#its an au but its an au which relies on shuffling people and events around therefore :( i will remain canon-compatible regarding origins >:

[enough-spider-noir-stuff]

APPARENTLY FILM NOIR IS ALSO FROM 1933 AND NOT SOME TIME IN THE 40s THIS IS DESTROYING EVERYTHING UGH

[diyeoracha]

IwaOi Fanfiction Masterlist with 90+ Works

Hello! In celebration accumulating over 290 bookmarks on my AO3 account featuring IwaOi, Haikyuu S4 part 2, and @haikyuuweek2020​ (Day 7 - Free Choice), I decided to create a masterlist of all of my favorite Iwaoi fics in order to keep myself organized as well as contributing to more traffic for those works! Works are split up into genres such as alternate universe (either not childhood friends or set on Earth), angst, canon compliant (post timeskip with spoilers), canon divergent (childhood friends but divergent timeline post timeskip), high school, and university au

Formatting update: Jan 13, 2021 (spacing is wonky on the mobile app!).

Fic update: Jan 7, 2021

This is incomplete as I got distracted while re-reading a lot of these and have only gone through half of my bookmarks, but feel free to check my own page here for the rest of them! I really do hope you guys enjoy reading these and leave comments and kudos! Please reblog and like so more people can enjoy

Titles marked with (♡) are my absolute favorites and there’s a chance I cried while reading them but otherwise they’re in alphabetical order

Alternate Universe

an allegory of all the things we could’ve been

Word count: 16k

Summary: “I don’t know anything about some red string,” Iwaizumi murmurs into the cracks of Oikawa’s skin, “or even about lifetimes or fate. But no matter where you are, I’ll find you. Gods or otherwise.” Reincarnation AU

And All the Prince’s Men

Word count: 65k

Summary: “Father only loves that which he owns, and I am the one thing that can never truly be his.” Royalty AU

Built a Temple in Me

Word count: 55k

Summary: Up the mossy mountain steps, past the komainu guardians and the faded red gate, and beyond the boundaries of the green shrine—that’s where the forest and the spirit world within it lies. That’s were Hajime met him, and where their story began.But intertwining of destinies can be ugly business, Hajime finds, when their first meeting begins with blood and the too-human eyes of a beast. God Oikawa AU

Quote: It fills his heart anyway, heals the hole in his chest that had been bleeding since he cut Tooru so forcibly from him.

Cotton Breathing

Word count: 13k

Summary: Long-distance and summer only but childhood friends AU

Conquering the Great King

Word count: 105k

Summary: Oikawa's lips twitched into a smirk and he brought them hovering just over Iwaizumi's, "One time thing, Two time thing, what's it matter as long as it's not a Relationship thing?"

Quote: Oikawa's eyes twitched wide for less than a second, his knee pressed in hard against Iwaizumi's thigh, "I may be gorgeous, but I'm not a doll."

dear diary, i met a boy

Word count: 15k

Summary: Iwaizumi's first impression of his upstairs neighbor involves getting woken up at two in the morning to the sound of Oikawa singing along to trashy pop music. He'd thought it would get better, but it all just goes downhill from there. Modern AU

Desperado

Word count: 82k

Summary: Clearly Iwaizumi had a checkered past. Kyoutani has never asked about it, nor has Iwaizumi ever brought it up. He knows it’s a sore spot for his mentor, just like the gorgeous Monte Carlo he keeps hidden away is, so he leaves it alone. Out on the streets, you learn a little something about when to turn a blind eye in order to survive; Kyoutani knows better than most to leave the past of men like Iwaizumi well alone. Heist AU

Even Heroes (have the right to dream)

Word count: 20k

Summary: Oikawa Tooru, ace reporter of the superhero beat of Asahi Shimbun, hates superheroes. Or maybe he just hasn’t met the knight one yet. Superhero AU

♡Infinite Risks

Word count: 8k

Summary: “It’s my fate,” Oikawa responds slowly. He’s crying. “It’s too lonely,” Iwaizumi’s heart sounded broken. “And I’m not there with you. Not really.” Edge of Tomorrow AU

In Defense of Reptiles

Word count: 9k

Summary: In their seventh year, Oikawa is chosen to be the Hogwarts champion in the Triwizard Tournament, and Iwaizumi suffers. Harry Potter AU

Quote: “You are so spoiled,” Iwaizumi tells him, but lets him shuffle down until Iwaizumi’s hand is now running through Oikawa’s hair instead of rubbing his shoulder.

In the Telling

Word count: 6k

Summary: Muggleborn Iwaizumi could not be less impressed with pureblood Oikawa Tooru. Harry Potter AU

♡Lockdown

Word count: 72k

Summary: Within the first few months of his stay, Oikawa gets caught up in a war between cellblocks, becomes a prime target, and must decide just how far he's willing to go to protect Iwaizumi Hajime. Prison AU

♡long nights, no peace

Word count: 18k

Summary: It's the steady knowledge that Iwaizumi Hajime will always be someone that he can rely on, that no matter what the world throws at the two of them, they share in a piece of each other's soul. Pacific Rim AU

Quote: Quiet settles between them softly, like the warm pressure of the blanket, or Iwaizumi's fingers curling to lightly hold the fabric of Oikawa's shirt.

The Long Light

Word count: 36k

Summary: Iwaizumi Hajime's seventh year at Hogwarts begins, and begins, and begins, and begins. Somehow, Oikawa Tooru is always there. Harry Potter AU

Magic Man

Word count: 12k

Summary: Oikawa is named the most desirable wizard in France. Iwaizumi is not impressed. Harry Potter AU

Quote: You keep saying partner or them. Is it rude of me to ask you to clarify?

Meet me in the grey area

Word count: 24k

Summary: Set in a hero/villain AU with Iwa as our trusty hero and Oikawa as our charming villain

Saw You at the Fish Market

Word count: 14k

Summary: In other words, Oikawa befriends hot part-time worker Iwaizumi and tries to impress him both off and on the court, in hopes of more.

♡♡ (sing with me) A Song of Conquest and Fate

Word count: 26k

Summary: When Seijou receives a missive from Aobajousai to discuss a potential peace, its emperor Oikawa Tooru could not have foreseen the series of events that would follow. Historical fantasy AU

Similar Creatures

Word count: 53k

Summary: "What's your name?" "Whatever you want it to be."(Or, Oikawa gets directions from an attractive stranger on a street corner.). Escort AU

♡Something Like Us

Word count: 28k

Summary: Friends since childhood, Oikawa and Iwaizumi now live together, both playing for the National Team. It's no secret that athletes who are bonded perform better. So if the two of them happen to bond...It'd be for the good of the team, right? A/B/O AU

Space

Word count: 44k

Summary: Tries not to think of his rooftop garden, or the apartment he used to inhabit, or Hajime’s broken expression on the night they whispered their goodbyes before Tooru’s launch, attempting to push it all to the back of his mind behind visions of this alien world terraformed. Astronaut AU

Stop the Time

Word count: 10k

Summary: Iwaizumi Hajime, 27, E.R. nurse at University of Tokyo Hospital. Hospital AU

♡♡The Loyalty of A Traitor

Word count: 76k

Summary: Iwaizumi Hajime was an undercover officer with a single objective: Infiltrate the Seijoh Syndicate of the Yakuza and tear them down from the inside out. His primary target was the boss, Oikawa Tooru. The job itself was simple enough, until Iwaizumi got in too deep and absconded not only from the mission, but from the city itself. Yakuza AU

These Flowers I Stole For You

Word count: 3k

Summary: ANBU don't cry. They tear themselves apart, bit by bit, and then they stitch themselves whole again. Naruto AU

on shipwreck shore

Word count: 8k

Summary: “I’m going to murder you in cold blood and feed you to the basilisks,” Iwaizumi says conversationally. “You can’t do that, I’m your boss,” Oikawa sings, positively sparkling. “Also we’re partners, which means,” he points at Iwaizumi and leans in, “you’re stuck with me.” Detective AU

Page 305 of 304

Word count: 53k

Summary: “…she called you ‘papa’,” iwaizumi managed. oikawa just stared for a moment longer before relaxing in a smile. “yeah. cute, right? but you can call me ‘daddy’ if you want.”

Temporary fix

Word count: 12k

 Summary: “And you’ve shampooed his hair how many times now? Hmm. Yeah, that’s not technically a bromance.” A/B/O AU

Tokyo Boy

Word count: 16k

Summary: He has feelings for Iwaizumi Hajime, who probably has casual lovers just like him in every major city he visits on business. Oikawa is just his Tokyo Boy, just another pit-stop on Iwaizumi’s travels. Businessman AU

Trial by Fire

Word count: 78k

Summary: (lawyer!AU - in which Iwaizumi loves his objections, Oikawa is beautiful, and they have more chemistry than two opposing attorneys probably should.)

Watch Me

Word count: 32k

Summary: Oikawa's a cam model. It’s been a month since Iwaizumi first spoke in his chat. When they meet in person, things get complicated. Cam model AU

Angst

open when

Word count: 1k

Summary: Iwaizumi knew it was coming, but it still hurt. It still hurt when he opens one letter and drowns it in the tears he cannot keep at bay.

Chasing Paper Suns

Word count: 10k

Summary: Post-high school,     Oikawa makes it to the national volleyball team but Iwaizumi doesn't. The     next three years become an exercise in growing up without growing apart

Quote: “ ‘it’s just—I’m     just trying so hard—’‘What, and I’m not?’

Timeless (We Have 30 Days)

Word count: 12k

Summary: Or AU where you're branded 50 days before you die. But Oikawa doesn't tell anyone so now there's only 30 days left.

the weight of water

Word count: 6k

Summary: “Again,” he says, the smallest tremor in his voice, and Oikawa blinks at him a moment before smiling, soft and sweet. “Iwa-chan,” he replies, and Iwaizumi closes his eyes. “Again.” “Iwa-chan.”

Canon Compliant

Are You Listening?

Word count: 4k

Summary: 30 times oikawa said i love you and 1 time he didn't have to

Quote: “Iwa-chan, watch out for the log—!” Oikawa looked on in horror as his best friend tripped and fell flat on his face.

Edge of the balcony

Word count: 8k

Summary: Iwaizumi looks older, he realizes. Oikawa knew he had aged as well, and so did everyone around him, but the thing was when you see people often, you don't notice the subtle changes in appearance. And Oikawa hadn't seen Iwaizumi in four years.

How can this loser ever win

Word count: 2k

Summary: everyone is in stupid love with Iwaizumi Hajime and he has no idea

♡♡♡Lost in Translation

Word count: 9k

Summary: Because misfortune come in threes, Iwaizumi Hajime starts his Thursday having a screaming fight with Shittykawa, spends his lunch break listening to the UCI women's volleyball team gossiping about how Ushijima Wakatoshi had gone public about his longtime love affair with Oikawa Tooru, and closes out the day by drunkenly dropping his phone into a sewer grate.

maybe we could be enough

Word count: 9k

Summary: iwaizumi hums in reply as the car goes silent, frank ocean crooning from the speakers. they stop at a red light when iwaizumi feels eyes at the side of his face, and turns to look at oikawa.

Most people never even get a single high school rival

Word count: 5k

Summary: Team Argentina gets to know Iwaizumi Hajime (27) Athletic Trainer.

Primavera

Word count: 8k

Summary: They say it takes twenty-six years, for certain breeds to fully bloom.

Quote: Did you know that distance is only me, growing towards you?

♡♡♡rest on your laurels

Word count: 4k

Summary: In Iwaizumi’s heart of hearts, untouched by time, they are young and alive, burning with the hearth of home and bright as winter light. Unbreakable. Invincible.

♡♡♡Something Borrowed

Word count: 16k

Summary: In which Oikawa and Iwaizumi have always been a foregone conclusion to everyone else, but a massive, unanswered question to one another.

‘Til Infinity

Word count: 2k

Summary: “Hey,” he says, “that cloud looks kind of like a dick.”

Quote: “I got you ladybug”

♡♡♡ You Set Off a Dream In Me

Word count: 15k

Summary: In which Oikawa is 41 and ready to retire. He's at the top of his game and ready to find a new challenge. Turns out his new challenge is pretty familiar. It's high school, round 2.

Quote: A past with an Iwaizumi that wasn’t on the opposite side of the net, monsters on all sides, guiding a setter that had lived the dream left behind in the ruins of Tooru’s past self.

Canon Divergent

a world alone

Word count: 60k

Summary: Iwaizumi has his medical books on the musculoskeletal system. Oikawa has his research papers on parallel universes. It isn't until much, much later that they realize they have each other.

♡Almost a Stranger

Word count: 16k

Summary: Iwa-chan's leaving Kapan. Tooru's not sure he can forgive him, but he's not going to admit his long-held feelings, either. A trip to Miyajima complicates everything.

Quote: There are only two things that have ever broken Oikawa Tooru’s heart. Iwa-chan would say Tooru has no heart to break, but that’s simply untrue.

Count your blessings, it goes 1,2,3, me

Word count: 7k

Summary: He's unsettled by the undefined boundaries of their relationship so it's all his luck that he accidentally wins three wishes to be granted just for him, and all that comes to mind is Iwaizumi.

Quote: Now, as an adult, past convenience of circumstance and the haze of hormonal lust, exactly none of his feelings have worn off

♡♡♡the courtship ritual of the hercules beetle

Word count: 66k

Summary: Tooru is pretty sure he could manage the mating habits of a mosquito. It’s the mating habits of people he can’t seem to get right.

♡days fall away

Word count:17k

Summary: Except now he’s back home, so close to his old haunts and to Oikawa himself, and it's—weird.

Quote: “You and Tooru,” he begins, and then shrugs. “I was just thinking, you look at each other a lot.” And he walks away, leaving Hajime winded, and sort of aching, somewhere deep in his chest. Whatever that means.

♡here comes your man

Word count: 8k

Summary: Iwa-chan, it reads, Have a good day today! Good luck! <3 <3 <3 Suga chokes. It’s hard to imagine anyone calling the scowling and fierce Doctor Iwaizumi “Iwa-chan.” But marriage probably comes with all sorts of liberties. Doctor AU

♡♡In damp earth my body

Word count: 15k

Summary: Onscreen, the nation’s favorite setter has arranged himself so that he’s bowing, forehead pressed to the court, like he’s thanking everyone for their kindness thus far, like he’s asking for forgiveness. Hajime thinks: shit, it’s really happening

In the Business of Love

Word count: 22k

Summary: Meet Oikawa Tooru: He's a best-selling shoujo manga artist, a hardcore romantic and you won't believe where he's getting his lovey dovey fodder from...Enter Iwaizumi Hajime: He's Oikawa's best friend, a realist who also happens to be a wedding magazine writer despite not believing in romance...

