#in my defense it's early morning in the scene and when i tried to brighten the gifs up it looked kinda bad

[evakant]

BUDDY DADDIES  —  episode eight

[pennamesmith]

Fabulous Skeletor Powers

She-Ra sings. Catra tries. Hordak prays. Entrapta says hey, what’s going on? More ‘Skeletor’ stories. 

*

Catra awoke from a strange dream of She-Ra singing and dancing to the soft light of dawn. She yawned and shook the sleep from her head.

Adora was next to her, snoring as loudly as a landslide. Looking down at her Catra smiled and relaxed, which was a feeling she was still getting used to, nearly a year after the end of everything.

There had been times, alone in the Horde, when she had been unable to do anything but lie in bed at night and cry, trying desperately to flush out all the thoughts running around in her head.

Now, things were different. It felt a little peculiar. On bad days she still worried that she would never be able to make up for the damage she’d done, and didn’t deserve the happiness she had now. In her better moments she was able to remember that it wasn’t really about getting or having, but about trying all the time to see and return the love that had always been there for her.

Adora snorted and rolled over. Moving carefully so as not to disturb her, Catra rose and padded to the small kitchen of their Bright Moon home. Somewhere along the way she was joined by Melog, mewling and pressing against her shins for attention. She gave it, and the space cat’s tail twitched happily.

Without really having any particular plan in mind, Catra withdrew various ingredients from the cupboards and began to fix a modest breakfast. Before she had time to make any grievous cooking errors, Adora was suddenly awake and there behind her, hugging her, smiling, correcting the wayward cat’s mistakes, and adding a healthy dose of her own.

Before long they had something made from eggs and bread and vegetables that was not only edible but downright delicious, at least compared to green ration bars. They sat at their small table and ate and laughed together while Melog lay curled at their feet and purred contentedly.

Adora appeared to be thinking about something. She had one hand thrust in her pocket and her chin rested in the other, face screwed up in careful contemplation. Finally, she seemed to come to a decision. She looked up and leaned forward with a grin. “Hey, stud,” she started.

Catra burst into laughter, cutting off whatever Adora had been about to say next. “What was that? Was that supposed to be smooth?” she cackled.

Adora tried to recover. “Hey, I’m just kidding! Yeesh!” She waved her hands defensively. “I — Look, let me try that again.”

But Catra wasn’t really listening, because it had suddenly occurred to her that between the early morning sunlight streaming in through the window, the smell of their perfect breakfast, the warm, bursting feeling in her chest, and Adora sitting right in front of her, that this moment was absolutely, stomach-turningly picturesque.

That would have made her angry before. Now she felt something else.

Adora noticed her girlfriend’s distant look and reached out for her. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Uh, not much!” Catra stammered, suddenly aware that she needed to get something from the other room, immediately. “I’ll be right back!”

She rushed to the spot where she hid important things, reached between a small bag of catmint and a little ball with a jingle bell inside, and retrieved a tiny hinged box with Entrapta’s factory seal of approval stamped on the lid.

She stuffed it deep in one pocket and hurried back to the kitchen table, heart pounding. Adora, in the meantime, had changed her sword into a golden toy mouse on a string and was letting Melog chase it across the floor.

“Oh good, you’re back!” Adora sat up straight in her chair and brightened. “Listen, I didn't really plan to do this right now — I actually wasn’t sure when exactly I was gonna do it until right now — but I’ve been thinking about… stuff. A lot. And this morning just felt so perfect and I was so happy that I thought, hey, maybe I should take a chance and…”

She trailed off. While she was talking she had withdrawn something from her own pocket and was fidgeting nervously with it. It, too, was a very small box, red and blue-black. Almost automatically, Catra produced hers.

They looked at each other soundlessly. A great number of things were said without words.

Ultimately it didn’t matter who broke the silence first, because the conversation would have been the same either way:

“So… I have a question for you.”

“I do, too.”

“You first?”

“Together.”

*

Hordak awoke to the sound of a klaxon alarm going off. Entrapta sat up straight in bed beside him, instantly alert, eyes wide with excitement.

“It’s happening!” She cried. “Variable A has been exposed to Variable C! The reaction has begun!” She laughed, maniacal and exuberant.

Hordak arose, much more blearily than his partner, and smiled. “I was wondering when they were going to get around to that. We finished making their rings weeks ago.”

“To the observation dome!” Entrapta shouted, leaping to her feet. “For science!” She scuttled out the door and away in a blur of purple and enthusiasm. Chuckling softly, Hordak stood and followed after her.

He stepped outside of their shared room in the Crypto Castle and took a deep breath as he prepared to climb the high stairs to Entrapta’s tower lab. He liked walking them; there were faster and easier ways to the top of the tower but the plodding pattern of his footsteps helped him examine and order his thoughts.

Going up the spiral staircase always seemed like climbing a great hill. It felt good to have hope, and a destination. The closer he got to the top, the more clearly he could hear Entrapta’s cries of excitement. It was like approaching a sun. That felt good, too.

Soon enough he reached the door to the lab (it was already ajar) and gently pushed his way inside. His partner was there, at work in the center of everything, cross-legged in midair as her hair stretched in a dozen different directions.

Entrapta cooed over her scientific instruments. Hordak watched her and felt something powerful move in his chest. Happiness branched through his body and showed plainly on his face. He no longer felt the need to hide his feelings inside.

Coming out of his reverie, Hordak realized quickly that Entrapta was not the only one present. Also populating the lab were Emily, who was doing a headstand, Imp, who was egging her on by playing peppy recordings of Scorpia’s voice, and a reprogrammed Horde drone Entrapta had named ‘Skeletor,’ who was shaking his fists and yelling.

“I’m talking to you, you dimwitted duo!” Skeletor shouted at the other two. “What is it that holds your attention more than the mighty Skeletor?”

Imp blew a raspberry and Emily made a dismissive beeping noise. They returned to ignoring him.

“How you vex me,” Skeletor grumbled.

Hordak looked away from this scene and approached Entrapta. She turned and made a happy noise, reaching out to draw him closer.

Entrapta eagerly showed off her equipment. “Look, look!” She pointed to one of the screens. “This reading means that both of the ring boxes have been opened. And this one means they’re both wearing them!”

She squealed in delight and leaned into Hordak’s shoulder. “And I could’ve gotten a visual, too, but somebody said that would be rude.” She stuck her tongue out, facetiously.

“There is nothing you could not do, if you set your mind to it,” Hordak told her. He pointed to the screen. “Tell me, what do these numbers mean?”

“Heart rate and endorphin levels!” Entrapta replied, happy to explain her machinations. “And it seems like things are going well!” She looked thoughtful. “Hm. You know, I’ve never been to another princess’ wedding before. I wonder if it involves magic? Or if they’ll have tiny food? What kind of present do you think we should bring?”

“I have read about Etherian traditions regarding this institution,” Hordak said, frowning. “This is going to be… somewhat more involved than our ceremony was, isn’t it?”

“If you mean that it won’t be in a lab and there’ll be more witnesses than Imp and the robots, then yes.” Entrapta had concern in her eyes. “What’s going on? Are you worried about the crowd? I know lots of tricks for staying calm in big groups.”

Hordak shook his head. “I was more concerned about how the other guests would react to… well.” He gestured vaguely to himself. “The ones who don’t know us as well as the happy couple, I mean.”

“There’s also Wrong Hordak. And Scorpia. And Perfuma’s getting to like you, too!” Entrapta pointed out. “Plus all the clones from our therapy group. You’re kind of their hero, y’know.”

“I cannot imagine why,” Hordak said. He looked away for a moment, toward where Skeletor continued to bother Imp and Emily.

“You pathetic pair of pitiful pinheads!” Skeletor fumed. “Some day I’ll have the power to destroy you! Some day!”

Imp grumbled and rode Emily to the other side of the lab, leaving the gangly troublemaker behind. Skeletor balled his fists and whined in frustration.

Hordak pursed his lips. “And that still leaves the matter of the other princesses, not to mention the citizenry. Ever since the revolution against Prime, I’ve hoped — ”

“And he prays!” Skeletor suddenly cut in. “Myaah!”

Hordak sighed. “Yes, even that. Every day. To the planet, or whoever cares to listen, that I have not done irreparable harm to this world. Or the fellowship it is made up of. But I fear it may already be too late.”

“Let me check the data!” Entrapta flipped rapidly through her screens. “Nope, Etheria is currently stable. Elemental readings are within parameters. You’re all good!”

Hordak smiled but did not look comforted. “Damage can go deeper than data, my dear,” he said.

“Ah, you’re referring to feelings being hurt.” The princess looked pleased with herself. “Well, I’ve got metrics for that, too. Everyone at Wrong Hordak’s therapy group is now twice as likely to initiate conversations with you while we’re there. Angry glares from people on the street are down forty percent since your cleanup and reconstruction work on Beast Island and Salineas. And...”

Entrapta put her hands on her hips and drew herself up to her full five feet. “You’re my lab partner. If anyone’s got a problem with that, I’ll fight them!” She stuck out her chin and flexed her arms.

