaks “It was all for nothing” her shoulders shake as Bobby wraps his arms around Y/N, letting her cry on his shoulder as he glances between her and Buck with pity and sadness in his eyes. 

“Y/N” He starts once she’s a bit more calmed down “This isn’t something you can hide from Buck”

Y/N just continues to shake her head “I can’t Bobby, I’ve tried-” 

“Y/N” 

“No I mean it” Y/N cuts him off her voice wavers a little bit “I have tried to tell him at every opportunity but i can’t… everytime i try i choke everytime.”

Pulling away from Bobby, Y/N sniffles and wipes her eyes before she glances to Buck “...I think it’d just make it worse, make it hurt more if I told him…” Y/N mumbles “he’s not made for sadness Bobby… Buck thrives on the happiness and joy… love and happiness and passion run his life… something like this?” she just stares at Buck laying in the hospital bed and the tears start to roll down her cheeks once more “it’s not was he’s made for…”

Staring at Y/N and Bobby, Buck bangs his fist against the glass one last time before he stops banging, his hand growing sore as he rests his head against the glass, his tears matching Y/N’s as all he can do it watch…

Hoping that this isn’t his forever.

--------

Tagging: @beachbabey @t-nd-rfoot

[thenewausten]

PART 2 OF GHOST PLACE PLEASE 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Thanks for the request!

Ghostface!Quackity [Part 2]

Part 1: here!

TW: smut 🔞

You were at the University with some of your friends and they were talking about the Ghostface and his last attack on Sunday after he left your house. "I bet he's a 'fuckin weirdo, like, a nerd or 'somethin." One of your friends would say and laugh. "Probably a freaky, man." Your best friend would say. "Or a virgin."

"Yeah!" She answers and laughs. "What do you think, Y/N?" She asks to you and you shrug. "I don't know, uh..."

"Oh, c'mon! He's a sociopath, you have to say 'somethin mean about him." Your friend says and you laugh. "Fine, he's an asshole." You say, feeling a little guilty. The boy treated you so good in the two times you saw each other, you didn't want to say anything mean about him. Your friends celebrate and laugh when you say it. "Yeah, Ghostface is an asshole!" They say it out loud and laugh, you smile to them, a little bit uncomfortable.

The day went well at University and as soon as you got home, you decided to take a bath. You took advantage of your parents not being on the house to put some music on Alexa and decided to watch a horror movie after.

You watch the popcorn pop in the pan as the phone rings, you grab it. "Hello?" You ask. "Hello, princesa." You hear his voice from the phone and smile. "Hi." You whisper. "What are you doing, Y/N?" He knows what you're doing because he's watching you. "Uh, popcorn?!" You answer, with a smile on your face. "Uhm, why?" He asks you. "Gonna watch a movie." You say, turning off the fire and grabbing a bowl to put the popcorn. "How was your day at the University, love?"

"It was good, I guess. I mean, normal, you know?!" You answer, the boy stays in silence for a while. "Hello???" You ask, putting the pan at the sink so you can deal with it later. "So, I heard you say that I'm an asshole, mi vida." You shiver with his voice on your ear and turn around to see that 'fuckin mask. "How did you get in?!" You ask, so confused, more than scared of him. "Well, I'm a murderer, princesa, I have my tricks." He grabs the knife, he's not longer with the phone on his hand, the knife on your thigh, roaming through your body. "I didn't mean to say it. My friends made me do it, Alex." The boy told you his name yesterday after you beg for it, and, of course, because he wanted to hear you moaning it. "Oh, yeah?! They made you do it, uh?" He approaches you and you nod, the knife on your neck. "Please, Alex."

"It's okay, hermosa." The boy pins you against the counter with his own body, the knife passing slowly against your throat. "I won't kill you." He takes off the knife of your throat and puts it aside, holding your chin so strongly that you whine. "But I'm watching you, princesa. Say that I'm an asshole again and I'll kill all of your 'fuckin friends in front of you. I don't want to make you suffer, corazón, so don't you 'fuckin ask for it, okay?" The authoritarianism in his voice makes you shiver and clench your thighs together. "I'm sorry, 'Lex." You whisper. "I didn't mean to..." He ignores you and slides three of his gloved fingers inside of your mouth, just like he did at the first night. "I said it's okay, amor. Don't need to talk too much." You nod, the boy pushes his fingers against your mouth. "Suck it just like you did with my cock yesterday." He says and you obey. Alex pulls down your pajama shorts with your soaked panties, taking his fingers out of your mouth and sticking them in your entrance. You moan with the feeling of the texture of the glove against your walls. "Shit." You whimper as soon as Alex starts to move his fingers on your pussy. "It's so good, uh?!" You grab his clothes. "Please, more!" You beg and he smiles behind the mask. "Whatever you want, amor." He whispers and pushes his fingers against your core harder than before, you throw your head on his shoulder. "Fuck, Alex!" You moan, biting his flesh as he thrusts his fingers into you. "I'm so close! Please, don't stop!" You ask him, the boy holds you against the counter and kneel in front of you. He lifts the mask just to suck on your clit, his lips so softly against your pussy as his fingers fuck you 'till you can't take it anymore, coming and moaning his name as you do it. You look at Alex as he takes his gloved fingers inside of you, his mouth on your entrance right after that, making you moan and squirm. "You have such a delightful cunt, Y/N." He whispers as his tongue enters your hole, making you whine and grab the edge of the counter. Alex grabs your right leg and puts it on his shoulder, having a better vision of your core. "So beautiful." He whispers, his tongue on your clit again, sucking it harshly, making you moan and whimper. "Slow down, Alex, it's too sensitive!" You ask him and the boy doesn't seem to care. "You can take it, mi vida. Accept what I give to you." He says and you whine, closing your eyes as you moan his name. "Want you to cum on my mouth, amor." He says and you nod, getting closer as Alex devours your pussy, your legs start to shake and involuntarily close as you cum again, the masked boy licking all of your wetness and 'givin little kisses all over your pussy. "Let's go upstairs, I'm not done with you yet." He says as he gets up and you obey, following the Ghostface upstairs.

He opens the first door. "Here." He says. "That's not my bedroom, Alex, it's my paren..." You start and he pushes you to get into the bedroom. "Alex! I won't fuck on my parent's bedroom." You protest and he laughs. "Jesus, how much moral you have, Y/N." He mocks you. "It's not my fault if you don't have any!" You say, Alex smirks and closes the door behind him, he locks it and grabs the key. "Don't be a 'fuckin hypocritical, corazón. You're 'fuckin me, uh? Or you forgot who am I?" He approaches you as he hides the key on his clothes, the boy grabs his knife and points it to you. "Fuck you, Alex. Open the door." He approaches you even more, his knife on your waist as he pushes you to the bed. "Alex..." You start. "Shh, obey me, take your little shirt, baby." You do what he says. "That's it, amor. Don't disobey me, uh?" Alex positions the handle of his knife in your entrance. "Alex, what are yo..." He pushes it onto your hole, watching your reaction. "I won't hurt you, mi vida. Don't worry about it." He whispers and you nod, he thrusts the handle of his knife deep in your cunt and you moan. "Fuck." You whisper and Alex smiles. "Look at you, baby..." He starts. "Getting this little pussy of yours fucked by my knife." You moan his name, making him laugh. "Such a good girl, uh?" He asks. "C'mon, princess." He makes you lay down on the bed, climbing onto you. "You're soaking my knife, amor. Are you that wet?!" He mocks as he watches the knife fucks your cunt. "Does it feels good?!" He asks and you nod desperately. "Yeah?! Does it?!" He asks again. "Yes, Alex, please!" You moan and his lips touches your nipple. "Fuck!" You hold the boy's hair. "Don't stop, Alex!"

"Gonna cum in my knife, Y/N?! That's how much you care about who I'm, baby?" The boy holds your chin and makes you look at his mask. "That's how much you're a 'fuckin hypocritical, right?!" You whine, grabbing his wrist. "Alex!" You moan his name and he groans, disappointed. "That's not the answer, hermosa. Want me to stop?"

"No, please. You're right, Alex! Don't stop!" You say, tears on your eyes as you moan loudly. The boy makes you cum for the third time tonight. "So pretty." He whispers as he takes the knife out of your entrance and cleans it on the sheets of your parent's bed. You smile at him and sit on the bed, leaning on your elbows. "Can I ask you 'somethin?" You ask him and he nods, climbing onto you, his mask millimeters from your face. "Can you kiss me?!" You ask, his mouth is the only part of his face you see, you notice a little scar on his upper lip. "I can't kiss you with my mask on." He whispers. "Take it off." You say and he laughs. "I can't."

"Why not?! You don't trust me, 'Lex?!" You ask him. "It's not that, amor." He says and you sit properly. "You don't want to kiss me, then?!" Alex gives to your naked body a good look, looking at your eyes again. "Really?!" He asks. "Of course I want, princess." You smile and approach his mask. "Please, Alex. I want to see your face." You try to reach his mouth, but the stupid mask stops you. "Argh." You groan in frustration and he laughs. "Please, 'Lex. I want to kiss you."

"I don't want to kill you if you accidentally tell to your friends my identity, corazón." He whispers. "I won't do it." You protest. "I don't want you to get hurt, don't you see that I 'fuckin like you?!" Tears scape from your eyes and Alex pulls you closer. "You like me, uh?" He asks, a smirk on his lips. "So much." You whisper. "Gonna show you my face, baby. Promise me you won't tell anyone?!" He says and you nod. "I promise, Alex."

The boy gets up and starts with his gloves, then, his black cape. You see his normal clothes: black button-up shirt, black pants and black combat boots. God, he's hot. You watch him take a lot of small knife's from the pockets of his pants. "Jesus, Alex." You whisper. "I'm a murderer, hermosa. Don't forget that." He answers and takes the Ghostface mask. Fuck. "You're so handsome." You whisper and the boy approaches you with a smile on his face. "Thanks." You grab his shirt, 'makin him almost fall on top of you. "Careful, hermosa." He whispers. "Sorry, 'Lex." You kiss his lips and smile to him. "I already saw you at University." You whisper, one of the boy's hand grabbing your waist, the other roams freely through your body. "Yeah, I know it." He whispers. "I always thought you were hot." You confess to him and he laughs. "I noticed all the looks, you know?!" He says, a smirk on his lips. "I always wanted you to be my girl, Y/N." He whispers. "I'm yours, Alex."