Quote: A flare of pride lit in Oikawa as he watched Iwaizumi's eyes crinkle with mirth and in that yawning second, it bloomed into a warmth that bordered on a burn, forcing a bittersweet inhale.

it's been so long (nobody knows me the way you do)

Word count: 8k

Summary: Tooru hums, only half-listening. Somewhere along the way, Hajime’s palm has settled itself over the curve of Tooru’s cheek, thumb tracing over the line of his jaw.

Quote: Iwaizumi blushes even more. “That you’re here, I mean. I’m happy that you’re here. With me.”

♡♡♡Mint

Word count: 19k

Summary: It's the December after Iwaizumi’s last year in university when Tokyo welcomes him with a new ad campaign for Bright Days toothpaste, and Oikawa Tooru—fresh off a run at the 2016 Summer Olympics—has decided to grace the city with his signature grin, a flip of his wayfarer sunglasses, and the most irrepressible tag line for the signboard above.

Quote: "To be able to tell him, in the new year."  This comes under Oikawa's breath, so low that Matsukawa and Hanamaki can't hear, and the game continues.

Six-Month Lover

Word count: 89k

Summary: Iwaizumi barks out a laugh. “I’m still trying to get over the fact that you made a PowerPoint presentation about why we should date.” Oikawa doesn’t tell him the file has existed for the last twelve years, constantly receives updates, and that the original copy contained almost a hundred slides before he forced himself to get a grip.

Special Relativity

Word count: 22k

Summary: Time moves differently for people in different inertial reference frames. Oikawa goes on a two-year exploratory mission in space. Iwaizumi's been waiting for a lot longer than that.

♡♡sunset towns

Word count: 33k

Summary: In the summer of 2020, Oikawa Tooru returns home from his first successful stint as captain of Japan’s national volleyball team. In one hand, he holds the undisputed weight of an Olympic medal, and in the other, his unresolved feelings for a childhood best friend.

♡♡Thirty Years and Change (the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad)

Word count:     19k

Summary: It’s July 10th, 2024, and Oikawa Tooru is an Olympian. His smiling face airs on an NHK promo every 45 seconds. He’s captain of the national men’s volleyball team, reigning star of the professional leagues, and he hasn't spoken to Iwaizumi Hajime in two years.

Quote: Oikawa’s grin in  the last set of the morning’s game. Oikawa’s grin as they sat on their asses on a golf course. Oikawa’s grin when they were in college. When they were in high school. When they were twenty-two, seventeen, fifteen, twelve, six.

High School

Bet On It

Word count: 13k

Summary: Hajime knows exactly how shitty Oikawa's personality is, and has no scruples whatsover about betting Oikawa six thousand yen that he can't be nice for an entire week.

Quote: The whole instant-compliance thing was seriously creeping him out. Oikawa from a week ago would have made a crack about how if he'd wanted something cold, he could have just put his face on Hajime's shoulder.

Betweens

Word count: 2k

Summary: Iwaizumi is asleep in the club room. Oikawa is blindingly awake in the club room. The sun moves slowly across the sky, and Iwaizumi’s skin is gold underneath it. Oikawa watches the changing shadows on Iwaizumi’s face and thinks about nothing in particular.

Don’t think too much

Word count: 6k

Summary:  In which Oikawa and Iwaizumi have a confusing, drunken encounter and then deal with the (sticky) consequences.

Quote: As soon as that thought crossed his mind, though, Oikawa did what he always did:  exactly the opposite of what Hajime wanted

Gates

Word count: 12k

Summary: The day after their graduation ceremony, they drive to the beach at Shirahama. Iwaizumi drives, because it’s his car, and as he has told Oikawa on multiple occasions, he’d rather die than let him touch the wheel.

Quote: ‘Yeah,’ he says, because they’re on a beach, and they’re supposed to be on a metaphorical journey, and they’re supposed to be growing up, and completing rites of passage, so it’s honesty, today - just for today, at least.

♡♡i sing the body electric

Word count: 8k

Summary: It was never part of the plan, falling in love with his best friend, but then again, most things in Iwaizumi’s life that involve Oikawa rarely unfold the way he thinks they will.

Quote: But Iwaizumi thinks about Oikawa laughing with that girl in the low light of the gym, a particular kind of quiet intimacy that Iwaizumi’s only ever read about in books hovering in the air, and all it makes him feel is small and petty and spiteful.

it’s better than words

Word count: 3k

Summary: [ or : oikawa makes iwaizumi participate in three bonding activities for new friends, and iwaizumi just wants to know why oikawa's being so weird about this]

Make sure you cross the line

Word count: 4k

Summary: With graduation just around the corner, Iwaizumi knows he has to gather the courage to really ask Oikawa out.

Quote: He’s been asking Iwaizumi to go out with him every single day this past week, increasingly panicked about getting his time and attention now that they’re nearing the end of this season of their lives.

Only the jellyfish know

Word count: 6k

Summary: Their third and final year at Aoba Jousai has come to an end, and the guys decide to go to the beach the day after graduation. That day, the ocean water is salty, the watermelon is sweet, and the people are sweeter.

static

Word count: 6k

Summary: Being snowed in with all of Seijou volleyball in his childhood home brings back a lot of memories for Iwaizumi, because it's kinda Oikawa's childhood home too.

Quote: It's fate that brought them together and choice that keeps them that way. The closest description in Hajime’s vocabulary is partners, but only because Oikawa taught him what its true definition is.

Told before and told again

Word count: 3k

Summary: This is how Hajime and Tooru fall in love, through the accounts of those around them.

Quote: When Oikawa lets out a long, heavy breath, Iwaizumi looks up at him and frowns, and flings a towel over Oikawa’s head to cover his face. Then, he tugs, once, on Oikawa’s fingers, and leads him down the hallway, Oikawa walking quietly in tow.

♡we can do better than that

Word count: 16k

Summary: Oikawa and Iwaizumi go on a road trip during the summer after their high school graduation. It doesn't go as expected, but maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.

Quote: Because Iwaizumi’s known Oikawa nearly all his life and never felt anything more than vague affection usually followed by intense irritation for him. But then suddenly at eighteen years old and nearly two weeks into a very badly planned road trip, it’s like someone flipped a switch somewhere inside Iwaizumi

♡when it starts to rain, they go inside

Word count: 33k

Summary: “Where?” starts Iwaizumi.“ My parent’s old lakehouse, silly, didn’t you hear me the first time?” OR: Oikawa takes Iwaizumi to his lakehouse for two weeks, post-graduation.

reassemble it

Word count: 15k

Summary: When Tooru was six years old, he discovered—unbeknownst to him at the time—two of the most important things in his life: volleyball and Iwaizumi Hajime. It was ironic that he had stumbled upon them hand in hand—quite literally, too.

♡things that change, things that stay the same

Word count: 8k

Summary: Oikawa realizes he's in love with his best friend; it sucks for a while. (But only a while.)

Quote: Iwaizumi’s expression right now is less terrified than it used to get back then, but he’s tight-lipped with concern, and his broad body blocks out other passengers as if their stares might be a danger to Tooru too.

University AU

An Archaeology of Affection

Word count: 23k

Summary: For Hajime, it is a riddle and simultaneously so evident. It fills his chest, surging like water, paints heat up his neck. In retrospect, it eats up his days, makes them its own until it feels like his heart has always been in his throat at the smile thrown over Oikawa’s shoulder, the stilling of his fingers on Hajime’s sleeve.

closure

Word count: 22k

Summary: In his first year of university, Oikawa builds a new friendship and upgrades an old one. Or: Ushijima is not a great wingman, but he tries his best.

Quote: “On the first day of his university career, Oikawa Tooru walks into his dorm, spots his assigned roommate, and turns one hundred and eighty degrees and walks right back out. He dials a familiar phone number - the first one he ever memorized - and starts complaining before Iwaizumi even gets the chance to say hello. “Iwa-chan,” he says, “tell me why Ushiwaka is in my dorm room.”

♡♡♡galaxies, within you

Word count: 21k

Summary: Hajime and Tooru move in together at the start of university. Too bad they’re stuck with the two gremlins that haunt their apartment.

Quote: I AM A HEADASS

Hands to yourself

Word count: 11k

Summary: He missed his parents, and he missed Takeru, and Takeru's badly behaved puppy. He missed Aoba Jousai, and he missed the volleyball team. He even missed Karasuno and Shiratorizawa, just a little.

Home, and how we made ours

Word count: 3k

Summary: “No, I like it here.” There’s a rustling as Iwaizumi shifts, inching closer. “I like it here, as in this crappy apartment—with you.”

Quote: “Do your fights end up being like—you know, about actual things and then extending into toddler days and suddenly you’re accusing Iwaizumi of kissing the girl you used to like in preschool?”

in progress to you

Word count: 6k

Summary: The eventuality of Oikawa and Iwaizumi falling toward each other is dramatically lackluster. Still, it's a process to go through.

Quote: “But what if you didn’t eat my pudding all the time?” Iwaizumi asks flatly, ignoring the way Oikawa is slapping his thigh to get out of his chokehold. “Do you think I buy them for you, huh? I buy them for me, you turd.”

Like we’re made of starlight

Word count: 6k

Summary: (a look into iwaizumi hajime’s journey of falling in love with oikawa tooru, from when they’re babies meeting for the first time to young adults moving in together.)

Ninety nine percent

Word count: 14k

Summary: more than anything, oikawa tooru wants to be with iwaizumi hajime, but he's only ninety nine percent of the way there.

Quote: Their ace was lining up for the ball, knees bent and arm pulled back, just as Tooru tosses the ball……to Hajime.

no sleep in the city

Word count: 7k

Summary: Along their journey to find Tokyo's best ramen, Iwaizumi finds himself asked again and again why Oikawa is still single.

Quote: “I was only telling Hanamaki literally yesterday that your personality isn’t as vile as before,” Iwaizumi informs, slightly stiff from the way Oikawa’s got an arm looped through his own. “Why do you make me such a liar to people I care about?”

Out of nowhere

Word count: 8k

Summary: They move in together after graduation and it's doing weird things to Iwaizumi's heart. He's a little in denial about it.

Quote: Oikawa excitedly ran up to him when Iwaizumi came home with groceries the other day. Not about the food but just to say how boring everything is when Iwaizumi's not there, eyes shining, and he couldn't meet his gaze after from blushing down to his neck. He doesn't know how much more he can take.

♡♡shiver

Word count: 16k

Summary: Oikawa was always the brave one. Hajime just followed two paces behind.

Quote: “I’m in love with you,” Oikawa tells him three days after they graduate junior high, head in his lap and hands gently folded over his chest and completely and totally unconcerned that he’d just shattered Hajime’s world.

Terpischore

Word count: 38k

Summary: They’d ended up going to different universities, Tooru and he. The distance was good for them. The confession Hajime dropped in both their laps wasn’t. That’s how it’d ended – a lifetime of friendship crumbled to dust in the space of five minutes. (Or, a lesson in learning to move on from things you can't have, in finding old loves in new ways and in understanding that life is never truly simple... till it is.)

terrarium

Word count: 11k

Summary: At this point, is he really happy with just staying best friends forever? Will he be writing journals and collecting rocks forever (he will, he knows, but that is aside from the point)?

these foolish things (remind me of you)

Word count: 3k

Summary: Oikawa helps Iwaizumi move into his new college dorm.

Quote: He’s desperate for something to happen. It must show on his face because Iwaizumi blushes and looks away. The thing is, Oikawa always looks at him like this when Iwaizumi isn’t paying attention.

They say it rains diamonds on Jupiter

Word count: 35k

Summary: "You're in love with him. "Hajime considers denying it. "Yeah," he says instead.

Quote: “Share the weight of your feelings with me, Hajime wants to beg when he hears Tooru's first hitched breath. Let me carry some of your burdens”

to be first, to be best

Word count: 26k

Summary: Hajime is apparently something of a masochist, and as he stares down at the tie-dyed AREA51 T-shirt in his hands, he thinks “I’m totally in love with this asshole, aren't I?”

Undecipherable

Word count: 4k

Summary: "Koi no yokan," he says. "The sense one can have upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love."

Quote: Because for all the bravado, for all the flaunting Oikawa does, he wants Hajime by his side, and no one else.

♡we shine like diamonds

Word count: 26k

Summary: "You know Abe-kun from class?" they snicker, hands cupped around their mouths like they're passing along a filthy secret. "I hear his older brother is... gay."

Where you are (I’ll be)

Word count: 6k

Summary: Theirs is a love that starts out like a seed and it takes two sets of hands tending it for a shoot to appear. There are no dramatic declarations of love, only a pair of hands that find each other again and again and again.

Quote: Oikawa broke off into giggles as Hajime slowed the descent of his hand from a slap to the back of Oikawa’s head to a gentle ruffle of the taller boy’s hair

♡♡with every second that you could give

Word count: 9k

Summary: The journey of Iwaizumi and Oikawa going for gold.

Quote: He knows they’re too close. Iwaizumi knows it too, and they both decided to move in together anyway.

Your love is sunlight

Word count: 6k

Summary: It's Iwaizumi's birthday, and they have a talk about the future.

Quote: But Hajime doesn’t think any present could top this: them, kissing in a sun-dappled bathroom, Oikawa’s skin warm under his hands, and the promise of a life together stretched out before them.

[nose-bandaid]

bloom ✿ pt.1 — daisies

Kino (Hyunggu) x (female) Reader | flower shop AU

february 6th daises — innocence, purity, and new beginnings

introduction | part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven | epilogue

=====

“Yes... yes, we’ll be able to deliver on Friday. So which flowers did you want?” You did your best to keep your tone as polite as possible and listened to the muffled voice list the various flowers they wanted. When you initially picked up the phone, you expected that it would be an easy task to complete — handling calls were a frequent part of your job. The customers usually knew what they wanted and for the most part, were pleasant to work with. However, for some reason, this specific customer was prepared to chew you out before you could even say hello. Six minutes and about a million skeptical questions and insults later, you were finally able to get to the actual ordering part of the process. But that didn’t stop the pounding in your head as you filled out the order sheet.

Pink Roses... Baby’s Breath... Snap Dragons — your heart froze for a moment. 

We’re out of snap dragons, aren’t we. 

You shuffled through some papers to confirm your suspicions and yep, the next order wasn’t due until two weeks from now. Already anticipating the grouchy response you were about to receive, you braced yourself before daring to speak into the receiver again.

“I’m really sorry, but we seem to be out of snap dragons at the moment and the next order won’t come in time for Friday...”

You expected some shouting, or even some cursing, but instead you received the most passive-aggressive tone you’ve ever heard, as they asked you to clarify what you meant. And honestly, that was probably worse than how the shouting would’ve been.

“We do have larkspurs though,” You offered desperately. As much as you wanted to hang up on them right then and there, you couldn’t afford to lose the order, or even worse, a customer. “They’re really similar to snap dragons and they’re just as beautiful, I can promise you that.”

While you tried your best to convince the customer to go with the alternate flowers, a hand tapping on the table you were leaning on caught your attention.

