#if you think the acting or plot or dramatics aren’t for you each to their own

[bicth-and-in-that-order]

Rambling thoughts of various Yuri manga I’ve read

1. Kase-San and Yamada (Morning Glories sequel series) by Hiromi Takashima

notice how Kase’s name is first, which is representative of her being the main one to cause problems in their relationship

If you asked me what my favorite yuri manga was like 2-3 years ago, I’d say Morning Glories and Kase San everytime. Every avid yuri fan has either read or watched Morning Glories because, at the time in 2010, it was groundbreaking, and I stand by the fact that the original series still holds up to this day. It was cute, sweet, wholesome and only had a few obligatory “we love each other but we’re giRLs😳😳😳” moments. Most of all it wasn’t a pseudo-incest-straight-male-porn-pandering-garbage-fest—also known as “Citrus”. Was it cliche at times? Yes, but they all are lol. Did they add to the dumb ass “blonde femme and dark hair masc” trope? Also yes. But it was adorable and it was my first ever yuri so it holds a special place in my heart.

And it SEEMED like it was only going to get better in Kase San and Yamada, the sequel. The girls would be heading to college and the story could theoretically focus on more mature topics while they navigate their new relationship. Keyword: theoretically. Unfortunately, instead of exploring interesting relationship dynamics and storylines, the plot of each story arc boils down to: Kase is insecure because a man breathed next to Yamada or Kase is being completely insensitive to Yamada’s feelings…again…—> ✨miscommunication drama ✨—>big over dramatic apology scene—>boring makeup sex or other romantic gesture.

Literally that’s how every single plotline goes. Kase is so goddamn dumb and insensitive to Yamada’s feelings and Yamada’s a complete doormat who can only stay mad for 0.2 seconds before getting pussy whipped like a spineless ass bitch. And for all that Yamada sacrifices for Kase; her hometown, her dreams, her apartment, what does she get in return from Kase? Oh that’s right; bare minimum romantic gestures and a neglectful partner who can’t even call her “girlfriend” in front of others:

Like I thought we were over this shit. It’s been THREE years of them together, a whole anime production, and god knows how many irl years and we’re going back to “we love each other but we’re giRLs😳😳😳” WHY???

And then Kase later goes onto bet her entire three year relationship over the ugly bitch in the next panel, so now I’m questioning whether or not Kase even loves Yamada with the amount of bullshit she’s put her through. Which COULD be an interesting plot point, but Kase never gets any consequences for her actions and the creator genuinely thinks this is romantic and full of tension so I’m 10000% positive that this arc, just like all the others, will end with some makeup sex and we’ll be right back to step 1. Sigh.

2. Tamen De Gushi by Tan Jiu

Tamen De Gushi’s problems are interesting but it’s NOT because of the Chinese government💀

So today’s dark haired masc and blonde femme of the day are Sun Jing and Qiu Tong, respectively. Their personalities aren’t anything to write home about, if you read ANY high school yuri romance, then you know exactly what happens in this story beat for beat. But, BUT, however derivative it is, I find their dynamic very endearing and down to earth. Idk maybe it’s just the translation, but other yuri stories often have this very inauthentic “anime” vibe to it. Which is to say the characters act very cutesy, overly dramatic, and have this stilted, caricature-esque acting of how the creator thinks teenage girls are supposed act.

However, I’m happy to report that Tamen De Gushi is a breath of fresh air in this regard. The characters and interactions they have are grounded and feel organic, which makes them feel like real people, not aliens pretending to be human. This really elevates the humor in turn, oh did I mention that Tamen De Gushi is super funny? Because Tamen De Gushi is super funny, here’s one of my favorite panels and it’s all because of Sun Jing’s goofy ahh expression:

Like go girl give us nothing

If you’re wondering why I haven’t spoke much about the actual romantic relationship between the girls, that’s because there isn’t one💀 Which, okay, that’s not a fair assessment, they have a ton of romantic tension and they flirt a lot. It’s certainly building to a great romantic relationship, but it can’t quite get there due to legal/political reasons sadly. 😔

Edit: I received new information in regards to what happened to Tamen De Gushi. While I reached my limit for posting pictures, I want to point out that the Chinese government had nothing to do with Tamen De Gushi getting censored, rather it was a dispute between the author and the publishing company. The prior information I received was false and I prob should’ve looked it up more so sorrrry. The fact still remains though that after their big lesbian kiss towards the middle of the story and maybe a few other moments, that’s just kind of it. You’re stuck waiting for something to develop, but nothing really happens. The comic very quickly becomes a collection of slice of life segments and cute pictures that imply a relationship between the girls, but not really ;) ;).  Now things are just kind of left in purgatory for the foreseeable future and, well, that’s Tamen De Gushi y’all.

Compared to Kase San and Yamada, the characters were much better, which is not saying much, but without an actual romantic storyline, there’s just not a lot for me to comment on to be honest. It’s really pretty though, look at this art :

3. Beauty and the Beast Girl by Neji

my personal favorite and the BEST yuri I ever read

So next on the list is Beauty and the Beast Girl (I’m going to abbreviate to BatBG from here on) , which I already spoiled my feelings on the matter so this will basically be me gushing about this story for several paragraphs straight, enjoy.

Contrary to what the title suggests, it really has nothing to do with Beauty and the Beast’s story except in name. The main girls are Lily Blind, who is actually fucking blind 💀 and Heath the monster girl. Already I’m happy because instead of blonde femme and dark hair butch, it’s blonde femme and of-course-you-have-purple-hair-and-pronouns masc. Lol, all jokes aside, Lily, unlike her blonde femme counterparts is quite assertive and voices her opinions all the time. In fact, she’s the one who pushes Heath to be more open and communicate with her rather than the other way around. This is, in part, due to the story BatBG is trying to tell. I say BatBG is in name only to Beauty and the Beast because Lily isn’t trying to find the “beauty” within Heath or learning to love a beast or whatever, she’s fine just the way she is and her love for Heath is unconditional. Plus the only thing beastly about Heath is her appearance…which I’ll harp on later, but her behavior is in no way different from a regular human except in very rare, specific moments.

At its heart, BatBG is a story about forgiveness (the creator literally says as much) , but it’s also about the cycle of violence that results from being outcasted and deprived of love. BatBG is set in a world of humans and monsters, where the monsters are outcasted and either have to stay away from human society like Heath or assimilate themselves by hiding away their monster like traits, which is a really queer narrative on top of an already queer story. I don’t want to go into too much spoilers, but sometime before the beginning of the story, Heath in-directly hurts Lily before they ever meet. However, it’s not about Lily needing to forgive Heath, or trying to get over the pain she inflicted upon her, rather its Heath learning to forgive herself and in effect, learning to love herself as much as Lily loves her.

Another big aspect of BatBG is disabilities, Lily Blind is in fact Blind lol and while there are times she struggles with her blindness, she never views her disability as something she needs to be ashamed of and never, ever, blames Heath for it or holds it against her unlike what many, many, many, many other stories end up doing. Her blindness isn’t treated like a super power either, it’s a legitimate disability. She just accepts that it’s a part of her and goes onto say that if not for her blindness, she would’ve never met the love of her life, which I found to be an incredibly profound thing to say.

Now that I’ve gotten this far, I suppose I can add a bit of a disclaimer. So BatBG is waaaaay more explicit about the physical affection between the girls than in any of the previous stories I talked about. Heath and Lily are constantly kissing on, hugging, and almost always flirting with each other, and make no mistake, these girls do be fucking. The sex scenes are never perverted or gross, but genuinely super sweet and romantic, which makes it way hotter imo (huh imagine that🤔). And aside from being hot, it also serves a purpose! Lily’s pretty damn horny underneath all her nice girl antics and while it’s not a major part of her character, it does give a slight edge to her personality and, most importantly, balances out the dynamic between Heath and Lily. It would’ve been very easy to fall into that boring trope where Heath is aggressively horny and Lily is the submissive blind girl, but by making Lily be the one to initiate the sexual encounters, it not only compliments Heath’s more reserved nature, but breaks the stereotype that people with disabilities are pure precious being who couldn’t possibly have sex, which is ableist af btw. Many people think the existence of any sex scenes at all is superfluous, but in BatBG, it truly elevates the story, the characters, and the romance in ways that wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying without it.

Now, with as much praise I gave BatBG, there is one criticism I have, but it’s a quibble really, and it can be explained in a single image:

There is a dissonance between the story and the art, the story says: “Heath is a big, ugly scary monster”

The art says:

And like yes, it can be argued that Heath is simply regurgitating the things bigoted people have said to her, but at no point in the story is this ever challenged or brought up in any meaningful way. Lily is blind so she doesn’t know what the hell she looks like and the other characters aren’t any help either. It’s not a big deal or anything, it just would’ve elevated the story if Heath was actually kinda ugly/more monstrous and not incredibly beautiful because right now it’s giving skinny girl who calls herself fat all the time, and it’s like, babe, who tf are you fooling? 😭

Other than that, BatBG is incredibly profound despite its premise being so deceptively simple and I love it to pieces so …yeah! READ IT.

4. Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit by sometime

Well, at least there are no blondes

So imma just abbreviate to SiL btw

Alright, let’s get started. The premise is that a villainess falls for the super hero girl and then that plotline is dropped in about 16 pages. I’m not even joking, the villainess falls for the hero, loses her job as a villain and then joins the hero all in one chapter. The REAL plot is actually about a council of evil alien-humans who want to destroy humanity because of generic super villain reason #434: the leader of the aliens is sad and misunderstood :( I’m not even going to lie, I had 0 interest in “X” (the generic ass name of the main villain) and her band of useless lesbians. They did literally nothing in the story except be a nuisance and contribute to X’s incel breakdown at the end. Their inclusion actively made SiL worse because the story has this weird tonal problem where in one breath the villains are portrayed as complete jokes and then you turn the page and now they’re shooting children like girl what💀 And these useless lesbians hog sooooo much of SiL that desperately needed to be given to Honey trap and Hayate to develop their relationship.

When the story DOES actually focus on Honey Trap and Hayate, it’s pretty good, even cute at times, there just wasn’t enough time given to them to flesh their relationship out. As it stands, Honey Trap and Hayate don’t have much of a dynamic, or personality for that matter. Honey Trap’s main gimmick is that she’s extremely horny for Hayate and delulu:

Aside from that, she’s a great value version of Heath, but even a watered down character is better than, like, nothing. All I really know about Hayate is that she’s nice, heroic, likes wearing tacky clothes and ….that’s it. She loves Honey Trap because…………they fought together a few times so why not🤷‍♀️ I’d say at least that’s better than Tamen De Gushi, but actually it’s not because these grown ass women don’t even kiss , all we get is a love confession and their gremlin love child and that’s supposed to be satisfying I guess.

And the worst part is that SiL has the audacity to pretend the romance was something that it clearly wasn’t:

Girl…yall were “””enemies””” for 10 panels.

Now, it’s stated they have been rivals for a while, but I guess Honey Trap forgot all of that because the moment she sees Hayate’s face, my good sis is pussy whipped for life. And that’s in spite of apparently being the evilest one out of the evil group because Honey Trap has no grudge or baggage toward Hayate. She immediately turns good with no issues and Hayate is only distrustful of Honey Trap for 1 or 2 speech bubbles and then she’s not. Anything else that happened was off screen, which means it didn’t happen. Ironically, the very next entry on this list will do a MUCH better job at an ex-villain love story, but for SiL, there’s just not much going on.

Another reading of this story is to call it a “parody” but…no, it isn’t. SiL isn’t a comedy, yes there are comedic moments that poke fun of the genre, but the rest of the story genuinely wants you to take it seriously. Except it can’t. X and her league of dimwits are boring as piss and they oscillate between Saturday morning cartoon villains and child murderers seemingly on a whim. So I can neither be endeared to them nor take them as a serious threat. Honey Trap and Hayate are there, but I lament on all the potential lost from what could’ve been an amazing relationship.

5. Yamujiburo/Kianamaiart’s Hanamusa webcomic

This one is kind of cheating, but I also don’t care let me talk about hot MILFs💀

So the final entry on this list is a webcomic series by one of my fave artist: kianamaiart! And it’s right here on tumblr so check it out!

I stumbled upon this webcomic a few weeks ago, fell in love and now I want to talk about it. This yuri pair thankfully has no blonde femme in sight and instead features two popular Pokémon characters: Jessie from Team Rocket and Delia Ketchum, Ash Ketchum’s mom. What I love about this ship and the world Kiana creates around them is that it’s a very unconventional pairing. There’s just not many romances where a single mom falls in love with an ex gang member and the best part is, Delia being a mom is a big part of her character and she doesn’t ignore Ash in favor of her new relationship with Jessie. She has time for both and doesn’t prioritize one over the other, which many ppl fail to do even irl so good on you Delia!

Now, as for the romance it self, Jessie and Delia are a unique pair. Jessie’s overconfident, brash, drama queen personality doesn’t automatically put her in the “dominant” role and Delia’s sweet, motherly personality doesn’t automatically put her in the “submissive” role. Their dynamic in the webcomic actually plays out in the reverse, Jessie is the one who gets easily flustered and Delia’s…intense, to say the least:

(But Tbf if Delia looked at me like that I’d be at her beck and call too💀)

This subversion of these tropes creates a fun dynamic for the couple and it’s super adorable to see how their energies bounce off each other in each new situation Kiana puts them in. I also love how both Jessie and Delia inspire each other to live out their dreams and they become better versions of themselves by being together.

And one last thing, I don’t have any smart commentary to go along with this, I just really like this drawing of Jessie:

no thoughts, head empty

Final Thoughts

Soooo yeah, that’s the end of my dissertation on yuri comics. I know I ended up dragging a lot of popular yuri, but it wasn’t my intention to make you guys hate any of things I talked about. These were just my thoughts as an avid yuri fan, so let me know your thoughts as well, especially if you read any of the yuri I talked about. And even though I’m super picky about the type of yuri I read, I’d still love to hear any recommendations. Who knows, it might dethrone the undefeated champ that is Beauty and the Beast Girl.

[mykoreanlove]

Unraveling fate

It is said that humans live a blissful life as souls up in the sky before they decide to incarnate onto the earthly realms. 

Up there everything is effortless and sweet, so perfect that we couldn’t ever imagine it properly. Yet, they decide to give up their eden perfection to come down to earth. Why you may ask?

Because they get bored. Too much of anything is deadly, even if it’s something as precious as blissful love. 

Hence, they make plans to come down to earth in order to play. Some souls are rather boring, whereas other souls are quite dramatic - making up a full play for them to enjoy. They look for other souls to play their part - mothers, fathers, villains or lovers. 

„You’re gonna do this to me and I’m gonna do that to you and we may hate each other for a while but in the end it will be all so sweet“, they giggle while making plots. What they don’t know though is that once their souls incarnate back to earth, they will forget everything they once knew - scheming plans included. 

The states of feeling mighty and powerful get replaced with vulnerability and insecurity, divinity in exchange for humanity.

A deep sigh escaped Eun Woo’s lips as he watched you cry into your pillows for the fifth time this week. 

„What’s wrong?“, his friend asked concerned.

„It’s y/n.“, he answered flatly.

„What about her?“

Eun Woo turned around and mustered his friend, thinking of the right words to predict his dilemma.

„Do you remember when she used to be with us up here?“

His friend nodded silently.

„Back then we made the perfect plan. We created our own drama, so to say.“

„What was it about?“

Flashbacks of those times entered his mind, filling his heart with a deep longing.

„Are you really sure, y/n?“, Eun Woo whispered while placing delicate kisses on your neck.

„Yes. I want to do it like that this time.“, you nodded enthusiastically.

„My love. Let’s go through the plan once more, then.“

„I will incarnate onto earth and live a miserable life. I will fail in love over and over until I can’t take it anymore. I want to discover love as a fragile, little human. I want to understand their pain and their agony. I want to be miserable, utterly miserable. I want to build my own hell and I want to understand how I’m doing it… And then, once I’m ready, then you show up, BOOM, the love of my life - in heaven and on earth and you rescue me from my deep despair and then we can be..“

„Happy.“, he interrupted. 

A big smile formed on your face. 

„Yes. Happy.“

„So, why are you so sad then? The plan seems solid.“, Eun Woo’s friend remarked.

„Somehow it’s not. She did fail in love. A lot of times. But somehow she can’t get past that stage..“, Eun Woo explained.

„How can that happen? Isn’t it written in the stars, like destiny?“

„It should be, yes.“

Both stayed silent for a while and thought about ways to resolve this. 

„Can’t you just swoop in and rescue her?“

He shook his head sadly. 

„Why not?“

„Because she wouldn’t let me.“

„Let you? Aren’t you like… her soulmate?“, his friend asked confused.

„I am. And because of that I will always find my way back to her, heaven or earth, doesn’t really matter. But she’s not ready for me, yet.“

„How can you tell?“

Eun Woo walked over to the shelf where he was keeping his collection of your play. Each act carefully documented, each act waiting for its grand finale. He came back with a heavy book, searching for the right pages.

„Do you know when souls finally find each other?“, Eun Woo asked.

„No idea.“, his friend remarked.

„It’s when they’re ready for one another. Now tell me - do you think this sounds ready?“, he asked as he pushed the book over to his friend.

It’s official - I am unlovable. Seems like everybody and their mother can find the love of their lives but not me. I’m not meant for love. I’m meant for heartbreak. Because that’s what men do - break your heart. First, they use me for sex and then they dispose me like a tissue. Reject me. Abandon me. Block me.

Relationships suck. Love sucks. This is too hard and it always ends in pain. Fuck this shit, I’m going to die alone. Because apparently nobody wants to be with me. Or get to know me. I’m just not someone you fall in love with.

„Yikes“, Eun Woo’s friend flinched. „Gotta give it to her - she does sound like a real human though.“, he drily remarked.

Eun Woo rolled his eyes in frustration. This shit was eating him up.

Even if he descended onto earth now and forgot about all your pain, he would never be able to get through to you. 

„Men really did a number on her, huh?“, his friend asked. 

„It’s what she wanted. Some drama to enjoy our love more. And drama she got…“, he explained sadly.

„So what are you going to do?“

Eun Woo averted his gaze back onto you, watching you from above as you cried and cried and cried. 

„Waiting for a miracle, I guess.“

„Aren’t you tired of waiting?“

„What else am I supposed to do?“, he snapped.

„The plan is already rigged, you said so yourself. Can’t you use that to your advantage and rig it further?“, his friend proposed.

Eun Woo thought for a second - could he really do that? Go against fate like that? 

Your sobs made his stomach churn once again, he had to act, no matter the consequences.

„Come with me“, he demanded as he left the room.

„Where are we going?“, his friend called after him.

„Rigging the fucking plan.“ 

[goldensunset]

as with any thing i’m obsessed with i often daydream about what i personally would do if i got the chance to remake pla and make any changes i wanted

some things include:

•better graphics of course and like just bigger areas obv

•*gestures to both of volo’s designs* Something ahout those! lol

•also i’d remove his evil laughter at the celestica ruins lol. don’t give it away boy!!!!!! or at least turn it into a simple, moderately off putting chuckle

•make a Bad Ending cutscene for if you lose to volo. or at the very least a cut to black and a concerning sound effect of some sort and a game over

•otherwise i really can’t think of how i’d top his fight lol it was soooo good

•i would. change his dialogue right beforehand to make it a little more natural and logical. maybe even have him intimidatingly approach you as if he were trying to grab the plates from you until your lead pokémon jumps out to protect you. ik it would never happen like that in this series but like please it would be so good

•this is a big one- i’d make it so you really aren’t allowed to access any base camps in the wilds during the red sky exile sequence. giving you access to most things you had in jubilife anyway, plus you being allowed underneath the banner of the galaxy team, kinda cheapened it. me personally i will always choose not to use those during that part and only do things at cogita’s place. it would be suuuuper cool if like the guys at the camps like threatened you if you tried to approach!

•i think all wild pokémon should’ve taken on an aggressive nature during the red sky part. or more alphas. or like in my fantasy if you make one of them angry you start getting Chased all the way across the map, baby!!! like you’ve got a horde going after you! like it’s actively terrifying. either that or everyone gets a timid disposition because Nature is being Abnormal and they’re scared. k but like imagine the strange lightning suddenly coming down around you at random and striking random pokémon around you and they go insane. you never know when it’s gonna happen. watch out for that level 3 bidoof man!!!

•would’ve made the frenzied nobles a lil more Frenzied outside their battles. i’d love to be just wandering around the map and see them in the distance, visibly aggressively stomping around, and oh no is that thing coming this way? oh it better not be— like i want that thang to be Violent

•i know voice acting is never going to happen bc of being able to name your character etc and i get it but also like they could do it persona style right??? change the spoken dialogue ever so slightly from the text to be more generic and just use pronouns and such. listen we deserve to hear volo go insane

•find a way to fit the distortion world into the plot. no listen i don’t care how but just do it

•also make the stone portal a whole cave system like in the original gen 4! we deserve a dramatic ascent up the mountain. with!!! the mount coronet theme playing the whole time!!!!!

•i would’ve liked to battle volo more often throughout the story! but in a casual way such as not to build up suspicion for him or anything

•just uhhh. have the overworld music play more often and get interrupted by less stuff lol. also if at all possible do it sv style and have different battle tracks for each area that don’t break the immersion. no but like i know they’ve gotta be loyal to the sinnoh wild encounter theme ik…

might think of more later. but like this is what the inside of my brain looks like. no hate to the game as it is of course the entire reason i have so many thoughts like this is because i love it way too much. these are my fantasies

[cinemapremi]

Murder Mubarak Trailer Released: Plot, Star Cast, Release Date and More Details!

Hey Bollywood fans, get ready for some thrilling news! The much-awaited trailer of Murder Mubarak has finally been released, and it's packed with suspense, drama, and a stellar cast led by Sara Ali Khan and Karisma Kapoor.

1. What's the Story Behind Murder Mubarak?

Imagine stepping into a world where every corner hides a secret, and every smile conceals a lie. That's the essence of Murder Mubarak. Set in the exclusive Royal Delhi Club, this murder mystery unfolds when a shocking crime shatters the tranquility of high society. As the investigation unfolds, ACP Bhavani Singh, played by the versatile Pankaj Tripathi, delves into the lives of the club's elite members to uncover the truth. With every revelation, the tension mounts, and the stakes get higher.

2. Murder Mubarak Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBQcU00U9O0&ab_channel=NetflixIndia Explain Murder Mubarak Trailer The "Murder Mubarak" trailer gives us a peek into the Royal Delhi Club, once a hangout for the British elite. Now, even though the British are gone, the club still holds on to its Britishness, with members acting more English than ever. The trailer hints that everything might have stayed the same if not for an accident. But it turns out, it wasn't an accident at all - it was murder! Assistant Commissioner of Police Bhavani Singh makes it clear that what happened at the club was no accident but a deliberate act of violence. The trailer introduces us to Leo, a mysterious and charming figure who seems to have captivated the ladies. There's talk about a gun with a history of violence, possibly connected to the murder. We see Sara Ali Khan expressing fear of being followed, adding a layer of suspense. The trailer suggests that the murderer is among the people seen in the club, perhaps even congratulating themselves on their crime. There's a dramatic exchange between characters, with one person denying their son's involvement in the murder while another confidently asserts their ability to manipulate the truth in court. The trailer ends with a chilling reminder that killers aren't always obvious, they could be ordinary people like you and me. However, the seriousness of the moment is broken when the director complains about the color of the blood in the movie, adding a touch of humor to the tension.

3. The All-Star Cast: Sara Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor, and More!

One of the highlights of Murder Mubarak is its ensemble cast. From the charming Sara Ali Khan to the iconic Karisma Kapoor, each actor brings their A-game to the table. Joining them are Vijay Varma, Dimple Kapadia, Sanjay Kapoor, Tisca Chopra, and Suhail Nayyar, making this movie a must-watch for every Bollywood enthusiast.

4. Karisma Kapoor's Comeback

For fans eagerly awaiting Karisma Kapoor's return to the big screen, Murder Mubarak is a treat. At the trailer launch, Karisma shared her excitement about the project, highlighting the unique script and her bond with director Homi Adajania. Her role in the film promises to be a departure from the ordinary, adding another layer of intrigue to the already captivating storyline.

5. What is Murder Mubarak Movie Release Date?

Make sure to mark March 15 on your calendars because that's when Murder Mubarak hits Netflix screens. Directed by Homi Adajania and produced by Dinesh Vijan, this movie is set to redefine the thriller genre with its gripping narrative and stellar performances.

6. Murder Mubarak Movie Is Based On?

Murder Mubarak’ is based on Anuja Chauhan’s whodunit ‘Club You to Death’. Murder Mubarak Plot Based On 'Club You to Death' Whodunit When a fit personal trainer is found dead at the fancy Delhi Turf Club just before the club elections, everyone thinks it's an accident. But then they discover his protein shake was spiked with a dangerous party drug. It seems like one of the club members is a killer. As rumors and theories swirl around the city, veteran Crime Branch detective ACP Bhavani Singh is called in to solve the case. With the help of his skilled team - former lovers Akash 'Kashi' Dogra and Bambi Todi - ACP Bhavani dives into the investigation. What seems like a simple case turns out to be a complex mystery with connections as deep as the roots of New Delhi's famous neem trees. "Club You to Death" is a thrilling blend of suspense, humor, and romance by Anuja Chauhan. Is Murder Mubarak Based on true story? No, Murder Mubarak movie is not based on true story. Instead this is based on novel 'Club You to Death'. And the novel is fiction. Murder Mubarak Remake of which Movie? Murder Mubarak is not a remake of any movie. Instead it is based on novel 'Club You to Death'.

7. Are there any movies similar to the Murder Mubarak Movie?

Yes, there are movies that have plots similar to the movie Murder Mubarak. Some films with comparable themes of suspense, humor, and romance include "Knives Out," "Murder Mystery," and "Gosford Park."

8. Murder Mubarak Budget

The estimated budget for making Murder Mubarak is around Rs 40 Crore.

9. What Can We Expect From Murder Mubarak Movie ?

From "Murder Mubarak," expect an exciting murder mystery movie with lots of suspense and a bit of humor. Directed by Homi Adajania, it stars famous actors like Sara Ali Khan and Karisma Kapoor. Just like other entertaining movies like "Stree" and "Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga," this one promises to keep you guessing until the end. With ACP Bhavani Singh leading the investigation into a murder at the Royal Delhi Club, get ready for a thrilling story full of surprises and twists.

10. Will 'Murder Mubarak' on Netflix be worth watching?

Yes, "Murder Mubarak" on Netflix will be worth watching! With its star-studded cast, including Sara Ali Khan and Karisma Kapoor, and directed by Homi Adajania, this murder mystery promises to be both thrilling and entertaining. Drawing parallels to successful movies like "Stree" and "Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga," "Murder Mubarak" is expected to offer a captivating storyline with suspense, humor, and unexpected twists. So, if you enjoy engaging mysteries with talented actors and compelling plots, "Murder Mubarak" is a must-watch on Netflix.

11. How does Vijay Varma's role in the film 'Murder Mubarak' differ from his previous characters?

In "Murder Mubarak," Vijay Varma portrays a character in a murder mystery set in a posh Delhi club. Compared to his previous roles, such as in the movie "Darlings" and the TV series "Dahaad," Vijay Varma's character in "Murder Mubarak" may exhibit similar traits of complexity and depth. However, the context and storyline of "Murder Mubarak" are distinct from his past projects. In "Darlings," Vijay Varma's character, Hamza Shaikh, is depicted as a troubled alcoholic who engages in domestic abuse, leading to a series of dramatic events involving his wife, Badrunissa. On the other hand, in the TV series "Dahaad," he plays a serial killer. He first make friendship with the girls and then kills them. Compared to these previous roles, Vijay Varma's character in "Murder Mubarak" may offer a different dimension, as he delves into the complexities of a murder investigation within the elite social circles of Delhi. While his past roles have showcased his versatility as an actor, his portrayal in "Murder Mubarak" is likely to add another layer to his repertoire, highlighting his ability to adapt to diverse characters and narratives.

12. How are Sara Ali Khan and Karishma Kapoor related?

Sara Ali Khan is Saif Ali Khan's daughter from his previous marriage, making her Kareena Kapoor's step-daughter. Since Karishma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor are sisters, Karishma Kapoor is the sister of Sara Ali Khan's stepmother. With its gripping storyline, star-studded cast, and promise of suspense, Murder Mubarak is shaping up to be a must-watch for Bollywood fans everywhere. So, get ready to unravel the mystery and experience the thrill of the chase like never before.

1. What genre is "Murder Mubarak"? Murder Mubarak is a blend of suspense, drama, and mystery, offering viewers an exciting cinematic experience. 2. Who plays the lead roles in the movie? The lead roles are portrayed by Sara Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Vijay Varma, and Pankaj Tripathi, among others. 3. When is the release date of "Murder Mubarak"? The movie is set to release on March 15, 2024, exclusively on Netflix. 4. What makes "Murder Mubarak" stand out from other movies? The unique storyline, talented cast, and captivating direction set Murder Mubarak apart, promising an unforgettable cinematic experience. 5. Can we expect any twists and turns in the movie? Absolutely! Murder Mubarak is filled with unexpected twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Read the full article

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Ae dil hai mushkil hd torrent

Indoo Ki Jawani 2020 Hindi 720p pDVDRip 1GB Download. Watch Online Movies Single Download Resumable Links List 1. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil 2016 Hindi Movie 720p BluRay 1.1GB Download. of our Indian movies in guise of comedy or family relationship melodramas. The film was said to be remake of Doosara Aadmi 1977 staring Rishi Kapoor. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) Anushka Sharma in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) Ranbir. Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop Rated MoviesMost Popular. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) Hindi BluRay 720p HEVC 850MB MKV. Totally unrealistic n unromantic film.Ae Dil Hai Mushkil video Download 720p Movies Ranbir shud stop doing these kinda movies.

Lisa Haydn's character was way too stupid to believe. Cud hav been just any random foreign babe. There was no need for Aishwarya's character. I started fiddling with my fone, my kids asked me when it's going to end. I thot the movie will end but it kept on going. It has shades of Rockstar n other SRK films n a lil similarity to Sweet November. Believe me this movie had nothing new to offer. Fancy clothes, fancy places n plenty of time to do useless stuff. I mean don't they hav anything else to do. Typical boy n girl r just having conversations, spending time in an unbelievable platonic way. Bad direction, pathetic script n lame editing. Karan tried really hard to portray his characters as "cool". The characters r busy partying from this club to that club. Honestly, i ain't no fan of Karan Johar's films. Reviewed by Fella_shibby 3 / 10 Same old stuff in new packing. On the whole, 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' has a few lows, but its pluses are undeniable too. Of the supporting cast, Lisa Haydon is terrific in her bit. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan looks ravishing & delivers a decent performance. Ranbir & Anushka are the life & soul of 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. She makes the part look real & you feel for her, whenever she's bogged down by circumstances & the bitterness of being truthful. Her character might be credited as selfish by some, but Anushka portrays her part with enviable realism. He pulls off a difficult part, with complete conviction. He's funny when needed & absolutely heartbroken which required. Ranbir is wonderfully restrained in a role that demands an actor of his caliber. Performance-Wise: Ranbir Kapoor & Anushka Sharma are up for vie top honors. Anil Mehta's Cinematography captures the stunning foreign locales, with flourish. Its only, as mentioned before, the final act that doesn't work. The characters work, the dialogue (by Niranjan Iyengar) are spot-on & the even sub-plots aren't bad. He's made an engaging & affecting film on heartbreak & one-sided love. Johar's Screenplay is well-done, no doubt. How I wish the final act was more intense, than saddening. Johar settles for a safer end & that acts a minus point. Although the final act isn't tear-jerky nor is it overtly sad, it certainly isn't the best end. Just when you think Johar has sided away from melodrama, he puts in exactly that & it fails to engage. Having said that, the final act falls apart. Johar nicely builds up the first-hour with first their friendship & later Ayan's change of pace & keeps the second-hour dramatic. What I liked about the both of the characters was the intensity between them & by the difference of their love to each other. Alizeh also is an interesting leading-lady, although one might consider this character as partly selfish. You feel for the guy throughout, as he is a likable & good protagonist, who, sadly, never gets the person, whom he truly lives for. We watch Ayan break into pieces after the love of his life friend-zones him. Karan Johar has made films celebrating love with happy endings in the past, but with 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil', he depicts love as painful, unreasonable & also, unattainable. To add to his misery, Alizeh gets married & Ayan is left Heartbroken, Ayan's one-sided love never ends, although a new women enters his life (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan). 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' Synopsis: Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor) falls in love with Alizeh (Anushka Sharma), but she considers him as her best friend.

Made with skill & executed with heart, this romantic-drama isn't without its flaws, but for the most, its engaging & affecting. Karan Johar returns to fine form with 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'. Reviewed by namashi_1 7 / 10 A Well-Made Film with Top-Notch Performances!