"Are you?!" He asks. "I am." You whisper and connect your lips with his in a very intense kiss, your hands work on Alex's shirt to unbutton it as his own hands works on his pants. "C'mon, princess. Get on all fours for me, uh?" He gives you a order and you obey. "You're mine." He whispers as he slaps your ass. "Fu- Fuck." You whine and the boy smiles, his hardened cock already on your entrance. "Gonna fuck the shit out of you at your parents bedroom, corazón." He mocks. "Or you still don't want that, baby?" Alex provokes you. "I... I want it, 'Lex" You whisper, desperate for him to thrust into your cunt. "Yeah?! Of course you want it, amor." He says as he pushes onto you, making the both of you moan from the pleasure. "Always so good to be fucked, baby." He says as he starts to thrust his hips against your ass, the feeling's so good that you grab the sheets of the bed with your hands, squeezing it.

One more time, Alex's making the headboard hits the wall as he fucks your pussy, his hands on your hips, holding you strongly and marking your skin with his digits. Your moans fill the room with his groans and whines, the boy slaps your ass for the second time as his dick goes deeply on your soaked cunt. "Alex, please!" You beg him. "Hold on a little, hermosa." He says as a command, his thrusts becoming slouchier. "I can't!" You whine and cum, your whole body tingles as your orgasm reaches yourself, Alex holds you in place as your legs shake. "Jesus, Y/N! Gonna cum inside of you, amor." He moans, the feeling of your walls so tightly and wet around his cock makes him lose himself. "Fuck." He moans and thrusts his hips 'till he fills your pussy up with his cum. "You're such a good girl for me, baby." He whispers as he approaches your face. "Say again that you're mine, princess." He orders. "I'm yours, Alex." You whispers, the boy gives you a peck on the lips. "That's it, mi vida." The boy fixes his clothes. "Can you stay?!" You ask. "Of course, amor. Let me take care of you, uh?!" You nod as his arms grabs your waist and hold you in bridal style.

After Alex makes you a bath, he cleans the mess you both made on your parents bedroom and wait for you downstairs. "Let's watch a horror movie, pleasee?!" You approach him as he nods. "Sure, amor."

You sit on the sofa together, all the lights are turned off and you both eat the popcorn you made earlier, watching a movie about a masked guy that kills people at his University.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy the writing! :)

Requests are open!

[iheartzegras]

different type of love -jack hughes

request: @your-mom369 14 and 18 with jack?

prompts: “i don’t want to be just friends anymore” and “what’s the matter? you can tell me”

requests are still open, and my prompt list is pinned!

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you and jack had been best friends since the first grade. inseparable really. you both never left each others side, no matter the distance between you two for hockey, you still talked daily.

it all started when you had moved to toronto during the summer. you just so happened to become neighbours with the soon to be familiar boys. as your parents were taking the boxes inside from the van, you saw jack and his brothers playing outside. jack particularly caught your eye because of his energy. you were normally a shy girl, but he really did look like he would be a fun person to stick with.

a couple minutes later you felt a tap on your shoulder. standing behind you is the boy that interested you the most. he held out his hand and introduced himself. “hi. im jack, i live next door!” he said while grinning like a fool. “hi, im y/n” you shyly said. “it’s okay, don’t be shy! wanna be friends?” “yeah sure!”

that one small introduction, lead to a lifetime friendship. after that day, the two of you, occasionally his brothers that you found to be quinn and luke, would always play after school. even at school, the two of you would stay by each other’s side the whole time.

fast forward until now

ever since you and Jack became best friends, his family invited you to the lake house every year. this year in particular you were extra excited because you got to see jack. you hadn’t seen jack since he moved to new jersey for hockey.

after packing your things, you began your drive to the lake house. it was quite a long drive, so after making some stops on the way there, you finally arrived. it looked just the same. the deja vu coming back every time you came.

waking inside you were greeted by luke and quinn who both yelled “y/n!” at the same time. although your bond with jack was seemingly better, you also were incredibly close to the pair of brothers as you practically grew up with them. you were like a sister to them, and they were like your brothers.

as you walked into your designated room, it was refreshing. everything still in its place from last summers events. this space was your comfort place. the smell of the room just like your perfume. you plopped right on your bed, and before you knew, you were dead asleep.

you were harshly awoken by a tall figure jumping next to you on the bed. with your vision blurry you tried to see who it was. looking a bit closer you realized, it was jack. oh how you missed him too much. you practically jumped into his arms and giving him the most loving hug you’ve ever given.

“jack!” “y/n!” the two of you yelled in synch. you both dove into another hug, but this time with passion. that was new. to say that you haven’t thought of you and jack being a couple, was a lie. you definitely have, but you brushed it off because you felt as though it would never work. maybe some old feelings were being brought back up.

later on, after dinner, some of the other friends showed up. trevor who you had grown close with greeted you with a big hug and then whispered something into your ear. “so, you and hughesy? i think you’ve got something going on” to which you replied with “what, where did that come from? and no, we’re just friends.”

all of you were sitting by the fire roasting some s’mores. everyone was busy, but you couldn’t help but replay what trevor said to you earlier. could jack feel anything or was he just joking? do you like jack more than a friend? too many things crowded your mind as you tried to relax but couldn’t. you needed to be alone to gather your thoughts.

“hey guys, im gonna head off to bed. goodnight!” you announced and hugged each of them. when you got to your room, you had changed into some shorts and an old t-shirt. you got into your welcoming bed and tried to doze off.

after hours of trying to fall asleep, you couldn’t. you had been restless all night and nothing helped. you decided to sit on the deck to see if the cool night air would help.

opening the door to the deck, you stepped outside and quietly shut it. you took your favourite seat that you had claimed to be yours, and sat down. you had gotten all trapped looking at the stars that you hadn’t noticed that someone had joined you. “what’re you doing out here all alone?” jack asked. “nothing, just couldn’t sleep. that’s all.”

too much silence had been happening for your liking. you look over at jack and said something truly bold. “have you ever thought of us as something more than friends?” you asked. he responded with “yes, actually. why? what’s the matter? you can tell me.”

after more silence you quietly said “i don’t want to be just friends anymore” “pardon?” he asked you to repeat. “i don’t want to be just friends anymore” you repeated louder.

jack was astounded. he wasn’t upset though, because secretly he had felt the same way all along. he paused for a minutes before responding again. “thank god. i couldn’t deal with the pain of being just friends for any longer. i’ve liked you since we were sixteen and skating laps around the rink holding hands.” he admitted. “really?” “yes. y/n, this is a big question, but will you be my girlfriend?” “yes of course jack!”

the new couple sat happily next to each other before jack took you inside to get some rest. the two of you cuddled for the rest of the night.

your childhood friendship had blossomed into something much more passionate and loving. as a small child, you would have thought such love would be intimidating and gross, but now, you feel so much more. it’s indescribable how much you feel for the man you love. it had only been a few minutes since he asked you to be his, but you already knew, he was the one.

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ahhh, omg! im in love with this fic!

this was one of my longest pieces (i’ll still try and write longer in the future)

hope you all enjoyed! 🫶🫶

[gmanwhore]

I am. Sooooo normal about these guys rn so all of my Nightmare Mode characters backstories! (+ One of my OCs)

TW for child abuse, child experimentation (Lilith and Anazareth), gross imagery including worms (Nyogtha), mentions of sexualization of a minor (for Yan Luo), parent death (for Bryn), self harm as manipulation (Abducius) and grievous injuries to children (for Teutates)

Xezbet: Xezbet was once a human, back in medieval times. He often dressed up as a monk to swindle people out of their money, or to hide from authorities. Once people started catching wind of what he was doing, some people stared a rumour that he was a devil worshipper, but he was really just some guy. He was eventually executed for trying to cheat a knight out of his money. His ghost wandered for thousands of years before he managed to sneak into the Palace of the Nightmares and he just lives here now.

Drugia: Drugia started out her existence in hell with no knowledge of where she came from. She left very quickly, almost immediately starting by causing nightmares in young children, challenging herself to create more disturbing and concerning dreams, driving people to insanity. She ended up joining the Nightmares so she could relax, and not have to worry about anyone attempting to hunt her down. It is widely speculated that she is one of Ishtar's children, but she doesn't know.

Exael and Barbatos: Both of them started out as bounty hunters and assassins, making money and getting shelter in exchange for capturing or killing targets. Barbatos obviously did most of the tracking while traps and dispatching was up to Exael. Neither of them take pleasure in their jobs, but there is a sense of pride there. They both ended up becoming indebted to the King of Death and made to stay at the Palace of Nightmares.

Abducius: Abducius says he was born a human, and while that is technically the truth there is far more to the story. He's truly a poltergeist that took over someone else's body. He's always desperate for attention and to have eyes on him, hence the horrific ways he has mutilated himself and others. He attests he used to be a circus performer, someone who swallowed swords and juggled fire. Really, he worked in a textile factory making machines. He died in a workplace accident, but since no one remembered him, that angered him. Hence his nature as a ghost.

Lilith and Anazareth: Lilith and Anazareth are two parts of the same soul, just given different bodies. Lilith's body was originally empty, the soul inside it killed by the twins parents (who were also both witches) so it could house their second daughter. Really, they only split their daughter in two to prove they could. Lilith and Anazareth grew up knowing everything about each other, and they still do. Neither of them were actually...people to their parents. Since they were children their parents used them as lab rats for their new spells, or to test the limits of their bodies, minds and souls. All of their magical knowledge came from their parents.

Chaugnar: Chaugnar was born in a far different place than he later was summoned to. He was actually rather average where he lived, having a base knowledge of how to connect to the spirit world but as he wasn't an oracle or priestess he had to use his own forms of divination. Still, this was supported by his parents because any connection to any other realm was sacred and important. Later in his adulthood he was summoned to the Palace of the Nightmares by Anazareth to help them forge their "circuit".