“Excuse me! Can I have some help choosing some flowers?” You looked up from the papers to glance at the old man requesting for you assistance and quickly assured him that you’ll get to that once you were finished with the call. He let out a quiet huff, but said nothing and walked off to wait at the bouquets. As your eyes followed his retreating figure, the splitting headache only got worse when you thought of all the requests and tasks you had to complete. It was just one of those days, every single thing just had to go wrong and you dreaded every passing minute. Being the only person manning the store that day also didn’t help at all.

After a few more minutes of trying to negotiate with the upset customer, you managed to finally convince them to agree with your offer (thankfully) and did you best to shake off all the negative feelings holding you down before approaching the old man. You were grateful that he was at least reasonable to work with, along with the other customers that came your way, and filling out their requests were a breeze. But before you even had the chance let out a sigh of relief, a loud CRASH — unmistakably the sound of a vase falling to the ground —  made you flinch, and your shoulders slumped once again.

You followed the sound of a child crying to see a little girl in the middle of a heap of dirt, obviously devastated over the fact that she was the cause of the accident. Her mother, recognizing her daughter’s voice, quickly appeared at the scene, concern written all over her face. But the moment she understood the situation, she immediately grabbed her daughter’s hand and ran off, exiting the store in a flash. You stood in your place in complete shock, not fully registering what just happened in front of you. The abandoned flowers that were once in the mother’s hands slowly rolled off the table she dropped them on, quietly adding even more to the mess. You turned to the other customers who simply stared back and you let out yet another sigh, finally accepting the fact that you were ultimately responsible for dealing with the mess on your own. 

As you went to grab the dustpan from the back, you silently cursed your coworker for backing out on their shift on the one day you could’ve used some help with. Typically, the store was quite peaceful and you could easily manage a shift all on your own, but now that Valentine’s day was around the corner, you were bombarded with work left and right.

The store stirred back to life once you came back out and began collecting the shards of the broken vase, people muttering to each other and feebly shuffling away to distract themselves with other things. The line at the register had also practically doubled in size since the last time you were able to get behind the counter and your stomach filled itself with stress at the sight of it. There was no way you could handle this on your own.

Stupid kid, stupid snap dragons, stupid vase, stupid line... you thought bitterly as you swept the scattered dirt into a pile to take care of later.

“Do you need some help?”

Out of habit, you almost replied with an “I’ll be with you in a minute!”, but you looked up in surprise when you realized that the voice was actually offering you help. A boy smiled at you and held his hands out to grab the broom and dustpan, but you refused, backing away slightly.

“Oh, no it’s okay, don’t worry about it. I was just planning on getting rid of the dangerous stuff first and deal with the rest later.”

He simply took another step closer to you. “I insist, really, you seem like you could use some help right now.”

You hesitated for a moment, eyes wavering between the kind stranger and the line at the register, which was becoming more and more irritated every time you looked their way. Perhaps just once, you could accept someone else’s help? As long as he swept the dirt and only did that, then you wouldn’t feel to guilty about it. Giving him a small nod, you held out the tools and hastily relayed a few instructions before rushing back to the cash. You swiftly worked through each customer, trying to reduce the amount of time you kept him working. Once in a while you would sneak a peak at him to see how he’s doing and he seemed perfectly content, scooping up the dirt and then leaving it in the old bucket just like how you told him to. He even put the deserted flowers back to their original place on the shelves without you telling him to, and your heart melted at that. You know that it was a fairly simple task to do, but you still felt bad about having to rely on a stranger to help you manage your own job. By the time you finished handling the overwhelming number of requests thrown at you, it was only you and they boy left in the store.

When you approached him, he tucked the phone he was playing with into his bag and started to tell you about how he completed the task just like how you told him to. You cut him off with a multitude of thanks, which he laughed off.

“Don’t have to worry about it, I wanted to help.”

“And I appreciate it a lot, but I still feel bad... is there anything I can treat you with?” You insisted, “If you’re here for some flowers I can give you some sort of discount.”

He looked around thoughtfully and placed his hand on a small bouquet of daises. “I was actually thinking about getting these ones, what do you think?”

“Daises are certainly a popular flower, but what exactly is the occasion?” You asked. “I think I need to know that before I can help you.”

“Why,” he gestured to his outfit, which consisted of a long coat covering a plain white tee tucked into his sunflower-printed pants. You also took note of the small flower accessories that he had decorated all over, from the flower hanging from his bag to the ones dangling from his ears. “It’s for my outfits of course! I thought that having some real flowers would make it look even better. If not, I guess they could always decorate my room.”

“Hmm... is that so? Then I think daisies would be a really good option, they seem to suit you. I would say sunflowers too, though they’re a little too big to use as accessories.” You both laughed when you pointed out the large sunflowers nearby. “Your pants are cute though.”

“Thank you,” The boy glanced down at your name tag before gazing into your eyes once again. “Y/n.”

“You’re welcome.” You nodded and paused for a moment before continuing. “May I know your name as well? I can’t say I’ve seen you around here before.”

“Yeah! My name is Hyunggu, I just found about the shop a few days ago and I thought I’d check it out.” He replied, following you to the counter.

“Well it’s always nice to have another customer.” You replied as you scanned the small bouquet and handed it to him. “Here, just take it, it’s on me. I know I’ve already said it a million times, but thanks for all the help back there. It means a lot to finally have something good happen to me on such a bad day.”

He smiled back at you, “It was no problem at all, and I’ll be back again for sure, someday — so I hope to see you soon!”

“I’m here for most days, so yes, I’ll look forward to seeing you again, Hyunggu.”

You waved each other goodbye and he left, the door making its usual chime whenever it opened. The store was at last, empty, and you could finally take a breather and wrap your head around the events of the day. Checking the clock, you were also happy to see that you had just enough time to sneak in a quick lunch before the next wave of customers was bound to come.

But first things first, you had to go deal with the bucket filled with the vase fragments and soil that Hyunggu taken care of. When you hefted it up with its rusty handle, you heard something soft fall to the ground and looked curiously at the small flower keychain that landed near your feet.

Wait a minute... isn’t that Hyunggu’s? It looks like the one he had hanging from his bag. You thought to yourself.

You picked it up from the ground and upon closer inspection, gathered that it was in fact, his keychain, and you giggled when you realized that the flower was a daisy, just like the ones he bought.

This guy... what’s up with him and flowers? He must really like them.

Not knowing how you could possibly get in touch with him anytime soon, you decided to keep it with you until you saw him again, and continued cleaning up the mess, feeling much happier than you were before. You didn’t know what it was about him, but the thought of how kind he was gave you enough energy to get through the rest of the day. You gently washed the keychain to get rid of the dirt that caught onto the fabric and then hung it on the corkboard behind the register. The small flower fit right into the theme of the board, as if it was designed for it, which made you smile. Giving yourself a small nod of approval, you carried on with the last few tasks you had to finish before lunch, all while humming some of your favourite tunes to yourself.

Despite everything that happened, today was a good day.

=====

part two will come out soon ! please look forward to it:)

~ tiny

[bel0vedmendes]

Inevitable: AU Part 4

BrothersFriend!Shawn x Reader

Words:3,570

Warnings: Language, Drinking, Smoking, MDMA usage.

Description: When Jason left, he made Shawn (his best friend) promise to keep a watchful eye on Y/N. He swears that we will. Along with the help of Brian and Kyle, he keeps his promise. As Y/n gets older the dynamic of their relationship begins to change. Will they figure out what they mean to each other or will Shawn always see her as his best friend’s little sister?

A/N: Parts 1-3 are in my masterlist! Please, please, please let me know what you think, any feedback is appreciated <3

*Not my GIF*

The next few weeks were brutal. Thankfully, I passed all of my Mid-Terms and I had some time to breathe before I needed to start prepping for Finals. Which meant I spent a lot of my free time with Sam.

“Babyyy…” Sam whined from his bed, as I stood at his sink getting a glass of water. I groaned silently. He was so fucking whiney sometimes.

“Yes?” I asked from the kitchen, hearing him shuffle to his feet in his bedroom. He finds me in the kitchen and wraps his arms around my neck and instantly starts to kiss his way from my shoulder to my ear. I turn around slowly pushing him away from me, with a grin. 

“I need a second to recoup, okay?” I say giggling, but in my head I wanted call him a crazy person. He bites his lip and tilts my head up to kiss him. I kiss him quickly, before walking to the kitchen table and grabbing my phone. I read my missed text groaning when I realize I have one from my Dad’s fiancé, Lauren, telling me to pick up my bridesmaid dress. I rolled my eyes, still in shock that the crazy lady wanted me to be a Bridesmaid.

“What’s up babe?” Sam asks making me jump, I forgot he was even there.

“Nothing, just have to pick up a dress for my Dad’s Wedding.” I reply as I quickly respond to Lauren letting her know that I got the message.

“Your Dad’s Wedding?” He asks quietly, as he sips from my cup of water. I instantly feel the heat rising to my cheeks. I hadn’t told Sam anything about the Wedding. To be fair, it wasn’t something I talked about a lot. Its not like I was excited for the damn thing. I should have mentioned it though, right?

“Yeah, uhm, I should have told you I just forgot.” I start to explain as I sit down in the chair across from him, looking down at the cup of water I made for myself that he decided was his too. Ugh.

“No prob babe. I have a tux, when is it I’ll request off work.” He says calmly as waits for me to respond. My throat tightens as I try to respond. I didn’t know what to do. Do I like him enough to invite him to an event with my entire family, especially my brother? Before I knew what to say I was word vomiting the information to him. Just like that, I had a date that I didn’t even want to my Fathers Wedding. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go with him, I just hadn’t thought about the pros and cons. It was too late now.

Sam showed me his tux and all his different options for a tie, while I pretended to be impressed. Then finally we cuddled on the couch, and started to watch a movie. Of course, Sam picked the movie. It was some gory, cheesy, slasher film that I absolutely hated. He didn’t bother asking, so I decided to scroll through my phone instead. My stomach dropping when I scrolled across a picture on my feed posted by Shawn’s girlfriend Jessica. They were at some Bar, the background was blurry but the photo was focused on them. His head was buried in her neck, and his arms were wrapped around her waist. She was oblivious to the fact that he was giving her this attention, as she posed for the camera. The caption read ‘Nothing matters when your around.’ I scoffed out loud as I read it, coughing to distract Sam. She used the wrong form of your and she was a fucking liar. She never paid attention to him when they were together. I could feel the anger building, as my foot tapped against the end of the couch. I threw my phone down, taking a deep breath to prevent making myself angrier. I didn’t know why I felt so mad when I saw them together, I had no right to feel that way! I needed to learn to accept her, even if she was a lying asshole. Shawn was accepting Sam, I needed to accept her. I took a deep breath as I turned to cuddle into Sam, he tightened his arm around me pulling me closer.  

“Let’s do something tonight.” I mumble quietly.

“Like what?” He asks, still fully distracted by the movie. His eyes quickly darting down to me.

“I dunno, anything besides staying here and fucking.” I say sarcastically, with a giggle. A hit of seriousness in my tone. It was all we ever did, I was over it.

“We can go to the bar my buddy works at, he can get you in.” He mutters, still not breaking away from the T.V.

“Sounds fun. I’m gonna go home and get dressed,” I say kissing his cheek as I get up from the couch.

“Kay, Babe,” He confirms barely kissing me back. I roll my eyes hoping he knows what the fuck is going on.

I quickly walked to my car, visions of my closet flashing through my brain. I needed to look good tonight. I got home deciding on black ripped skinny jeans with a cam print crop top and a pair of black booties. I didn’t dress up that often so it felt nice to dress to impress for once. A few hours later-and a few jabs from the boys later- Sam came to pick me up. He waited for me to come to the car opening my door for me after hugging my waist and looking me up and down with hungry eyes. It always felt good to be wanted, and Sam made sure I was never deprived of that feeling.

“Baby, you look so fucking good,” Sam rasped, driving away from my house and towards the city. I instantly started to blush. I reached my hand to where his was in the center council lacing my fingers with his and giving him a wink.

I took a deep breath remembering the reason I wanted to go out to begin with. I wanted to make Shawn feel as jealous as I was. I shook my head at how childish that was. Shawn viewed me as a sister. Nothing more, and nothing less. My feelings for him were a combination of complicated and confusing. I wanted nothing more than to be his person. The person he came to at the end of every day. The one he relied on for everything, just like he has always been for me. I needed to learn how to be that person, but also be okay with him loving someone else. I could do that. In that moment I decided I was going to really try with Sam. I wanted to know everything, I wanted to fall in love with this man. I needed to connect with him on more levels than just physical. I turned to him, smiling, chuckling at the way he would mess up the lyrics to the song on the radio. Kind of annoying actually-NO kind of adorable. He was trying with me and I needed to do the same. We finally arrived at the bar, parking in a lot a few blocks away. Sam called his friend and he told him to come through the back entrance of the bar so that I wouldn’t get carded.

Sam complimented me on the way to the bar, on things I didn’t even think men noticed. Everything from, the bounce of my curls to the way my boots made my butt look. Okay well maybe I knew men noticed the last one. He was so attentive and I had to appreciate that. We walked into the bar and we were greeted by a tall man with a short mohawk. His arms were huge and covered in black and white tattoos. He pulled Sam in by his hand giving him the manliest of hugs. Then his eyes shifted over to me, looking me up and down making the hairs on my neck stand still. Why would you ever look your friends girlfriend up and down like that? Sam introduced us and he held on a little too long when he awkwardly forced himself to hug me. I pushed the corners of my mouth up into a smile, trying not to look as uncomfortable as I was. Finally the tattooed man went back behind the bar and Sam pulled me to his group of friends in the corner of the room.

The group consisted of four guys and one of- what I assumed to be- their girlfriends. I smiled and waved to them as Sam introduced me to them. The two guys and the girl at the end I recognized all ready from parties at the house, I wondered if they were friends of my boys. The creepy bartended eventually brought over drinks for us. I lifted my glass up suspiciously wondering if he would roofie his friend’s girlfriend, also wondering how close he and Sam really were.  I took a drink anyway not wanting to make a scene. I took the seat next to the other girlfriend, introducing myself to her more personally. Her name was Madison, and we instantly got along. She told Sam and I that she was being DD tonight so if we wanted her to take us home she could. We took her up on her offer and instantly started drinking heavily with shots of Tequila being bought for the group. The alcohol started to affect me quickly, making my veins run warm. Sure, Sam’s friends weren’t exactly the type of people I would chose to hang out with, but it was nice to change it up for a bit. Sam and I started to dance in front of our table, as the bar started to fill up. His hands were on my waist and his lips were on my neck, then the creepy bartender told all of us to meet them him outside on the patio. In my drunken state I followed Sam, who followed the rest of the group to the outdoor patio of the bar. I walked out and was instantly confused by the vacancy. There was nobody out there besides us. I started to worry, thinking that maybe he got caught letting us in- or letting us drink at a discounted price. Before I could start to freak out about potentially getting kicked out, he pulls out a baggie of little colored tablets. Giving me and entirely different reason to freak out. My mind goes hazy as I watch Sam and the other boys crowd the tattooed bartender and give him money for the colored pills. Sam walks over to me with one, all smiles.

