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minhoinator · 6 years

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By My Side, A Hogwarts AU (21/75)

promises kept - “Nervous?”

Minho stopped fidgeting for a second, his hands folding in his lap as he looked over at Mom. He was about to answer her, but then a voice called out over the intercom: “Stockport, arriving in five minutes. Stockport, arriving in five minutes.”

“Is that his train?”

master list // AO3 // AFF // first year - muggle-born, sorted, first day, homesick, hallowe’en, deck the halls, possibilities, belonging, exceedingly acceptable, return to king’s cross - second year - diagonally, taking flight, ten points, all that glitters, holly jolly, push and pull, shooting stars, special treat, sleepover, promises made

@lockandminkey @minhosbowties @sapphicshawol @artfulkey @shinyexo @posygal @bumkeyko @usuallydreamin @taespoon-of-sugar (if anyone else wants to be tagged in this, just let me know!)

* - * - *

“Nervous?”

“Is that his train?” he asked as he bounded off the bench and weaved through the crowd to the screen displaying the train numbers and their arrival times.

The click of Mom’s heels followed him, her arm draping over his shoulders. “0525, that’s his train, right?” Minho nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Kibum would be arriving at Platform 10, should they go there and wait for him to get off the train? “Let’s go back and wait for him on the bench, all right?”

“But…” He turned to watch as she started to walk away. Did Kibum know his way around Muggle train stations? Would he even know where to look for them? While her back was still turned, Minho darted up the steps and ran down the crowded corridor toward Platform 10.

Once he found it, he bounced on the balls of his feet, freezing on his tiptoes when the train pulled up to the platform, the brakes screeching as it came to a stop. Minho grinned when he spotted Kibum peering through the window, returning his wave happily. The other passengers poured out of the doors and on to the platform. It took a while for Kibum to make an appearance in the doorway. He bolted to him once he did, smiling up at him as he stepped down onto the platform.

Minho hugged him as soon as both of his feet were on the ground. “Hey, buddy,” Kibum said, patting his back until Minho let him go. “Where’re your parents?”

“Dad and Minseok are at practice and Mom is waiting on one of the benches.” He gestured to the patched-up satchel hanging at Kibum’s side. “Do we need to go get your luggage?”

“Nope. This is it.”

“Huh.” Kibum laughed as he started following the rest of the passengers off the platform, Minho following him immediately. “Yeah, let’s go find Mom.”

* - * - *

The drive home from the train station was...oddly tense. Kibum tugged on the seatbelt, pulling it away from his neck and slipping it over his head. Minho glanced back at him from his spot in the front seat, offering him a small smile, and looked like he was about to say something. But, a strange jingle started to play, and his attention snapped back over to his mom.

He held his hand out, taking the thin pink device she handed him and flipped it open before he held it up to his ear. “Hey, Dad!” He paused, laughing after a second. “You’re using dad’s phone, stupid, of course I’m gonna think you’re Dad!”

Mrs. Choi smacked Minho’s arm lightly. “Be nice to your brother.”

“You didn’t hear h -- hmm? Okay...okay...yeah...okay, bye.” Minho closed the thin pink thing and slipped it back into his mom’s purse. “Practice is running a little late so you don’t have to have dinner ready until 8.”

She let out a long sigh and Kibum leaned over a little to see the time on the car radio. Damn it, it was only 4:30, but he was already hungry -- he and Grandma usually ate early. As if on cue, his stomach growled and Minho glanced back at him. He glanced between Kibum and his mom, his expression a little weird. Kibum’s brow furrowed when Minho looked back at his mom with a smile.

“What if we got pizza and they got something on the way home?”

“I don’t know.”

“You like pizza, right, Kibum?”

“Uh...” Minho looked back at him and Mrs. Choi met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “I’ve never had it, I don’t think.”

Both of their eyes widened, and Mrs. Choi changed lanes quickly. “Get my phone and text your father.” Minho nodded and grabbed the pink thing from her purse, flipping it open again. “Tell him that they can either have leftover pizza or they can pick something up on the way home.” She met Kibum’s eyes through the mirror again. “I’m sure you’ll love it.”

Kibum smiled at her before she looked back at the road. Soon, they pulled into a parking lot for a place called Croma. They followed Mrs. Choi inside, both peering over her shoulder as she ordered them two pizzas -- a margarita and an Americana, he thought she said -- as well as some garlic bread sticks and salads.

“Grandma grows garlic around the house,” Kibum said as they headed over to the semi-populated waiting area. “Like, all around the house. We use it, of course, for cooking and, like, potions and stuff, but it’s mostly there to keep vampires away.”

Minho’s eyes widened and he started to say something, but they were both quickly shushed by Mrs. Choi. Kibum frowned, glancing around at the curious Muggles in the waiting area. Something dinged inside her purse, and she pulled out the pink thing, ignoring them for a moment.

Minho cleared his throat, leaning toward Kibum to whisper, “When we’re around...other people...we probably shouldn’t talk about...that stuff.”

Kibum glanced past him to his mother, who was still focused on the pink thing. “Even around your family?”

“Uhh...”

“Really?”

“It’s okay sometimes, and Minseok is usually okay with it, but...sorry, I should have mentioned it earlier.”

“It’s okay.” An awkward sort of silence stretched between them, broken when one of the people in the waiting area was called up to get their pizza. “Am I gonna be in trouble?”

Minho laughed. “No, I don’t think so.” He chuckled again before he sobered. “Just be sure not to say anything in front of my dad, because then you might be.”

“Choi!”

They hurried after Mrs. Choi as she made her way back up to the counter. She handed the two pizza boxes to Minho and the foil bag of breadsticks and the salads to Kibum. “Go ahead and sit in the back seat, honey,” she said when they reached the car. Minho slid the pizza into the middle of back seat before he hopped inside. “We’ll be home in ten minutes.”

Kibum thought he had been hungry before, but the smell wafting up from the pizza and the garlic bread was nearly torturous. When his stomach growled loudly again, Minho looked over at him, his eyes alit with silent laughter. He continued to talk to his mom about whatever they were talking about while he slowly unrolled the top of the breadsticks bag. With a finger on his lips, he passed one to Kibum, who ate it quietly and quickly, savoring it as much as he could on the way home.

Prism Lane was quite similar in appearances to Juliette Boulevard, with the small, matching houses and the cobblestone lanes leading to the brightly colored doors. One of the differences, Kibum noticed, were the gardens.

Here, they were pristine, with prim little rose bushes or orchids or carnations lining the homes. Back in Nottingham, however, Kibum knew that at least seven of the other residents were witches and wizards, since some of the kids were also at Hogwarts. The gardens back home were teaming with different plants, to make potions and poultices and salves, or to cook with, since they did not often go to Muggle grocery stores.

They pulled into the driveway and followed her into the house. It was nice and homey, in its own way, but not cozy like Grandma’s house. The walls were painted a cool gray with touches of blue and green accented in the art and the plants. Even though he had only seen the entrance, it seemed oddly clean, compared to Grandma’s house.

“Put the pizza on the counter before you show Kibum to your room, all right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Minho said, kicking off his shoes and holding the pizza boxes in his arms out to Kibum. “Put those here. I’ll go set them down. Just wait here?” Kibum set the bag of breadsticks and salads on top of the pizza boxes and watched as Minho glided across the hardwood floor to the swinging kitchen door. He reappeared a second later and hurried to put his shoes on top of the cubby by the door. “You can put yours next to mine.”

He set his shoes beside Minho’s and followed him upstairs to his room. “What...”

“Hmm?” Kibum pointed to the bed floating on the floor. “Oh, that’s our air mattress. We had it from when Jinki or Taemin or any of Minseok’s friends would sleep over.”

“Oh.” Tentatively, Kibum sat down on the end.

“I think there’s a hole in it, so we’ll have to blow it up every night.”

“Blow...it up?”

Minho snorted. “Like, with air?” He propped his feet up on the air mattress, jostling Kibum where he sat. Kibum rolled his eyes and started to glare at Minho when they heard a cupboard slam shut downstairs. “Oh, we should hurry,” Minho said, already hopping over the air mattress and reaching for his bedroom door. “We don’t want the pizza to get cold.”

Thankfully, they made it in time. The pizza was...deliciously hot and cheesy and Kibum wondered why the hell he had been deprived of it for so long.

They needed this at Hogwarts.

He was about to ask Minho to suggest it to Sookey when they got back to school, but Mr. Choi and Minseok walked through the door. Mrs. Choi got up to greet them and Kibum glanced at Minho, who set his fork down with a sigh as he looked to the dining room doorway. Kibum sucked the red sauce off his thumb and followed his gaze.

“Hey, Min...” Minseok said as soon as he stepped into the kitchen, grabbing a plate and a couple slices of pizza before he looked up and locked eyes with Kibum. “Hi, I’m -- “

“Minseok, I know. I’m -- “

“Kibum. I know, too.” He slid into the seat across from Minho, glancing between the two of them. “Do you talk about me at school, Min?”

“Occasionally,” he said before he stuffed another bite of pizza into his mouth.

“Only good things.”

Kibum struggled to keep his amusement from showing and Minho kept eating to keep his mouth full. Minseok squinted. “I don’t believe you.” Minho started to laugh, but all three of them quieted with Mr. and Mrs. Choi walked back into the kitchen.

“So,” Mr. Choi said, taking his seat at the head of the table while Mrs. Choi fixed him a plate. “You’re the famous Kibum.”

He spared a quick glance at Minho. The tips of his ears, as well as his cheeks, were a bright red as he stared pointedly at the table. “I don’t know about famous, sir, but yes.”

Minseok snickered, stopping when Mr. Choi cleared his throat. They all started eating after a second of awkward silence. Mr. and Mrs. Choi filled each other in about their days while the boys ate. Once Kibum was full, Minho stopped eating and cleared their plates from the table. Kibum followed him into the kitchen, rinsing the plates when Minho washed them and set them on a towel to dry. They washed the other plates too after Minseok brought them in.

Once the water was drained, Minho led him upstairs, away from the sounds from the other room downstairs. “What was that?” he whispered as they climbed the stairs.

“Dad is probably just watching football on TV. Do you wanna shower before bed?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, grab your stuff and I’ll show you how it works”

It didn’t take Kibum long to shower, and soon he was tucked between his blankets. Minho flicked off the light, accidentally bumping into the air mattress on his way to bed. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Beside him, there came a creak and a sigh, and Kibum glanced over to see that Minho had settled into bed. He stared at his silhouette for a second before he looked up at the stars on the ceiling. "Are...”

“Hmm?”

“Are those in constellations?”

Minho hummed his assent. “I tried, at least.”