Nyogtha: Nyogtha was a corpse up until about fifty years ago when a group of worms infested her body and began to move it. She doesn't remember her life alive because...she's the worms now. The worms have always been worms. Just very smart worms. They keep their body preserved with...I actually don't know, they probably got someone to enchant the body.

Zoth: Zoth was born to a noble family within the Court of Death (Yan Luo's family's court), and this was expected to take on his father's role from a young age. He has trained to be a ritual guide his whole life, and he does a damned good job of it. He can recite any chant needed from memory, he can direct a whole ceremony by himself and perform every single role. This came at the expense of really any friends, so he took any companionship he could get when he got older. He holds no grudge against his parents but I think he should. There is a reason he wears a collar.

Shub: Shub was born from the ground eons ago, back in the days when humans were gaining sentience. She is tied to their knowledge and wisdom. Many people regard her as the snake in the Garden of Eden, but according to her that didn't happen, she just happened to see a human and talked to her for a bit and helped start the beginning of humanity's thirst to know. She's also been the one to keep humanity humble. For every innovation, Shub will cause a drought and wipe put fertile crop land. For every step forward, Shub will make their fruit rot on the vine to remind them they are at nature's mercy. She loves her job though, and is actually the founding member of the Horsemen entirely because of her purpose in life.

Yog: Yog is the son of a fairy queen, a merry god of death, and a demon. He lived in his mother's kingdom for years but realized he didn't fit in with his brothers and moved to the Palace of the Nightmares. He just kinda lives there now.

Quachil: Quachil and her parents were cast out of heaven after her parents were found causing pain and suffering to mortals. Her parents fell all the way to the pits of hell, but Quachil somehow managed to land right in he middle of the courtyard to the Palace of the Nightmares. She was found by Ishtar who was with Yog at the time, and they both adopted her. Once Ishtar tried to divorce Yog, however, Yan Luo removed Ishtar's custody rights out of spite meaning Quachil had to live with her father. She prefers not to talk about that experience. She eventually does go back to live with her mother, though.

Yan Luo: Yan Luo was the only child of the King of Death. He was expecting a son and was very displeased to see Yan Luo born a woman. Her early life was full of learning how to one day be a queen, and that her life was to be dedicated to finding a husband and having a child first, then being a cold and controlling ruler. As she grew, her father's constant comments about her made her grow to detest her body and how it looked, and cause her to see her role as a curse. Once she ascended to the title of Princess of Death (the Palace of the Nightmares and being a Horseman has always been seen as a training ritual for the Wang Diyu family) she realized just how inexperienced and put of her depth she was compared to the other Horsemen, which caused her to lash out. He is getting better though.

Orcus: Orcus was just summoned one day. He's also a ghost like Abducius is, and he steals people's bodies. He also just straight up steals people's skin. He doesn't remember his life and a human and he doesn't care.

Ishtar: Ishtar was also born out of the ground a few months after Shub. She acts as a partner to Shub, helping her cause famines to keep the humans in check as well as creating new illnesses and types of creatures at torment them. She delights in creation, of course. A new illness means a new cure, a new romantic poem about a love one passing away dramatically...each pest a new source of innovation, a new story born from how bad they want to be rid of them. She doesn't have Shub's disdain for human vices, however, in fact she often partakes in them. Ishtar loves to play. She has also had many, many, many children...but hasn't been able to keep a single one as each disappears from her womb before birth. This sadness usually causes her to make a new species of insect or strain of illness.

Teutates: Teutates was born for the battlefield. The second he could walk his father had him in a uniform, training with soldiers much bigger than him. His mother attempted to take him away, but Ah Puch kidnapped him back so he could continue training. By his teen years he could take down a full grown man and was a general in his father's army. He didn't like the gruelling training and the pressure he was under, but he felt he had no other choice. He began wearing his gas mask and uniform all the time after his father forced him into a battlefield wearing nothing but civilian clothes and a mine activated in front of him, burning up most of the front of his body. After this, Ah Puch began getting her "pets" (usually dopples) to keep her company. This started a cycle during her horseman days where she would get a new pet in spring and by fall accidentally kill it during her rage blindness.

Ah Puch: Despite saying he loved leading an army, he got tired of it pretty much as soon as he became a Horseman. He's actually the only Horseman to not have a parent who was one or just have been one from the start. Really, he had worked his way up the ranks in the army before the former War took a shine to him and basically put Ah Puch under his protection, affording him all the best he could offer before his retirement. Ah Puch then realized war was not as fun when you aren't being praised for every single thing you do, so as soon as he had a child he began training the kid to take his place so he could retire a hero.

Dagda: Dagda was Yan Luo's first attempt at having a child. She made his body, then had Xezbet put a soul into him. She then realized after he woke up for the first time she really didn't want a child, so put him in a field to "guard" and sort of...left him there. Since he had just come into existence he didn't try and follow her, thinking this was a normal thing, and he was a scarecrow after all! Eventually Shub was out and brought him back, and Izanami offered to let him live with her. He now holds a bit of a grudge against Yan Luo, but normally doesn't talk to her.

Izanami: Izanami died years and years ago after her husband poisoned her so she wouldn't find out he was cheating on her. She then turned around and ripped off his face when he was sleeping. She has a dedication to warping the faces of liars so everyone knows what they are. She was eventually summoned by Anazareth completely accidentally, and decided that the Palace of the Nightmares is not a bad place to live, so she stayed.

Bryn: Bryn is a doppleganger, and dopplegangers in the Nightmare Realm are a species of mammal that can steal people's appearances. The Nightmares regard them as pests who eat humans they could be using for rituals or their own food. Dopples also live in colonies, though these ones are much smaller than in the real world. Bryn lived in a colony with his mother when it was raided, and his entire colony killed. He was only spared because he can't run out of blood, so he was given to Yog as a pet. He lived with Yog and later Abducius and Zoth as well for years before Teutates kind of stole him.

[opaque-daydream]

How to be a Good Neighbor (A Derek Morgan Story)

She sighed as she placed her keys in the bowl by her entry table. It had been a long day at work, and all she wanted was to change into her pajamas, snuggle under her favorite blanket, and maybe watch some trash TV to take her mind off everything going on in her life. Slipping her shoes off, she left them in front of the doorway and made her way into her bedroom to find her favorite pair of pajamas, the navy blue with the white trim that felt soft on her skin. She could figure out dinner afterward.

Once she had her pajamas on, she made her way back to her kitchen, pulling open the drawer that held all the takeout menus that were close to her house; times like this almost made her melancholy that she didn’t have someone to share the take-out with. Her sister lived in Oklahoma, and her parents were on the other side of Virginia, and her last relationship was a flop. She hadn’t been in the city long enough to make many friends. She knew Derek, but he kept odd hours with his Job, and she didn’t really want to knock on his door just because she felt lonely, she didn’t want to be that neighbor. She decided on pizza, and after calling it in, she sat in front of her TV, turning it on to pass the time while she waited.

Halfway through Toddlers and Tiara’s, she heard a knock at the door, and her stomach rumbled. Perfect timing she thought as she stood up to get her food. She opened her purse to get some cash out of her wallet for a tip when the knock sounded again, “I’m Coming!” She yelled as she grabbed a ten and headed to the door, swinging it open so that she could tip the delivery driver and get her dinner. She didn’t expect the blow, and her last thought before hitting the ground was that she should have placed her shoes where they should go when she got home.

__

The team was gathered around their evidence board in the room that the local PD was allowing them to use when an officer walked in. “We have a break in the case there was another attack, but this time, we have a live witness,” the uniformed Officer told the team.

“Thank you, Officer Bates,” Aaron Hotchner said, “Where is the witness now.”

“The ambulance took her to the local hospital,” Officer Bates smiled, “This is the break we need to catch this son of a bitch.”

“How do we even know it is the same unsub? He hasn’t left anyone alive yet,” Prentiss asked the question everyone was thinking.

“I think it is best if Morgan, Prentiss, and I go to the scene, Reid, and Rossi if you will go to the hospital and speak to the witness,” Aaron Hotchner directed.

“Officer Bates, we need the address of the crime scene,” Aaron states.

“Not a problem,” Officer Bates gives Aaron the address, and the team files out.

__

Beeping, it is what woke her. Groaning she opened her eyes and shut them again when the light hit them. “To bright” she muttered to herself.

“I can turn them down for you,” a voice answered, and she nodded her head slightly. She heard a clicking sound and tried to open her eyes again. “Better?” the voice asked.

“Yes” her voice cracked when she answered, and a straw was placed in front of her lips. She took a sip greedily; her throat felt like it was on fire.

“We have some questions for you if you don’t mind,” the same voice said, and she nodded her head again. It was like her mind was slow to process what was going on around her. Her head was aching, and this was worse than the migraines she normally got.

“I’m Dr. Spencer Reid, and this is SSA Agent David Rossi. We are with the FBI.” Spencer started his normal spill when the woman interrupted.

“You work with Derek,” she croaked.

“You know Derek?” Rossi questioned.

She nodded her head slightly, as it hurt less to nod than to form words. “He’s my neighbor,” she said softly.

“Can you tell us what happened this evening?” Rossi questioned, coming to stand closer to her bedside.

“I came home from work, and there was a knock at my door. I answered it, and then I was here.”

“Do you normally answer your door without looking to see who it is?” Spencer questioned.

“I thought it was my Pizza; I had ordered Pizza for dinner,” she said softly, taking a deep breath. “Water, please,” she asked. Spencer handed her the water again, and she took another sip. “Thank you”

“Can you tell us anything about what happened after you answered the door,” Rossi asked.

“No, I opened the door and just remember thinking I should have put my shoes away. When I was hit, I tripped over my shoes,” she softly replied, “I wish I could tell you more, really, but I wasn’t expecting someone to hit me.”

“Did he say anything before he hit you, or can you remember him saying anything when you were falling or after you fell” Spencer asks.