“Want some Molly, babe?”

He pops one into his mouth instantly making my stomach drop. My mind started to race, trying to make sense of the situation. It wasn’t like I thought they would die, or that I would, I was just uncomfortable. I had never done anything that extreme, and I definitely didn’t want right here and now to be the first time.

“No, Im okay,” I swallowed thickly trying to play it cool. I didn’t want him to think I was freaking out. Which I was. He squints his eyes and furrows his eyebrows like he’s confused about me telling him no.

“What do you mean, no?”

“Im good,” I slurr, leaning into him brushing his hair back, “I’m super drunk.”

“Whatever,” He scoffs lightly pushing me away and finding his was back to his group of friends. I take a step back, analyzing the situation.  I knew he was drunk but I never thought he would act this way. Before I could over analyze the situation I feel Madison’s hand around my forearm pulling me away from the group. I hear her yell that she’s taking me to the bathroom. I mindlessly follow her.

We get into the bathroom and she locks the door behind her.

“You okay,” She asks quietly as she walks towards the paper towels grabbing a piece and starts to run it under cold water. She brings it over to me and starts to pat my chest, then she sets the rag on my neck, “You weren’t looking too good.”

“I’m- I’m fine. Just drunk.”

“Sam can be an ass sometimes when he doesn’t get his way,” She says fixing the curls falling around my shoulder, seeing right through the façade I was trying to put on.

“Yeah, I just didn’t want to do it. I don’t know why he acted like that,” I ask myself softly but loud enough for Madison to believe it was directed towards her.

“You we’re clearly uncomfortable, ever done anything like that before?”

“No, I’ve smoked weed but my three guy friends did it with me and made sure everything was fine. They knew I was nervous, but they didn’t get mad. Shawn would never get mad at me for something like that,” I scoff started to get pissed about Sam’s reactions.

“Well if you want to Uber, home or have someone come get you, I can say you got sick,” She explains, as she fixes her own makeup in the mirror, “They always get pretty crazy when they take Molly.”

I look at her, finally understanding why she opted out of drinking in the first place, this wasn’t her first rodeo. Next thing I knew my fingers were taping on my phone screen and I was texting Shawn to pick me up from the bar. He of course told me he would be there soon and was on his way to get me. I stayed in the bathroom with Madison until he texted me and told me to meet him outside. I looked in the mirror making sure I still looked decent, then I walked to the familiar Jeep. As soon as I walked out side as saw him standing against the passenger door, all of my anxiety disappeared. I knew that whatever was wrong, he would make it better. He would make me feel better. My drunken feet took me to him and I instantly wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tight. His arms around my waist I could feel how tense he was. He knew something was wrong. After he helped me get into the Jeep and started to drive away, I could feel his stare burning a whole in the side of head.

“What’s going on,” He asks quietly returning his gaze to the empty road before us. I sigh. I want to tell him everything, exactly how I feel. I knew that it was a horrible idea, I shouldn’t get him involved in my relationship drama. However, Shawn was the person I told everything too. I knew that he would want to know about this, I just had to make sure I didn’t hold it above my head.

“You cant get mad,” I slur, facing my body towards him. I watch the heat rise to his cheeks, he’s already pissed and I haven’t even told him why he’s mad, “Shawn! You can not get mad okay? Promise me.”

I stick my pinky finger out for him to see it, requesting his own to wrap around mine. He sighs loud and annoyed, but he promises me nonetheless.

“If he fucking hurt you, I’m breaking the promise,” He mutters with a serious tone, his jaw bone tensing as he does.

“He didn’t.”

“What happened then?”

We pull into my drive way, he puts the Jeep into park. We both unbuckle our seat belt and face each other in our seats. I lean my head back against the window, biting my cheek. He gets impatient for my answer and raises his eye brows.

“He wanted me to take Molly.”

His eyes widen, and he adjust in his seat. Fuck, he’s pissed.

“Did you take it?”

“Of course not,” I yell, slapping him in the arm, “You know I freak out about stuff like that.”

“Swear? You seem pretty messed up,” He leans in looking at me closely, causing me to laugh in his face. He instantly smiles, which makes me feel a little better.

“I am pretty drunk,” I mumble, dragging the T in pretty out.

“I know you are.” He leans back, still smirking at me. I smile back and decide to face away from him because he was making my stomach do flips with that smirk.

“He was mad at me, or something.”

“Mad at you for what, not taking the Molly?”

“I guess so, he just kind blew me off when I told him no,” My voice got quiet at the end of the sentence. I turned my head away from him so he wouldn’t see how upset I was about it.

“That’s really fucked up,” I hear the sincerity in his voice, he’s trying not to sound as mad as he is.

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay, he’s just drunk.”

His hand finds mine, rubbing small circles with his thumb. He stayed silent, I turned to him waiting for him to respond. He wouldn’t even look at me. He knew what I wanted to hear, he just knew he couldn’t say it.

“You would never make me feel that way, Shawn,” I whisper, trying to keep my emotions under control was a lot more complicated when I was drunk.

“You’re right,” He slowly raises his head, bringing his eyes to meet mine, “ I would never.”

“So tell me what to do Shawn,” I sit back in my seat, the tear streaming down my face now. His hand still holding mine tightly.

“Lets go inside and get you to bed.”

He gets out and walks over to open my door, taking my hand and helping me out. Before I start to walk inside, he pulls me back into him, hugging me tight. His hands start massage my scalp, and I instantly calmed down. I always did when his arms were around me. Before I turned to walk away, he hold my hand not letting it go. I turn around looking at him as he smiles at me, he looks me up and down but in an approving way.

“You look really good tonight, like an Adult,” He says with a smirk.

“Thank you,” I mumble as I drunkenly spin, showing him my entire outfit, earning a belly laugh from him.

We walk inside and the guys start to ask questions about the night, obviously defensive since they know if Shawn picked me up something was wrong. Shawn waved them away, silently telling them that now was not the time. He takes me to the bathroom and helps me wash my face, giggling because even in my drunken state, my skin care routine is still the same. As I finished up in the bathroom, Shawn went to my room picking out a huge t-shirt that used to be Jason’s, and a pair of soft shorts. I followed his orders and went to my room and put them on. Shortly after, he came in as I was scrolling through all of the messages from Sam I had gotten. He took the phone out of my hand, quickly reading them and shaking his head in disapproval before setting my phone on my night stand to charge. He sat down at the end of my bed, looking down at the floor.

“Thanks for picking me up.”

“Anytime.”

“Ill figure this out, Shawn,” I whisper, leaning back against my head board.

“I know you will, y/n,” He sighs turning to look at me, “I wish I could do more, I want to fix this for you so badly, but I can’t… I shouldn’t do that for you anymore.”

“I know you shouldn’t.”

“If you need me to though, I will.”

“I know you will.”

He silently laughs, making me smile at him. Our conversations were easy. We used few words, but said exactly what we needed to. He knew that he had to let me make my own mistakes, and I knew I had to fix this on my own. I loved him even more than before for understanding that. I cozied under my blankets and he got up from my bed and disappeared from the room. He came back a few minutes later with water and Tylenol, I sat up to take the pills.

“I am an adult,” I say before swallowing my pills.

He turns around slowly and squints his eyebrows together.

“What are you talking about, weirdo?”

“Earlier, you said I looked like an adult, I am and adult,” I smirk at him, maintaining eye contact as I sip water from my mug, “You’re only two years older than me, ya know.”

He nods his head as he listens to my argument, biting his lip to keep him from laughing at my seriousness.  

“You’re right, You’re definitely an adult.”

“I definitely am,” I agree with him, disappearing into my covers once again. I hear him laughing and I fall asleep just as he tells me good night. I dreamt about the days when I wasn’t an adult, and when I didn’t have to deal with feelings. Unfortunately when I woke up, I had a mess to deal with. I didn’t want to be an adult anymore. 

Taglist: @within-nd-without, @hollymollymomsravioli @peterbrokenparker @alinashawn @allaboutthatdrummer @ilsolee @sweetheartmendes @colourfulraidrops @shawnwyr

Let me know if you would like to be added :)

[marshmallow-phd]

Sins of the Father

Genre: Mafia Au

Pairing: Junmyeon x Reader

Summary: Soon after your second birthday, your parents were killed and you were adopted by your father’s best friend, taken away to their home country where you lived your life in peaceful ignorance. As far a as you knew, your parents simply left you large fortune to be released to you once you reached your twenty-third birthday. At least, that’s all you thought you were inheriting. When a famously ruthless mafia boss discovers your existence, you are left at his mercy. While under his roof, you learn more about your father than you ever wished you had, including the part of your inheritance that made you the most valuable person in the underworld. Hidden in a bank in New York City were files that held the darkest secrets of the mafia families and everyone in their pocket. With another terrifying leader’s eyes trained on you, you’ll learn to watch your back… and guard your heart, before your father’s past becomes your doom.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I 16 I Final

**

You woke up confused. The last memory you had of the previous night was definitely falling asleep on the couch, but now you were warm and tucked in your bed. After a quick mental run through, the only conclusion besides sleepwalking - which you had never done before - that seemed reasonable was that Junmyeon had brought you to bed, as all the other boys were long gone. The thought of him carrying you through the halls towards your bedroom didn’t disgust you like you would have expected, but you were still confused as to why he would even bother.

Stumbling to the bathroom, you washed your face, hoping that would wake you up more. You got dressed in simple jeans and a tank top before shuffling back towards the bed.

On top of the album that was currently resting on the nightstand was a thin white box. Taking the lid off, you found black cloth folded neatly inside. Too curious to just leave it alone, you picked the clothing up and groaned.

It was a dress, a clothing item you hadn’t worn since high school. On further inspection of the piece, you were becoming livid. The dress was short, barely coming mid-thigh. It had a high neck which didn’t really compensate for the fact that there was no back to it.

Junmyeon didn’t seem like the type to just randomly give you gifts. Even if he was, this gift rang loud and clear as to just how little he actually knew about you.

Preparing to throw the thing into Junmyeon’s office for him to find later tonight, you stormed out of the room and down the hall. But you didn’t make it too far before you spotted your target.

Sitting at the island, drinking coffee and reading over the newspaper was Junmyeon in a white t-shirt and sweatpants. You’d suspected from the way his suits were cut that he took care of himself, but from the way the cotton fabric clung to his torso, you’d say he put a little more effort into it than your average Joe.

Stop it. You will not ogle at him!

He hadn’t noticed you standing there at the edge of the kitchen so you cleared your throat to get his attention. Putting the newspaper down, Junmyeon met your eye.

“Good morning,” he greet, a crooked smile on his lips.

The friendly demeanor threw you off, letting you do little more than blink. Mentally slapping yourself back on track, you held out the dress. “What is this?”

“I believe it’s called a dress,” he answered sarcastically. “However, I’ve never worn one myself.”

“Ha ha,” you clapped back. “What exactly do you expect me to do with it?”

Junmyeon finished his coffee and walked over to the sink to rinse the mug out before answering me. “I expect you to wear it tonight. We have an event that requires all of us to be there. Since no one can stay behind to watch you, you’ll have to come with us. There’s an expectation on attire at these events. You can’t just wear jeans and sneakers. From what the guys told me, you don’t own a single dress, so I had one picked up for you.”

You balled the dress up in your hands, tempted to put a rip in it. “Or you could have saved yourself some money and just let me stay here. You can trust me, you know. I’m not going anywhere.”

It was the truth, as much as you hated to admit it. While you were still struggling to forgive your adoptive parents for signing your basic human rights away, you still loved them and would uphold the bargain for them. You haven’t broken any of Junmyeon’s rules so far. Wasn’t that proof enough?

A little bit of hope grew when Junmyeon turned to look at you. He seemed to taking in what you were saying and actually considering it. And then the hopes were dashed.

“No,” he stated. “I need you there.”

“I told you, I am not a trophy,” you reminded him through clenched teeth. You felt like a Barbie doll for him to dress up and put on display for his other mafia buddies.

“I’m not taking you to show you off,” he said sternly. “I just need you there.”

“Whatever,” you mumbled, tossing the dress onto one of the stools. Sulking over to the fridge, you took out ingredients for breakfast. You glanced over at Junmyeon, who’d sat back down at the island and picked the newspaper up once again. “Have you eaten?”

His eyes snapped up at you, confused. “I’m sorry?”

“Breakfast,” you offered, holding up the carton of eggs. “Have you eaten that meal yet? They kind of say it’s the most important of the day.”

“Oh, um,” Junmyeon pressed his lips together. “No, I haven’t. I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

You turned the stove on and started whipping up the eggs. “Do you have anywhere to be?”

“No, not at the moment.”

“Okay, then,” you nodded. “I’ll make you some.”

The kitchen was silent, save for the occasional scraping of the pan and the toast popping up once it was finished. You didn’t bother asking Junmyeon how he liked any of his food. You didn’t want to seem like you were eager to please. It was simply a gesture in trying to be nice, but you weren’t a personal chef.

You weren’t even sure why you were being so nice. He’d just declared that you would be forced to go to whatever event he had scheduled tonight and that there was no way in hell you’d be allowed to stay behind. Really, you should have been making your own breakfast and devouring it in front of him spitefully. And yet, here you were, cooking for two.

Junmyeon never took his eyes off of you as you slaved over the stove, his eyebrows knit together in concentration. What was going through his head, you wondered. Perhaps your kindness was confusing him. Maybe that’s why you were doing it: to show him the opposite of what he was expecting.

With the food done, you made up two plates and set one down in front of your fiancé.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, picking up the fork you’d slid in his direction. You couldn’t exactly eat a western breakfast with chopsticks.

“Mhmm,” you hummed back.

“Do, um,” Junmyeon scratched the back of his neck nervously, “do you want any coffee? I can make another pot.”

You shook your head, “No, thank you. I don’t really drink coffee.”

A sound that was halfway between a laugh and a snort echoed off the walls. You could hardly believe that its source was Junmyeon.

“Minseok would be scandalized to hear you say that.”

You titled my head in confusion. Was there a tenth person you hadn’t met yet? “Who?”

“Xiumun,” he clarified. “That’s his real name. And he is… well, let’s just call him a coffee enthusiast.”

“Oh.” You chewed on your bottom lip, looking around the kitchen, “I would like some tea. I found some last night that was on the counter, but I don’t remember exactly where–”

Junmyeon jumped up and went over to the cabinet in the far corner. He opened the door to reveal two shelves filled with different assortments of tea. You may have just gone to heaven.

“What kind do you like?” Junmyeon asked, looking over his shoulder at me.