“You did a good job.” There came a delayed thanks from the shadows to his right, a hint of a smile coloring Minho’s voice. “So,” Minho’s head turned on his pillow. “What have you told your family about me?” He glanced up when Minho turned on his side to face him.

“Everything, I guess.”

Kibum pulled his blankets up over his shoulder as looked at Minho. The moonlight softly lit the top of his head, the bridge of his nose, and the tips of his fingers peeking out from under his blanket. His face was still cloaked in shadow, but Kibum could feel his eyes on him. Kibum blinked, and the moonlight seemed to fade, if only slightly. “What -- “ he cleared his throat when his voice cracked. “What do you mean by ‘I guess’?”

Minho sighed, his fingers twitching around his blanket. “Everything I could remember, I guess. Like, how you helped me learn English in first year, and then again after my concussion.” He stretched a little as he yawned. “About that one time you almost fell through the lake. When you got sick but wouldn’t admit it...”

“I wasn’t sick. it was allergies.”

“Listen, Bummie, Pomfrey agreed with me so shush.”

“Whatever.” Kibum smiled, warmth blooming in his chest. He wrapped his arms around his pillow, hugging it. “What else?”

Minho yawned again. “I don’t know. Can’t remember. Mom does like you though, I think.”

Kibum’s brow furrowed. “Really?” It didn't necessarily seem like it.

He nodded against his pillow. “Something about...about liking that she knows that...there’s someone at school who cares about me...I think...” His voice grew quieter and quieter until it dropped off completely. Kibum listened to his steady breathing for a moment before he rolled onto his back.

It took him a little while to start to drift off -- being in a strange bed and all. Once he did, however, his throat became increasingly dry. Soon, he was wide awake because of it. With a quiet groan, he sat up, wrapping his blanket around him as he slowly got out of bed and shuffled to the door.

There was a light still on downstairs, stopping Kibum in his tracks. Was it just a nightlight or was someone still up? No, someone was still up, he could hear their voice. He started to descend the stairs, freezing when one of the steps creaked under his foot.

The voices quieted for a second, and a shadow passed over the open kitchen door before they spoke again. “It’s not like he’ll be here much longer,” Mrs. Choi said, her voice sounding like a tired sigh. “It’s just until the end of the week. And it’s not like you’ll be here often.”

Kibum slowly sat down on the step, wrapping his arms around himself. “I don’t want Minseok here either, then, you know, just in case. I’ll take him with me to work.”

“Of course.” Silence stretched between them for a moment. “He is Minho’s friend...I don’t think he’d do anything to harm us.”

“I guess.”

Kibum jumped when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned, expecting to see Minho behind him, but found Minseok instead. He gestured behind him, and crept back to his room, Kibum quietly following. He closed the door and flipped on the light once Kibum was inside.

“How much did you hear?” Minseok asked as he walked past him on his way to his bed.

Did he know? Kibum stared at him for a moment, searching his expression for any sort of clues. “Not much, but enough.”

“Yeah.” Minseok rubbed his hands over his face, sighing heavily.

“Is that why he always takes you with him to practice? Because of Minho?” When Minseok didn’t respond right away, Kibum went on. “Like, I know they were talking about me, but it sounds like what happened here last summer.”

Minseok looked up at him, his brow furrowing. “Minho told you about that?” More or less...Kibum nodded. “I think it is, even if Dad won’t admit it.”

Kibum let out a disdained huff before he sank to the floor, crossing his legs beneath him. “What the hell for?”

“I think, well, I think Dad is just, like, struggling with the idea that one of his sons is a wizard. It doesn’t help that Minho refuses to do magic to prove that he actually is a wizard -- “

“That’s against the law for us, though.”

“Right, that’s what he said.” Minseok sighed again. “I think just the fact -- that he’s magical -- really freaked Dad out...He doesn’t talk to me about it, but I’ve heard him say stuff to Mom when they think I can’t hear them.”

Kibum couldn’t help but ask, “What sort of stuff?”

Minseok started to speak, but quickly closed his mouth and averted his gaze, shaking his head. “I don’t remember.”

His hands fisted in his blankets, tugging it a little tighter around himself. “What do you think?” Kibum’s jaw clenched when Minseok met his eyes again. “About Minho? What do you think?”

“I don’t think he’s a freak, if that’s what you’re asking. Like not at all.” Kibum started to relax a little bit. “I wish I could go with him and see all the cool stuff he tells me about, but...yeah.”

Kibum nodded. He seemed nice enough and supportive of Minho, which was good. If Minho’s stories about Minseok were to be believed, he basically hung the sun in the sky. “I...I’m glad he has you to come home to.”

“And I’m glad you’re there for him at school.”

Kibum gave him a small smile before he stood and headed for the door. “Going to practice with your dad tomorrow?”

“Probably. Maybe.” Minseok smiled back. “I might try to stay home.”

“Okay.” Kibum closed the door behind him, tiptoeing down the hall to Minho’s room, his previous thirst forgotten. Carefully and quietly, he crept back into his bed and rolled on his side to face Minho. His hand laid limply off the bed, his thumb twitching occasionally.

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair that someone as sweet and kind and giving as Minho would have to come home to...to parents who can’t seem to accept a major part of who he was. He already knew this visit was going to be different when they started to plan it last year, but he wasn’t expecting this. He glanced past the tips of Minho’s fingers to where his face was hidden by the night.

“I know you’re asleep, buddy,” Kibum whispered. “But I want you to know that I’ll always be there for you. No matter what. I’ve got your back like you’ve got mine.” He glanced back at his hand, and after a second of thought, he hooked their pinkies together. “I promise.”

* - * - *

In the haze of early morning, Minho’s only warning was a slight clink. By the time his eyes had barely started to open, it was too late.

Ice cold water, followed by the ice cubes themselves, poured onto his neck and back. Minho’s eyes squeezed shut before he launched himself out of bed, tripping over the empty air mattress and falling onto the floor.

Looking up, he saw Minseok standing over his bed, drinking the rest of the water from the glass.

“Breakfast is ready.” He cackled and ran out the door when Minho threw his cleat at him. “Hurry up!” he called from the hall, his heavy footsteps thundering down the stairs.

Grumbling to himself, Minho took off his soaked shirt and tossed it into his hamper. He was about to go downstairs in just his shorts, but then he looked back at the empty air mattress. He could feel his face heat up as he looked around for a shirt of some kind, finding and pulling on one of his many hoodies and heading out the door. Before he went downstairs, however, he hurried to the bathroom, combing his hair into place with his fingers.

“Good morning!” he said as he walked through the doorway and into the kitchen.

Kibum looked up from the table, smiling brightly at him. “Morning!”

The TV was on in the living room, but Minho couldn’t tell what was playing. He scooped some slightly burnt scrambled eggs and a couple slices of bacon from the discarded pans around the kitchen and grabbed two of the frozen waffles from the toaster. “Where’s Mom?”

Kibum shrugged, and Minseok answered from the other room. “Dad took her out for breakfast!”

“Ahh.” Kibum was pouring him a glass of orange juice, and he slid it in front of the seat beside him as Minho came into the dining room. “Sleep okay?”

“Mmhm.” He took a sip of his own juice, his brow furrowing. “So I know that this isn’t pumpkin juice but it kinda looks like it and I’m each time I take a drink I’m surprised.” Minho almost snorted scrambled eggs out of his nose and Kibum patted his back as he coughed. “It wasn’t that funny.”

“It’s not you,” Minseok said as he went through the dining room to the kitchen. “He’s super giggly in the morning.”

“Oh really?”

Both of them turned to him, and Minho’s face felt like it was trying to spontaneously combust. “Leave me alone,” he muttered, trying not to laugh, as he gathered his plate and glass and tried to go hide in the living room. Oh great, Minseok had been watching Shrek...that never made him laugh. Minho situated himself in Dad’s armchair and continued eating his breakfast as Donkey tried to get out of Dragon’s clutches.

Kibum followed him into the room, stopping dead in his tracks as he stared at the TV. “What’s that?”

“You’ve never seen Shrek?” When Kibum shook his head, Minho scrambled for the remote, starting it all the way over. He hummed along to All-Star, and glanced over at Kibum. “This is the song the team listens to before a game.”

“Oh...”

Kibum sat in rapt attention of the movie, not even looking away from the screen when Mom and Dad got home. Minho started to get out of Dad’s chair when he walked into the living room, but he gestured for him to stay put. “Ready to go?” he asked Minseok.

“Can I stay home today?” Minho’s eyes widened as his gaze flicked from Dad to Minseok. “It’s not like I do much of anything when I’m there.”

“But you’re learning the entire time. How are you going to make it as a football player if you don’t learn from the professionals?”

Minho glanced back at Kibum, to check if his attention had shifted from Shrek to the conversation, but it hadn’t.

“It’s just one day. Is one day really gonna make that much of a difference?”

Dad’s jaw tightened and he met Minho’s eyes, seemingly surprised to find him watching. Minho quickly turned back to the TV, lounging as casually as possible in the armchair. “I’ll be late,” he said, kissing Mom’s cheek before he left the room.

In his peripheral vision, Minho saw Minseok visibly relax. When Dad’s car puttered away outside, Minho glanced over at his brother, smiling when he looked back.

Minho -- and Minseok, when he didn’t go with dad to work -- spent the next several days showing Kibum as many Muggle things as possible. It took him a couple of hours to get the hang of how to play video games, but he seemed to prefer to sit back and watch while Minho played.

Unsurprisingly, football, much like Quidditch, was not one of his interests, but he still joined them when he and Minseok went outside to pass the ball around the yard. He sat on the ground, picking at the grass while he chatted with Minho and Minseok. Sometimes, Minho got too involved in their discussion that he forgot to pass the ball back.

One afternoon, when Kibum went inside for a minute to make himself some tea, Minseok called him over. “What’s up with you?”

Minho frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”

“You’re acting like the guys do at school when the girls come to watch us play.” Minho blinked, averting his eyes when his face started to heat up. “It’s only Kibum.”

“I know.”

Minseok lightly kicked the ball back and forth before he kicked it up with his toe. He caught it and tossed it against Minho’s chest, who then caught it. “Pass it back,” he said, gesturing for him to return to his spot across the yard.

Minho started walking back, looking up when the sliding glass door opened and Kibum stepped out, a mug in hand.

One Muggle activity that Kibum really did seem to enjoy was watching TV, specifically movies. The Chois had never really had that big of a movie collection, but Mom had a soft spot for Studio Ghibli movies, so they had a bunch of those. After they had watched Howl’s Moving Castle, Kibum wanted to watch them all, and Minho was more than happy to oblige him.

One night, as they were trying to fall asleep, Kibum whispered, “You know what? I think Miyasaki is a wizard.”