 “It happened so quickly,” she draws in a shaky breath, “I don’t know”

“It's all right,” David Rossi interjects, “If you do remember something, I am going to leave my card, but we will check back in with you. Rest,” he adds as he motions to Spencer that they should head back.

“Thank you,” she responds as she starts to close her eyes again, “do you mind the light?”

“It's not a problem,” Rossi says as he clicks off the light, and they move to leave the room.

“What do you think, kid?” Rossi asks as they are walking out of the hospital.

“It could be our unsub. It is highly plausible that he was startled by the delivery driver, and he took off without finishing, as the delivery driver called 911.” Reid theorized, “She does fit the type; she has the right hair color and height and is in the right age group.”

“Let's regroup with the team and plan our next steps,” Rossi says as he pulls out his cell phone to call Aaron.

--

“There is no forced entry, just like the other houses,” Emily notes to Hotch and Morgan as they walk inside. Derek frowns as he looks around the living room, and his frown gets worse when he notices the blood in front of the door.

“He didn’t even move her from the front door; something or someone startled him,” Hotch says as he makes his way through the house.

“If something interrupted him, where would he go to get out if he can’t get out the way he came in?” Emily asked, looking at both Hotch and Morgan.

“The backdoor faces a small, wooded area; he could easily go out the backdoor and be out of sight within a minute,” Morgan said.

“The backyard has a fence. I saw it when we came in,” Emily reminded him.

“There is a gate, and it doesn’t have a lock,” Morgan countered.

“You don’t know that without looking,” Emily told him.

“I do know, “Morgan responded. She is my neighbor. I live next door, and I have been telling her for weeks that she needs to get the lock on her gate fixed.” He huffed as he went to check the backyard to see what information he could gather.

When Morgan came back in, Hotch was on the phone. “You ok?” Emily asked.

“Fine,” Derek told her as Hotch hung up.

“That was Dave; our victim doesn’t have any information about the unsub. She doesn’t remember seeing him. Dave said she had ordered pizza, so she opened the door thinking it was her delivery.”

“Hotch, I think we should post someone at the hospital with her. We don't know exactly who this guy is, but we know he must finish his routine. I think he will come back.” Emily said.

“I will ask Chief Warren to post someone at the hospital” Hotch assured as he put his phone back in his pocket.

“No need, I will do it” Derek volunteered.

Part Two

[escapingrealtiylovinginsanity]

Rewind, Remix & Replay Jay & Kim (Bonus) Fire 6x14

You can find the rest of the series here

My favorite part of One Chicago is all the crossovers! So, there will be some chapters that go into fire and med. Not a ton, but a few that can add some backstory and some more cushion to the plot and relationship. This chapter is kind of random- but I loved the idea. I hope you enjoy it!

Jay was trying not to hover. The workload had been light in intelligence and everyone was using the slow time to catch up on overdue paperwork. Kim had been asked to help on another case and had been gone most of the day. She had just returned about an hour before the shift was over. The members of intelligence had been slowly trickling out.

They decided to go to a new Mexican place that had opened up after work when they realized they might leave on time. Jay was just going to wait for her, but the shift ended twenty minutes ago and Jay had finished the last of his paperwork. Kim was still sitting and staring at her computer. Jay knew something was wrong, but he didn’t want to ask her about it while Al was sitting across from her.

After another ten minutes, Al grabbed his coat, calling out a goodbye as he left. He was barely at the stairs when Jay was on his feet and heading to Kim’s desk. Jay noted that the computer screen was black from disuse. Kim was miles away in her own world. He set his hand lightly on her shoulder and she jolted. “Hey,” He soothes as Kim’s brown eyes dart to him, her hand shooting up reflexively to catch his. She squeezes it when she processes that it is him. “Talk to me.” His voice is low and no-nonsense. Kim could hear his worry. Her pause was too long. “Is it Zoey?”

“No, no, she okay. It’s not that.” Kim gave Jay a halfhearted smile as she watched some of the tension release from his stance. Kim didn’t know how it had happened but in a blink of an eye, the two had become close. She suspected it was because Jay treated her like a normal kid. He didn’t press her about the issues with her parents, school, or lack of interest in the things she used to like. Or maybe it had to do with the fact that he watched her shows and movies with no complaints no matter how girly they were, indulging her in sweets and introducing her to her new favorite movie snack- bacon popcorn.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s just… the case I helped with today. It just hit me in a way I didn’t expect. Brought up some memories.” Jay waits but she doesn’t continue. He reaches for the papers on her desk. When she doesn’t object, he takes the stack and starts flipping through the call report.

“A DV?” His eyes flashed to hers. “Kim,” His tone betrays his internal thoughts. She knows exactly where his mind has gone. She isn’t sure how to start, but the emotions and thoughts in her head bubble up to the surface. Jay's presence is warm and strong. A shelter for the storm brewing in her chest.

“I think I’ve told you, that Nicole practically raised me since I was ten.” Jay inclined his head, his blue eyes sharp. “My mom and dad’s divorce- it was ugly. He just… made a life with a new family. My mom started working more- traveling a lot for work- and drinking more. A lot more. I was practically alone searching for someone to care about me. I was almost a perfect target.” Kim sucked in a breath trying to settle her emotions as tears burned at the back of her eyes. “But my friend Shannon- she was a better one. Neither of us had parents really, but I had Nicole and she didn’t have anyone. She was bouncing between relatives' houses. When I met her, she was sleeping on a blowup mattress on her Great Aunt's living room floor.”

Kim swallowed hard as her voice broke. “She had nothing- and her life was hard but she was the sweetest girl you would ever meet. Do anything for anyone, give you her last dollar with a smile. Everyone called her Sugar.” Kim closed her eyes trying to push back the tears seeing the curly-haired blonde in her mind, all smiles', freckles covering her cheeks. “Josh was older than us. He was cute and charming. That's how it always starts though isn’t it? He flirted with me and made me feel like a hundred bucks. I thought he would ask me out but Nicole was always hovering. It used to make me so mad.” Kim shook her head playing with the blue pen on her desk, watching absently as ink smeared on her fingertips.

“It didn’t take long for him and Sugar to start dating. The two were thick as thieves. When he graduated the next year, he moved her in with him to an off-campus dorm room. Josh’s parents had money. She ended up transferring to a closer school. But I knew she would be better off because he was so good to her- gave her everything without her even asking. She was so lucky- I thought. I was fifteen- I didn’t realize how strange and- inappropriate it was for a girl that young to be living with an eighteen-year-old by themselves. I didn’t see the signs when she started to get more and more distant. We went from seeing each other every day to maybe three or four times a year. Then I turned eighteen and started working for the airport. I became a flight attendant maybe six months after.”

“Kim,” Jay tried to soothe but Kim can’t stop. Her emotions are pushing up through her throat in the form of an overflow of words she can’t stop.

“You know I was so busy with work- about to do a flight to Germany- that I made the first conversation I had with her in over a year less than two minutes. One minute and forty-seven seconds to be exact. Sugar wanted to meet up- I could tell she was upset but I was late and about to get on my plane. I told her I would call her back… She was dead before I even made it to Germany.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and she stood up as Jay tried to reach for her. “She was trying to leave him after almost eight years. Eight years of hell and abuse. Abuse that I had no idea about. Did you know that is when you are in the most danger of being killed? Not in an abusive relationship but when you try to leave it. Ironic right?” Kim breathed bitterly.

“Kim, this isn’t your fault.” He reached for her again. She put her hands up keeping space between them. She didn’t feel like she deserved the comfort. Jay’s hand wrapped around the nape of her neck and pulled her forward. Her hands get trapped between their bodies as he embraces her tightly. He tucks her head under his chin, kissing her forehead.

Her fingers curl around the soft material of his shirt, scrunching it into a fist. Her body melts into him, hungry for the comfort he is offering. “I could have helped her.” The anguish in her voice ripped through his heart.

“Baby, you didn’t know. This isn’t on you.” He rocked her, hot tears wetting his shirt. He didn’t rush her. The empty bullpen was the only other witness to her grief. She calmed down slowly, her grip on him loosening. He pressed another lingering kiss to her forehead. He pulled back far enough to see her face and brush away the tears that hadn’t been soaked up by his shirt. Then reached for her jacket. “Come on, let’s get you back to my apartment.”

Kim sniffed running a finger through her hair. “I’m sorry, I’m not really feeling up for sex tonight.” Kim tensed at her own blunt words; her filter appeared to be gone for the night. Jay’s lips twitch repressing a smile.

“Well as sexy as you look right now,” His thumb rubbed away some of her smeared mascara from beneath her eye, “I was thinking more along the lines of rocky road and you curled up in a blanket watching the sea hawk's game. But if you really push- I'll let you pick what we watch and might even let you wear the sweatshirt you stole and I just got back last week.” Kim laughed despite herself resting her forehead against Jay's chest, the tension successfully broken.

It ended up comprising. Kim had turned the hockey game and Jay had given her his-and her- favorite sweatshirt to wear. Kim sat on the couch bare except for the warm, soft cotton of the sweatshirt. Jay came over to her in his jersey and sweatpants holding a tub of rocky road and two spoons. Kim knew he wouldn’t eat much of it- Jay didn’t have a sweet tooth and preferred salty snacks. He was just indulging so she wouldn’t have to eat it alone. He sat down and they naturally slid together. Kim lifted the blanket for him to slip under, his arm wrapping around her.

Kim finished off the carton and fell asleep with her face buried in Jay’s chest before halftime. Jay noticed how much younger she looked when she slept. He hated to see how hard she was on herself. Always so strong for everyone else. There was a persistent tug in his chest to make sure she knew she could lean on him. To take the comfort she was so willing to give but not ask for.

He felt bad for waking her, but they had both spent enough days sore after sleeping on the couch. She practically slept walked to the bedroom with him leading her by the shoulder. By the time he used the bathroom and stripped down to his boxers, she was already fast asleep cocooned in the blankets cuddling his pillow.