[neonacity]

LUCID | NCT DREAM ‘00 LINE X READER | CH.14

Summary: It was supposed to be a harmless, professional transaction. You were to tutor a group of boys, get your pay at the end of the day, and go home to your loving fiance. Kids aren’t supposed to be dangerous, right? So why, then, are you caught up in a web of madness that slowly makes you feel like you’re in a living nightmare?

NOTE:This is a yandere plot featuring NCT Dream ‘00 line which means there will be mature themes in the story as well as obsessive, toxic behavior. If you’re a minor, please refrain from interacting. If this isn’t your thing, then just scroll and skip. In no way am I condoning anything written here— this is not love, this is obsession—nor do I think that any of the people mentioned here will act any way like in this story. This is purely a work of fiction.

Genre: yandere, horror, suspense, poly dynamics

TW (READ BEFORE PROCEEDING): violence, use of weapons, character deaths. abuse, obsessive behavior, toxic relationships, suggestive scenes, stalking, kidnapping, mental health, language, stockholm syndrome. Age gap–though nothing dramatic. Everyone is of legal age, drugs, questionable consent (?), kidnapping, mentions of suicide, I guess? Creepy, creepy, creepy! 

CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3 | CHAPTER 4 | CHAPTER 5 | CHAPTER 6 | CHAPTER 7 | CHAPTER 8 | CHAPTER 9 | CHAPTER 10 | CHAPTER 11 | CHAPTER 12 | CHAPTER 13

“WOULD YOU DIE FOR HER?” “I DO. EVERY DAY.” - JESSICA SHIRVINGTON, EMBLAZE

It was similar to the feeling of being underwater.

There was a sense of detachment that enveloped you as your body floated idly just under the surface of the waves. You felt weightless, your limbs light as the gentle current ebbed and flowed around you. You could hear sounds… muffled ones from the surface, as the pressure around your head and the ringing in your ears cocooned you from fully understanding each word. There was a filter over your line of sight too—light and shapes moved in front of you, but your brain couldn't really make out their form. You were floating… floating… you were safe.

Except you were not. At least not entirely.

It was an odd feeling, the one you were submerged in at the moment. You were shielded, but at the same time, there was a hacking feeling in your chest that pierced you painfully. You were fighting for your breath, struggling for it, but you were also repressing the instinct for survival, like you are desperately chasing your own death.

Come back.

Darling? Look at me…

The sounds, once too garbled, were slowly turning clearer. You could make out words, but you weren't really sure whether you are physically hearing them or if they are all just in your head.

No…

Love, I'm not going to hurt you.

Please. Please no. Just let me be.

I don't want to… but I'll have to. If you don't look at me…

"Now."

The last word felt like a pierce straight to your lungs. You started choking and your hands reached out to find purchase on something that can save you. Warmth welcomed your outstretched fingers, and you felt it pull your weight to save you from the abyss.

But you weren't saved at all. No. You were pulled again, this time to a different type of hell.

You tasted salt in your tongue as your sight finally focused on the face in front of you. He smiled at you lovingly as your lips formed his name.

"Taeyong…"

"Shh… there you are. You've shut down for a little bit there. Come on, you need to focus. How are you feeling?"

The emotions all came at once. It was like there was a floodgate that opened inside of you and all of a sudden everything you've tried to hold back when you retreated to your own world came slamming into you like strong waves. Shock. Nausea. Fear. Pure, gripping fear. You slightly doubled over, and that's when you only realized you are now seated on a chair in the middle of the room.

"Hey, it's okay. You are safe now. I'm sorry I got here late. It's fine. I got you."

Taeyong's last words were what finally made you throw up. You hunched over, hacking coughs wrecking through your body as your stomach churned and tried to expel the little it had there. Tears pricked the sides of your eyes and you wrapped your arms around your shaking form to try and hold yourself together. You felt a hand run soothingly over your spine, but instead of calming you, you reacted by flinching from the touch.

When you looked up again, the look of hurt was evident in Taeyong’s eyes. It was only there for a fleeting second though, the emotion soon enough bleeding into a dullness that only made you shake in fear even more. The man in front of you now is far from the one you first met months ago—there was not a trace of the warmth and friendliness that eased you in before. If anything, it was as if they never existed at all.

“You knew… You knew everything," you managed to choke out from the roughness of your throat. You couldn't feel the tears anymore, but your eyes burned as you stared at the stranger in front of you. You felt on the verge of vomiting again, but even your body was shutting down in itself.

Taeyong slowly smiled at you as he reached out to cradle one of your limp hands in his. What he said next was the last nail in the coffin that you needed.

“I knew? Love… I didn’t just know.”

“I started it.”

******* Johnny cursed under his breath as he took a last second turn to a small alley to his right. The tires screeched under the effort as he tried to maneuver the vehicle through the street, his concentration set on making sure that he didn't run over anything with his speed. Beside him, Yuta’s eyes were set on the tablet on his hand as his other fist held on to the passenger seat handle to keep himself steady.

“How many minutes till we reach Rosewood?” he asked tensely now as he scrolled through a new file that was just sent to him by the headquarters. Johnny gave a quick glance at his GPS as he made another swerve.

“Four minutes. Did they send you what you need?”

Yuta pulled his phone and nodded, a prominent frown sitting between his brows. “Yes. The family has dozens of properties in Seoul alone, but I’m working through them now. We’re sure Taeyong didn’t leave Korea, right?”

“That’s what they said. The headquarters blasted his photo to all airports in case he left under a different name. There is no trace of him anywhere so he’s here.”

“What do we do if he’s not in Rosewood? They have tons of houses, Johnny. Condo units, buildings. He could be keeping her anywhere.”

That made Johnny grit his teeth. He could feel the rush of blood in his ears and there was a growing bitter taste at the back of his tongue. Before he could even answer though, their car broke through the deserted street they’re on, revealing in the horizon the top windows of the manor. He stepped harder on the gas then, wasting no time to cross the remaining distance to the front gates. The place was deserted of any cars and he and Yuta didn't waste another second before unstrapping their seatbelts and jumping out of theirs.

The first thing that struck them is how dead the place looked. The two of them have visited it a couple of times before, but there is an unexplainable veil of chill that cloaked the structure now as it loomed over them like a ghostly sentinel. It was as if the mansion never held any comfort before… or ever at all.

They both exchanged a look now before taking another step from their car. As if on autopilot, their hands fell on their hips at the same time, feeling for their guns there. It was Yuta who caught something odd at the corner of his vision when he finally started stalking towards the entrance, the movement so slight that he almost missed it. He frowned at the place where it came from, this time fully pulling his gun from his holster.

“Johnny.”

The other glanced his way and he nodded his head silently towards his right. Johnny moved closer to him, sharp eyes set on the place.

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know. It seems to be coming from one of the rooms. We can’t see it properly from here.”

For a moment, none of them spoke, their focus set on the odd spot at the second floor of the manor. All the curtains were drawn, limiting their vision, but then something moved from the inside, revealing something that made both their eyes widen in shock.

Thick black smoke leaked from the cracks of the windows like ghostly fumes. One of the curtains covering the room finally gave way, revealing the bright orange flames eating up the manor from the inside.

“Shit.”

“Call the fire depart—”

Yuta wasn’t able to finish the rest of his sentence as an ear-splitting sound shook the ground they were standing on. He and Johnny ducked just in time as glass rained down on them from the explosion on one side of the house. Thicker tongues of fire and smoke spilled to the garden and filled the air with smoke that curled upwards into the sky. Johnny rolled over to his side to check on his partner but Yuta was already on his feet and reaching out to open the car door.

“It might be a gas leak, we need to get out of here. There might be another explosion!”

Johnny didn’t need to be told twice. Pushing himself up from the dirt ground, he managed to slip himself back into the driver’s seat despite the cuts his arm caught from the wayward glass shards. His ears were still ringing from the unexpected blast, but he could already hear Yuta screaming over at their radio from his side, calling for an emergency fire response.

“Fucking hell. What the hell is happening,” the latter cursed as their car backed away from the front lawn. “The fire department is coming but they—”

Johnny had only barely managed to put a safe enough distance between their car and the burning house when he glanced at Yuta again. The Japanese was looking at the screen of his phone, an odd look on his face. Johnny glanced at the number flashing there, and he frowned as he ran the digits silently in his mind. He remembers seeing it before on file, but couldn’t remember who exactly it belongs to thanks to the high-tension of the situation.

“Answer it. Put it on loudspeaker.”

Yuta pressed the answer button without another word.

“Hello?”

For the first few seconds, there was nothing but silence that echoed from the other end. Johnny and Yuta looked at each other before the latter moved his phone closer to his lips. He was about to speak again when a voice finally broke through, quiet but steady.

“Is this the police?”

Both men stiffened on their seats momentarily. They only heard that voice once during one of their quick interrogations, but there is no doubt who it belongs to.

“Yes. Who is this?” Johnny asked as steadily as he could. His eyes slipped towards the manor again, the good half of it now being consumed by flames.

The silence only lasted a few more seconds.

“It’s Chenle Lee. We need your help.”

******* The air felt stale and thick as it expanded and stretched across the room. You looked at Taeyong, struck to silence, as you tried to wrap your head around his words. There was a part of you that was slowly starting to shut down again, but there was also a good half of your sanity that was fighting to stay conscious as the pieces started to fall into their right places. Slowly, your eyes moved upwards, meeting four other pairs staring at you silently from across the room. You didn’t need words to figure out what you could see in them. Jeno, Renjun, Jaemin, and Haechan’s voices flashed in your head, their old words echoing inside the growing hollowness inside of you.

“It’s better this way.”

“Don’t you see? We saved you.”

“Believe me, you’re better off with us.”

“I love you.”

“Why?”

Your voice was barely a whisper when you addressed the room. You didn’t exactly know who you were asking, but your eyes never left the four even as you felt fingers tighten around your hand again. None of them spoke, but the way they looked on to you helplessly was enough for you to finally lose the last shred of sanity that you were holding on to. When your eyes fell on Taeyong again, you were sure a part of you had already died.

“Why…” you asked again, your vision slowly darkening at the edges. The devil in front of you smiled and kissed your cold knuckles.

“I don’t really know how to answer that, but… I guess it’s best to start from the beginning?" He said softly as he ran his thumb lightly over your pulse. You wanted nothing more but to hide from the way he lovingly looked at you, but you also couldn't look away, riveted by the horror slowly unfolding in front you.

"You probably don't even remember it, but the moment I saw you back in the orphanage, I knew my life wasn’t going to be the same again. I fell in love with you. You were so perfect back then.”

What…

“You were so hauntingly beautiful that even my bitch of a mother wanted to take you in.  To be honest, I felt so disappointed that she couldn’t get you at first, but then I realized, it was better because I wouldn’t want her to get her hands on you. Besides, I'm okay with loving you from afar. I could wait. I have always been so good at waiting.”

Your head was slowly starting to grow heavy. You couldn’t understand what he was saying, the confusion making bile slowly start to climb up your throat again. You felt yourself shake your head, a gesture Taeyong took as an encouragement for him to continue.

“We’re so perfect for each other. One look at you and I knew you were also broken just like me… It was magical, that moment I saw you and realized that you’re the only girl I was ever going to love. I had no doubts about it so I made sure to keep an eye on you through the years. There were moments when I lost track of you because I got so busy with other things, but of course I wasn't so careless to entirely lose you. You won't believe how much you made me happy when you responded to the tutor post I made just for you. It really was fate. You forgive me for making you wait so long, right…?

The orphanage… the job post… He knew you…?

“I knew that was the only reason why you only started to date your boyfriend too,” Taeyong continued as if he was retelling the greatest love story in the world. “You must have been so lonely because I took so long to get you. I admit though, you took me by surprise when you accepted his proposal. That was something I didn’t see coming. If only I knew…”

Your heart stopped beating in your chest as he pressed the middle of your palm, his blunt nails leaving painful half moon marks on your skin. You were hurting, but even the sting was not enough to mask the growing panic inside of you.

“Then I would have ripped Jaehyun apart limb by limb myself."

The sharp sting of salt in your lips was the only sign that told you you’re still breathing and alive. Everything else felt like a nightmare. A lucid dream you wanted nothing more to escape but couldn’t.

“But! That’s something we don’t have to worry about anymore, right? My brothers here did an amazing job taking care of that for me. Renjun didn’t snuff him out entirely, but we can work on that later,” Taeyong said lightly, his tone casual as he looked back at the four other boys in the room. Haechan and Renjun looked back at him with a pained expression while Jaemin seemed to be holding himself back from the tense way he was standing. Jeno was the only one who didn’t meet the older one’s gaze, his eyes set on you instead.

“They’ve always known who you are…” Taeyong’s whisper made your chest constrict painfully as if a dagger was slowly being pushed there. You stared at the brothers in front of you, lifeless and broken. “I’ve told them so many stories about you even when they were young. How you’re so beautiful, and how we would all be so happy once we can finally have you in our family. They were supposed to help me with my plan to get you… trusted you to them while I slowly took care of things. Because you know… That’s how brothers should be for each other, right?”

Silence settled in the room like a ticking time bomb. The air was so heavily charged that you were almost physically suffocating as your chest heaved to put air in your system. Taeyong didn’t seem to mind, too lost in his own madness. Instead, he buried his nails against your hand harder until he finally broke skin.

“I guess I underestimated them… Or rather, I underestimated you. It never occurred to me how you could also make them fall for you, even to the extent that they would betray their own family. It was so ironic… And I’m really hurt too. To think that I saved them from their own hell but this is how they repay me… by trying to steal you away from me.”

The warm feeling of blood pooling in your palm held no match to the overwhelming emotions crashing against the borders of your consciousness. You looked at Taeyong without actually seeing him, your voice sounding like that of a stranger’s when you managed to part your lips.

“Why…”

“Hm? What was that? I couldn't hear you."

“Why me…”

For a moment, Taeyong only stared at you as if he was surprised that you were asking such a senseless question. You didn’t shift your gaze away from his, not when you feel like it was your lifeline to hear his answer. None of what he said makes sense. No… you were so sure there is more to this than just obsessive, blind love. A madman like him can’t only be pushed by that.

It took a while for his facade to finally break, but Taeyong finally sighed after a while and ran his thumbs over the cuts he marked on your skin lovingly. The red spread over your skin like visible poison, but you didn’t mind it, your attention only focused on him.

“Because you saved me. You saved all of us.”

Your breath caught in your throat. Taeyong slowly lifted his gaze from your palm to meet yours.

“After I first saw you in the orphanage, I wanted to know more about you. Why you were returned there, and why your family couldn’t take you back anymore. It took me a while to really dig through, but when I saw your full story…” he trailed off, a twisted lovesick look clouding his eyes. You, on the other hand, stilled so hard that every fiber in your body wanted to scream in pain. He can’t be talking about what you were thinking. It’s impossible for this whole madness to go down that route.

“I fell even more in love. To kill your family who made you suffer when you were a child by burning them down to ashes? That was the exact moment I knew that I wanted you.”

No…

“You see, our parents didn’t really want us. They bought us, only to make our lives a living hell… They broke us down every day, and at one point, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I was actually thinking of killing all of my brothers, then myself, to save us from the pain, but you showed me a different route to it.”

Stop…

“I knew there was a reason why you caught my eye that day at the orphanage. After I found out about your story… I was… inspired,” Taeyong looked at you with blind devotion, lost in his own world. "You killed your abusers at such a young age, so why shouldn’t I do it? I didn’t have the same guts that you have, but you just… gave me a different way out. So I waited… I waited until I could do it on my own. I wanted to do it in a more romantic way, the same way that you did—by burning them down to the bone—but a car crash is easier to fake.”

You started to sway in your seat, your vision starting to close on you. Taeyong tightened your hold on your wrist, forcefully pulling you from the unconsciousness that was about to swallow you down.

“Do you see it now? Why we are so perfect for each other? You saved me… All of us. You made me strong."

"I killed them..."

"Thanks to you.”

*******

"Taeyong-hyung… She's bleeding."

Renjun's voice sounded far off when it broke the stillness in the space. You heard his words, but it was not until you felt the pressure against your hand finally lift when you realized what he meant.

"Ah. I'm so sorry… I got carried away. Are you okay?"

You didn't say anything, your eyes set instead on your bloody palm carved and marked with nail prints. The striking vision in front of you was a direct opposite of how you were feeling—numb. Dead. And hollow. You felt like a marionette, lifeless with nothing but a puppeteer pulling you by the strings.

"I'll take care of that later, okay? We need to go now… We've wasted so much time here talking," Taeyong's voice crooned at you sweetly. You felt yourself being guided slowly out of your seat, a hand going around your waist for support.

"Hyung."

It was Jaemin's voice this time. You knew that even without looking at him. You tried to lift your head, but you couldn't see anything, your brain too numb to actually connect with what your eyes were seeing. Your free hand tried to reach out for him, but your fingers only closed around thin air.

It was a fleeting, miniscule gesture, but of course it was enough for Taeyong to notice with his sharp eyes. His lips pursed into a thin line as he looked at you, then back at the rest of his brothers standing far off into the room. Nobody dared breathe. Not him, not you, and most definitely not the four younger boys watching you. You barely had half of your wits with you anymore, but even in your state, you could sense the obvious structure of power charging the air.

You've seen the four through their highs and lows…

But this is the first time you've ever seen them truly afraid.

"Do you want them to come with us?"

You didn't answer, but the question made you turn your attention back to Taeyong. You've long lost control over your thoughts, and the words left you before you even realized what they meant.

"Don't hurt them…"

Those three words made Taeyong freeze by your side. You saw the way his face twisted, his dark eyes burning down on you for a good number of seconds.

"You love them…"

That made you flinch slightly. It didn't sound like he was asking a question at all with the way the words rolled out from his lips bitterly. You kept silent, but that was enough of a confirmation for the man. For another minute, the silence stretched again, your slow heartbeats being the only tune you can hear in the room. Taeyong's eyes were burning down on you and you held them, dead but steady. It was only for a while, but that brief moment of stare down felt like an infinity in the pits of hell.

"I guess they can come," he finally said and you felt his hand circle your waist possessively again. "I still don't trust them…"

"But I guess breaking their bones is easier than yours if you want to escape."

You didn't say anything to that, but your eyes met with Jeno's across the room. Your stomach felt heavy as he broke the gaze and looked away. He didn't need to say it, but the reality rang in the air as if he screamed it right back at you.

Help is not coming. At least not from them.

"You can follow the car. The private jet is waiting for us," Taeyong's voice was hard as he barely looked at his brothers. "Don't try to do anything funny again."

You felt weightless as you were steered away once more, every step you took heavy as if you were heading towards your death. The sound of the car door locking on your side felt like the final judgment. Your gaze moved towards the side mirror and you found your eyes locking with Haechan's from the vehicle behind. You couldn't quite figure out the look that he had–and you didn't try–not when the low rumble of the engine purred to life around you.

"Where are we going?"

Taeyong tightened his hands slightly around the steering wheel. In front of you, what looked like a garage door slowly opened, revealing a dirt road fringed by the forest. One look and you knew it was the same woods you only used to stare at from the view of your window, but instead of feeling a sense of freedom, there was only panic that slowly started to consume you as you felt the car finally move. Taeyong's voice sounded off beside you, sealing your fate.

"Home. We're going home."

Bang!

The screech of metal hitting against metal was so loud that it took you a second to realize what was happening. If not for the impact that made your ears ring painfully, you wouldn't have realized that your body jerked forward against the dashboard as something crashed against the side of your car. Your seatbelt kept you from fully bashing your head against the glass, but you still felt your vision swim as you tried to push yourself back against your seat with a groan. You have barely registered the sight of Taeyong slumped against the wheel when you felt hands grab and pull you from your seat. The smoking nose of the other car was jammed against his side, crumpled from the impact.

"Come on. We have to hurry."

It was Renjun's voice that woke you up from your stupor. Looking around, you saw him try to keep himself steady on his feet the same time Jaemin flanked your other side. A chilling realization gripped you when you saw the red running down the side of his arm.

"Renjun, you're bleeding—"

"I'm fine. Go with Jaemin. I'll catch up. I'll get Jeno and Haechan."

The mention of the other two made your head snap up again. Turning towards the other car, you saw Haechan stumble out of the driver's seat with Jeno right behind him. He was bleeding more heavily, half of his head soaked with red. A soft whimper left you as you saw him almost crash into Jeno's arms.

"W-wait, Haechan—"

A hard tug against your arm kept you from running over to their side. Jaemin steered you harder against him, his tense voice only barely piercing through your panic.

"We can't. We need to go now."

"But we can't leave them. Jaem—!"

You weren't able to finish as Jeno's eyes locked with yours. His face looked contorted with pain, but at least he could still hold himself up as he tried to balance Haechan against his side. By this time, Renjun had also reached the duo, supporting the other to keep himself up. Jeno's hunting rifle caught the light and that's when you only realized that it was pointed towards the driver's seat of the car you were just pulled out from. You felt a chill when you saw Taeyong slowly stir from the wreck, his face equally bloody.

"Go. We'll come after you. Jaemin, take her away."

Jeno didn't need to say it twice. You felt Jaemin drag you out of the exit and into the forest, even as your eyes stayed with the group left behind. The last thing you saw before a clump of trees blocked your view was Jeno and Renjun trying to drag out a lifeless looking Haechan between them.

Everything was a blur from there. You were running, stumbling, the colors of the forest whizzing past as you barrelled deeper into the woods. Beside you, you could hear Jaemin heaving—as if he was also in pain—though he didn't even spare a second to stop to catch his breath. Branches whipped and scratched the two of you, but you both pushed through, the thumping of your heavy footfalls echoing against the dirt ground.

The sound of gunshots is what finally made your stop in your tracks. Three consecutive shots pierced the air, loud and ringing. Jaemin turned stiff like a statue beside you as he looked beyond at nothing in particular, his pupils shaking.

"Jaemin, we have to go ba—"

He cut you off by suddenly clamping his palm over your lips and putting a finger over his. You looked at him wide-eyed, surprised by the action, but then you realized what it was exactly that he was trying to listen to when you heard a new sound charging through the woods. For a moment, the two of you just stared at each other in fear, until a new voice pierced the air.

"Jaemin!"

"Jaemin, give her back to me!!!"

You have barely managed to push out a gasp when you felt Jaemin's strong grip on your forearm. It was only through his strength alone that you were able to keep yourself on your feet as he steered you deeper into the shrubberies while his head whipped around in urgency. You had just managed to straighten yourself up again after almost tripping on a wayward root when he almost lifted you by the arm and pushed you somewhere. You barely registered the feel of the damp soil under your hands as you bent over into a crouch under the cover of a hollow tree bark. 

"Jaemin—"

"It's okay. You're safe here. Don't move and make sure to keep quiet, okay?"

The way his voice sounded broke you. The air was still charged and you could see his hands shaking, but right now, it was like there was a quick 180 with the way he was trying to soothe you. You knew that tone—it was the one he would always use whenever you used to be anxious and needed calming. You watched him now, speechless, as his hands scrambled to gather some branches to form a type of gate on the entrance of your hiding place. Your throat felt tight and there was a stinging in your eyes that you didn't even try to hold back.

"What are you doing? Hide here with me."

"I can't, love. It's fine. Everything is going to be fine. Make sure you don't move, okay? One of us will come find you. You just have to stay here for a while."

Lies. Jaemin always told you the truth, even if it's something you didn't like, but he never lied to you ever… until now. He could act, but you both know what's really happening at the moment.

"Please don't leave. He's going to hurt you too."

Your voice broke when you managed to push out the words past the knot in your throat. Jaemin heard the tears and stopped, his eyes finally locking with yours from the small remaining gap that he didn't manage to cover yet. At that moment, you saw him falter, helplessness and fear overtaking his gentle features. You took the chance to slip your hand to reach out to his face then and he caught it with his to press your palm against his cheek.

"I'll be gone just for a little while. Wait for me?"

"No. No…"

"I'm going to take him far away from you. You can keep quiet for me, yes? You have to…"

"Stop…"

Your tears were blinding you so much that you could barely see his face anymore. He was smiling, but his eyes told you everything he didn't dare to say. The way that he finally kissed your palm was your undoing, a sob leaving you as you tried to reach out for him again. Jaemin moved away just before you could touch him.

"I love you. All of us do… In our own ways. Don't ever forget that, okay?"

"Jae—"

"JAEMIN!!!"

The sound of a flock of birds taking off with their shrill cries shattered the air together with Taeyong's voice. He sounded so loud and so close that you immediately curled in on yourself, your feet pushing back against the dirt as your hands covered your ears. That also seemed to wake Jaemin up as he looked back to the forest shadows in panic before turning his attention to you once more. The last you saw of him was his pale face before he finally covered the small gap of your hiding place.

"Please, whatever happens. Don't make a sound."

******* The sound of your breaths was the only thing that you could hear. You didn't know how long you'd been sitting in the darkness, but your limbs were starting to hurt as you stayed crouched in the shadows, tensed and motionless. It couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes since Jaemin left, but the lack of free-flowing air and anxiety was already starting to take over the rest of your system. Beyond you, you could hear branches cracking and snapping, but you couldn't figure out how far off they were from your hiding spot.

A piercing scream rang in the air just then and made you involuntarily shrink against the rough bark behind you. It sounded in pain, like a wild beast howling in torture. Unfortunately, that wasn't the worst of it, as it was soon followed by three defining gunshots that echoed loudly into the forest.

"Where are you?"

"WHERE ARE YOU!!!"

It took you everything not to make any sound. You were shaking, but you managed to cover your lips with both hands just to choke back the fear wanting to spill out of you. Taeyong's voice sounded as if he was surrounding you—far, but not too far.

"Why are you making this too hard for me? I love you. You shouldn't be giving me such a hard time…"

"Do you really want to see all of them hurt before you even show yourself? That's not a very nice thing to do…"

Your eyes stung from the way you unblinkingly stared in horror at the gaps between the branches covering you. You were so sure that his voice sounded close, but then all of a sudden there was nothing but silence beyond you. Not a single rock, branch, or leaf turned. Everything went dead, as if a switch had been turned off.

The loud crashing sound of the branches in front of you is what finally made you scream. You watched with horror as a hand reached out into your hiding place, its fingers outstretched. You tried to push yourself back to avoid it, but its owner was quick enough to close around your arm to tug you forward.

"No! No—"

"Shh! It's me! Don't scream."

Your voice died when you saw Jeno's face suddenly peer from outside. He had finally managed to hack away the rest of the dried shrubs covering you with the nose of his hunting rifle and he bent over to finally reach out to you with both hands. In your shock, you let him easily pull you out of your spot into an upright position again. He didn't waste any time to get you to move by tugging at your hand.

"We have to go. Try to be as quiet as you can. He's just around."

The initial surprise had rendered you speechless as your pair started weaving between the trees, but your eyes caught a red stain on the side of his shirt that wasn't there when you last saw him. Its vivid red stood out against his skin, and you were suddenly reminded of something that almost made you lose your balance again.

"Jaemin… H-he got him…"

Jeno didn't answer but you saw his jaw tick. Your heart plummeted even more.

"Haechan and Renjun… Are they also…"

He stopped so fast in his spot that you almost crashed into him. He steadied you by holding you by the shoulders and you looked up at him, blinking away the tears.

"I need you to do something for me. You see these trees here? The ones with the wide leaves? I need you to run and follow that trail. Don't stop until you haven't left the woods yet. You'll see a road at the end of it. Help will be waiting for you there."

Your hands reached out to grab at his shirt and you shook your head violently.

"Jeno, no…"

"Don't make any turns. You'll get lost. You have to be careful."

"I won't go alone—"

The dying light of the sun slipped between the cracks of the thick foliage above you. They caught his eyes, and for a second, you saw his mask slip. Jeno had always kept a part of him closed off, even in your moments together, but in that brief moment, you were so sure you were finally seeing the real him. The scared boy. The hurt brother.

The man you've learned to love.

You felt his hand cup your face before he leaned over to kiss your eyes gently. Tears streamed down on them freely as he pulled away.

"I love you. I really do. I'm so sorry for all I've done—we've done—to hurt you."

You felt something inside of you break.

"If you love me, you'll come with me."

Jeno shook his head and squeezed your hand in his.

"I can't. You won't be free while he's alive. He'll never let you go. There is no other way out of this… I need to take care of him."

The gravity of his words sunk on you like dull blades digging against your chest. You stared at him speechless and you felt him run his thumb gently over your cheek as a small, sad smile tugged at his lips.

"Thank you for everything. Be happy for me, okay?"

"Jeno, I love y—"

You weren't able to immediately connect the shrilling sound that whizzed past your head until you saw Jeno stumble back a little. Eyes growing wide, it was as if time stopped for you as you watched red spread all over his shoulder like an unfurling rose. He seemed to  be in shock too as he looked down on his chest, before gravity started pulling him down towards the forest floor.

"I don't think you're in the position to tell her to be happy, brother dear."

You fell on your knees to Jeno's side the same time Taeyong emerged from the trees behind you. His pistol was still smoking when he put it down, his eyes cold as he stared at the pair of you crumpled together on the ground. Jeno coughed and grabbed at his chest, the action causing blood to trickle down the side of his lips. You reached out to cover the same spot he was holding on to, your fingers quickly stained with red as you tried to helplessly stop the blood flow.

"Oh m-my god… No… N-No…"

"Jaemin gave me such a hard time. Little prince is too tough for his own good and fought me off even after all those shots. I thought I lost you forever," Taeyong softly said behind you as he tried to wipe off some of the blood that was starting to get in his eyes. There were cuts all over his face and a good portion of his black jacket looked soaked with blood, but there was a serene look in his features that stood in contrast against his roughed up form. He looked like the god of  chaos and death as he stepped a little closer to where you were, his eyes cold and hard. You refused to look at him, all of your attention focused on the boy in front of you instead.

"Help...Somebody… H-help…"

"I suppose you two are done with your Romeo and Juliet act by now? Really. This is getting a little boring. Playtime is over."

Jeno was looking paler and paler by the second and you could feel his body growing colder under your touch. You barely had any idea of the rest that was going on around you, not even your loud cries that made you tremble all over. Jeno turned his head blindly towards you, but his eyes were unseeing even when they met with yours. You bent over to him, covering him with your body, as if doing so will chase the nightmare away.

"D-don't move," you heard him whisper against your ear as you crouched over his chest, shielding the good portion of his upper body from Taeyong. At first you thought he was only trying to keep you close, but then you felt his hand fumble for something under you before the cold kiss of steel brushed your skin. You stiffened. Amidst the panic and fear  coursing all over you, you also realized what was happening.

You managed to cover his hunting rifle when you fell and now he was trying to move it under your arm. Your eyes met his, and there was a brief second when time seemed to stop as he held your gaze.

"Run after the shot. Run and never look back."

"What…"

"Come on, darling. We really have to go. We're so late already because these kids here kept fooling around. Let's get moving."

You heard footsteps behind you as well as the foreboding sound of a gun cocking. You didn't need to look at Taeyong to know that he was just a few feet from you now, his aura strong enough to make chills run down your spine in waves. Jeno, meanwhile, never looked away from you. You held on to his gaze, until you saw your tears drop to his cheeks and wash away some of the blood there. He reached out his free hand to run his thumb one last time over the spot under your eye—that one place he used to kiss a lot.

"Goodbye."

"Stand up there. I'm losing my patien–"

It all happened too fast. You felt the cold nose of his hunting rifle slip on the small space between the side of your body and arm, its head pointed towards the man behind you. It was soon followed by a splitting gunshot that made your ears ring and your vision spin. Before your body could even react from the stimuli, however, you felt Jeno push you away from him.

"Go. Now!"

You stumbled to get on your feet before breaking into a run.

******* "Where do we even start? Did the boy give coordinates?"

Johnny looked at the forest beyond him with a frown. Their car was parked on a dirt road almost an hour and half away from the center of the city together with a flock of other vehicles that spilled out men in uniforms, their guns at the ready. From his other side, Yuta was wearing the same expression, the man's eyes dark as he pulled his own gun from the holster strapped across his chest.

"This is the spot that the coordinates say, but the trees here look so thick. It'll be hard for someone to go through this route," Johnny answered now as he looked at the GPS on his palm. A flock of birds flew from the far off horizon, followed by what seemed to be the cry of a wild beast.

"Maybe Chenle got it wrong?" Yuta suggested. Behind them, the special force troops lined up, ready to get directions. Johnny glanced at his men and gritted his teeth. Without giving it another look, he put away the device in one of the pockets of his bulletproof vest before pulling his own gun.

"No. I believe him. Let's split into two groups. You  take the left section and I take the right. Move in a half circle so that our group can cover more and meet in the same spot."