Minho smiled as he glanced over at Kibum’s silhouette. “I think you’re right.”

Most nights, after Mom and Dad thought they had all gone to bed, Minseok would come into Minho’s room and he would ask them questions about Hogwarts and they would regale him with stories about their experience so far. It was nice for him to be able to talk freely about school at home, but it was also fun to watch Kibum get to talk about it, too.

His eyes would light up with each new question that Minseok had for them, and his voice got really fast as he tried to pack as much information -- relative to the question or not -- into each of his answers.

Had Kibum always had dimples? They seemed to be showing up more and more as his visit continued and he felt more comfortable with Minseok...maybe Minho just didn’t notice before.

“Minho, is something wrong?”

“Hm, what?” He blinked, meeting Kibum’s eye as the dimple on his cheek disappeared.

Kibum snorted and Minseok laughed. “You’ve just been staring at me.”

“Sorry, I, uh, I was trying to remember the, uh, wand motions for the spell you were referring to.”

“Petrificus Totalus?”

Sure. Whatever.

Kibum grabbed a licorice wand from the pile of candy he got out of his satchel and did the motion, and Minho nodded, taking the licorice from him and eating it with a grin when Kibum rolled his eyes.

On Kibum’s last night in the Choi household, Minho and Kibum decided to share some Bertie Bott’s beans with Minseok, but not tell him the secret. Kibum poured the entire box into his hand, dividing them evenly between the three of them. He passed Minho’s his with a quick wink.

“Oh, these are just jelly beans,” Minseok said, popping one into his mouth.

When he did not react right away, Minho let out a pent-up breath. “Yeah,” Kibum said as he nonchalantly picked through his. “I didn’t know you guys had them, too.”

Minseok scoffed. “Where’d you think you guys got the idea from?” he asked as he popped a mottled brown bean in his mouth. Dirt...Minho bit his lip to keep from laughing. Minseok grimaced as he chewed and shivered as he swallowed before he grabbed a bright green one. Vomit. Minho saw Kibum start to look toward him and he made himself turn away. “What the fuck?” he sputtered, spitting out the remnants for the bean.

All three were laughing so hard that Dad had to come upstairs to tell them to quiet down and go to bed. After Minseok left the room, they could hear him brushing his teeth for five straight minutes. Both Minho and Kibum couldn’t stop giggling, especially after Minho tried to sober himself enough to say, “It’s not that funny.”

Morning came all too soon, unfortunately.

It wasn’t even nine in the morning by the time Mom had he and Kibum out the door and on the way to the train station. It was stupid to be sad that he wouldn’t be around the house anymore. It had only been a week, but Minho had grown rather accustomed to being with Kibum night and day.

His room would feel so empty, now.

“Got all your stuff?” Mom asked Kibum, who nodded.

All three of them piled out of the car and headed inside, Minho and Kibum hanging back while Mom paid for his ticket with the money Grandma sent.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Minho wanted to say, but he held his tongue. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back, knocking shoulders with Kibum and grinning when he acted affronted. “I’m coming over in two weeks, right?”

“That’s the plan, so I certainly hope so.” Kibum’s smiled dimmed slightly when Mom started back toward them, handing Kibum his ticket. “Thank you for letting me stay with you, Mrs. Choi.”

“You’re welcome, Kibum. It was no trouble at all.”

He nodded, glancing between the two of them before he waved goodbye to Minho with a dimpled smile. As Kibum started to walk away, Mom’s arm rested across Minho’s shoulder, and she guided him toward the exit. He looked back for one last glimpse of Kibum, but he was already gone.

* - * - *

“Do you think we’ll make it in time?”

Kibum’s grip tightened on the handle as the Knight Bus made a rapid turn around a corner. He and Grandma had set out for Nottingham Station about five minutes ago, which was about twenty minutes later than they were expecting. Mrs. Prue, one of their neighbors, came over to get a couple pinches of powdered unicorn horn from Grandma’s store and the two ended up talking for much longer than Kibum would have liked.

Minho’s train was supposed to be in at noon, and it was ten till that when Grandma hailed the Knight Bus.

“I’m sure we will, sweetheart. And if not, it’s not the end of the world.”

He pouted a little as he peeked outside at the blur of the passing scenery. The bus stopped three more times -- either to let passengers off or on -- before they reached Nottingham Station. Once it came to a stop, Grandma grabbed Kibum’s sleeve before he could bolt for the exit. “Why don’t you go get him and come right back? That way we don’t have to wait for the bus again.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She stood, following him to the door so she could speak to the driver and the shrunken head and ask them to wait for a moment.

Once his feet hit the pavement, Kibum took off toward the entrance, scanning the crowd once he was inside. He was about to call out for Minho, but then he saw him coming out of the restroom. He waved with he spotted Kibum, jogging around people to meet him by the door.

“Hey,” Minho said once he reached him, his voice a little breathless.

“Hi.” He grinned and Kibum couldn’t help but follow suit, but before he got too distracted -- “We gotta go, the bus is waiting.”

“Oh, shit, okay.” He followed Kibum out the door, running across the sidewalk to where the Knight Bus sat idling.

“Took ya long enough!” the shrunken head said when they hurried up the steps.

Minho gasped, grabbing the back of Kibum’s shirt as he stared open-mouthed at the shrunken head. Kibum pulled him along before the head could say anything sarcastic, leading him to where Grandma sat on one of the only bolted down seats on the entire bus. He set his backpack down on the ground before he greeted her with a hug.

“How have you been, darling?” she asked as he sat beside her -- on a non-bolted down seat. Kibum suppressed a smile as he held onto the strap before them.

“Good. What about you, Grandma?”

Any possible conversation from Minho died when the bus jolted forward, swerving madly around in the Muggle traffic on its way out of the Nottingham Station parking lot. By the time they reached home, Minho was clinging to the closest bar for dear life. “Come on, buddy,” Kibum said with a laugh, patting his arm to remind Minho to let go.

They helped Grandma inside and Minho dropped his backpack at the door as he slipped off his shoes, staring at the inside of Kibum’s home with bright-eyed amazement.

The walls were painted a rich mustard, but ivy from the potted plants in the living room crept along the walls and the ceiling, twisting around the banister leading upstairs. Handwoven rugs lined the hall, and Kibum followed him down to the kitchen, both sitting at the counter as Grandma put a kettle on.

“Your house feels like the common room!”

She smiled at Minho as she started making three teabags. “That’s what Kibum said.”

Kibum’s eyes widened when Minho stiffened beside him. He cleared his throat. “When did Jjong’s mom say he’d be done with his guitar lessons?”

“Not sure. I think she said 1 o’clock. Need something, dear?” Kibum glanced over at Minho, who was staring at the icebox.

“I’m really thirsty.” She nodded and moved to get him a glass and fill it from the sink next to the icebox. He drank it in one drink, swallowing thickly. “Would you like more?” she asked as the kettle started to sing.

“I can get it.” He hopped off the chair and went around the counter to pour himself another glass. “Oh, hey, that’s us!” Minho gestured to the polaroids posted on the icebox. He sipped the water and inspected the pictures as Grandma poured their tea behind him. His hand froze in front of one -- at this distance, Kibum couldn’t tell which on it was -- and when Grandma had set their tea on the counter, it was gone and Minho was back in his seat.

Minho started at the sound of the phone ringing, which was rather loud compared to the sound of his mom’s cell phone. Grandma was quick to answer it. “Oh, Sandra, hello!”

Really? Mrs. Prue again? Sighing, Kibum looked over at Minho. “This’ll take a while.”

“Can we take the tea to your room?”

“Oh, yeah! Grab your stuff and I’ll show you where it is.”

Minho followed Kibum to his room, closing the door behind him as soon as he stepped inside. “So, this is it,” Kibum said, gesturing to the small room.

It was a little smaller than Minho’s bedroom, or maybe it just felt that way with how much more stuff Kibum had stuffed in his room. Grandma had charmed the bed to stretch to a queen size, so they could share it instead of making Minho sleep on the very uncomfortable couch downstairs. All along the walls hung the many polaroids from their first two years at school, as well as prints from around the world that Mom took for work. He glanced back at Minho to see his reaction, but found him staring at the polaroid in his hands.

Kibum’s heart sank. If it was the one he took from off the icebox... “I can explain.”

Minho met his eyes, his mouth twisted in a sort of frown. He moved past him to the bed, dropping his backpack at the foot before he sat down. When he tossed the polaroid to the side, Kibum joined him on the bed, picking up the picture. Yup, it was his favorite from his stay in the Hufflepuff dorm, when he was bugging Minho in the common room while he was reading.

“I thought you said you weren’t gonna show her any of these,” he said, his voice quiet.

“I...wasn’t planning on it, but...”

“But, what? You couldn’t help it?”

Kibum’s brow furrowed. “Don’t take that tone with me, you don’t understand.”

“Really? I don’t?”

“You’re family aren’t...” He stopped, shutting his mouth quickly. The door downstairs opened and closed, both of them distracted by the noise. Kibum went to his closet door, opening it and nodding for Minho to get inside. His brow furrowed in utter confusion but he stepped inside and Kibum followed him in, mostly closing the door behind him. “I just don’t want us to be overheard.”

“Mm.” For a moment, the only sound in the closet was their quiet breathing, but Minho soon broke the silence. “I know I’m just a Muggle-born -- “

Kibum squeezed his eyes shut. “Minho, I didn’t mean -- “

“ -- so I don’t understand what it means to be a legacy or whatever at Hogwarts, but I do know you.” Kibum opened his eyes, meeting Minho’s gaze. “It’s gotta be eating you up inside, not being truthful with her. How much longer are you gonna put yourself through this...this stress?”

"I...don't know." Sighing, Kibum shook his head. “You...you won’t tell her this week, will you?”

“Of course not.” Kibum slumped back, his head knocking back against the wall. “It’s not my secret to tell. I won’t mention it again once we step outside the closet.”

“Thank you. And Min?” He glanced at him, his eyebrows raising in question. “I’m sorry for even implying that...because you’re Muggle-born...you...”

Minho’s expression softened. “It’s okay, Bummie, I know you didn’t mean it like that.” He opened his arms and pulled Kibum into a hug. “Are we good?” he mumbled into Kibum’s shoulder.

“Yea -- “

Both froze when Kibum’s bedroom door opened. “Ki?” Oh, it was only Jonghyun. “Grandma said you guys would be up...here...” He opened the ajar closet door, looking up at both of them in bewilderment. “What the hell are you guys doing?”

Slowly, Minho dropped his arms from around Kibum and Kibum took a step back. Minho shrugged and shook his head while Kibum said, “You mean you don’t often hug your friends in closets?”