You blinked. Was he really going to make it for you himself? “Um, just green tea is fine.”

He took down an open box and plopped the little Keurig cup into the coffee maker. It seemed like a crime against tea to make it that way, but you decided to play nice. He was going out of his way to make it, which were you still in shock from. Placing the steaming mug in front of you, Junmyeon sat back down on his stool and continued eating.

“Thank you,” you said shyly. Considering you’d stormed into this kitchen in a raging fire, it was odd, the dynamic you were sitting in right now. It was almost… domestic.

Junmyeon finished off his plate first. You told him you would just clean the dishes when he stood up and he excused himself to his office, leaving you alone.

The kitchen felt suddenly empty. You kept hoping that one of the boys would come stomping in to break the loneliness, but that hope was never fulfilled. Usually at least someone had arrived at the penthouse by now. Was it because was still here that they stayed away?

It was strange, the way you looked forward to spending time with them. In the past you didn’t care for people, preferring to be the loner in the corner, left to your own devices and content. Maybe it was the fact that you were locked up here that made you accept their presence and rely on it to not lose your mind or become depressed.

Or maybe you just needed a specific type of person to make you comfortable and actually like to be around others. The type that wouldn’t judge or stare because of your “otherness”. You just hoped that specific type wasn’t their mafia association.

Finished with your own plate, you filled up the sink with soapy water and began to hand wash all the dishes.

As much as you hated other chores growing up, you never really minded doing the dishes. There was something relaxing about it. At home, you would put on music and bob to it while trying not to splash water everywhere. Here, you didn’t have access to your phone, so instead you just hummed whatever song popped into your head as you scrubbed at the dirty plates.

All done, you unplugged the stopper to drain the dirty water and gave all the dishes one last rinse with the hose before gently setting the drying rack the rest of the way down in the sink. You’d put them away later once they were free off all little water droplets.

“Are you done?”

You jumped, letting out a small yelp as you turned around. Junmyeon had suddenly reappeared, now wearing jeans instead of sweats. It was strange to see him in such… normal clothing. You figured he just wore a suit twenty-four seven and didn’t even know what the word “casual” meant.

“Uh, yeah, I am,” you answered, trying to get your heartbeat back down to a regulated rhythm. “Did you need something?”

“Let me see your hand,” Junmyoen directed, holding out his own, palm up. You placed your right hand into his hesitantly, but he dropped it straightaway. “No, your other hand.”

When you gave him your left hand, he slid a diamond ring onto that foreboding little finger. It was small, nothing too grand or over-the-top like you would have guess. It was just a single, medium-sized diamond set on a woven silver band.

“What is this?” you asked dumbly. It was obvious what the ring represented, you just never thought he would go this far.

“It’s a ring,” he deadpanned. “People tend to wear them when they get engaged.”

You crossed your arms, looking pointedly at his empty finger. “Where’s yours?”

“I don’t wear jewelry.”

You huffed, yanking the ring off your finger. You didn’t care how pretty it was; it was just another symbol of your enslavement. Shoving the ring into his chest, you didn’t bother to make sure he caught it as you stomped back to your room.

Curled up on your bed, you stayed there for hours, finishing up the book you’d bought just before your freedom vanished.

The main character of the book kept reciting the phrase “the sins of the father will be visited upon the children”. If you weren’t so invested in the story, you would have thrown the book across the room for mocking you with that statement. It was all too real in your world.

But what would have happened if your parents had never died? Would you have just always been a part of this world, circling the edge until the tide finally sucked you in? Taegun had said that you were supposed to marry another mafia leader’s son. You wondered if your father would have agreed to that, if he would have allowed that to happen to you, his only daughter.

You liked who you were now and didn’t want to image being like Michelle Pfieffer in Scarface. Okay, you doubted it would have been that extreme. Maybe more like Diane Keaton in The Godfather, tricked into a world that you didn’t quite understand but had no choice other than to stay.

A knock on your door brought you out of those ridiculous imaginations and back to your current predicament.

“Who is it?” you called out as you sat up.

“It’s Chen.”

Lazily getting off the bed, you went to open the door. Chen was standing in the hallway, dressed in a very expensive tuxedo that was cut just for him. His hair was slicked to the side and his bright smile was absent, only an apologetic look on his face. In his hand was the stupid black dress.

“We have to leave in an hour,” he informed you. “Junmyeon told me to have you get ready now.”

You had to bite down painfully on your tongue. It wasn’t Chen’s fault and only repeating that in your head kept the sarcastic remarks at bay.

Sighing, you took the dress back. If only you’d thrown it out the window instead. “I don’t have shoes to go with this.”

Guiltily, Chen brought out his hand that was hiding behind his back, holding out a pair of black pumps. You were probably weren’t lucky enough for them to be the wrong size. Junmyeon was too thorough for that.

You stared open mouthed at the height of the heels. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

That actually got a laugh out of him. “You’ll be fine. Get ready.” He handed you the shoes and then fished something out of his breast pocket. “Before I forget.” Opening up his palm, he revealed in his hand the engagement ring.

Just when he was creeping up your list of favorites. You rolled your eyes, walking away from the door.

“He picked it out himself,” Chen added, as if that would make it any better. “Xiumun and Baekhyun tried to get him to go with something flashier since he could afford it, but he said you would like the simpler one. Just so you know.” He set the ring down on the vanity that sat across from your bed and left.

Closing the door, you threw down the shoes and tossed the dress on the bed. As quick as you could, you jumped in and out of the shower and hurried to dry every inch of you before putting on makeup. You weren’t an extraordinaire in the art of applying cosmetics, but you knew the basics well enough to be presentable.

For about five minutes you debated on what to do with your hair before settling on just leaving it as is. No need to go the extra mile for this crowd.  

The dress fit perfectly, to your dismay. There had been a tiny sliver of hope that maybe it would be too small or too big and then you’d be free to stay behind with nothing to else wear, but, sadly, that was not the case. You slipped on the shoes and walked much better in them than you thought you would as you trekked down the hall. With barely five minutes until the hour deadline was up, you strolled into the living room where all nine men were dressed to perfection.

Your eyes met Yixing first, who beamed with his irresistible dimple at you. Chen let out a low whistle while Kai smirked, making you just the tiniest bit smug. So this was why Minah dressed up so much.

Junmyeon had his back to you, checking the expensive watch that adorned his wrist. At the noise his men were making, he glanced over his shoulder and then froze when your eyes met. He took in your appearance from top to bottom. Feeling sorry about your earlier behavior, you’d put the ring back on, which didn’t go unnoticed by the mafia leader. His gaze lingered on the ring a little longer than necessary as if he was relishing in its presence.

“All right, boys,” he called out, his eyes drifting back up to your face. “Head to the garage. We’ll meet you down there shortly.”

Without a word of complaint, they all filed into the elevator, their eyes flicking back and forth between the two of you who remained.

Once the doors had closed and the light indicated they were headed down, Junmyeon pulled a long black velvet case out of his inside pocket. He closed the distance between you and opened the box for you to see the sparkling diamond bracelet inside.

If he was expecting a gasp or a smile, he was vastly mistaken.

You simply raised an eyebrow at the gesture. “You know, I don’t have any experience in that area, but this is the second piece of jewelry you’ve given me today and according to the movies, that means you’re apologizing for something.”

Junmyeon actually looked taken aback by your brazen statement.

“I’m just trying to be nice,” he argued, snatching the bracelet out of the box and clasping it around your wrist.

“Did you get all your girlfriends jewelry?” It was poking a sleeping bear, but, admittedly, you were having a little too much fun watching his expressions change so quickly.

“They never lasted long enough,” he smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. As if portraying the bad boy would make you swoon or put you on edge.

“Wow,” you feigned surprise. “You couldn’t get them stick around for any longer than two weeks? That’s so sad.”

That wiped the grin of off his face. “All right, enough. Let’s get going.”

The boys were already sitting in two black SUVs in the parking garage, the engines running by the time you reached the garage. Chen stood next to the same Cadillac you were picked up in before, holding the back door open. Junmyeon helped you into the back seat of the car, surprising you with his chivalry.

It was a quiet ride as Chen drove the way to wherever the hell it was you were forced to go to for the night. Junmyeon kept his attention on the tablet in his hand as if he were completely alone in the back seat. Chen sometimes made eye contact with you in the rearview mirror, causing both of you to crack a smile in the weird silence.

The final destination turned out to be a dingy, one-story brick building in a rundown warehouse district. There was no one outside or even other cars to indicate that this was a gathering place of any kind. Confused, you hadn’t notice Chen get out of the car and open your door.

He snapped his fingers in front of your face. “(y/n).”

Embarrassed, you took his outstretched hand. “Sorry.”

Junmyeon stepped out on the other side, glancing around.

“Usual parking spot?” Chen asked. Junmyeon nodded and Chen hopped back behind the wheel, heading down an alley on the far side of the building as the two SUV’s followed him.

The air was chillier than you thought it would be and you regretted not bringing a jacket or even a scarf to keep you somewhat protected from the breeze. Junmyeon pulled you in close, placing your hand on the inside of his upper arm. You weren’t sure if it was because he noticed you were cold or to show that you belonged to him. At least your fingers were warm.

Inside, the building wasn’t much cleaner than its outer appearance and it seemed smaller than you would have guessed from the dimensions of the exterior walls. At the far end, there were two men flanking either side of a plain wooden door, pistols resting comfortably on their hips for the world to see.

You pushed down your curiosity that was itching to ask questions as Junmyeon led you towards the men, too afraid to make a sound beyond your heels clicking against the concrete. They nodded at Junmyeon silently and opened the door.

From all appearances, it should have led to either a back street or a very narrow room. Instead, a staircase was revealed. Music and chatter attacked your ears as you headed down the creaky, spiraling steps. Big, heavy, red velvet curtains cut the staircase off from whatever was waiting for you on the other side.

Pushed aside, they revealed a large, underground casino. Dozens of table were set up for people with too much money to place bets on craps, play blackjack or poker, or just be swindled out of everything in their wallet in any way imaginable. Some of the tables were on even elevated platforms like a spectacle. From the amount of chips in front of those players, you assumed those were reserved for high paying clients.

By instinct, you clung closer to Junmyeon. You hated large crowds, especially when you didn’t know a vast majority of them or their intentions. The entire situation was sending your system into overdrive and you had to concentrate on your breathing just to keep it from getting too shallow and causing you to hyperventilate. Sensing your nervousness, Junmyeon pulled you away from the floor, not stopping until you reached a bar set up on the far side.

With soft hands, he pushed you down onto a stool to rest. To the bartender, he said, “I’ll have whiskey on the rocks and a glass of red wine for her.”

“I don’t really drink,” you mumbled.

Junmyeon let out a short laugh. “Is there anything you drink besides tea? Just sip on the wine, it’ll help with your nerves.” He leaned in close to you, his breath on your ear and neck. From an outsider’s perspective, it might have looked seductive or even romantic. “If you’re nervous, then you’ll make the others here nervous and that doesn’t end pretty. Just stay here until I come get you, okay?”

At the mention of him leaving you alone in this place, your hand snatched up and clutched onto his jacket sleeve. Your heart was pounding in your chest to the point that you thought it might give out. You knew this particular feeling all too well.

“Please, don’t leave me,” you pleaded back in his ear. “I… I have bad anxiety in crowds. This is why I wanted to stay home. I can already feel the panic attack starting.”

Pulling back just a bit, you were met with guilty eyes. Junmyeon nodded sympathetically before pressing a warm kiss to your forehead. Your eyes widened in surprise, but you didn’t protest or push him away.

“I have to speak with these clients and they wouldn’t like a new face around no matter how pretty, but I’ll find Chen or Baekhyun to come stay with you until I need you again, okay?”

You were still in shock from the little sign of affection that all you could do was nod. He smiled down at you, caressing your cheek before disappearing into the crowd.

You tried to just sip on the wine, but your nerves were still too on edge waiting for one of the boys to come to your rescue that the glass was empty in just a few gulps. The bartender refilled your glass instantly and you didn’t really protest. Massaging your temples, you tried to block out the voices milling about and pretend that you were in an empty bar in a nice neighborhood that never saw any trouble and you were in no danger whatsoever.

“Well, I didn’t think it was possible, but you grew up to be even more beautiful than I’d imagined.”

A man you were sure you had never seen before sat on the empty stool beside you as if he name was written on it. He was tall and lithe, his knees barely able to fit underneath the bar. Underneath thick eyebrows were a pair of roguish eyes that gleamed with excitement. His lips were naturally puckered and his brown hair was of a longer length and slicked back by hair gel to reveal an undercut. The styling made him stick out in this crowd who went for a much more classic look. Something about the way he looked at you made you forget all about the packed room and not in a good way.

“I-I’m sorry,” you stammered, trying to stay polite. “I think you have me confused with someone else.” Starting to stand, you decided that you would go look for one of the boys even though Junmyeon would probably be pissed that you didn’t stay put, just to be away from this stranger.

Before you could get all the way up, the man grabbed your wrist. “Don’t be like that, (y/n).”

In utter shock, you collapsed back down onto your seat. “How do you know my name?”

He smirked. “Our fathers were friends, (y/n). You don’t remember your favorite Koko?”

A vague memory of you as a toddler calling out for someone named Koko flashed in your mind, but beyond that you were clueless. You couldn’t even be sure if that memory was real.

“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You tried to remove your wrist from his grasp, but he held on, tightening his grip so you couldn’t flee.

“I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised,” he shrugged, not acknowledging your struggle. “You were only two the last time we saw each other face to face. My father took me to America to meet with your father. You would follow me everywhere, although as a seven-year-old I didn’t find it cute at the time. Turns out I came to miss it.”

The realization of who this man was hit you just then as the pieces fell into place. “Junko?”

His grin widened as he released his hold on your arm. “So, you do remember me?”

“Barely.” You figured that it was better to play along rather than just saying you’d learned his name from Junmyeon. “As a toddler, you don’t form too many memories.”

“But I left some sort of impression.” Reaching out behind you, Junko glided his fingers down your exposed back, causing you to shiver.

You kept your focus on the wine, not letting him know he was getting to you when what you really wanted to do was run away screaming for one of the boys. “What do you want, Junko?”

He shrugged as his knuckles continued to caress your skin. “To catch up. And you can still call me Koko, you know.”

“I’m not a child anymore.”

“No, I can see that,” he hummed in a predatory tone.

“Lee Junko!”

Like a miracle, Junmyeon marched up to the bar, swatting Junko’s hand away and pulling you to your feet.

“Aw, Suho,” Junko clapped his hands, standing up. The name that he called Junmyeon caught you off guard, but if Xiumun had a different name, you shouldn’t be so surprised that the leader did too. “Long time no see. As much as I would like to catch up with you, I was already in the middle of something.”

“And now it’s over,” Junmyeon growled.

The grin was completely gone from Junko’s face. “And what right do you have to end it?”