[myships-storys]

your cool no matter what part 2

Chapter name: sick love

FLUFFY TIME

this is based off my headcanon of what happens when sevens sick

Also @biblicallyaccuratefour is in this

Cover by @almostholysandwich

Nine pov:

I was hanging out with two, as they were teasing me about what happened yesterday with seven. "Somebody's in love~" Two said mocking me

"I AM NOT" I yelled out, feeling embarrassed. All the sudden I felt something wrap their arms around me, I tuned around to see it was seven. I was flustered out of my mind from this.

Two noticed seven didn't look so well "hey seven, umm your not looking so great today, are you ok" Two asked. I looked at sevento notice he didn't look so good, making me worried.

I placed my arm on his to feel he had a fever. "Sev seems to have a fever" I said as seven tightened his grip on me making me blush a little more. "I need help~" Seven said ad he grumbled

"I think me and two could help" I said as I looked at two. "Uhhh I actually gotta go so uh, bye" two said as they disappeared

I was mad at the fact two left me, but I had to focus on seven right now. "Come on let's head your place, I think you'd be more comfortable with that" I said as I dragged seven to her place.

When we got there, I went to the coach to sit down, followed with seven sitting close to me. "Ok so I will watch over you for the day until you get better, you got that" I asked as I looked at seven. Seven looked at me and started clinging on to me as the looked at me all sad like, making me blush slightly "but your gonna get sick though" seven whined as I sighed. "I don't care, your my friend, so I can't just leave a friend sick like this. So try to get better ok" I said to seven, almost sounding like a parent. "Oh- ok" seven said with a groan at the end

a few hours have passed with seven getting worse by the second. I was getting worried about her, I didn't know if this was normal or not. I thought about getting some soup, but I realized I would just start a fire. I had to find four or x to get some soup. I walked to seven who was sitting on the couch, covered with blankets.

"I'm going to get some soup from four and X, so wait here" I said to sev as I started to walk away. All the sudden I felt something pulling my leg, I turned around to see it was seven, I was blushing like crazy from this. "S-sev! Let me go! You need to get rest! I have to go to four and X to get some soup, we both know I will just start a fire if I tried to cook" I said, as I was super embarrassed.

"Nooooo! I'll die here alone"sev said as he was on the ground trying to get mw to stay. All the sudden I herd a knock on the door. "Seven? You in there, what's going on" I herd faux af the door, making me sigh in relief

I opened the door to let him in. "Nine? What are you doing here" "sev is sick and is clinging on to me so I have to take care of him" I explained to faux about the situation. "Say could you make sev some soup, I'd do it but I'd somehow burn the milk or something" I asked looking concerned. Faux sighed then looked at me "fine I'll help" he sad making me happy and relieved

"But after that I got to go, I have to go to the hospital to see ten with eight" faux explained to me "ok bro, I understand" I said. After a few minutes, faux finished the soup and brought it to me "There you go, now I have to go, see ya" faux said as he left the house. I walked upstairs to see seven in bed, he had a super high fever so I had to give him the soup.

"Here's some soup bro, eat up" I said, holding a spoon full of the soup and having it out so seven could eat. Seven chuckled and looked at me, "how about I eat you instead, because of the joke 7 8 ni-" seven said, as i blushed alot from the joke "just eat this please" is said cutting seven up. Eventually seven ate the soup.

I checked up on her a few minutes later, and they're fever was starting to go down. "I'm so bored~" seven whined out. I looked around for something, then found sevens tablet, seven didn't have a password so it was easy for me to get in. I put on war of wonderland (my object show I'm working on) as she started watching it, laughing at the funny parts.

I blushed at sevens laugh, it was kinda... cute- WAIT NO?! I shouldn't have these thoughts, sevens just a friend, right? I had these thoughts yesterday also, what is going on?! I looked back at seven who wad relaxed. I sat down on a chair next to sevens bed, and watched war if wonderland with her.

To be continued

Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 2. See you next chapter

[ashwithane]

happy 5th anniversary, fire emblem three houses!

i didn’t have time to do anything super elaborate, but i’m glad i could at least make some simple drawings of how i looked when the game released vs how i look now. i tried to give them a similar vibe to the in-game portraits haha

rant below about my feelings right now because there’s a Lot to say! content warning for mental illness and childhood trauma 🫠🤙

as you can see in the drawings, i’ve come a long way in the past five years. when three houses first released, i was a deeply insecure high schooler who never dared to speak up or express themself. i struggled with self worth issues and had long since begun developing ocd symptoms as a result of the fear i had that there was something wrong with me, something i couldn’t possibly know or change but that everyone would see if i made a single wrong move.

throughout high school, and my adolescence as a whole, i had a hard time connecting with people. but when i played three houses, i connected with the story, the characters, the ability to replay it again and again and always try something new, change characters’ classes and find new paired endings and discover the little details i hadn’t noticed before. i was playing three houses the weekend after covid lockdown was announced, and i remember talking to one of my friends about this cool game i’d just started my second playthrough of. we laughed and talked about the game, figuring that lockdown would only last a few weeks, and then things would be back to normal.

lockdown was difficult for me, as it was for most people. but at the same time, not going to school in person meant i could afford to let my guard down. i could afford to unmask, and discover who i was when i didn’t spend every moment in fear of what others would think. and so when lockdown ended, i started college still timid, but somewhat more familiar with who i was inside.

and then, one day, a thought hit me out of nowhere.

“am i trans???”

and thus began the journey of self-discovery that was my first summer after college. i started using the name ashe, started using any pronouns and later switched to just they/them. i also finally got up the courage to tell my parents i wanted to get tested for autism, and came back with that diagnosis to explain almost everything i hadn’t had the words to understand before.

recently, my mental health has gotten worse. i got diagnosed with anxiety at the same time i got my autism diagnosis, but nobody told me i have ocd as well until earlier this year. things took a nosedive for me over this past school year—i stopped taking risks, barely left my college campus, barely allowed myself to put effort into social connections out of fear that i’d be forcing people to put up with me. but through therapy and medication, i’ve been working through those feelings, and the fears my brain internalized as a result of the way i grew up: feeling like something was wrong with me, but not knowing what. today, i feel pretty good! i’ve been having more and more good days, so i’m overall optimistic about what my future holds.

to bring this back on topic, fire emblem: three houses has gotten me through countless tough times, and has been immensely helpful in figuring out who i am. so in honor of the anniversary, i’d like to give a special thank you to the characters who have been the most important to me over the past five years.

ashe: i’ll start with the obvious. ashe is the character i stole my name from, so of course he will always hold a special place in my heart. in addition to that though, ashe’s earnest personality and commitment to doing the right thing is immensely inspiring to me. he proves that it’s possible to make mistakes and grow from them, that your life isn’t over after one misstep. ashe has taught me to never give up on doing the right thing, and being the best version of myself i can be.

felix: this list would not be complete without the scrunkly of all time! obviously i find felix to be a very compelling character and fun to write, but his significance to me goes beyond being a writing muse. i’ve often thought that i wish i’d had a friend like felix when i was younger, and even now—someone who would drag me into situations i found stressful and encourage me (in his own rude way) to have confidence in myself. someone who would have stood up for me against the people who treated me like i was lesser. felix inspires me to fight for what i want, his shield symbolizing the ability to make your own choices for what and who you defend. he reminds me that there’s no glory in being a martyr, and so i shouldn’t make my well being a second priority. i love you felix and i’m sorry i put you through the horrors regularly (but not sorry enough to stop).

marianne: it’s probably concerning to say i see a lot of myself in marianne. her journey is incredibly inspiring to me, especially now as i see that the past five years have taken me along a similar path to hers. marianne starts out thinking she’s too different from everyone else to deserve a life like theirs, and condemns herself to crushing loneliness all to avoid the possibility of her hurting the people she loves. and yet she learns to live for herself, realizes that her mere existence doesn’t cause any harm, and learns to embrace her right to enjoy life. i hope to have the same strength she does, so that one day i can reach that point as well.

linhardt: no joke, i realized i was neurodivergent because of linhardt. so many of his lines and support conversations made me go “ha, he’s so autistic/adhd coded!” i made these comments repeatedly, but i also kept noticing all the little ways in which i related to him. linhardt was one of many autistic people who made me go “huh, i do that too! what do you mean that’s not normal???” his character also serves as a reminder that it’s okay to take a break once and a while, and that looking after myself doesn’t mean i don’t care about others.

if there’s one thing left to say, it’s thank you. thank you to ashe, felix, marianne, linhardt, mercedes, sylvain, ignatz, hapi, yuri, hell—my oc rowan, all the characters i’ve connected with and loved so deeply over the past five years. thank you fire emblem three houses, not for being the only reason i am where i am today, but being a major part of it nonetheless. and if anyone’s still reading, thank you for making it this far, and happy timeskip! 🎉

[gayratguy]

My friend Jake never minded I was gay. Even though he came from a pretty conservative background he was always very accepting and would usually invite me on trips and stuff as one his +1 friends. This time around we were at a lakehouse his family had rented and some of his family friends had rented a lakehouse across the way. I was excited to join him on one of these trips bow that we’re both 21 and able to actually join the party with the rest of the adults. After a day of water skiing and intertubbing with him and his family I was ready to head back but Jake and his family were still wanting to keep going. That’s when Rob, one of Jake’s dad’s fire fighting buddies offered to take me back on his boat with more of their ex-fire fighting buds. I jumped at the chance a little bit to emphatically and quickly tried to recover as to not let on how attracted I was to these men. There were four of them on the boat all about mid 30s and all of them had a decent bit of muscle that was covered with a layer of fat from all the beer. The biggest one of them was clearly Rob who was a huge bear of a man. I climbed into their boat as they handed me a towel to dry off. They started talking to me about school and I asked them about their time as fire fighters. After a while we had reached their place and they asked if I wanted to come up with them to drink a few beers before Jakes family finished up. I walked up with them at the back trying to hide my boner with my towel when Rob turned around right in front of me and saw it. “I knew you were a fag” he said smirking at me, “hey Danny you owe me 5 bucks” “Fuck!” i heard up front. I honestly had expected them to beat me up if they ever heard but what I heard next shocked me. “Alright so is that boner for all of us? Cause we could use a cumdump if you’d be willing.” He said it so casually as if this was a normal occurrence for them. i said yes meekly and Rob chuckled and put his beefy arm around me and pulled me into his chest. “Hell yeah man you’re doing us a big favor.” His hand moved down and groped my ass as we walked up to the lake house. The rest of the night was a blur, Rob called Jakes parents and told them they had gotten me too drunk so I was sleeping it off. In reality I was in heaven, I let them fuck me in the hot tub, by the fire, I sucked them off under the table while they played poker and smoked cigars. They took turns giving me water and cooking for me while I bounced on another ones cock. It was hitting about dusk when I was resting on a couch outside to get some air chatting with one of the men when Rob came outside looking to ask me something. “Hey man listen we’ve really has a great time tonight and you’ve seemed to too. We’ve never had a guy so enthusiastic after three hours of fucking so I thought I would offer you something.” He held out a pill, “I was thinking maybe we could continue this for a little while longer. if you take that pill I can merge you with my dick for the rest of the trip and you can feel every little stroke and thrust of my dick in your whole body, I’m told it feels awesome. Then after the trip I can unmerge you and you can continue being our cumdump at our house. We’ll take care of all of your expenses and it would only be as long as you’d want but you could even merge with one our dicks during the days then take loads during the night while we cook for you! What do ya say?” I nodded my head so fast. “Alrighty then why don’t you show that pretty ass to me and you’ll be swinging between my legs pretty soon just thinking about cumming and pissing for me.” “Thank you sir” is all I said before I felt the first shot of cum escape my lips. Best trip ever