Jonghyun snorted. “Well, I mean, yeah,” he said as he stepped inside the closet to give Kibum and then Minho a quick hug. “So, what's up, guys?”

* - * - *

Minho felt sort of stupid, now.

He had been quite nervous -- and he kept it from Kibum -- about seeing Jonghyun again. They had only seen each other for maybe ten whole minutes last summer, and, yeah they had gotten along for those ten minutes, but he was here for a full week.

Being greeted with a warm smile and hug? Almost totally eradicated his nervousness, which was a relief. After about a minute of him talking about his music lesson, his eyes widened. “Oh my god, I forgot! Follow me!”

Minho glanced at Kibum, who looked equally confused, and they both followed him downstairs and out the door. Jonghyun had the backyard gate open and closed it behind them. “What are we doing, Jj -- “

“Wait, wait!” He called out behind him, and ran through the back door.

“What do you think it is?” Minho whispered.

“Could be either really good or really stupid. Last time it was a kazoo he found in the street.” Minho couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t long before Jonghyun rejoin them outside, a gray and black speckled puppy writhing in his arms in an effort to lick his chin. Kibum gasped, hurrying to meet him and pet the puppy’s head with the tips of her fingers. “I love him.”

“Her.”

“Her. What’s her name?”

“Byulroo.“

Kibum frowned. “Why call her that? It seems rude.”

"We found her in a box on the side of the read on the way home from my lesson. Mom said something like: ‘Oh, that’s really not good,’ and she sorta yipped after that so that’s what I decided to name her.”

Minho held his hand still as she licked his fingers. “She’s so cute.”

“Isn’t she?” Jonghyun grinned up at him before looking back at Byulroo. “You’re so precious. I love you so much.” He cleared his throat, his voice switching from baby-talk to back to normal. “What are we doing today?”

Both Minho and Jonghyun looked at Kibum. “Not sure, but Mom will be home soon and we’re planning on going to Diagon Alley because I need new robes.” He glanced between them. “Other than that, I don’t know.”

“Mind if I come with?”

Kibum looked over at Minho, who gave him the slightest nod. “Sure, if you want, I don’t mind.”

It didn’t take long before Kibum’s mom came home. She found them rather easily, as all three were...loudly giddy at Byulroo’s -- or Roo, as Jonghyun had nicknamed her -- presence. The tiny puppy was soon safely inside with Jonghyun’s mom and sister and the boys were all tucked into the back seat of Kibum’s mom’s car.

On the way to The Leaky Cauldron, Minho and Kibum silently agreed to torment Jonghyun, who had the misfortune of sitting in the middle of the back seat. Kibum kept poking his side, nodding for Minho to do the same after a moment. By the time they reached the pub, Jonghyun had trapped both of their hands in his, tightening his grip when either of them tried to make a move against him.

The lanes between the shops of Diagon Alley were bustling with the back to school crowd, so the boys huddled behind Mrs. Kim as she led them to Madam Malkin’s. When she stepped inside, Kibum turned to them. “Hey, if you want to wait with me, that’s fine, but if you want to look around that’s fine, too.”

Jonghyun patted Minho’s back. “We’ll look around.”

“Meet us at Fortescue’s, I think.”

“Will do.” Kibum nodded, turning around and heading inside. “Do you have all of your school shopping done?” Jonghyun asked once the door swung shut.

“Yeah, Mom and I came once we got the list.”

“Ah.” Both were quiet for a moment. For Minho’s part, he was feeling slightly awkward at being alone with Jonghyun for the first time. It was probably the same for Jonghyun. He stepped back from the stairs as Jonghyun descended them.

“Do...do you miss Hogwarts?” Minho asked as they started walking down the lane.

“Well,” Jonghyun said, drawing out the word. “Yes and no. I wish I could be there with you two because I feel like that’d be so much fun. And I really got along well with Flitwick -- my head of house.”

“Oh, right! Kibum mentioned that you were in Ravenclaw.”

Jonghyun smiled fondly. “Yeah. But I really like Beauxbatons, too. And since I’ve been there longer, it feels more like home than Hogwarts does.”

“Have you learned any French?”

“Oui,” he said with a quick wink, and Minho grinned, turning to hide his slight blush. “My new house is Merprin, which is basically the equivilent of Ravenclaw over there.”

Jonghyun answered any questions Minho had about the differences between the schools as they walked in and out of shops, not paying much mind to which shops they walked into. Much to both their surprise, they were soon assaulted by an overwhelming concoction of perfumes and incense.

“Oh god,” Jonghyun muttered and Minho sneezed twice before the left the shop. “So, that reminds me...one time PJ -- PIerre, one of the roommates I mentioned -- decided to douse Vincent’s pillow in his sister’s perfume.”

“Oh no...”

“Yeah, our room stunk for days, it was bad.”

“I can imagine. One time,” he held back a laugh at the memory. “One time Taemin, one of my friends back in Korea, came to school with a mustache drawn on his face in permanent marker. His older brother did it when he was sleeping.”

“Did he know?”

“Not until second period.”

“Oh my god. Wait...” he stopped, grabbing the sleeve of Minho’s shirt to make him stop, too. “That gives me an idea.” He explained on his way to the ice cream parlor, but it sounded like all they would need to prank Kibum one of these nights was some of Sodam’s new lipstick. “You like chocolate?” Minho nodded, and Jonghyun stepped inside as he gestured for him to wait outside.

Minho settled into one of the chairs, letting out a sigh as he watched the crowd. He spotted Travis and Tanner going into the broomstick shop, but they didn’t see him.

It was nice getting to know Jonghyun. Based on all of Kibum’s stories, he almost sure that he would like him a lot, but he was happy and even relieved that that was turning out to be the case. He searched the lane and soon found Madam Malkin’s shop. As much fun as he was having with Jonghyun, he was looking forward to Kibum’s return.

“Here you go!” Minho looked up at the sound of Jonghyun’s sing-song voice, smiling when he saw the proffered chocolate milkshake.

“Thanks.” Jonghyun sat across from him, sipping happily at his own strawberry milkshake while Minho pulled his straw out and licked the whipped cream off of it before sticking it back in. He glanced over at Jonghyun when he felt his eyes on him, his expression surprisingly sober. “What is it?”

“There’s, uh, something I want to say...and...now that I know you a little better, I think I can.” Minho gulped, dread settling in his chest. Jonghyun continued. “I don’t know how much Kibum has told you about his...well, I don’t want to call it ‘his past’ because that sounds a little weird but that’s what it is. Anyways, I don’t know how much he’s said, but it hasn’t exactly been easy for him.”

“Right.”

“Like,” he paused to drink more of his shake, “He’s moved around a lot and because of that it’s hard for him to keep whatever friendships had. You won’t tell him I told you this -- “ Minho shook his head. “ -- but when he found out that I would be in France during the school year because of my parents' divorce, he cried. Several times, I think.”

“Oh, no...”

“He tried to keep it from me, but the day before I left, he was helping me pack and he started to tear up when he asked me to remember to write to him. Grandma says he has problems with feeling abandoned.”

Minho looked down at his straw before he took a long sip. Maybe that was part of why he kept lying to Grandma about being in Slytherin...because he thought she’d abandon him. It would make sense.

“I’m saying all that to, well, thank you, I guess.”

“Thank me?”

“For being such a great friend to him. God, I can’t tell you how many goddamn letters I’ve gotten where he’s telling me about all the stupid stuff you two do together.” Both of them chuckled, and Minho kept sipping his shake. “He deserves only the best, so I’m glad he has you.”

“And you.”

“Yes, well, that goes without saying.” Minho almost spit his milkshake out and Jonghyun laughed loudly, turning the heads of the people walking into the ice cream parlor.

“What’s so funny?” Kibum asked, Minho jumping at his seemingly sudden reappearance. When neither Minho nor Jonghyun answered immediately, he gestured for Minho to pass him his shake. “Did you guys have fun?” he asked in between sips.

Jonghyun met Minho’s eyes with a smile. “Yeah, we did.”

When they got home, Jonghyun left them to go back to his house. Grandma had dinner practically ready by the time they stepped inside, and Kibum joined her in the kitchen to get the dishes to set the table. Minho straightened his and Kibum’s shoes by the door before he hurried to help him.

Each meal Grandma made during Minho’s visit either reminded him of being back in Korea or being back at Hogwarts.

In the days that followed, Minho and Kibum -- and sometimes Jonghyun -- helped Grandma tend to her backyard garden. The first time Minho saw it, he stood on the porch in awe for a second before Kibum pulled him along with a laugh. It almost looked as though one of the greenhouses at school had been transplanted here in Nottingham.

Apparently, Grandma supplied ingredients to the apothecary in Diagon Alley, which is why Mrs. Prue was over as often as she was since she was one of the healers on staff there.

There were plants there that Minho didn’t recognize, but luckily Grandma sat out on the porch, very much willing to answer any questions he or Kibum may have had while she knitted. Somedays, she let them be, leaving at the appearance of Mrs. Kim.

One day, when Jonghyun was over to help them, Grandma and Mrs. Kim were about to leave. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she told them with a wink.

All three of them nodded, but Kibum waited until the door was closed behind her to say, “Sprout told me a lot of stories. We have more leeway than you might think.”

After dinner most nights, Minho and Kibum took turns showering before they went to bed. Once the lights were out and they were tucked in, they discussed the coming year and how excited they were about the prospect of having different choices for electives.

“I’m thinking about taking Muggle Studies,” Kibum said one night, and Minho hummed in response. “What, don’t you think it’ll be interesting?”

“I mean, probably, but what would I learn from that?”

“True.” He glanced over to where Kibum laid but saw only darkness. “I mean, I guess we don’t have to take the same electives. At least one, I think, if you want.”

“Divination?”

Kibum snorted. “That works. Which other one do you want to take?”

“My dad said I had to take Arithmancy, since that’s the closest one to math which makes it practical.”

“Hm. Good luck with that.”

Minho chuckled. “Thanks.”

One of the nights, closer to the end of Minho’s visit, Jonghyun invited them over to have a camp out in his backyard, complete with the Muggle treats s’mores -- “That’s what they’re called, right?” Minho nodded, amused. Jonghyun’s mom, the other Mrs. Kim, trapped a flame in a jar for them to roast their marshmallows with before she left them to their own devices.

Once the s'mores were eaten and the flame was extinguished, they laid huddled together, reading their fortunes in the stars through the clear ceiling of Jonghyun’s tent. They started out sort of serious, but it soon turned into them concocting the wildest stories for each other just to make the others laugh.