Junmyeon wrapped a possessive arm around your waist. “She’s my fiancé.”

“What?” The sound came out of Junko’s throat like a whip. His eyes turned animalistic as they flashed between Junmyeon and you before settling on the ring on your finger. In a second, he had a fist full of Junmyeon’s collar. “She was promised to me!”

Junmyeon didn’t even flinch. “According to my sources, that was only ever a verbal agreement between your fathers, both who are now deceased. I, on the other hand, have a written document binding (y/n) to me signed by her legal guardians.”

A snarl appeared on Junko’s lips, but then he smiled. “A document that would be void by their sudden deaths before the wedding, I presume?”

Fear swept over every inch of your body. Images of him shooting down Taegun and Hyunmin were forming in your mind.

“Don’t you dare touch them!” you screeched. You lunged at Junko, hoping to claw his eyes out for even thinking about hurting them, but Junmyeon wrapped his other arm around your waist, holding you in place. Junko just found it amusing.

“I’ll leave them alone,” he promised, his eyes trained on you, “if you come with me.”

Your chest heaved up and down. Junmyeon’s vice tightened around you, letting you exactly what his answer already was without giving you a choice.

“She’s not going anywhere with you.”

Junko lifted his shoulders then let them drop lazily. “Suit yourself.” Shifting his dagger-like gaze to you, he leaned in close, practically bending in half to level his face with yours. “You’ll come to me eventually, (y/n). You were made for me. Make the right choice.”

Throwing one last smirk to Junmyeon, he turned around and melted into the crowd.

Once he was gone, the fight in you dissipated, too, and your knees buckled under you. Junmyeon’s grip was the only thing that kept you upright. Tears started falling down your cheeks, blurring your vision. Junmyeon helped you straighten back up, cradling your head against his chest.

“Shh. (y/n), don’t worry,” he whispered into your ear. You clung to him, unable to stop sobbing. “I promise you, he won’t get near them. I already have people watching them. I’ll double it. I’ll keep them safe.”

That gave you just a small sense of relief. You believed him that he would keep them safe, even if it was to protect his own interest. While the tears kept coming, you were able to breathe again enough to say, “Thank you.”

“(y/n)!”

Chen pushed through the outer layer of people, huffing to catch his breath. Junmyeon carefully removed your fingers from his jacket, a fire in his eyes.

“Where the hell were you!” he yelled, making Chen flinched.

“I’m sorry, I was on my way over here, but I caught Ho Nam talking about the west shore and I couldn’t–” Chen finally glanced at you, noticing your red eyes. “Shit, what happened?”

“Junko happened, that’s what,” Junmyeon snapped. “You were supposed to come straight to (y/n) so she wouldn’t be alone. Instead, Junko found her and threatened her family.”

Chen cursed. “(y/n), I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you whispered, looking down at the tile flooring.

“No, it’s not okay,” Junmyeon countered.

Yixing joined you just then, scanning the group. “I could hear you yelling over all these people. Is everything okay?”

“We’re fine now,” Junmyeon told him through clenched teeth. He stared at Yixing like he was debating a decision before sighing. “Yixing, can you watch over her? I don’t want Junko coming near her again.”

Yixing nodded before holding his hand out for you to take. You looked up Junmyeon, who wiped a tear from your cheek and then nudged you over to his private doctor. Once your hand was in his, Yixing guided you away from the others and through the tables and players until you reached a dance floor.

The music that you hadn’t noticed before was slow and melodic. There weren’t many couples in the sectioned off area, but that didn’t stop Yixing from twirling you into his arms and leading you around the dance floor expertly.

“I’m sorry you had to meet that monster,” Yixing said, breaking the silence.

“Technically, I’ve met him before,” you corrected. After getting a confused look, you explained, “I was really young. It was before my parents died so I don’t really remember him, however, I do vaguely remember someone named Koko. Apparently, that was him.”

“I know you’re worried, but we’ll take care of you,” Yixing promised. “You mean more than just a business deal to us now and I think I can speak for the others when I say we’ll fight for you ‘til death.”

You shook your head. “I don’t want anyone to die. Especially for me. I’m not that special. I know the simplest answer would be to just hand me over Junko, but Junmyeon won’t let that happen. Junko said he would go after my family–” you couldn’t finish that sentence as the tears were starting up again.

“Hey,” Yixing chuckled as he wiped away the trails on your cheek with the back of his fingers. “Don’t get upset. He won’t touch them.”

Sighing, you rested your head against Yixing’s chest, just letting him rock you back and forth. His chin rested on the top of your head in a way that was meant to be comforting. But his presences wasn’t having the same effect on you as it did in the beginning. Sure, his smile still made you grin, but the butterflies no longer fluttered in your stomach.

A few minutes went by before Chen stepped in and interrupted the moment.

“(y/n), Junmyeon said I could take you home.” He threw a strange look to Yixing before smiling back at me.

Saying goodbye to Yixing, you let Chen walk you out of the illegal casino and into the back alleyway, relieved to be going to the penthouse that really was becoming home.

[purpleswans1]

The Sports Festival

Here’s another one for my Villain!Izuku AU that won’t be tagged for Villain Month despite using the prompt “Quirk.” Unfortunately there are basically no canon villains in this one, unless you count Endeavor *glare at that flaming trashcan*

Read also on FF and AO3.

The day of the UA Sports Festival, Izuku made the executive decision to watch the event in person. He justified it to Uraraka by saying he wanted to observe contestants the cameras might not focus on, but in reality it was to avoid Tomura for a while. His brother had become insufferable since the failed attack on the USJ, especially since he blamed Izuku for the failure.

To be fair it had been Izuku’s plan, but he really didn’t need to be around a grouching Tomura when his failure against Kachan was still fresh.

Still, this was a wonderful opportunity. He’d bought tickets at the last minute so he was stuck in the nosebleeds, but that was just fine with Izuku. He had some decent goggles, and he was less likely to be recognized that way. He wasn’t wearing much of a disguise -- just a green hoodie and some sunglasses -- and was going to be relying on his inconspicuousness to keep the authorities off his back. He did have his gun and a knife hidden in his hoodie, but he’d rather not use them. He was able to get to his seat without incident, so the disguise must be doing some good.

The festival took place over the course of 3 days, one for each grade. Usually the volume of spectators gradually increased each day, with the 1st years attracting the least amount of people, but this year more people showed up on the 1st day than usual. This didn’t affect Izuku, but he did wonder whether it was because of his attack on class 1-A.

It was likely that the world was expecting more from that class now, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

Anyway, the opening ceremonies were pretty much the same as every year. As soon as the announcer invited Kachan up to give the oath, Izuku knew that his former bully was going to do something ridiculous. He did feel somewhat vindicated when all the other students yelled at Kachan, so that was a plus.

The first event was an obstacle course. Izuku took note of a few quirks being used creatively -- Mineta’s strategy certainly wasn’t very sporting, but one couldn’t argue its effectiveness -- but overall was underwhelmed by the display. He already knew a lot about the capabilities of 1-A, and most of the other classes were not going out of their way to show off. Izuku wondered if this was an actual strategy or if they just didn’t have that impressive abilities.

Well, they are only 1st years. They have 3 years of schooling to get through before they’d be expected to act like pros.

The final obstacle was a minefield. All of the students either walked around them carefully or used their quirks to glide across, which was pretty standard reaction. Izuku kind of wished there were more creative students among them, since controlled explosions could be very useful, if you were daring enough. Even Kachan, who should know better than anyone else how to use explosions, didn't capitalize on the mindfield's potential. He just used his own explosions to fly over the mines, not daring to touch them.

As such, it wasn't surprising when the student with the most powerful quirk -- Todoroki -- won the race, with Kachan as a close second. Izuku was happy to see his old rival humiliated, but was still disappointed the first event ended without anything interesting.

The second event was a cavalry battle. Izuku had high hopes for this one, since he could gauge the student’s teamwork. An individual hero was only as powerful as their quirks and their training, but a team could fly high or fail spectacularly depending on the group dynamics. Izuku could get all the information he wanted on quirks and individual stats using the school’s database, but he could only judge the future heroes’ teamwork by watching events like this. The way students chose teams might also showcase their analytical skills, but he didn’t have high hopes on that front.

They were only 1st years, after all. He’d figured out a long time ago that people with strong quirks usually only focused on their own abilities and didn’t consider how they could work with other quirks. UA did a decent job of breaking them out of that habit, but it took time.

Izuku tapped his pen on the edge of his notebook. I wonder what it would be like if I could give these future heroes tips on working together.

He quickly pushed that thought out of his mind and focused on the cavalry battle. No point in dwelling on what-ifs.

Izuku was pleasantly surprised by the cavalry battle. With 1-B’s poor performance in the obstical course he’d dismissed them, but both they and a few gen-ed kids were the true stars of this event. True, both Kachan’s team and the group supporting Todoroki remained in the top two spots the entire time, but the other top spots were a fierce battle between the rest of 1-A, a few noteworthy 1-B teams, and this one group in complete synergy headed by a gen-ed student. The top four ended up being team Todoroki, team Bakugo, the team headed by Monoma from 1-B, and the group with that tired-looking gen-ed student named Shinsou.

Looks like the 1-B students deliberately hid their powers to give themselves an edge, Izuku thought. Not a bad strategy, but it can only be used once and defeats the publicity purpose of the sports festival. Then again, they’re getting 2 more chances to show off like this over the course of their high school career, and not many people usually watch the 1st years. Plus, the one-on-one battles are where individuals can shine so they could have been counting on getting to that point which wasn’t smart since only 16 students get that far…

“Uh, you okay kid?” a nearby man asked. “You’re muttering to yourself.”

Izuku jumped. “Oh, I’m so sorry! It’s an old habit! My teacher and brother keep telling me to stop it, but it always slips out when I’m concentrating or overly enthusiastic about something.”

The man laughed. “It’s fine, kid. I was just worried about you.”

I should probably get away for a while; he might try to start a conversation and ask questions. “Hey, mind letting me out? We should have some time until the next event and I want to beat the line to the bathroom.”

The man graciously let Izuku out of the stadium row. Izuku quickly gathered his stuff -- just a few spare notebooks, his laptop, and his wallet shoved in a backpack -- and headed down the stairs, looking for a secluded place he could review his notes.

I need to look back over my stats on those 1-B students. I should also check the school’s database for info on that gen-ed student… I shouldn’t have focussed only on the hero courses; there’s usually a few kids from gen-ed who get bumped up to heroics by the end of the year.

The closest bathroom was jam-packed -- apparently, everyone else was taking advantage of the break before the main event. The same was true for the bathroom on the next floor down, and the next one. Izuku kept descending, looking for somewhere he could work in peace. Even an unlocked supply closet would be fine, but he didn’t see any of those.

Eventually, Izuku reached the bottom of the stadium, where he’d entered. He still didn’t have a place to work where nobody would see what he was doing. He did see another set of stairs, going even further under the seats.

Maybe there will be less people down there, Izuku thought as he walked down the new staircase.

He was right; there were significantly less people down there. The dark hallway would have looked abandoned if it wasn't so clean. It reminded Izuku of the setting in a horror game, where the player was led into a false sense of security before the monster popped up in a jumpscare. There wasn’t enough light for him to read his notes, but his phone had a flashlight and his laptop was fully charged.

Izuku turned a corner and sat on the floor, firing up his laptop and pulling out his notes. The light from the screen gave him just enough for him to make out his handwriting, but only when he tilted the notebook a certain way. He found the notes on 1-B as quickly as he could, but gave up after a while since he could get the same information on his computer anyway. He had a trojan horse installed on the school’s database, so it didn’t take much for him to hack into it again.

He was still shuffling through the information he needed -- Mind Control certainly explains how that one team was able to be in perfect sync -- when he heard a raised voice echoing along the hallway.

“You need to stop this childish rebellion! Use the quirk I gave you already!”

A much softer voice replied, but Izuku wasn’t able to catch what was said.

“Don’t you dare talk back to me, boy!”

That’s Endeavour, Izuku realised. He put away his laptop and stood up. What’s Endeavour doing yelling at someone at UA’s sport’s festival?

Izuku knew he should have just left. He had all the information he needed. Endeavour was a pro hero, and wouldn’t hesitate to arrest someone like Izuku, especially after the role he played in the USJ attack. It would be in his best interest to just leave and blend back in with the crowd.

Without even thinking about it, Izuku’s feet moved, taking him down the hall in the direction of Endeavour's booming voice.

“You are my successor, Shoto!” Endeavour said. “You were born with both powers in order to surpass All Might!”

“I will not be what you want me to be.” The softer voice replied.

Izuku peaked around the corner. Endevor’s back took up most of his view, but he could also see a familiar boy with two-toned hair.

Why is Endeavour shouting at his son Shoto?

“I am your father, and you will do what I tell you!” Endeavour shouted.

Shoto’s face was impassive, a stark contrast to his father’s emotional outbursts. “You’ve controlled everything in my life. How long I have to spend training, who I get to spend time with, even what I eat. My school and my career path were both decided for me, as your masterpiece. You may be able to control all of those things, but you don’t get to decide how I use my power. I will become a hero without using my fire, just to prove that I can.”

Endeavour stormed off, walking through a doorway behind Shoto. “You won’t make it that far. You need my fire, it’s the only way you'll surpass All Might.”

“I don’t care about surpassing All Might. I just want to get away from you.”

Endeavour continued to stomp off, leaving Shoto in the darkened hallway.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.

“Who’s there?”

Izuku’s breath caught. Did he hear me?

Shoto walked forward and turned the corner, staring at Izuku. “I don’t think anybody but the contestants are supposed to be here.”

“R-Realy?” Izuku laughed, feigning innocence. “I’m sorry, I just got lost looking for a bathroom…”

“It’s fine.” Shoto’s face remained impassive, not giving Izuku any hint as to whether he was suspicious of not.

Izuku tapped his fingertips together. Common sense said that he should leave well enough alone, but… “It sounds like you two were having an argument. Do you want to talk about it?”

Shoto turned away. “It’s nothing you need to concern yourself over.”

“Oh, okay.”

The hallway was silent for a few minutes, until Shoto spoke up. “I refuse to use my fire in battle. He doesn’t like that, since I’m supposed to be his successor.”

Izuku frowned. He had noticed that Shoto hadn’t used the fire half of his quirk in either the USJ or this Sport’s festival, but he hadn’t thought about it much. He figured it was because ice could be more versatile, it could contain a villain without much injury, or just personal preference in training. He didn’t realize it was a conscious, controversial decision. “Why don’t you want to use your fire?”

“It’s his quirk.”

So, is it some family trouble? Izuku wondered.

Shoto sighed. “I hate my father. He’s obsessed with surpassing All Might, but knows that’s not possible with his own limitations. So, he decided to train me to do it for him. He’s been training me with my quirk since I was four years old.”