Yuta nodded and finally turned at about the dozen men waiting for his signal. With a raise of his finger, he motioned towards the area assigned to them before starting to move towards the edge of the woods. Johnny did the same with his, but a sound suddenly halted him on his tracks before he could even break through the forest edge. 

Gunshots. A few of them. They were far away, but there's no mistaking their piercing sound.

He cocked his gun, jaw tense, and called out to the group following him.

"Let's move!"

******* You didn't have any idea where you were going. You crashed against wayward branches that scratched and clawed against the skin of your face and arms while your feet thundered against the hard forest floor. Every bit of you was hurting—your lungs were ready to burst and your muscles were screaming for you to stop—but the pain felt detached from your frame of mind right now, as if you were maneuvering a body that isn't even yours in the first place.

It could have been hours, minutes, or seconds since you started to run. The sound of the gunshot was still making your ears ring, but it was not really that which made you struggle to keep your balance. The adrenaline pumping in your veins might be rendering you numb right now for the most part, but it was the vision of Jeno bleeding that made you heave harder from the pain in your chest.

The stinging pain of something scratching the skin of your forearm is what finally made you stumble and lose your balance. The back of your shirt caught a sticking branch you just passed, causing you to get pulled you back and hit a rough tree bark. A sharp yell of pain was torn from you when a piercing sensation drove through your panic. With horror, you looked down to realize that you actually crashed against a tree studded with thick thorns that left deep stab wounds on your forearm. 

It took the last spurt of your energy to finally stagger away from the offending bark with a whimper. Gritting your teeth, you took a second to catch your breath by leaning against a big rock covered with moss. You didn't have any idea where you were or how long you still had to run. All you knew was that you are tired and very much afraid.

You didn't even get a minute of silence until your heart jumped again in your chest at the sound of dry leaves crunching under a boot from somewhere beyond. Eyes wild, you quickly stood up from the spot you were curled up on and whipped around. The sound didn't come again, but you knew what you heard. Something is out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows. A part of you hoped that it was Jeno, but you couldn't risk it… not now when you've already come this far at least.

And so you ran again. You're not sure if you're still on the right path, but at this point, you didn't really care anymore. You just had to move—put as much distance between you and whatever it is back there. It couldn't be Taeyong. No. It can't be him. Jeno shot him. It's impossible for him to survive that close of a shot—

"Ahh!"

Your voice was cut off mid-scream when you were suddenly pulled back again by a strong force from behind. Instead of crashing against anything, however, you felt limbs tangle around you and pull you back with sheer force. You screamed again, but a hand choked back the sound by covering half of your face.

"Shhh… Finally caught you."

It was like the temperature dropped around you. Eyes shaking, you tried to look sideways but froze again when you felt lips gently run over the shell of your ear. They moved downwards, before biting at the skin of your neck. There was no gentleness to the gesture, just pure teeth and force. When you whimpered from the pain, you felt Taeyong smile against your skin.

"You really thought you could leave, huh?"

"How—"

Your question ended up with a grunt when he suddenly pushed you forward. The force made you roll around in the dirt until your body slammed against the root of a tree. With chilling terror, you realized that it was the only thing stopping you from falling into your death down into the ravine directly behind you. It was a steep fall, the ground beneath littered with sharp rocks and thick roots that seemed to reach out to the sky like skeletal limbs.

"I can't believe you just ran away like that… After your little boyfriend tried to shoot at me."

Your attention went back to Taeyong who was slowly walking towards you now. Darkness was quickly falling in the forest, but you still saw the slip of something black covering his chest as he went closer. Your heart dropped in your stomach.

Bulletproof vest.

"T-Taeyong…"

For a brief second, the man stopped in his tracks as he heard you say his name. Taeyong closed his eyes as if savoring your broken tone and you saw his fingers flex against the handle of his pistol.

"Say that again. I want to hear you beg."

Tears spilled down your face again, leaving clean marks on your grime stained skin. You were shaking from pure, sheer fear and you put your hands before you in a pointless effort to stop him from making another step. It didn't stop him, of course, his legs starting to move again, this time slowly to where you are. It was like he was savoring the vision of you with the way he took his calculating steps. 

The look in his eyes made you wish you were dead. If they scared you before, they terrified you now to the bone.

"Please, p-please stop. I don't want to do this… I can't…"

He had reached you sooner than you wished. Smiling at you now, you shrunk deeper against the tree supporting your back as he sat back on his knees so your faces were on the same level. Taeyong slowly reached out to you, his thumb and forefinger guiding your chin so you could meet eye to eye.

"Darling… I think you're missing a point here."

"I didn't really give you a choice to say no."

The stabbing pain in your thigh tore an ear-splitting scream from you. You looked down in horror to see his free hand on your leg, his fingers digging a knife down your flesh. Taeyong slowly twisted the handle and another cry of pain fell from your lips from of the excruciating pain.

"Sorry about that. I'm just getting a little tired of you trying to run away so I had to. Don't worry. That won't kill you."

"Stop—please. It hurts so much—"

For a few seconds, Taeyong simply stared at you. He had finally stopped digging the blade deeper into your skin, but it was too late as blood started flowing out of your open wound until it seeped the ground beneath you. He didn't make any sound nor moved a muscle as if he was deep in thought, a complete contrast to the way you helplessly twitched from the torture he was doing to you.

"I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you…" his words barely broke through the growing numbness that's starting to cocoon you. You could barely see him now as a dark film started to slowly creep into your vision, but you thought you saw guilt clearly marking his features when he spoke again.

"I'm going to make it all go away in a bit, okay? But I can't have you run away from me again. Just take it a little bit more… it's really your fault anyway…"

"You left me with no choice, but I'll have to break your legs for now…"

What…?

You watched as he slowly stood up and moved his gun to point at your other, still uninjured leg. A helpless whimper left you again, but deep inside, you were way past caring already.

"Grit your teeth. This is going to hurt for a bit. Don't worry, it'll heal."

Just kill me. End this already…

I'm begging you. Someone.

Anyone.

Kill me.

You were already on the verge of unconsciousness when you saw Taeyong start to steady his gun. As you closed your eyes in surrender, an inviting thought crossed you and started wrapping around you like a warm blanket of comfort. You just need to move a little when he pulls the trigger, make sure his bullet catches your head instead…

And then you'll finally be safe again.

Bang!

The sound of the bullet ricocheting against something made you freeze. At first you didn't move, wondering if death finally came to you because you couldn't feel any new source of pain in your body, but then the sound of voices shook you to consciousness again. Opening your eyes, you gasped to see Taeyong on the forest floor in a lock of limbs with Jeno. The latter had his arm locked around the former's neck in a chokehold as they both tried to struggle to take control over the other. Taeyong's gun lay a few feet from them, just across from the spot you were slumped on.

There were a few seconds when you processed what you were seeing, but then you saw Taeyong land a punch on Jeno's shoulder, right where he was shot earlier. His pained grunt is what shook you to action and you suddenly sat up, a soft scream of your own leaving your lips as the wound on your thigh throbbed painfully. The dagger was still buried deep in your flesh and you wrapped your fist around it to pull it off in one go. You immediately threw it to the side as a fresh wave of tears spilled down your cheeks from the excruciating pain, but you didn't even let that stop you from crawling on the forest floor.

You were dragging yourself with your hands mostly doing the work, but you managed to grab the gun with your shaking fingers. Your eyes met Taeyong’s the moment you clasped it closer to yourself and managed to stand upright, but you nearly lost your balance again in fear as you watched him suddenly jump off of Jeno to try and come after you. You screamed, and in your panic, pulled the trigger after shakily pointing it at his head. The bullet missed him by a hair as he ducked to the side and dove to the ground.

"Shoot him, now!"

The surprise from your own actions startled you, but Jeno's voice managed to keep you from dropping the weapon. With wide eyes, you watched as he launched himself towards Taeyong again, holding the other up to face you. That's when it finally hit you—he was giving you a clear way to shoot his brother right in the head.

Maybe it was the fear, the pain, or the horror of it all, but it only took you a couple of seconds to set yourself to action. Your hands were still shaking uncontrollably, but you managed to lift it up to aim it right at the middle of Taeyong's head. You met his eyes the same moment your finger curled around the trigger again, his pupils dilated but dead. Everything seemed to move slowly from there and you watched with a growing sense of chill as his lips slowly curled into a smirk.

Click.

The subtle empty clicking sound of the gun echoed in the silence like a resounding scream. Jeno looked back at you in sheer shock and your hold on it wavered as Taeyong's piercing laugh shattered the air.

"Ah, my love. You wasted the eighth bullet~"

The weapon hit the forest floor the exact moment Taeyong drove his elbow back at Jeno's stomach. The latter doubled over, and the older one took that as a chance to grab him by the hair and hit his head against the nearest tree bark. The first hit made a sickening sound escape Jeno but even that didn't seem to satisfy Taeyong as he lifted the boy's head again and crashed it mercilessly at the tree once more.

You only realized what you were doing when you finally felt your nails get in contact with the other's back. Somehow, you managed to launch yourself into him, your hands flying to hit and scratch at whatever part of his body you could reach. That seemed to have taken Taeyong a little bit by surprise as he freed his other hand to grab you by the neck to try and stop you. You pulled at him, desperate to get him off of Jeno, that you barely realized you'd managed to drag your trio to the edge of the ravine.

"Stop fighting me!" Taeyong growled as he clamped his fingers around your throat. You started to cough and choke, but that didn't stop you from trying to claw at his face. His other hand was still clutching Jeno's head which was now bleeding from his open wounds. He looked almost unconscious, his eyes barely open from the assault.

"Let him go—let go!"

Taeyong moved so fast that you would have fallen off the cliff if not for his other hand grabbing you by the collar. He had finally let go of Jeno and pushed him down to the ground where he crumpled lifelessly, unmoving. Behind you, you could feel the heel of your shoe slip a little on the rocks as you teetered on the edge. Taeyong's chokehold is the only thing that kept you from plummeting downwards so you grabbed at his arms for support. You didn't know where he was getting the strength, but you felt like a ragdoll under his grip.

"You're making this so hard for me. You need to stop," he said through gritted teeth. His fingers wrapped around your throat tighter, cutting off the remaining flow of air that you were struggling to hold. Red started to spread on the whites of your eyes as the small blood vessels there started to erupt.

"Do you really want me to punish you before you start to listen? Do you really want me to hurt you?"

His eyes drilled against your skull viciously, but you knew he was way past the point of actually seeing you. There was nothing but madness radiating from him, that and pure unadulterated hate. It was so terrifying to look at that a part of you almost felt thankful that you were on the verge of losing consciousness.

You were hanging by a thread, but his last words reached you even if he said it in nothing more than a whisper.

"If that's what you want, fine."

"I'll break you down to the bone. I have all my life to do it."

Your hands clutching his arms slowly started to go limp. They fell by your sides, lifeless, as your head drooped and hung forward. Your eyelids weren't able to entirely close anymore but you couldn't really process what you were seeing now as the last of your consciousness left you. It looked like the night sky… but instead of the darkness, it was burning red.

It's over.

It's finally over…

Maybe I can rest now.

You were on the last cycle of your breath when a new sensation eased you from the comfort that was calling out to you. A hand reached out and grabbed you and you felt yourself pulled over against something warm. You're already way past the capacity of understanding what was happening, but you saw Taeyong look at something in surprise beside you as he swayed and stumbled off to the side. Everything was moving too slow and you watched with detached calmness as a hand pushed him over, his face contorted in fear. You looked up to check what he was staring at and your vision focused on a face that made a spark of life move from deep inside your chest before it fizzled out again.

Jeno…

The world was closing down on you. Behind you, you heard a sickening thud hit the ground from far off below. You didn't turn to look at it, your eyes focused on one person.

The last you saw were the brown of his eyes against the dying glow of the sun before darkness finally swallowed you.

******* Johnny turned around as he caught an odd sound from somewhere off to his right. It was so fleeting that it could have been part of the dozen other noises in the forest, but something told him to stop and pay attention to it. A uniformed member of his group stopped beside him and waited for him to say anything.

"Sir? Is everything alright?"

He didn't immediately answer. He trained his ears harder to try and catch another sound, but there was nothing but the sound of the cicadas that answered him back. In that moment, he knew he needed to make a decision… and this time, he decided to follow his gut.

He turned to his squad member without a trace of hesitation.

"I need you to take over command. Follow our agreed route and tell me if you find anything. I need to check something."

The man looked like he had a dozen questions to counter that order, so Johnny was thankful that he had enough sense not to waste any time and forgo them for now. He gave a tight nod and turned away to continue on his path while Johnny did the same to go towards the direction where he thought he heard the noise. He had no idea where his steps would lead him, but he is positive that he'll end up with what he is looking for.

Not even five minutes in and he heard the second sign. It was louder this time, though the thick foliage of the forest distorted it so that he couldn't really pinpoint where exactly it was coming from. The sound was muffled, but it was enough for Johnny to be sure of one thing.

Voices. Those are definitely voices.

He moved with more urgency now, playing it by ear as where his steps would lead him. When a sickening thud sounded off not too far from him, he finally broke into a run and charged through his path. Walls of trees loomed beside him as he rushed past, but he could also see a sliver of clearing beyond in between the leaves of the foliage.

The first thing that caught his eyes when he finally broke through was the hunched over figure at the far off side of the clearing. The stranger's back was against him so he couldn't really see what he was looking at, but then a dying ray of sun hit the spot and he saw him gently let go of what looked like someone's hand. Johnny stalked carefully towards him, his gun steady.

"Step away from her, please."

The boy turned to slowly look at him, his face unreadable. He didn't look bothered at all to see him there and he silently straightened up and stepped to the side calmly. Johnny's eyes fell on the figure that the other was covering earlier and felt a shock run through his veins.

A girl lay unconscious on the ground, bleeding in places he couldn't figure out yet. Growing purple marks stood out on the neck of her skin and his eyes moved upwards to check her face. His hold on his gun tightened at what he saw.

It’s her.

Their missing victim.

"She needs help. She's losing blood…"

Johnny looked up again to train his gaze on the boy in front of him. He was still standing calmly off to the side, a huge contrast to how he looked. His face was covered with blood just as much as the rest of his body and he was so sure he had a hole on his shoulder with the way he was dripping blood everywhere. A sinking feeling settled at the pits of his stomach as recognition dawned on him. The boy might be covered in red, but there is no doubt who he is.

Jeno Lee.

"Put your hands where I can see them," Johnny said as steadily as he could as he took another step closer to the woman's prone body on the forest floor. She looked like her chest was still moving, albeit very slowly.

Jeno didn't really move, instead following him with his silent gaze instead. He didn't look defensive, but there was one emotion Johnny thought flash in the other's eyes when his glance slipped towards the girl in front of him once more.

Worry.

No… it's not just that.

Care.

"Did you do this?" Johnny already knew the answer to that before the other even answered. Jeno didn't seem like he heard him at all though, his eyes still set on the woman.

"You need to get her to the hospital soon. Or we might lose her."

That was enough of an answer for Johnny to figure out what was going on. He kept his aim trained on the boy, but he was sure of one thing.

He didn't hurt her.

"You're hurt too."

"I don't need help."

"Why are you here?"

"I need to make sure she's safe."

His hand squeezed around the handle of his gun. Protocol plainly told him the next things he should be taking. The boy was on sight at the scene of the crime, obviously in a state that says he is involved in some way. He should take him in, plain and simple, and yet he couldn't for some reason. Maybe it's because of the way he just stood there, as if he didn't even care if the police took him in. In fact, he seemed like he didn't even care about anything at all, except for the woman in front of him. Or maybe it's because of the look he could see in the other's eyes… the same look he'd seen so many times in Jung Jaehyun's own before.

Johnny slowly lowered his gun despite his eyes staying on the boy. Jeno watched the gesture, a look of mild confusion flitting over his features first before understanding took over. His eyes followed the man as he bent over her and gently took his hand in his to check her pulse. He decided to speak again just as he saw the other lift his hand to finally press at his in-ear.

"Yuta, I need—"

"He's over there. Who you're looking for."

Johnny looked up at him and then towards the direction he was pointing at. They were at the edge of a steep cliff and he picked himself up again to see what was beyond. He was only able to take a couple of steps before he froze again at what he saw. The fall to the ravine opened up to huge, rough boulders and dead trees, and right in the middle was Taeyong, his face up in the sky. His eyes were open and he looked like he was simply watching the sun dip from the burning sky serenely, but Johnny knew otherwise…

What with the thick stake pierced through his heart.

"Johnny, did you call?" Yuta's voice came on from his in-ear radio. It took him a few seconds to finally reply again.

"Yes. I found the girl and Lee Taeyong. They're both badly injured. I need medics sent to my location immediately. I'll send you my coordinates."

"Got it. We're turning around. We're on our way. Is anyone else with you?"

He finally tore his eyes from the sight before him and turned towards the clearing again. He wasn't surprised at all to see it empty except for the woman lying peacefully on the ground as if she was just sleeping. Johnny pursed his lips before answering again.

"No. There's no one else. The area is clear."

CHAPTER 15 [END]

---

A/N: So... I have both good news and bad news. The good news is that I was able to keep my promise and publish this today, but the bad news is that... this isn’t really the end. I had a last minute change of heart and changed the ending, so I decided I’m going to cut this story off here for now since the chapter has gotten so long already. A special chapter will be released soon to REALLY close everything off, because I wanted to give enough justice to the story by dedicating a full section to it. I hope you all enjoy this anyway despite of it being long. As usual, thank you so much to those who have supported me this far! I really appreciate all of you for staying until now. :D

Taglist [CLOSED]: @negincho, @jhornytrash, @jaeminhyuckiii, @jungwoosswhore, @jsturkey, @aj-7, @pukupukupawpau, @tomiesgirlfren, @vsszn, @those-winternights, @xsnelly, @lihyuck, @haoshitt, @mindofthescattered, @huangberryyy, @d1nne, @choppedupcactus, @neokat, @yutasnabi, @mirathe2002, @artemisblues, @ryu-naa, @aaasteroidsky, @strawbunnyjaem , @floweronacloud, @cottonniebunnie, @sknyuz, @furryllamas, @grandmasterslickfox​, @dreamisfelix

[sundaysundaes]

Started With A Kiss

Lee Donghyuck/Haechan X Reader | Actor AU, Smut, Fluff, Humor | NC-17 | 10K

Summary: Rookie actor, Lee Haechan, desperately wants to get the lead role in the highly anticipated upcoming TV drama. He’s sure he has what it takes to fill the part. Acting as a hero? No problem. Pretending to overcome his traumatic experience? Consider it done. A bed scene? Easy—wait, no. That might be a problem. But he should be fine as long as he gets to rehearse, right?

Warnings:  protected sex, oral sex, crude humor, swearing, literally 10k of sex with very little plot, a lot of playful banters between sassy!hyuck and equally sassy!Y/N

Wrote this for my love Kira @flopim​ who’s been having a tough time lately. I hope this will cheer you up bb! ❤️

“I want you to make love to me.”

Standing there, still dressed in your bright pink pajamas with your hair resembling a bird’s nest, you can only blink once, twice, and several times more because surely, your ears are playing tricks on you. There’s no way that your best friend, the cutely annoying and annoyingly cute, Lee Haechan—the one who’s been practically glued to your skin like a conjoined twin of yours for the last two years—is asking you to make love to him. 

Surely, this is not what you’d expected to see when you opened the door to your apartment, ready to bark at whoever it was who dared to disturb your beauty sleep (since it is seven in the morning on a Sunday), only to see him standing in his blue ripped jeans and black Michael Jackson shirt with his cheeks flushed, his bag hanging loosely on his shoulder, brown eyes desperately begging for your attention. 

And you’re most definitely sure that he’s not asking you to sleep with him when you still have drool on the corner of your mouth and a terrible morning breath (in your defense, you have brushed your teeth but that was, like, six hours ago).

But when seconds have passed and Haechan still looks like he badly needs to hear an answer, you have very little options but to ask, “You want me to do what to who now?”

Catching a sniff of your mighty dragon’s breath, he promptly takes a step back, scrunching his nose while frantically covering half of his face with the script he’s been holding. “Eew, God, what is that smell?” Ignoring your glare, he repeats his words, voice muffled by the papers. “I said, I want you to make love to me.”

“What—”

“Damn it, woman, just brush your teeth and let me in!”

When he’s stomping his feet while whining that loudly—loud enough for your fucking landlord to hear, along with everybody else in the building (including your cute neighbor, Jaehyun, oh dear God, no), he doesn’t give you any other choice but to invite him in, does he?

You step away from the door, flatly muttering, “Please, come in, why don’t you.” Haechan doesn’t waste any second waiting, making sure to run and stay as far away as possible from you so he won’t inhale the poisonous air that’s tainted with your breath again. 

You roll your eyes. Dramatic little shit. But just to be on the safe side, you make your way to the bathroom.

***

The scalding hot shower you just took was comforting but not enough to wash your entire drowsiness away. You’re in dire need of your caffeine intake. “Would you like some coffee, my king?” You ask between a yawn, hands finding their way to the coffee jar on your kitchen counter.

Haechan throws his bag to the floor, body sinking into the comfort of your couch. “With milk, please.”

"I’m kidding.”

“Well, I’m not.” He throws one of those cheeky grins that you adore—no, wait, you hate—as he settles his legs on your coffee table. “Less sugar but more milk. I’m still growing.”

“Growing what, your balls?” You pour him a cup of coffee as requested, yes, because to balance his demonic behavior, you have to act like the perfect angel that you are. “Since you don’t have any?”

“You mean, like your boyfriend?” Haechan retorts before he gasps dramatically, his palm going to his mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, you don’t have a boyfriend.”

You hover above him from behind the couch, bringing two mugs filled with sizzling hot coffee. “Want to repeat that?” You tip your mug just a little bit until it nearly spills on his forehead.

Haechan winces, attempting to grin. “I’m sorry, I love you, please don’t ruin my face. It’s the only thing that’s good about me.”

“It surely is.”

“Yah, what does that mean?”

“Take it as a compliment.” 

Sitting next to him, you sip your coffee and curse silently when the liquid burns your tongue. “Okay, so what about this ‘make love to me’ thing you said earlier? Please tell me it’s just a figure of speech or something.”

“I wish.” He drags his legs away from the table so he can lay his cup down because apparently, he means business. “Okay, I know you’re gonna kill me after you hear—”

“After? I’m about to kill you now, actually.” You scoff. “Don’t you remember what we’ve agreed on? You cannot bother me when I’m still too sleepy to smack you in the head, Haechannie.”

“When did we ever—” He stops. “Why are you going to smack me in the head?” 

“‘Cause you’ll say something stupid.”

“Who says I’m gonna say something stupid?”

“You always say something stupid. You’re saying something stupid now!”

“It’s not stupid.” He sighs exasperatedly but when your flat, degrading stare comes into view, it morphs into a groan. “Well, not that stupid. I’ve thought about this—really thought about it—and I can’t find anyone else to do this but you since you’re the only girl I’m friends with. I mean, I can pick random girls, I suppose—you know how popular I am. They just can’t stop talking about me. My hair, my eyes—”

“—your tiny dick.”

“But I don’t want to break any girl’s heart by doing something that’s gonna make them feel like I’m just using them to get a job, you know? I know I’m hot but these good looks aren’t meant to trample people’s hearts.”

“And you don’t care how I’m gonna feel?”

He has the decency to act like he’s thinking about it, but then, “No, not really.”

“Thanks.”

“Look, I really need your help.” He takes it as further as holding your hand between his, puckering his pouty lips, and blinking his eyes in a way that’s cute enough to leave you in daze so you pretend like you’re about to vomit your insides to cover it up. 

Okay, so there’s one thing—one little thing that nobody knows—that you’re too ashamed to admit and that is the fact that you have a massive crush on this boy who sits in front of you with his socks unmatched. Well, no, not massive. It used to be massive during the first few weeks you knew him. How could you not? Haechan was so cute, you wanted to turn him into a doll so you could carry him around in your backpack and squish his cheeks whenever you feel like it. Sure, he’s not all jawlines and dimples like that neighbor of yours (Jung Jaehyun was probably sculpted by God himself ), but Haechan has his own charms. His devilish smirk, his loud, contagious laughter, his naughty eyebrow raise, and his lips—God, his beautiful plump lips, the way they look so pouty and soft. Honestly, you can write a whole essay about his attractive features (not that you haven’t already).

You knew you were crazy for him when the antics he did annoyed the hell out of his friends but to you, he was just plain adorable. And you realized you were pretty much fucked-up when Jeno said, “Fucking Lee Donghyuck said he forgot his wallet and robbed me this morning. Who the fuck orders a freakin’ wagyu steak for breakfast?!” and the only thing you could think of was how nice it was to go on a date with him and how your first kiss with him was going to be like (poor Jeno, though). 

It’s not that you love him or anything. It’s mostly physical, nothing more—at least for now anyway. It’s not your fault that he’s so fucking pretty that he ends up showing every now and then in your fantasy, doing indescribable naughty things that will definitely make Mark splash some holy water on your face if he knew what was going on in your head.

Fortunately, now that you’ve been friends with him for two years, that massive crush you had has turned into something normal, something you can easily hide. And can be forgotten even, whenever another cute guy—like Na Jaemin, for example—takes you out on a date or two. It’s easier to breathe these days.

“Hello? Are you there?” Haechan snaps his fingers, waking you up from your reverie. “What’s your answer? Do you want to make love to me or not?”

‘It’s easier to breathe these days?’ More like fucking kill me. 

“Can you stop saying that?” You pinch the bridge of your nose. “You’re giving me headaches.” Or a heart attack, more accurately. “Assume I said yes. Don’t you think it’s gonna get a little weird between us?”

“What is so weird about it?” He throws his hands in the air, exhausted and impatient. “It’s just gonna be two friends, pretending to be in love with each other, hugging, kissing, touching, and having sweet, tender sex.” Realization falls upon him and you resist the urge to exhale loudly. “Yeah, okay, so it is a little weird, but it should be fine, right? It’s just acting. It’s not like you have any feelings for me, do you?”

If by feelings you mean picturing you naked in my head with your mouth sucking on my neck, then yeah, I do have feelings for you. Plenty of that. But on the outside, you say, “Eew, God, no.”

Haechan squints his eyes at your response. “Can’t say I’m not hurt with the way you said it, but eew, God, no to you too. Well, if that’s the case then I’m sure we’ll be fine,” he says, sipping his coffee, and retracts his mouth as soon as the flavor hits his tongue. “What the hell is this?! Did you spit on my coffee or something?”

You didn’t but for your amusement, you throw him a sly grin. “A little.” It’s satisfying to see him looking like he’s about to pass out. “I’m still worried how it’s gonna affect our friendship later on though.”

He simply shrugs. “Meh. We’re not really that close to begin with anyway.” He takes another sip of his coffee by accident and nearly vomits for real. “Fucking hell—take this shit out of my face.”

“I'm still not sure about this, Haechannie.”

“Look, I don’t know why it’s such a big deal to you, we’re just going to pretend! Acting!” He exclaims as if that was the most normal thing a friend could ask another friend. “And you’re gonna be acting out a love scene with someone as hot as me. Consider yourself lucky.”

“Consider yourself dead.”

“Damn it, my audition is in two days and I really want to get this role!” He’s whining, tugging at your hand like a baby as he practically throws himself at your feet, graveling for your mercy. “You’re the only one who can help me with this. How can I act properly if I don’t have enough experience to perform a freaking bed scene?!”

“I don’t think actors who have to play dead have enough experience of, you know, being dead.”

“Excellent point.” Haechan stares at you blankly, unimpressed. “Do you hear yourself when you talk?”

“Do you?”

A few seconds passed by in silence with the two of you exchanging sinister glares until he finally surrenders with a prominent pout on his face. “Fine, if you don’t want to.” Haechan exhales dramatically, his shoulders sagging and when you don’t respond, he sighs again only louder this time. “I guess, I have to force Mark to make out with me. Again.” He sneaks a glance to see your reaction. “And have my face slapped with a Bible. Again.”

You wince at the thought. “How did you force him, exactly?”

“Just…” He timidly scratches his nose. “Kinda attacked him in his sleep.”

You nod in understanding even when it’s the most idiotic thing you’ve ever heard. “Well, maybe he would’ve been fine with it if you had taken him out for a nice dinner before that.”

Haechan smiles a little at your words, and even a little glimpse of it is contagious enough to make your own spread wider on your face. Small chuckles resonate through the air and he playfully bumps his shoulder against yours, his palm resting on your knuckles.

“On a more serious note,” Haechan says, “I know that asking you to rehearse a bed scene with me is too much and way out of line. But I swear, I’m not gonna touch you if you’re so uncomfortable with it. Won’t even hold your hand, I promise.” Then he notices he’s still holding your hand from earlier. He drops it immediately, clearing his throat. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” It’s more than fine. His hand seems to fit yours in a way that nobody ever does but there’s no way you’re gonna tell him that. “So, we’re just gonna be practicing lines?”

“Exactly.” He rubs his nape, suddenly a bit bashful. “Well, I was hoping to at least kiss you—just to, you know, know how it’d feel like.”

“You’ve never kissed before?”

“I have, obviously.” He rolls his eyes, disgusted at your question. “I’m not a fucking virgin if that’s what you’re assuming.”

“Chill, don’t get your panties in a twist. Nah, I know you’re not a virgin from how many times you’ve had sex with yourself.”

“Hey!” 

“But then, why do you need to practice? Can’t you just go straight to your castmates, and kiss the bejeezus out of them?”

Donghyuck runs a hand through his face. “It’s… I’ve never done it for a role,” he professes, faint blush blooming on his cheeks, “And the scene is supposed to be intimate and I’ve never… You know…”

You gesture at him to clarify more with your hands. “You’ve never…?”

“You know…” The color on his face turns brighter. “T-the thing.”

“What thing? Never made-out in public? Never had sex outdoor?” You act clueless just because you’re liking his reaction. “Never had a finger stuck in your ass? What? Please do enlighten me.”

“I’ve never been in love, you witch!” Haechan is adorable when he’s fuming. Nostrils blaring, eyebrows knitting together in an angry frown, scarlet cheeks all puffed out. He looks like a terribly pissed Pomeranian.

Man, if I could just take a picture. “Oh, okay. So have you had your finger stuck in your ass?”

“I swear to God—”

“Kidding. I know you have.” But even when Haechan is nearly ripping your cheeks apart from your face, your giggles are never-ending. “So, you’re nervous?” You snort, raising an eyebrow. “You, the obnoxious, desperate-for-attention Lee Haechan, are nervous?”

“Will you help me out or not?!”

You pretend like you’re contemplating about it when truth is, every part of your body and mind is just screaming what the heck are you waiting for? He’s asking you to rehearse a bed scene—a. bed. scene! And he said he wanted to kiss you, for God’s sake! So, really, what else is there to say but “Okay.”

Haechan widens his eyes. “Okay?”

“Okay.” You try your best to appear nonchalant. “But you’ll owe me a favor. A huge one.”

“Anything,” he instantly agrees, “As long as I’m not dead, you have my words.”

You’re not yet sure what you’re planning to ask him but seeing his enthusiasm, you know it’s going to be good. “Great. So, umm, do you want to do it now or…?”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“Here?”

“Wherever you want.”

“Man, you’re giving me too much power. I should’ve agreed to this way sooner.” You can practically feel your face splitting in half from how wide you’re grinning. “My room, then? I mean, a bed scene requires… a bed, right?”

Haechan laughs and even after two years, it still sounds like your most favorite thing in the world. “No, it doesn’t necessarily require a bed but sure.” He jumps out from the couch, taking you by the hand, and only by that, you can already feel your heart thumping a tad faster. But the second he walks into your room, he makes a face. “Why does it smell like something died in here?”

“Because something did die. Your dignity.”

The tickling fight doesn’t occur very often between you and Lee Haechan but once it starts, it means war.

***

“Okay, so…” Haechan hands you the script, already opened to show you a page filled with dialogues and short narratives. He scoots closer on the bed, his knee a few inches away from grazing yours as they dangle from the edge. “Just from the top of the page, here.” He points with his finger and you do a quick scan, trying to get a picture of the intimate scene you’re going to do. “So, a quick summary. Your character, Aeri, has been in love with my character, Donghyun. In the earlier scene, you’ve confessed your love to me but I rejected you because we’ve been friends for so long and I didn’t want to ruin what we have. But then, later on, some things happened and I ended up catching feelings for you and this is the part where I’m gonna be telling you how I really feel and then we start kissing and—”

“Then we have sex,” you utter in dismay, but butterflies are erupting from your stomach due to the anticipation.

“No,” Haechan corrects you, “We make love.”

“Is there any difference?”

“There are more feelings involved, not just out of sheer passion. It’s slower. Tender. Intimate.” And when he notices you raising a questioning brow at him, he sighs. “That thing you did with Jaemin? Fucking like bunnies? The opposite of that.”