Kibum was the first to fall asleep, his head lolling over to rest on Minho’s shoulder. Minho froze, glancing up at Jonghyun when he pulled a tube of lipstick out of his shorts pocket. He continued to hold still for several minutes, to make sure that Kibum really was asleep, before he nodded. Jonghyun drew all over Kibum’s face as gently as he could, so as to not wake him up, before he passed it over to Minho.

“Your turn.”

Red was streaked all over Kibum’s face, his lips smeared into a terrifying smile. To be quite honest, there really wasn’t anywhere else to draw. Except...Minho carefully uncapped the lipstick with one hand and drew a small circle on the tip of Kibum’s nose.

“Perfect.”

When morning came, Minho was woken to a pillow hitting him in the face. Kibum stood over him, his face and hands stained red in an attempted to clean off the lipstick. The pillow in his hands poised to hit him again. And hit him again it did when Minho burst out laughing.

“It was...Jonghyun’s idea!” he yelled between smacks.

“You swear?”

“I promise.”

Kibum started to turn away, but paused. “Did you draw any of it?”

Minho’s eyes widened and he pointed to the tip of his nose. He half-yelled, half-laughed when Kibum hit him with the pillow again before he ran back inside. Minho quickly wrapped himself up in his blanket, shuffling after him into the house to help him.

Or Jonghyun.

He hadn’t decided yet.

* - * - *

Heat, as well as the smells of pumpkin and warm spices, radiated from the kitchen. Kibum wiped away the sweat on his brow, internally reminding himself that his current discomfort would be worth it, in the end.

It was Minho’s last full day there, so Grandma was giving him a first-hand lesson on how she makes pumpkin pasties.

Kibum turned the page of his book, humming to himself. Really, he wasn’t all that focused on the book -- the page was nothing but a blur of black and white -- he was just trying to distract himself. Looking away from the book and into the kitchen, he saw a very concentrated Minho rolling out the dough, flour dusted across his chin and cheeks and hair.

He smiled to himself as he tried to refocus on his book, only to be distracted again by the front door opening and closing.

Jonghyun dropped into the armchair across from him, the discarded copies of a week’s worth of Daily Prophet’s crinkling beneath him. “Wanna do something?”

“Nah, I’m reading.”

Jonghyun glanced down at the book, smirking. “It’s upside down, genius.”

Kibum blushed to the tips of his ears as he flipped the book right side up. “Don’t you have Roo to play with?”

“Mom took her to get shots or something.”

There came a clatter from the kitchen, and Kibum looked over to find just Grandma standing there. Minho popped up a second later, rolling pin in hand. “Maybe you should just roll it out,” he said.

“No, honey, you’ve got to learn this for yourself.”

Kibum glanced back at Jonghyun before focusing on his book again, only to do a double take and stare at him. His chin was resting on his hands, and he let out a long sigh with a dreamy sort of smile as he fluttered his eyelashes at Kibum.

He blinked once, twice, before he lowered his voice to a whisper. “What the...fuck are you doing?”

“What? Is this not how friends look at each other? With soft adoration?”

Kibum’s face was ablaze, he knew it and he knew Jonghyun could see it, judging by his growing smile. “Soft adoration? Did you learn that in your creative writing class?”

“Maybe so. Doesn’t make it not true for you, though.” Kibum rolled his eyes and went back to re-reading the same sentence for the fifth time.

He made it through a full two pages by the time the pumpkin pasties were ready to eat. Minho brought one in for them both and waited anxiously for them to eat theirs. Kibum ate his quickly, despite it being too warm, savoring it as much as he could.

“This turned out really good. Good job, Min,” Jonghyun said before he directed a pointed stare at Kibum.

“Yeah,” Kibum said, clearing his throat. “Really good.”

Minho beamed at them both, and Kibum looked back down at his book with a sigh.

The next day dawned too soon, taking Minho away on the early morning train. Kibum stared out the window of the Knight Bus. “See you soon!” Minho had said when he let him go before he started to walk away.

“Yeah, in five weeks.”

Minho turned back around, his smile reaching his eyes. “That’s still soon.”

Kibum imagined the blur of the scenery was the train that Minho was on, and he couldn’t help but wish that they lived a little closer. Regardless, school would be here before he knew it, so he might as well enjoy the rest of summer while it lasted.

* - * - *

A/N: Guess what today is?? It's a year since I posted the very first chapter of this fic! Which is crazy to think about. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^

#minkey #shinee fic #shineefics #shinee au #shinee #hogwarts!minkey au #ff: by my side #my writing #mine #and so begins Kibum and Minseok's 'you love Minho too so you're acceptable in my eyes' friendship #Minseok pouring ice water on Minho? a legit way i woke up my little brother #(he snapped my eyelids until i woke up the day before so....payback's a bitch mf'er)#ye that's right they're watching Shrek sue me (pls don't)#it's comedy gold and an international treasure #the Choi family dynamics are fascinating to me #this will be fun #also Minseok has done nothing wrong ever in his life ever i love him #Miyasaki is absolutely and inspiration to me and I love him and his work #which is why i mention Ghibli films so often in fics lol #but straight up.....ye he was a wizard he absolutely went to the Japanese wizarding school #me: i'm not looking forward to writing this argument (about Kibum lying about Slytherin)#also me: yeah so it's more of a mild and brief disagreement because even in fiction you can't handle confrontation #lmao #btw @ Megan: whenever they call each other 'buddy' they're calling each other 'chingu' in Korean...i might write it in at some point but ye #I hope I did Jonghyun justice #okay so not perfect as always and it's so fucking long #so sorry but i'm tired and tired of looking at it so here you go lol #idk it just feels slightly rushed to me but hopefully y'all enjoyed it

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kaisooficrec · 4 years

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hi admins!!! u know how some artists have one-hit-wonder songs that are so good they get remembered for that their entire life? well, r there any authors with the same thing going on? like authors who write really great stories but for some reason only has one to four stories in their repertoire? xxoo

Whew this was difficult to put together because many authors are not active in the fandom anymore and many also moved on and took down their only exo fics that were popular during their time :( A number of authors who have written famous but less than 4 fics were also part of our KFR project so we really recommend you to check them out here ♥ That being said, these are the ones that we could find or think of!

lababoreine: the name may not sound familiar to you but their fic Gicleur is one of the ‘it’ fics in the early kaisoo ficdom times! the author is not active anymore and the fic was posted in an exo fest ‘runandgun’ hence you’ll only find it there. indeed a classic. which means angsty (:

teddyescher/shikae (39smooth): also one of the og kd authors. most notable fic is are you going to age with grace? - one-sided love, yes hello angst!! other only kaisoo works are so i closed the curtains - songfic & waterworks. - pwp

starsthatlast: they’re also unfortunately not in the fandom anymore but their famous fic is hands down summer, 21 - early kaisoo classics are very angsty so yes, what else :)) hospital au and a love story in 21 days before one of them is gone

Soomise: there are still a handful of kaisoo ft. other member or drabbles that are no less amazing and most notable kd fics are past ten & dress-up games - both pwp where jongin is a kitty hybrid or he wears make-up and lingerie for kyungsoo sobs :’) they are only on lj and not active anymore :(

peonysoo: aka our former Admin K!!!! the impact that Mr. Do has left. age gap, dilf, inspiration to many other ficdoms as well. a cultural reset. Sweet Like Sugar - we got a sugar daddy au by popular demand (aka Mr. Do) also Hidden Treasure - the underdog but also sweet and mellow with rich/poor au, countryside and romance!

hobash: Sins of the Flesh aka kaisoo smut has over 10k subs that’s a legendary status, other no less popular are Glory Days and Hold Down My Shaking Body (all smut :)) + Reign O'er Me written for our KFR project ^^

HOJICHADUST: this author just put breathplay on the map with like liquid gold (how your love runs through me) and two fics for special occassions - thorny skin, blooming heart - sweet high school au and the third path - fantasy, the witcher!au written also for our project *screams*

byun-b: Between Us - this got so many hyped but it’s not finished TTshy jongin has a fat crush on his brother’s friend kyungsoo and turns out kyungsoo also likes him (kyungsoo seduction game strong lmao)

TAHC: I just found out they deactivated :( fell in love with Smile which is such a beautiful hurt/comfort and I also remember Somebody Waits for You which is the only second exo fic but fluffy this time!

0KKULTiC: Flesh to Fabrication - aka the only kd fic! kyungsoo orders a maid droid baek but receive a sexdoll kai model instead. it’s crack+smut in one, it got very popular and i can see why!

Layittofire: has two popular kd fics and the other one is also not finished ;_; Hello Chibi: Demo Version - yes kyungsoo takes care of chibi jongin & Shining Knight - early famous wolf au. alpha jongin lives on his own never wanting to form a pack until an abused omega ksoo hides in his place and asks to help him (incomplete)

sailorsoo: The White Collar - the one and only fic i’Ve ever seen from this account and it made everyone shook. priest!soo got me feeling some type of way

Quaila: A demon Who Came To Tea - comedy, wizard!au shy and awkward Jongin + demon soo, Jongin summons a demon and gets infatuated with him so hard. This is the only kd fic the author has written and it’s also early popular fic (2013)

floraxiu: Maintenance - jongin is a catholic school boy and he gets madly attracted (sexually) to kyungsoo, his brother’s friend. which makes jongin feel conflicted. internalized homophobia. can’t believe they dropped this bomb and never finished rip i’ll 4eva wait for an update

FeliciaSueLynn / FelishNavidad: one kaisoo office au The Rough World of Business - this is pretty much well-known fic too, the author’s only kd fic also one of the og topsoos from 2013 kyungsoo is cold, downright jerk and only uses jongin first but then he changes for better

taegyungie: out of all exo fics they’ve written only one is kaisoo and it’s so nice! Come One, Come All - med student kyungsoo wants to run away and he joins a group of friends owning and working in a circus and he is mesmerized by a graceful acrobat jongin. set in 1920′s and it slaps okay!