Hordak’s worried expression softened. “I am humbled by your loyalty,” he said, sincerely. Then he grew pensive again. ”Do you... ever regret it?” he asked, touching a fingertip to the crystal on his collarbone and gazing at the matching one around Entrapta’s neck.

“A stupid question!” Skeletor interrupted.

“There’s no such thing,” Entrapta retorted. She picked the robot up with her hair and deposited him elsewhere, then turned her attention back to Hordak. “And to answer yours, no I do not. That data point remains unchanged.”

She flashed her eyes flirtatiously and handed him a graph. “Endearment, concupiscence, and intellectual stimulation, however, have all increased considerably. See for yourself!”

Hordak couldn’t help but smile as he reviewed her charts. The warm feeling returned to his chest. “I cannot argue with such fine research,” he relented.

“Data doesn’t lie!” Entrapta affirmed.

“You think you’re so smart!” Skeletor griped.

Without looking around, Entrapta picked him up again and placed him by the door. While he complained, Emily and Imp shooed him the rest of the way out, the latter playing a long recording of Skeletor’s own toothless insults as they went.

“You are still the finest scientist I know,” Hordak purred. He held out a hand. “May I assist you with your work?”

Entrapta beamed. “I thought you’d never ask!” She wrapped herself around him and drew him into her world. Hordak gladly followed. Together, they learned and discovered.

It was fabulous.

“Hordak and She-Ra, both defeated in the same day!” Skeletor said. “Ha! I should come to Etheria more often!”

[yoongiinspired]

Suga Crush- Part 3- Yoongi Fluff/Angst

Admin-J-hoe

Summery- The timetable changes and you’re sure everyone will go back to ignoring you again, but when Jin gets injured, you’re bag isn’t with you. You’re unprepared.

You lay in bed that night smiling uncontrollably. You can't believe it took a wrong coffee order for him to notice you again. And he did it in such a way that you would never get it wrong again, that's for sure.

The next morning you got to work and repeated to yourself ‘two scoops’ as you made Yoongi’s coffee. You finished up making the others’ drinks and placed them all on a tray and tried your best to balance them all as you headed out of the room. But unfortunately you didn’t see the spool of wire someone had dropped and you began falling as you got tangled up in the black snake. The tray slipped out of your hands almost in slow motion but before the drinks tipped to the ground, a hand appeared to steady the tray while another hand grasped your shoulder to steady you. Looking up, you saw the concerned, brown eyes of Jin.

“(Y/n)! That was a close one!” he says, smiling from relief.

So he did know your name after all.

“Ah thank you, Jin.” you say shyly, avoiding eye contact. You shifted the tray in your hands trying to rebalance them.

“Let me help you with some of them.” Jin insists as he grabs some of the mugs off the tray.

You make your way down the corridor and into the practice studio making idle small talk. It was surprisingly easy to talk to Jin cause he was very friendly and as he cracked one of his dad jokes you broke into a giggle and walked into the studio.

All heads whipped round to you and Jin as you entered. Unbeknown to you, Yoongi’s eyes instantly narrow quizzically as he sees you laughing with Jin.

It was early and the boys wanted their coffee to wake them up. You saw Yoongi jump up and jog over to the table where you were beginning to place down the coffee. You picked his mug up and passed it to him.

“How many scoops, (y/n)?” he asks skeptically, looking at the steaming liquid in front of him.

“Two scoops, Suga…” He raises an eyebrow at you, “Ah uh Yoongi. Just like you requested.” you continue proudly.

“Good.” he smiles.

“Wah, why does Yoongi-hyung get special requested drinks?!” you hear Jungkook whine.

“If you don’t ask, you don’t get, maknae.” Yoongi teases back. At this the room is in uproar, each member complaining that they don’t get special drinks and Yoongi trying to defend himself.

“I..I can make all of you a special drink if you want!” you manage to shout above the commotion. But instantly you regretted it.

Everyone started shouting their orders at you all at once. You rummaraged around in your bag trying to find a notepad and pen and began to hurriedly write down each order. You didn’t know there could be so many different and complicated drinks that could be made!

Jin slings his arm around you and your breath hitches in your throat as he says cockily, “(Y/n), you don’t need to make all those drinks for these losers. How about i help you make the coffee in the morning and you make me my special drink only? Seems like a fair deal don’t you think?” He gives a teasing grin to the others who all cross their arms in annoyance.

“Wah! Hang on I asked (y/n) first!” wailed Yoongi, pulling Jin’s arm from around you half jokingly, half defensive.

“Let’s not fight over (y/n), you two.” warns Namjoon.

The attention has never been all on you before and you quickly flush red, uneasy.

“You’re embarrassing her!” Hoseok points out. As you lower your head you catch a glimpse of Jin and Suga smiling at your reaction.

“Look why don’t you all leave her alone and just make everything easy by leaving things how they were.” Yoongi says as he comes to walk around the otherside to you than Jin and lightly grabs your wrist.

“And let you be the only one who gets a special order? I don’t think so! I’m the oldest so i deserve a drink just the way i like it.” Jin says in response and grabs your other wrist, staring at Yoongi. You can’t tell by their tone of voice if they’re joking or are really getting annoyed at each other.

“Don’t be abusing your privilege!” Suga says as he pulls you out of Jin’s grasp.

“Guys i should really..” you start but are quickly cut off by Jin, still staring at Yoongi,

“I would just be getting the respect I deserve!” and he pulls you out of Yoongi’s grasp.

There’s a chorus of ‘oooh’s from the others as they watch this ridiculous scene unfold. Yoongi rolls his eyes, lets out an ‘aish’ and opens his mouth to retaliate but Namjoon steps in before he can get a word out,

“Alright i think that’s enough. (Y/n) has better stuff to do than be your doll, I’m sure.”

Yoongi doesn’t say anything more but looks at your wrist that Jin is still holding. You realise and awkwardly inform Jin - he lets go with an apology but you just smile up at him and tell him not worry. Seeing your smile, something ignites in Jin and his stomach instantly fills with butterflies and he feels light. His eyes brighten as he stares at you but quickly realises what he’s doing and manages to smile back at you before you start to head towards the door. But Suga jogs up to you and pulls on your bag strap to pull you back and stop you at the door.

“Uh you’re still going to make me my drink right?” he asks, annoyed.

You just smile, readjusting your bag and assure him that he’ll get his drink and he doesn’t need to worry.

“Also what was that with Jin?”

“What do you mean?” you say, not understanding what he was referring to.

“You know, he was all defensive about you and you two were laughing as you came in together.” he elaborates.

“I dunno...he was just helping me with carrying all the drinks and he told me one of his jokes. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Then Yoongi asked himself - why was he worrying about the way Jin was acting with you? He suddenly felt protective of you and he didn’t think it was just cause of his coffee.

“I’m...I’m not worried about it. Whatever. Just don’t let him force you to do what he wants yanno.” he says nonchalantly.

“Well I’m just doing my job, Yoongi.” you reply, totally confused to what he was getting at.

“Right...yeah…” he says now unsure what to say. But luckily just then, Hoseok calls him over to start practice and you and he excuse yourselves. You flash him a small smile, bow slightly and walk down the corridor, Yoongi watching as you go.

The morning after, you walk into the coffee room to see Jin standing there, leaning against the counter on his phone. He looks up as you walk in and smiles brightly.

“Jin? What are you doing in here? I can make you your coffee, you don’t need to make it yourself.” you question.

“Well i said that i’d help you make them in the morning so here i am!” he says cheerfully as he tucks his phone into his pocket.

So for the next week when you get to work Jin is there, waiting to help you with the coffee every morning just like he said.

Unfortunately, when the week is up it’s time for them to go back to their schedule of doing performances nearly every day and you won’t get to spend the mornings making coffee with Jin anymore. You’d really enjoyed his company this past week with his jokes and just overall friendly demeanor. You also found out some personal things about him and you in turn shared a little bit of yourself. But now he’ll probably be too busy to even talk to you and your heart sinks as you realise things will just go back to the way they were. Yoongi had even gone back to pretty much ignoring you during the week. You asked him once if there was something wrong but he just waved it off, telling you he might seem a bit off because of stress but you weren’t totally convinced. Maybe you’d overstepped your boundary as a staff member. Cause really that is all you were.

“Jin…” you say, walking down the corridor with the coffee for the last time before the tour.

He hums in response, keeping his eyes on the full cups in his hands.

“I know i’m just staff but i just want to say i’m really going to miss making coffee together every morning.”

Drawing his eyes away from the coffee and to you, he smiles,

“(Y/n)-ah. I’m going to miss it too! But it’s not like we’re going to ignore each other from now on!”

You blush when he uses the informal version of your name and your mind is put to rest. Now it’s just Yoongi you were worried about.

Monday came and with it the start of on location rehearsals. When you had a spare moment, you watched the boys from the wings during their rehearsals but only ever got to interact with them in passing.

“Alright time for break!” shouts the manager and the guys all collapse onto the stage with a sigh of relief. You rush over with a crate of water and hand them out to each one. Yoongi smiles in thanks as he looks at you but then quickly lowers his gaze. You try not to think anything of it and hand Jin a bottle. He mutters a thanks and you turn to go but stop when you hear him say,

“You know, (y/n). I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday about you just being staff and all and i just wanted to tell you that i’d never think any less of you just cause you’re staff. None of us would.”