You mock him by imitating his sigh exaggeratedly and receiving a flick on the nose in return. “Is it just me or is the script pretty lousy?”

He nods. “But they’ll pay you good money for this.”

“I thought the reason you became an actor was to create art not money.”

“When I’m rich, maybe. Right now, I gotta pay for my rent. And apparently, Jeno keeps chasing my ass, forcing me to pay him back. It was just a wagyu steak for fuck’s sake.” He grumbles to himself, momentarily distracted. “Anyway,” he cracks his neck, “I’ve memorized my lines. Wanna give it a go?”

“Okay, let’s try. I guess I’ll be fine if it’s just kissing. Even if it’s with you.” When in reality you’re only agreeing to this because it’s with him.

Haechan’s eyes gleam brighter, ears practically perking up like an excited puppy. “Really?”

“You’re that excited at the thought of kissing me?” You play smug but you could practically hear your heartbeat blasting through your ears. “What else have you been thinking about me?”

“I’m not excited at the thought of kissing you, dumbass,” he spits back, the spark in his eyes vanishes in an instant. “I’m excited that finally I can practice kissing scenes with someone who’s actually willing to do it, and not, you know, like with the back of my hand or something.”

“You…” Failing to hold back a grin, you burst out laughing. “You made out with your hand?”

It’s funny that even when his skin is golden as if it was kissed by the sun, it still shows vividly on his face whenever he blushes. “I didn’t mean it literally—”

“I can’t believe you made out with your hand.”

“Would you just—” He nearly suffocates you with your pillow but you quickly retaliate by kicking him in the stomach.

Tears are prickling at the corner of your eyes. “Man, that mental image of yours making out with your hand will live in my mind rent-free for as long as I live.” When you still can’t stop laughing, Haechan is practically baring his teeth. “Okay, I’m sorry. Let’s get this going. If it gets too uncomfortable for me, I’ll stop.”

“Of course.” 

“At any time I want.”

“Your call.” He nods in agreement with the most serious expression you’ve ever seen him do; it almost doesn’t seem like him. 

“Good,” you say. “Now, I’ve never acted once in my life so if you laugh at me, I will sneak into your room at night and pour hot coffee on your computer.”

There’s fear fleeting through his eyes but he gives another nod. “Deal.”

“All right…” You take a deep breath, willing your heart to stop hammering against your ribcages, and for once, focus more on the script instead of the shape of his pretty, pretty mouth. “What are you doing here?” You follow the script, voice a little bit shaky as you’re still embarrassed with everything you’re doing. Haechan closes his eyes and you’re about to throw a joke to tease him about actor Haechan coming alive but when he opens them and gazes at you, you sit still, frozen.

“I wanted to see you,” he says, voice so delicate, it startles you. He’s so serious about this that you don’t find the strength within you to tease him like how you usually do. Somehow, the little gestures he makes, the changes in his expression alter the air along with the tension in the room. Suddenly, it feels like you’re standing next to him under the spotlight, hundreds of pairs of eyes following your every movement. 

“It’s—” You swallow your breath, tongue lays heavy in your mouth. “It's pouring outside, why are you—”

“I love you,” he vocalizes, his eyes gentle and heartbroken. His voice suddenly sounds a pitch lower, reverberating through the air until it sends goosebumps to the tiny hairs on your nape. He waits for your reply and you have to blink twice to slap yourself back to reality.

“W-what?”

“I’m sorry it took me this long to realize, but I do. I’m in love with you, hopelessly so.” He reaches out to cup your cheek, his thumb caressing your cheekbone. Though he has pretty hands, his fingertips are not as soft as you had imagined them to be, but they feel better, feel real. His warmth is unfamiliar to your skin but it feels more pleasant than anything that ever touches you. “Maybe you’re unaware of this, but it kills me to know that I’ve hurt you because I simply couldn’t be brave enough to accept my feelings. The reason why I didn’t want us to be together was because I didn’t want to ruin what we have, not knowing that we could be something more.”

Haechan’s lines fit your situation so much that you wish he wasn’t acting. It’s amazing how he’s changing into an entirely different persona and yet, it feels so natural as if he has been that person all along. Your breathing gets heavier as you take a brief look at the script, searching for your lines. “This feels unreal…”

“Do you still love me?” Haechan lifts your face by the chin, his touch is paper-thin. 

You wet your lips, head swirling. “But Donghyun—”

“Do you still love me?” He repeats, emphasizing with his tone. His eyes are peering into yours and you wonder maybe the quote eyes deeper than the sea refers to his gaze. “Or is it too late for me?” His thumb drifts to your lip, caressing your bottom one, your lip balm sticking to his skin. 

“I do,” you reply. He’s so pretty. You’ve never taken a glance longer than a few seconds at his close-up face, but now that you’re in this close proximity, you can finally witness the two tiny moles on his cheek, the beautiful shape of his dark eyes, the delicate curve of his lips… “I do love you, Donghyuck.”

A few seconds of silence hangs in the air when Haechan stops, his eyebrows furrowing. “Umm—it’s Donghyun, actually.”

Fuck! “Right!” You nearly leap out of your bed, face aflame. “Donghyun! Of course! I don’t know why I said that. Donghyuck is your name, I know that—” Fuck, fuck, fuck, just fucking kill me. “Sorry, umm—nervous.”

Fortunately for you, Haechan buys your bluff. “Rookie mistake,” he chuckles and you exaggeratedly roll your eyes to play along. “Okay, let’s start over. Do you still love me?”

“I do,” you respond too rigidly, making him glance away so he won’t break into laughter. “I do love you, Donghyun. Dong-Hyun.”

“Good,” he improvises, as it’s not written in the script. He has a tiny smile on his face and you like to think that it’s just him doing a terrible job at hiding his amusement. But when he swats your bangs out of your eyes, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, he seems like he’s seeing the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in his whole life. The adoration in his eyes, his loving gaze—they are so vivid, they nearly consume you. “Because I don’t think I can resist this any longer…”

You’re lost in his eyes, lost in his touch, lost in his warmth. It’s until Haechan nudges his head slightly, indicating you to wake up, you’ve got a line to say, that you jolt, eyes hurriedly going down to the script, seeking your lines. “Umm—“ You flinch. You sound so jittery, it’s terrible. “R-resist what…?”

But Haechan doesn’t pay a mind that you just stuttered from saying two words. He doesn’t ask you to start over. Instead, he presses his forehead against yours, his breath mingling in the air and you can taste the scent of sandalwood and summer. Combined with his soft breathing, you’re almost stuck in a haze, just reeling in the feeling of how this man is now closer to you than he has ever been in the past two years and it’s better than anything you’ve ever imagined.

“Resist this,” he whispers and before you can look down to check whether you have more lines to say, Haechan dips his head, his lips brushing against yours, ever so faintly at first but when you gasp, he presses harder, framing your cheeks with both hands before he moves one down to your waist. Unlike his fingertips, his lips are soft—softer than silk or the cotton candy he once bought you. But it’s not the way they feel or the way he tastes that distract you the most. It’s the way he moves them, parting his lips slightly so he can blend with yours, your lower lip fits perfectly between his plump ones. It’s the way he sighs, so contentedly, as if kissing you was everything he ever wanted.

You close your eyes, hands reaching up to his collar, wanting to feel him more, wanting to touch him—

Haechan breaks away, placing both hands on your shoulders. “How was it?”

You’ve never had someone splash cold water on your face but you figure it might feel something like this. Your voice grows hoarse when you speak. “How was what?”

“The kiss!” Haechan’s eyes are filled with concern, analyzing your expression. “Was it romantic enough? Tender enough? Did it properly convey the desperation and longing my character feels for yours?”

You knew this was a bad idea. You fucking knew it. So, why are you still hurt when he acts like he feels exactly nothing by that kiss? This is just an acting lesson for him. You should have been prepared. 

“It’s good,” you answer, averting your gaze and hiding your eyes behind your bangs. Your heart is still running a thousand miles an hour but somehow, it doesn’t feel as pleasant as before. “So, next scene—”

“Wait, are you okay?” Haechan asks, bending slightly to catch a glimpse of your face. “Was it too much? Do you want to stop?”

Truth is, you’re conflicted. You’re going to catch feelings—you most likely already are. But Haechan only treats you as a friend and nothing more, and this is the only chance you have to be this close to him. The temptation of continuing the kiss, to just hold him close for one more time, stands stronger than anything else so you say, “No. I promised you I’d help.”

He’s still unsure, eyes glinting in concern. “It’s okay if you want to stop, I—”

“Let’s just do the damn scene, Donghyuck.”

Haechan freezes on his seat, eyes searching yours as you now have the bravery to look at his face. Knowing you came on too strong, you try to ease it off with a smile. “I’m fine, don’t worry. It’s just my first time doing this—acting, I mean. Can we try again?”

He spends another few seconds trying to decipher the true meaning behind your smile but eventually nods his head at your command. He drags his finger back to the script. “Then, umm… Let’s start from here?”

You don’t even look at the page when you give affirmation. “Go.”

Haechan takes a moment to prepare himself and when your eyes meet each other again, he’s a different person once more. “The reason why I didn’t want us to be together was because I didn’t want to ruin what we have, not knowing that we could be something more.” His voice is so soothing, you almost forget that deep down you’re immensely upset knowing that the kiss didn’t have the same effects on him.

This time, when he frames your face with his palm, you lean into his touch, eyes never leaving his. “This feels unreal,” you say and for a second—just for a split second—you notice Haechan breaking out of character, surprised by the gentle expression on your face. Because you’re not acting out his script, you’re acting out on your feelings. It’s your only chance to be honest with him without forcing him to respond. So you pour all these feelings you have for him out in the open—ones that started from a mere physical attraction to something more as his presence grew bigger in your life, you’re acting out each and every one of them. 

“Do…” He inhales sharply, trying to focus. “Do you still love me?” He’s doing the same thing as before, placing his thumb and index finger on your chin but before he can say his lines, you see how his eyes fall on your lips.

And you kiss him. You kiss him with everything you have, hands going to his face, fingers slipping between his strands, and Haechan gasps against your mouth, his fingers curling around your wrist. You know he’s about to push you away so you quickly murmur, “I do,” against his lips, breath stuttering, “I do love you.”

When you take his bottom lip between yours, teeth grazing against his supple skin, Haechan lets out an involuntary moan at the back of his throat. The butterflies in your stomach come alive, pumping a rush of adrenaline through your veins and suddenly, you’re brave enough to glide your tongue across his lip. His hold tightens around your wrist but instead of pushing you away, he tugs you closer and you fall into his chest, hands breaking free from his grip to wind around his neck. Your fingertips are scraping against his nape before they move upward to yank at the roots of his hair. “Fuck,” he breathes out, almost inaudibly, as if he didn’t mean to let the word slip from his mouth and it makes your heart jumps straight out of your chest. The second he responds properly, Haechan kisses like fire, all passion and urgency, and you really don’t mind being consumed by his flames.

His hands are on your waist, pulling you closer and closer until you’re almost sitting on his lap before he jolts awake, pushing you away so abruptly, you almost fall from the bed.

“I’m—We—” he stammers, looking everywhere but your eyes. His cheeks are flushed, his lips bruised and red from your kisses. “I think we should—I gotta go—“

He stands up from the bed like the sheets are catching on fire, picking his script from the floor and gathering all his belongings at once before he runs toward the door. He turns on his heels, wanting to say something to fix the goddamn situation, but when his eyes land on yours, his words vanish without a trace. 

“I—I’ll call you later,” he finally says and doesn’t wait for your response. The front door closes with a thud.

And then silence comes to answer.

What just happened? 

Your heart is thundering inside your chest, you’re starting to feel nauseous. What have I done? You keep asking over and over. You thought everything was going to be fine. He responded to your kiss earlier, didn’t he? You were sure you didn’t imagine the whole thing. But now he’s gone and you’re not sure whether he’s gonna come back as the same Haechan—the old, bratty but caring Lee Haechan. The one who snickers loudly when you fall face-first on the ground but always steals secret glances at you to make sure you're not hurt. The one who makes jokes about your love life but never forgets to show up at your apartment with a thoughtful gift right at the minute you turn a year older. 

Things are not just gonna get awkward, they’re ruined.

When nearly half an hour has passed by and you’re still left alone in your apartment with no signs of him coming back, you’re about to go insane. You can’t stay still, walking back and forth your living room with the tip of your thumb between your teeth.

Should I chase after him and explain that it was just me trying to improvise? You hesitate with your hand lingering on the doorknob. But with your knees nearly giving up under your weight, you decide to stay put. It will probably just gonna make it worse. He’ll see through my lies, he always does.

You’re straying away to the kitchen, hands placed on the counter. You can feel your head spinning, stomach somersaulting. Damn it, why did I have to do that?! Why couldn’t I just— 

The front door slams opened and Haechan barges in with his hair messy, ruffled by the wind, and his bangs sticking to his temple. Stunned, you stand still on your ground. Your heart is the only one that’s moving beyond control. His eyes scan your apartment until they land on yours and for an instant, everything seems to fade away.

“Fuck it,” he says, dropping his bag to the ground and making his way towards you in such a hurry, he nearly trips over his feet. “You’re not that good of an actor to be faking it.” Before you have the chance to even take a breath, Haechan’s lips are smashing against yours. 

“Hae—” Haechan’s kiss is insane. So forceful that you can barely keep up, taking every bit of air directly from your lungs. He has you backed against the kitchen counter, the marbled edge digging into your skin. His hands frame your face, sliding against your cheek until they cup the backsides of your neck, his thumbs resting against your ears. You curl your fingers around his wrist, gasping, “Wait—”

He pulls away, lifting your face so you can’t bring your gaze anywhere else. “You like me?” His eyes are just as intense, begging for answers. “Please tell me I’m not imagining this.”

But behind that passion, his confidence is wavering. You can tell by his quivering breath, the little tremble running through his fingertips, and at that, you’re drowning in relief. You don’t think he’s that good of an actor to be faking this too. 

“I do,” you admit, heart pounding so loudly that you can barely hear your own voice. “I like—”

His mouth is on yours again and it feels like he’s kissing you in a hundred different places at once. “Jesus Christ, why have you kept quiet about this for so long?” he says, tasting your breath and skin at the same time. “Two fucking years. We wasted two fucking years.”

The words this isn’t happening endlessly run through your head but all your senses scream that Haechan is really here, in your arms, his nails clawing against your shirt and there’s nothing left you want from this world.

When you reciprocate to him properly, your palms sliding up his chest, over his shoulder, until your arms circle his neck, Haechan sighs in content. His kisses grow slower—more relaxed—but deeper, his tongue peeking out shyly at first but not for long. He still tastes faintly like the coffee you made and something else entirely different. Something pleasant that’s just exactly how you’ve fantasized him to be, if not more.

He pulls away to catch his breath with his eyes still focusing on your lips, thumb rubbing your lower one. “Does this feel weird to you?” He whispers, his temple pressing against yours.

You’re intoxicated by his sweet scent though you’re not sure whether it’s the smell of his shampoo, his cologne, or just him altogether. “No,” and as soon as the word comes out, his lips are chasing after yours once more.

“Good, ‘cause I don’t think I can stop.” He’s breathing heavily against your mouth as you are against his. With his fingers twisted in your hair, making a messy ponytail out of it, Haechan peppers open-mouthed kisses on your neck, tongue pressing against your pulsating vein and a whimper escapes your mouth.

Your dreams, your fantasies—they all fall pale in comparison to reality. When you vocalize his name, it almost sounds like a plead and Haechan slants his mouth back on yours again, giving you another taste as he is not satisfied with yours just yet. “Your lips taste amazing,” he breathes out and it’s so quiet, it seems like he’s intending to say the words in his head and not with his mouth. But as his words fall on your ears, they send tingles down your spine.

“So do yours,” you reply, attempting to make him blush in return but if he does, he doesn’t show much. “Never pegged you as a man who wears lip balm.”

You can feel his smirk directly with your skin. “I’m not wearing any.”

“You’re not?” You lightly giggle, swiping your tongue across his lower lip. “Then your lips do taste amazing.”

Haechan’s hand is slipping underneath your shirt, fingers hovering above your bra. “Guess there are still a lot of things you don’t know about me, huh?”

“I’ve got a hunch you’re about to teach me?”

“Only if you’re eager to learn.”

The kiss becomes heavier that you’re lost for words, entirely consumed by his passion, until he breaks away, muttering, “Off, off, off, off, off,” as he struggles to tear the fabric away from your body. You titter at his desperation, raising both hands to help him out of his misery. The second it’s off, he lifts you by the waist and places you down on the counter. 

“I’m amazed you could lift me,” you coo, admiring the sight of his lean stomach as he pulls his shirt over his head. His silver necklace hangs loosely around his neck and you hook a finger around it to yank him back to you.

He doesn’t seem to be able to detach his lips from yours for too long, especially when you keep sneaking glances at his. So when he speaks again, his every word is painted directly to your skin. “It wasn’t easy.” He settles between your thighs, mouth latching against your collarbone. “You weigh a ton.”

“Yeah?” You bite your lip, holding back a moan as he sucks bruises on your neck, the edge of his fingers trailing over the seam of your bra. “Then you must be so strong.”

“I am, haven’t you noticed?” Haechan pulls away just to showcase a mischievous grin. “I work out, you know.”

You blurt out laughing. It’s not solely because of the mental image of Lee Haechan—a full-time gamer, Lee Haechan—doing push-ups seems so funny to you. It’s more about the way he wiggles his eyebrow, trying to be sexy about it when you know he’s the weakest one in your group. Flustered at your reaction, he flicks your nose. “What is so funny?”

“I’m sorry,” you apologize though it doesn’t seem that much sincere with the way you’re still giggling at him. “It’s just that an hour ago we were two friends making fun of each other and now we’re here, in this position. I don’t know, it just feels surreal to me.”

An adorable pout blooms on his face. “I thought you said this didn’t feel weird.”

“No, it’s perfect. I want this.” You wrap the end of his necklace twice around your index finger. “I want you. It’s just… I’ve been imagining this to happen for such a long time and now that it’s happening, I’m feeling a lot of things at once.” You place a reassuring kiss on his temple. “I’m nervous.” This time landing one on his cheek. “I’m relieved.” When your lips hover above his, you notice him parting his own slightly in anticipation. “And it feels so good, I don’t ever want to stop. Even if that means we can’t go back to being friends.”

Haechan can’t form a response as you don’t let him, your mouth swallowing the tiny moans he emits. “We’ll talk about that later,” he hastily replies, “I still haven’t had enough of you yet.”

Without warning, he lifts you off the counter, making you yelp and wrap your legs around his waist for support. “Haechannie!” With you holding onto him, he takes a step forward, ignoring your call. “Where are you taking me—"

“Wait, no, back pain, back pain.” Both of you nearly tumble down to the ground from how he’s harshly placing you back to your feet, wincing at the ache erupting from the strained muscles in his spine. He’s groaning in pain, massaging his back with both hands. “Fuck, you’re really heavy!”

“That’s no way to talk to a lady.” You throw your slipper at him, missing his head just a few inches, laughing all the way. “What exactly were you trying to do?”

“I was trying to move us to the couch.”

“All you had to do was ask.”

“I was trying to be sexy.” He juts out his lower lip, and it takes all control of your body to not squeeze his cheeks from how adorable he looks.

“Honey, you are sexy, believe me, but you’re also weak as fuck. Consider hitting the gym for real next time and then carry me.”

“Shut up,” he sighs, holding out a hand for you to take. “To the couch, please? And maybe a massage after this ‘cause my back is killing me.”

Shaking your head in amusement, you take his hand, intertwining your fingers with his and drag him over to the couch. He’s in the middle of asking, “Do you want me to be on top or—” when you push him down and straddle his lap without warning, legs tangling around his hips. “Oh, okay.”

You run a hand through his hair, pushing them back so you can witness the glow in his eyes. “You look sexier with your hair pushed back.” You love the way he stares at you, eyes half-lidded painted with lust and desire. And combined with your commentary, he now has his cheek tinted with red. “Do you have a problem with me being on top?”

His eyes quickly run down to the place where your denim shorts are riding up your thighs, your zipper pressing against his groin. With a noticeable gulp, he stutters out, “N-no.”

You smile, patting his cheek. “Good.”

The kiss starts slow as you focus more on moving your hands down his body. Haechan shivers a little when your palm is pressing against his bare chest, sliding down to his navel. When you pull back, raising a questioning brow at his reaction, he bashfully says, “Your hand’s cold,” looking like a nervous little boy who’s a stark contrast to how he usually behaves.

He’s so cute.

“Well, I know a way to warm you up.” You smirk, almost cringing when you hear your own words but Haechan seems to like it.

“Oooh,” he coos, grinning against your lips. “Are you offering what I think you’re offering?”

“I don’t know.” You kiss your way down from his jawline to his chest, pushing yourself off his lap so you can kneel on the floor, your fingers unbuckling his belt. “What do you think I’m offering?”

Haechan’s eyes are glowing with anticipation. He curves his fingers around the edge of his seat, wetting his lip nervously when you pull his zipper down. You release him from his boxer, stroking him to life and he sinks his nails further into the couch. A train of expletives breaks free from his mouth but he’s so quiet, you can only hear his ragged breathing.

But by the time you run your thumb over his slit, your hot breath hitting his sensitive skin, Haechan melts into a whimpering mess. “Please don’t tease,” he begs.

“I haven’t even started, Haechannie.” And he looks like he’s about to say something but it only turns into a mewl when you press a kiss to his tip. “You’re so cute,” you comment, and he shivers when the vibration of your voice meets his skin. 

Haechan tries to act composed. “Of course I’m cute, it’s—” 

You cut his line short by darting out your tongue, giving kitten licks at the side, smiling satisfyingly when his eyes meet yours. As you give him a little suck around his tip, he throws his head back, his lower lip between his teeth. “I—I said don’t tease.”

“I’m not teasing you.” But you are. How can you not? He looks so fucking cute. You’ve never really enjoyed giving head before, especially when your opponent gets rough and ends up pushing too deep until you gag. But with Haechan, you feel like you can do this for hours. He’s so nervous and shy, doesn’t even dare to place his hand on your hair, and his reaction to every bit of your action is honest even when his words aren’t. 

“Here.” You take one of his hands, moving it to your head. “You can use me as much as you want.”

“Use—” he crumbles at your choice of words. When you suddenly envelop him with your mouth, moving from the tip to the base in one quick motion, Haechan instinctively grabs a handful of your hair, flinching. “Goddamn, why are you so fucking hot?”

You giggle, sliding his cock out of your mouth with an obscene pop. “Thanks.”

“No, I mean your mouth. It’s so fucking warm.”

“So, you’re saying,” you dip your tongue into his slit, eyes seductively peering into his. “I’m not hot?”

“You’re—Fuck, fuck—” Haechan seethes, hips buckling when you bob your head down again, tongue pressing against his veins. Shivers run through his fingertips when he slips them between your locks, pushing your fringe back to have a good look at your face. You catch a glimpse of him, his lips unconsciously moving to form words that you can’t hear. So pretty, he seems to say, and the thought of it makes your stomach lurch in delight. Taking him completely in your mouth, you hollow your cheeks, swallowing around him. He tightens his hold around your hair, cheeks flushed and you expect him to hold you in place so he can thrust against your mouth but what he does is pull you away. “Stop, stop, stop, stop.”

Wiping a string of saliva away with the back of your hand, you ask with a frown. “Something’s wrong?”

Haechan hides his reddening face behind his fingers, quietly answering, “I was about to come.”

You hold back a grin. With a nonchalant hum, you dip your head down again, this time engulfing him until he hits the back of your throat.

“Jesus Christ.” His sanity is deteriorating, he can feel it.

“Don’t bring Lord’s name when I have your dick in my mouth, Haechannie. Mark would kill you if he knew.”

“Fuck Mark. Come here.” He rushes forward, forcibly pulling you up with both hands clamping your arms. When you follow his order, settling back down on top of his lap, he confesses with his lips grazing against the shell of your ear. “I really won’t last long if you keep doing that.”

Despite your previous teasing and confidence, you squirm inside his arms, feeling warmth spreading from your chest to your cheek. “So I have these effects on you?”

He’s almost growling when he retorts, “You don’t even know.” Haechan pushes your bra strap until it falls off your shoulder, teeth marking your supple skin until you hiss in both pain and pleasure. He presses a softer kiss to soothe away the bruise. “Sorry, I… You’re gonna need to cover it up tomorrow.”

“It’s fine.” You stroke his cheek, tracing the tiny mole on his jawline. “Seems like you have a biting kink.”

He sheepishly chuckles, “I don’t know. But if you let me, I’d love to do that again.” 

Something about him saying it in the most sincere way possible, almost too formal even, makes you crave more for him and everything he does. “You’re allowed to do whatever you want with me, Lee Donghyuck.”

Haechan swallows hard, barely has the bravery to look at you in the face after hearing your words and his real name tumbling out of your mouth. His fingers are now on the hem of your shorts, trembling a little bit. “Umm—may I?”

Helping him further, you stand on your knees, unclasping your bra first to his surprise and pulling your denim shorts and panties down to your thighs. Haechan watches with his eyes wide open, mouth parted in awe as he commits every bit of your curve and movement into memory. It feels so thrilling to be this wanted, to be ravished by his eyes, until you begin to struggle to push your clothing away from your legs.

“Need some help?” He asks, lips pursing as he tries to hide a grin. 

You exhale loudly, detaching yourself from him. “Let me just—” You jump off his lap, standing back with your feet on the ground, and kicking the clothing away with annoyance—why in the world did you have to wear shorts this tight—and slap him in the chest when he’s chuckling at the sight. 

“Maybe you should stop trying to be sexy too,” Haechan snickers.

“Shut up.” You crawl back into his lap. “Go back to staring dumbly at me like before. I’m naked.”

“I wasn’t staring like tha—oh,” he inhales sharply as you grind your heat against his cock, amazed at how warm you are despite your cold palms. The sensation of skin meeting skin feels much more different. There’s really no going back this time. Somehow, it feels dangerous, as if you’re doing something forbidden and it makes your skin crawl with excitement.

And by the look on his face, seems like he feels the same way.

“Lost for words?” You taunt him with a smirk, hands on his chest. “That’s new.” His glare is menacing but it falters away the second you rub your arousal against his. 

His head falls to his shoulder, eyes tightly shut. “God, baby…”

There it is again. The funny feeling in your stomach. “Baby?” You simper though your heart is palpitating like crazy. “We’re moving on to giving each other pet names now?”

If he can blush any harder than this, he probably might but with the way you’re grinding shamelessly on his cock, letting him get a glimpse of how wet and warm you are, he’s all maxed-out. 

His earlobe lays between your teeth when you whisper, “Shall we put it in?”

Haechan’s nails are sinking into the skin of your hips, both to hold you in place so you’ll stop torturing him and to press you down harder on his crotch. “I…” He’s so distracted, he can’t even think. The way the side of his length is pressing against your folds is pushing every little bit of self-control he has to the back of his head.

“Haechannie?” You giggle, moving your hips. “I kinda asked you a question here.”

“Yes, fuck, yes, please.” Haechan tries his very best to not sound that desperate for your touch but he is that desperate. “Wait—aren’t we—shouldn’t I wear a condom first?”

You blink, halting your movement. “You brought a condom with you?”

He nods as he leans forward, fingers searching frantically at the pocket of his jeans that hang low on his knees. “Here.”

“Why do you have a condom with you?”

“‘Cause I bought it downstairs just now.”

Your jaw grows slack at the realization. “Is that the reason why your hair was so messy and you were sweating when you barged in here? ‘Cause you ran downstairs, trying to find a condom?”

“I’m sorry, are you really complaining about this now?”

At the feeling of his member twitching underneath you, you sigh. “You’re right. Let’s discuss that later.”

It feels a bit awkward when you stand on your knees, giving him some space and wait until he finishes wrapping the rubber around himself. The silence that hangs between you is almost deafening that by the time he’s done and you fall back to his lap, sitting on his thighs, it feels like you have to start over again.

You diffidently smile. “Hey.”

Haechan is equally as embarrassed, mirroring your gesture. “Hi.”

“I guess we’re gonna have sex.”

“Guess so.”

Another few seconds pass by where you can only meet each other’s eyes, feeling your heartbeat racing louder and louder. It feels like you’re about to burst, honestly, but fortunately for you, Haechan leans in, his fingers tentatively caressing your cheek. “Can I kiss you?” He questions.

You melt under his gaze, his gentle touch, his honey-like voice. “Yes, please.”

Your lips start the connection and the rest of your body follows, fitting every curve of his perfectly like you were made for him. The way Haechan sighs against your mouth sends sparks of electricity all the way down to your toes and you don’t waste any more time. With his mouth latching on your breast, tongue flicking against your nipple, you lower yourself on him.

Haechan’s hold your waist tighter, eyebrows adjoined in the middle at the sensation, his moans muffled. He presses his spine back against the couch, admiring the sight of his member disappearing inch by inch into you. His eyes begin to droop when he’s completely sheathed inside, his bruised lips parted. He cups your cheek, kissing you softly on the corner of your mouth, making you shiver at the sudden tenderness. “I guess we are having sex,” he murmurs with a bashful smile.

You can’t help but laugh a little. “I guess so.” 

It starts slow, with you placing both hands on his chest and him swallowing his breath at the sight of you moving up and down his length. You hiss slightly at the friction, adjusting to his size. 

“Does it hurt?” He asks, tucking a few loose strands behind your ear. 

“A little.” You reassure him with a grin. “Relax, you’re not gonna break me.”

You expect him to send back a snarky remark but what he does is press his forehead against yours. “You’re so warm,” he whispers, tasting the skin that connects your shoulder to your neck. Something about his words, his sensual kiss and his tender touch makes you squeeze your walls around him and he clutches harder around you. He glides his hands lower to your hips, silently urging you to pick up the pace and you follow.

Breathing heavily, Haechan has his thumb grazing your lower lip. “You have such a pretty mouth,” he professes as if he was in a trance.

You seductively bite his thumb, still working your hips. “You’re saying that ‘cause I just sucked your dick.”

“Yes, that too, but really.” It’s as if he’s staring at a work of art, eyes twinkling with admiration. Sometimes, when you’re hitting the right spot and quiver around him, a small moan escapes his lips and you feel him twitching inside you. “It’s—ah—It probably doesn’t sound sincere when I’m saying this now, but I’ve always thought you had a pretty mouth. And lips. I’ve thought about your lips a lot.”

“Yeah?” You mouth against the sensitive skin below his ear, sinking harder on his length. “What else do you like about me?”

“Y-your voice—” You can actually feel him shivering. “You have such a—fuck—I just—I really love your moans.” 

You’re not sure whether he’s saying that because he’s so distracted with the way you’re breathing in his ear or he genuinely loves it. Either way, it’s a pleasure to know how much you’re affecting him with your actions. With a chuckle, you say, “You’re rambling, baby.”

“And your hair,” he adds, probably losing every bit of his self-control by this point. “I love your hair. Looks so soft.” Haechan cards his fingers through your strands. “Feels so soft.”

You hum in response, hoping that your flushed face doesn’t look as apparent as you think. “Anything else?”

“Your—” He shudders when you paint a mark under his collarbone. “Your ass.”

You stop, pulling away to give him a look and he whines at the loss. “My ass?”

“What—” The tips of his ears are turning red, steam practically coming out of them. “Why are you staring at me like that—you have a great ass!”

Teasing him is such a joy to you. “Then, let’s do it this way.” You part away from him, landing back on the carpeted floor so you can turn around, giving him the chance to ogle at your behind, before you ease yourself down onto his lap once more. 

“Fuck—” Haechan’s hisses, his hands going down to your hips again. The new position doesn’t allow you to meet his eyes but with the way he’s whimpering behind you, fingers trailing over the curve of your ass, the sensation increases.

“You okay back there?” You taunt smugly, chuckling a bit because Haechan sounds like he’s losing it. His nails are sinking into your skin and you just know that’s gonna leave a nasty bruise tomorrow. “You seem like you’re enjoying this way too—“ You’re interrupted by your own moans when he suddenly has one hand massaging your breast and another one sliding down your stomach to find your clit. “W-wait, Haechannie—”

“You’re such a tease,” he breathily whispers into your ear, his chest pressing against your spine as he leans forward, pulling you into his embrace. “Isn’t that supposed to be my job?”

His fingers are rubbing you in circles, making your thighs tremble. “You’re right.” You move your hips harder, going out of rhythm with how fast you’re going and Haechan sinks his teeth to your shoulder again.

At the sound of his name departing your lips in the most sinful moan he’s ever heard, Haechan curses. “Shit, you’re not gonna let me enjoy this longer, are you?”