Hajinnie: one kaisoo that is Across - jongin works as a cashier at a grocery store where kyungsoo frequently buys stuff and jongin is very interested in him. but kyungsoo is not just your regular customer. but neither is jongin your regular clerk a very intense and a bit dark fic with a plot you can’t predict (read tw) but i really enjoyed this! (also happy ending)

Chlexcer: has 2 fics! Seasons (college student!nini and prof!kyungsoo) & This Could Be Messy (neighbours!kd) are two cute fluff fics with some small age gap!! can i read moar juiceyoo

Red_Threads: has two fics which are Black Magic - which is very popular also almost 200k so understandably they quality > quantity!! and my fave The Last of the Wilds - the pining here got me crazyyy. both are amazing fantasy fics and i love them a lot!

rhewoon: i’m sure there are many many lj authors with amazing fics that left the ficdom now :( one of them is rhewoon with Blackboards and Sweet Things - teacher kyungsoo is flustered whenhe sees one of his students has a very handsome brother riding a motorcycle and introuces himself as jongin. flustere!soo and jongin with sweet tooth is so cute + sassy bestfriend tao lol

teatimetaemint: i remember this author having more kd fics but for some reason could only find one kd that’s still up and it’s Popular Vote - where jongin really likes kyungsoo but is shy to confess so he avoids him to not embarrass himself :))) it’s the fluffy ‘they like each other but think the other doesn’t like them’ ♥

annafeu: the author’s most intense and crazy kaisoo psychological thriller Egg Head (not for the the fainthearted!) is not available anymore, but you can still read From Your Arms the the Floor and Back Again, 3rd Arabesque & El Dorado if you’re into dark but brilliantly writen fics

Lalaluhanne: everybody knows and adores Siren Song (pirate au), but there’s also Love Game (non au) also written for us ;)

We’re always open to suggestions (not just in this req but any req really!) so feel free to either tweet it to us or share on our fanboard :)

- Admin J

#kaisoo #kadi #fic request #j #authors

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sereisstuff · 5 years

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ｂｌｏｓｓｏｍ　オゾ唄 4

Intro - a soft-hearted male geisha and a poor broken musician who battle through a journey in which they explore the world through their performances.

summary - you finally performed but fate was never too kind.

genres - a very slow burn, comedy, angst and big sad

(A/N) - yes I have finally updated haha

.you nervously held the koto in your palms standing far from the stage as you glared at the unwelcome steps to your new life, holding in the cry waiting to pour from your cold eyes “I can’t wait to see the performance” the young maiko expressed as she stood nearby to your emotionless form.

unknowingly pulling you from waters you drowned yourself in, subsiding the fears for a few seconds in order for you to recollect your wandering thoughts “are you alright?” yuno asked worry coating her soft features.

she noticed the switch in your face when she dared to ask a look she perceived as nervousness or anxiety was slowly getting to you “you will do amazing I assure you” she promised, empty but still efficient.

you turned to her figure internally gasping towards her glamorous attire, black and pink flowers imprinted on her kimono as her lips dawned a heavy red colour against her white-coated features., similar to Jimin’s but less noticeable in a way “No need to worry over me miss yuno I’ll be quiet alright, you just focus on your training” you admitted through masked words.

“we’re on in a few” Jimin rushed through the tent with heavy gasps of breath pulling through to his lungs, he searched the place for his new friend, you, in hopes of seeing you before the performance “jimin” Miss Atsuko breathed a sigh of relief staring in disbelief towards the male who ignored her.

“Hey, there you are” Jimin greeted pleasingly, appreciating your mere presence. His eyes wandering around your new formal wear, his lips stretching into a smile as he ignores mama Atsuko.

“here I am” you repeated unfazed, wrapping your hands ever so tightly around your koto watching intensively as the mc made his way on to the stage preparing the crowd to witness their favoured Otoko Geisha in the flesh “you're gonna do great” jimin nudged you.

immediately after that sentence, he rushed on to the stage in small silenced steps glancing at you with a welcoming smirk shooting a wink your way, this baffled you.. in order for you to become friends with him and entirely trust the popular man he had to help you become comfortable around his presence.

you weren’t to be introduced in hopes of gaining recognition through your melodies rather than the fame your “friend” had, secretly making your way behind him further to the back where the light barely shone and your fears were masked.

before you laid your hands on the koto, you gazed forward holding in an anxiety-induced gasp watching the many favourable stares eyeing the stage with the possibility of watching the performance of their lifetime but sadly that weight had to be bared on your shoulders. curling your fingers again “you can do this” your mind thought, encouraging you to proceed.

Jimin stood in front of you form already in place for the first string to be pulled, now you must do this and there’s no backing out, breathing in a shaky breath, you shut your eyes..and played.

mama Atsuko stood further away from the stage watching you with a curious mind, the open suggestion that you weren’t so useless to this family, adamant on her obscene thoughts she stuck to the fact that you supposedly weren’t useful and one day you wouldn’t be welcome.

but all was a lie and even mama Atsuko knew one day she too would come to welcome you as her own, she had a heart of gold but as all know gold isn’t found without a groan and dedication.

you leaned back striking another string, passion oozing from both your’s and Jimin’s performance, your mind was finally in place and for a few minutes you were able to think probably under the influence of a song were the times you felt as if freedom was near.

but fear was never too far behind.J

imin’s contemporary performance made the crowd gaze in admiration endless compliments flowing from their mouths as all couldn’t wait to speak to him and most wondering who could possibly be playing behind him.

his black kimono elegantly waving through the air, gravity wasn’t known in his presence and he used the stage as his personal way of expressing his hidden emotion, so raw and passionate that he was being admired like the moon reflecting against the ocean, calming the crowd but edging them to stare more due to his flamboyant beauty.

but as you plucked the last string, opening your lids to the portal of reality staring directly towards jimin who no longer danced for the people but bowed to them with thankfulness “what a beautiful performance” the mc crowded the stage and suddenly you felt cramped again.

grabbing your koto and standing to your feet, rushing from the stage limply as your legs now felt like boiled noodles and your mind clouded in shock “you did great” Yuno whelped, throwing her arms around you as you stood in shock, even jimin who hasn’t known you for long reacted upon Yuno’s initiation.

“ah, Yuno we should be exploring the crowd now, mhh” he silently pleaded for her to release you from her hold, you so helplessly wished you could accept her warmth but failed at doing so, physical touch wasn’t at the top of your list, for all the wrong reason’s.

“oh, of course, I’ll be on my way now. see you soon y/n” she waved weaving out the door and now away from your sight, you sighed, your heart pulsating quickly and tears were well near pooling in your eyes “if only she was here to witness this?” you muttered remembering your dearly beloved sister who would have hugged you just like yuno.

Truth be told the day you lost her was the day you left behind all emotion known to man, the cruel fate of the world was struck upon you as you ran as fast as you could, forced to ignore the agonizing screams of your beloved with tears rushing down your face, and yet, the world still wanted you alive?“who was here?” Mama Atsuko interrupted, her eyes narrowing towards you shaky figure.“no one who has relevance in your life” you muttered an answer, staring blankly at the ground.

clearly, you should have been celebrating your first ever performance but you just couldn’t “clearly” Mama Atsuko sucked in a breath, as you stood like a statue.“you should be celebrating” she spat, holding her petite body composed in a shielded light, shedding a few of her angered layers to you, you gazed up, replacing your sad look with a determined one.

the past shouldn’t be chasing you and your dear sister wouldn’t smile if she saw you like this.“yes, I should be” you cracked an awkward half-assed smile, unfortunately, the feeble retired geisha grimaced raising her hands in the air refusing to see you attempt a smile “dear, it’s that way” her hands showed you the way and you rushed from the room outwards into the pathway.

A tear slipped amongst your scarlet cheeks, not your own but one of the skies, tears cascading on your form as the world felt your crumbling heart expressing your emotions knowing you couldn’t do such a deed yourself, you giggled sadly.

Grabbing your hat and you pulling the brims covering your now dishevelled look, heading towards the back of the room where you will drink sake until your worries subside, as for now the moment your living will be soon forgotten and sadly your memories will only be suppressed but you’d rather cage them in storms of alcoholic beverages rather than replay those clouded memories.

You smiled at the old woman greeting you at the door, biting the top of your lip when you entered, the strong smell alcohol comforted you as you treated it like a celebration, you stepped forward feeling a tug at your wrist.

“Ah, yes?” you turned to the old woman, her small greeting held a genuine place in your heart, examining her grey strands which complemented her skin perfectly, history dwelled in her face and she wore it proudly, you grew rather envious.

“Hello dear,” she greeted.

“H-hello” you bowed deeply in respect making her chuckle in a high pitched tone, she bent down lifting your weight weakly so you stand rooted in your spot “I dare say but your talent to play such an instrument is a gift, you nearly had me in tears” she continued, her inked out eyes turned into crescents “never in my late years had I heard the koto played so smoothly, please, for me, never stop, your gift is a treasure and I would want my grandchildren to witness it” she pleaded, her restless lips curled into a grateful smile.

You cooed, pulling your hat back as you replied “Thank you, and I would love to play for your grandchildren someday, you just wait, one day, one of your grandchildren may be playing the same as me” you didn’t know where this sudden confidence came from but something about her made your shoulders relax and your lips rest from the constant biting.

“oh .. that would make me very proud” she chuckled again, resting a hand on your shoulder.

Her smile so pure that you wished you had someone like her.“Well I must get going but please do visit some time, the old broken down home at the end of the street with a cup on its step” she bid you a goodbye as your hand immediately went up wishing for the old woman to stay for a bit longer, but she left and you sighed...again.

The cup on its step’ you rehearsed hours later with your 5th cup of sake in your palms, your head tilted down as you glared at the plain floor, for these past few weeks jimin has been more than kind to you, his endless banter with mama Atsuko brought a rigid smile to your lopsided lips.

“Stupid whore should have known her place” the loud ruckus of drunken men entered your ears, their voices awfully low, noses as red as the sun on its sets and they sniffled with crescented eyes, clearly intoxicated with something stronger than sake, you ignored them, their idiotic tones clearly not interesting you enough.

“Y/n” a voiced whispered shouted, drowning the men’s voices as they made their way closer to you, you turned, unamused.

“Yuno?” she nodded giggling, her kimono in a mess and she too as the men were was intoxicated, oh how mama Atsuko would punish her for this!” Yuno, w-what are you doing, y-your going to be -” she cut you off with a drunken giggle grabbing your cup of sake and downing it.

Her kimono sleeve lifted and you caught sight of a fresh bruise, you frowned.“I knew you cared about me” she giggled again another hiccup following close behind, wiping her lips so her red make up slid across her detailed art on her empty canvas.“What happened to your wrist?” you asked, worried.“Very…..very bad m-men” she pouted, her hands flying up in the air like an explosion.“What, men” she frowned, before breaking out into a smile, leaning in to whisper into your ear “ri-ight t-there” she pointed a lazy finger towards the men as you took a good look your eyes widened, it couldn’t be.

The slicked-back hair and the small stuble could engrave itself in your memory any day, his cruel smirk as he mimicked yunos cries.“Y-yuno, we need to go” you cried, grabbing her untainted wrist and gently ushering her out of the room unnoticed by the dazed men, Yuno cried the entire way back to the Ryokan “Yuno, please stop” you tried to get her to stop pulling, but she stopped midway, her anger now rising and before she could get a word out mama Atsuko, trudged past you gripping her hand.