Hoseok nods beside him and says, “We’re all family. The BTS family!”

“Thanks guys…” you say shyly, “It really means a lot.” and you give a slight bow before heading off again.

“Hang on, (y/n). Stop!” you hear Jin shout after you and stop again, “We have to uh initiate you into the family though!”

You look confused and reply, “Jin, I’ve been-”

“By teaching you my traffic dance!” he cuts you off and stands up. You hear Yoongi groan,

“Jin, i don’t think (y/n) wants to learn your stupid dance.”

“Sure she does! C’mon, put your bag down and come over here.” he beckons you over to the edge of the stage away from the others. You purse your lips unsure whether to do what he says. You look to Yoongi since he was so against it and as you decide to make your way over to Jin he rolls his eyes. You don’t react but instead look back to Jin who was smiling.

Tae, Jungkook and Yoongi go and sit in the auditorium wanting to watch this unfold while Hoseok, Namjoon and Jimin stay to join you in the dancing.

“Ok spread yourselves out then. You need lots of room for this.” Jin instructs and you put down your bag and go in the space near Jimin. Jin first demonstrates the dance which consisted of marching on the spot while straightening your arms out in different directions. He then asks you all to do it but you hesitate, looking to the others who seem to know what they’re doing already. You felt so embarrassed. Looking over to Yoongi, you see his tongue between his teeth as he studies the others dancing then when his eyes move to you he narrows them and raises his eyebrows in a ‘go on then you do it too’ sort of look.

Narrowing your eyes back at him playfully, you start to do the dance the best you can. Obviously it’s not that great cause the moment you start Yoongi begins to laugh, nudges Taehyung and points at you. You know he wasn’t really laughing at you to be mean but you stopped immediately, not wanting to embarrass yourself any further.

“Ah (y/n) don’t stop! You were getting the hang of it! Look just watch me again.” Jin says and begins the dance but when he puts his foot down it collides with one of the pyrotechnics on stage and the moment he turns to look down at it, a blast of multi coloured confetti blows up in his face.

The boys in the auditorium burst out laughing but you and the others on stage rush over to Jin realising that that must have actually hurt. He turns around sputtering out confetti.

“Jin you alright?!” asks Namjoon as he puts a hand on Jin’s shoulder.

“I mean..not really…” he manages to choke out in between coughs. The others realise that something is actually wrong and come to stand at the edge of the stage.

“C’mon, I’ll take you backstage.” you offer and, along with Namjoon, hold him up as you walk backstage to find him some help and clean him up.

“What the hell happened?!” the manager asks as you sit Jin down on a chair.

“A pyrotechnic went off.” Namjoon informs him and he mumbles something under his breath about those damn techies and storms off saying he’s going to give them a piece of his mind.

Jin sits there in what you can only presume to be shock as Namjoon tries to brush the confetti off him. But it’s just gotten everywhere.

“Hang on, i’ve got some wet wipes in my bag.” you say and go to get them. But you can’t because your bag isn’t by your side. It’s never not on your side. It’s then you realise that you took your bag off to dance and left it on stage so you excuse yourself and frantically run back to retrieve it. You rush over to where you had left it.

It wasn’t there.

[suga-angel]

A Crossroad Deal (1)

Summary: After getting out of a long term relationship, you try to move on with your life. However, having spent the last three years unavailable, you are not sure you know how to get back out there again, let alone if you even want to. That is, until you meet Jeon Jungkook, the barista at your college coffee shop. He is more than happy to help you wet your toes in the dating scene again, but at what cost?

Next Chapter 

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: A little of everything

Word Count: 7k

College!Jungkook, somewhat FuckBoy!Jungkook

Warning: language

A/N: The genre is for the whole story over all and not just this chapter. There will be fluff scenes scattered within chapters though. The story starts off slow but picks up with the more chapters added! I hope you enjoy =)

It is the small things that matter; at least, that is what your mother always told you. A warm smile, a hot cup of coffee, the sun breaking through the clouds after a storm. They are the minuscule parts of a person’s day that often go by without much notice. Yet, you’re told that they are the key to brightening up even the most mundane days. “People just had to keep an eye out for them”, she’d say. As you sat in your small cubicle though, you thought of your mother’s words of wisdom; and how completely full of shit they were.

In your defense, you gave it your best shot. You strained your eyes in search of the hidden jewels that life had to offer. But no amount of scenery or human pleasantries could make up for the horrendous day that you were having. Coincidentally, the beginning of your unfortunate events started off with the small things; your alarm never went off that morning. You could have normally lived with this minor inconvenience, to be honest. Your first class of the day was boring as hell, and all of the points gathered in the class were from two in class tests and random assignments that needed to be turned in online. On a regular day, attendance was totally optional and only used to enrich one’s knowledge on the subject. Today, however, was not an optional day. Today was test day, which means if you were more than ten minutes late to class, you got a zero. You could not afford a zero. It was already 7:36 a.m., you had four minutes to get ready if you even hoped to make it to campus on time.

Miraculously, you made it with only two minute to spare. While your mother’s voice whispered in your ear that you should just be appreciative of the fact that you made it to class at all, the lack of caffeine running through your bloodstream shut the idea down immediately. You had barely gotten four hours of sleep due to last minute cramming the night before and you were banking on the opportunity to eat a healthy breakfast with a strong cup of Joe this morning to get you through your day. Now, your only hope is that you could weasel out a granola bar from Jihyun in your next class.

Unfortunately, your day did not get much better from there. Skip ahead two uneaten meals, an annoying campus rally, a painful run in with a moving bicycle, and a shattered phone later, and you found yourself staring at your computer screen at work wondering if being able to pay your bills was worth elongating this day any further. With a sigh, you resigned yourself to getting back to work. There will be time to mope in front of the TV later.

The universe did not seem to be done with you yet, though. Soon after you started brainstorming your next article for the paper, the elevator dinged the newest arrival to your floor. It only took a glance up from your note pad to tell you that you should just give up any hopes of today getting any better. Instantly, you felt your heart sink as your eyes took in the scene before you. A man walked out of the elevator and navigated himself through the maze of cubicles with confident steps leading the way. He had been to this office so many times in the past that he had developed muscle memory to his location, making it so that he didn’t even have to think of his destination to arrive there. Behind his back were the obvious signs of a bouquet of roses that would have any woman’s heart melt. To top of the scene was a radiant smile painted on his face as the person he was looking for came into his line of sight. Mere weeks ago, you would have been overjoyed to see such a familiar scene play out in front of you. Then again, mere weeks ago it would have been you he was smiling at. Now that smile belong to another: Seona.

Its not that I don’t want a relationship anymore, its just that I no longer want it with you.

Even though you’ve had weeks to come to terms with it, the words still rung in your ears painfully. Truthfully, you should’ve seen it coming. The lipstick on his neck in a shade that you did not own, the mysterious marks that littered his skin every now and again, the long nights you laid in an empty bed waiting for your boyfriend of three years to return to you. Jaesung had always shrugged off your inquiry and came up with an excuse of some sort. “You just don’t remember leaving them, honey”, “I had to work overtime tonight baby” or his favorite, “Do you honestly think I could do such a thing to you?” always slipped past his lips, succeeding in silencing your doubts. It was not until you took it upon yourself to search his phone did you find the last piece of evidence you needed to confirm your insecurities.

“You’re staring. Again,” Jihyun’s voice dragged you out of your thoughts. Tearing your eyes away from the happy couple, you turned to your coworker and pestering friend. Her lips were pursed, a clear sign of her disapproval. “Honestly, I don’t see why you are still hung up on him. My dog has a better ass than that piece of walking card board over there.”

A smile cracked onto your face. “You know, I’m still waiting for the I told you so’s”, you replied, half jokingly. You had not known Jihyun for very long now. You two first met a couple of years ago in a general educations course. You both bonded over your shared sarcastic early morning attitude and your shared failing grade in that course. Your friendship only grew when you found out you both were journalists for the school newspaper. Everything was down hill from there. Early morning complaining turned into mid-afternoon trips to the campus coffee house, which then turned into late night outs on the town with the sole mission of getting the most amount of food for the cheapest amount of money. It was a beautiful friendship. However, no matter how close the two of you grew, there was always one thing she could not stand about you; Jaesung. You could never understand her strong dislike towards the person you had presumed to be the love of your life. Countless of times you had tried to get all of you to hang out together, hoping that the more exposure she had to him the more he would grow on her. However, the more she got to know about him, the more she had to dislike. So when you turned up on her doorstep looking like a sobbing mess on the night you confronted Jaesung, you were fully expecting a full-blown speech on how much of a dirt bag he was and how she knew it all along. To your surprise, it has yet to come.

She waved your comment off. “I see no need in stating the obvious. What I do see a need for though is you getting your life back. And no, re-watching your favorite dramas does not mean you have a life.”

Your cheeks puffed out indignantly at her last remark. Sure, since the break up you had been spending a little more time indoors than you usually would. However, that doesn’t mean you no longer had a life. You were still very much a functioning human being living a perfectly acceptable life. Your life now just consisted of cheese covered fingers and watching Song Joong Ki’s beautiful face play out on your TV. And that was perfectly normal.

