#it's not just cutesy fluff we have a goal here people

[khaopybara]

We've been talking for so long, yet I still have no clue who you are.

If I tell Sun that I'm actually Earth, she would be disappointed that I'm not a guy like she thought I was.

23.5 Degree the World Incline GMMTV 2023 Trailer | 23.5 Degree the World Incline Official Trailer

[alonfic]

in conclusion (i love you)

pairing: tsukishima kei x reader genre: college + fwb to lovers au | fluff, suggestive wc: 3,742 description: In which Tsukishima discovers that love can bloom in inconspicuous ways, even when you and him are supposed to be conducting a (not so) simple experiment. author’s note: cross-posted onto my ao3. still not sure if i’ll be posting here frequently, but i thought i’d see how i like it first.

Tsukishima doesn’t understand romantic relationships. 

He thinks they’re illogical, impossible, and most of all, irrelevant. They seem like too much hassle when it comes to the ordeal of courting. From the hours spent preparing complicated banners for asking significant others out to the extensive search for gifts that are supposed to appease pointless “monthiversaries,” Tsukishima finds it all to be a waste of time. 

Just acts for appearances. Sure, they’re cute, heartwarming even, but what does all of that show for anyway? What happened to qualitative experiences?  

He ascertains that he may never truly understand what it means to love another person by modern day standards; for those standards are all full of overhyped bullshit trying to make a trending post on Twitter and Instagram. If avoiding those things means saving himself from love, then so be it. (Irrationality and heartache be damned!)

Tsukishima decides in his first year of university that he won’t do any of those things. 

How? His friends ask, guffaws in tow.

He simply tells them that he won’t fall in love. 

/

Not many people share in this same ideal, Tsukishima finds. 

He can’t say he’s very surprised or disappointed to have his philosophy rejected, especially by those same friends who have questioned his goal, Yamaguchi and Hinata. They’re fools who deem love as something akin to fate’s gift. 

Love is a choice, Tsukishima tells them, and this is his decision. 

They think he’s being a little silly for not wanting to fall in love. They say he’ll get bit in the ass when he least expects it and he’ll go back on his word, but he hardly thinks that’s true. 

If he doesn’t want to fall in love, then he won’t, and that’s perfectly okay. At the very least, you agree with him. 

You have always understood him on wavelengths that others simply could not. You have always stood by his side when it came to debates on this matter, and even more so when he really thinks about it. 

Tsukishima has been able to lean on you even in high school. Him being so introverted has made things difficult, and what he needed then was patience, something many people lacked, but unlike those people, you took the time to understand him and his struggles. 

It’s made him grateful to you. Even now. Scratch that, especially now. 

These days he isn’t just shooting you texts about how he could’ve let someone down easier. Sometimes it’s checking out hot pot places at 8PM on a Tuesday; other times, it’s going to the library until 5 AM because statistics midterms suck at an unbearable level, but you take the 8AM class with him anyway, just because it’s him, and General Education requirements may suck but they’re mandatory. 

It’s also sharing jokes that no one else gets, and teaming up against the rest of the group when they heckle you two about being the only ones who sees love as the bane of both your existences. 

Tsukishima has heard plenty of love advice and received Cosmopolitan articles on how to woo a friend from those same punks who think that love is given by chance. He has seen the knowing stares exchanged at kickbacks. Hell, he’s heard all the whispers, too. But it means nothing. 

This is friendship. No matter what anyone else tries to insinuate, you both know it means nothing for either of you. 

What you are together is simply platonic. 

Friends, that’s all. 

/

Somewhere along the way benefits become a factor for you two. 

These are the sort of benefits that forgo late night convenience store runs for ramen and other delicious, overly processed foods that Yamagchi and Sugawara blanch at the two of you over. Instead it’s the kind that means heated kisses in one another’s bedroom and wandering hands in places very few people have become privy to in both your two-decades long reign on this planet. 

And, it all starts over a simple experiment. 

At least that’s what you and Tsukishima like to call it. 

/

“Isn’t it stupid that Ennoshita would say that?” Tsukishima asks, glancing at you from the corner of his eye. “We can be friends. How can he say it’s impossible for us to be just friends? I mean there’s nothing wrong with being attracted to one another, right? You’re good looking. I’m good looking. We’re acknowledging each other’s attractiveness.” 

He pats the open space beside him on his bed, feeling it dip a little soon afterwards. You’re visiting him after he blew off the post-kickback get together. He shouldn’t be surprised that you came by to check on him.

You smile at him as one of your fingers pokes his cheek. “You sound awfully bothered over something that shouldn’t matter.” 

He frowns at your nonchalant tone, even if you are messing with him. 

Tsukishima has never been that particularly fond of other people telling him that his friendship with you is only the stepping stone to something more, that it would only be a matter of time before you two were calling one another cutesy pet names and holding hands for other reasons than as a precaution from getting lost in crowds, and that if he didn’t step up to the plate now, then he would lose you to someone else. 

But how could he? If anything, you’ve been more against love than him. Seeing you with someone else is as impossible as seeing Hinata at Aone’s height. Possibly with some help, but still highly unlikely. 

“I mean, aren’t you? So what if we’re attracted to each other? That doesn’t mean we’re going to start dating because of that.” 

You hum in affirmation. 

You know he has a point. It’s silly to expect two friends to date when both your admissions came as a result from a simple game of “truth or dare.” While it comes from a place of truth, it isn’t like either of you admitted to harboring deep-seated feelings for one another or anything. It’s simply an admission of truth. 

He thinks you’re attractive, beautiful even, and it helps that you share the same opinion as him when it comes to love. And, you think he’s attractive, handsome even, and it’s because you both share the same opinion on love that he doesn’t have to worry about frivolous things like falling in love with you. Or you with him. Your dynamics just work like that. 

“You know, there are other alternatives to relationships anyway, right?” you ask him, watching as he turns to face you on the bed. 

“Like what? Hooking up?” He feels a little dumbfounded. The idea of hooking up with you never really occurred to him. Clearly not because he wasn’t attracted to you, but didn’t those end up… badly? 

You nod. 

Seeing the instant confusion wash over his face, you explain, “Yeah, hook-ups aren’t so bad. It’s like a one and done. It doesn’t even have to lead to anything more. It’s like a preliminary thing. Trial or whatever. We give it a go and if it doesn’t work out, then we can just go back to being friends.” 

“And if it does? Work out, I mean,” he gulps. He doesn’t want to think of an option that means losing you or this friendship. But he’s intrigued, he wouldn’t have asked if he wasn’t, and you know it. 

“Then we have one of two options.” 

He blinks. “Which are?” 

“Well, if it does, then we can continue and enjoy the fun. Or, we really fuck ourselves over and do exactly what our friends have been betting on for years.” You lean in closer, eyes alight with mischief and interest. 

He feels a tug within him to concede, as if his own body knows its answer, while his mind’s doubts seem to lower in volume the longer he’s under your gaze. 

“What do you say? Up for an experiment?”

He still has to ask: “And, what if we can’t go back from this?”  

“I don’t know,” you whisper, eyes softening as you note his hesitancy. “Even that’s something I can’t answer. This is just a risk we both have to be willing to take. Truthfully, I’m in. But, are you? I-it’s okay if you aren’t, though, Kei. This was just a suggestion, of course—”

He doesn’t take a second longer to tell you his decision.

“I’m in.” 

After all, it couldn’t hurt… right?

 /

Tsukishima discovers many things in this time. 

Things that he never really gave a second thought on. Somewhere between how you look bathed in moonlight with the curtains half-open to the just-right way you feel beside him, he realizes how soft your skin is, how low and husky your voice can get when you’re feeling a particular way, and how powerful you are. 

There’s something enticing about you. Not just in the way you look bare, but the way you can make him feel even without the lack of clothing. He realizes that he enjoys the lingering taste of your lips against his, the heat that your fingertips leave behind, and the small voice you use when you call his name. 

It’s normal, he tries to convince himself. This is how it should be. 

It would be ridiculous to hate the way you feel or sound when it comes to him. And while that is true, that becomes a whole different matter when it bleeds into everyday life outside of the bedroom.

He swears there are moments where he can hear you say his name and you aren’t even in the room. His eyes catch sight of something familiar, at least enough to remind him of you, and suddenly you’re popping up front and center in his mind. He can’t help but smile, of course. 

Even just the taste of last night’s kiss rears its head when he’s doing homework, suddenly taking him right back to that night you two shared talking about the latest fantastical escapade in his reading arsenal. 

He believes the simplicity of these exchanges is the best part of this entire experiment. 

Being able to switch between friendship and, well, sex. And he isn’t sure if the consistent exposure to your presence has brought him to think of you constantly or if it’s some other seed blooming in the vestiges of his chest. He can’t say. Partially because he’s scared to. Because admitting to the second possibility means changing something good, something normal. And change, in this regard, often means a relationship. One that he isn’t sure if such feelings will truck through or crash and burn the moment he mentions it. 

Instead when you call out his name, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows and a fingertip tapping his cheek, he flashes one of his heartwarming smiles your way and brushes aside the concern. 

“It’s nothing,” he tells you. “I’m fine. Everything is perfect.” 

And while you aren’t convinced, you simply nod and take note to ask another day. 

/

The thing that bothers Tsukishima most is being fickle. 

He doesn’t like being fickle. He knows it is transcribed in the stars that he is a fickle being. And it doesn’t help that everyone is constantly telling him that he is indecisive. He knows already. He knows it well. He hates it, but only when it comes to you. 