Izuku sucked in his breath. Wow, I thought Endeavour was terrible for how he used excessive force on low-level villains, but this…

“Mom tried to protect me, but… It was too much. She hated him, hated being in that house, and eventually reached a breaking point.” Shoto touched his face, where an ugly, red scar marred his features. “She said my left side was unightly, that it reminded her of him, so she took the tea kettle and…” Shoto didn’t finish his sentence, but he didn’t have to.

Fuck. “Do you hate your mother, for doing that to you?”

Shoto stopped, contemplating Izuku’s question. “No, no I don’t think I do.” He sounded surprised, like he’d only just figured that out. “I understand that it wasn’t really her fault, that my father drove her to that point. Plus, she was always trying to protect me. I guess it’s not fair to hate her for one act of anger, especially compared to the years of abuse we’ve both suffered under my father.”

Izuku thought about the people in his own life. Sure, Tomura and Sensei both were cruel to him at times, but compared to the years of bullying he received from Kachan… It wasn’t that bad, right?

Right?

Well, at least he still had some good times with Tomura-nii, while he couldn’t remember why he put up with Kachan for so long anyway.

Stop thinking about that. “I’m really sorry all that happened to you. I can understand why you don’t want to use your fire, but are you sure you want to keep handicapping yourself?”

Shoto frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, most quirks dealing with extreme temperatures have a side effect on the user’s body temperature. I know that Endeavour gets overheated if he’s pushed too far, and I’ve noticed your body was accumulating ice during the last two events. I imagine that using both powers would allow you to keep your body temperature under control.”

“... You’re not wrong. That is the reason my father deliberately married a woman with an ice quirk.”

“Exactly!” Izuku nodded. “I know you hate your father, but I'm sure there are less self-destructive ways to get back at him.”

Shoto didn’t say anything.

“I’ll tell you what,” Izuku pulled out his phone. “How about we exchange numbers? I’d like to help you get away from your father, if I can.”

Shoto pulled out his own phone, firing off a string of digits Izuku added to his contacts under the name “Shoto Todoroki.” He then sent a text to his new contact.

Me: Hi! I’m Izuku Midoriya.

Me: Go ahead and add my contact info.

Shoto’s phone vibrated and he read the text. “So… Your name is Izuku?”

“Yep! Feel free to text me at any time. I’m homeschooled, so you don’t need to worry about interrupting me during class.”

Shoto nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He pocketed the phone again. “I… Well, thank you for listening. It was nice to finally get that all off my chest.”

“Well, isn’t that what friends are for?”

“Friends…” Shoto frowned. “I wouldn’t know. I never got the chance to interact with kids my own age growing up… and I think most of my classmates are scared of me.”

There was a pang in Izuku’s chest. “I kind of get where you’re coming from. Until about a year ago, I hadn’t interacted with anyone other than the people in my house very much. It’s nice to have a friend on the outside.”

An announcement rang out through the stadium. Izuku couldn’t hear the exact words due to the echo, but he was sure the next event was about to start.

“Looks like I need to get to my seat if I want to see the action, and you need to ge ready for your fight.” Izuku started walking towards the lit doorway, but thought of something else he wanted to say.

He turned around, and although Shoto’s features were obscured by shadows, Izuku noticed how his body stiffened.

“By the way, would you do me a favor and kick Katsuki Bakugo's ass?” Izuku asked. “He doesn’t deserve to be a hero.”

Shoto walked forward. When the light reached his face, Izuku noticed how determined he was. “I’ll do that, so long as you promise to do everything in your power to help me get revenge on my father.” His eyes bore into Izuku’s own. “Including whatever you used to get into the USJ.”

Izuku froze. He recognized me!

Shoto was up the stairs and on his way to his classmates before Izuku could even think of stopping him.

Izuku took a deep breath. It’s fine. If he warns the heroes, I’ll just hide until I can go home.

Still, he couldn’t stop looking over his shoulder every other minute as he walked back to his nosebleed seats.

He continued to worry about who Shoto might tell. That is, until the Final Battle of the 1st year’s tournament, when Shoto Todoroki won 1st place by using a giant fire blast against Katsuki Bakugo.

----------

The 2nd years weren’t particularly impressive. Izuku took a few notes on how those students had developed since the year before, but otherwise considered the whole day a waste. He should have stayed at home and helped Uraraka train her quirk.

The 3rd years were also more of the same, with one key exception.

Mirio Togata.

Izuku already knew to keep an eye out for the big three thanks to web gossip. Tamaki Amajiki fell out of the running early on (Izuku suspected it was stage fright) and Nejire Hado exhausted herself in the first round of the tournament, but Mirio Togata continued to distinguish himself.

Izuku knew that Mirio participated in a work study that would have improved his fighting abilities, but to go through such a dramatic growth…

No, this isn’t natural. Something else is going on.

And so, Izuku watched Mirio closely. Marked his stats, his changes, his moves. Eventually it became clear that it was mostly Mirio’s physical strength that had improved so drastically. Sure, his technique and super moves had evolved, but it was his strength that gave him the edge in all these structured events.

During the final battle, Mirio didn’t even use his permutation quirk, just his fists. It was like watching a pro boxer or even…

All Might.

Izuku was watching every detail of Mirio’s fights, so he was probably the only person who picked up on the faded, yellow energy surrounding his entire body. It shone just a little bit brighter when he was about to attack, and followed him even as he perminated through things. I crackled like lightning, and appeared to be the source of this new strength.

During the final match of the tournament, Mirio’s opponent was almost able to push him out of bounds, but the yellow energy grew brighter than ever before, focusing around his arms. Mirio released the energy in a magnificent punch strong enough to not only send the other fighter out of bounds, but produce a wind blast that affected the entire stadium.

There is no way that was the result of normal strength training.

Izuku continued to analyze Mirio as he stepped off the stage, nursing a mysteriously broken arm. He noticed a spinely, blond man approached the boy and embraced him. It could be a congratulatory hug from a proud relative, but their features were too different to be a close relation.

Izuku taped his chin. What are you hiding, Mirio Togata?

------

Izuku locked himself in his room for three days following the sports festival. Both Kurogiri and Uraraka tried to drag him out to at least eat, but had to leave plates of food outside his door when he wouldn’t budge. Even Tomura was worried, from what Izuku could make out through his door.

Still, he didn't regret it. Izuku couldn’t handle distractions right now. He had some idea where he went wrong with the USJ incident -- essentially, underestimating the students because they were only first years -- but the mystery of Mirio Togata was the issue he spent most of his time on.

First he looked through the boy’s history -- every grade, every sports festival, every status update from his time at the Nighteye agency -- but couldn’t find any clues. He went through family history and their connections -- the blond man from the sports festival wasn’t anywhere close on the family tree -- but still came up with nothing. No predisposition to mutation quirks, no connections to questionable experiments, no support personnel who may have snuck something in.

It’s like Mirio Togata spontaneously developed another quirk.

Izuku was about to contact Sensei and ask if he’d given a UA student another quirk without telling anyone when he remembered there was another person capable of passing on a quirk.

Could it be…?

His research then pivoted from finding every detail about Mirio Togata’s life to uncovering a certain Pro Hero’s secrets. He found data on the number of incidents resolved by each hero per year. Most fans on the hero forums attributed the sudden data change six years ago to lack of media coverage, but Izuku knew better. He watched hundreds of amateur videos on a particular hero to compare the forces of a punch. He catalogued everything from more than six years ago to present day and looked for trends.

What he found was so obvious he should have noticed it a long time ago. He would have, if he hadn’t been deliberately avoiding the relevant information.

All Might’s time doing hero work had been steadily decreasing over the last five years, but his overall strength had remained the same until 10 months ago. Then, both his time as a hero and his overall strength started decreasing rapidly.

Combine that with what Izuku had noticed at the sports festival, as well as their mutual connection to the Nighteye agency, and there was only one conclusion to be made.

Izuku wrote it in his notebook, clear, bold letters describing a world-shattering truth:

Mirio Togata has inherited One For All from All Might.

Izuku leaned back and took a deep breath. All Might had passed on his power, and Mirio Togata would one day fight All For One.

I should tell Sensei. He needs to know.

Izuku knew this was true. If Sensei found out that Izuku had figured this out and didn’t share the information, he’d be mad. All For One had been gravely injured in his fight against the eighth user, so he needs to start preparing now if he has any hope of surviving the ninth.

But… For some reason, Izuku didn’t want to share this. It was a piece of information he’d slaved to uncover, and he didn’t want to give it up just yet. This information gave him a miniscule amount of power over All For One, and he wanted to savor it.

Or maybe it was something else.

Whatever the reason was, Izuku closed his notebook, put it up in his desk, and left to eat dinner with Uraraka, putting the new discovery out of his mind.

[nakmor-leigh]

Kost

Thinking about what my Inquisitor and the Inner Circle have to go through in the events of Dragon Age Inquisition stresses me out sometimes, so I created a No Inquisition AU, wherein the events of DAI never come to pass and they're all free to live their lives and go on adventures without the fate of the entire world on their backs.

Here's a snippet of some domesticity between my would-have-been Inquisitor and The Iron Bull.

AO3 Link found here!

Night in the Emerald Graves, far darker and silent than the forest during the day. The thick canopy that provided shade and dappled sunlight now blocked out the moon and surrounding stars. Even the local wildlife seemed to know better than to venture out now, though most were deep in hibernation now that winter was well underway. The only light to be had was from a single candle set on a very large and ornate desk, accompanied by the faint glow of a great fire burning in the sitting room outside of the small office.

The Iron Bull let out a quiet sigh, setting down his quill, leaning back in the desk chair and rubbing at his tired eye. The paperwork in front of him seemed to drag on, a necessary but draining evil. He paused for a moment and strained his ears for any sound, anything at all to give his mind a brief rest from his work.

There was the crackle of logs in the fireplaces around the cabin. Snores from the floor above him, with a volume battle taking place between Rocky and Blackwall if he wasn't mistaken, and he rarely was. He caught the tail end of a worried murmur, Dalish maybe, quickly quieted by a bed mate, Skinner definitely. A dull thud sounded as someone stretched out and ran a limb into a wall. No swearing followed, so it was more likely to be Leigh than Sera.

Bull leaned forward with a groan, suddenly realizing that he'd been half asleep for a second or two. The rather large, two story cabin that he now called home was complete structurally, but there were still tasks that needed to be finished before any of them would consider themselves settled. Dorian and his husband Murk had gifted them with enough qunari-sized Orlesian furniture to furnish the entire house. The master bed, the dining set, and Bull's desk and chair had already been moved in, but there was more still packed away in crates outside, and areas needed to be cleared for neighboring cabins to be built for the Chargers. There were plenty of hands to help, but no one ended the day without being physically exhausted, himself included. He picked up the now dry quill, forcing himself to go over the papers for the third time that evening.

The sound of a door carefully opening t before clicking shut made him pause again. Soft, shuffling footsteps followed, bringing with them a gentle golden light as they rounded the stairs in the sitting room to enter his office.

“Kadan,” His deep voice rumbled with more sleep than he intended. “What are you doing up?”

The squat woman only shuffled forward, pressing against his side as he opened his arms to her. She leaned over the desk, carefully setting the spirit light to float above it next to the low candle. Only once the light had settled did she turn to him.

“They didn't wake you, did they?” Bull asked as he smoothed a hand over his wife's pregnant belly. It wouldn't have been the first time the little one had kept her up with their bursts of activity. Most nights they could talk to them, lulling the unborn baby back to sleep, but there were others still where he would stay up with her, waiting until the child wore themselves out.

“Mm, no.” Krystal shook her head, smiling as she shrugged off the quilt draped over her shoulders, then pressing further into him to pull it over his back. Bull hadn't even realized he'd been cold until he helped her pull the blanket, already warmed by her, over his broad shoulders and tight around his neck.

I love her, he thought with a smile, the swell of the feeling filling his chest.

“You've been up for a long time. I was worried.”

Bull let out a heavy sigh through his nose. “I'm sorry, Kadan.”

He leaned into her embrace then. Still seated, he was able to press a chaste kiss to her collar bone, then again to her shoulder through the fabric of her lilac nightgown. The hand not pressed to her middle looped around her back, his fingers threading through her long black hair, thicker and silkier than it had been a few months prior. His thumb brushed gently back and forth over her belly, Bull easily finding comfort in her presence.

“Is it bad?” She asked, speaking into the quiet that had befallen them.

Bull carefully pulled back, following her gaze to the paperwork on his desk. The writing was in a coded shorthand known only to Krem and himself, but despite her own trouble with numbers, Krystal knew just enough to know finances when she saw it.

The pregnancy had been a surprise to everyone, though a thoroughly welcomed one. No one had caught it until she was already four months along and heavily ill, leaving the two of them with precious little time to make critical decisions, and almost no time at all for Bull to prepare for what those would entail. The Chargers, being the large misfit family that they are, rallied around the couple, pooling their resources and scraping together what supplies and funds they could. They all agreed it was all hands on deck until after the new “recruit” arrived, but that meant that no jobs had been taken in the past two months, and no coin either.

They'd cut costs where they could, but travel had been slow due to the toll the pregnancy was taking on Krystal. As worrying as it was, Bull would have stopped and settled down anywhere with decent ground had Stitches and Leigh not been there to assure him that despite her symptoms, the pregnancy was going well, and Krystal would be fine so long as they tended to her and rested as much as possible. Along the way they ran into people they'd met in the years past, people they had allied with, and eventually became good friends with. Excited for Bull and Krystal's new venture, they'd joined in, pooling their own resources and lending a hand in whatever way was needed. The help and company was much appreciated, but only slowed the depletion on their savings but a small margin.

His wife was nearly always confined to the nearest bed or chair, weary and sick from the pregnancy, and Bull hadn't wanted to add to her stress. But, she was his wife and Kadan, and he wasn't going to lie to her either.

“We'll last another month and a half, if we're careful.” He picked up the parchment, reading over it as he spoke. Krystal rubbed gentle circles on his shoulder, letting him know that it was okay to continue.

“It's not a deep dent in the savings, but sizable enough. We've been saving coin where we can, but now there's more mouths to feed and people to take care of. Varric throws coin in when he thinks he can get away with it, and I appreciate it, but. . .”

“But we shouldn't rely on his coin forever, and you want to be stable before the baby comes.”

Bull nodded, setting the parchment back onto the desk. He pulled her closer to him, letting her rest against him as he placed his other hand back onto her belly. He met her violet eyes, raising a brow.

“Any ideas?”

Krystal hummed, the hand on his shoulder stopping it's gentle massage as her index finger tapped against his skin.

“Stitches and I could go into Val Boteau and sell some of our potions.” She suggested.