“There’s always a second round, Haechannie.” You smirk, raising your hips all the way up in intention to slam it back down again but Haechan catches you and pushes you forward until you land on the coffee table, stomach pressing flat against the wooden surface. “What—"

“There’s always a second round, right?” His lips are brushing against your ear as he positions himself behind you. “Then I’m going all out.”

When he slams his hips in one swift motion, hard and deep, he knocks all the air out of your lungs. “Wait—” You choke out, can barely keep up with his pace. “Oh God—”

“Now, now,” he coos, his hand finding its way to your throat, fingers pressing against your veins. He raises your face, his chest completing the dip of your spine. “Don’t bring God’s name when I’m fucking you like this, baby.”

You can’t even find the strength to retort, eyes shutting tightly until you see stars behind your eyelids. It almost feels unreal how fast he can go from being awkward and tentative about all of this to raw and wild within a few minutes but Haechan has always been fast adapting to new situations and you have been teasing him way too much. It’s about time that he snaps. 

Haechan moves you down to the floor, forcing you to stand on all fours and you’re so glad you follow his lead. “Spread your knees. Bring your head down,” he instructs and you do as you’re told, extending your arms in front of you. Haechan has his hand on the dip of your shoulder blades, holding you still until you have no choice but to press your cheek against the carpeted floor, ass in the air. “Good girl,” he praises, kneeling behind you and rubbing his tip along your folds. “Ready, baby?”

He doesn’t wait for your answer.

With only a few minutes in, you know you’re getting close, you can feel it. He has switched from giving deep, hard thrusts to quick, shallow ones and it’s driving you insane. “H-Haechannie, I—” you whimper, “I’m close—”

And he knows it too, of course he does. He can tell by the way you’re clenching around him. But instead of going harder and driving you completely over the edge, Haechan suddenly laces his fingers with yours, his lips painting soft kisses from your nape down to your spine, his hips hitting another angle that feels just as amazing even when he slows down the pace. The intimacy surprises you as you don’t expect him to be this tender. Suddenly, it doesn’t feel like you’re doing this out of sheer passion. With his palm covering the back of your hand, fingers slipping between yours, somehow, everything feels more sentimental, stronger, crossing the lines.

With a moan of your name, Haechan flips you to your back, fingers framing your face, lips meeting lips as he thrusts back in, gasping against your mouth. “I want to see your face,” he says when he pulls away, his half-lidded eyes boring into yours, thumb slipping between your lips. “Not sure if I’ve told you this before but…” He snaps his hips, and you tangle your legs around them in response, fingernails digging into his upper arms. “You’re so beautiful.”

The knot in your stomach untangles without warning and your orgasm hits you so hard, you nearly sob at the sensation. With the way you’re quivering and squeezing around him, Haechan follows right after, his face sinking into the crook of your neck, hips stuttering as he rides out his own orgasm.

***

With his jeans back on and his used condom thrown away to the nearest trash bin, Haechan joins you back on the carpeted floor as you still haven’t found the strength to get up and get dressed after that. He shamelessly lays his body down on top of yours, his cheek pressing against the valley of your breasts. “I’m spent,” he mumbles, feeling drowsy.

“Haechannie?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re heavy.”

“I know.” But he doesn’t get up, only moving his head slightly to press a tiny kiss to your bare chest before he lies his head down over your heart again. You give up with a smile, wrapping your arms around him, fingertips stroking his hair. Haechan sighs contentedly under your touch. “Man, that was…”

“That was?”

“Amazing.” He props himself up on his elbows so he can meet your eyes. “You’re amazing.”

Your heart jolts at the sincerity in his words but you cooly smile back. “I know.”

“And I’m amazing too, I’m sure?”

“Meh,” you shrug. “Could be a little better but I’ll let you practice on me for free.”

“Jesus Christ.” He shakes his head, his strands tickling your nose. “I don’t even have the strength to join your banter. You know, I’ve always wondered since you’re pretty much shit at everything, there must be something you’re good at. But I never thought that something would turn out to be sex. I can’t even believe I’m saying this but you’re really, really amazing at it. I feel like I should give you a medal or something.”

“Thanks,” you flatly mutter. “Not sure if you’re praising me, though.”

“Oh, I am praising you, believe me. And you know me, I rarely praise.” 

“Stop it,” you use your robotic voice. “You’re making me feel so special, I’m about to cry.”

Haechan playfully nips at your nose, forcing you to break off your act and laugh directly into his mouth. “Seriously,” he says, breaking off the kiss. “If I were to pay you for sex, I would give you everything I own. Even the clothes I’m wearing. Hell, I’d even sell my grandma but don’t tell her that.”

Your laughter has reduced into small giggles. “That’s comforting.”

“So…” The way Haechan is caressing your hair is so soft, almost like a mother to her sleeping child. “What should we do about this?” When you raise an eyebrow, he tensely adds, “Do you, umm… I mean, do you want to, like—”

“You’re rambling.”

“I know, God, I’m so nervous! I may look like a naughty, sexy bad boy—”

“No one is saying that—“

“But I actually suck at this—as in, I don’t really know how to date a girl.”

“You don’t even know how to talk to a girl, based on the conversations we’ve had,” you comment and you know it’s not helping but it’s worth seeing his adorable pout. “Then don’t date me. If it’s hard for you to date, then let’s just keep being friends—"

“But I want to continue this!” He says it so fast and firmly that you don’t even have time to feel hurt about your offer. 

It’s not like you crave a relationship with him—you haven’t thought about it that far—even just holding him like this is enough for now, so the fact that he’s so excited to have this going makes your heart swells with joy. “Well then, we’ll be friends who have casual sex anytime we want,” you suggest.

He blinks twice, a bit amazed at your offer, but to your surprise, he seems rather… disappointed? “What happens if we start catching feelings?” He quietly asks.

“Then I guess we’ll start dating for real.”

“Then…” He runs a hand through his hair, nervous. “What happens if I already have feelings for you?”

He states it so quietly, it’s a miracle you can even hear him. “Do you want to date me, Haechannie?”

He looks away, hiding his face in the crook of your neck. “Do you want to date me?” He murmurs against your skin, unsure and flustered.

You heave the heaviest sigh you’ve ever done in your life. “You’re unbelievable. I’ll decide for us then. Starting now, we’re dating.”

He lifts his head, and if he were a puppy, he would’ve had his tail wagging behind him, even when his face doesn’t show much. “That easy?”

“That easy. What, you have something to complain about?”

“No.” He grins, pressing a chaste kiss on your lips. “Hey, girlfriend.”

“Ugh, get off me, you’re gross.”

But no matter how hard you push your palm against his face, Haechan only giggles and turns you around so this time, you’re lying on his chest. “So,” he pushes a few strands of your hair behind your ear. “You like me, huh?”

“No, what makes you think that way?”

“Says the girl who just slept with me.”

“I slept with you ‘cause I was just curious about your dick. Jeno said you had a dick that was the size of his thumb.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Didn’t you see his InstaStory last night?” You reach up to gather your phone from the coffee table. “I took a screenshot of it actually. Man, you should’ve seen the comments. They’re hilarious.”

Snatching your phone away, Haechan runs his eyes along the words written on the screen. “That son of a bitch!”

Simpering, you sneak a peek under his boxer. “Well, he’s not wrong.” 

“Oh, it’s on,” he deadpans, throwing your phone away and pushes you back down on the floor. His eyes glinting mischievously. 

“What are you doing?” You’re still half-laughing when he brings your hands over your head, holding your wrists together with one hand as he settles between your thighs, his fingers hovering dangerously close.

“I’m gonna make you take your words back.” He wets his lip, one corner of his mouth turning upward. “Time for the second round, baby.” 

***

[v-hope]

Heartcuffed

Pairing: Jeon Jeongguk x Reader

Genre: Smut, fluff, established (kinda secret) relationship au

Word Count: 2.7k

Summary: The moment Jeongguk and you saw the pink heart-shaped handcuffs that would be a part of his outfit for the photoshoot that day, you both knew what was coming your way.

Warnings: Fingering, unprotected sex, handcuffs (obviously), dressing room sex, quickie, creampie, Jeongguk is a whole tease in this one. Also they almost get caught?

A/N: You guys know smut is not my thing, but, I mean. Pink heart-shaped handcuffs. Do I need to say more? This doesn’t have much of a plot (I think), but I hope you guys enjoy! Also, I apologize for any mistakes that there might be, as I’m running short on time and couldn’t edit is as thoroughly as I usually do.

Little were the times you were able to go on set to support your boyfriend. The fact that not every member of the staff knew the two of you were dating, along with no one outside of the industry knowing about your relationship either, only made things complicated for the two of you. However, with a comeback on his end and finals on yours being just around the corner, it was either that or having to wait three more weeks until you could see each other again.

You had managed not to draw attention most of the day — acting like a good friend with all seven members of the group, which you were, and eventually sneaking out with Jeongguk whenever he was done shooting his parts, so the two of you could have some much needed alone time in any empty room he could find in the building.

It was only when they had changed for their last photoshoot, Jeongguk dressed in a black coverall with a matching belt that made his waist look tinier than ever, as well as leaving half of his sleeve uncovered, that you found yourself breathing heavily.

Especially when a member of the staff went up to him and hooked something pink to his belt, having to tilt your head to the side so you could take a better look at it.

Handcuffs.

More specifically, a pair of cute, pink heart-shaped handcuffs.

As if on cue, Jeongguk’s eyes went to you, a smile curving up his lips as he teasingly raised his pierced brow when your gazes met. That was all you needed to know you were thinking of the same thing.

The rest of the photoshoot? Absolute torture for you.

“So,” he came closer to you after finishing his solo shoot, having Namjoon leave your side and going to have his. “What do you think?”

“Hot” was your simple answer, earning an amused bunny smile from him.

“Hot? That’s it?” he pushed it. “What about the heartcuffs?”

A laugh made its way out of your mouth at that. “Heartcuffs?”

“Jin hyung called them that” he laughed too. “They’re kinda cute, though…” his eyes scanned the one that wasn’t attached to his belt as he held it up. “Kinda resemble our hearts”.

“I’m pretty sure our actual hearts look a little bit different than these” you teased him over his cheesy words.

Jeongguk rolled his eyes. “I meant that they’re attached, you smartass”.

“So our hearts are cuffed to one another” you gave him a dramatic, understanding nod. “Does that mean there’s no way out for me?”

He chuckled, taking a dangerous step towards you. “Absolutely no way out, sweets”.

“Yah…” you stopped him before he could lean in for a kiss. “Anyone could see us”.

“Half the people here know we’re dating” he whispered without a care.

“And the other half don’t” you pointed out.

Jeongguk huffed, causing you to bite your lip as you thought about it for a moment. After all, and as frustrating as it was, the less people who knew about your relationship, the better.

“How about…” you mumbled, hooking a finger to the handcuff he was holding to pull him just a little closer. “You take these home so we can make up for the lost time later?”

Liking that idea, he found himself smiling, only to later have his cheeks turn a bright pink after having looked around at the people on set.

“They will know what I want them for if I ask to take them home”.

“Bummer,” you lamented.

Jeongguk bit his bottom lip, once again looking both sides around the hectic atmosphere surrounding you as everyone worked on getting the other members ready, before his eyes focused back on yours and his head tilted to the door.

“Let’s go”.

He didn’t hold your hand until the two of you were alone in the hallway, intertwining his fingers with yours and rushing over to the same dressing room the two of you had lovingly been making out inside during his last break almost an hour ago.

This time, however, all sweetness had been left aside.

Mouth hungrily sucking on your bottom lip as soon as your back pressed against the door, he wasted no time on locking it, effortlessly lifting you up and having you wrap your legs around his waist as he carried you to the closest drawer.

Placing you down on it yet not letting go of your butt as he gave it a hard squeeze and pulled you closer, a soft moan escaped your mouth when his wet lips trailed all their way down from your neck to your collarbone.

“We don’t have much time” you reminded him in what came out in more of a huff, knowing well enough he was trying to take his sweet time with you — something you truly did not have that day, not when he was working.

Jeongguk huffed, planting one last kiss on your chest before his mouth went back to yours. “I won’t see you in like three more weeks”.

“And you won’t get to fuck me either if someone comes here and interrupts us”.

That had seemed to convince him.

Taking the handcuffs off his belt, internally thanking the fact that they weren’t real ones and hence he didn’t need a key, he motioned for you to stick your hands out. You didn’t hesitate to do as told, watching him accommodate their particular shape to your wrists so they wouldn’t hurt you, and then, before you could either notice nor protest, lifting one of them up so he could also close it around one of the hooks from the rack you had not noticed was stuck to the wall right above your head.

Unable to move your hands, you caught him smirking at the sight of you.

“You know,” he mumbled, lips brushing against yours while his hand gently stroked your thigh. “I could get used to this”.

Your teeth biting on your lip were replaced by his own as his mouth once again crashed on yours, grinding your hips against the desk when his hand went down to your center, stroking you over the thin fabric of the black pants you had decided to wear that day.

“So needy, aren’t you?” Jeongguk chuckled, thumb rubbing small circles over your core. “Have nearly touched you and I can already feel how wet you are”.

A light moan escaped your lips, pretending to entangle your fingers in his long, purple locks to pull him in for a kiss and shut him up, yet finding yourself being unable to by the cuffs around your wrists.

It was then when it hit you, you were completely under his mercy right then.

Another chuckle escaped his mouth, digging his hands under your t-shirt and pulling you closer to the edge by your waist — keeping you in place as he slowly rocked his hardened member against your center.

“Jeongguk…” you pleaded in a moan.

“Yes, baby?” he sweetly replied, pressing a small kiss to the uncovered skin on your chest.

“Don’t tease me”.

He laughed under his breath. Fuck, there was nothing he wanted more than to take his sweet, oh sweet time with you.

Your words, although had succeeded to bring your point across, had not been enough to convince him. If anything, he only wanted to tease you more — your head going to the side as you tried to muffle a moan against your arm when he slipped a hand inside your underwear and one of his fingers made it inside you, was all the confirmation he needed to keep on driving you to the edge.

“Fuck, Jeongguk” you breathed out when he added another digit, involuntarily moving your hips away from him at the sudden wave of pleasure.

With his free hand grabbing tightly onto your hip, Jeongguk kept you in place, burying his fingers deeper inside you in pistoning and curling motions, having to muffle another loud moan of yours with his mouth as he had seemed to find that one soft spot of yours in no time.

“J-Jeongguk, please” you begged, melting under his intense eyes. “Please, I need you”.

If the two of you had been back home, he could easily have taken hours with you. However, after looking at the clock by the door and hearing a few staff members talking through the halls, he knew, just like you had told him before, that you were running short on time.

Not letting another second go by, he took your pants off. Rushedly unbuttoning his coverall, he couldn’t help but tease you once more after catching up on the way you had fought against the handcuffs to reach out to the white t-shirt that remained under his first layer — the one covering his toned chest you had always loved kissing, and the one he had decided to keep on just to drive you mad.

“You’re such an ass” you recriminated him.

Jeongguk laughed, pushing his underwear down enough for his hardened member to stick out. Pumping himself a couple of times under your intent eyes, his mouth came close to yours.

“Weren’t you the one who wanted to be in handcuffs, sweets?”

Feeling your heavy breathing mix with his, he sucked on your bottom lip, grabbing your hip with one of his hands to keep you steady while his other one made your panties to the side as he lined himself up to your entrance.

“Quit the teasing” you warned him this time, not being able to take it anymore.

With a low laugh and one last kiss, he entered you without a warning. Not being able to hold the throaty moan that had just escaped your mouth, you closed your eyes as you let your boyfriend fill every single inch inside of you over and over again with each thrust of his hips.

Burying his face on the crook of your neck, you felt his hot breath hit against your skin as he tried to muffle his own moans.

“Fuck, you always feel so good” he panted.

Still holding you tightly with one hand as he fucked you hard, one of his hands pulled your top up over your chest, keeping it there and pulling one side of your bra down so he could attach his lips to your breast and tease your nipple with his quite needy tongue.

Closing your eyes as you let yourself get lost in the extra pleasure his wet mouth was giving you, you jumped up after hearing a noise coming from the door. Eyes immediately going to it, you watched the doorknob moving forcefully yet not being able to turn, thanks to Jeongguk, who had been careful enough to lock it minutes ago.

“Hello?” you heard a woman ask from the other side of the door.

That hadn’t seemed to bother him, not for more than a second, at least. And even when she kept trying to turn the doorknob and a part of you wanted to tell him to stop just in case someone managed to make their way in, you couldn’t find it in you to actually tell him to. Not when his cock inside you felt so good, not when you could feel yourself getting closer by the second.

“Shh,” he hushed you when a moan slipped from your lips, thrusts becoming slower yet deeper for them not to hear. “They can’t get in, but they can still hear us”.

Although wanting to protest, you found yourself being unable to form any kind of coherent sentence when one particular thrust of his had been about to send you over the edge.

“Jeong—” your loud moan was cut off by his hand on your mouth.

Another moan was muffled by his hand when he pulled his cock almost completely out of you, only to slam it inside the next second. Pressing his forehead against yours and letting you feel his hot, heavy breathing on your face, he removed his hand from your mouth once you were quiet again, only to stick two fingers inside of it just in case.

You could tell he was enjoying this new little game of keeping it quiet — you, on the other hand, were truly struggling.

Once the doorknob had stopped moving and no one seemed to be by the door anymore, he was quick to replace his fingers with his mouth, tongue massaging yours and moaning against your lips when you rolled your hips on his.

“Jeongguk, I’m c-coming” you breathed out as soon as you were able to.

“Hold on a little longer, baby” he rasped out.

Taking advantage of the hook holding your cuffed hands up, he lifted you up from the desk, making you wrap your legs tighter around his waist as he held you up — this new angle allowing him to reach deeper inside you.

“Guk, I—I can’t—”

With your walls pulsating around his cock, you couldn’t hold on any longer, having no choice but to let yourself come undone as he kept thrusting hard into you — nails digging onto your skin when he felt his orgasm approach as well.

“Y/N, f-fuck…” he rasped.

Placing his hand under the curve of one of your breasts as he kept pulling you up and down into his cock, he forgot about the people outside for a few seconds — low grunts escaping his throat one after another until he reached his high.

Feeling his release spreading inside your walls, a light moan escaped your lips as well, being unable to move still while he buried his face in the crook of your neck as the two of you came down from your high and tried to catch your breath.

Breathing heavily against your hot skin, he pressed his swollen lips to it, later peppering a trail of kisses down to your chest, fixing your messy bra and then pulling your t-shirt down.

“Do you think they heard us?” you wondered, quietly watching him dress you up again and then button his coverall just enough to cover his underwear.

“I hope not” his answer didn’t sound very convincing.

Pouting in defeat, you let him press his red mouth to yours. Sweetly, as if nothing else had happened only one minute ago.

“Will you uncuff me now so I can touch you?”

A mischievous smile parted on his lips, lifting you up just enough for you to unhook your arms from the rack, yet not unlocking the handcuffs around your wrists. Instead, he placed your arms over his shoulders, around his neck.

“Let’s stay like this for a little longer” he pecked your lips.

“They must be already looking for the key to get inside” you reminded him.

“So let them” he shrugged, one of his hands going up to the heart-shaped handcuff around one of your wrists, staring at it for a couple of seconds. “I wanna keep them”.

“Please, let’s keep them,” you agreed in a heartbeat. “I need to take my revenge on you and all your teasing”.

“Revenge?” he played it innocent. “I was actually thinking, when we go public we can walk out with them on so that everyone knows we’re heartcuffed for life”.

Throwing your head back, you let a loud laugh out, later resting your forehead on his and entangling your fingers in his purple hair like you had so badly been aching for earlier that day.

“Jeongguk-ie?”

“Yes?”

Not being able to erase your smile, you shook your head. “No”.

Oh well, there would always be other creative ways to let the world know your hearts belonged to each other anyway.

[breadqueen95]

Dress - Bucky Barnes

bucky barnes x fem!reader

wc: 5k

plot: bucky and y/n’s relationship is new, and they don’t want to share with their friends just yet. but something as simple as a dress can change anyone’s mind, even the winter soldier. 

content warnings: kissing. physical affection. flirting. allusions to sex. drinking. being drunk. language. bucky being a flirt. 

a/n: this is for @natasha-romancff and her taylor swift writing challenge! it took me awhile, but i’ve had a ton of fun writing this. so many bucky fics are angsty, and rightly so the man has some TRAUMA. but for my first bucky fic, based on dress by taylor swift, i wanted something happier for him 

***

Damn. That was a lot of leg.

“I don’t know,” you muttered as you stared into the mirror, “aren’t these things…a little classier than this?”

“Uh…have you met Tony Stark?” Natasha grumbled as she continued to scroll through her phone. “The man has never been classy a day in his life.”

“Well I know he isn’t, but fancy people show up to these things. I just don’t want to embarrass myself.” You were currently standing in front of the full-length mirror in Wanda’s room, staring at the reflection of a woman who didn’t quite look like you.

But it was you, wasn’t it? It was just…that you was wearing a very short, very sexy red cocktail dress. The sweetheart neckline was a nice touch, but the back was completely open. And that hemline? Definitely hiked way up past your knees.

“Y/n, relax,” Wanda reassured in her lilting accent, “sure, the dress is a little…spicier…than you’re used to, but it’s in a good way.”

“I’m pretty sure every single person would be able to tell I spend my days in tactical gear. God, I’m not sure I even know how to walk in heels this high!”

Heaving a dramatic sigh, Natasha threw her phone down and looked at you in the mirror. Her eyebrows were raised, and she was giving you her usual ‘don’t give me that shit’ look. It nearly had you shaking in your very strappy black heels.

“Are you kidding me, y/n? I’ve seen you strut in enough fancy parties during undercover missions to know that you’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” Wanda scoffed as she took a sip of red wine from her glass, “all she’s nervous about is what Bucky will think.”

Rolling your eyes, you tried to hide how much that sentence affected you.

“C’mon, Wanda. You know Bucky and I are just friends.”

“Do friends undress each other with their eyes whenever they’re in the same room?”

Damn it. Damn Wanda and her stupid perceptiveness.

“You’re reading too much into it, Wanda.” She just laughed at you, acting like she knew so much better.

What you knew and wasn’t ready to admit to your two best friends, was that she was right on the money.

Bucky Barnes, the infamous Winter Soldier, your favorite person in the entire world, was now your boyfriend. He had been for a few weeks now. The two of you were insanely private people. Hell, it had been years before the two of you had finally learned everything about each other. Once you had gotten past the walls the other had so carefully crafted, well…

At that point you were in love.

But the others didn’t need to know that, not yet at least. The Avengers were a family, your family. They were really the only true family you’d ever had. But Bucky…Bucky was finally yours. And you were his. You didn’t think it was crazy to just want to enjoy that, just the two of you, without everyone else sharing their jokes and opinions just yet. They did it out of love, you both knew that, but you just wanted him all to yourself.

As you looked back at your reflection in the mirror, you took a minute to really consider what Bucky’s reaction might be. He had the best poker face in the room no matter who he was with, but you knew him well enough to know how he was feeling just based on his eyes. He’d always said how much he loved red on you, and he adored every and any excuse to touch your skin. Those steel blue eyes of his would absolutely burn once he saw you in this dress.

And fuck, that was something you really wanted to see.

“Well, if you aren’t going to wear that dress, you better pick something else,” Nat said, jerking you from your fantasies, “we need to be there in twenty minutes, and we all need to touch up our makeup.”

“Actually…I think I’ll wear it,” you said confidently, trying to hide your grin as you ran your hands down the silky fabric.

What you didn’t see was Natasha and Wanda sharing a secret smirk behind you, like they’d known what you’d do the whole time.

***

Six weeks ago, everything had changed for you and Bucky.

You’d known how you felt for a long time. Bucky Barnes, despite his past, was the kind of man anyone could fall in love with. He was sincere, kind, generous, witty…everything you’d ever wanted in a partner. He had been your best friend for even longer.

It had been a long time before you could even admit your feelings to yourself, let alone to him. After everything the two of you had been through, who had the time and mental capacity for romance? It just didn’t seem important. You just chalked up your feelings to being such close friends. All you wanted was to be near him, even if you just sat in silence doing different things. Just being in the same room as Bucky brought you a sort of peace you’d never had before. Whenever he touched you, even if it was just a brief hug or brushing your back to get past you, your skin erupted into goosebumps. But that was just because physical touch was still foreign to you, right?

And his smile. God, his wonderful smile…

Bucky didn’t smile much. He hid behind a mask of stoicism, a remnant from the trauma of his horrible history as the Winter Soldier. Showing any sort of emotion, especially happiness, was hard for him. But when he finally let himself smile? It was the most beautiful thing you’d ever see.        

It took several sleepless nights wrestling with those confusing feelings to figure it out. You didn’t just see Bucky as your best friend. You had it bad. Not just “oh my god he’s so handsome” bad, like the “I would take a bullet for you I’m so in love” bad. That revelation? It left you euphoric. It also left you scared.

Because you were so sure Bucky didn’t feel the same. And that thought was like a knife to the heart every time it flashed through your mind.

So you kept it to yourself. You tried to keep things as normal as possible, but your heart kept fluttering whenever he walked into a room. Being so close to Bucky meant you confided in each other about pretty much everything, and he knew you well enough to know you were hiding something.

It all exploded on a Tuesday night in the compound.

Tuesdays were your movie nights. Bucky had a lot of pop culture to catch up on, so on this night every week he would come by your room to watch a movie. It was a weekly tradition that kind of started by accident. You were shocked he still hadn’t made time to watch Lord of the Rings, so you forced him onto your couch with popcorn and The Fellowship of the Ring. He loved it so much, and immediately asked if you guys could watch The Two Towers the next week. How could you say no to him?

Tonight, you were watching 13 Going on 30. It was your all-time favorite romcom, and you figured you could both use a break from all the action and fantasy movies you’d been cycling through. Something with a happy ending was worth indulging in.

“Does that Matt guy look like Banner to you? Or is it just me?” Bucky asked through a mouthful of popcorn.

“Heh, maybe a little,” you said, “Give or take a few years.” He laughed at that, and you forced yourself to laugh quietly. You wanted to blurt out your feelings every time you looked at Bucky, so you’d gotten quieter and quieter every time you spent time with him. It was an awful reaction, and you knew he noticed. But it was better than losing his friendship, right?

After that awful and painfully obvious forced laugh, Bucky let out a huge sigh and paused the movie. He set the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table in front of the couch, then turned to face you. Exasperation and hurt glimmered in his eyes.

“Y/n, what the fuck is going on with you?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Oh come on, don’t give me that,” he said sharply, “I know you better than anyone, and I know for a fact there’s something you’re not telling me. Is it me? Did I do something wrong?”

“What? No, god no!” You exclaimed.

“Well it must be something I did, because you’ve never been this quiet around me and it keeps getting worse. I hate it, and I want to know what I did so I can fix it.”

“Bucky, I’m serious, it’s nothing you did—”

“Then why? Why are you shutting me out?” He cut you off angrily, arms thrown wide. “You’re my best friend, I just don’t get why—”

“I don’t want you like a best friend, Bucky!” Your eyes went wide as the words flew from your lips. In the most comical way, you clapped your hand over your mouth as if you could stop the words that had already been said. Bucky’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

Oh fuck. He didn’t get it. Curse him and his old man ways.

“What does that even mean, Y/n? Are you saying you don’t want me around anymore?”

“Bucky, of course not. God, I would never want that. Never in a million years.”

“Then you better explain, because if you haven’t noticed, I’m over 100 years old. I need a little help here.”

“It means, uh…um,” you stuttered, wringing your hands together. “Is there any chance we can just forget I said that?”

“Nope, not a chance.”

“It means…it means that I care about you. As more than a friend.”

His entire face seemed to crinkle as he processed that. If you weren’t freaking out, you’d be obsessing over how damn cute it made him look. Then his eyes got wide as he began to make the connection. Your stomach nearly fell out of your ass as his eyes lifted again to meet yours.

“I…I think I know what you’re saying,” he nearly whispered, “I just need you to get real specific real fast, because I’m not about to say anything until I know exactly what you mean.”

“It means I’m in love with you, okay?” You burst out. Even through your mortification, there was a sudden sense of relief. A secret as big as that had definitely been weighing you down. Now that it was out there, that was one less thing you had to worry about.

His eyes grew even wider. How that was possible, you didn’t even know. That beautiful mouth of his began to turn up into a small smile as he gazed softly at you.

“You’re in love with me?” He asked, his smile getting wider with each passing second.

“What, you need it carved into stone or something?” You couldn’t help but sass him. Did you fucking stutter?

“No, it’s just…I never thought you’d feel that way about me.”

“Well, clearly I do. So you – wait, you mean you’ve thought about this before?”

“Of course I have,” he said as he shrugged, “I’ve been in love with you for two years now, how could I not think about it?”

You were instantly filled with warmth and pure bliss. In all your obsessing over your own feelings, you’d never allowed yourself to consider that he might feel the same about you. It just didn’t seem possible.

“I’m sorry,” you burst out, holding a hand up, “you’re telling me you’ve been into me for two years and didn’t say anything?”

“Why didn’t you?” He shot back, inching closer to you.

“Because you’re my best friend. I didn’t want to lose you because of stupid feelings I have.”

“But…I have those same ‘stupid feelings’ for you. So can we just cut the whole act and get on with it?” Bucky brought a hand up to cup your cheek, his thumb brushing along your skin so gently.

“Uh…um…get on with what?”

“Well I’d kinda like to kiss you, if you’re cool with it.”

“Bucky Barnes did you just use current slang to ask if you could kiss me?” You didn’t move an inch as his face moved right in front of yours, breath intermingling as you gazed into each other’s eyes. God, was this really happening?

“Yeah, guess your lessons worked,” he murmured.

“Well you better kiss me, then.”

As soon as your lips met, it was like coming home.

***

That memory, your favorite memory, replayed in your head as the three of you stepped into the elevator. Nat and Wanda were happily chatting about who would be there, what kind of antics Tony would cook up tonight, if there would be music we could actually dance to. You know, normal party things.

All you could think about was how long you had to stay until you could sneak off with your boyfriend.

You were so happy Wanda and Natasha had convinced you to wear this dress. When you’d first put it on, the difference from your normal look was so jarring that it took you a few minutes to get used to it. But now that you had, now that you felt the silky fabric shifting against your skin as you moved, now that you saw how dangerously long your legs looked in these heels…

Damn, you felt sexy.

And that sexy feeling? It made you want Bucky’s hands all over you.

But this was a party. A party thrown by Tony Stark, one of the most perceptive and observant people you’d ever met. If you left too soon, if he thought you weren’t “having enough fun”, he’d be more than a little upset. So you had to stay, drink, mingle, maybe dance a little…and then, maybe later, you could go do what you actually wanted.

The elevator pinged, indicating you had reached the topmost floor of the compound. This floor was home to a huge communal space, often used for just hanging out with the team. But on nights like tonight, Tony went all out and turned the space into something that resembled…a club?

The three of you stepped out into the massive room, upbeat music already blasting from the speakers. Typical Tony – he never really outgrew his love for dancing and parties. The bass thrummed through your body, making you want to move to the music. The lights were dim, but you could still tell who was around. It looked like you were some of the last members of the team to arrive. There was a huge bar off to the side, and Natasha headed that way right away. You turned to ask Wanda if she wanted to follow Nat, but she was already making a beeline for Vision. Smiling, you just turned right back around to follow Natasha. A drink sounded pretty good right now.

As you made your way to the bar, you felt more than a few pairs of eyes on you as you walked. You sneakily looked around as you went, noticing men and women watching you with admiration, and dare you say it, longing. As someone whose job was to blend in with the background all the time, this was a different and slightly addictive feeling. You leaned on the bar next to Nat right as the bartender slid her drink over to her.

“Straight whiskey tonight? Damn, going hard.” You quipped.

“Hey now, you know I can handle my liquor. It’s you we need to watch out for, you lightweight.”

Laughing, you scanned the party guests, looking for the one person you wanted to see. Tony had had arm around Pepper’s waist, both laughing at something Rhodey had said. Bruce lingered around them, drink in hand and looking a little nervous, but still happy to be included. Wanda and Vision were sitting quietly on one of the couches, both looking absolutely smitten with each other. Scott Lang, one of the newest additions, was busting some moves, while Peter Parker laughed as he watched. Thor, who was visiting from Asgard, laughed boisterously as he watched various guests try to lift his hammer. You couldn’t help the smile growing on your face. You loved these people so much.

Then, you saw him.

Bucky was with Sam and Steve, as usual. But even as Sam and Steve were talking animatedly next to him, those gorgeous blue eyes of his were glued to you. There was a kind of intensity in them you hadn’t seen before. Your breath whooshed from you body as he grinned at you. Trying to maintain the suggestive image your dress gave you, you managed to send a flirtatious smile his way, then turned back around to face the bar. Leaning against the counter, you knew he’d get an eyeful of your bare back. God, this was fun.