He is never indecisive with you. Well, only because you’re the assurance he needs when it comes to decision-making. Maybe it’s your influence. You’re bullheaded and more self-assured than Patrick Verona from “Ten Things I Hate About You.” (Mind you, you’re the one who forced him to watch it. And, fortunately, he wound up loving it.) 

He constantly thinks about how opposed those two main leads are about love, simply because it is exactly against what everyone else expects from high school teenagers. They don’t conform to the status quo. They make their own status quo. Perhaps that is where Tsukishima garnered such a strong stance against love from. Partially from the movie and mostly from you. 

While everyone is banking on your relationship to become more than just friends, he truly can’t help but consider the possibility of a ‘more’ with you anymore. He realizes this when he sees you underneath the incandescent fairy lights hanging around your room. 

Your tranquil visage, how effortless you look sporting one of his T-shirts with a giant crescent moon on the back, and the way your limbs so effortlessly remain entangled. This is comfortable. This is… right. 

He doesn’t stop himself from brushing aside the stray locks covering your face. Normally, he might like to turn over and occupy another part of the bed, but he prefers to remain where he is with you in his arms, just so he can listen for your soft and steady breathing like his own personal lullaby. If he was brave enough, he probably would’ve kissed your cheek. 

Truthfully, if he were in a relationship with you, he truly wouldn’t mind. Not even a little bit. 

Realization strikes him then. A simple, yet vital question crosses his mind, one that he hadn’t thought needed to be asked before—could you feel the same way about him? 

Tsukishima doesn’t have any other answer besides I don’t know. 

/

When Tsukishima said he could never be as irrational as any other lovestruck fool, he never imagined what it would be like to see you in the arms of another man. 

Given, this is a man he knows well. Trusts, even. He can’t help but feel a large pang in his chest when Kuroo spins you around on the dancefloor. It’s a drunken habit that everyone either loves or hates depending on their sobriety levels, but even while sober, you seem to bask in this treatment with glee. 

It makes Tsukishima grumble under his breath, “What’s so good about him anyway?” 

He doesn’t ask anyone in particular and expects no one to answer him back, but a nudge and a pointed look from Sugawara tells him that his ruminations have not gone unnoticed. 

Sugawara nods his head in your direction. “You finally realize you’re in love with her?” 

“W-what? I am not in love… with her,” he says. It’s all weak and unconvincing.

The smirk on the silver-haired man’s face says it all, much to Tsukishima’s annoyance. 

“Shut up.” 

“I didn’t say anything.” 

“You’re thinking about it.” He doesn’t want to say it aloud. He hardly feels right feeling what he does when you probably don’t even feel the same way anyway.

“What am I thinking that has you so peeved, Tsukishima?” Sugawara raises his eyebrow. “The truth?” 

The tone elicits a wince from Tsukishima, making him frown. Not that he’s unhappy, he’s just frustrated that the proverbial cat is now out of the bag. 

Tsukishima simply shakes his head, wanting nothing more than to escape from the scene. Maybe go home and burrow away into his bed, away from all of this. Afterparty milk tea trip with the rest of the group be damned. Did he really have to go when he was this emotionally compromised? Stewing right here just spells trouble, and not just for him, but for your friendship with him as well. 

“You should just be honest, dude. None of this ‘experiment’ bullshit. You both lost. Own up to the results.” 

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow at Sugawara. The rest of the party seems to cease with more drinks getting passed around, which he receives one quite graciously. “What are you talking about ‘both?’ It’s just me. I fell first.” 

Sugawara snorts. 

Tsukishima shoots him an accusatory glare, but when he receives nothing in response, he chugs down the red Solo cup without thinking of what’s inside. 

The mixture kind of tastes like shit, and it makes him feel even worse, because now his mind won’t stop fixating on you and Kuroo. A match that could be made in heaven. 

The dark-haired man has always been handsome, adorable at times, funny without trying particularly hard, caring, and worst of all, certain. God, was Kuroo a certain bastard. He always seemed to know what he wanted. He did as he pleased and got whatever he set his heart on too. 

It’s cruel, really. The way fate has metaphorically bit him in the ass like Yamaguchi and Hinata predicted. 

Tsukishima can’t stand the thought that maybe you would choose Kuroo’s sauve side tonight. He particularly dislikes that he really did lose his chance thinking that this experiment would last forever. A few months should’ve sufficed. Should’ve. But only an idiot would let something as good as you be a temporary fling. 

“Maybe I’m the idiot,” he mutters, shutting his eyes.

Sugawara doesn’t respond immediately, in fact, he doesn’t respond at all. Instead a voice he swears is yours does. 

“Who’s an idiot?” Fingertips digging into his sides are unlike Yamaguchi or even Sugawara. In fact, these ones are all too familiar, even with two layers of clothing blocking access to his bare flesh. “Kei?” 

When he looks at the perpetrator, he nearly tumbles over to see you in Sugawara’s place. 

You immediately steady him by interlocking one of his arms with yours, and it’s only you. No Kuroo trailing behind you. No Sugawara in sight either. It’s just you and him walking toward an empty section of the house. Milk tea trip really be damned, you seemed to tell him. 

“Are you alright?” He notices you make eye contact with Yamaguchi before you two round the corner into the surprisingly unoccupied hallway. 

Tsukishima’s begrudgingly grateful that Kageyama’s place is a lot spacier than he remembers. It’s enough that he’s been granted some relief—no trip or an audience to bear witness to his major crash and burn.

He sighs. “N—yeah. Er, no.” 

“Yes or no? Which it is.” You flash him a half-smile as he sways inside the empty guest bedroom. 

He looks around after noting just how quiet it is without the thumping bass of music or the chatter of others drowning out just about everything else. It feels bare here somehow. 

He shakes his head. 

“Why?” Your eyebrows screw together. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“I fucked up,” he whispers. Looking from the beige walls covered bare of any sentiments, he meets your softened gaze. “I fucked up the experiment.” 

“How did you do that?” 

“T-the results are inconclusive. I can’t continue, because,” he rubs the back of his head, “well, I caught feelings.”

The surprise is evident on your visage, even from the weak lighting created by the moon and street lamp outside. But he can’t deny seeing the sight of a smile beginning to grace your features either. Amusement, he can discern with absolute certainty. Relief, dare he say? All of the things he never imagined in any of his scenarios about this moment. 

“Leave it to you to be able to use big words when you’re buzzed.” 

“It’s true. We can’t continue this. I mean I’d love to have something with you, but this isn’t a one and done for me. Not anymore. Maybe not ever.”

“Really? You mean that?” Even though you won’t say it directly, he knows there’s a huge burden of thoughts on your mind from the way your bottom lip gets captured by your teeth. 

“Yeah, I mean it. I—I can’t pretend that I don’t love you anymore. I just can’t. I don’t think I ever expected to feel this way for anyone, but spending so much time with you in and out of bed has shown me that whatever shit I said before has gone completely out of the window. I mean I’m not asking you to be with me if that’s not what you want, but if at all, you feel something too, then…” He can’t help but fiddle with his fingers. Why is his heart beating so loudly? Can’t you hear it? 

“You love me?” 

He swears then that you probably can. 

Slowly, he nods. “I don’t know how I came to love you exactly, but it just struck me when you were sleeping. It felt right that you were beside me. Easy and comfortable, even. I debated so hard about what these feelings were when it came to you. I didn’t think I could like someone this much. But I just do. I just love you for you, for being there... for existing.” 

The last part has his cheeks burning, and Tsukishima can’t help but look away to save himself the humiliation of looking like a fresh tomato. You laugh when he does this, and he can’t even help himself from trying to catch a glimpse.  

He loves your soft exhale, it’s one that he relishes in. Somehow you don’t look as perturbed or aghast as he expects. If anything, you look quite content. It makes him wonder if Sugawara was right, if everyone else was right all along. 

He asks, “Well, what do you say?” 

This time you laugh again. A much louder, but he can’t help but break out into a broad grin, because the atmosphere feels lighter than any tension breaking to grip the room. He knows without being told.

“Only you, Kei. Of course, I love you too.” 

His heart swells, and a greedy part of him wants to hear you say it again. “Really?”

You nod and look at him as if there couldn’t possibly be any other answer out there. “There’s no one else in this world that could understand me the way you do. No one could touch me like you, make me laugh like you, and certainly not watch ‘Ten Things I Hate About You’ five million times with me like you.” 

“Five million and one times,” he corrects. 

His fingers shyly brush away the hair threatening to cover your face, and he refuses to be denied that luxury. Not when he can’t seem to get enough of you. He can’t even bear to move his hand away after he’s done it. “And I’d watch it over and over again with you, by the way.” 

“Good.” You smile at him, cupping your hand over his. “I’m glad we finally came to a conclusion on this.” 

“Even if it means getting ‘I-told-you-so’s’ and teased to all hell?” He smiles when you nod. “Good, ‘cuz I don’t think I’d have it any other way.” 

“Yeah, me either,” you say, leaning in to peck his lips. Of course, he returns the gesture (and then some). 

(The room is empty, after all.)

[glitxhwayventeen]

Lonely Together

Jihoon: Chapter 4 (Waves)

Characters: Jihoon x female reader

Genre/Warnings: multi-member au (different scenarios), werewolf au, fantasy, fluff, suggestive content, mentions of marking, angst (kinda maybe sort of?). Any others will be put as warnings when future chapters are thought up/written. Please let me know if I missed anything!