“Come out with me tonight. It’ll be fun! We could go down town, shop for a ton of shit that we don’t need, get flirted on by a few cute guys, maybe even collect a couple of phone number…?” her voice lowered suggestively as a smirk formed on her face. As you open your mouth to protest she quickly adds on, in a whinier tone this time, “You know it would be fun, don’t lie.”

In all honesty, you knew she was right. Jaesung was not worth your time of day. That is not what any of this was about though. You were not mourning the loss of him per say, but instead the loss of the relationship you thought you had. Deep down you have known that you and Jaesung were not working the way you once did, but you still clung on because you wanted to believe that your relationship was more than it was. The realization that your doubts had been true was a hard blow to take.

“Not tonight, Jihyun. Maybe next week,” you offered with a small smile. Even though you knew you were being irrational, you just wanted to lick your wounds a little longer.

                                                         The sound of your apartment door’s lock coming undone was the most beautiful sound you had heard all day. It meant that all of the horrible luck that had happened earlier in the day could soon be drowned out by the beautiful sound of cheesy dramas and delicious potato chip crunches. Maybe you’d even allow yourself the luxury of eating ice cream right out of the container tonight. It would mean you’d have to add an extra half hour to your work out tomorrow, but it all would be worth it tonight. In retrospect, you should have foreseen the events that followed. After all, you did live with two other roommates, and you could not hog the living room forever.  

Upon walking in to your quaint living quarters, your senses were instantly sent into a state of alarm. There was an awful mixture of smells lingering in the air that if you had to guess were a combination of sweaty socks, greasy pizza, and… was that fish? The thought of all of these ingredients combined left your stomach feeling nauseated at once. It also clued you in on the fact that you had company over tonight. There were only one people who could possibly sweat so much to cause your apartment to smell this horrendously.

Your suspicions were confirmed as you rounded the corner. Your eyes first took in the old gym bag tossed carelessly near the shoe rack with used gym wear peaking out of the sides. As you eyes traveled further into the room you were pleasantly surprised to notice that despite the odor, the room was not a complete mess. For the most part, everything looked in place other than the odd piece of laundry hanging over the back of the arm chair. On the coffee table laid a delicious variety of different take out containers, far more than would reasonably be needed to fill the two boys sitting on the couch at the moment, who were too engaged in the newest episode of Show Me the Money to even notice your presence.

“I’m telling you Hobi, there is no way that he will win. He might be the better rapper, but he’s not as flashy as the rest of them. The audience won’t go for him,” your roommate of the last three years remarked, eyeing the screen with a mix of what looked to between pity and acceptance on his face.

The other boy did not seem too thrilled by Namjoon’s comment. “Aish, you’re not giving the audience enough credit. They won’t be swayed by such superficial things.” Even though his voice was confident the look he shot the TV was anything but.

“Why does my living room smell like boy?” you whined with a pout forming on your lips. Instantly both of the boys on the couch turned to look in your direction, startled.

“Y/N, I missed you!” Hoseok shouted happily once his surprise wore off. A million watt smile was aimed in your direction instantly, causing your tense shoulders to start relaxing involuntarily. It was hard to even pretend to be upset when in the presence of such positive energy. He patted the spot on the couch between him and Namjoon, beckoning you towards him. “Come on, come on, we ordered your favorite pizza.”

“What does that even mean, it smells like boy? Are you saying boys naturally smell? Sexist.” Your roommate grumbled as you all but collapsed on the spot between him and Hoseok.

“What I am saying is that Hobi should start a load of laundry if he’s going to be crashing here after dance practices” you corrected. From your other side you heard the dance major let out a scoff, clearly not pleased by your comment. “Hobi, I love you, but your practice clothes smell after you’re done.”

“Yah, what disrespect. After I bought you a whole feast for dinner this is how you repay me?” The volume of his voice slowly rose as he talked. It caused a grin to break out on your face, especially when you spotted the playful look he shot you. Even Namjoon chuckled from your other side.

“So how was work? Did you come up with your next article yet?” he questioned, reaching over you to grab his bottle of beer from the coffee table. His eyes looked at you with honest curiosity. It was reasons like this that you took so easily to Namjoon when you first met him. He was genuine. He did not merely talk to you for the sake of making small talk, but because he honestly cared about what was going on in your life. To be honest, if it weren’t for the discussions you had with him over possible article subjects you don’t think your work would be as well rounded at it was.  

Unfortunately, not even your cultured roommate could get you out of your dry spell. With a defeated sigh, you slouched back onto the couch, accepting the plate of pizza Hobi handed to you with a grateful nod. “Not even close. I know that there has to be a story out there on campus, I just can’t find it.”

“Maybe that has something to do with the fact you haven’t left the apartment in weeks” Hobi observed, his voice taking on an innocent tone. At the sight of your eyes narrowing he instantly added, “I’m just saying, how will you know what is going on on campus if you are never actually on campus?”

To your horror, Namjoon nodded his head in agreement. “Face it Y/N, you’ve been sitting on this couch for far too long. You need to get out there again. Maybe head over to that one café you like and eavesdrop on what people are saying.”

The other boy made a noise of doubt at that. “I don’t know. She used to like that place because the guy that worked there was cute, but he quit so…”

Your body instantly reacted to those words by sitting up straighter. “What?? Jackson quit? Why? He was literally the sweetest man on the face of this earth! He always remembered my name - he even spelt it correctly!” This day just seemed to be getting worse and worse by the minute.

“From what I heard, he got a job down at the campus gym as a personal trainer. He’s actually pretty good. He has a line of people waiting to be trained by him. He’s very popular with female clients.” Silently, you thought that that had more to do with his physique rather than his actual skill. The boy had the body of a Greek god. You kept your opinion to yourself though.

“Oh, that is an idea” the purple haired boy said, staring at you encouragingly. “You could start hitting the gym again. People love to gossip at the gym. Plus, you’ve been getting a little flabby.” To emphasize his point he poked your thigh with a playful expression, letting you know that he was just messing with you.

Nonetheless you still swatted his hand away indignantly. “I appreciate both your concern, but I am perfectly fine, thanks” you stated, a bit sarcastically, to your roommate, before turning to his friend to add, “And I’ll have you know, Jackson was just one of the reasons I like that café. They also have delicious pastries. Maybe Minjin would like to come with me tomorrow…” you wondered the last bit out loud. Truthfully, it had been a while since you hung out with your female roommate, even though you lived together. It would be nice to spend some time with her again.

“She’d like that. She’s been complaining lately that you don’t have time for her anymore since you’ve fallen in love with your dramas” Namjoon commented, looking at you with an amused smirk. Instantly, Hobi let out a giggle, turning in his seat to face his friends with a new burst of excitement.

“Oh oh, remember when we came here a couple of days ago and she was talking to his character on the screen? ‘Yoo Shi Jin, forget about the brat, I’m here for you!’” A blush creped onto your face as you remembered your slip up in front of the guys. Maybe you had been watching dramas a little too long after all.

“Yah, I can’t hear the show over you two. Tsk…” you grumbled, stuffing your face with a big bite of pizza as you sulked. They only responded with their chuckles.

                                                       “No” you instantly said, stepping closer in line. It was a Saturday morning, so the café was not as crowded as it usually was during the weekday morning rush, but the loyal weekend customers still filled up the place for a small line to have formed. Glancing around you noticed with a pang of disappointment that Jackson was in fact gone. You let out a disappointed sigh. Hopefully the muffins were still good.

Minjin didn’t seem to like your response. “You don’t know, it could be fun! I hear he’s an artist! That’s hot right? Sexy, brooding artist?” You rolled your eyes at that, continuing to glance around the café. Not much had changed other than Jackson’s departure since you had last been there a few weeks ago. The place was still as cozy and comfortable as you remembered it. The only noticeable change is that there was a new barista behind the counter. Despite the fact that he was new, he didn’t seem to be under the pressure that came with starting a new job. He even felt confident enough to socialize with the customers as he created each individualized creation with a speedy accuracy. Interesting.

“Let me be clearer. Hell no.” you replied to your roommate as you stepped closer in line, starting to regret asking her to come out with you. Everything had been going normally until she had you trapped in the coffee shop. That is when she revealed her true interest in wanting to hang out with you.

Minjin let out a small, cute whine beside you. “Oh come on Y/N! Do it for me! Do you know how long it is been since I’ve had sex with my boyfriend? Weeks. Weeks!” True to Minjin’s fashion, her voice was much louder than socially accepted to be saying such things in public. Unsurprisingly, her statement did not settle well with some of the other customers: specifically, the elderly couple standing in front of you who turned around to face you both just long enough to convey their disapproval. From the corner of your eye you saw the barista give a little smirk, but did not avert his attention away from his current task.

“Then have sex, I honestly do not see why I have to be involved with this” you replied, unphased. You had been living with your roommate for far too long for her openness about such things in public to bother you anymore. Your mood was slightly elevated when you noticed you were next to be served after the couple in front of you, though.

“Because his roommate won’t leave the damn apartment! I’m just asking for an hour, maybe two tops. Just take him out somewhere, hell, come here! Please, just do it for me” she pleaded, giving you her best puppy dog eyes. “Plus, who knows, you might hit it off! It could put an end to your dry spell!”