The bartender finally made his way over to you, and you ordered two tequila shots.

Nat turned to you, one eyebrow arched in surprise as she asked, “And you say I’m going hard? You can’t just down two shots right away, babe.”

“I’m not doing two shots; you think I’m stupid?” The bartender slid the shots over to you along with two lime wedges. “One is clearly for you.”

Unable to hold back a laugh, Natasha put her arm around your shoulders and pulled you into her side as she said, “Why the fuck not, let’s do it.” The two of you went through the process: salt, shot, lime. You couldn’t help but wince as you downed the harsh liquor. Of all the shots in the world, tequila probably tasted the worst. The only reason you kept going for it was the warmth it traced down your body, and you felt your muscles begin to loosen up.

“Two more,” you called over to the bartender.

“Uh, no,” Natasha shot at you, grabbing her whiskey, and pushing off the bar, “I’m good with my top shelf shit, you keep going after that gasoline if you want but I’m out.”

“C’mon, Nat,” you called out, “what am I gonna do with two shots?”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone else, babe.” She said with a wave over her shoulder.

Sighing, you turned back to the ridiculously pretty bar (seriously, how much had Tony paid for this thing?). Who else would help you look cool and sexy at a bar for your secret boyfriend?

Okay, that was the cringiest thought you’d ever had. Gross.

As the bartender slid the tequila in front of you, you steeled yourself for the nastiness that was about to happen.

“Fuck, I didn’t think this through,” you mumbled.

“Yeah, you tend to do that,” a deep voice answered on your right. Instead of being the slightest bit surprised, you couldn’t help but smile. You’d know that voice anywhere.

“Something I can do for you, Barnes?” You looked up at him from under your lashes.

“Well, it looks like you’ve got an extra shot there. Thought I could bail you out.”

“Is that all?”

Bucky shifted so that your arms were just barely touching. His hand was right next to yours, and you reached out with your pinky to lightly brush his.

“Doll, you have the gall to show up in that dress and ask what I want as if you don’t already know?”

“Sorry Buck, I’m a little slow, must be the tequila. You should probably be a little clearer.”

Putting on quite the show of reaching for one of the shots, his mouth somehow ended up right next to your ear.

“I want you.”

It was lucky everyone was so distracted and couldn’t see how you shuddered at his words. Trying to maintain brain function, you managed to take the shot with him. You were now fully facing each other. He was wearing the cockiest smirk you’d ever seen, one that would put Tony Stark to shame. You couldn’t help but respond with that same energy despite the jitteriness his three little words had reduced you to.

“Well why don’t you—”

“Hello, my friends!” A booming voice sounded between you as Thor threw a huge arm over each of you. Bucky, with his stupid super soldier strength, didn’t really have a reaction to it. You, on the other hand, stumbled a little under the weight and force of it. “It’s so good to be back with you tiny humans.”

Was…was he slurring his words?

“Thor…are you drunk right now?”

He simply laughed in response. Well, that answered that.

“Of course I am, tiny person! It can’t be a party without good Asgardian wine.”

“Wait…you have literal god wine?” Bucky, who had a look of vague irritation on his face up to this point, now looked interested. Maybe even a little excited?

“Of course, metal appendage.”

“Dude, you can’t just call Bucky ‘metal appendage’—”

“He can if he lets me have some,” Bucky interrupted.

“We have a bargain!” Thor slapped Bucky on the back before scurrying back over to where he had come from, probably to get the wine he had promised.

“Bucky, you can’t even get drunk,” you hissed, “what exactly is the point of this?”

“Since everything happened, I haven’t found any alcohol strong enough to get me drunk. I figure god wine is worth a shot.”

“Bucky—”

“When I kiss you against a wall later, I wanna be a little tipsy,” he whispered in your ear, “that cool with you?”

Unable to keep yourself from smiling again, you nodded as Thor sauntered back over. Ever since that moment a few weeks ago, right before he kissed you for the first time, asking “is that cool with you?” had become your thing.

And the idea of Bucky kissing you against a wall? Yeah, that sounded pretty good.

***

As it turns out, Asgardian wine is just as potent as Thor had promised.

For the first time in over seventy years, Bucky Barnes was certifiably drunk. It made him feel like the Bucky from all those years ago, and it was the most incredible thing. Here he was, over 100 years old, partying, and all his favorite people were here.

Including his ridiculously hot girlfriend.

Even as they both flitted around the party, Bucky and y/n still found each other’s eyes, even from across the room. They would send winks, smiles, even funny faces. All he wanted to do was be right next to her, talk and dance with her all night…

But they had agreed. They wanted to keep their relationship a secret for now, keep the attention off of them for a bit while they got to know each other in this new way.

But god damn, that dress.

Y/n in red was…indescribable. It didn’t matter what she wore, she was always the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. But in red? In this dress?

She was breathtaking.

“Buck, you breathing?”

A hand waved in front of his face, snapping Bucky’s attention back to the people around him from Y/n’s back. He had been imagining putting his hands all over that back later and had gotten more than a little mesmerized. He managed to get his eyes to refocus, finding a drunk Sam smirking right next to him and an even drunker Steve dancing next to him. But what Steve was doing couldn’t really be called ‘dancing’ per say…more like an aggressive wiggle.

“Why wouldn’t I be breathing?” Of all the things he could’ve said to get Sam’s attention off of him, that wasn’t it.

“Uh, probably because the girl you’re in love with decided to show up and show off tonight? Pretty sure you’re drooling, man.”

Despite himself, Bucky slapped a hand across his mouth, only reducing Sam to wheezing laughter. Knowing he had been caught, he rolled his eyes and grimaced a little. Of all the people to catch him, he wished it hadn’t been Sam.

“I wasn’t…staring… at y/n, I just never see her dressed up is all.”

“I never said anything about the girl being y/n.”

“…fuck.”

“LANGUAGE,” Steve yelled out, pointing a finger at his two friends before returning to his shimmying.

Turning back to him, Sam added, “Just go be with her, Buck. You’re not fooling anyone, and neither is she.”

“We’re that obvious?”

“A few weeks ago you’d at least try to hide it. Now I’m surprised you’re not jumping each other’s bones right here right now.”

“Point taken,” Bucky said, lightly slapping Sam’s shoulder before power walking over to his girl.

***

“Nat, if you don’t stop asking about Bucky and I’s relationship, I’m going to kick you,” you called over the music before taking another swig from your glass. It was no Asgardian wine, but the human stuff wasn’t half bad in your opinion. It wasn’t like you could drink the god shit, anyway. If you had even one sip, you’d be swinging from the ceiling like Miley fucking Cyrus. You were pretty drunk as it was.

“Okay, fine,” she said with a shrug as she took a sip of her whiskey, still as calm and collected as ever. “You’re almost as drunk as he is, you’ll be talking soon enough.”

“Oh? Is that your spy master plan?”

Natasha was still looking as unbothered as ever, but as she looked across the room over your shoulder, her face split into a savage grin.

“It was, but it looks like I might not need it.”

“What do you me—”

Your words were cut off as a large, warm hand enclosed around yours. Whirling around, you were suddenly face to face with the man himself. Bucky was clearly having a good time. His mouth was relaxed into the cutest smile you’d ever seen him wear, and he moved without his normal stiffness and intensity. He threaded your fingers together, smiling down at you with so much love it was a wonder Nat hadn’t said anything yet.

Looking back in front of you, ready to explain yourself, you only found empty air. Guess she’d seen all she needed to, but honestly, you really didn’t care. All you’d wanted the whole night was to be exactly where you were right now; hand in hand with the man you loved.

“We’re just kidding ourselves, doll,” Bucky called next to your ear, “Sam said we’ve been pretty obvious.”

“Nat said the same,” you answered with a sheepish smile, “kind of hard to keep my face under control when you’ve got that leather jacket on.”

“You’re blaming me?” He asked with mock indignation. “You’re the one who looks,” he gestured wildly to your whole body, “like that!”

Trying ignore the heat spreading over your cheeks, you shot back, “Like what?”

“Like the most…” he screwed his face up in the most adorable way as he searched for words, “like the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” As the last few words tumbled out of his mouth, he gazed at you with such a softness you almost melted right into the floor.

“Wanna get out of here?” You asked, finally giving up the game. It was pointless, really. Now, all you wanted to do was for your boyfriend to keep his promise and kiss you against a wall.

Wrapping an arm around your waist, he answered, “Absolutely.” Without looking at a single soul, the two of you began walking as quickly as you could for the exit. You and Bucky were both leaning on each other a bit, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Stepping out into the light of the hallway, you blinked as your eyes adjusted after the dark room you’d spent the last few hours in. Bucky led you until you were right in front of the elevator, and he lazily pressed the button to go up. There was tension in the air between you, like a thread that was being pulled. Biting your lip, you stared at the doors in front of you. You knew if you so much as looked at the man next to you, you’d jump him right then and there.

The shining doors slid open, and the pair of you walked in, his strong arm still around your waist. His grip wasn’t loose in any sense of the word. Bucky kept you right next to him, even as your legs wanted to drift all over the place. You pressed the button for the residential floor.

As soon as those doors slid shut, that thread of tension snapped.

Bucky whirled you to face him, then walked you backward until you were pressed against the wall of the elevator.

“I promised I’d kiss you against the wall, didn’t I?”

He didn’t even wait for a response. His mouth was on yours in an instant, lips moving together like a dance. The kiss was slow and unhurried. You tried to bring him closer, linking your hands behind his neck and pressing yourself to him. Instead of responding in kind, he unwound your arms from around him and pinned them above your head.

Oh damn.

Okay.

No complaints here.

“You’ve been teasin’ me all night just by wearing that dress, sweetheart,” he murmured in between the kisses he trailed down your jaw, “I think it’s my turn.”

“Would it change your mind knowing I only wore this dress so you could take it off?”

The heat that bloomed in those blue eyes of his was unmistakable. As the doors opened on your floor, he swept you up into his arms and began to walk purposefully to his apartment. All the while, he kept that signature cocky smirk of his you’d come to adore.

“Bucky?” You asked once he’d walked into his unit.

“That sentence was the single most attractive thing you’ve ever said,” he murmured as he set you down. Even still, he kept you pressed against him. “But nah, I’m a patient guy. I think I’ll take my time.” He followed this by resuming his slow and sensual kisses, and you couldn’t help but melt into them.

“I love you,” you whispered against his lips.

“I’ll never get tired of hearing that, doll. I love you too.”

***

[wingedblooms]

Two sides of the same coin

two sides of the same coin: two things that are regarded as two parts of the same thing

Azriel’s twining shadows of death and Elain’s twining blooms of spring are two sides of the same coin, bound to become inextricably entwined. Shadow and light, sight and sound, lovers and assassins, and sleep and death. All of these elements have been built up by Sarah and are set to collide in their book. Rhysand himself gave us a sneak peek to their plot as he was explaining the multifaceted nature of darkness to Feyre:

“There is the darkness of lovers, and the darkness of assassins. It becomes what the bearer wishes it to be, needs it to be. It is not wholly bad or good.”

Beyond a flawless and compelling aesthetic, these two are repeatedly linked by Sarah. We’ve been given all the lovely, dramatic ingredients for their story. Read on for all their connections.

1—Hidden: Both Elain and Azriel aren’t fully seen or understood by their family. Their behavior often surprises family members and leaves them puzzled.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing on that face, on his scent. The shadows, whatever the hell they were, hid too well. Too much.

After five hundred years, he’d somehow given up. Cassian couldn’t think why.

Nesta was wrong, Cassian realized, to think Elain as loyal and loving as a dog. Elain saw every single thing Nesta had done, and understood why.

“Elain showed some teeth,” I observed. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

2—Forbidden: Both are forbidden by family from pursuing what they want. And yet they are stubborn, too.

“Why?” Elain demanded. “Shall I tend to my little garden forever?” When Nesta flinched, Elain said, “You can’t have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater.”

“Then go off on adventures,” Nesta said. “Go drink and fuck strangers. But stay away from the Cauldron.”

Rhys growled, “Allow me to make one thing very clear. You are to stay away from her.”

“You can’t order me to do that.”

3—Secret: Both have powers that Sarah loves to compare as they are rare gifts that grant them access to hidden information. Secrets. Equally important, they can also keep this information secret when needed.

“This is Azriel—my spymaster.” Not surprising. Some buried instinct had me checking that my mental shields were intact. Just in case.

“Like the daemati,” Rhys said to me, “shadowsingers are rare—coveted by courts and territories across the world for their stealth and predisposition to hear and feel things others can’t.”

Seer. The word clanged through me. She’d known. She’d warned Nesta about the Ravens. And in the chaos of the attack, that little realization had slipped from me.

It made sense, I supposed, that Azriel alone had listened to her. The male who heard things others could not … Perhaps he, too, had suffered as Elain had before he understood what gift he possessed.

She nodded toward Azriel. “I think she’s got you beat for secret-keeping.”

4—Stealth: Both use stealth and shadow to avoid notice until they are ready to strike [up a conversation].

“What did you see,” Azriel said, and I tried not to flinch as I found him at my other side, not having seen him move. Again.

Azriel stepped out of a shadow. “What is that,” he hissed.

“Feyre?” Elain was again at my side. I hadn’t heard her steps. Hadn’t heard any sound for moments.

Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him, and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the king’s neck as she snarled in his ear, “Don’t you touch my sister.”

Elain spoke from the doorway, having appeared so silently that they all twisted toward her, “Using me.”

5—Resolve: Neither of them hesitate to act in an emergency, especially when the other is in trouble. They protect each other. [And yes, this is a shift for Elain’s character. She trembled in fear when Feyre was taken, and over the course of the series she’s helped and rescued and murdered for others without hesitation.]

Az hadn’t so much as hesitated before going into the heart of Hybern’s war-camp.

“Chain me to a tree, Rhys,” Azriel said softly. “Go ahead.” He began checking the buckles on his weapons. “I’ll rip it out of the ground and fly with it on my damned back.”

“I’ll do it,” Elain said, taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. She didn’t wait for either of us before she strode out, graceful as a doe.

Azriel’s roar echoed off the rocks as the hound slammed into him, dragging those shredding talons down his spine, his wings— The girl screamed, but Elain moved. As Azriel battled to keep them airborne, keep his grip on them, my sister sent a fierce kick into the beast’s face. Its eye. Another. Another.

6—Pain: They are bonded in pain through their hands: one induces pain and death while the other endures pain to bring forth life. [Azriel’s scarred hands are a source of shame for him; they carry a traumatic past and the pain he inflicts on others in his role. And yet Elain calls Azriel’s hands—scarred hands shrouded in killing power—beautiful and enjoys earning her own battle scars in the garden. A small rebellion against the role she was forced to play to marry well.]

The way he hesitated before he said learned said enough: he’d tortured it out of someone. Many people. Nesta glanced at his scarred hands, and Azriel tucked them behind his back, as if he noted her attention.

He silently handed Nyx to Azriel, who winced at the transfer of this most delicate little creature to his scarred hands, and followed Nesta out the door, into the hall, and down the stairs.

She looked up at him, her face so trusting and hopeful and open that he knew she had no idea that he had done unspeakable things that sullied his hands far beyond their scars. Such terrible things that it was a sacrilege for his fingers to touch her skin, tainting her with his presence.

And I wondered if she preferred to have torn and sweaty hands, if the dirt and cuts were proof of her labor. Her joy.

“Don’t forget that gardening often results in something pretty, but it involves getting one’s hands dirty along the way.”

“And torn up by thorns,” I mused, recalling a morning this past summer when Elain had come into the house, her right palm bleeding from several gashes thanks to a stubborn rosebush that had pierced her gloves.

7—Gentle: Both Azriel and Elain are described as gentle. And Elain in particular softens our stone-cold and fearsome Spymaster. [But my head canon is that she isn’t as gentle as she appears, and is rougher around the edges than people expect. She can be both soft and fierce, like the Spymaster, depending on the situation.]

Then Azriel, gently taking Elain’s hand in his own, as if afraid his scars would hurt her.

He set her down gently on the foyer carpet, having carried her in through the front door.

Azriel gently removed the gag from her mouth. “Are you hurt?”

He still wore his Siphons atop either hand, and shadows trailed his footsteps, curling like swirled embers, but there was little sign of the warrior otherwise. Especially as he gently said to my sister, “Happy Solstice.”

Azriel’s presence helped. He now trained the newest recruits, quiet and gentle yet unfaltering, and if she didn’t know better, she’d swear at least two of the priestesses—Roslin and Ilana—sighed every time he walked past.

But Elain, the flower-grower, the gentle heart … Nesta would go down swinging for her.

Elain was so gentle, so sweet.

Elain had always been gentle and sweet—and I had considered it a different sort of strength. A better strength. To look at the hardness of the world and choose, over and over, to love, to be kind. She had been always so full of light.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. Elain echoed the words, her voice gentle.

8—Care: Both show that they care by showing up, even when it hurts, and by giving gifts, even when they are poor. And the gifts they give demonstrate the depth of their thoughtfulness and perception. They make others feel seen and loved.

And it hadn’t stopped her from buying me three small tins of paint—red, yellow, and blue—during that same summer I’d had enough to buy the ash arrow. It was the only gift she’d ever given me, and our house still bore the marks of it, even if the paint was now fading and chipped: little vines and flowers along the windows and thresholds and edges of things, tiny curls of flame on the stones bordering the hearth.

From Amren: an illuminated manuscript, ancient and beautiful. From Azriel: rare, vibrant paint from the continent. From Cassian: a proper leather sheath for a blade, to be set down the groove of my spine like a true Illyrian warrior. From Elain: fine brushes monogrammed with my initials and the Night Court insignia on the handles. And from Mor: a pair of fleece-lined slippers. Bright pink, fleece-lined slippers.

“It’s their tradition, though,” Elain countered, her face still flushed with the cold. “One that they fought and died to protect in the war. Perhaps that’s the better way to think of it, rather than feeling guilty. To remember that this day means something to them. All of them, regardless of who has more, who has less, and in celebrating the traditions, even through the presents, we honor those who fought for its very existence, for the peace this city now has.”

She hadn’t bought her mate a present. But she’d gotten Azriel one last year—a headache powder he kept on his nightstand at the House of Wind. Not to use, but just to look at. Which he’d done every night he’d slept there. Or attempted to sleep there.

“Why did you come if it torments you so much?” “Because Rhys wants me here. It’d hurt him if I didn’t come.” “Well, I think holidays are stupid.” “I don’t.” She arched a brow. He explained, “They pull people together. And bring them joy. They are a time to pause and reflect and gather, and those are never bad things.”

Azriel plucked up the small folded silver wand within and unfurled it. One end held a clip, the other a small glass sphere. “You can attach this to whatever book you’re reading, and the little ball of faelight will shine. So you don’t have to squint when you’re reading at night.”

The golden necklace seemed ordinary—its chain unremarkable, the amulet tiny enough that it could be dismissed as an everyday charm. It was a small, flat rose fashioned of stained glass, designed so that when held to the light, the true depth of colors would become visible. A thing of secret, lovely beauty. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, lifting it from the box. The golden faelight shone through the little glass facets, setting the charm glowing with hues of red and pink and white. Azriel let his shadows whisk away the box as she said softly, “Put it on me?”

9—Hope: Their reactions to the future are remarked upon intentionally to emphasize an important contrast. Azriel has had very little reason to hope and plan for a future, unless it involves something he knows he can win [like a snowball fight]. But his love interest, Elain, is the very embodiment of hope and healing. And it is her presence that makes him feel alive and act on his feelings. But Rhys reminds him that it truly doesn’t matter what he wants, and he smothers that rare show of emotion when he is commanded to stay away.

“Do you want a child?” “It doesn’t matter what I want.” Distant words—ones that prevented Cassian from prying further.

Azriel said nothing. He hadn’t gotten that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to.

Azriel tucked in his wings and left without another word, stalking through the house and onto the front lawn to sit in the frigid starlight. To let the frost in his veins match the air around him. Until he felt nothing. Was again nothing at all.

If she beheld not a prison but a shelter—a shelter from a world that had possessed so little good, but she tried to find it anyway, even if it had seemed foolish and useless to me. […] She had looked at that cottage with hope; I had looked at it with nothing but hatred. And I knew which one of us had been stronger.

Elain nodded, smiling up at me, and it was tentative joy—and life that shone in her eyes. A promise of the future, gleaming and sweet.

The Faelights gilded Elain’s unbound hair, making her glow like the sun at dawn.

10—Dark: They share darkness, too, which is often overlooked. The darkness of beginnings and endings, of lovers and assassins: one a healing reprieve and the other a final rest. Like Hypnos and Thanatos, they go together like sleep and death. Beautiful and dangerous, like a poisonous flower in a peaceful garden caressed by night-chilled mist.

Beautiful, but near-unreadable. He’d be the one to look out for—the knife in the dark.

the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection … that knife.

Azriel nodded his agreement, his shadows twining around him.

But I let Azriel scoop me up, his scent of night-chilled mist and cedar wrapping around me as he flapped his wings once, stirring the dirt of the courtyard.

“I think I was dreaming,” she murmured. “I think I’m always dreaming these days.”

Slipped from me as reality and dream slipped and entwined for Elain. Seer.

Her tent was dim, and quiet—the sounds of slaughter far away, dreamlike.

The gates to her mind … Solid iron, covered in vines of flowers—or it would have been. The blossoms were all sealed, sleeping buds tucked into tangles of leaves and thorns. […] If Elain’s mental gates were those of a sleeping garden, Nesta’s … They belonged to an ancient fortress, sharp and brutal.

His fingers traced the twining vines of flowers on the second drawer. “Elain’s drawer.”

Her sister’s delicate scent of jasmine and honey lingered in the red-stoned hall like a promise of spring, a sparkling river that she followed to the open doors of the chamber. […] It was soothing and smelled of jasmine, precisely the sort of room she’d have designed for herself if she’d been given the chance. […] She found Feyre and Elain waiting halfway down the hill, Nyx now dozing peacefully in Elain’s arms. Her sisters beamed, beckoning her to join.

Through these connections, Sarah has painstakingly intertwined the characteristics and fates of Azriel and Elain. In the immortal words of Emily Brontë, whatever their [our] souls are made of, his and hers [mine] are the same. And they are bound to come together in the journey ahead, in part because of the obstacles:

Elain has been even more secretive lately, so I suspect she is either already training or trying to track something down on her own. She’s grown bolder and she won’t wait for the approval of her family. Remember, like Azriel, she is unwavering once she plans to do something. She is equally likely to be caught rebelling by the person who is supposed to keep track of all his court’s secrets: our beloved spymaster. He is commanded to stay away but won’t. Because he cannot, not really. They’ll likely strike a bargain and work as a secret team, tracking down things like Bryaxis and the mysterious fourth trove item. Paired with their attraction and care, the suspense and excitement of their missions will inevitably lead to a secret romance.

Death and his lovely fawn, the most graceful and lethal spies Prythian has ever seen. They’ll find healing and hope and home together. Two souls entwined, peacefully asleep—at last—in a shadowed garden bursting with blooms.

[cloudybarnes]

Affection

Paring: bucky barnes x reader

Summary: your boyfriend isn’t very fond of pda. that means while the avengers are around, no kissing, no cuddling, and barely any touching. well, the avengers aren’t always at the compound. when they’re gone, bucky turns into the sweetest, most loving guy you’ve ever met, but why is it he can’t act like that around anyone else?

based off this request even though I changed it a little for plot :)

Word Count: 1.6k+

Warnings: fluff, soft bucky, Tony in their business a bit, cursing

Masterlist

✰  ✰  ✰

“How awesome is this right now?” You grin as you jump onto the sofa cushion next to Bucky.

He chuckles, “I’d say it’s pretty damn awesome. We’ve got the compound to ourselves for the entire weekend.” His voice lowers as he leans closer to you. 

You giggle and scoot yourself just a bit closer to Bucky. You sit up on your knees next to Bucky, sitting a little taller than him now. Smiling, you lean your face down to his, your lips hovering over his. 

Bucky couldn’t wait any longer. He tilts his head back and presses his lips to yours. Your smile only grows bigger as you kiss him back. 

Your body relaxes as you kiss him. You bring your hand to the side of his face and cup his cheek, gently trying to bring him closer to you. 

Bucky wraps his metal arm around your waist, lifting you on to his lap. You giggle into his lips which makes Bucky pull back. He grins as he watches you giggle to yourself. 

“What is it, doll?” Bucky chuckles.

You shake your head, “nothing, Buck. I’m just really happy to be with you, especially like this.”

Bucky raises a brow and smirks, “like this?”

You roll your eyes, “I mean I like being with you. I like kissing you and being close to you. It makes me really happy.” You gently tangle your fingers in his hair as you confess this.

Bucky softly smiles at you, and grabs your hand from his hair to place a kiss to the back of it. “You’re sweet on me. You make me really happy, darling; happier than I think I’ve ever been.”

You heart swells, and you rub your thumb over the back of Bucky’s hand that still holds yours. “Well, you make me happier than I’ve ever been. I can’t remember the last time my heart beat for someone the way it does you, Bucky.”

Bucky blushes, and tries to look away from you.

You gasp with a laugh, “Buck, no! Don’t hide your pretty face from me.” 

You gently grasp his chin and turn his head to look at you. His cheeks are lightly rosy, and his smile is wide. “There’s my pretty boy.”

Bucky flushes again, and mumbles a shy, “stop, doll.”

You just giggle and plant a kiss to his warm cheeks.

Bucky stands up and pulls you with him. “You want to dance with me, doll?”

“Like you used to back in the day?”

Bucky grins, “exactly. FRIDAY, could you put on my playlist, please?”

FRIDAY responds, “sure. ‘songs to woo Y/n’ now playing.”

You giggle at the title of the playlist. Bucky is such a dork sometimes. 

Bucky chuckles too as he places his hands on your waist. “You weren’t supposed to know the title of the playlist.”

“Aw, but it’s so cute. If these songs don’t woo me, I’m going to be really disappointed.” You say as you wrap your arms around his neck, swaying gently to the soft melody.

The two of you quiet down, just basking in the alone time you have. It isn’t often you two get to be like this. Bucky, isn’t a fan of pda. Doing things in public makes him uncomfortable, and you get that. With everything he’s been through, the last thing you want is to force him to kiss you in front of the other avengers.

Things are nice the way they are. Sure, Nat and Wanda think it’s strange he doesn’t hold your hand around them, or that he gets awkward when you try to kiss him in front of people, but you think that’s just how Bucky is. You like the Bucky the way he is, even if you secretly would like to not be limited to showing affection in private. 

“What are you thinking about, doll?”

You pull your eyes from the ground and look at Bucky who has a small smile on his face. “Nothing, baby, don’t worry about it. I’m just happy right now is all.”

Bucky presses a gentle kiss to your forehead, “I’m happy too. I love you, Y/n.”

You grin, and gently pull on your arms so Bucky’s head lowers enough for you to give him a kiss. “I love you too, Buck.”

Just before the next song starts to play, an unexpected voice chimes through the compound.

“You know, I actually was starting to believe you were lying about being together since I never see you guys interact.” Tony says as he walks into the main room. The rest of the team, consisting of Nat, Wanda, Steve, Vision, Thor, and Bruce, follow behind him.

Bucky awkwardly clears his throat and steps away from you as well as stopping the music. 

“Oh come on,” Nat smiles, “don’t stop on our account.”

You awkwardly chuckle, “What are you guys doing back so soon? I thought it was weekend thing.”

“Well it was,” Tony dramatically says as he sits on the couch, “until it ended up being a false alarm so they sent us back here. How they screwed it up enough to get us involved over a prank is beyond me.”

Steve steps closer to Bucky, “I heard the playlist you had on. It sure does bring back some memories.”

Bucky nodded, “Yeah, things were so much simpler back then.”

“Sorry,” Tony interrupts, “I don’t mean to be nosy, but I am, so what’s up with you two.” He points between you and Bucky. “Cause I’ve noticed some things. I never see you kiss, you don’t hold hands, you don’t sit close to each other, you don’t hug, you don’t anything really.” 

“Really, Tony?” Steve scolds, “You have to be all in their business like some teenager?”

Tony sticks his hands up in defense, “hey, don’t get angry at me. We were all thinking it.” He turns to Bucky and addresses him, “so is there any particular reason you guys try to hide your relationship, or what?”

Bucky clears his throat, “Well, we don’t hide anything. We’re just not that kind of couple.”

“What do you mean by that? You two mutually agreed you don’t want to show people your relationship?”

Bucky clears his throat, “I mean, it’s not like we’ve had a conversation about deliberately hiding it, it’s just natural for us.”

“So Y/n likes only being shown affection when you feel is a good time?”

Bucky growls, “no, Stark, it’s not like that.”

“Tony, I think that’s enough.” Steve commands, trying to keep everyone at ease.

“I’m not doing anything but asking questions. I think you two need to have a conversation, and now is the perfect time!” Tony suggests as he stares at you. 

There’s no way he could know how you’ve been feeling. The only person you told was Nat and she would never tell anyone your secrets.

“For fuck’s sake, Tony, Y/n and I don’t nee-”

“Yeah, let’s talk.” You cut Bucky off. His wide eyes turn to you and his jaw hangs low. 

“Um, yeah, we can do that.” He stammers.

You grab Bucky’s hand and pull him out of the living room to get to your bedroom. As you walk by, you see Tony giving you a thumbs up, and Nat behind him winking at you.

You shake your head and laugh to yourself a little. 

Once in your room, you sit down on your bed, Bucky slowly following pursuit.

He sighs, “are we good? Cause I didn’t think we had anything to talk about. I mean, I know we haven’t exactly said we were going to keep things subtle in front of our friends, but-”

“Bucky,” you interrupt. He stops his rambling to look at you with wide, puppy eyes. “Breathe, baby. I just want to talk.”

Bucky nods, allowing you to keep talking.

“First, I want to know if there is a reason you don’t like for people to see us acting like a couple.” 

Bucky sighs, “it’s not that I don’t want to show you off, it’s just that...” He’s quiet. 

You can tell it’s taking a lot from him to express this to you, so you’re willing to be patient with him. 

“I’m scared, Y/n.” 

Your eyes soften as you grab one of Bucky’s hands. “Honey, what are you afraid of?”

He looks down, embarrassed, “you know I don’t really have a good record in, well, anything. My whole life is just one never-ending stream of unfortunate events. When I’m with you though, I feel really lucky. I know it’s sounds stupid and irrational, but I was just scared if people saw how happy I finally am, you would get taken from me, or I would mess things up and you’d be gone.”

Bucky sighs, and lifts his head to gauge your reaction. “I know it doesn’t excuse how I’ve been to you, how I must have made you feel, and I can’t apologize enough, doll. I’m so sorry that I didn’t make you feel as important to me as you are, and I’m sorry if I made you feel like I was ashamed of you. I promise I’m not. I love you so much, darling,  I’m so sorry.”

Bucky’s eyes start to water as he desperately squeezes onto your hand. 

You sigh and comfortingly rub your thumb cross the back of his hand. “i’m not mad at you, or upset by what you did, Buck. I kind of had a feeling there was something wrong and a reason you didn’t like showing our relationship to others. I should have talked to you sooner and not let Tony get involved. I’m sorry for that, by the way. I feel bad how Tony put you on the spot like that.”

Bucky chuckles, “it’s not your fault, but thanks anyway.” He presses a gentle kiss to your forehead, “I want people to see us and know we’re together.”

You giggle, “so you aren’t scared anymore?”

“I can’t let the fear of this being over in the future stop me from living happily in the present. I want to be with you all  the time, not just when no one is around.”

You smile and stand up, pulling on Bucky’s hand so he stands as well. “Come on, let’s go let our friends know we’ve figured things out.”

Bucky chuckles and follows behind you, ready and willing to follow you anywhere.

[purpleyellow]

The audacity

Seventeen 14th member

Hayun’s masterlist

“Seventeen won’t take bs when it comes to Hayun”

Requested by: two (2) anons    

cw: offensive language

a/n: Feel free to share your thoughts with me. Requests are open! 💙

(to my brazilians around, this gif is svt’s version of ninguem solta a mão de ninguem)

The arrival of dancers made the practice room even more crowded and noisy than usual. It was one of the few times Seventeen worked with an outside dance team, and they happened to have a lot of new faces around, who needed time to figure out the staging and how things were working so far.

After they ran through the choreography a couple of times, the choreographer called in a break, allowing the huge group to instantly clear the middle space and separate themselves into small circles of conversations.

Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Joshua instantly met each other and began chatting about dinner plans and whatnot. Slowly approaching Jun and Wonwoo, the oldest filled them in on what they're deciding until he starts searching for someone.

“So, we could order it on the next break and have someone grab it for us. Anyway, did anyone see Hayun?”

“Making friends, as usual,” Wonwoo comments, pointing at the other corner of the room where the girl was surrounded by four dancers.