Author’s Note: So I’m trying to not make every story super depressing. At least for now. So I took a shot at some average fluff for Jihoon’s chapter. Let me know what you think! It’s a bit short, but I’ll edit it some more to juice it up when I have the free time.

Please remember that all of these chapters and the content within them are a work of fiction! They’re just for fun/entertainment!

Bold= Dialogue Italics= Thoughts

☁️

Lonely Together Masterlist

Chapter 4: Waves

You were still getting used to everything, which no one could blame you for. You weren’t used to being around humans let alone lovey happy couples all the time. It was all… disorienting to you. You understood why the rest of the pack acted the way they did with their mates, in a way you also felt some primal need to be the same with Jihoon. But it was just… quite a big adjustment for you.

It wasn’t bad by any means! You knew you’d get the hang of most of it eventually. But there were some things you weren’t sure you’d ever get used to. Like the constant PDA of the couples around you. You didn’t understand the need to be that close to someone all the time or need to be that handsy. You always wondered if maybe Jihoon wanted to be like that, but you never really had the courage to ask in case you wouldn’t like his answer.

You also knew you’d never really like the fact that the pack seemed to refer to you more as a mate than as a wolf. You grew up being a wolf above all else, you considered yourself a wolf first. Now, you were Jihoon’s mate. Just one of the girls. You ate with them, you hung out with them, and you were treated like them even though you were just as strong if not more so than most of the males. Soonyoung didn’t get treated that way even though he was technically Seungcheol’s mate. It seemed unfair. That thought seemed to leave a bitter metallic taste in your mouth, but you just dealt with it because that’s just how it was now.

And you knew you’d NEVER understand the need to give your partner sweet little gooey nicknames. I mean, who the hell decided it was an adorable idea to start calling the person they fuck baby? How the hell was that SUPPOSED to be cute? It was creepy to you. You could tell it visibly bothered Jihoon that you hadn’t called him anything other than his given name, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to call him by anything else. Every cutesy petname you could think of just felt… wrong to you. Sweetheart? Shit didn’t make sense. Hearts were NOT sweet. Sugar? He wasn’t composed of glucose or fructose so that wasn’t right. Prince? He wasn’t royalty, well, at least not that neither of you knew of. Daddy? Even creepier than baby. So you just opted to leave it at Jihoon.

As for you and Jihoon, you’d been doing alright. You were still rather shy around each other, but you were definitely more obvious in your affection with each other. For instance, at breakfast you always seemed to find yourself scooting your chair as close to his as you could manage. And he always made sure you were within his sight. You weren’t sure why. Where could you have possibly gone when you were stuck with a bunch of wolves? But it did make the chambers of your heart constrict extra whenever you noticed him trying to look for you. You had to admit, It was kinda cute.

There was still one problem. You two hadn’t… consummated your bond yet. You were still unmarked even though it had now been weeks of being in the same house together. He hadn’t even tried to sleep with you. It had you confused, shouldn’t he have wanted to have sex with you by now?

-

“Dude quit being a little bitch and just do it already!” Soonyoung groaned at his younger brother while he pinched the bridge of his nose.

You were currently outside learning how to play soccer with Somi, just far enough away to where you couldn’t hear what was going on inside. They were all watching you guys from the window. You felt someone staring at you so you looked up from the ball next to your feet towards the house. Your mate was eyeing you and had a fond smile flashing brightly at your from his spot. You gave him a sweet one back with a little wave added before you continued on with your fancy foot maneuvering past the younger girl and scored a goal, causing you to jet your hands in the air in celebration. God he loved you.

Jihoon looked away to sigh and he ran his shakey hand through his slick hair, “But how am I supposed to do that? You fuckers are here every second of everyday and she can hear everything that goes on the same as I can. You’re all way too distracting. If she’s anything like me-” He was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

“Which she is.” Mingyu stated with a giant grin on his face while crossing his arms over his chest.

“IF she’s anything like me, she doesn’t want you guys listening in or around when we’re going at it. She’s too private for that” Jihoon emphasized, trying his best to contain his annoyance at the taller boy for his smugness, “Plus, you’re all too lovey with each other, it makes us both awkward and uncomfortable.” He admitted.

Joshua laughed and slapped his hands on his knees where he was sitting down at the table, “So you’re telling me that WE make YOU GUYS uncomfortable? Have you ever even been in the same room with yourself? You’re both ridiculously intimidating to the girls because you’re so quiet. WE know it’s because you’re just shy. But THEY all think you’re some sort of psycho killer dude!”

“Yeah if looks could kill, we’d all have been long dead by now!” Snorted Wonwoo, who had his arm wrapped around his mate possessively.

Jihoon raised his chest out defiantly, slightly annoyed at his pack mates for making fun of his cold exterior, “Yeah? Well at least I can keep my hands off my mate for more than a split second!”

He never really understood the need to keep partners away from other people. That is, until the other day when Chan had accidentally brushed up against your front while trying to reach for a plate. He all but chewed him up and spit him out for it, though you didn’t know that as he did it once you had gone up to bed. He couldn’t help it. His inner wolf just snapped at the poor kid. Though looking back, he’d still do it again. No one should be touching you but him.

“Not for long. You’re getting soft. You’re laughing more at the things she says, you’re joining us on errands more because she goes with, you’re getting more and more protective over her because she’s not marked and you don’t want anyone taking her away from you” Mingyu proudly spoke up much to Jihoon’s shock. He happy that he had taken the smaller wolf off guard with his statement, “You’re getting just as whipped man. You want my advice?” He asked, seeming pretty genuine with his question.

Jihoon nodded at him. Mingyu was surprisingly one of the few who could actually keep a few feet’s distance from his mate. Out of everyone in the pack, he would’ve DEFINITELY expected him to be the one most likely to be attached to his lovers side. But he when he found his mate, he didn’t get possessive over her at all. He just let her do her own thing with relative freedom. He figured he must have had some sort of secret behind being able to control himself and, for your sake, Jihoon figured he should take any help he could get before he got bad.

“Mark her as soon as you can. It helps. You wont get as jealous, at least around us, because we’ll smell you on her.” He shrugged towards his elder, quickly going over and kissing the top of his mates head who was sitting on the ground braiding Josh’s mates hair.

The thought of marking you sent a weird feeling through Jihoon’s veins. He WANTED to. But the real question was, would you LET him? “I don’t know. It could help I guess. But again, you bitches are always here and if I EVER want to do anything with her, you assholes can’t be anywhere near or she’ll refuse.”

“Okay okay! What if we were to all go visit Taeyong’s pack later? Then would you get the stick out of your ass and just fucking get it over with?” Seungcheol interjected with a heavy chuckle.

He was just as glad that his younger brother found you as everyone else. He really needed you in his life, even if he didn’t want to admit it. So he knew he had to help him figure out how to finally make things ‘official’ with you.

Jihoon thought for a moment. There didn’t seem to be a reason why that couldn’t work. He’d just have to make sure you knew to stay behind which, considering how touchy feely the others were, you’d probably be more than happy with that, “That’s….. actually a good idea.”

“Yeah no shit Sherlock. That’s why he suggested it” sneered Jeonghan. Jihoon sent him a small warning growl before Hannie went and collected the other mates and boys to tell them the new plan for the day.

He couldn’t lie, he was super fucking nervous. Other than that day you found out you two were mates, he hadn’t been left alone with you. At least not completely. There was always someone how because of how many people that lived in the house. He didn’t have much experience with girls. He had more experience than you did, but he was still trying to grasp the whole ‘mating’ thing. He didn’t know where to even start. He couldn’t just go up to you and go “hey I need to mark you or I’m gonna go crazy so we need to fuck like rabbits.” I mean, what kind of loser did that? He had to start thinking of a more subtle approach.

And, as if on cue, in came you and Somi from outside after Jeonghan had called for you both from outside. Your cheeks were a bit flushed from being in the sun and your hair that was once put up in a neat ponytail was now falling out in locks towards the rest of your face. You had grass stains on your knees and you had a bit of dirt on your forehead. You looked like you had gotten into a fight with the ground when in all reality, it was just your first time playing a child’s game.

“So, we’re going somewhere?” Somi ran up and kissed Chan on the cheek before he cuddled her in his arms.

“Yeah. WE are. THEY’RE staying here.” He let a playful grin plaster on his face as he pointed at your and your mate.

You cocked your head to the side in confusion, “We are? Why’s that?”

Chan gulped down his dry throat and shifted his eyes towards Jihoon, who was now staring daggers into him, “Oh… um- well… because…”

“Because we’re gonna be doing coupley shit over at Taeyong’s today and Jihoon said you wouldn’t want to watch us make out.” His sentence was quickly interrupted by the oldest alpha, much to your mate’s relief as his answer seemed to satisfy you.

“Ew yeah no. I’ll stay here that sounds gross,” you shook your head and scrunched up your nose in disgust, “Though I think I’ll take a shower. I feel almost as gross as you all are together.” You chuckled as you mad your way up the stairs and to the bathroom.

-

A little while later after everyone had got themselves together and understood why they suddenly had to leave, they began to head towards the door to depart. You were now upstairs in your bedroom, a towel tightly wrapped around your body and hair as you read a book to work on your Korean. You were pretty good with the actual speaking portion of the language, minus your accent of course, but you were still having a bit of trouble with the spelling and reading. And since it was the native language of most of the people who lived in the house, you figured it was best you study up on it a bit more to become more fluent.