[sodor-spirit]

Lady continued floating away, the clear sighted boy still following after her. She only reached to a few feet before the Steam Creator let loose another sigh and turned back around to face the inquisitive child.

“Surely, someone is taking care of you,” She spoke to him, her tone of voice still hard and icy then how it normally is. “Your… (What is that word?) Parents? Where are they?”

The boy’s face melted to one of utter misery, washing over him and slumping down onto his shoulders. “I… I don’t have parents…. Not anymore…”

Hearing this made Lady drop her cold expression and closed off body language. She looked at the little human with clear shock in her eyes. The Creator didn’t really consider herself a parent, since she always sent the steam spirits souls down to Earth the moment they’re created (except for one special little soul), but she knew that parents seems to mean some among humans.

Lady was about to open her mouth to ask what happened to them, but the sad young boy beat her to it. “Someone set my old house on fire and… they did make it…” He wiped away the tears and snot away from his face. “I don’t have anyone else to care for me… expect my friend, Tasha.”

“Oh…” The Creator extended her hand out to the boy, only to hesitate and bring it back. “I…I”m so sorry that happened to you, little human…” It was no lie. She truly was sad for the poor boy loosing his parents in such a way, like how most of her Steam Spirits are being scrapped and melted down.

But… she still wasn’t sure whether to trust the young boy and take him with her. “Regardless, my answer is still no. I understand how hard it is to lose someone so precious to you forever, but I still can’t take you with me to find my other half on this strange dimension.” A scoff left her lips. “Why would I even trust you? Considering how your kind treats my creations.”

The boy’s cheeks puffed out in indignation. “You can’t blame me for being one of them and I can see you so that must mean I’m different!” He grumbled, trying to keep up with the magical lady, floating a few feet of the ground and away. “And besides, you don’t even know where he is or anything about my world. Wait up!” He started running after her. “I can help you! Let me help you find your husband!”

Lady was about to yell back that Diesel 10 is not her husband (Humans and their weird labels for everything, she’ll never understand it), but started to really consider the boy’s words. He had some points in his attempt at trying to convince her; Lady didn’t know much about the human dimension, she had no way of knowing where Ten has fallen after that shadowy monster attacked them. and this incredibly annoying and stubborn child has been living on this world for his entire life, so he must know how to get around this horrid place and survive.

And he may also have some potential in the mystical arts considering he’s able to see her. Maybe one day even as her successor when he reaches the end of his lifespan, but we’ll see how that goes.

The Gold dust creator let out one final sigh, brushing some of her bangs out of the way and turns back to the human child.

“Okay, fine.”

He looked up at the mysterious lady, eyes filled with surprise and disbelief. “Really? I can go with you?”

Lady’s face turn a slight shade of stubborn pink. “Yes. I do need help to finding my other half on this dimension, you’re the only one who can perceive me and…” Her features soften, but only a short amount. “I don’t understand how human families work but no one should be leaving you all alone if your parents are gone. So I guess you are better off guiding me.” With that display of swallowed pride, she held her hand out to the boy.

Sparkles appeared in his eyes, running up to her and taking the hand. The two started walking towards the Mountain range where Muffle Mountain is situated.

“Well then young soul, enlightened me,” Lady spoke to her new guide. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Burnett. Burnett Stone.” The young boy introduced himself with the largest smile on his face. “What’s yours?”

“My name is Lady.”

END?

[animatorweirdo]

When the dragons fly (book 2)

After a month since the incident, you and Aelon lived comfortably in your village. One day, you meet an interesting person after healing their wounded horse.

() = Elvish

Warnings: mentions of injuries, kidnapping, people being paranoid, things going back to normal, Aelon has a faint scar now, orcs getting hunted, getting ambushed, a wounded horse (the horse will be fine), funny social interaction.

------------------------------------------

The boys ran through the thick forest. Aelon held on to Samuel's hand tightly as he ran in front, navigating through the misty wood, trying to avoid getting hit by the branches of the trees or slipping on the moss. Ravens cawed and flew above them as they continued running. 

After minutes and miles of running, their home village finally came into their sight, and they started screaming. 

“Help!” Aelon screamed. 

“Mom! Dad!” Samuel followed along. 

The people snapped their eyes toward them as they ran out of the forest, covered in dirt and bruises. 

You looked up from your porch after sitting at the steps the whole morning in Helena’s company, who had been trying to comfort you since Aelon’s disappearance. 

Samuel’s parents were the first to receive the boys. 

“Samuel!” his mother fell on her knees and cried as she embraced him. 

“There were orcs! They took us!” Aelon started. 

“They were helping this vampire man, and he used a strange flute,” he said. 

“And he made music that made us follow!” Samuel continued as the village people gathered around them. 

“They took us to this very dark place, but then something attacked the place by night,” Aelon flailed his arms. 

“Yeah! It was something big and it vomited fire out of its mouth!” Samuel added. 

“The orcs were distracted, so we then took the chance to escape,” Aelon said. 

Ennar and the village chief showed up. 

“Boys! Calm down!” The village chief said, gaining the two’s attention. “Take a deep breath…” he said, and the boys followed. “Now tell us… what exactly happened?”

Aelon took a deep breath. “There was this red-eyed man who used music to kidnap us. He took us to this dark place filled with orcs. He was going to drink our blood, but then some kind of beast attacked at night. It was attacking the man and the orcs, so we took the chance to escape,” he explained. 

“A beast? What kind of beast?” the chief questioned. 

“I couldn’t tell. It was dark, and everything was burning. We didn’t exactly stay to see what it was while it was attacking the orcs,” Aelon explained. 

The chief and the people looked at each other in worry. “That is concerning, but… I believe you, Aelon,” he looked down at the boy, “But how did you two manage to find your way back here?” 

“I…” Aelon took a deep breath. “I remembered them taking us north, and (Name) always told me that… If I ever got lost. I can find my way back by following the river,” he explained. 

The older man smiled. “Seems like (Name)’s teachings have not been for naught. This day has truly been a blessing since even the waters have returned to our wells,” he said, and people nodded in agreement. 

The chief then turned toward Aelon. “Return to your sister. She had been lost since the day she heard the news of your disappearance,” he said, and then Aelon turned toward you, who had been watching on the side. 

You looked back at him and opened your arms when he began to run toward you. He jumped into your arms, hugging you tight and in relief. 

You hugged him tight, nearly letting out tears as you picked him up and began making your way to your house. 

“(Name)! Let me see him first,” Eda barked. “Oh! Let her be! She knows how to treat wounds, and she hasn’t been the same since he went missing, so let them be,” Helena intertwined, letting you walk away with Aelon. 

After walking into your house, you set Aelon down and closed the door. You then checked through the windows to see if anyone tried following you, and when you found no one coming, you glanced at Aelon and began grinning. 

“Well done. That was a marvelous performance. You know, you would make a fine actor if you ever got interested in theater plays in the big cities,” you stated. 

“Maybe… but I like flying and exploring more,” Aelon grinned, making you chuckle and ruffle his hair. 

“Go take a bath. After that, come back so I can dress your bruises before you get infected by the dirt you and Samuel drenched yourself in,” You approached the kitchen as Aelon went to take a bath since there was no need to go to the river. 

A month passed since Aelon’s return with Samuel. Everyone was overjoyed to have them back with no harm done to them, but the fear of the vampire lingering in the woods remained. 

A curfew was decided, and no child was to be allowed to wander without an adult. The Watchmen patrolled the village at night, ensuring no one came out at night and no danger lurked in the shadows. However, after weeks passed and no more disappearances happened. The village began to calm down, and curfew was no more, though the anxiety of letting children wander without someone to watch them remained. 

Aelon had healed from his bruises, and Samuel had kept quiet about your dragons as he promised. 

Aelon reunited with Dwenn, who tearfully embraced the young boy after recovering from his injuries. You both insisted on helping him at the workshop since he was still struggling to stand and getting used to seeing with only one eye. He complained about not being made of glass, but he didn’t have the heart to decline it since your company gave him comfort. 

All was all right right now. You were first concerned your surprise attack on the enemy orc fortress would gain attention on you, but nothing out of the ordinary seemed to have happened as the month passed. 

You allowed yourself to relax. Aelon had healed most of the bruises and cuts he gained from the incident, minus the scratch wound on his cheek, which had become a faint scar. You first teased him for getting his first battle scar before ensuring if he had been badly affected by the experience. He didn’t seem to be bothered as much, so you left it be, and you two continued living peacefully in your village. 

Today was a wonderful, peaceful day too as you were cleaning and fixing up clothes at the river while Aelon and Eweniel were playing by the rocks, talking about the incident. 