“Hayun-ah” The leader waves her over and waits as she jogs to his side “We're talking about dinner, what do you think about-”

“Oh, those guys were talking about this new restaurant that opened downtown, I was thinking of tagging along with them” She points back at the group and watches as her members nod “But I can cancel, of course”

“No, go ahead. It's just a meal” Joshua goes to wave her off when Seungkwan approaches them with crossed arms.

“Yeah. Just a meal. Until she's suddenly ditching us during the holidays and moving out with her new friends” The boy pouts, turning his face away from the group. Hayun reaches up to ruffle his hair before landing a soft slap.

“Says the dude who is friends with half of the entertainment industry” Ignoring his eye roll, she turns back to the rest of their little huddle “Well, if nobody else will feel betrayed”

“I was kidding” Seungkwan whines and Scoups pushes her away from them “Stop being dramatic and go do your mingling”

Going back to the group of dancers, Hayun resumes chatting with them for a couple of minutes before the break is over.

After more hours of running over every tiny detail for the stage, the rehearsal finally ends and the scattering of people begins. Hayun takes a couple of minutes talking about minor adjustments with the members and just checking up on them before searching for the four friends she had made that evening.

“Hey, how do you guys plan on heading there?” She asks, taking a sip from her water bottle and missing the glances between the two boys and two girls.

“Actually, we might have to do it another day,” The girl closest to her says and flips a hair strand off of Hayun's shoulder. “We got pretty tired from this last session”

“And work tomorrow it's going to start pretty early, you know. It's best to let this go for today,” The boy nods to her before pulling out his phone from his pocket and slightly turning away from the idol.

“Yeah, I get it. That's okay, we'll reschedule it then” Hayun smiles and gives them a thumbs up “I'll head to the dorms, then. Have a good rest, and tomorrow we'll talk more”.

Sending her some quick waves and small smiles, the four dancers waited for Hayun to turn around before sharing an annoyed look and sighing.

The practice room slowly grows empty, only leaving Wonwoo and Vernon who lost an incredible game of rock, paper, scissors, and had to stay behind to clean up everything. Finally turning off the lights, the two boys head out into the hallway and spot a group of four people standing by the entrance.

“Aren't those the people Hayun was talking to earlier,” Vernon asks quietly before a voice from the group reaches them.

“Why is this damn cab taking so long? We should have let that airhead tag along”.

“Agreed. She would have talked our ears off, but at least we would have made it to the club already”.

Sharing a look, the two idols stop walking and listen closely to understand if the dancers are talking about what the boys think they're talking about.

“That was so stupid. Why would you invite her in the first place? She's so annoying”.

“I mean, having an idol considering you a friend would be fun, right? Especially with the Christmas season coming up. Can you imagine the gifts she would buy us?”

“Yeah, dude. We wouldn't even need to worry about paying for stuff anymore. Just have Hayun tag along anywhere and, boom, no more tabs to pay.”

“But also, no more functioning eardrums”

“No, you have a point. She seems like she'd give us her credit card password on the third time we hung out. Not to mention, looking at her position in contrast with ours. You don't even have to befriend her, but be on her good side, and she'll make sure to give us more gigs within Pledis”.

Standing frozen, Wonwoo and Vernon listened to everything they were saying and shared looks of disbelief. Having enough of it, the oldest cleared his throat and slung his bag, making it hit his own back with enough force to make a thumping sound.

“Let's go, Vernon,” He ignored the four people standing before them with wide eyes and resumed walking. Once shoulder to shoulder with one of the dancers, Wonwoo stopped again and said while looking ahead, “Next time, be careful of whom you're talking about”.

Vernon, on the other hand, made eye contact with each dancer before raising one eyebrow and following the oldest. After closing the car door, he groaned annoyed, “Can you believe they had… ”

“… the fucking audacity” Jeonghan places his cup on the table, face showcasing utter disgust after Wonwoo told him what they had listened before leaving the Pledis building.

“Show me who those people are again tomorrow. I'll make sure they never step inside our practice room, ever again,” Hoshi points out.

“Is there a way of not having them tomorrow? I'm afraid Scoups Hyung might commit murder” Dokyeom brought attention to the leader standing on the corner of the kitchen.

Looking like he was plotting an illegal act, Seungcheol scoffs and pushed himself away from the cabinets. “The bare minimum you would expect from someone is that they can be professional. I swear, those people are getting an earful for talking about Hayun within a billion-meter ratio from where I work”.

“It's best to let it rest until tomorrow's performance is done. After we'll probably never see them again, so there's not much point causing any visible disturbance.” Laying a hand on the leader's arm, Woozi tried to make some sort of sense, but all it did was cause Scoups to roll his eyes.

“We can't just act like nothing happened”

“We also can't change anything about the choreography until then” Hoshi butts in and takes a breath trying not to jump in the 'let's hunt them down' train.

“They already know Wonwoo and Vernon heard them trash-talking her, so I'm not letting them have it easy tomorrow.” Jeonghan rolls his eyes and pointed to both Woozi and Hoshi, “I'm speaking my mind the first moment I see those sons of bitches, you're free to wait until the show's over”.

“About that, I don't think we should tell Hayun what happened” Joshua, who had been quiet the entire time, speaks, drawing attention to him. “Not until, as you said, the show is over, and we won't see them again. You know that she's probably going to get disappointed about it”.

“And you expect her to not go running to meet her new 'friends' once we arrive at the venue?” Wonwoo raises an eyebrow, but Mingyu shakes his head and backs the older up.

“We just have to keep her entertained around us. Fill in Dino, Seungkwan, and Myungho later, and have them help with making sure the group doesn't run into her”.

Raising his hand, Vernon casually mumbles “Maybe don't tell Seungkwan, he won't be able to hide his feelings about the whole thing”

“Myungho won't either” Jun comments and the room falls silent at the sound of the remaining members chatting and approaching the kitchen.

“Wow, you make a meeting and forget to call in the main characters” Hayun laughs walking through the room and opening the fridge for a beer “So, when's the food arriving?”

~

Hayun is sitting on the makeup chair, casually watching Scoups and Jeonghan whispering to each other from the mirror's reflection, when a hand lands on her shoulder and another holds out a smoothie for her.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Joshua sits on the chair next to her while Mingyu punctures the drink's lid with a straw.

Without taking her eyes off the mirror, she nods with her head to it. “Those two are up to something”

“Scoups and Jeonghan Hyung? Nah, they're always like that. Sharing secrets and stuff,” Mingyu giggles, shoving the straw inside her mouth and shifting to stand in front of the mirror. “Cute nail polish, when did you have time to get it done?”

“Oh, these are acrylics. This lady was just putting them on” Hayun falls into his trap and began analyzing the design with some occasional comments from the boys.

Peace has seemingly set inside the dressing room, yet it doesn't last long until Dino's loud “Uh?” caught the attention of the members, who turned to see what he and Vernon were doing.

Trying to shut the youngest up, Vernon makes it very obvious to the guys that he had just filled Dino in with the “frenemies” situation. Most of them try to brush it off and not bring more attention to it. Seungkwan, however, approaches them by, very loudly, asking what's up.

“What are you talking about?” He boringly fixes up his outfit. Vernon can feel the burning eyes of Jeonghan on his skull as he tries to deviate the conversation to another topic.

“Did you go see catering already? I heard they had a coffee machine”.

“Wait. Does he not know what happened?” Dino fails to read the room properly and instigates the older boy.

“What happened? Why is everyone sharing secrets all of a sudden? Is the thing you're discussing why Scoups Hyung seems ready to jump someone”.

The timing of events can't be worse, as the makeup artist taps Hayun's shoulder to let her know they were done. Within seconds, the girl gets up and turns to where the three youngest were standing.

“What's with the gossiping? Did Vernon lose his airpods again?” She brushes away from Joshua as he tried to hold her in place and waves off Mingyu when, in a panic, he suggests they should check out the pigeons outside.

“What? No! I mean, yeah! How unfortunate, isn't it?” Vernon jumps around his answers and tries looking for anyone willing to help him out.

“Just tell her about it” Approaching them from the door, Jeonghan, now without the leader's company, shrugs his shoulders, making Hayun raise an eyebrow.

“Jeonghan, at least wait until the day is over,” Joshua speaks through his teeth and the boy rolls his eyes.

“Well, she already knows something is up, and to be fair I don't know what good hiding this will bring. At least, if she feels like doing something about it, she'll have the chance right now”.

“Do something about it? Hadn't we agreed that the best is to wait until the performance is over and just never see them again?”

“What even are you talking about?” Hayun shuts them both up and Jeonghan and Joshua turned to her with annoyed expressions, “Don't even look at me like that. You're the ones mentioning me as if I'm not in the room”.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Joshua tilts his head a little and speaks softly, “Trust me for a moment here, it's best if you brush it aside. Until later at least, and then we can settle it as you wish”.

“Wha- Just spill it out for fucks sake. I'm going to combust if you don't tell me right now whatever this all means,” Hayun puffs, punching his shoulder. Just as Joshua opens his mouth to say the same thing again, Jeonghan beats him and shoves himself in front of the girl.

“Do you recall those dancers you were planning to go out with yesterday? Yeah, well, turns out they're all little shits who were trash-talking you, and just overall talking crap, yesterday”

“Jeonghan” Joshua repressed the older who does nothing but wave him off.

“Doesn't matter what they said because you're nothing of it, and-” Adverting his eyes for a second, Jeonghan stares to the side, where half of Scoups' body is waving for him through the door. “And, and, you're amazing and all of that. So now go rest your awesome self while I go teach those punks a lesson”.

Zooming past her, Jeonghan runs to the door, where the leader is already back outside. Hoshi, Jun, Woozi, and DK, scream for him before also going out of the door. A very lost, Seungkwan, simultaneously tries to get Vernon to tell him what exactly the dancer said before while shouting for the older to wait for him to also speak his mind.

“I didn't want you to know about this before the performance, but-”

“Whatever, let's make sure nobody dies today” Hayun rolls her eyes and turns around, Wonwoo running from where he was watching everything and holding her by the shoulder.

“Do you want us to go fix that up? It's okay to give them the cold shoulder or just go off if you want to” Nodding, she keeps silent and walks out, bringing the rest of the guys behind her.

The8, who also had just found out about the situation, whispers to Vernon, “Can you believe they had the audacity?”

“I know, right?” The youngest whisper-yelled at him as they made it to the hallway and assessed the situation.

“The next time you even think about opening your mouth to talk about her-” Scoups had his finger pointing at the tallest dancer -who ironically had a few centimeters on him-, while the rest of the members stood next to him nodding and calmly listening to what the leader was saying.

“Oppa, just drop it,” Hayun shouts, walking past them and holding his shoulder.

Annoyingly, Scoups rolled his eyes and turned to her, “What do you mean, drop it?” Thinking for a second, he blinked and turned even more bothered, “Who even told you about this?”

The leader looked around until he found Mingyu, offending the tall guy who made an X in front of his body.

“Doesn't matter who told me. Let's just not lose time doing this” Brushing past him, Hayun now faced the dancers “Look, I'll teach you something right now, so grab it or drop it okay? I don't give a shit that you don't like me, or whatever, but at least be professional because all this situation did was teach me that none of you care about your careers. It's pretty clear by the angry puppy beside me that you just lost any chance of growing inside our brand, so keep this as a lesson and respect the artists you're working with. Also, once we're on stage put on a smile, so my fans won't be able to sense your shit”

“It should be pretty clear by what she said but you definitely don't have a chance to work with any Pledis artist again” Hoshi came from the end of the hallway alongside their manager and choreographer. The latter nodded and added.

“For the sake of the performance, you should all go back to your dressing rooms. You all said whatever was on your mind, so try to refocus during the last few minutes you have”.

“I didn't get to say what was on my mind” While the group was dispersing, DK mumbles on the side and Jun snorts.

“You had a chance, but all you did was stare at them and scowl until Scoups Hyung took the lead”

“I don't care about who said and who didn't say what they wanted” Hayun rolled her eyes, turning to the boys as they arrived in the room. Clasping her hands together, she brings them to her face and smiles, “You all care about me”.

“The fact you still doubted about it after years hurts me” Dokyeom held his chest and frowned, the girl laughs and goes to hug him.

“Group hug?” Seungkwan says uncertainly and Hoshi nods, dragging Woozi with him, “Group hug!”

[violet-knox]

1 I would love to request a story for you if it´s still fine to do it, my request is a smut story with a quiet virgin female reader who is popular with opposite gender mostly because of her attractive physical appareance and for that when she confess that she have a romantic interested in him. He thinks is a lie or a joke to hurt him somehow but when she insist that her feelings are honest and she is willing to do anything.

Beauty’s Curse

Pairing: Young!Snape x Half-Veela!Reader

Summary: As Valentine’s day quickly approaches, you find yourself surrounded by more and more people asking to be yours, but you have your eye on someone else.

Warnings: (SPOILERS) Spiked drink, manipulation

Word Count: 6679

A/N: To be honest, I was a bit hesitant with this request because I knew it would be a rather big challenge. I didn’t want to write anything superficial or cliche, but I thought this would be a great opportunity to break the stereotype of “that pretty mean girl” and show that no one should be judged on their looks, even those who are considered attractive. 

I took inspiration from a situation I found myself in more or less recently, so please do read the warnings before reading this even though they are crossed out unless you really don’t want spoilers. 

Nearly six years had passed and the comments from your peers had never once eased. Valentine’s day had become your least favourite holiday from the never-ending line of people asking you to be their Valentine, each year worse than the last as your popularity increased. You knew it wasn’t their fault, not entirely. You were half Veela after all, something you never dare tell a soul. Rumours went around in your fourth year when you hit puberty, an invisible glow seeming to surround you as you walked down the hall, heads turning as they ogled you in amazement. ‘It was a gift’ your mother would always tell you, but you could never see it that way, especially after you’d agreed to go out with that boy a few years above you last year, finding out his charm only extended so far until his true colours showed. Since then, you’d done everything you could to contain your influence over those who yearned for you, knowing you’d never know true love if the man you ended up with only did so from his inability to resist you. 

You wanted to know what love really felt like, real love not the admiration the Slytherin boys chatting you up now were showing. It irked you how they’d suddenly surrounded you like this, three of them, all taller than you, all of whom were doing their best to impress you. One spoke of his father’s status at the Ministry of Magic, offering to take you anywhere you liked on Valentine’s day. Another tried to persuade you with the offer of visiting his mother’s shop in Westminster; the most luxurious dress shop in all of London he claimed, anything you wanted his mother could have you fitted for. The last boy had the nerve to try and hand over a necklace with the most amount of diamonds you’d ever seen, saying he’d offer you anything you liked if you agreed to be his Valentine. You had to hold yourself back from rolling your eyes, the necklace barely managing to snap your attention back to them as your eyes instead wandered to the end of the hall where you saw another Slytherin sitting on the ledge of a window with his nose in a book. 

You could still remember back when that was you sitting alone somewhere in the castle in your first year, everyone passing you by like you didn’t exist, your own nose shoved in the tenth book you’d been reading that week. Of course, that part never changed, you were a proud bookworm, one who’d much rather spend the evening diving into the pages of a good book than surrounded by people gawking at you. The only difference now was it was much harder to find a place where you’d be uninterrupted, but you always found a way, a small corner in this giant castle to call your own and escape the real world if not for a short moment. 

“Sorry, but I can’t be any of your Valentines.” You spewed a quick apology to the Slytherin’s and pushed passed them, only to watch the boy you’d been intrigued by slam his book shut and dramatically swift away down the stairs. 

He’d seen enough, the necklace turning his stomach into knots as he thought about the stupid bet they made before walking over to you, how they each thought they could buy you over with some luxury he could never afford to have. They didn’t even acknowledge his presence as they spoke, didn’t even bother to notice he’d hung back, that he stood by to watch them get rejected by the person who’d been known to reject everyone since first year. You seemed so kind and of course, it probably helped that you were a Hufflepuff, helped your ruse of being everyone’s friend, but he saw through you. He was the only one that did just as he was the only one to see through Potter. Everyone who was popular with the entire school had a dark side, he knew it, even if he hadn’t seen yours. 

“Severus!” He turned around in surprise as he heard his name called out, unable to recognize the voice. His expression immediately turned sour when he realized it was you who’d run after him, calling his name to get his attention. He turned around and began walking away, one hand holding his books tightly as the other formed a tight fist. “Severus, wait!”

You were almost surprised to see someone so bluntly ignore you, shun you like you were nothing and you knew it was an act of dislike towards you, the way he looked at you making it very clear he did not want to speak with you. Yet you couldn’t help but yearn over him all the more. The only person in the entire school that seemed to see you as just another student, the only person who didn’t look at you like you’d blessed the very ground you walked on and he wouldn’t even give you a moment to speak.

“Severus,” you tried again, finally catching up to him as you placed your hand over his shoulder, Severus nearly twisting your wrist as he spun around, acting like your hand had burned the spot where you’d touched him. “I was just wondering, if you’d perhaps like to go out sometime?”

“What?” Severus rose his brow, wondering if he’d heard you correctly. It almost sounded as if you were asking him out, you, the person everyone in his life compared to perfection, the beauty of an angel, kindness comparable to no one else’s. You who’d chatted with the entire school, made friends with everyone, enemies with no one, would choose him?

“It-it doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t want it to be. But I just thought, well I thought it would be nice to have a chat with you some time,” you said, feeling the heat rise to your face as you tried to ease the tension. Severus' expression only darkened with annoyance as his suspicion of you grew. 

“Did Avery put you up to this? Nott? Or Potter?” he blurted out. He couldn’t believe you thought he’d fall for such an obvious ruse. That he’d be desperate enough to accept your deceptive invitation, and when he found out who it was that plotted this interaction, he was going to make sure they never tried something like this again.

“N-no! Why would you say that?” You looked at him with shock, your heart sinking as you felt yourself nearly knock yourself over as you hit that defensive wall he had built around himself. You knew he wasn’t exactly liked by the other students, that he had a much tougher time than he deserved, but you’d never imagined him reacting like this when you finally built up the courage to ask him out. 

“I’m not falling for this,” Severus shook his head as he dismissed your advancements. He turned around and resumed walking down the stairs, leaving you to your own failure though he wasn’t surprised to see you running after him.

“Severus wait!”

“Tell whoever sent you to piss off!” He brushed you off without stopping. Reaching the ground floor, he continued to walk towards the Entrance Hall without so much as glancing your way.

“Severus no one sent me, I swear,” you tried to make him see reason, to show him you were being genuine, but as he spun back around, his hair turning dramatically with him as his strands quickly settled back into place, framing the annoyed look on his face, you could tell he wasn’t willing to let his guard down for even a moment and consider your intentions to be pure. 

“Really? Then why?” His words came out more as demands rather than a question, but you wouldn’t let it scare you away. You didn’t want to give up the one chance you had at a genuine relationship with someone who saw you as more than just a pretty face. 

“Why what?”

“Why in Merlin’s name would you ask me out when you already have the entire school ready to put their heads on the chopping block just for a moment with you?” His tone made you wonder if he was asking the question out of curiosity for your answer or if he’d already made up his mind, that no matter what you said he wouldn’t believe you anyways. You had half a mind to walk away, telling yourself you deserved better, but this was what you wanted wasn’t it? Not to be run after, try to be bought over in some way? You wanted someone to go out with you and love you for who you were, to resist the natural attraction of your Veela DNA.

“Because you’re brilliant and love to read. Because you aren’t like everyone else. Because you make me feel normal.” You poured your heart out to Severus only to have him scoff in your face, rolling his eyes, clearly finding your words less than truthful. You’d never admit it of course, but you did, in a way, lie. You’d admired him for so long now. All you saw was his good sides, but you couldn’t bring yourself to admit such a thing. “Please, Severus, give me a chance.”

Severus stared at you a moment, surprising himself as he actually debated your plea. He wanted nothing more than to believe you, to believe someone would be interested in him in the way you claimed. But it was you. How could he believe the most wanted person in the entire school would choose the most hated? He wanted to get the truth out of you, to embarrass you when you admitted to your real intentions and perhaps that’s exactly what he should do. Perhaps he could get you to blurt out the name of the imbecile that would soon regret trying to mess with him like this.

“Fine. There’s a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. I suppose I can spare a few hours with you.” He agreed to your invitation as he made plans of his own, immediately setting off to the dungeons when you smiled and nodded. You looked almost relieved that he’d finally accepted, almost like you had some other agenda and of course, he’d find out one way or the other. He was tired of the harassment, the humiliation from everyone in this school, tainting it with their insolence and stupidity. This was his home, the one place in the entire world where he could belong, and he wouldn’t let anyone push him around any longer. 

This was the last straw. He was going to make an example out of you and whoever it was pulling your strings. He’d make the entire school regret making him out as a punishing bag, a joke for everyone to laugh at. What more could he lose? His best friend had already abandoned him, his Slytherin peers eager to do the same, only ever defending him out of obligation for their own house. He had no one, nothing to care for except his own reputation. He’d come to Hogwarts wanting to make something of himself, to build himself a future better suited for a Prince than a Snape and that’s what he was going to do one way or the other. 

He made his way to his dorm first, retrieving the stash of potion ingredients he hid under his bed and cross referenced what he needed from the notes he’d taken in the back of his Advanced Potion Making textbook. He had nearly everything he needed, but he knew he could get the rest from the potion’s cupboard before Potion’s class today. It would take some time to brew and he’d probably have to stay up tonight, but he knew he could finish it just in time for his ‘date’ with you. 

 You’d spent all week excited for the weekend. Every day you woke up with a smile until finally the day of the Hogsmeade trip arrived. You were the first to wake, preparing for the day as your nerves grew, your friends questioning why you seemed so happy all of a sudden, but you brushed them all off. You didn’t want anything to ruin this day, knowing they’d laugh if you told them you were going out with Severus. You just wanted to enjoy your date, to be left alone and show Severus there was someone in this school who would love nothing more than to spend every second of the day with him. 

Naturally you’d show up early and of course you were prepared. You sat at a nearby bench with your nose in a book as you usually were when you were alone and despite the crowd that grew with every second that past, Severus had no trouble finding you, rather surprised you weren’t surrounded by people all laughing, waiting to see what would come of your plan to humiliate him today. You were reading Magical Theory, one of the most boring books he’d found in all of Hogwarts’ library, yet there you were, enticed by every word, flipping the pages like you couldn’t go another second without reading. 

“H-hello,” he said, startling you as you shot your attention up from your book to him. He felt his heart racing, his nerves escalating like this was a real date. But it wasn’t, it couldn’t be. He was here for one reason and one reason only; the truth. He shouldn’t be feeling guilty for something he had yet to do, but he did. A sliver of him didn’t want to hurt you, instead hoping that this was real, that you were here because you were genuinely interested in him, but he knew better. How could someone as popular, as liked and as beautiful as you be interested in him?

“Severus, I’m glad you showed.” You gave him the widest smile he’d ever seen anyone give him as you closed your book and stood up.

“I said I would didn’t I?” Severus rose a brow at you, taken back by the enthusiasm in your tone. 

“Yes, but you seemed reluctant the other day.” Truth be told, you half expected to spend the day alone in absolute despair trying to distract yourself in that book as you pretended like you weren’t hurt from being stood up. But he came and he seemed much less defensive than before. 

“Shall we?” He gestured to the group of students making their way down to Hogsmeade. You nodded your head and happily joined him as you walked side by side amongst the crowd. Severus was already suspicious of you and your intentions knowing if he was alone, he would have been called ‘Snivellus’ at least once by now. He felt shielded around you, like no one could touch him and for a moment, he was relieved to feel normal for once. 

“I loved your presentation in Defense last week,” you commented, hoping some light conversation would help ease the mood before you found a place to settle for the day. Severus glared at you in surprise, wondering if you were trying to butter him up or if you had actually paid attention during class unlike the rest of his useless classmates.

“Really? What did you like about it?” Severus questioned your honesty, wondering if he could catch you in a lie before your ‘date’ even started.

“I love how in-depth your research was on cursed objects and your theory of their origin was intriguing,” you said with a smile, holding back your enthusiasm in fear of scaring him away. But you couldn’t help it, you admired Severus and how brilliant he was. You felt the heat rise to your face as you thought about the first time you saw him with his nose in a book, the first time you’d ever found yourself pulled away from your own book. “I noticed you like to hang around the Defense section of the library, is it your favourite subject?”

“You’ve been spying on me?” Your question had the opposite effect that you wanted as you saw his wall rebuild itself around him thicker than before. But you’d never give up knocking and asking him to let you in, to give you a chance and show him he could trust you. 

“N-no, I like to hide in the library at times and I just noticed you were a regular as well,” you said, but you could tell Severus wasn’t convinced. He could almost see the crack in your claims, trying to cover them with some made up weak lie. 

“Why have I never seen you in the library?” The interrogation continued, Severus seeing his victory in his line of sight. He had you cornered and was ready to end the day now when you admitted your true intentions. A smirk began to grow on his face as he thought of the victory at the end of his fingertips. He could almost see the horrific look on the face of whoever is to blame for this day. 

“Pince lets me sit on the second floor overlooking the library, it’s only meant for staff, but she noticed my inability to have a moment to myself and rescued me one day from another mob of people looking to make conversation with me.” 

“That’s kind of her,” he said, gritting his teeth as you slipped away from him, freeing yourself from his near grasp. His lips stretched into a frown as his revenge faded away. The longer he spoke with you the more his hope that this was real grew. You surprised him with your lack of self-absorbent qualities and your interest in what the Hogwarts library had to offer. He never imagined having so much in common with someone with your popularity, always assuming you’d be a lot more like Potter than himself. 

He looked over at you as you nodded, your smile enriching the twinkle in your eye as you gleamed at him with joy. You were so happy to speak with him, to have a casual and light conversation, to share things with him you’d never shared with anyone before. It felt good to open up a bit, to show that other side of you that stayed hidden away when you spoke to your friends or classmates. It was almost freeing, and you only hoped with time, Severus could feel the same with you.

“So, where should we go?” You asked, unsure of what his favourite places at Hogsmeade was. He didn’t seem the type to enjoy a trip to Honeydukes and you knew he didn’t have enough money for the bookstore. 

“We could grab a table at The Three Broomsticks?” Severus suggested as he gestured towards the pub. You nodded your head and made your way over, opening the door and began to make your way to the first empty table you saw. You smiled when Severus pulled on your arm and pointed to the booth in the back instead. He was always such a loner, though you couldn’t help but wonder if he preferred the seclusion now because he didn’t want to be seen with you. You wouldn’t blame him for being skeptical and you were thankful he was giving you a chance, but trust was so important in a relationship and you didn’t want to start it off with an inability to trust one another. 

“Go ahead, I’ll grab us some drinks.” You nodded and made your way to the booth, making yourself comfortable as Severus walked over to the bar. As you slide to the middle of the booth, you began to appreciate Severus' choice in seating, realizing how well hidden you were from everyone, not wanting your day interrupted by someone who thought Severus had kidnapped you and forced you into a date because they thought someone like you shouldn’t be out with someone like him. 

Severus didn’t take long to bring you your drinks, setting them down before shuffling into the booth beside you, grabbing his drink and taking a few gulps. His nerves had finally settled in and he almost wished he’d ordered something stronger for himself. The moment of truth had nearly come and at any moment now he’d get what he came here for, but he was afraid. He feared what the truth may bring him, that if by some small chance you were being honest before, he was about to ruin a love that could have been.

“Thank you,” you said as you reached for your own drink and took a sip. “Not just for the drink, but for giving me a chance as well.”

Severus gulped down the guilt that grew in his chest. There was no going back now. He had to find out the truth, even if you seemed genuine with your feelings towards him. “I was curious to know why you’d want to go out with me.”

He dipped his toes in the water as you both continued to enjoy your drinks and as he hoped, you began to open up to him, though perhaps not in the way he would have thought. “I’ve admired you for quite some time and have been trying to build up the courage to talk to you for a while.”

You put your drink down in shock by your sudden outburst of words. You hadn’t meant to say all that, even if it was on the tip of your tongue. Furrowing your brows, you pressed your lips together, unsure of how you’d lost control so suddenly. You felt like someone was pulling your strings, like they had slapped you on the back so hard, the words just flew out of your mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say all that.”

Severus narrowed his eyes at you, doubting his own abilities and wondered how this could possibly be. He was so sure this was a trick, that you were being deceitful, put up by someone else to embarrass him, but your truth was far from what he was expecting. You were real, you were interested in him, and he’d made a terrible mistake. “S-so no one put you up to asking me out?”

“No of course not. You’re the only person I’ve ever met I felt like I could truly fall in lo-” You clapped your hands over your mouth before you could say anymore. Your eyes widened as you bit down on your tongue, muffling the words you could not believe were about to be heard by him. You looked at him in fear, feeling completely helpless. Your freewill had been stripped away from you and you found yourself unable to control what came out of your mouth. “W-what’s going on?!”

“I-I’m so sorry (Y/N). This was not how I imagined things would go,” he said, his sympathetic tone making it harder for you to stay calm as your heart pounded angrily against your chest. Every fiber in your body told you something was wrong, that you should run, but you couldn’t, you didn’t want to. You’d waited so long to be here, to be in this moment alone with Severus, you didn’t want it ruined.

“What are you talking about?” You let yourself speak just enough to ask for clarification, to give Severus the chance to explain himself, to give you the explanation you needed to stay here with him. 

“I-I slipped Veritaserum into your drink. I thought I could get you to admit this was a trick. I didn’t expect this. I’m so sorry.” You looked at him with absolute horror, your heart breaking into a million pieces as his betrayal sunk in. He’d manipulated you, used you like a puppet when you’d done nothing but open yourself up to him. You’d trusted him like you’d done with no one before, and he tossed that away like it meant nothing. Your eyes swelled with tears, unable to look at him any longer. Your legs immediately swept you from your seat as you glued your mouth shut, trying to escape the prison Severus had trapped you in

“(Y/N) wait!” Severus cried after you in desperation, unable to believe how he’d messed up something he could only dream of having. You were an angel that anyone would have felt lucky to be with and he was the demon you’d chose instead. The demon who’d scared you away from love, from happiness, from a good and honest relationship. He tried to grab your wrist, but his hand failed to hold onto you as your skin, your oh so perfect skin grazed his fingertips. You ran out the door with tears dripping down your face and a hand over your mouth, leaving him deserted. His eyes followed you until you were no longer within his line of sight, running to get as far away from the monster who’d broken your trust, your faith in him. 

Slumping back in his seat, he stared blankly at his hands, the hands that had spent all week brewing a potion that was meant to bring him peace, a sense of power and control over his own life, yet it brought him nothing but an empty heart and crushed aspirations. Your words rang in his ears, the kind tone you took with him, the loving look you gave him all sinking in much differently now that he knew for certain they were real. He looked up at the drink that had ruined his second chance, the chance at a happy life, a life where he no longer had to be alone and swung his arm at it in anger.

The pub fell silent as glass shattered, the drink spilling all over the floor as Severus pushed himself up and began storming out the door, ignoring the calls of the angry bartender who stood over the mess he’d made. Severus ran in the same direction he’d seen you head, but found no sight of you. He had no idea what he’d say or why he so suddenly ran after you without thinking. He just knew he had to find you. He couldn’t give up on the miracle he’d been asking for all his life, someone who truly cared for him, who liked him for who he was and could look past his flaws.  

He looked around and found himself in a lost haze, unsure of what to do next. You were gone, vanished like a figment of his imagination and he was left here to wonder how he’d managed to get so lucky to have the one person the entire school was after fall for him. He looked back at the road back to Hogwarts before he found his legs suddenly jolting him forward as if his body knew exactly where to go. He couldn’t understand what was happening, how he felt like he had no control over himself. His mind was cycling as it tried to comprehend what was happening, how he could be driven on nothing but emotions, his feelings for you pushing him to run as fast as he could back to the castle and up those flights of stairs. 

By the time he got to his destination, his hair was sticking to the sides of his face, his lungs gasping for air as he felt his entire body heat up. His heart pounded angrily against his chest, shouting at him to keep going, that he wasn’t done until he’d found you, but he’d never run so much in his life, never felt so unable to breath, even after the massive panic attrack he had the night after the Whomping Willow incident. 

Looking around the library, he found his way to the door he knew only staff were allowed to open. His hand bolted for the doorknob, tugging on it to find it locked. Pulling out his wand, he tried to unlock it with no luck. His fists pounded on the door in frustration, he needed to get in there, he knew you were in there, he could feel it. You’d trusted him enough to tell him about this place and as much as he was aware you didn’t want to see him, he needed to see you. “(Y/N)! (Y/N)! Please open the door! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t think- I didn’t know!”