“How dare you!!!”“You foolish girl!!” she screamed, her bamboo stick tightened between her fist, she ignored your presence leaving with yuno who waved goodbye to you.

Which now left you alone, as you squatted, wanting to scream. He was back. How dare he, after all, he did how could such an evil person show their face such as him.

The man who ruined your life.

#peter parker imagines #park jimin #park jimin scenarios #bts japan #BTS jimin #jimin x you #jimin scenario #jimin x reader #park jimin x reader #park jimin x chubby reader #park jimin x you #Otoko giesha!jimin

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ethenell · 5 years

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Best Films of 2018, Part II

5. The Favourite (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

“I dreamt I stabbed you in the eye ...”

Dogtooth was as bold as debut features come ... It’s fiendishly clever conceit and distinctively muted delivery heralded an auspicious new voice in international cinema.

But even Dogtooth’s most ardent supporters would have been hard-pressed to imagine that, a decade down the line, Yorgos Lanthimos would find himself at the helm of a film with no less than ten Academy Award nominations to its name. In that sense, The Favourite is a perfect demonstration of both how far Lanthimos has come since his inimitable debut, and how fiercely true he has stayed to his idiosyncratic vision.

Lanthimos’s great leap has been to take his vision out of the arthouses and into the cinematic mainstream without losing one iota of his edge. The Favourite, anchored by a trio of extraordinary performances by Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone, is easily Lanthimos’ most palatable offering yet. With all due respect to Dogtooth and Alps, it may also be his flat-out best.

Lacking the high-concept foundation of his previous work, Lanthimos’ latest more than makes up for it by playing up the absurdities of its setting. In the cutthroat world of social climbers and hangers-on in the lavish royal court of Victorian England, Lanthimos' wickedly comedic voice has found it’s perfect canvas, and his trio of actresses sell every bizarre beat to perfection.

Lanthimos’ films has always explored the ways that the societal convention clashes with our most basic, instinctual behavior, and The Favourite is no exception. Victorian England is simply a (fish-eye) lens through which he strikes at humanity’s propensity for self-interested cruelty, manipulation, and deception. Unsurprisingly, Lanthimos’ diagnosis on the topic remains characteristically bleak. But if The Favourite teaches us anything about Lanthimos as a storyteller, it’s that he’s uniquely capable of delivering bad news with a smile and a wink.

4. Eighth Grade (dir. Bo Burnham)

“Gucci!”

Bo Burnham, who first gained fame through YouTube videos of self-proclaimed "pubescent musical comedy", would strike most offhand as an unlikely source for the most pure-heartedly empathetic film of the year. But Eighth Grade, Burnham's debut feature, is exactly that.

Centering around the painfully shy Kayla as she goes through her final week of middle school, Burnham and star Elsie Fisher bring to the screen a keen sense for what it means to be a child in the age of social media, not to mention the most genuinely rewarding actor-director connection of any film in 2018.

Burnham has said repeatedly that the casting process for the role of Kayla was extensive, and that he nearly considered shelving the project before auditioning Fisher for the role. Seeing her on screen, it's easy to see both why Burnham was so particular in casting this part, and why he struck gold discovering Fisher.

As written by Burnham and played by Fisher, Kayla is a ball of anxieties whose struggles in IRL social scenarios are presented in direct contrast to the version of herself presented on her YouTube channel, through which she shares motivational videos with messages about, among other things, courage and being yourself. It's this juxtaposition that forms the thesis of Burnham's beautiful film, but not quite in the way you might expect.

This may not come as too much of a surprise, given his background, but Burnham categorically rejects lazy criticisms of the social media generation, or of social media itself. In fact, Eighth Grade feels more in tune with the detailed realities of a life dominated by interaction and engagement through social media than any other film in recent memory.

But, in spite of the broad cultural transformation that has followed in social media's wake, Eighth Grade's greatest achievement is to remind it's viewers that the vulnerabilities and angst of childhood remain largely unchanged.

3. Roma (dir. Alfonso Cuaron)

“We are alone. No matter what they tell you, we women are always alone.“

Alfonso Cuaron is one of the world’s most treasured filmmakers – this much is not really up for debate. His unerringly brilliant filmography showcases a directorial range unmatched in modern cinema. So, the transition from the space epic Gravity to an intimate family drama set in an upscale suburb of 1970s Mexico City should have surprised no one familiar with the director’s previous work. His new film’s reported autobiographical elements should also have come as no surprise, as he had previously dabbled in stories loosely based on his own life with his celebrated debut, Y Tu Mama Tambien.

But even this thorough setting of the stage could not have been adequate to prepare audiences for what Cuaron had in store. Among a filmography already replete with masterpieces, Roma may well be the most important (and personal) film Cuaron has ever made.

Unlike Y Tu Mama Tambien, Roma draws inspiration not from Curaon’s own adolescent exploits, but from the experiences of Libo, the domestic worker who helped to raise him, along with his own mother, as they deal with a series of upheavals within their upper-middle class home.

Where Roma and Y Tu Mama find common ground is in their uncanny ability to ground their intimate stories within the broader sociopolitical landscape in which they are set. Perhaps the most notable achievement of Cuaron’s work than his unparalleled ability take us to a time and place, set us inside an experience that’s unlike our own, and drive home with uncanny precision how that experience fits within our world at large.

The miracle of Roma is the grandeur and power it imbues in the banal details of domestic life. Even with Cuaron having largely abandoned the formal flashiness of Children of Men and Gravity, his images elevate a traditionally marginalized figure to almost mythical significance. Today’s world being what it is, Roma serves as a powerful and timely reminder – every life, even those most easily overlooked, spill over with love and tragedy and moments of genuine wonder.

2. Burning (dir. Lee-Chang Dong)

“There is no right and wrong ... Just the morals of nature.”

There’s a mystery at the heart of Burning that never resolves itself -- at least, not in the way you might want it to. And though it casts an unmistakable pall over the film from the moment that it comes into focus, there’s a sneaking suspicion that writer-director Lee Chang Dong’s real focus is lingering just behind this shroud.

Indeed, peeling away this outermost layer of intrigue reveals a thorny, tangled treatise on the divisions of modern society. Burning functions exceptionally well as a pure, slow-burn mystery, but it’s deliberately composed subtext provides contextual space for it to blossom into something far more complex and significant. No doubt in my mind, this film is a masterpiece.

On paper, Burning’s first act seems well-worn – Jongsu (Yoo Ah-In) reconnects by chance with Haemi (Jeon Jong-seo), a friend from his home village, whom he initially does not recognize. He agrees to feed her cat while she travels in Africa. When she returns with a mysteriously wealthy sophisticate named Ben (a slyly terrific Steven Yeun) Jongsu immediately feels threatened. But as his petty jealousies pile up, deeper suspicions begin to take root, and small, seemingly innocuous details begin to point towards sinister possibilities.

Rather than focus on the things that connect us, Burning probes the divides between us that – as modern discourse reaches ever closer to a fever pitch – threaten to become unbridgeable.

In this state of disconnection, what can we be convinced to believe about one another? What (or who) is disposable? Burning asks provocative questions about our cultural shortcomings and paints a chilling picture of the alienation that can fester as a result. It’s a patient, masterful film that pays off with an absolute wallop of a conclusion.

As we see our cinemas filled with more and more tired remakes and obvious retreads, Burning represents something truly indispensable and increasingly rare – an assured, original masterpiece from a vanguard of international cinema.

1. First Reformed (dir. Paul Schrader)

“Can God forgive us? For what we’ve done to this world?”

Decades after penning the script for Scorsese’s searing take on the explosive blend of toxic masculinity and moral righteousness, Paul Schrader is back with his own twisted take on Taxi Driver this time sprinkled with elements of Winter Light, Bergman’s austere study of faith in crisis.

Like Bergman’s enduring chamber play, First Reformed focuses on a pastor, Ernst Tollet (an earth-shakingly great terrific Ethan Hawke), who offers to counsel the troubled husband of one of his parishioners (Amanda Seyfried), only to find himself slipping into a spiritual crisis of his own.

In the wake of their conversation - which plays out as a debate over the morality of bringing a child into a world on the brink of unavoidable ecological catastrophe - Tollet is forced to reckon with his own deeply repressed guilt, along with his rapidly deteriorating health, and quickly finds himself buried under the spiritual weight of his own sins, and those of humanity, writ large.

In his search for answers, Tollet whispers into the void, and in return comes nothing but silence. This profound absence drives Tollet deeper and deeper into the clutches of despair until, in the film’s breathless final moments, the void finally shouts back. It’s one of the more profoundly, beautifully surprising conclusions in recent memory - one that suggests that our only hope for true salvation is not in blind faith, but in transcendental human connection

First Reformed takes on a wide range of themes over its 90 minute run-time, but Schrader is most directly concerned with this eternal and fundamentally human struggle between faith and despair.

At its psychological foundation, faith is a willful confrontation between the human capacity for hope and a cold and uncaring universe - it’s sold to us as the only true antidote to existential despair. But First Reformed – driven to the knife’s edge by Hawke’s powerhouse lead performance – argues convincingly that the line between bravely confronting the abyss, and being wholly consumed by it, is perilously thin.