Warmth started to creep up your neck at her last comment. Sadly, her words were not wrong. Even though you and Jaesung only broke up a few weeks ago, your lack of sexual activities extended far before that. At the time he always claimed it was because he was too worn out from work, but in light of recent events you suspected he was just getting action from someone else.

“Leave my dry spell out of your horniness. I’ll have you know I am perfectly fine with my sex life.”

It was at that very moment that it became your turn to order. From the amused look the barista gave you both, he had not been spared from hearing the conversation between the two of you. The knowledge only made your face head up further.

“How may I help you today?” His voice was deeper than you were expecting. It had a certain warmth to it that momentarily left you forgetting your persistent roommate all together. 

Quickly snapping out of your small daze, you politely ordered: A medium caramel ice blended coffee with two shots of espresso, hold the whipped cream. Was the drink enough to give you a burst of energy? Not really, but you wanted to splurge a bit today. Your usual Americano could wait for Monday morning. Once your companion gave her order as well, the barista got to work on your drinks.

“You’re new here, right?” Minjin inquired, looking at the boy behind the counter. Her mission at the time to set you up on a blind date seemed to be momentarily set aside. “Are you Jackson’s replacement?”

A deep chuckled rumbled out of the boys chest, causing his shoulders to shake slightly. The sound alone sent a shiver down your spine. “So it seems. He was pretty popular among here with the ladies, wasn’t he?” A smirk tugged on his lips as he spoke, continuing to mix up your drinks.

“Jackson is popular wherever he goes, he makes sure of it.” Minjin stated playfully. While they spoke, you took the time to let your eyes wander over the new barista. It would be an injustice to merely call him good looking. It was almost annoying how you couldn’t find a single flaw about him. Even the way that his bangs fell in front of his eyes drew you in. You suddenly had an urge to reach over and move his hair away, if only just to feel if his locks were truly as soft as they seemed. Not to mention the way that his black uniform top clung to his biceps, causing the material to stretch each time he flexed his muscles as he continued to mix the drinks. While the company apron covered his chest and torso, you still got a glimpse of his firm pecks straining against the fabric. But above all else, what really caught your attention were his wide brown eyes that beckoned you in. The very eyes that were staring into your own at that very moment.

You did not think it was possible for your face to get any warmer as a small, knowing smirk spread onto the boy’s lips. He gave a small, cocky tilt of the head, but there was no other sign that gave away the fact that he had indeed caught you giving him a thorough look over as he continued his discussion with an oblivious Minjin, the smirk never leaving his face.  

“That’ll be eight fifty nine” he said, finally looking back at you. You did not miss the way that his eyes scanned over your body for a moment before returning to meet your own with cock of his head, almost challengingly. It took a moment of just standing there to realize that he was waiting for your response. With a quick, stuttered apology you reach into your purse and hand him ten-dollar bill. You did not wait for a reaction, merely nodding your head with a mumbled thank you before tugging your roommate out of the store with your drinks in hand. Behind you, the distinct sound of his deep chuckle could be heard but you paid it no mind as you made your way towards the exit, desperately wanting to put your embarrassment in the past.

Usually, you could handle situations like these with far more grace and overall smoothness. However, for the past three years you never noticed another man the way that you just noticed this new barista. Your commitment to your relationship left you blinded to other people’s advances. It also left you with an annoying lack of experience in how to deal with them, especially from impossibly attractive men. Maybe you did need to get out more, at least for the sake of not making such a fool of yourself again.

With a grudging sigh, you hunched your shoulders. “Fine, give me this artist’s number.”

                                                       “This is a horrible idea,” you stated as you looked at your reflection in the mirror with great skepticism. It has been a week since you had agreed to go on the blind date and the closer the date approached the more trepidation you felt. Nonetheless, you tried remaining positive about it. It was a chance to get out of this rut you put yourself in. You were not letting yourself back out of it. Yet, as you looked over your chosen outfit, you felt the anxiety bubbling up again. “This is a horrible idea, isn’t it? Why did I agree to this? Why did you let me agree to this? Damn it, Namjoon, I need to change again.”

Your roommate watched you stomp back into your closet with a look of amusement. You had pulled him away from reading to help you pick out an outfit to wear. That was nearly thirty minutes ago, and so far he has watched you try on nearly half of your closet. Some part of him knew that there was a billion of better ways to spend his day, but watching your meltdown was too good to pass up. “Why are you even freaking out anyways? You didn’t want to go on the date to begin with.”

You merely rolled your eyes. “I haven’t gone out on a date with anyone but Jaesung in years. I don’t even know proper first date etiquette anymore. What if he tries to like, make a move or something? No, my outfit must portray a friendly and approachable yet clearly emphasize the strictness of my personal bubble.”

Namjoon just stared in your direction. “Clothes can’t talk for you, Y/N. Plus, as I remember, you can dish out a rather affective slap. If he gets too handsy just lay one on him.”

Even with you in the closet, he could still hear you sigh. “You are useless. Hobi would have been more help than you, and he’s married to his own dance moves.”

The purple hair man let out a long breath, counting to ten in his head before getting up from his place on your bed. While this had been fun, it was starting to get old. It was time he took things into his own hands.

“Move” he demanded, walking into the close and towards your wall of clothes. He didn’t even glance in your direction, even though the only forms of clothing you had on were an undershirt and a pair of panties. In his first year of living with you girls, he had to quickly grow accustom to both yours and Minjin’s habit of walking around in various levels of undressed in the apartment. It started off with minor things, such as going braless around the apartment or leaving your underwear in the shared bathroom without worrying that he would see it. However, when you both deemed him to not be a threat to either of you, you both got a little more daring by walking around the apartment in nothing but a large shirt to eventually feeling comfortable enough to change right in front of him without much of a care. At first he had to admit that his manhood had taken a hit, but he soon got used to it. None of you guys saw each other as anything other than friends, possibly even a sort of family. Plus, it came with its perks; he no longer had to worry about walking in nothing but his boxers to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

After studying the wardrobe for a few minutes he reached into it and pulled out a loose fitted blouse that hung off your shoulders along with a pair of ripped skinny jeans before tossing them into your arms. “There, wear that. It still makes you look cute and feminine but makes it seem casual without trying too much.”

You eyed the clothing for a brief moment before shrugging and putting them on. Despite your roommates questionable fashion at time, he never led you astray when it came to what you should wear. He knew what trends you liked or disliked and based his opinions off that, not what he liked personally. It was another aspects that you loved about him; he never pushed his own opinions onto other people.

“Thanks Joonie. I owe you” you grinned, going to go slip on a pair of converse.

“Mhm. Just have fun, okay? You’re stressing yourself out for nothing. You could actually maybe hit it off with him.” With a shrug, he made his way out of the room, not even looking over his shoulder when he shouted back at you, “Oh! And bring me back a muffin as compensation for this!”

Despite the fact that your eyes rolled back into your head, you couldn’t stop the soft chuckle that passed your lips. Namjoon was right. You were overthinking this. It was one blind date, barely better than two people hanging out. There definitely would be no hand holding or kissing or anything of the sort. This is just one friend helping another friend get laid by taking their boyfriend’s roommate out of the house for a bit. It was nothing really. Plus, what did you have to lose?

                                                    A lot. It turns out you had a lot to lose, most important of which being your sanity. However, you had started to worry that your freedom was at risk as well because if he said one more thing out of place you feared that you would be thrown in jail for assault. You prided yourself in not being a physically aggressive person, but this asshole seemed to know each of your buttons to press.

The date hadn’t started off all that badly. In fact, when you first saw him walk up to you outside of the café, you actually thought he was kind of cute. He somehow made long, shaggy hair work with his features, and while he wore rather casual clothes they were all in pristine condition and fit his shape very well, which had let you know he cared about how he looked. You could admire that about a person. Mostly because half of the time you couldn’t find a single ounce of effort to care about how you looked.

Still, you were starting to have high hopes for this blind date. When he introduced himself as Jinho he seemed soft spoken as he offered to shake your hand. Your first impression of him was that he was polite and rather shy. He kept a healthy distance between you two and kind of shied into himself a bit. In all honesty, you thought it was somewhat cute. However, all of your optimism was wiped away when you both walked inside.

The first thing that had clued you in that things would probably not go as well as you had hoped was the familiar looking barista cleaning up the space behind the counter. He wore the same black shirt that you saw him in last, with the green strings of his apron wrapping around his waist rather snuggly. Luckily his back was turned towards you so he could not spot you. However, this left you with a perfect view of his back muscles stretching out the fabric of the shirt to the point you weren’t sure the shirt would hold. You also weren’t sure if the sight was a blessing or a curse.

Oblivious to your sudden nervousness, your date ushered you to stand at the counter. You were half tempted to turn around and find another café to have this date at but you figured you were being irrational. This was your favorite place to hang out at, after all. You were not going to give up your precious muffins just because of one embarrassing encounter with McDreamy from behind the counter. Besides, he most likely didn’t even recognize you. He sees hundreds of people daily; it was unlikely that you were the only one who obviously checked him out. Especially considering how good-looking he was, it must happen all the time for him.