Before you knew it, the others had left. You began focusing on a page of plural ways of speech and were brought out of your gaze by a soft voice near the doorway of your bedroom, “How’s the studying coming along?”

“It’s going about as well as dealing with humans after centuries of avoiding them.” You figured, putting your book down on the bedside table and looking at your mate who was now moving to sit at the end of your bed.

“That bad huh?” He joked while bringing his hand to touch your naked thigh. It brought a light pink blush to your cheeks, but you did your best to avoid it as much as possible and continued the conversation.

You shrugged the heat one your face away, “It comes and goes in Waves. Besides, It could be worse”

“And how’s that?” Jihoon questioned, giving you a tilted head in response.

“I could have had to go watch all the other suck face all day with another pack.” You laughed in amusement at your own joke.

Jihoon hesitated for a moment before he responded, “Well… yeah… about that…” he trailed in an effort to avoid the situation.

“What about it?”

“Wellllll….” He took a deep breath in so he could finish his sentence, “They decided to leave for me- well for us- so we could… have some time alone together…” he brought his newly hot face down to look at his lap so he didn’t have to look you in the eyes as he spoke.

“Alone time?” You bit your lip to hold back a knowing grin. You knew exactly what he was trying to say. But you really wanted to HEAR him say the words. Half to confirm your suspicions, half so that he would squirm a bit.

“Uh yeah. Alone time…” he started to pick at his nails to distract himself. He had never really been this nervous before. Why was he even nervous? You were his mate. It’s not like you’d have an issue with it all… right?

Your pulse was starting to race. The thought of what could happen was heating your body up to the point of concern. You weren’t sure why you were reacting this way, maybe it was because he was your mate, maybe it was because now you could go into heat, you didn’t know. But you did know that if he was going where you thought he was going with his sentence, you’d definitely not be complaining.

You gave him a wondering look, “What do you mean by alone time?” You faked innocence in your question, playing with the edge of the towel wrapped around your body.

He groaned in frustration and threw himself to the bed, landing on his back with a light thud while his hands found their way to his face, “They all left so I could mark you okay?? I knew you wouldn’t want to do anything like that with them here. But I knew I needed to do it soon so that my jealousy wouldn’t get the best of me. So Cheol agreed to have everyone leave for the day so we could just-get it over with” He sighed out, hands still covering his eyes so he could ignore your no doubt astonished face.

But instead, you found yourself straddling him in your easily droppable attire. His hands automatically sent themselves down to hold your hips once his body realized what was happening.

“You know, you could’ve just said that to begin with you know” you seductively let out. His face was absolutely stunned at your sudden behavior change. What actual fucking alien world had he stepped in when he came into your shared room?

(Updated 9/16)

[acesydneysage]

My thoughts on how an Alchemist revolution could go

I turned some of the initial points into a one-shot, but I'm very unlikely to actually write anything that sees all of it through to the end, so I'm laying out what I imagine would happen. I could follow the initial fic's format and just write cutesy domestic fluff with hints of what is going on in the Alchemist revolution in the background, but who knows

In The Golden Lily, Sonya thought Sydney's blood might be key to a vaccine, since it was undrinkable to Strigoi. Later, in The Fiery Heart, in their visit to Inez, we find out that it's because her blood is coated in human magic. That makes it taste foul to undead vampires, and also broke her Alchemist tattoo, by countering the compulsion of Moroi magic with human magic.

She eventually uses a similar principle to make the tattoo breaking ink she gives to Marcus, and that she uses to help the other re-education inmates in Silver Shadows.

So, with that in mind:

My initial idea was that one of Marcus' operatives, who got tattooed with Sydney's ink, would suffer a Strigoi attack. Their blood would turn out to be undrinkable. Since Sydney's ink breaks the Alchemist tattoo, the receivers blood would get coated with human magic, like a witch's.

I would like it if that person was one of the people Sydney helped in re-education, because I'd like to think those people stayed loyal to her, and maybe see her as a leader. Just because it's really touching to me how she was still worried about others, and risking herself to help, while she was going through her worst nightmare.

In my fic I went with Sydney's roommate Emma, "the Sydney Sage of re-education", because I really love her. She really did turn out to be the Sydney of re-education, at least in part, because while she was repeating the party line and trying to seem cooperative, she was actually a badass rebel who fights back. There are other reasons, I'll get to that in the end.

Sydney's ink potentially working as a Strigoi vaccine is something important enough that she would risk her truce with the Alchemists to investigate. And since the ink also makes people immune to their mind control, the Alchemists wouldn't work with them like they did for the spirit vaccine. I truly believe that they value their control more than human souls.

I'm sure Declan’s blood will be important to the spirit vaccine. They couldn't mass produce it since it required a recent Strigoi restoration, trapping the spirit before it left the blood, while his blood is described as brimming with spirit. But Sydney and Adrian don't want their son to be experimented on, so that's just more incentive to seek an alternative.

I think Sydney’s ink wouldn't work on Moroi, going by the logic of the magic described in the books (human magic wins out in humans), but helping humans is already a big deal, and it could maybe work on dhampirs.

Meanwhile, the Alchemists have been getting polarized. When it's revealed that some of them were helping the Warriors of Light in the end of the series, while Warriors were keeping Moroi captive, that causes controversy. They eventually start to get divided into factions.

After the US re-education center burns down, those who oppose re-education try to defend that it not be rebuilt, and that other centers be shut down. There are symbolic concessions, but they eventually get basically re-education by another name. Similar things happen when it comes to demands for more transparency, and less authoritarianism in general.

And of course there's a reaction to progressive demands. A hardcore anti-Moroi faction is amenable to teaming up with the Warriors. They're tired of "fighting evil by cataloguing it."

If this faction wins out, they won't actually care that Sydney is blackmailing them into letting her live with proof that they worked with the Warriors, since they openly want that, and they consider her continued existence a humiliation. So Sydney and Adrian wouldn't be able to sit out this fight.

There are more and more defectors who simply leave and join Marcus (or go into hiding and try to stay away from that whole mess). But out of those who stay Alchemists, as things start to devolve into an actual civil war, the moderate faction has a lot of infighting about joining up with the rebels.

That's at least in part because Sydney is one of their most notorious members, and while they might not want to see all the Moroi exterminated, marrying one of them is still going way too far to a lot of them.

So, let's talk allies. Sydney definitely put Marcus in touch with more witches and taught them how to make the ink. And I think besides kidnapping Moroi and dhampirs, the Warriors could be capturing witches too, which would turn them against each other.

In re-education, when it's revealed that Sydney has magic they say that has happened before, and I imagine they handled it with the same amount of compassion. I think maybe Chantal is a witch too and that's why she was fown in the punishment level with Sydney.

Alicia definitely showed that some witches might be willing to work with them for their personal gain, but I think as a community they would protect their own. They wouldn't look kindly on Alchemists torturing witches. And even if they were born into the Alchemists, they chose to be witches, so their allegiance to them would take precedence in their minds. Sydney's coven and Ms. Terwilliger are definitely on board.

I think the rebels might be able to get the Keepers on their side, since they have a complicated relationship with the Alchemists, where they seemto deliberately keepthem dependent. Marcus' stated goal for a long time was helping Moroi on their own terms, that's what he did for a long while. He definitely didn't have any plans to topple the Alchemists in the Bloodlines era, he didn't thinkthat was possible. So they occasionally helped them get better technology and resources that the Alchemists don't want them to have, and they promise to help them further in the future. That gets them the Keepers sympathy.

The Moroi government obviously isn't gonna side with the anti-Moroi faction, but I think they'd try to stay out of the conflict and not be dragged into the fighting for as long as possible. But they've come to depend on the Alchemists too much to keep them hidden, and they're now in chaos.

With the Alchemists weakened by a civil war they aren't really doing a great job of keeping up the masquerade, Moroi secrecy gets very precarious.

Now. While Alchemists claim to be very worried about human souls, absolutely no one in the VA universe seems that worried about regular humans' lives. They don't even know about the existence of Strigoi so they could protect themselves. And yes, there are humans who'd work with Strigoi. Strigoi seem to have zero issue finding those humans as is, they simply tell them about vampires themselves when they wanna get servants.

Now there's a vaccine that could help protect humans, and really reduce Strigoi's capacity to feed, but you have to actually apply them to humans. And more and more supernatural events are being sloppily covered up since the Alchemists are otherwise preoccupied.

I'm sure there are some valid reasons for the masquerade, and humans might not behave amazingly towards supernatural creatures, but leaving them completely helpless to this threat isn't very ethical, and certainly not when you have a vaccine that could help them.

And honestly, as cliche as that argument is in discussions of monster hunting, humans could potentially take the Strigoi out, we have some pretty amazing weapons. Or we could be massively incompetent about a problem that we are fully capable of solving. You know...

So the supernatural world gets revealed, and that makes the Alchemists pretty obsolete. Of course, although they have been weakened by the decade(s) of infighting, that doesn't mean they lose all of their resources and connections all at once, but it would be a huge blow their relevance.

They get splintered into a lot of different groups that can still cause trouble, but they're no longer the omnipresent shadow organization they used to be.

And if this whole process took about 15 years, Declan and his buddies would be neatly protagonist aged in time to deal with the huge upheaval and the new mess of problems brought on by the integration of the Moroi and human world. And he'd more capable of thinking about his own relationship to the spirit vaccine and making his own decisions.