#first reformed #paul schrader #ethan hawke #burning #lee chang-dong #steven yeun #roma #alfonso cuaron #eighth grade #bo burnham #elsie fisher #the favourite #yorgos lanthimos #olivia colman #rachel weisz #emma stone

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lacrimis · 6 years

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Sara Montiel ( Cementerio de La Almudena )

Birth Name : María Antonia Abad Fernández Nickname : Saritisima

Born : March 10, 1928 in Campo de Criptana, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Died : April 8, 2013 in Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

Sara Montiel was born in the village of Campo de Criptana, province of Ciudad Real, in the region of Castille-La Mancha, Spain. Her parents were Isidoro Abad, a peasant, and Maria Vicenta Fernández, a door-to-door beautician. The future star was christened Maria Antonia Alejandra Abad Fernández. Barely in her teens, she won a beauty and talent contest held by Cifesa, the most influential Spanish film studio of that era. She was promptly signed to a movie contract and in 1944 made her debut playing a teenager in Te quiero para mí (1944), credited in the cast as "Maria Alejandra". By the end of 1944 she was given the starring role in Empezó en boda (1944), which introduced her with a more adult image and a new name: Sara Montiel. In the next four years she appeared in 14 films, including her first international success Delírio de Amor (1948), which led to a long term-contract in Mexico. She quickly established herself as one of the most popular film actors of the decade. starring in over a dozen films between 1950 and 1954. Hollywood came calling and she was formally introduced to American moviegoers in Vera Cruz (1954), playing Gary Cooper's love interest. Later she worked at Warner Bros. in Serenata (1956) with Mario Lanza, directed by Anthony Mann, who became her first husband. After starring in Samuel Fuller's Renegando o Meu Sangue (1957) with Rod Steiger, Sarita shot A Última Canção (1957) ("The Last Song") in Spain, a musical production that turned out to be the biggest box-office success in Spain's film history. It played for over a year in the same theaters in which it opened. A similar reaction followed in Western Europe and Latin America. Sarita Montiel had become the most popular actress-singer of 1957 and a national treasure for Spain. The unprecedented success of "El Último Cuplé" threw a wrench into her Hollywood career, as she was offered a multimillion-dollar contract to star in four films in Europe. Her next vehicle, La Violetera (1958) ("The Violet Peddler"), confirmed Sara's popularity and broke the box-office records set by the previous movie. The theme song from "La Violetera" became Montiel's signature song. The soundtrack albums from both films reportedly outsold Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra in the world market. From then on, Sarita would combine the making of films with the recording of highly successful albums and live concerts in four continents. By 1962 she had become a legend to millions of fans worldwide, reaching markets that had previously been uncharted territory for Spanish cinema. Among her many blockbusters of the 1960s were Meu Último Tango (1960), Subleme Melodia (1961), A Bela Lola (1962), A Rainha do Chantecler (1962) and Essa Mulher (1969). However, by the 1970s her interest in films diminished, due largely to the almost pornographic turn of Spanish films in the post-Francisco Franco era when censorship was abolished. Her activities turned mainly to recording and stage work, and she achieved uncontested successes with her stage shows "Sara en Persona" (1970-73), "Saritísima" (1974-75), "Increible Sara" (1977-78), "Super Sara Show"(1979-80), "Doña Sara de La Mancha" (1981-82), "Taxi Vamos Al Victoria" (1983-84), "Nostalgia" (1985-86), "Sara, Siempre Sara" (1987-88) and others. In the 1990s Sara surprised everyone by branching out into television: Sara y punto(1990), a mini-series of seven one-hour episodes, included a serialized biography of the star, many popular guests (including Luciano Pavarotti and Charles Aznavour, among others) and Miss Montiel singing her greatest hits in addition to new songs written especially for her. Next came Ven al Paralelo (1992), taped in a Barcelona theater where Montiel hosted,sang and acted in comedy sketches in front of a live audience. It is quite impossible to cover here all the awards Sara Montiel has won in her long successful career but we must mention the "Premio del Sindicato" (at that time Spain's equivalent of the Oscar) for best actress, won two years in a row for her performances in "El Último Cuplé" and "La Violetera". In 1972 she was proclaimed an honorary citizen of Los Angeles by Mayor Sam Yorty and was given the gold key to the city. Similarly she has been awarded the gold keys of New York, Miami and Chicago. In 1981 she received Israel's most prestigious honor, the Ben Guiron Award and in 1983 she was awarded France's Legion of Honor medal, after a retrospective of her career ran at the Autumn Film Festival in Paris. In 1986 "Nosotros", a Hollywood-based Hispanic actors advocacy organization founded by Ricardo Montalban, gave her its Golden Eagle Award for life achievement. The trophy was presented to Sarita by her "Vera Cruz" costar-producer Burt Lancaster in an emotional reunion that triggered a standing ovation from all their Hollywood peers witnessing the event. In 1997 she was awarded the "Gold Medal", also a life achievement recognition, given--rarely0--by Spain's Academy of Arts and Sciences. The two-hour ceremony was beamed live by national television. In 2008 Sara returned to her hometown to unveil a sculpture with her image at the new Sara Montiel Park. A nearby avenue was also named after her and there was at the same time a dedication ceremony of her newly renovated museum, located inside a 16th-century windmill. In addition, the government placed a commemorative plaque on the house where she was born. Sara Montiel's private life has also been a large part of her legend. After divorcing Anthony Mann in 1963, she married three more times (Vicente Ramirez Olalla 1964-1978; Jose Tous 1979-1992; Antonio Hernandez 2002-2004). Before, during and after these marriages she had countless affairs, among them Nobel prize-winning scientist Severo Ochoa and Italian actor Giancarlo Del Duca. Unable to have children, she adopted two during her marriage to Jose Tous: Thais (born in 1979) and Zeus (born 1983). In 2000 she published her autobiography, which became a best seller. Undaunted by the passage of time and ignoring critics who accused her of mishandling her legendary image, Sara Montiel continued living and working at a hectic pace. She kept touring with her one woman show and making guests appearances on television. In 2009 she won a new generation of fans when she recorded "Absolutamente," an outrageous duet with Fangoria's vocalist Alaska. Both the record and the promotional video reached the top of the popularity charts and remained there for weeks. Next Sara recorded some love duets with baritone José Antonio Román Marcos and traveled to the United States for a short tour sponsored by New York's Cervantes Institute and the universities of Chicago and Cincinnati. In every city she charmed the audiences with her charismatic presence and sense of humor. Back in Spain she continued her activities which now included supporting the singing career of her son Zeus. She appeared in his 2011 "Sex Dance" video and caused quite a stir. In February 2013 Sara Montiel became the subject of a made-for-TV documentary titled "Sara's Dream" which aired in Spain to high ratings and great reviews. It was a fitting celebration of her fantastic life and career which came at the right time. A couple of months later, the star who had seemed eternal, passed away suddenly and quietly in her Madrid penthouse. By her family's request, funeral services were private but the funeral procession, organized by the city of Madrid, was a very moving event attended by thousands who showed up at Plaza Callao to bid farewell to their beloved Sara. She was buried in the San Justo cemetery family plot.

San Justo Cemetery, Madrid, Spain

Sara Montiel

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sports-movies · 2 years

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The Top 10 Sports Films of 2022 to Watch for a Motivational Boost

1. Hustle

Adam Sandler, a lifelong basketball lover, makes excellent use of his knowledge in this Netflix sports comedy-drama movie. He portrays a former scout who discovers a promising but troubled international player while attempting to rebuild his career. Hustle is Sandler's most recent departure from the silly comedies of the previous five years; it is serious with a dash of humour.

Jeremiah Zagar was the director of the 2022 edition of the American sports drama Hustle. In attempt to resurrect his career, a former basketball scout (Adam Sandler) signs a foreign player with a dubious record to play in the NBA.

2. Rise

After relocating from Nigeria to Greece, the Antetokounmpo family faces challenges caring for their five children. While participating in a local team's basketball game, the lads discover they possess exceptional on-court abilities.

Pilar Holland, Taylor Nichols, Yetide Badaki, Dayo Okeniyi, and Maximilian Hernandez are among the actors in the cast. Akin Omotoso animated the film

3. Olga

Olga is a young Ukrainian gymnast living in exile in Switzerland who is working to fit in with her new team while following her dream of becoming an Olympic gold medalist. As she is preparing for the European Championships, the Maidan Revolution, which affects everything she loves, breaks out in Ukraine.

4. Streamline

Streamline is a dramatic character study in the field of swimming to show how an athlete can be at the top of their discipline but still experience hardship in daily life. Look out this underrated Australian treasure if you like modern sporting dramas like Slalom and Hello Destroyer.

A 15-year-old great swimmer with the world at his disposal commits suicide after his father is released from prison. In the pool, he lives a life of rigid perfectionism whereas his life outside the pool is pointless and lonely.

5. Just Watch Me, Landis

With the assistance of more seasoned sportsmen, 15-year-old baseball player Landis Sims, who was born without hands or feet, auditions for the varsity team.

6. The Open's Phantom

Legendary actors Mark Rylance and Sally Hawkins play the real-life pair Jean and Maurice Flitcroft in the film The Phantom of the Open. Maurice Flitcroft fooled the British Open into letting him participate in their event. This distinctive true narrative, which is based on a real event, was created by director Craig Roberts in collaboration with Simon Barnaby, who also wrote Paddington 2. As he sneaks onto the green and attempts to follow his desire, Maurice's intentions are hampered by class disparities and his own son's discomfort.

The Phantom of the Open, a 2022 British comic sports film starring Craig Roberts, is based on the memoir "The Phantom of the Open: Maurice Flitcroft, A Life in Tennis."

7. Home Team

Taylor Lautner and Rob Schneider rejoin in a Happy Madison production (the previous film being the Ridiculous Six, also a Netflix Original Film). Lautner and Kevin James collaborate once again to teach a Pop Warner football team how to play the game properly. This time, the lesson is based on a true tale about recently resigned NFL head coach Sean Payton during the year he was barred from coaching the New Orleans Saints. The result is family-friendly fun.

Sean Payton returns to his hometown and finds himself directing his 12-year-old son's Pop Warner football team after serving a two-year suspension from his role as head coach of the NFL.

8. Tyson's Run

Major Dodson uses his own life experiences, together with those of Amy Smart and Rory Cochrane, to create this inspirational story. It will elevate everyone's spirits, making this motivational marathon running movie a great pick for a family movie night.

When Tyson first enrols in a public school at the age of 15, his life is forever altered. While helping his father clean up after the football squad, he befriends Olympic marathon champion Aklilu. Tyson, who has autism but never lets it stop him, decides to run his first marathon to please his father. Tyson decides to run his first marathon in an effort to win his father's approval. With the help of an unlikely friend and his parents, he quickly learns that anything is possible when you believe in yourself and have the bravery to take the first step.

Actors: Reno Wilson, Major Dodson, Amy Smart, Barkhad Abdi, and Rory Cochrane

9. 1Up

This hilarious esports comedy is about Vivian "V" Lee (Paris Berelc), a competitive gamer whose exceptional skills have landed her a college scholarship and a seat on the Betas, Barrett University's male-dominated squad. But the game starts when Dustin, the Betas' captain (Taylor Zakhar Perez), tells V that she won't start. V sets out to level up to the nationals and defeat the Betas by putting together a formidable all-girl team with the assistance of her best friend Sloane (Hari Nef) and under the direction of her coach Parker (Ruby Rose).

Paris Berelc, Hari Nef, Julia Yorks, Kyle Newman, Ruby Rose, Hari Nef, Taylor Zakhar Perez, and Kevin Farley

10. The Royal

The legendary baseball player Willie Mays Aikens attributes his ability to endure a historically harsh prison term to his faith and family, but soon after his release he learns that stardom, addiction, and faith are all still as difficult to manage as hitting a curveball.

Amin Joseph, Olivia Taylor Cruz, Marcel Sarmiento, Elisabeth Rohm, Andrea Navedo, Gregory W. Jordan

Everyone can find something to enjoy in the best 2022 sports movies, whether they're looking to laugh, cry, or be motivated.

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