“The thing was big, really big. It had two giant wings, and it spits fire out of its mouth, setting the orcs and the whole place on fire,” Aelon explained while imagining the scene. “It was terrifying. It was like a giant scaled bat,” he added.

“A giant-scaled bat? Now that’s terrifying,” Eweniel replied.

“Well, I couldn't see it properly. It was dark, and the creature looked more like a shadow than a living thing,” Aelon said. 

“Why do you think the creature attacked the orcs? I do not think any other creatures spit fire and hate orcs,” Eweniel questioned. “I do not know. I’m just glad it didn’t decide to spit its fire on me or worse, eat me,” Aelon exaggerated. 

Eweniel gasped. “What if it came to rescue you?” she asked, making you and Aelon nearly jump at the question. “Uh…” Aelon was dumbfounded for a moment, and you thought about intervening, but he then managed to reply on his own. “Why do you think that?” he asked. 

“You’re pretty. Maybe it heard your cries for help and decided to come to rescue you,” Eweniel smirked, making Aelon sigh in annoyance. You resisted the urge to grin since it was technically the truth. Only, it was Falconer that came crying to you. 

“Why do I always have to be the damsel in distress?!” Aelon asked, flailing his arms dramatically. 

“Because you look like a princess, and beasts always come for the pretty ones first. But do not worry. Next time, I will be there to protect you,” Eweniel picked up a stick and began swinging around like a sword. “I can do that myself!” Aelon pouted. “Are you certain about that? If you are, then pick up your sword and defend yourself!” Eweniel pointed the stick at him. Aelon gasped and grabbed a stick from the ground, using it to defend himself before Eweniel could strike him. 

Aelon then began running away after throwing her off. “(Name)! Eweniel is bullying me!” he cried as he ran with his friend at his heel.

“Come back here and face me, coward!” Eweniel yelled. You giggled at the sight and continued stitching the shirt, letting them play. 

Somewhere away from the river. In the woods, six horses galloped across the grassy fields, chasing three wargs with orcs riding on their backs. Their wargs were barking, and the horses whined as their riders made them go faster and shot arrows at their targets. 

The arrows flew, striking down one of them. Dogs ran past the horse riders, going after the orcs that fell. 

One of the riders stopped as his horse began to whine and buckle, scared to continue the chase and go after the pack. The red-haired elf stopped his horse and began calming it down, standing on the side and speaking comfortable words. His horse calmed and stood patiently. 

The elf then watched as the rest of the riders continued the hunt, shooting and doing reckless things. He shook his head tiredly, too uninterested to continue the hunt. 

One of the riders stopped beside him, one of his brothers. “(Is everything alright, brother?)” Caranthir asked in their tongue. “(It’s nothing. I simply wish for a moment of peace,)” the elf answered. “(Are you tired of Bathor here getting constantly scared by the orcs and their rabid dogs?)” Caranthir motioned at his horse. 

“(He’s still young and not experienced when it comes to chasing and battles. He will learn eventually,)” the elf replied, and then they watched as two of their other brothers killed the orcs with their men. The red-haired elf shook his head. 

“I think I’m going to walk through the woods,” the elf turned his horse toward the forest.

“What am I going to tell the others, Maedhros?” Caranthir asked. “Just tell them to continue what they are doing and not come after me,” Maedhros responded before disappearing into the forest. 

Maedhros wandered through the forest, listening to the sounds around him and feeling the sun upon his skin. He could hear the horns of his hunting party in the distance, but he tried to ignore it and enjoy the calmness, which proved to be a tiring task. Things had not been going well recently, so he was having a hard time being in a good mood. The war, the actions of his brothers, and everything that seems to be only adding to his growing headache. 

His horse, Bathor, suddenly stopped. He was near to being annoyed with his young steed till something shot his horse from the shadows. Bathor shrieked as an arrow struck him in the shoulder, standing up and dropping Maedhros from his back. Bathor then ran away as a group of orcs suddenly appeared from the bushes. 

Maedhros quickly recovered and took out his sword. He cursed his luck for today and began fighting his ambushers with ferocity. 

At the river, Aelon and Eweniel were bantering about something while you made the finishing touches to the shirt. You pulled off the extra string and checked the shirt for additional tears or holes. Satisfied, you folded the shirt and prepared to take another piece of clothing that needed fixing till you heard galloping. 

A chestnut-colored horse suddenly appeared, running at the side of the river in terror and with an arrow stuck on its left shoulder. You quickly stood up and went to stop it in its tracks. Aelon and Eweniel backed away when they saw the horse running at them. 

“Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!” you called out as you stepped in front of the horse, making it stop, then quickly grabbed the reins before it could run away. The horse walked around you as you promptly calmed it down. “Easy—! Easy—” you softly said, running your hand across its neck in a calm manner. The horse gradually calmed down and began to limb in pain. 

“Good boy…” You petted him in encouragement and then checked the wound. The arrow’s top was halfway deep into the shoulder and telling from the black feathers and wood. The horse and its rider were most likely attacked by orcs. 

Aelon came out to see and cried when he saw the arrow and the blood that seeped from the wound. “It’s hurt!!” he nearly yelled as tears were brimming up from his eyes. 

“Calm down, Aelon! The arrow is only stuck on the muscles, so no vital parts should be hurt. But, our friend here is definitely going to limb if it doesn’t get pulled out soon,” You explained while keeping the horse calm. 

“Can you heal it?” Eweniel asked. “Please, heal it, (Name)!” Aelon begged. “I do anything!” he said. You softly smiled at Aelon’s care for the horse. He always had a soft spot for animals. 

“I can’t do much, but I think I can at least cover the wound and mend the pain,” You said. “What do you need?” Aelon asked. 

You were quiet for a moment, staring back at the two children who stared at you with begging eyes. The horse needed proper care if it was to live for a few more years, but you did not want to disappoint Aelon and Eweniel. You released a sigh. Luckily, you have some experience treating injured war horses. 

“Alright. I need a bowl of water and a clean cloth. Eweniel, I need you to go to the wood and grab Athelas. You know what that is? Your mother collects it quite often,” You looked at the little girl. 

“The smelly curing grass. I got it,” Eweniel sprinted into the forest. 

You then glanced at Aelon. “Aelon. I need you to keep our friend here calm. Treating the arrow will hurt,” you explained, handing him the reins. 

“Uh… okay,” Aelon said rather nervously while looking into the horse’s eyes. You patted his shoulder. 

“It will be alright. Consider it a little lesson on how to handle other animals than just our dragons,” you said as you went to grab water and the cloth. 

“Just pet him gently and be calm. Horses can sense other feelings and will get nervous if the other one is nervous too,” you called out. “Okay!” Aelon said as he began petting the horse. 

Maedhros stood in the middle of the battle he had won swiftly. The orcs lay dead, and his sword was covered in their rotten blood. He swiped his blade to the side to get rid of the excess blood and returned it to its sheet. Frustration began to build up when he noticed his horse was nowhere in sight. His day was just getting better and better. 

Soon, two of his brothers appeared at the scene. “Maedhros. Are you alright? We heard fighting over here,” Celegorm questioned with a fake tone of concern. Maedhros controlled himself from losing his temper. “Yes, I am. Thank you for your delicate concern,” he replied sarcastically. 

“Now. If you excuse me, I need to find my horse,” Maedhros began walking in the direction of the hoof prints his steed left behind. 

“You certain you do not need any assistance?” Celegorm called out with a grin. 

“I will be fine!” Maedhros called back. 

To his relief, his brothers did not decide to follow him. He had no patience to deal with their remarks at the moment. He was nearly at the point where hearing their breaths would vex him to the core. 

Maedhros followed the hoof prints and a small trail of blood through the forest. He felt concerned for his steed’s well-being but couldn’t help but continue cursing his luck for the day. Just when he had lost his former horse in a battle, he was going to lose another to an ambush. Eru was truly not smiling upon him today. 

He found his way to a streaming river. Relief washed over him when he saw his horse, but stopped in his tracks when he saw you and two children attending to his wounded steed. He quietly observed as you gently added a green substance to the wound and covered it all in what seemed to be wet clay as a temporal dressing. 

His horse was surprisingly calm under your care, and when you were finished, the children beside you rejoiced, hugging and petting his horse while you went to clean your hands in the river with a smile. The sight warmed Maedhros’s heart. Seeing children filled with so much joy always eased his troubled thoughts and emotions. He noticed certain similarities between you and the blonde-haired boy, and when his ears picked up the children asking you to keep his horse, he finally decided to approach. 

“What kind of horse is he? He doesn’t look anything like the horses my father has,” Eweniel asked while feeding grass to the horse, who happily munched on it after getting treated. 

“My guess is our friend here belongs to the elves. They have horses who are more fit for wars and hunts and taken how timid and young he is. This was the first time he had seen battles since he ran off instead of staying. They are usually pretty loyal to their elven riders,” you explained while drying your hands. 

“Why would they use them for something where they get hurt?!” Eweniel asked, mortified. 

“It’s a dangerous world outside these woods. You need to have something you can use to travel faster so you don't end up as prey for the less pleasant creatures,” you replied. 

“Well… can we keep him?” Eweniel suddenly asked. “Huh? Can we?!” Aelon asked along, seemingly excited by the idea. You shook your head with a smile. “Calm down, you two! Since he has a saddle. His master might still be around. We need to find them first before considering taking their horse,” you explained. 

“Well, you do not need to look far,” Maedhros announced as he gained your and the children’s attention. 

“Bathor belongs to me. I thank you for treating him,” he explained as he stood beside his horse. “And I apologize for the trouble,” he bowed his head respectfully. “I was ambushed some time ago, and that is how he got hurt in the first place. You didn’t have to, but I am grateful for attending my companion,” 

“You were ambushed? Are you hurt? Our village is not too far from here. We can ask our healer to take a look at you,” you questioned. 

Maedhros shook his hand, “I am quite alright, my lady. I only suffered a few bruises when I fell. My ambushers did not even have a chance to lay a finger on me when I dealt with them,”

“Oh? Well, that is a relief. You must be very skilled with a sword if your attackers failed that badly in their ambush,” you stated, making him chuckle.