So most of this post was written to be understood whether or not you read Silver Stars, but this final bit is more about what could directly follow. When it comes to the fic I was more worried about the characters and their feelings, and excuses for domestic fluff and hurt/confort. So here's the fic on AO3 and on Tumblr.

In the end of The Ruby Circle, there's indication that Zoe Sage and Stanton, with the incentive of Sydney's blackmail, will be trying to reform the Alchemists. I don't really think they're reformable, attempts to extinguish re-education would basically result in rebranding. @sydneysageivashkov has some lesbian!Zoe head that I think are pretty compatible with my headcanons for an Alchemist revolution, and what Zoe would be doing during that initial period.

I think it could take a few more years, 3 or 4, for Sydney to actually have to leave her home and go into hiding. Declan foes actually get a little bit of a normal school experience. I imagine this whole process going very slowly, as the situation gradually deteriorates. And the witches would now claim Sydney as one of their own, making it a bigger problem for the Alchemists to attack her directly, lest they make enemies of the whole magical community.

By the time Sydney has to go into hiding I imagine Zoe is gonna have to leave the Alchemists as well. The other reason why I chose Emma for the first fic, is that she was in re-education in part for her sister's actions, so it shows that the Alchemists wouldn't be above hurting Zoe for Sydney's actions.

Sydney has very important reasons to join the revolution, and in fact she might eventually not have a choice, but she knows that once she officially breaks her truce with the Alchemists her whole family and even her fellow re-education inmates that she got amnesty for.

I imagine Sydney, Adrian, Eddie and Declan could spend a while hiding in a ranch very out of the way that Chantal and Duncan got themselves. Insert Adrian joke about that escape plan where cute blonde girls had to wear cow girl outfits.

Duncan has been shown to be pretty hesitant to risk going against authority, and Chantal is even more psychologically messed up than Sydney and the rest of them. Sydney feels pretty awful about placing them in danger, but they're both very grateful to her for helping them escape. Also Chantal is a really badass witch, although a bit unstable, I'll eventually find something to do with that, revolution wise.

But Sydney and Adrian would eventually leave and get more active roles in the revolution. I would very much like it to be an actual collective movement and not one special girl bringing down the Alchemists by herself, but I think Sydney would have a pretty prominent role after everything she went through.

This is way too long, but I had fun with it, and if you got this far, thank you for reading 😀

[ve1vetyoongi]

Operation: Love Letters | 03

💌 CHAPTER INDEX 💌

♡ ⇢ pairing: ot7 x reader.

♡ ⇢ chapter word count: 7.5k

♡ ⇢ genre: mystery, college!au, romance, fluff, eventual smut.

♡ ⇢ warnings: none.

♡ ⇢ summary: When every student on campus is going crazy about a survey that claims to make true love bloom, your best friend manages to convince you to join in on the fun — except you’re disappointed to find out that your results just seem to be lost causes. That is until a love letter from a mysterious secret admirer turns up and you find yourself on a mission to find the person behind the pen — but you quickly realise it’s going to be a lot harder than you initially thought when you have 7 possible bachelors to investigate, right? Operation: Love Letters a-go!

♡ ⇢ schedule: updated every day at 5pm GMT in the run up to Valentine’s Day 2020!

♡ ⇢ A/N: i’m not saying this chapter is based on something that may or may not have happened to me but...alcohol and i are no longer friends (even if it produces fantastic fic inspo LMAO). thanks for all the support on the series so far loves, hope you like chapter 3!!! <3

"I can't believe you're coming to a party Y/N! We're gonna have so much fun! Just wait until you see how fast I can chug a keg without throwing up—"

"We're not going to this party to have fun Jimin, we're undercover." Your fingers tap nervously against the steering wheel as you pull into a darkened parking lot, rolling your eyes at the high pitched whine that leaves your best friend in the passenger seat. "My secret admirer is probably inside this very party and our goal for tonight is to uncover him once and for all."

"So no alcohol?" Jimin pouts from beneath the beret perched on top of his pristinely styled hair, far too dressy for a scummy frat party.

"No alcohol."

"Okay but that doesn't explain why I'm being dragged along to this stupid thing." Yoongi's gruff voice sounds from the back as he braces himself on the front seats to butt his head into the conversation. "I should've known it was a trick when you told me we were going to get lamb skewers, your treat."

Yoongi's grumpy eyes catch yours in the rear view mirror as he slumps back into his seat with a huff. "Dude, it was the only way to get you to agree to come and we need you here so you can get us inside the party." You place an elbow on the headrest and lean in to face him, lowering your voice to a hush. "You know the password, right?"

Kim Seokjin's party's are renowned on campus for being some of the wildest and, most importantly, most exclusive events in town. Everyone within a 50 mile radius has heard the stories and the rumours about the strippers and the hookups and the alcohol — but only the most popular and elite kids could get in and see the events unfold for themselves. The key? A password, set by Seokjin himself, and right now, the single barrier between you and your potential secret admirer.

Luckily for you, your roomate just so happened to be best friends with the vice-president of Kappa Tau — Kim Taehyung — and he had a fair share of his own party stories, so you figured if anybody would be able to get you inside it had to be Yoongi.

Even beneath the shadows cascading over his face in the backseat, you see Yoongi's eyes light up. "And if I do know the password, why would I tell you?"

"Because I'm the best roommate you've ever had?" You try to blink at him in a cutesy way but being sweet was never your strong point and your features harden when Yoongi raises an eyebrow, amused by the ridiculous way you clasp your hands pleadingly. "Because I'll tell everyone about the time you got drunk and puked all over your Biology notes so you paid Kim Jongin to sit the test for you—"

"Okay, okay fine!" Yoongi grumbles, slipping out of his seatbelt and hopping out of the car with a nervous roll of his eyes. "I'll get you in. But you owe me for this, you hear me?"

A satisfied smile finds your lips as you scurry out into the night after him and Jimin practically skips to your side, linking his arm around your elbow and pulling you excitedly towards the dorm up ahead that appears to pulsate with life, the pumping bass of whatever song is playing vibrating through the soles of your high heels, causing you to sway a little as you adjust to the tempo of it.

Multicoloured lights that glow red, green and blue are strung up between the branches of the trees lining the sidewalk outside and they are the only light source surrounding the grassy lawn that inhabits a group of people dancing and drinking together outside. Despite the early state of the night, the dorm steps are already littered with a few wasted, crying girls and ragged boys lighting cigarettes as they offer them a bed to sleep in.

You shudder. Gross.

Yoongi leads you around to a back door that has been propped open haphazardly with a couple empty liquor bottles. Stood beside it are a pair of buff frat boys, too busy spraying each other with beer to guard the doors from unexpected guests, but they both straighten up and plaster feeble smiles to their faces when Yoongi coughs impatiently behind them. You suppose your roommates reputation of being...less than friendly comes in handy sometimes, huh?

"Uh, hey Yoongi." The taller one says sheepishly. "D-do you got the password—"

"Of course I do, doofus." Yoongi has to stand on his tip toes to reach the guys ear to whisper the password and you snicker, something about seeing a giant frat dude reduced to a puddle of fear when faced with your rough around the edges roommate hilarious.

The guy looks positively terrified when Yoongi leans back smugly, sending a wink in your direction that says I've got this under control and gestures for you and Jimin to enter the party, before an arm shoots out and stops you entirely. "Actually, I can't let you inside."

"What? Why?" You can't hold back your laughter now, Yoongi's face flushing a deep red as the two guys block the doorframe entirely. "I gave you the password!"

"The old password." The other dude corrects. "Sorry, but it's invalid."

"Hey, listen here moron, I'm buddies with the vice-president of Kappa and he's gonna totally kick your asses when he hears about this—"

"Yoongi? Is that you?" The two bouncers are pushed aside by a lean man with blue hair who immediately launches himself at your roommate and tackles him onto the ground in a flurry of red converse. "I never thought I'd see the day where tough guy Min Yoongi turns up to a frat party!"

Yoongi prises himself out of headlock, rubbing the back of his head and holding the blue haired man at arms length. "Nice to see you too, Taehyung." He grumbles as he's pulled to his feet, wiping grass from his black hoodie.

"Ah, so this is Taehyung?" Jimin mumbles into your ear. "You never told me he was this cute!"

"And Yoongi never told me that he had hot friends he's been hiding from me all these years." Blue hair turns and offers you and Jimin his hand, your best friend melting at his touch from behind his thick rimmed glasses. "Taehyung. Nice to meet you. Now what are you guys doing outside without any drinks?"

Bingo! Looks like you just found your ticket inside.

"Yoongi here forgot the password," You shout over the blaring music to Taehyung. "So it looks like we're just gonna have to go home. And my friend here hasn't even had one drink yet..."

You push Jimin forward with all your might, struggling not to laugh when you see how Taehyung's tipsy eyes look him up and down before they soften at the edges and he flashes him an award winning smile that has your best friends panties practically dropping.

"Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt if I just got you guys a couple drinks right? Follow me!"

With that Taehyung grabs Jimin by the elbow and pulls him behind into the dark mouth of the party and you turn to Yoongi with a sly smirk. "Looks like we didn't need you after all, Mr Min Yoongi tough guy."

Yoongi trails behind you with a pout. "Shut up. Let's just get this over with."

Bodies are pressed together like sardines in a can, pushing and gyrating against one another in time with the rhythm of the house music that is headache inducing when you get inside.

"So this is what a frat party is like?" You murmur.