Your hopes were instantly torn apart the moment he turned around. His eyes found yours within seconds, and from the small smirk that appeared at the corner of his mouth, you could tell that he recognized you. You silently had to remind yourself that the muffins at this place were worth it.

For his part though, he didn’t vocalize his recognition. “How may I help you both today?” he said with a pleasant smile, drying off his hands on a towel from his vest.

“Um… I’ll have a kale smoothie. Along with a fruit bowl.” To be honest, that should have been your second clue that something was not right with this guy. But nonetheless, you weren’t about to judge him off of his palate taste. You still held onto your hope for this to turn out well.

The barista merely nodded, writing up the order before turning to you next curiously.

“I’ll have a caramel ice blended coffee with two shots. Hold the whip please. Oh, and a blue berry muffin.” In your haste to get ready this morning, you forgot to grab a bite to eat. Part of you might have done it on purpose just to get the chance to eat a muffin. You’d never admit it though.

“Are you sure you want to order that?” Jinho remarked beside you, his voice changing from the soft-spoken boy you’d met outside to one of pure judgment. “Do you know how many calories are in just your drink alone? Don’t even get me started on that muffin. No one needs that much sugar in one sitting.”

There it is. The point of no return. The climax of this date, as you would later put it. It is the very moment that your day dream of slapping the sneer off of his face was born. Any hope you had left for this day was instantly thrown out the window.

Even the barista looked taken back by his remark. He stared between the two of you somewhat startled. You, on the other hand, did not even glance towards your date. You merely continued to stare at the café employee in your state of shock. You’d never had someone so rudely comment on your choice of food, let alone someone you had not even known for five minutes. You could feel your eyes narrowing as your jaw set itself into place. In that moment you knew the next hour of your life would be a slow and painful one.

Somehow, you managed to put a smile back on your face, no matter how tight it might of felt. Turning to your date, you said, “You are completely right. The blueberry muffin won’t do.” You then turned you the man behind the counter. “Could I have your double chocolate muffin instead?”

On your part, you could not tell whose reaction you enjoyed more: the disgusted scoff that made its way out of Jinho or the momentary laugh that escaped the barista’s mouth, for which he quickly tried passing off as a cough as he hastily wrote down your orders in his notepad.

Unfortunately, everything just went down hill from there. No matter how hard you tried to make the next hour somewhat pleasant, you found yourself disliking the man the more he talked. From the corner of your eye you swore you say the barista glance towards your table with an amused smirk on his face. At least someone is getting some type of enjoyment out of this, you thought.

“So yeah. Like I love art and all, but I just hate most art, you know? Like, the art is so corrupt now a day. That’s why I can’t stand it” he continued, as he had done for the past fifty minutes. You glanced up at the clock as you hummed a response, not even really listening at this point. It is not like he even let you get a sentence in if you wanted to. Ten more minutes. You could last ten more minutes with this guy, right? Minjin better be getting the best fucking of her life right now.

“Like, portraits are so last century. Do people really not know how to create anything else? Where is the creativity in just copying something you can see every day? They’re almost as bad as photographers. Am I right?”

That is it. You could not take it any longer. “I’m sorry, what kind of artist did you say you were?” you asked, keeping your voice so sweet it bordered on sickly.

Your question seemed to excite him though. He sat up straight in his chair, pulling out his phone. “I’ll show you. I think you’ll be very impressed actually.” He then thrusted his phone in your face.

At first, you could do nothing but blink. Try as you might, you could not understand what exactly you were seeing. “I’m sorry, but this canvas is blank.”

His face instantly scrunched up into a sneer, snapping his phone away to cradle it to his chest protectively as if you had just injured it somehow. “It is not blank. Its painted with different shades of white and glossed over so there are no brush strokes. It is my proudest piece.” He then proceeded to look at his phone fondly before adding, “I guess a commoner like you wouldn’t be able to understand its beauty. It’s okay, you can’t be helped.”

Once again you were left speechless. You didn’t know if you should laugh at his audacity or smack him, so instead you settled on just staring at him, baffled. Some part of your brain registered a somewhat familiar laughter coming from behind the counter that is not far from the table you are sitting at but you were in too much of a state shock to acknowledge it.

When your amazement started to fade away all that was left was anger. You had made a silent promise to yourself that you would make it to the hour mark so that Minjin could have as much time with her boyfriend as your sanity could take, but you knew that if you spent another minute with this prick you would be dumping the remainder of your drink on his head. “You know, I think it is time that I head home” you stated, collecting your stuff.

“Oh,” Jinho replied, somewhat shocked. “Well… maybe I could take you home, and we could pick things up from there,” his voice suddenly turned what you were guessing was meant to be seductive as he leaned closer to you.

The laugh that erupted from your throat shocked both of you. “I’m sorry, but what part of this date could have possibly made you think any of this had gone well?” you asked, your disbelief clear in your voice as you stared at him as if he had grown another head.

“Honestly? This was awful. You’re kind of rude. And stuck up. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still have some fun. One that doesn’t involve you to talk.”

You chose to ignore the laugh from a certain barista that followed that comment. Instead, you just gave Jinho a look of only dimly hidden disgust. Unfortunately, it didn’t phase him as much as you had hoped. Instead he just shrugged as he stood up, adding, “Fine, your loss. You can cover all this right? I’m living off of an artist salary and all. It’s a hard life, but its better than being one of those mindless people that just go to college, right?”

You leaned your head against your hands and rubbed your temples, hoping that if you closed your eyes and prayed hard enough you would wake up from this nightmare. “Please… just leave,” you half whined, not even opening your eyes when you heard the sound of his feet walking away. It was not until you heard the door shut after him that you opened your eyes again, if only to make sure that he truly was gone.

With a somewhat obnoxious groan, you threw your head back and rubbed your face. You somehow felt at least ten years older. Minjin owed you so much after doing this for her.

“He’s right you know,” a deep voice said. Sitting up straight again, your eyes fell upon the barista, who was standing by your table, cleaning up after the trash Jinho left behind. The bastard even left trash for you to clean up after, you thought bitterly.

“Huh?” you said, once again cursing yourself for your lack of elegance in front of this man.

“About the muffin. It goes straight to your ass” he replied, his tone being completely serious. You would’ve taken offense to it if it weren’t for the playful smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Haha, very funny, pour salt on the open wound. To think I was gonna leave you a good tip…” you grumbled lightly, before shaking your head. “God, I will kill Minjin.”

“Why? I thought the date went very well. I haven’t laughed that hard in a while,” he teased, his smirk growing to a full-blown smile. You took note to the fact that he was taking a particularly long time to pick up two pieces of trash.

“You’re begging not to get tipped aren’t you?” Your voice rose in volume a bit, but a smile started to form on your lips.

“Please, from the way you eyed me up when you walked in I deserve a good tip. The show isn’t for nothing you know.” His grin grew wider as he took in the faint blush forming on your cheeks. “You’re not sly in the least bit. You should probably work on that before you go on any other date.”

You busied yourself with getting out your wallet in hope that if you don’t look directly at him he would not notice the way your face heated up further. “I cannot say I know what you are talking about,” you played ignorant, placing the money down on the table. He only grinned at that.

“I’m sure you don’t.” With that he reached into his apron pocket and pulled out his receipt forms, writing something on it before placing it on the table in front of you. “I’ll see you around then, Y/N.” With a smirk he collected your money and headed back towards the counter.

You blinked in shock for a few moments, before quickly gathered your things to make your exit. You would not allow him the satisfaction of witnessing further evidence of the affect he had on you. It was not until you were sitting within the protection of your car that you allowed yourself the opportunity to process todays events. Was he flirting with you? No, he couldn’t be. But was he? When had you become so awful at figuring these things out? And how did he know your name?

With a small sigh, you glanced down at your receipt, making sure you had left enough money to cover everything. That is when you noticed it. For some unknown reason, a slow grin formed on your face before you could fight it off. That cocky bastard, you thought. With a shake of your head, you tossed the receipt back into your purse before starting up the car. Maybe Jackson leaving the café wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened after all.

It’s Jungkook, by the way. Incase you needed a name for when you bragged about me to your friend ;)

[postfuguestate]

Rewrites

So I’m writing this Life is Strange fanfic called Grit and I recently found a draft of a scene where the protagonist, Victoria, has a run-in with her social rival, Rachel Amber. I had to rewrite that scene from scratch, partly because I thought that I had lost that draft.

The high quality of those opening sentence indicate how necessary redrafting is for me, generally...

Anyway, for (hopefully) fun, I’m bunging the original draft and the final version below for your comparing and contrasting pleasure!

(And if you wanted to read the whole thing from the start, you can read it right here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10449993/chapters/23067879 )

So, a quick note: the original draft was written a couple of months before the final draft. I had an idea of what the scene was likely to be, but I didn’t know specifically where it would fit into the story, or where Victoria was emotionally. So the original draft was written in a vacuum, just to get the ideas down.

This isn’t really a normal process for me. I tend to just rework and refine a draft rather than write multiple versions. But I thought this might be interesting?

Oh, and I have resisted the considerable temptation to fix anything in the first draft. It’s pretty much as I first wrote it.