“Unfortunately, they did end up hurting Bathor,” Maedhros gently stroked his horse. “He would have most likely perished from the wound if you were not here, so I thank you again,” he said, looking at you. “I only sealed his wound temporarily. He’s going to need proper treatment if you plan to use him as your ride in the future. I’m afraid you need to walk him back home since he’s still limbing. Your home is not too far from here, I hope?” you questioned. 

Maedhros smiled. “You do not need to worry. I have a company who can lend me another horse to get back home,” he answered. 

Maedhros then glanced at Aelon and Eweniel, who were hiding behind his horse, staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Is… something wrong?” he questioned, looking back at them awkwardly. 

“By the valars! You’re huge!” Eweniel suddenly shrieked. 

“Ewe! That is not a polite thing to say!” you scolded. 

“Look at him, (Name)! He’s two times your size! You look like a dwarf compared to him! He could probably use you as an armrest!” Eweniel flailed her arms at the elf. 

You awkwardly laughed. “Please forgive her. Elves are not very common around here,” you said. Maedhros smiled back. “It’s quite alright. I am pretty tall even for my kind’s standards,” he replied. 

You chuckled and then looked into his eyes. A spark of familiarity flickered within you. There was something familiar about them. 

“I’m sorry if this is coming out of the blue, but have we possibly met before? You look… familiar to me,” you questioned. 

“I… do not think so,” Maedhros answered uncertainly. “It would have been difficult to forget meeting someone like you, my kind lady,” he fixed, making you chuckle. “I travel a lot, so perhaps I have seen you passing by somewhere. It would explain why you look familiar, especially with red hair like yours,” you complimented, making him release a soft smile. 

You then heard a commotion in the distance. Maedhros released a tired sigh after he picked them up with his ears earlier. “That is my company. I am afraid I have to return to them soon,” he said, and you handed him the reins. “That is a pity. I would have loved to talk to you more. Are you certain you do not need a healer to check on you?” You asked. 

“I will be fine. I have already troubled you enough for the day,” he replied. 

“I bid you farewell,” he turned his horse around and began making his way out. “Farewell and be careful next time!” you called out, and he only smiled in return before leaving the clearing and you alone with the children. 

Aelon and Eweniel looked his way. “Who was that?” Aelon asked. “I do not know. I should have asked for his name. What a pity…” you said thoughtfully. 

“Oh… you like him,” Eweniel grinned at you. 

“That’s a bit too quick, Eweniel,” you said. “Even though I would have liked to know his name,” you said. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s go. These clothes are not going to clean themselves,” you said, and the children groaned. 

Maedhros walked through the woods with his horse, feeling something nice blooming within his chest after talking with you and the children. “Hey, you found your little runaway,” Celegorm stated.

“Shut it…” Maedhros walked past him, his once good mood reduced back into nothing but annoyance. 

Taglist: @natchayaphorn​ @kimnamnu@thatrandomidiot182 @springfountain

[redgoldsparks]

October Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

Finna by Nino Cipri, read by Amanda Dolan

Ava is having a rough time: three days ago she and Jules broke up, and since then she's been avoiding them at their horrible mutual job at LitenVärld, a dystopian Ikea. Then a customer goes missing in a wormhole in spacetime, and Ava and Jules are chosen to try and retrieve the missing grandma. Very short, very fun. Written by a nonbinary author. Gave this a re-listen as an audiobook because there is a sequel now :D

Defekta by Nino Cipri read by Ramon De Ocampo 

This novella takes place in the same LitenVärld store that Ava and Jules worked at in book one in this series, but follows Derek, the store's most loyal and dedicated employee. He lives in a shipping container in the store's parking lot, and has no friends and no life outside his time at the store. In fact, he doesn't even have any memories from before he started working at the store... or any explanation for why the store seems to make sense to him, and even speak to him, in a way it doesn't to any of his co-workers. Then something even more shocking than an wormhole occurs in the store: the furniture starts waking up and coming to life. Derek's entire worldview and sense of self are completely upturned. Unfortunately this story didn't capture me as strongly as book one; despite being a novella it felt oddly slow. I was rooting for Derek and the wayward furniture by the end, but the structure of the story was not as strong or streamlined as Finna. I do still want to keep reading Nino Cipri because I love the way they effortlessly include nonbinary characters in their sci-fi and I want a third installment that returns to Ava and Jules!

Princess Floralinda and the Forty Story Tower read by Moira Quirk 

A four hour fantasy novella read by the talented and wonderful Moira Quirk, who also reads the Locked Tomb audiobooks. This original fairy tale features Floralinda, a princess captured by a witch and imprisoned in a tower full of monsters. When all of the princes who try to rescue her fail Floralinda has to to take up arms against the monsters herself. I was entertained throughout my whole time listening to this story, but it didn't have a particularly strong emotional impact. I would mostly recommend it to Tamsyn Muir completionists; though it was published in the same year as Harrow it feels like an earlier work. I kind of wanted the ending to be either more hopeful or more horrible.

My Aunt is a Monster by Reimena Yee 

Safia is blind, but she was raised by booksellers who read her stories of adventures and the wide world. After her parents tragically die in a fire, Safia is adopted by a distant relative, a reclusive aunt who used to be the world's most famous adventurer. A curse ended her traveling career, but a rival adventurer and the discovery of an ancient city might pull the whole family back into the world. This book was sillier than I expected, but I still greatly enjoyed the art style and the magical whimsy.

Thistlefoot by GemmaRose Nethercott read by January LaVoy 

Isaac and Bellatine Yaga grew up on the road with their parents' traveling puppet show, but neither has a good relationship with their parents as adults. Isaac ran away as a teen and has lived as a train-hopping actor and scam artist into his early twenties. Bellatine moved across the country to study woodworking in New England were she is trying desperately to live a normal life despite her power to bring inanimate objects to life. Her power, and Isaac's shapeshifting ability, are inheritances of a generational trauma from a history they barely know. But then another inheritance arrives for them in New York: a house on chicken legs, built by a Russian Jewish ancestor who survived the pogroms of the 1920s and the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. To Isaac, the house is an opportunity. To Bellatine, it is a home. But it comes with a curse: a shadow man follows the house to America, wanting to finish the destruction he started. I loved this story, woven through with Jewish folklore and American folk songs, a road trip story, a story of facing and accepting family history and how far its shadow falls into the present. I image this book gets compted with American Gods by Neil Gaimen and The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker but it is very much its own book with its own lyrical tone. And its queer! Highly recommend.

The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu 

This queer, modern retelling of Hamlet is set in a scientific lab and contained mostly within a tense 12 hours. Hayden Lichfield finds his father's cooling body in Elsinore labs within the first few pages; he immediately calls on the sentient AI system, Horatio, who controls the security cameras and many other aspects of the building. Horatio reports a 1.5 hour gap in the video logs. Hayden and his father, Dr Lichfield, were working on formula to reverse death. Hayden's immediate assumption is that the killer was after his father's research. The lab goes into lockdown and Hayden is trapped inside with his uncle Charles, lab technician Gabriel Rasmussen, Hayden's ex and research intern Felicia Xia, and her father Paul Xia, head of security. Unless they find an intruder, one of them is the murderer. I enjoyed how deftly this novel kept me guessing even when following a plot I know well. I was genuinely unsure how many, or who, of the people trapped in Elsinore would survive the night. I was also into the unashamed queerness of an AI in love with a human, and the ways in which that love could and could not be reciprocated.

The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson read by MacLeod Andrews

This book does an unbelievably thorough job of recounting one of the most devastating recent thefts from a modern museum. In 2009, an American student studying at London's Royal Academy of Music broke into the Tring museum, which contains thousands of natural history specimens including birds collected by Charles Darwin and his contemporary Alfred Russel Wallace. Darwin and Wallace both independently formulated the theory of natural selection and survival of the fittest in the same decade, by observing and collecting birds on remote islands during the height of the British Empire. They both believed in the importance of preserving these birds for future science. At the same time, the colonial empire had developed a huge appetite for exotic and colorful feathers for Victorian hats, the cabinets of curiosities and natural history specimens which were in vogue in the upper class, and for another aristocrat's hobby: tying salmon flies. These appetites nearly drove many bird species to extinction. Modern day lovers of the Victorian art of salmon fly tying now comb the internet for feathers from these rare birds, desperate to get their hands on materials mentioned in Victorian books. The majority of these feathers are now semi-illegal to possess or sell. It was this obsession that drove 20 year old Edwin Rist to break a window at the Tring and escape with nearly 300 stolen bird skins. There followed a long detective investigation into how he'd done it and what happened with the feathers afterwards. I enjoyed the audiobook and was impressed by the persistence of the author, who pursued this story for half a decade.

Asylum by Greg Means and Kazimir Lee 

A short but rich story about platonic adult friends who bond through a competitive fantasy card game, but end up supporting each other through all kinds of life transitions both joyful and heartbreaking. Allen and Zekia are both single, both wish they were dating or partnered, but instead they're sharing hotel rooms at geeky conventions, setting up mutual friends, attending weddings and funerals, babysitting other people's kids, and most of all playing the card game Asylum. Zekia, a Black lesbian, struggles with her self-worth, feeling unlovable and too socially awkward to date. Allen, a straight cis man, take a more philosophical view of his situation, appreciating the good things he has in life, including his many strong friendships. The black and white art is simple, clear, and effective. I read it all in one sitting!

Sincerely, Harriet by Sarah Winifred Searle

This is a very quiet and soft story of a girl struggling with an invisible chronic illness, and the resulting isolation and loneliness. Harriet and her parents recently moved to Chicago (to be closer to hospitals and specialists) and she doesn't know anyone in her neighborhood yet except the older woman, Pearl, who lives on a lower floor. Harriet misses friends she made at a summer camp and sends them postcards, lying about her new busy and fun social life. Pearl lends Harriet a series classic of books to try and gently nudge the girl out of her shell. But Harriet struggles to focus on them, instead wondering about a possible ghost living in the attic. There are other emotional struggles hinted at, but they are very subtle and a lot is left to the reader's imagination. The line art is very careful and lovely.