Yoongi goes first, reaching behind to grasp your clammy hand and pull you forwards from the pond into the ocean. You blink, trying to make yourself as small as possible to fit through the small space Yoongi clears before you get swallowed up by the crowd. The air in here is thicker than outside and body heat radiates from the walls and just as you start to feel claustrophobic, the crowd spits you out into a kitchen.

It's only then that you register the state of the house — the kitchen is a mess. The counters are covered in half empty pizza boxes, the contents of which had somehow ended up on the walls, empty cups litter the floor and a bottle, still half full, rolls across the tile past your feet. And to make matters worse, you are pretty sure there's vomit in the sink, the sour stench mixing with the musty aroma of cheap beer.

Yup. The stories were true. Kim Seokjin sure knew how to throw a house party, huh?

Yoongi eyes you curiously. "You say that as if this is your first party." Your expression remains serious and he chokes. "Oh god. Don't tell me this is your first party, Y/N?"

You shrug. "This is my first party."

Yoongi slaps a palm to his forehead. "Fuck. You like throwing yourself in the deep end huh?"

"What do you mean?" You suddenly feel nervous, glancing around at the hoards of drunken twenty-somethings stumbling around the living room singing bad karaoke or the couples in the corner making out or the other girls on the makeshift dance floor who don't stick out like a sore thumb in the same way you do.

You wipe your palms on the black sequined crop top adorning your torso. Before you had left, you had looked in the mirror at your reflection and felt confident. Jimin had turned into a child with a Barbie doll when given the task of finding you an outfit, practically ripping everything out of your neatly organised closet and throwing indistinguishable garments at you in a frenzy. You must have tried on at least 12 different outfits before he found the "perfect" thing for you to wear.

You had to admit, the strappy top hugged your figure nicely and the sequins glittered in the light each time you moved, giving you a kind of ethereal glow. You had even spent longer than usual on your makeup, ensuring your eyes were flawlessly smoked out and the dab of deep red lip tint enhanced your lips just enough, making your face look pouty but in a way that was intentional and possibly even alluring if you squinted.

However, now as you stand paralyzed surrounded by drunk twenty somethings in a strangers kitchen your top feels suffocating, your makeup looks splotchy in places and your lips seem excessive. You strain your neck to see your reflection in the microwave, swiping your thumb across your lips to remove some of the pigment, smudging a little onto your chin and leaving you with a single, red fingertip.

"Shit. I really wasn't prepared for this huh?"

“You look fine.” Yoongi says when he notices you hugging your torso. “Nice. You look nice.”

It's only then that you realise Yoongi's hand is still wrapped around your own, as he squeezes it reassuringly and pulls you over to a quiet corner in the kitchen, awkwardly shifting and shoving his sticky hand into his pocket when he sees the funny look you send him.

"Look, Kim Seokjin's party's are not for novices. So we're gonna have to set some ground rules if you're gonna survive the night, okay?" You nod and Yoongi places his hands on your shoulders. "Rule number one, never take a drink from a stranger. Two, if someone asks you to play spin the bottle, run. Three, if the bathroom door is shut don't open it. And four, always stay close to me or Jimin, okay?"

"Jeez, okay dad." You chuckle sheepishly. "I'll be careful. I'm just here to get answers, remember?"

Yoongi eyes you carefully. "Fine. But promise you'll follow the rules—"

"Hey Y/N! I got you a drink!" Jimin bounds over to you like a Labrador puppy, thrusting a red solo cup into your hand with an elated grin. "Come on, drink up! We have a secret admirer to find!"

You see how Yoongi narrows his eyes as you lift the cup to your lips. "What? You said no drinks from strangers." In a few gulps you down the murky liquid in your cup, eyes stinging at the burn in your chest as you wipe the back of your mouth triumphantly when it earns cheers from a crowd nearby. "Let the night begin!"

"So..." Yoongi starts. "Can we leave yet?"

Almost everyone has filtered back onto the dance floor by now, leaving you and Yoongi alone on the far side of the kitchen apart from Jimin, who is busy trying to fit a whole slice of pizza in his mouth.

You lean back against the fridge as you swing your lame solo cup from your hand like it's an expensive crystal wine glass. You've been here for nearly three hours, just waiting for something to happen. Anything. A sign or something, like your secret admirer was just going to emerge from the crowd followed by a heavenly glow and a bouquet and you were going to live happily ever after.

But instead you seem to be the only near enough sober person in the building, inspecting your chipped nails for the nth time that night while Yoongi let's out intermittent bored sighs and questions how much longer until you throw in the towel and give up for good.

"Not yet," You say determinedly, eyes trained to the front door, like you're waiting for it to open. "We still have the whole night left to search."

Yoongi rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to say something but is quickly interrupted by Jimin who is looking a little green in the face. "Uh guys, I don't feel so good..."

"Woah!" Yoongi staggers up, arm shooting out the catch Jimin before he stumbles over his own feet. "You good, man?"

"I think..." Jimin brings a hand to his mouth, eyes suddenly panicked. "I think I'm gonna puke!"

Yoongi flashes you a concerned look. "Stay right here okay? I'll take him to the bathroom and be right back — come on, kid."

With that Yoongi hauls Jimin over his shoulder and disappears into the dark mouth of the party, Jimin's cries of not on my leather pants! ringing through the house.

You shake your head with a groan. Great. Now not only are you the weird sober girl at the frat party, you are alone.

Fuck it. If you were going to get through the rest of this night you might as well enjoy it right?

You slam your solo cup down on the bench, ripping the cap off a fresh vodka bottle and pour the liquid with shaky hands into your cup until it covers the red lipstick stain your lips have made on the rim. Raising the cup to your lips. you chug the contents in one go, wincing as the foul liquid burns a path through your body.

"Someone's eager!" A chirpy voice sounds from beside you. A hand comes out to grab the vodka bottle from your hand and you quickly recognise it to belong to none other than Kim Seokjin, who fills his own cup half way. "Having a good night, sweetheart?"

You are rendered speechless. A grey, silk, button up shirt hangs from his broad frame, spilling over the edges of his tight black jeans. You've never seen him in person before this moment but you see why he once got approached by a modelling agency on campus last semester — because this guy is next level hot. Like sex on legs hot. And it takes everything inside you to stop the way your knees wobble when his eyes look you up and down and focus on your mission.

Seokjin runs a hand through his bleached hair, pushing the strands upwards and away from his face as he slumps against the wall next to you, crossing his legs and taking a long swig from his cup, grimacing at the taste and earning a sympathetic grin from you.

"Eager to get drunk so I forget I'm here." You reply with a roll of your eyes, copying his movements and sipping on your own drink.

Seokjin eyes you curiously. Like he's intrigued by your less than enthusiastic response to seeing him. I mean, he did look like that after all. Most girls probably dropped their panties as soon as he entered the room. But not you. No. You were here for a reason.

"I haven't seen you around here before."

"Yeah. That's probably because I don't usually come to these things." You lean in closer, like you're letting him in on a secret. "Not usually my scene."

Seokjin nods, suddenly struck by a thought. "Then let's get drunk together!" He grabs your arm, bringing your solo cups together and creating a clink clink sound with his tongue, resulting in some of your drink sloshing over onto your jeans. "I bet I can change your mind about party's once you see how Kim Seokjin does it."

"Actually, I wanted to ask you about something first—" You retrieve the note, holding it out to him when his index finger presses against your lips and he lets out a shhh.

"Questions later. For now, you gotta try my famous concoction."

"Concoction?" You raise an eyebrow as Seokjin rips open a cupboard door and starts pouring a mixture of spirits into two cups. Just the sight of it makes your stomach churn but you tell yourself that this might be exactly what Seokjin needs to open up to you about the letter. Perhaps he'd be more loose lipped once tipsy?

Looks like you're about to find out. Seokjin thrusts one of the cups towards you.

"This will change your life. Trust me."

Rule number two. Never accept drinks from a stranger.

But Seokjin wasn't a stranger, technically, right? And besides, Yoongi himself had already broken rule number four by leaving you alone in the kitchen, so what would the harm be if you made things even in the name of Operation Love Letters?

"Sure." You say finally, taking the cup from his grasp and throwing the entire contents down your throat. "In the name of Operation Love Letters"

Soon enough, it is becoming difficult to remember exactly how many drinks you have drank already, but part of you doesn't care because you are finally starting to feel free.

It's clear that Seokjin feels similarly as his earlier giggles have turned into full on chortles, as everything you say seems to be of comedic value to him, able to practically send him rolling on the ground every time you speak.

You find yourself laughing along, cheering when he pours you another round. The bright, flashing disco lights from the lounge creep into the kitchen, bouncing off Seokjin's sharp features and the intensity of them hurts your eyes so you close them for a moment, shutting the party out completely and retreating inside your brain, which is slow and the calmest it has been since you got here. The sound of someone violently throwing up echoes in your ears, though you can't tell if it's coming from the garden or from the living room. It doesn't matter anyway.

Suddenly, you feel a pair of lips against your ear, words tumbling from them too quickly for you to pick them apart in your drunken state the first time, simply hearing a string of mumbles and murmurs. A giggle escapes your throat as you open your eyes, met with Seokjin's face meters from yours, mouthing something.

"I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be back!"

You feel yourself mouthing something back, but you have already forgotten what, lowering your head to rest it on top of your outstretched arm. Your eyes are blurry, barely able to focus on the crumpled beer cans that litter the counter a few inches from your nose. The music and sounds around you began to mould into one overwhelming hum that you can feel vibrating in every nerve ending and then—

A hand lands on your back. You twist under its grip, a woozy smile forming.