First Draft:

"Well, well, Victoria Chase walks among us again! I would be strewing rose petals at your feet, but I ran out of roses."

Rachel fucking Amber strides towards Victoria across the quad with all the poise and certainty of a catwalk model. And while she might be too short to walk runways, she's too beautiful not to turn heads wherever she passes.

Everything about Rachel Amber pisses Victoria off at the best of times, but if her voice is warm, her words are ice down Victoria's spine.

"Fuck off, Amber. We're not friends and I'm not interested in that changing."

Rachel gasps in mock horror. "Don't you even want to know how my Thanksgiving was? Or what I did with all my roses?"

"I want to go to my dorm without throwing up at the stench of skank. Move."

Rachel isn't really blocking her path, and it would be easy to walk around her, but that would be too much like giving in for Victoria to consider it.

Rachel taps her chin with one long finger. Her nails are perfect. "Hmm. Here I was, all ready to tell you all about Heliogabulus and a prank I have conceived in his honour, and you go straight to cheap insults."

"Still don't care. Get to the point or move."

Rachel pouts. "I'm almost beginning to think that you don't like me, Victoria!"

"You are slow on the uptake, Rachel. I'd hate you if I thought you were worth the energy."

Rachel's expression brightens. "Ooh! That's a bit better! Still room for improvement, but preferable to name-calling."

Victoria takes a step forward. She glares down and the shorter girl. "Are you done?"

"Fine, fine!" Rachel holds up her hands. "I was only teasing. I'd like it if we could be friends, Victoria. Or at least not enemies. Having enemies clogs the pores, don't you think?"

Victoria smiles her most cutting smile and steps forward. Rachel moves out of the way, and Victoria smirks and heads towards the dorms.

She makes it two more steps before Rachel says, "You should lay off Taylor."

Victoria stiffens. She turns around and glares at Rachel. Rachel smiles pleasantly back at her. Victoria growls, "What the fuck did you say?"

Rachel shrugs. "Taylor. You know, the girl who seems to want spend all her free time in your shadow? She's too nice to be stuck with you."

Victoria feels her skin heat up. "Fuck you, Rachel. You don't know anything about me. Or Taylor. Who happens to be my best friend."

Rachel laughs. "Oh, Victoria. You're kinda transparent, y'know? And the only thing you and Taylor really have in common is that you're both trying too hard to be you."

Victoria glares at Rachel but for some reason she can't stop herself sounding defensive when she asks, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Rachel rolls her eyes. "Oh, honey. You're not the right kind of pretty to be so obvious."

Victoria does not need any of this right now. She grits her teeth. "Why don't you go fuck-"

Rachel steps forward, crowding Victoria. Her are like icebergs: cold, hard, dangerous and hinting at unknowable dimensions beneath the surface.

In a flat, clipped voice Rachel says, "What? Don't like it when someone pops out of nowhere and starts giving you shit for no good reason? Huh. And I thought that was your thing."

Victoria can't think of anything to say, not before Rachel steps back, grinning and warm again. "Anyway, see you at the Vortex reunion bash later?"

Rachel keeps backing away, head cocked and grin locked in place.

Victoria can only ask, "What the fuck...what is your problem?"

Rachel laughs and spreads her arms. "Oh, come on, don't you know? There are no problems, only opportunities! Later, sweetie!"

And with that, Rachel pivots on her heel and strides off. She's long gone before Victoria can think of anything to say.

And the Final Version:

Victoria doesn't want to retreat, but she doesn't want to have to deal with Rachel. She tries to walk past the table, ignoring her.

Before Victoria has even drawn level with her, Rachel says, "Victoria Chase walks among us again!"

Victoria pauses, reluctantly.

Rachel is drawing her right hand with her left. Near the wrist, her sketch dives beneath the skin, revealing muscle, sinew, and bone.

It's exquisite. And fucking creepy.

Rachel looks up at her, smiling all the way to her hazel eyes. "If I'd known you'd be out so early, I'd have brought some roses. I could've strewn rose petals in your path."

Victoria's whole body tenses, the last wisps of her delicate mood burning away. "If I'd known you were going to be here, I'd have gone somewhere else."

Rachel laughs cheerfully. She taps her chin with the pen while she studies Victoria.

"Hmm. Good thing I didn't waste all those roses, I suppose. Perhaps I'll borrow a trick from Heliogabulus when I use them later."

Victoria wants Rachel to stop talking, but she doesn't want to show weakness. "Perhaps you'll get to the fucking point. If you actually have one?"

Rachel switches her pen to her right hand, and makes a few quick, bold strokes on a fresh page of her sketchbook.

"I'm just saying welcome back, Victoria. Be nice, or I won't tell you who Heliogabulus is."

Rachel's pen moves quickly. Her eyes stay mostly on Victoria, though she flicks a glance at the page from time to time. Her lips continue to smile.

"I don't give a shit!"

Rachel glances down, saying, "That's really not your problem, my darling Chase."

"I don't have any problems, precious Amber."

Rachel raises her free hand and waggles it. "Eh. Bit obvious, but not bad. You and Taylor both have the same problem, in fact."

Victoria grits her teeth. "Other than dealing with you, I don't see what that could be."

Rachel finishes sketching. She tears the page out of her book, and shows it to Victoria. She's surprised to see her own face scowling back at her. It's a simple sketch, but startlingly lifelike.

As Victoria studies herself through Rachel's eyes, Rachel says, "You're both trying too hard to be you."

Victoria stares at her. "What...? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Rachel tuts. "Oh, honey. You're the wrong kind of pretty to be that kind of dumb."

Victoria isn't sure when she started shaking. She has to make a conscious effort not to chew her lip.

With a convulsive jerk, Victoria yanks Rachel's drawing out of her hand. She tears it in half, wads the pieces into a ball and tosses it at Rachel's face.

Rachel doesn't even so much as blink when it hits her cheek. "Play nice, Victoria," she says, calmly.

"Listen, bitch. I've tolerated your bullshit so far, but I'm about fucking done!"

Rachel smiles over Victoria's shoulder. "Good morning, Mr Madsen."

Victoria takes a quick breath before she turns.

David Madsen glowers at them both. "Everything okay here...ladies?"

There's a tightness to him that manifests in the skin around his eyes, and the pitch of his voice.

Victoria nods stiffly. "We're fine."

"You were yelling." He glares at her, stepping forward so that he's standing just a little too close. "And littering."

His kuckles are white.

Before Victoria can say anything, Rachel chimes in with, "We were just playing a game, Mr Madsen. Sorry if we got too loud. And look!" Rachel scoops up the paper ball. "No more litter!"

David glances at Rachel, grunts, and walks away in the direction of the dorms.

Victoria fumbles for her cigarettes.

Rachel says, "He...is one motherfucking piece of shit asshole."

Victoria's so startled by the undisguised venom in Rachel's voice that she drops the packet.

Rachel tucks her sketchbook into her bag and climbs off the bench while Victoria recovers her cigarettes.

Victoria is about to light up when Rachel touches her wrist. "Come on, silly. Not here."

When Victoria hesitates, Rachel gently grips her wrist and tugs Victoria towards the steps.

Victoria finds her voice. "I'm not going to the fucking bleachers. Not with you."

Rachel tilts her head and studies Victoria again. "Oh? Who do you normally go with?"

Victoria snatches her hand away. "Fuck off, Rachel. Leave me the fuck alone."

Rachel sighs. "I had hoped we were going to bond, but..."

Rachel takes a step back and curtsies ostentatiously. "Good night, sweet Chase. And flights of angels sing thee to thy cigs."

Victori snarls, "Why are you fucking with me today?"

Something dangerous pushes every vestige of warmth from Rachel's eyes. "It's not nice, is it? Being fucked with for no good reason? That's something you should maybe ponder once in a while."

Rachel turns, pauses to blow Victoria a kiss, and strides away.

[blog-armee-blog]

Take Me Home

Pairing: EXO Baekhyun | Reader Genre: Angst | Fluff Summary: At 11:47 at night, when winter flurries covered the night sky, and relationship shattered in a matter of time, the presence of a certain cute and thoughtful coworker was more than comforting on the supposedly lonely walk home. Author’s note: Inspired by this beautiful song (that I’ve listened to way too many times that I had lost count of the views): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CRWAZZanLg 

(Picture cre: http://iflirtwithexo.tumblr.com)

I tucked my nose into the thick beige knitted scarf, now covered in flurries, hoping to exchange for some warmth. My hands were freezing in the side pockets of my navy blue trench coat and the fact that I was still in my uniforms did not do my legs any favors when standing under the frosty sky with icy, wintry gusts of air sending few shivers up my thighs ever-so-frequently. I had been waiting for nearly half an hour for the sight of a familiar car coming to pick me up as promised but it was nowhere to be found. The road was empty and cold, somehow gave off the feeling of loneliness, of being neglected and abandoned, somehow felt like me now.