Severus hung his head low as he pressed himself to the door. This was as close to you as he knew he’d ever get again. He’d ruined any chance of a relationship with you and you were right to hide away from him. He was destructive, ruining anything he touched, anyone who spoke with him or dare come near him and perhaps that was why Potter felt the need to hex and curse him every time they saw one another. He couldn’t let it go on, he had to try and mend things, if not to at least make up for what he’d done.

“Please, at least let me undo what I’ve done. I can cure you and if you don’t want to hear what I have to say then I’ll leave. But please let me fix this.” Severus shut his eyes, tears threatening to fall as his forehead met the door. He stood there in silence, wondering if he’d hurt you so bad you’d abandoned the one place you felt safe in this school, if he’d done to you what Potter had to him. He’d become what he hated and was about ready to retreat to his dorm when he heard the doorknob turning, the door slowly opening as he took a step back, his eyes wide as he wiped away the tears that rolled down his cheeks. 

Your eyes met his and you felt your disappointment melt into anger. Your jaw hardened as you locked your teeth together, doing everything you could to keep from speaking another word to Severus. You watched him snap out of your gaze and begin to fumble with his robes, pulling out a small stone and presenting it to you. You stared down at it confused, wondering what kind of apology this was meant to be. 

“It’s a bezoar. I know it’s not the most comfortable solution, but it’s all I have,” Severus offered it to you, hoping you’d take it, that he could try and regain your trust once again. He held out hope as he watched your posture relax the slightest bit, your hand hesitantly reaching for the stone. He wouldn’t dare speak a word or move a muscle until you indicated what it was you wished of him next. From this moment forward, he would do nothing you didn’t ask for, say nothing you didn’t demand. 

Tossing the stone into your mouth, you swallowed hard and groaned at the feeling of its rough texture travelling down your throat. You heaved for air, but for the first time since you ran out of The Three Broomsticks, you found yourself able to relax your jaw, your fear of spilling your guts disappearing. Straightening your back, you looked at Severus who seemed unable to move or breath, waiting for your command to do so as his wide eyes stared desperately into yours. You’d never felt so conflicted, your feelings for him clouding your instinct to slap him for what he’d done to you. You never felt so humiliated, so used in your life. Severus had gone from the person who’d treated you like a normal human being to the one person in your life who’d hurt you worse than you ever thought you could be hurt. But you still couldn’t find it in you to shove him away and lock him out of your life. So instead, you closed the door behind you and stood your ground with your arms crossed, waiting for Severus to explain himself. 

“I-I’m so sorry.” He nearly choked on his words as they came out when he saw the look on your face, the frown you wore. No word would ever be large enough to truly depict how he felt right now and as much as he wanted to say more, all he could do was apologize.

“You already said that,” you mumbled in a whisper, speaking against your own trauma from the truth serum that Severus had given you. He looked so sincere, so desperate for your forgiveness. You’d never seen him like this before, clawing at someone else for something only they could give. He’d always been such a strong person even if others would disagree. He wasn’t presumptuous as he was proud of himself and his achievements, but the person who stood before you now had no pride left to show. He had nothing but regret and torment in his eyes.

“And I can never say it enough. I should never have put that potion in your drink and I wish I could take it back. I didn’t think you were being genuine. I was so sure you were lying to me.” He spoke honestly, hoping you’d have faith he was being truthful with every word he spoke, that you could at least put the trust in him he failed to put in you. 

“Why?” You couldn’t let go of the sheer stupidity of what he’d done. His reasoning didn’t make the slightest bit of sense to you, and if you could understand why he did it, maybe you could begin to forgive him.

“Why? Because you’re you and I’m me and why would I ever believe you of all people would be interested in me?” Severus went on as if the question was an absurd one to ask, the answer so obvious, even a house elf could see it. He wondered how you couldn’t see his hesitation, why you’d ever think he’d simply accept the fact you were interested in him.

“Because I said that I did!” you said bluntly, rather offended he questioned your intentions at all. Never had anyone second guessed you to this extreme before and you didn’t appreciate it in the slightest.

“I know, I just-”

“Didn’t trust my word?” You looked completely heart broken, more so then when you realized he’d slipped truth serum into your drink. He could see trust was something you cherished between those you let close to you and he’d completely ruined his chance at gaining it from you.

“No, I didn’t. I couldn’t. Not after the way the school decided to brand me all those years ago.” Severus had no hope of convincing you what he did was justifiable because even he knew it wasn’t. All he could hope for was for you to understand his hesitation, to understand why he had to do something when you approached him to see if you were genuine in your intentions.

“I’ve never treated you that way,” you retorted.

“I know. I’m sorry and I’ll understand if you’ll never want to speak with me again.” He put the ball in your court, completely at your mercy. Whatever it was you decided to do, he would respect it, but every inch of him begged you to give him another chance, to let him have a proper opportunity to have someone in his life that would care for him, to have a happy ending. But as Severus stared into your blank eyes, he could tell he hadn’t swayed you in any way. It was his fault and as he had nothing more to say, all he could do was turn around to walk away from everything that could have been.

“That’s it?” Severus stopped as you called after him, turning around in surprise as he stared at you blankly. 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re just going to walk away? You’re not going to try and fight? For-for this?” You gestured between yourselves with a sliver of hope in your eyes. You knew you shouldn’t have expected much from him, but a part of you hoped he’d be a little more resilient to giving up on you, especially after all that time you’d spent admiring him from afar. 

“I-I didn’t think there was anything to fight for,” he said truthfully, looking at you with wide eyes as he walked back to you. He stared at you intently, trying to read you, to figure you out with all these mysteries surrounding you. How could someone so beautiful fall for him, want to be with him enough you’d be willing to give him a chance at redemption when his own best friend wouldn’t give him such a thing?

You took a step forward, wanting so badly to have all those talks with him you’d dreamed of having, to enjoy spending time with him if not to simply read together and find comfort in each other's company. You wanted to go back and give him a chance to redo the evening, to have it end much differently than yours and if it were anyone else, you would never have given him the chance to explain himself. But it wasn’t someone else, it was him. It was the one person in this whole world who you thought could break your curse, who seemed immune to it.

“Severus, why don’t you treat me like everyone else in this school?”

Severus stood in silence a moment as he thought back to how easily everyone worshipped the ground you walked on, how you always seemed to have a trail of people behind you, admiring you for no reason other than your looks. His thoughts wandered to Lily and how Potter seemed just as enchanted with her as the rest of the school did to you, how he’d only become intrigued with Lily after finding out she was a kind witch who lived in Cokeworth.

“I just-I suppose I just never thought of you in that way because I didn’t know you, and I never thought you’d be interested in knowing me.” Severus tried to be as honest as he could, watching you with hope. He held onto the fact you hadn’t run away, that you’d given him the chance to speak, to hear him and understand him. You were so kind, nothing like he would have ever imagined and he knew if he was ever so lucky as to get a second chance with you, he would never take it for granted again.

“Well, I am,” you said with a smile. You’d always been rather talented at reading people after the absurdity you’d seen from others, and Severus had truly wanted to make amends. You prayed your faith in him wasn’t misplaced, that he meant every word he said and that he saw what you saw. “If you are.”

“I am.” The words flew out of his mouth faster than he could process. He jumped at the chance you offered, beyond excited for the happy life he saw ahead of him. “Would you perhaps like to try again?” 

You nodded your head eagerly, excited for your do-over date. You almost wanted to forget what had happened today, to approach things with him from a fresh perspective. “Valentine’s day is coming up. Would you care to share a cup of tea with me at Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop?”

“Really?” Severus couldn’t believe how kind hearted you were, how willing you were to see the good in others and how tremendously lucky he was to have found you, or more accurately, have you find him. 

“So long as I’m buying this time,” you nodded with a laugh, eliciting a smile from Severus as you began making your way out of the library. You smiled as you finally got to see the real him, the person you grew infatuated with, the boy who you saw hope for love with. For the first time in your life, you felt content, excited for the spark you felt growing inside your heart. You could experience love for the first time in your life, real, pure love and you couldn’t wait to see what more it had in store for you.

[foryoumyheroes]

Otaku

[Bakugou + Todoroki] are in love with the anime character [Name]. 

A/N:  Gender-neutral reader  Crackish?? 

Bakugou Katsuki: 

He’s sort of picky with the genre, be it fantasy, horror, shonen, but his favorite character has to be a super cool, super powerful one. No excuses. 

You know, the type of anime character that’s probably introduced through a silhouette of them posing dramatically with their notorious group whose image is teased throughout the first few episodes/seasons. 

He goes pretty hard for All Might, and he’s definitely the same for your character. 

Reads the manga (but he buys it super secretly, like in a hoodie at night and the cashier probably thinks that they’re being robbed until he brings the entire [Series] collection to the register). Watches the anime the moment it’s broadcasted, reads metas and watches youtube videos that talk about conspiracies/analyses of your character. 

NO ONE CAN KNOW THOUGH. 

He’s taking his anime phase to the grave. 

For some reason gets super aggressive when you’re being flirty or being shipped with another character?? He hates all the scenes that tease any potential romance between you and other characters. asdfgj He’s like, “No one is good enough for [Name]!!! Except for me.” 

He even tries to think up ways he can legitimately square up with them LMAO. Like he wonders how he could defeat your potential S/Os in a fight but y’all are like ,,, anime characters SO WHY DOES IT EVEN MATTER LOL 

“Three-sword style?? Tch, I’d fucking blow that bastard to bits.” 

“Who’s this Gaara of the Sand looking ass and why is the author getting so bold.” 

He even tries to think of how well your abilities match up with his own Quirk, this dork. 

THE LENGTHS HE WOULD GO FOR YOU.

If you were a real life person and your dislikes are lets say spicy food or loud, overbearing people, Bakugou would be like, “Tch I’m right, they’re wrong. Shut the fuck up!!!” But if his ultimate wifu/husbando has those dislikes he would be like, “Omg...😳😳 opposites attract...👉👈” 

He honestly tries to be a low-key fan (as in, not be a fan at all to outsiders), but if one day during class Kaminari ends up saying that in [Series], you’re the weakest character in your group/squad, Bakugou would get super angry. 

“Hey, Dunceface!! It’s so fucking obvious that you’re an anime-only fake fan, so don’t talk as if you know shit!” 

Bakugou is those “um actually” ;; fans 

Bakugou is a manga reader, so by the time your introduction scene or Ultimate Attack scene is being aired he becomes super OOC. He’s hyped for it for days, incredibly nervous at how the animators handle the scene. 

By the time he watches it?? 

THE ANIMATION!! THE VOICE ACTING!! YOUR COOLNESS!!! PLS ORA ORA HIM IN THE CHEST!! HE’S BEGGING YOU! IF YOU’RE GOING TO UNISON RAID WITH ANYONE PLS LET IT BE HIM!! 

He’s legitimately sweating buckets by the time the episode is over. A whole-ass fire hazard. 

Probably knows how to play your character theme on the drums. 

Omg but if your character dies/is hinted toward dying/or the most recent chapters ends with a cliffhanger where you’re fatally injured he will become legitimately depressed. 

Like holes himself in his dorm room for a whole day without contacting anyone and with the blinds drawn type of depressed. 

When he comes to class the next day with eye-bags and is slouching and his classmates think that something horrible has happened, it’s probably only Izuku who knows what’s going on. 

He’ll say, “You’re upset about the most recent chapter of [Series], right? I know it must be hard for you right now.” He’ll give Bakugou an officially licensed rubber strap of your character and Bakugou will just ;; cradle it in his hands softly. 

In complete seriousness, your character is probably someone who is strong physically, but publicly rallies for things like, “Failure is fine.” Your character arc would probably explore what it’s like being not good enough or feeling constantly disappointed, so he feels comfort in your character. 

Todoroki Shoto: 

In comparison to Bakugou, he’s probably a more low-key fan unintentionally, but goes just as hard. 

Buys all of the merch, limited-edition or not, has your picture set as his phone lockscreen and homescreen, has a little acrylic charm of you on his phone, follows several fanartists that draw your character on social media. He buys enough merch that his room looks like a glorified shrine. 

It’s canon that he reads manga, but I headcanon that he’s even less picky with his genres and willingly reads things like slice-of-life or shojo all the way to shonen or adult fantasy, so your anime could come from any possible story. 

Your character is probably someone who is sweet and kind but has a traumatic character backstory. 

He probably ends up thinking stuff like, “If [Name] was with me, I would never let them get treated like that.” asdhj he’s a dork too. 

Unironically dramatically quotes you during battle and thinks that it’s still badass because he’s a teenage boy in his anime phase. 

Doesn’t get into debates with people who don’t like your character. He’s like, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion :)) even though they’re wrong. >:(.” 

If you’re from a sports/competition anime he’ll try to learn all of the rules, and even try it out for himself (if it’s not fighting) but he finds out that he’s... not very good at it. That doesn’t make him any less amazed though! 

If your character is from a different culture with different customs and traditions, he’ll even learn more about them outside of your anime! 

Forces his siblings to watch the anime with him. They don’t necessarily have to, but the Todoroki household has one big TV and he hogs it all the time watching your anime over and over. 

Natsuo is begging him to watch something else and Shoto will just pout angrily from the other side of the couch.( ￣＾￣)

It’s so jarring because he doesn't look or appear like a hardcore anime fan, but sometimes he’ll just butt into conversations randomly and talk about you. 

Like you know those tumblr Naruto posts that talk about it as if it’s some sort of Renaissance literature. That’s Todoroki. 

[”Man, they’re so hot--!” 

“You want to see someone hot?” Todoroki asks with a perfectly straight face, and he’ll just... turn his phone around and show them a picture of an anime character.] 

When his dad tries to set him up with someone else: “You think they’re my type? Do they watch [Series]? Do they know what true friendship is?? Do they understand pining and love the way [Name] does?” 

Endeavor: who the FUCK is [Name]. 

Gets into fanfiction because of your character and series. He’ll just be reading on his phone during break times at school and everyone thinks that he’s being so well-read but he’s just reading pure smut with a straight face. 

Doesn’t mind when you’re shipped with other characters necessarily but he is super picky. If your character is hinted toward a potential romance with another character that’s pretty crass and doesn’t necessarily treat you well but you’re sticking together through the power of friendship, he won’t ship it. 

He’s just like “[Name] would be so much happier with someone else like me.” ://// 

And if your character goes through something traumatic or terrible during the series he’ll be so sad, like soooo sad. :((( Deku would probably be comforting him on the couch in the common room and everyone is concerned because he looks like he’s mourning a lost pet, but it turns out to be over some anime character pshhhsdfh. 

Deku would just be patting his shoulder trying to console him and Todoroki’s just sitting there with a big frown on his face going, [“But they’ve been through so much throughout the anime already...” 

“I know, Todoroki-kun, I know...” 

“The author can’t do that to them... It’s just not fair.”

“I get it,” Midoriya says mournfully.]  

Plot twist: They like the same anime character 

They’ll probably find out when they have to retake the license exam together. 

Todoroki will just take his phone out during off times and Bakugou’s eyes looks over because it’s drawn by the noise but then his head just snaps to the side when he realizes its a little charm of you, like, he’s going to get whiplash from that. 

“What the -- is that [Surname] [Name]?!” 

Like they have never really hung out together before this, so when they both first realize that their favorite character of all time is [Name] they’re left ,, just standing there ,,, pointing at each other like the spiderman meme.

At first they’re both inwardly excited because FINALLY someone cultured and with taste. They spend the entire time talking about your stats, your attacks, your post-timeskip character design, and your personality, and then they delve a little bit deeper and then they realize ,,, oh. 

Bakugou says that you don’t belong with the dumb protagonist, you should be shipped with someone strong, confident and loud, but Todoroki is like noooooo they deserve to be with someone that treats them gently. 

They connect the dots. 

[“Bakugou, you aren’t compatible with [Name]. It says so in their trivia page.” 

“Says you! They won’t want some bland-ass pretty boy! They would want a real man!”] 

They’re such fanboys ;;; they do realize that you aren’t real, right asdfghj?

One day Kaminari and Sero separately invite them to an anime convention, but they both say no and that they have plans or “something better to do” that day. 

Then Bakugou and Todoroki both turn up to the convention at the same place because they both reach for the last limited edition [Name] figure and they just stare at each other wide-eyed (ʘoʘ╬) like that. 

They start verbally fighting each other over the last figure and then physically fighting each other andddd then they get kicked out of the convention. 

Izuku ends up swooping in and getting the last box. 

[rumblelibrary]

Kinky stuff you said?

so... i have this idea

I know we all collectively as a fandom have decided that Andrea is a fluff ball lmao

but I'm rooting for him because...I don't know, like when he got angry when he found out about the letter and started to play the violin all annoyed and how he raised his voice and there is also the look that he gave Olga he gives me the feelings like~

Andrea spank me with that violin bow (we can buy a new one later)

Something like Teach me a lesson sweet boy

Dancing the dance [Andrea Marowski x Reader]

Word count: 2k

Warnings: Smut (fingering, spanking, mentions of cheating)

Author’s note: Do I have to say something? I mean the request is amazing enough

It was just a day like any other in the little village, you opened your bookshop, a small little thing that your uncle run and you were proud to call it your precious jewel. 

You worked hard to keep it afloat, you went by bicycle to the bigger cities nearby to get the best books yourself or the classics, you were determined not to let it die on you, but it was every day harder.

It was almost the end of your day when you saw Mr Barnes come inside, he was a war veteran that suffered terrible injuries, but also an avid reader who would come even twice a week.

“Don’t you tell me you have already finished it, James”

You smiled at him and he shrugged, his playful smirk running over his lips. “I like this Agatha Christie author and her Belgian detective, what can I say?”

He was a player, you knew it and didn’t expect anything less from him, he is handsome and he knows it. But you never took him seriously and even less since a certain shipwrecked violinist made his way to your heart, but truth to be told, you indulged him. Sure, he was a passionate reader, but he loved to come and flirt with you and you need him and his coins to call it a day.

“Well, what’s next then?”

“I don’t know, you tell me, you’re the bookworm, aren’t you?”

His smirk was playful but you ignored it and smiled only moving away from the counter, making your away around the books to try the one you were meaning to offer him next. You always planned one in advance, or even two, just to make sure to give him enough attention but not too much.

“What about…” you begun, your tongue sticking a little put as you’re focused, eyebrows furrowed as you read the titles.

“You’d look even more the part with glasses” he interrupted you and you chuckled 

“I know, I know, I should wear them but..”

“No, I mean that you’d look even more attractive with them on”

You kept quiet as he moved closer, his arm leaning against the shelf in front of you as you mumbled a thank you.

He stared at you following your every move, your hand picking a thin book and handing it to him.

“The Great Gatsby” he read out loud “Is it new?” “No, just American, it was published in 1925”

He nodded looking at it as he moved page after page, his lips pursed in concentration as you tried to move past him, but he just stood still and board in front of you.

“What do you do after work?”

“Oh, well I have some chores to do at home, study new purchases for the shop”

“You always do” he said closing the book with a loud snap making you jolt in your spot

“Let’s have a date night, we could dine at the tavern and you can tell me more about those orders you always have to do” he said taking a step forward as you mimicked him taking a step back.

“Y/N” he murmured “we are dancing this dance from a long time, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know what you mean”

You replied only as you tried to move past him

“You’re very attractive, still unmarried, incredibly tempting for every man in town, you should expect it”

The truth was that you weren’t completely far from anything love related, but Dr Mead advised you to keep your little ‘entanglement’ with Andrea s secret for the time being. Most people still didn’t get the difference of him being Polish and not German and it would only make your life harder for no reason. So you obliged, you closed the curtains at night when he sneaked into your room, you visited him often with the excuse of bringing him books, you pretend not to wish his touch on you every time of the day.

“I said I can’t already”

You took the chance to move past James and take the broom to clean.

He took a deep breath, gritting his teeth as his eyes travelled on you. He was patient, but not that patient, nevertheless you were a delicious eye candy to his eyes. He put his hand to his pocket still holding the book into the other one. He pulled out some coins and left them on the table, there was also a tip from you.

“I like this game Y/N” he said bluntly to you and he looked at the book “also. such a small book makes me think you want me to come back soon”

You looked at him, you matched his smirk, oh he loved to be kept on the edge, didn’t he?

“See you next week” you only said and he gave you a light military salutation to you saying something about being at your orders.

You smirked biting the inside of your cheek as you enjoyed the game for sure, or the dance as he called it, but you were realising how you had to probably tone it down. He was liking it a bit too much and going over the simple play, plus you were losing the plot of it since Andrea came into the picture.

After you closed the day, recorded all the sells and cleaned the shop you wrapped yourself up in a coat, taking an easy children book for Andrea to practice with. On your way out you noticed some scattered flowers on the ground, but you didn’t pay much attention to it.

You made your way to Ursula and Janet’s house, the violin being played out loud, a very dramatic and strong melody going off, almost violent.

As you knocked at the door Janet welcomed you quickly.

“Oh Y/N, please try to talk to him, at least you know German” she said and you looked at her confused “he went out for a walk and came back so angry, he shouted at poor Ursula, she is so bumped, I can’t look after the two of them” Janet said in her own way that made it sound almost funny, if not sarcastic.

You nodded taking off your coat and hat, you walked upstairs holding the book with you, the music getting louder as you took the stairs until his room, you got inside without knocking because it would be impossible for him to hear anyway. The first thing you noticed was his back wrapped in that white shirt and the pants kept up by his suspenders. You still remember vividly the first time you pulled those suspenders off his shoulders, it is still one of your favourite things to do as a prelude of what is about to come.

“Andrea” you called him as you closed the door behind your back, locking it just because you know how much Ursula likes to peak in.

He turned around suddenly, almost scaring you off as he held his violin in one hand and the thin bow into his other hand, his eyes on fire, jaw clenched and his back straight like a soldier.

“You bezwstydny” he shouted at you and you looked at him even more confused “schamlos” he said then in German.

“Shameless? Why?” You asked frowning, you had the luck to know German because your family immigrated to Cornwall before the WWI to join your uncle’s business, but that didn’t help when Andrea was so mad to decide not to tolerate any other language by his own like now.

“I saw you” he said spitting venom “You think funny?”

“But what?”

“You with that man in bookshop!” He growled putting down the violin because it was at serious risk of being thrown on the floor.

You parted your lips in shock as he said that, so those flowers were his? 

“Did you come to pick me up?”

He nodded but his lips pressed against each other in disgust.

“Andrea, don’t make that face, he is just a client acting up”

“You act up”

You looked at him shaking your head “you don’t understand” you said.

He raised his eyebrows.

“oh no, I do understand”

His voice was different, his accent thicker than ever, there was no trace of the usual sweet smile, almost mischievous, that he always had on his lips.

He sat down on the chair were Ursula watched him for nights on “on my lap”

You frowned “no”

He raised his eyebrows “I think you not understand” he said threateningly “Are you playing with two men?”

You shook your head vehemently “You know it is not like this” you stated “I want only you”

He didn’t seem impressed, he pursed his lips in disbelief and let out a sarcastic chuckle twirling the bow between his fingers.

“Then prove it”

His accent hitting you again, you loved it, but the way he said it, that didn’t feel comforting.

You stared at him, you didn’t want to argue with him, he was already too mad and to hold a conversation was to ask too much.

So you obliged leaving the book aside and making your way to his lap sitting on it.

“No this way” he said wiggling underneath you to make you stand up

“gebückt” he said in German waving the bow to you. Oh, so he wanted you bent over it?

You stood uncomfortable for a moment but then you nodded again, you needed to get past this crisis, no?

So you moved your dress a bit to make your way onto his lap, you wanted to ask what now but then you felt distinctively the way he pulled your skirts up.

“Andrea” you hissed at him but by now he held you in that position pushing your panties down, the cold air hitting your bum, your cheeks bringing from embarrassment.

“You like play, so you get to be punish like little kid”

You blushed even more if possible, you wiggled but he held you down firmly until you stopped struggling and settled in the position he wanted.

“Repeat numbers in English for me” he said and you whimpered as he smacked that bow onto your ass earning a gasp, your shoulders trembled inward as it was more painful than expected.

“Number?”

“One” you replied immediately, how much do you have to count, you wondered.

You whimpered as other two snaps to the stick followed very quick together

“Andrea, please stop” “If you wanted me to stop you’d not act to earn it” his words an hiss between his teeth “we begin again now, you didn’t count”

You groaned but another slap reduced you to a forced obedience “one”

He smirked widely as he twirled the bow in his hand, you could’t see him but you could ear the way it cut the air around.

You obeyed and counted all the three snaps that followed, your breath itching and your hands trying to reach out to the floor to gain some advantage in the positioning, which still felt too embarrassing, the constrictive exposure of your bottom making you feel uneasy.

Andrea saw that movement and he reached down with his free hand clasping onto your jaw making you look up like some animal in need to be tamed. Another whip hit you.

“Five” you groaned as now your position felt even more humiliating, you shivered as he chuckled

“Now you will be good during more strokes, if you manage to come to dziesięć then you’ll be free”

You groaned, how much is that? The confusion in you was showing as your body stiffened. The unknown scaring you, your core clenched shamelessly, your wetness revealing a pleasure that was evident, a dirtiness of your own that you didn’t expect to meet.

“Only five more”

He whispered and smacked your ass again, you whined squeezing your eyes

“Six”

Oh, to see you so obedient.

“You like to be a tease, don’t you? You love it, showing off like a whore to that man, to all the men, you sell them the whole experience for few coins? You make them believe they can fuck you?”

He smirked hitting your ass again, your hips buckling against his leg as you were looking for relief from that desire

“Seven”

“You love it, you love to be desired by many don’t you?”

“Eight”

“You want them to dream of you at night, to desire to fuck you and smack your ass like I am doing now, these skirts only making them dream more”

“Nine”

You were sobbing by now, his hand on your jaw making it hard to breathe and speak

“Who is a whore?” “I am”

“Who is my whore?

“I am”

He smirked, he was pleased giving you one last whip, the hair of the bow falling down as some of them broke, oh you know too well how much that will cost you, Andrea wasn’t one to easily ruin something like that.

“Ten!”

You almost shouted it, your thighs trembling and knees kept closing and parting trying to find some relief.

Andrea leaned down kissing the back of your neck as he gave you time to calm down, let the humiliation sink in.

“Andrea” Ursula’s voice rang from behind the door “Are you quite alright? Dinner is almost ready”

“I am! Y/N and I need a moment” he said, his voice completely different and far from the dark threatening voice that poured over you a second before “We will be down in ten!” As he spoke he touched over your wet slit, how shamelessly you were patching his pants with all that excitement, so slowly began playing with you, you winced biting on the fabric of his tailored cloths trying to hold back any sound while those skilled violist fingers kept scissoring inside of you. “We haven’t done yet”

Tagged @cazzyimagines​ @lieutenantn​ @handmaiden-of-mischief​ @thesunflowersutra​ @zemomybeloved​​ @fictionlandslanddreams​ @charistory​ @greeneyedblondie44​ @apparrio​ @hb8301​ @whatawildone​ @rhymerhymerhyme @thehuiabird @lilith-blackrose @unbeatablecurlgirl

Let me know if you want to get tagged to my publications too <3

[aelingalathyniusrailme]

gwynriel appreciation week-day 5

au day

Pirate headcanons

They start out as rival captains of their own ships

Gwyn’s ship is called the silver majesty. gwyn used to work for the crown but went rogue and took her crew with her. She kept the name. But don’t be fooled by it’s cuteness because her crew is as cut throat as they come

what they lack in resources, they make up for in ruthlessness and determination  

Azriel’s ship is called the shadowsinger. His boat is dark as night and if they don’t want to be found, you could scour the entire world and won’t find a damn thing

they are clever and brutal. they do not make mistakes and when they hit, they hit fast and hard 

Gwyn’s first mate is Nesta: the strategist with a grudge. She’s the fire of the group. you do not cross nesta, And her quarter master is Emerie: the responsible rock of the group with a secret vicious side. emerie always has been the most creative. Gwyn is the captain. She won her crew and position through sheer will. Gwyn is the glue that holds them together

Azriel’s first mate is Rhys: he’s cold and calculating. Always thinking, always plotting. And his quarter master is Cassian: he provides the brute force. You need to get rid of someone, cassians your guy, for the right price of course. he is the friendliest of them all. Azriel is the captain: azriel is lethal and quiet. He lets Rhys and Cassian deal with the rest of the crew while he acts as the mysterious captain with secrets for days. He keeps his position because he never fails to provide. Azriel’s got grit and a way of knowing everything that goes around him. 

The silver majesty and The shadowsinger have crossed paths only once before when they both cost each other a job

To gwyn, the shadowsinger is a myth just as the silver majesty is a legend to azriel. Neither knew that they had crossed paths. But they both vowed when they found the ship that ruined that job, they would get revenge.

both respect the other as the second best in the business

Gwyn docks her ship in the summer court. There she takes her crew to a bar. 

they walk in, a bunch of scary ass pirate ladies and everyone turns away, not wanting to draw their attention 

Gwyn walks to the counter with Emerie and Nesta in tow. She asks for a women named Mor. 

Mor is the sweet blonde bar tender. Although she has been known to hear things she shouldn’t and well gwyn may or may not pay for that information 

“What do you got for me blondie” 

“I got a lot of things, depends what you want” mor looked her up and down and smirked. 

“maybe later, you hear anything since the last time we were around?”

“Maybe I have, Maybe I haven’t” 

Gwyn knows to be patient with her, they continue this back and forth for a couple minutes before finally mor mentions she been hearing of possibly the biggest hall they ever came across. but it’s hidden and you need the map to get there. and it is very possible that mor has someone willing to trade for the map. 

I’m just going to cut to the chase, she stalls the buyer (his name is tamlin) with pretty words and false promises while nesta and emerie steal it 

They get back to the silver majesty triumphant and drunk as fuck

But then they realize, the map is blank. Nesta has already pulled out her two katanas and is ready to start slitting throats. specifically tamlin

emerie has yanked her daggers from their sheaths and is halfway out the door

but gwyn holds them off. she examines the map more closely, she has a hunch but she need to meet with another acquaintance first

The silver majesty makes the rough trip to the dreaded spring court. terrible place. truly terrible. said to be haunted. 

They find elain archeron in her manor. it is overgrown with plants but gwyn knows she likes it that way. Elain is a witch but her gifts tend to fall into the prophecy sort. Nesta stays a step behind, refusing to look at her sister. 

“Hello sister, sister’s friends” nesta grits her teeth ready to bite but gwyn hushes her. 

“Witch” 

“Seer” Elain corrects. “Witch has such an awful stigma around it, it’s bad for business. but seer has the perfect balance of ‘I can tell you your future but you shouldn’t fear me’ brings in a lot more people this way.”

“so let me guess, you need my help for a certain treasure I’ve heard about recently” 

“guessing games aren’t fun when you can see the future but yes” 

“ah my dear-”

gwyn cut her off “I am older than you”

“Gwyneth, sweetie, the wise witch persona brings in business” Gwyn refrained from rolling her eyes, out of all the batshit crazy people she had to deal with, her first mate’s sister was by far the worst. 

it didn’t help that they used to date and everything gwyn used to find endearing now pissed her off

Elain brought out a pearlescent ball, she put her hands over it in a dramatic spectacle. Gwyn knew she didn’t actually need the whole get up but Elain lived for the performance so she let it slide. Her eyes began to change, one glowed a bright white while the other was pitch black.

Emerie shifted uncomfortably. She never did like magic. minutes passed before  Elain’s eyes went back to normal and she regained consciousness

“Name your price Seer” 

“I want one day with my sisters”

Nesta snapped to attention. her voice was cold, soft but lethal “did you say sister or sisters”

Elain to her credit did not flinch “yes feyre is here, it was just a happy coincidence that you both came today.” Elain winked. but they all knew nothing was ever a coincidence with the walking oracle. 

Gwyn looked at Nesta. Silently they conversed. Elain waited patiently while Gwyn tried to convince nesta to take the deal. finally they came to a conclusion

“One hour, I will spend one hour with you and her” Feyre was an assassin for the crown. Gwyn didn’t know how someone who murdered for a living could be so righteous but the archeron sisters were something else. The silver majesty spent a lot of time with her before they abandoned post and well feyre and nesta have never gotten along. but the falling out was not pretty. they haven’t spoken since 

“leave the katanas, If I get one hour with my sisters it will not be spent fighting” 

nesta begrudgingly disarmed and handed her legendary swords to emerie. “take care of my babies” 

“not a scratch” emerie said with a mock solute 

....

exactly one hour later nesta came back to the ship alone. Nothing shook her second and yet nesta’s eyes were wide. 

“well what do we need?”

“Not what, who”

“we need a myth. we need a pirate folktale. we need”

“The shadow singer” emerie finished with a whisper. an eeriness spread over the ship at the mention of that name. Shit, they were in such deep shit. 

Honorary headcanon but no scene: gwyn and az get down and dirty on a boat. I’ll let you guys imagine the rest. (though there is a chance I will get back to this and write it out)