"Seokjin, you're back!" The exclamation leaves your mouth before you can see the owner of the hand which is still planted firmly between your shoulder blades, drawing small circles there. "Now...I gotta ask you something, hm? I got this note, and I think you know who sent it to me." Your shaky gaze focuses, realisation slightly delayed because of your drunken state, but you are able to slowly take in the face of someone who was very much not Seokjin standing over you as you hold out the letter.

This person has a head of black hair falling across a pair of steely eyes that burn into you hotly. The hand suddenly feels fiery and wrong against your back and you stumble to your feet in order to shake it off, knocking your metal bar stool to the ground in the process.

Rule number four: never be alone.

"Why're you out here all by yourself beautiful?" The guy slurs, staggering closer to you. His foul breath fans your face as he speaks. "Wanna come with me?" He drops his hands to grip your hips. Your arms are pressed between his chest and your own and you struggle to get them free so you can push him. Hit him. Punch him. Anything. You need to be away right now.

"She doesn't want to come with you, man."

"Hah, shhh bro, she wants to come with me, don't you beautiful?"

Your eyes are shut right but you feel his body get suddenly ripped away from yours, allowing you to fall forward into the space in front of you and let out the shaky breath you didn't know you were holding.

Another arm comes to rest gently around your shoulders, this one comforting and kind. Before you can register it, your body is being pulled forwards, faster than your feet can move and you stumble over own heel, but a hand comes to grip you just below your armpit, steadying you and practically carrying you away from the kitchen.

"What the fuck man?" Sounds from behind you, but you are too overwhelmed to notice.

Suddenly, your weak body collides with the brisk air outside. The feeling is refreshing against your lightly damp skin and you greedily gulp it into your lungs, desperate to get rid of the stale, hot air from inside. Your body is placed into a chair, the arm unwinding from your shoulders and instead opting to tap your hand.

"You okay?" A voice questions. Your eyes open enough to vaguely register a figure on one knee in front of you, a hand patting your arm comfortingly. "Hold on. Stay here." You see a pair of feet walking away. You're not sure how long they were gone for but you recognise the pair of red converse when they reappear.

"Drink this." A red cup is thrust into your line of vision. You begin to shake you head, groaning at the thought of enduring any more alcohol.

"Mmmf'had enough." You just about murmur, limply pushing it away.

"It's water. It'll help you feel better." Something tells you to trust the voice, taking the cup from his hands.

You throw your head back and let the deliciously cold liquid run down your throat, soothing the burn that remained from the liquor. You drain the cup of every last drop and let him set it neatly on the ground next to your feet.

"Do you have a ride home?"

"Can't go home yet. Promised I wouldn't break the rules..." You mumble, as you try to stumble to your feet but your legs feel wobbly and before you can take a step forward you feel your weight topple to the right.

A hand shoots out to grab your body as it falls. You don't remember if your body hits the floor as your eyes fall shut half way down, catching a glimpse of blue hair before everything turns black.

A light radiates from the window behind your head and your tired eyes reluctantly resist the sun invading the shield of your heavy lids with its brightness. Too bright, in fact, for your hungover state.

Your legs are splayed out at an uncomfortable angle, heavy and weak as they dangle over the edge of the bed which you snuggle deeper into, desperate to escape the intense feeling of regret nestling in the pit of your empty stomach.

Lifting your head from the cushion, you try and fail to open your eyes, grogginess clouding your vision, so you opt  instead to marvel at the way the soft, orange glow that infiltrates the room is warm against your skin. You drag a finger down your still bare arm and enjoy the shiver the light feeling leaves behind, a comforting contrast to the thumping hangover that is beginning to grow stronger at your temples. Your tongue is dry and fat in your mouth, rough against the soft skin of your cheek as you attempt to create some moisture to relieve the feeling.

Just as you prepare to turn over, fully intending to fall back into a deep slumber and hopefully sleep off the hangover, a piercing noise sounds a short distance away, causing you to stir.

It is as though the sound pulls your head from a pool of deep water, your ears warming up and becoming alert at the surface as the water drains away. You strain. Did you imagine it?

"La la la..."

No! There it is again, the same shrill sound but clearer this time. It seems to be drawing gradually closer, a vaguely recognisable tune fitting together like a puzzle.

"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was,"

Singing?

"To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause,"

You kick your legs childishly, wriggling around on the mattress until you break free from the duvet that smothers your limbs and rip the pillow from beneath your head, bringing it down roughly against your face in an attempt to block out the sound that makes your head throb.

"Jiminnnnn," you groan, extending the last syllable of his name in annoyance. He must have found his way back to your place after the party last night, probably drunk out of his mind. How was he not knocked out on the couch on the opposite side of the room, a mirror image of your current state?

Memories of the night before slowly resurface in bits and pieces. Shaky hands pouring liquid into a red cup. Jimin's laughter. Yoongi's blurry face disappearing into a crowd of people. A pair of hands pressing into your hips, nails creating crescent bruises on your damp skin, the hairs rising on your arms before you're saved by—

"I will travel across the land, searching far and wide,"

"For fucks sake, Jimin, shut the fuck up!" You practically explode, launching the cushion in your arms across the room. You hear it hit the wall, and you cover your head and brace yourself for a blow twice as hard in retaliation

One...two...three...

Nothing. Not even a groan of discomfort.

"Teach Pokémon to understand..."

Your body shoots upright. The beating in your chest quickens when your shaky vision focuses on your unfamiliar surroundings. Dark blue sheets are draped across your torso, definitely not the pink, floral set you laid out on your bed last week and this is definitely not your apartment. Adrenaline courses through your veins at this revelation, cold and unwelcoming like a slap to the wrist.

Where the fuck are you?

The temperature suddenly feels like ice, forbidding and foreign, all forms of comfort disappearing as you take in the shelves of books stacked lazily on top of one another at the foot of the bed. Papers lay in piles on the desk situated against the opposite wall, a laptop closed but still connected to the electric supply neatly placed next to them. An office chair is half heartedly tucked underneath it, a black fraternity t-shirt draped across the back.

SEOKJIN. KAPPA TAU.

You re-read those three words at least a hundred times, you are sure of it. You read them so quickly that the white letters blur together to create one hazy blob.

You are hallucinating, you tell yourself, that or you are still drunk. The shock sends you tumbling out of bed, landing with a smack against the wooden floor in a flurry of blue sheets before you manage to scramble to your feet and rush towards the tall glass cabinet that stands behind you. Your hands press up to the glass, breath creating foggy clouds in front of the rows and rows of shining trophies, medals and plaques that line each shelf of the cabinet. Each is inscribed with the same name over and over again.

KIM SEOKJIN. BEER PONG CHAMPION 2019.

KIM SEOKJIN. BEST FRATERNITY PRESIDENT AWARD.

Fuck.

You feel something vibrate against the small of your back and you attack your back pocket, causing your phone to fall to the floor in the process. It lands upright, spinning for a short while before coming to a halt.

32 missed calls 12 voicemails Yoongi: "WHERE R U?" Yoongi: "DID U GO HOME??." Yoongi: "CALL ME."

You're about to call him back when...

"The power that's inside!"

The song coming from behind the door loudly interrupts your mental crisis.

You move towards the mirror on the wall, taking in your dishevelled appearance. Licking your thumb, you rub at the black eyeliner that had transferred below your eyes and run it through the baby hairs that stick up from your scalp at all angles.

Shakily, your hand reaches for the door handle, twisting until you feel the bolt unclick from the frame. With a deep breath you push the door open a crack, allowing you to squeeze your body out into a kitchen.

"POKÉMON! GOTTA CATCH THEM ALL — holy shit!"

The song comes to an abrupt end as the vocalist squeaks with surprise at the sound of your voice.

"Kim Taehyung?"

Silence is suddenly cast across the small room, a shirtless boy stood in nothing but luminous yellow shorts that contrast his blue hair staring at you wide eyed, one leg propped up on the nearest dining table chair. His left hand grips the handle of a saucepan that now hovers mid air above an empty plate, the other pointing towards the ceiling with a black spatula.

It is clear you have interrupted a serious performance of his repertoire (that you hoped no one else had to endure in their lifetime) and despite your initial reaction being to laugh at the comedic position you find him in, you resist, instead simply mirroring the lifeless blinks he sends your way.

The smell of cooking eggs fills the room, the scent enough to make your stomach feel woozy and emphasise the burn that still lingers there from all the vodka you poured down your neck at Seokjin's party. A few seconds pass before he snaps his mouth closed and proceeds to dish up his egg, shifting to hide the blush that has risen hotly in his cheeks. Taehyung's hair is messy as though he has not long woken himself, the sides flattened where he had laid against the pillow and the top sticking up in places.

"O-oh, sorry, did I wake you?" Taehyung stutters through his teeth, clearly dealing internally with the humiliation of being caught in his tighty whities. "Seokjin didn't tell me he was going to bring anyone back last night."

"Taehyung?" You ask warily, creeping further into the kitchen on the soles of your bare feet. It is cold, provoking your toes to curl. "Seokjin brought me back here?"

"Wait, you're Yoongi's roommate right?" His words are sudden and sharper this time, shoulders relaxing as he flicks his index finger out to point at you, a warm smile spreading across his face as he blows on a spoonful of egg.