“You haven’t gone home yet?” a chirpy voice called out to me from behind, freed me from my train of thoughts fortunately before it went tumbling downhill in much deeper and darker place. I jumped a little at the sudden contact as his hooded parka draped over my shoulder. He took a few more steps and stood right beside me. His eyes followed all around to take in the rare, serene city sight before tilting his head back and sending chuckle into mid-air. “You dress so lightly for this weather. It’s already 11:47. Who are you trying to impress?” I shook my head slightly and looked down at the snow white pavement. The corner of my lips curved up slightly somehow added a tint of rosy pink to my already redden cheeks. He had always managed to make me smile. His presence made me felt warm and accompanied. It was easy with him.

“Baekhyun-ah, you’re going to get a cold like this,” I dragged out the syllables in tiredness, feeling a little light-headed after a long, busy day at work, “then I’ll have to take over your shifts and work overtime. In that case, I’d rather stood here in this bleak weather.” The café was rather popular in the city for its pastry and of course, a large supply of freshly grained coffee every day. And by the time winter came around, the crave for the tantalizing of fresh coffee and its warmth went sky-rocketed, especially when winter had always given off such solitary feel. To put aside the fact that I had to hustle through early mornings and late nights, I did enjoy being welcomed by the wonderful sweet scent of brisk morning wind, steaming dark coffee and pieces of glistening pastry treat. Reverting my attention back to the raven-haired boy, I broke into a little laugh at his silliness as his nose crunch up dramatically in displease when I tried to pass the coat back to him. His hands rose up in defense, keeping an arm-length distance between us. “Hey now, I came prepared. Unlike someone.”

He quickly jogged back to the front door and got a hold of another winter coat, but this time it was a black puffer. Struggling to pull a stuck zipper, he turned to look at me again. “Why aren’t you going home?” He paused for a moment before returning to his zipper, hand pulling up swiftly, then looked back directly into my eyes. “He’s late again, isn’t he? That’s it. Today I’m walking you home.” My eyes widened at the sudden declaration that he was so proud of. Though it was typical of Baek to help out others with the brightest attitude and since we had gotten really close through work, it should have been no surprise but funnily enough, he was never this confident getting involved in my affairs before.

“No, it’s quite alright. My house is not too far away and I think I can manage. You should go the station now if you want to catch the last train back home, you know, across town.” I deadpanned. He would struggle to get to the train station at this hour, not to mention getting himself home yet wanted to walk me home? It was amusing to see him so naïve being selfless.

Letting out a big huff, his eyebrows furrowed, lips pressed together before locking his eyes with mine sternly, “Your house is just as far, don’t you think I don’t know it. Besides I’m not taking a no for an answer, and that you know.”

As helpful as he was, it was undeniable how stubborn and persistent he could be when he knew what he wants. Nodding my head in realization, I ended up giving in and followed what he said in a matter of seconds to avoid all troubles that he had forewarned.

The way back home was dimly lit by a few lamp posts placed sporadically. They gave off fuzzy gold color light that somehow warmed up a touch of the dreary night sky. We took small steps slowly downhill in thick silence. It was rare for Baekhyun to be this still for so long. This boy was everything but quiet. He could be working on all hands and feet yet would still manage to hit up all tables. The café was merrier and more jubilant because of him. Just thinking about it made me smile, how that boy was so special, he could even brighten up darkest corners and put a smile on all faces.

Still, the atmosphere now was so dense by the lack of conversation that I could cut it by my imaginary scissor. Steps after steps evenly and consistently, we walked toward my house at the end of the street. Somehow I found my heart beat faster than it should, all jumpy and jittery. If my cheeks were rosy before because of the cold, then now they were warming up too quickly, much to my protest. It felt as if we were young and inexperienced again, all wrapped up in burning desire yet was sheepishly diffident.

“So,” he spoke up reluctantly and timidly, palms wiping against his dark denims, “how’s life?” He nervously waited for my answer, hoping to break the unusual tension between us. This was new ground for both of us. Never had we ever lasted so long, standing next to one another with such reserved attitude. We were always cracking jokes, terrible ones on me, playing games and chatting our time away. For goodness sake, we were even there to see each other through our worst and much most embarrassing yet here we were standing awkwardly next to each other like little kids trying to make new friends at the playground. It was almost too amusing to witness this scene. With that thought in mind, I broke into laughter and stopped mid-way, causing him to plant himself a few steps ahead and stared at me in wide-eyed before joining in.

“Okay, okay,” I regained my breath, took in as much as air as I could before continuing, “we have to stop whatever this is. I mean ‘how’s life?’. Byun Baekhyun, is that the best you can do? Assuming with all those girls in and out of your life, I seriously thought you’d have sharper skills.”

He took a moment to process before his hand flew up and over his chest, crumbling his shirt in process to cue for his dramatic acting. “I’m very much offended that you show such underestimation. I’ll let you know that all the girls crowding at the coffee these days only came for my numbers, alright? You should feel very lucky that you’re the only one in that shop who was able to have the infamous Baekhyun listed in your contacts.” And he was back. With the adorable, melodic laugh that made his eyes curved up in a crescent-moon like shape. It was such a charm, how such laughter could be so contagious, even put your heart at ease.

“Enough about me, how’s your relationship? Are you guys all good?” His sudden question took me aback. I stopped once again but this time to acknowledge the heaviness starting to fill my heart and mind. We weren’t okay. My mind drifted back to the last few months filled with countless heated arguments that always resulted in screaming and yelling, him storming out of the house and me slumping in tubs of ice cream and blurred sound of 3 a.m broadcasts coming from the television. We would settle on an agreement to forgive one another in the next few days or so but it was never the same. Last night was no different. He came knocking loudly at my door in a drunken manner when the clock struck 2 with a bottle in his hand and some cheap perfume lingered on his shirt, saying that he had an office celebratory party. If that wasn’t the way to spark an argument, I didn’t know what will. Even so, he was supposed to pick me up today after work but considering me rolling eyes in annoyance and slamming the door on his face yesterday, I guessed my hope was too high for actually thinking that he might be generous enough to spare me the long way home before entering the cold war again.

“Earth to you,” I snapped out of my train of thoughts at the sight of Baekhyun’s hand waving over my eyes. “You had zoned out for a good few minutes already.” He bit his lips, looking at me worriedly, “If something is troubling you, I’m all ears.”

I didn’t want to lie about it. I couldn’t do it, not to him and I knew for a fact that he could see right through me anyway. Countless days and nights working together which should have been five years by now, I was sure Baekhyun knew me better than I knew myself. Even right now, when I decided to remain quiet and kept moving step after step, he could read me like an open book.

He sighed heavily. His lips parted as if to say something but nothing came out. Instead, he just took my hand in his and held it tight. I could feel the warmth radiated from his hand, the soft silkiness of the fabric inside his pocket every time he took a step ahead of me. And we just went on like that, all the way back to my house. His hand in mine, two pairs of feet stride down the frosty road, against blasts of arctic wind and emptiness of city by night. My heart was filled with doubts yet it beat with stronger force than ever. This feeling was peculiar but undoubtedly pleasant. It almost felt okay, better than okay, that everything was going to be fine. Even if we ended up walking all night, and day, and if the road went on forever, it would still be alright in this comforting silence, for as long as we were still walking, and as long as our hands were still joined together in the warmth of his pocket.

I took a look at my watch as we walk up the driveway. 12:36. I jumped at the sight, frantically trying to put my words together. “The last train left 6 minutes ago. And you’re still here. How are you going to get home now? It’s already so late, I mean. Do you want to come inside? I have a guest bedroom and I can just set you up…” I went on rambling, slightly cringing out of guilt. If it wasn’t for me, he’d be safe and sound on the train home by now, maybe even almost home if he went on the 12:05 one.

“It’s alright. Don’t worry about it.” A smile plastered on his face. “I’ll just hit up one of my friends for the night. He actually lives really close to you so it’ll just be a five-minute walk from here. Besides I had a feeling I won’t be getting much sleep tonight, so what better way to wind down than taking a casual stroll under the night sky?”

Doubtfully, my eyebrows furrowed at his answer. “Are you sure?” Instead of replying, he just stared at me knowingly. Of course, this boy wasn’t sure with his plan, he had always made it up as he goes anyways, but it never went wrong.

“Alright, better get to that friend of yours then before the blizzard came and swoop you away. I’m heading in now. Go back safely.” With that, I turned and walked in the direction of the front door, hand digging through pockets to search for the keys.

 “Wait,” his hand reached out to grab mine once again before pulling me back and engulfing me in a tight embrace. My cheeks came in contact with flurries scattered all over his jacket, pressed closely against his chest. It heaved up and down. The sound of his uneven and heavy breath sliced through the thick atmosphere and blurred out everything. The frost slowly melt and wet my cheeks, little droplets fell from them to end up in between my parting lips leaving to taste the saltiness and bitterness. But his hug was warm, loving and comforting that it helped melt those bad thoughts away and replaced them with fresh, new, more pleasant ones. His embrace tightened around me, giving back the secure feeling I had been yearning for. I felt safe with him.

 One hand he wrapped around my back, the other went up, stroking my hair gently. “I’m here now,” his voice was deep and soothing, shushing me every now and then, “I might not be him, but let me be for just tonight. I’ll take good care of you, like he should have.”  

And we stood there, like that, waiting for the gust of cold and brisk air to die down. For the fog to clear out, and sky to brighten once again. ~ Ai 

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