"Uh, yeah. That's me." You admit, shrugging your shoulders as he nods his head. "I'm Y/N. You met me and my friend Jimin last night." It feels strange to introduce yourself to someone after you have already slept in their home, walked in on their shirtless one man show and rudely interrupted their Sunday morning breakfast. Taehyung doesn't seem phased though, waving his fork at you and speaking through a mouthful of yolk.

"Ah so that's how you met Seokjin! He didn't tell me that you two were ya know...getting it on." You splutter at his words, rushing forwards to to grip the kitchen counter for support when his eyebrows wiggle up and down as though their movements mean to insinuate something. "I'm his roommate, if you couldn't tell."

"We weren't - we didn't - at least I don't think..."

Your confused rambles are interrupted by a deeper voice that rumbles from behind the bathroom door that opens to reveal a figure in black sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. Seokjin.

A towel covers his head, hands rubbing frantically at the wet hair beneath it. A few stray droplets land on the front of his shirt, turning it a darker shade of grey wherever they touch. He lowers the towel, twisting it so it sits comfortably around his shoulders before he leans over to pick from Taehyung's plate with a roll of his eyes in your direction.

"Taehyung, the last time we gave you vodka you tried to do a hand stand on top of the kitchen table." He gestures towards the table next to you. You notice how the leg is taped tightly back together, making the entire structure look slightly lopsided. "Trust me, Y/N, you don't wanna trust anything this guy says when he is hungover."

"Woah, man, do you have to tell everyone that?" He hisses, cocking his head towards you and drawing an imaginary line across his neck as if to tell him to cut it out. "Congrats, though man!" He adds, dropping his empty plate in the sink and moving to give Seokjin an exaggerated pat on the back. "You got laid again!"

Seokjin's eyes widen with surprise, before he turns to you with a look of panic flashing across his features.

"See? My point exactly. We didn't—"

"Did we-- ?" Your question lingers awkwardly in the air, sounding more frantic than you had intended.

"What?! No!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna leave you two kids to it." Taehyung sucks on his teeth with a clap of his hands. He turns, striding into what is presumably his bedroom, calling "I'll be in my room if you need me!" over his shoulder as he does so.

Seokjin pinches the bridge of his nose. "Ignore him, he's just a massive nerd, really."

Seokjin shifts uncomfortably, and for the first time you see the douchey confident frat boy facade falter when he watches you fall into a dining room chair and let your head fall in your hands, silently hoping to cover the mortification present on your face.

"So you don't remember what happened at all?" Seokjin reaches into the closest kitchen cupboard, retrieving a glass that he fills with water directly from the faucet. He opens a box of pain killers and pops out two capsules.

"Nope. Zilch." You manage a feeble smile when he presses the pills into your palm. "Fill me in?"

"You were pretty fucked up last night so I thought it would be sensible to bring you upstairs," Seokjin hops up onto the counter beside you, so close that you can can almost smell his freshly applied deodorant. His leg bounces nervously. "I slept out here. Just so you know." He gestured towards the crumpled blankets that are strewn across the couch, barely covering the body shaped dent that had formed in the sunken cushions.

Raising your head, you sink lower into the chair and lift your eyes to finally meet his. His gaze is piercing, surprising you a little. He seems to notice, softening his stare. You usually find things like this uncomfortable. You were expecting a scrutinizing look, the type you were used to from guys like Kim Seokjin. But somehow Seokjin's intentions feel kind, perhaps slightly cautious but warm even so.

"Hey. Thank you. For helping last night. You didn't have to bring me here. And for saving me from that guy at the party. I'm seriously grateful. I owe you one."

"Trust me, it's all good. No debts or anything." He smiles at your rushed babble of appreciation, his hand unconsciously scratching a non-existent itch on the back of his neck. "After all, it was kinda my fault. If I'd known you were such a lightweight I wouldn't have given you that drink. Still feel kinda bad." His shoulders shrug jokingly and you can't help but snort at his words. He seems to relax at this, assured that you aren't as vulnerable as your sickly appearance suggests.

You shift in your seat and something crinkles in the back pocket of your jeans. Shit! The love letter!

"Well if you feel that bad about it, then how about you do me a little favour?"

Seokjin rolls his eyes playfully. "What type of favour, sweetheart?"

"This." You unfold the letter and slide it across the kitchen island towards him. "Do you know who could've written this?"

Seokjin's eyes widen as he scans the note, whispering the words beneath his breath as he reads. "Oh shit...this is like legit legit."

"That's what I said!" You nod eagerly. "Now does anything seem familiar to you?"

A finger stabs at the Kappa Tau logo in the corner of the page. "Well this paper definitely came from one of my guys. But it could be any one of them..."

A defeated sigh leaves you. "So you're saying you don't know who it could belong to?"

"I mean, I know it's not mine. But apart from that, it really could be anyone." He neatly folds the note and places it in your palm. "Sorry I couldn't help."

You shake your head. "It's fine. I'll just have to find a new lead..."

"I have an idea. Have you heard about the kissing booth the frat is organising for Valentine's Day?"

You nod. "Sure. What about it?"

"How about if you sign up, and like, set a trap for this guy. He'll think he can totally get away with kissing you. And you can catch him right in the act!"

"Huh. I guess that doesn't sound like such a bad plan..." You muse. "Maybe I could get Jimin to sign up with me..."

"Jimin is signing up for the kissing booth? I-I mean you and Jimin are signing up?" Taehyung's voice suddenly stammers as he bursts in the kitchen, thankfully dressed in far more clothing than before.

"Yeah, Seokjin just came up with this totally awesome plan to catch my secret admirer at the kissing booth—"

"When is it?" Taehyung splutters, face flushing a deep shade of red when he earns two startled looks. "I-I mean just wondering. For science."

"Anyone would think that you're her secret admirer man." Seokjin chuckles, and Taehyung just looks sheepish before he joins in half heartedly.

"Ha...that's funny. About that..." You open your mouth to pry further about why Taehyung is suddenly acting so skittish but the front door suddenly busts open and in walks Yoongi, still in his pajama shorts with a hoodie thrown over top and a hat to hide his bed hair.

He glances around the room before his eyes zero in on you, and before you can say anything he's running towards you and throwing his arms around you in a tight hug that knocks the breath straight from your lungs.

"Yoongi...can't...breathe."

"Where the fuck have you been?" Yoongi breathes amidst a sigh of relief. "I was close to filing a missing person's report. Why did you just disappear like that last night after I told you not to get lost?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" You wrap your arms around his waist and pat his back, as if to prove it. "You don't need to worry, Seokjin took care of me."

Yoongi's eyes narrow in on Seokjin sat at the breakfast bar eating a nutrients bar. "I was supposed to be taking care of you. Why did you leave with him?"

"Well good morning to you too, Yoongi." Seokjin says with a shrug of his shoulders. "Don't worry. There wasn't any funny business, I slept on the couch."

Yoongi narrows his eyes but let's you free from his grip gently. "You sure you're okay?"

"Completely."

"From now on you're staying at home where you won't get lost, no matter if you have to go on another Operation Passion Penpal mission or whatever."

"Operation Love Letters," You remind him with a punch to the shoulder. "And I promise I won't run off again without telling you first next time."

Despite the reassuring smile you flash him, Yoongi still scans your face for any sign of hesitation, his eyes softening at the edges with relief that you're not hurt. His mouth opens to say something but then he shuts it tightly again, taking a step back from you and scratching his neck with a grumble. "We should really get going. You'll be late to class."

"Shit!" You scramble to check your phone, finding a plethora of further missed calls and texts from a very worried Jimin. "You're right. I really should go..."

"Hey, I can drive you later if you want." Seokjin butts in, but Taehyung quickly shuts him down.

"Dude, chill. Just let him take this one okay?"

The room falls silent, all eyes falling on you. "Am I missing something?"

"Well, guess I'll be going then!" Taehyung avoids the question, turns on his heels and starts into a brisk walk but not before you're reaching for the strap of his backpack.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Before you can stop it, Taehyung's bag is slipping down his shoulders and falling to the ground in a flurry of books and papers that scatter all over the floor of the apartment. "Oh shit! I'm so sorry!"

Taehyung turns and just blinks at the mess, looking positively startled, and you assume it's because you just literally straight up attacked him, but when you bend to your knees and start to help him clear up, you see his eyes flit nervously to a piece of paper poking out from beneath a history textbook.

You recognise it instantly. It's written on the very same type of paper as the note in your back pocket and your heart almost skips a beat.

As if reading your mind, Taehyung's hand shoots out to grab the note at the same time as yours, and much to your dismay there's a loud rip! as the piece of paper tears down the middle, each of you holding an opposing half.

Taehyung avoids your eyes as he shoves everything back into his bag and leaves you kneeling on the kitchen floor, clutching a note littered with a familiar scrawl.

"I'll see you around." He says simply, before his head of blue hair disappears down the staircase.

"Hey wait!" Seokjin calls as you get up to follow Yoongi who is already on his way out to the car. "Let me know how the mission goes. And if you don't find the guy, feel free to crash one of my parties again anytime."

"I—okay!" You squeak, face burning hot as you rush down the stairs away from Seokjin's amused chuckle. "Thanks again!"

You grab your phone and dial up your best friends number when you're out of earshot from Seokjin. He sounds relieved to hear you're okay, quickly quieting down when you tell him that you think you have a new lead in the form of a certain blue-haired-roommate's-best-friend.

"Meet me at my place, I'll tell you everything, I promise. I've got big news about Operation Love Letters!"