Val Boteau was a small village located about a mile to the south of their settlement. It was mainly a small fishing town, its commerce coming from the shipping of fish and sugarcane, but it was just large enough to have a Chantry and a minor lord governing it. Bull's initial impression of the townspeople were that they were close knit and outwardly friendly, but he didn't know or trust them enough to allow his wife and their half-qunari, half-human baby into their midst. Not without half of the Chargers accompanying her, at least. The potential outlash of close-minded idiots wasn't a risk he was willing to take with his new family, not just yet.

Bull smiled, telling her as much. “That's pretty good, Kadan, but,” he gently prodded a finger into her belly. “I don't trust our new neighbors. Not yet. This is Orlais. Small town people are either really friendly, or really small minded. And I. . .” His speech drifted to a halt. He took a deep breath, pushing himself to be open and vulnerable with her. “I don't want to find out which one they are the hard way. Not with the two of you caught in the middle.”

Krystal smiled softly, moving her hand from his shoulder to cup his cheek.

“I understand, beloved. But I'm still going to help at least make the potions.”

“Keep the best ones for us,” For you, just in case. “And you've got a deal.”

“A deal, then.” She smiled, the motion lighting up her eyes even in the dim room. “On top of that, I think Blackwall mentioned that he likes to fish, and we could send Leigh out to forage and hunt.” Krystal covered her mouth, stifling a giggle.

“If we could separate her and Cassandra for long enough.”

“On the contrary, Kadan. Send the two of them together. We'll lose three of our heavy lifters, but if Leigh gets caught by strangers, no one's going to question the Lady Seeker if she tells them to leave the tame werewolf be. And, if Leigh had someone out there to impress, she's going to bring back the biggest and best stuff she can find.”

The mage stifled more laughter, “You sound like you're speaking from experience.”

“Hey, Ben-Hassrath, remember?”

Tal-Vashoth now, thankfully., he adds to himself as he feels the weight of their unborn child nestled safely between them.

“Right, because you were already impressive enough just as you are to woo me.” She lifted her chin, doing her best to look pleased with herself while barely able to reach his eye level. “No fancy deeds. Just your sharp mind and rugged good looks.”

“You're trying to butter me up, but damn, you're right.”

They both laughed then, quieted by a kiss he initiated and she met halfway. It was calm and lighthearted, exactly what he needed at this hour.

“Mm, and on a completely unrelated note,” he spoke softly against her lips. “None of my “deeds” caught your attention? Not that one time I took down a great bear unarmed, or made you that crown out of sunflowers, or all those times I kicked in those walls, or -”

Bull pressed another kiss to her lips as she broke into another fit of laughter. Besides kissing her being one of his all-time favorite pastimes, there was no need to wake up the rest of the house with their lovers’ antics. Though, Varric wouldn't have minded much, as nosey as he'd been for new writing material.

They broke the kiss and pressed their foreheads together, the tired calm from earlier in their conversation returning. Bull studied her face, looking as tired and content as he felt, recommitting it to memory. The hand still cupping the left side of his face pulled gently, bringing him to bow his head as his wife pressed gentle, bow shaped lips to his forehead.

“Feel better?”

Bull nodded. “Thanks, Kadan.”

“Anytime, beloved.” She reached back over the desk, but picked up the candle by its holder, leaving the golden spirit light in its place. Turning back to him, her eyes held his pleadingly.

“Come to bed soon, please?”

Now it was Bull's turn to cup her plump cheek, bringing her in for one last kiss.

“I will Kadan, I promise.” She moved to part from him, but he held her gently in place.

“Hey, I love you.”

He knew he'd gotten to her by the way she blushed and leaned into the hand on her cheek.

“I love you too.”

With that, Krystal reluctantly left his side, her soft waddling steps and the glow of the candle steadily fading. Only once he heard the door to their bedroom click shut did Bull turn his attention to the parchment on his desk. He picked up his quill, looking out his window and still finding nothing but pitch black. It was easy to find where he'd left off, and easier still to finish running through his calculations now that he had a plan ahead of him. Finally satisfied with his work, and no longer able to ignore the pull of sleeping in the first bed he'd owned in decades and a wife who was honestly his everything, Bull filed away his papers, put away the quill and inkwell, then picked up the spirit light, leaving his office dark behind him.

[tryaddump]

TheKojiIsHere

1- KoR/TFO weapon Elias Alderaan isn't enough to wake him up When the Empire crumbles he's sorta just abandoned, maybe a shuffled around asset among surviving moffs and generals and the like before ending up in one of the groups' hands Feral but still trainable 2- Fully dark Elias At some point comes out of his stupor on his own, but is no less angry and vicious Ends up turning on his masters and takes over a cell or the empire for himself when the top two fall. Now hes the one cracking the whip, and he's even crueler to his subordinates as those who made him And he is always angry, like the kind of angry that shoots past flailing tantrums into eeerie seeming stillness, but you can't mistake it for calm when he casually snaps a neck or cuts someone in half for any minor inconvenience or failure

hackett. chinhands

TheKojiIsHere https://youtu.be/hL5zv4mN1xA Batman-Under the Red Hood Black Mask Montage

From beginning to 2:06

Except the punch would have been a saber thrust through the face

darth porgeius ooookay that’s some unhinged darkness right there

hackett. kor elias would be a fucked version of his tryad dynamic with ben. the kor were brothers / dark side teachers for kylo. it was a frat cult fully dark elias is giving vader a run for it

TheKojiIsHere But also imagine like Full dark Elias scoops Ben before snoke can

hackett. ..... The Resistance is now The Attempt because fucking hell

TheKojiIsHere Couple immediate differences: Ben never becomes a KoR bc Elias wouldn't even send him therr He also doesn't become a Jedi Killer bc even dark Elias has certain boundaries snoke does not, and no more Jedi need to die pointlessly Ben, and I cannot stress this enough is so much more of a powerhouse/threat holy shit Bc he's been kinda raised by Elias, taught proper forms, and how to utilize his raw power more effectively He's a better dueliest, more disciplined, and more knowledgeable Also Elias isn't borderline torturing the kid I wouldn't say he's kind But he's a very different kind of cruel

hackett. Duuuude, now im picturing this kylo concept art https://images.app.goo.gl/2BE5WHechxB78f7L8

darth porgeius super spook

hackett. Im curious to explore the differences because the kor are such a huge influence. Kylo ren's face is based on their style. That mask is so tied to his identity.

TheKojiIsHere Elias also wouldn't have tolerated such adoration of Vader Fuck I imagined him finding the helmet in Ben's quarters And making Ben watch as he crushed it with The Force Brought it in on itself until it was just a small metal sphere

hackett. ...... I think i just felt ben die inside

TheKojiIsHere Elias: You do not celebrate his works. He cast aside himself for the sake of an old fool with delusions of grandeur, and stole the selves of his brothers. He is not worth your worship, and you have already surpassed him in so many ways. Do not let the the short sightedness of the past blind and rob you of the future's promise, Ben.

hackett. ......i

TheKojiIsHere

I'm sending this here bc I don't wanna interrupt what you're typing in tryad chat BUT PALPATINE NEVER GETS INTO HIS HEAD ELIAS HAS MADE SURE NOBODY EVER GETS INTO HIS MIND AGAIN AND MAKES HIM SOMETHING HE ISNT SO HE MAKES SURE BEN CAN DO THE SAME Dark Elias doesn't get Ben by twisting his mind into servitude He makes Ben a better offer than anyone else is

hackett. In other words, his crimes are truly his own

TheKojiIsHere Yeeeeeup

hackett. There's no headworm that has convinced of his path Whats elias like as a master in this au

TheKojiIsHere Harsh but fair. He beats the shit out of Ben regularly, but never pointlessly. He's ruthless because those Ben will face are so, but there is always a lesson to be learned Example: Ben learned mental defense bc Elias would day take time each day forcing his way into Ben's mind whole instructing how to stop him He kept doing it until Ben got it Until his mental defenses were like walls of beskar Dueling, they used shock batons so it wouldn't be lethal but it would hurt Every slip in his form would come with pain But Elias always made sure he knew that with the pain came knowledge, with knowledge, strength I got to stress this allies is not insane just angry Which means he is capable of moments that are not the black mask video I showed you To be honest and this au with Ben is probably as soft as this Elias gets And he definitely gives been praise when it's due. It's hard fault but when Ben gets a form right, or makes progress, he makes sure Ben know that it is not unnoticed Above all Else, he may be harsh but he will never be Vader He will never push been to a breaking point. He will never Rob Ben know who he is. He will only test him and have high standards for Passing

hackett. Ben would develop so differently. Less reckless, still calculative but more discerning before he strikes and when he strikes he's already plotted out his next moves

TheKojiIsHere Seriously, such a difference this'd make Hell, the galaxy would be wildly different There'd be a third power at play Though Elias isn't much interested in huge expansion or conquest. He basically takes a world with the force he has and refuses to let it go. This ofc makes him an enemy of the New Republic So his group (idk the name yet) is essentially dealing with defense more than offense, but people are sent out to destabilize TNR on a major level And when TFO pops up, they're competition Plus, Elias will sense Palpatines hand in things So where TNR is met with cold, apathetic disruption TFO is targeted with extreme prejudice OH MAN IMAGINE THAT'S HOW REY FITS IN! SHES SCOOPED BY TFO She's  the Ren But yes Elias would have been a harsh but fair teacher/father. He also, as an interesting contrast to smoke, doesnt leave all the work to underlings Ben would see Elias fighting alongside him And his Vaapad variant works even better There's a lot more internal darkness to tap into and start the loop OH MAN I JUST THOUGHT OF A DUO MOVE THEY COULD HAVE USE EACH OTHER Rather than rely on the potentially waxing and waning emotions of another

hackett. Dark side circuit

TheKojiIsHere They link up an essentially become both generator and amplifier for each other And since both sides are aware of the transfer and letting it flow freely It's way more potent They'd be fucking unstoppable and terrifying sweet christmas TFO: sends a fleet with star destroyers and fighters aplenty towards Elias' planet Elias and Ben: link up and destroy them from the surface while the ships are still in orbit

hackett. That's messed, i dig it. They basically sound like an event horizon of power, once they link they just devour enemies with the force

TheKojiIsHere ^^^^

hackett. Like kylo ren in that resistance clip i sent is far as fuck away from his two underlings And he uses the force to make them aim at each other So thats him on his own Imagine with elias linked

TheKojiIsHere They could control the entire crew, on multiple ships Okay, so question Bc I feel like there is room for debate on this and I wonder where you stand Do you think each person like Has a set level of power in The Force that they are capable of from birth They may not be able to utilize all of it right away But there is a definitive, insurmountable cap Or do you think it's more of a soft cap that can be expanded with time and practice? Bc dif people def start off with varying levels of potency Re: the Skywalkers all being natural powerhouses But do you think that's it, or people can improve if they deign to try?

hackett. So i think its a little bit like that line from ratatouille. Anyone can use the force. Powerful force users can come from anywhere, be anyone. Even if its genetic for ben solo, doesnt mean thats how it happens for everyone. Like disney changed the canon that everyone is sensitive to the force but not everyone is force sensitive. It probably manifests in different ways. I think everyone can improve, heighten their awareness and control, but everyone has a cap. Not because theyre weak or pathetic or meagor, their strength is just elsewhere like all talents and abilities Which is why elias in any verse being able to compete with ren makes sense without it feeling like a "god mode"

TheKojiIsHere Another terrifying idea for dark verse They find the gauntlet Figure out how it's made then make their own With Empire assets Elias could have beaten TFO to Illum by decades

hackett. conduit dark siders with a pair of those gauntlets [8:14 PM]

TheKojiIsHere They turn the whole thing into a conduit over time The space weapon is them OH SHIT WHAT IF ILLUM IS THE PLANET ELIAS TOOK OVER Spent years turning it into a base/civilization

hackett. I WAS THINKING THAT like imagine just that planet becomes amp and battery pack

TheKojiIsHere And battle station/civilization And you know what? The people who live there live live well

hackett. i imagine, i don't see elias being the type to set himself to be hated by those under his indirect control but live under his influence

TheKojiIsHere Oh wow I must have pocket called you my b But yea he wouldn't be needlessly cruel

hackett. also not a fool, you don't make the people who surround you and know your home turf your enemy

TheKojiIsHere ^^^^^

hackett. leave them alone, ingratiate them at least a little bit. make their lives comfortable and protect them and they won't want a regime change

TheKojiIsHere His direct subordinates, however, he definitely rules through fear. He doesn't tolerate failure, and it's gratifying to be the punisher rather than the punished He offsets this by giving due praise to those who perform satisfactorily, and even more so exemplary

So there's a big dichotomy in treatment Ben, ofc, is judged most harshly but also performs most exceptionally In Elias' eyes

hackett. it's gonna interesting cause with snoke he gave benlo a direction and told him to find his own way there it's not the same with a dark elias, there's more expectations. more guidance. more discipline.

[goldenscript]

prove it. (m)

→ drabbles pairing: yoo kihyun | reader genre: rivals au & high school au / smut, fluff word count: 5,490 description: when all kihyun can talk about is how good he is in bed, you decide to shut him up by telling him to put his money where he mouth is. fortunately, you both learn a few things along the way.   author’s note: i dedicate this to @wonhopes because she made me realize how much kihyun wrecks me. if it wasn’t obvious enough, it’s safe to say i’ve finally accepted it.

If it wasn’t for the mere fact that Mrs. Fern told you who your partner was, you would’ve scoffed, maybe protested, or even blurted out a concise, “Fuck no.”

Out of all the people in the classroom, you’re stuck with him. Yoo Kihyun. The asshole with an ego bigger than Jeon Jungkook’s, and that was probably an understatement too. You can’t imagine the outcome of this, not that anyone can, but when you catch sight of his stare from across the room and a smirk spreads across his lips, you already glower at the possibilities.

The assignment’s supposed to highlight teamwork from each parties. The due date is Friday, but with essays and other assignments for other classes, this only seems more troublesome. Time won’t even be provided during class, so finding time outside of it will mandate a decent grade. That’s more than enough to earn an apologetic expression from Jisoo though luckily for her she has Jinyoung to keep her company, and she’s more than happy with that outcome. You don’t even bother looking up, trying to maintain your gaze on the screen, hoping to burn a hole in the material and make all traces of who your partner is disappear.

Although that proves difficult. Extremely so, actually.

Unfortunately, his vicinity is near, practically a table or so away with him adjacent to your back right. Even then, he makes his presence blatantly known. His gaze still burning onto the side of your face, you nearly snap when you hear someone whisper your name more than a few times.

Jisoo nudges you in their direction of the room, whispering that Jackson’s preparing a paper ball at you if you continue to ignore them.

You huff, craning your head in their direction. The rest of class ignores the exchange in favor of chatting amongst themselves while Mrs. Fern organizes a stack of papers on her desk, leaving any evidence of murder or assault as pardoned actions.

“What?”

He raises a brow at you, feigned innocence riddled all over his too handsome features, “Is that any way to walk to your partner?”

You turn completely, lips pursued and a sharp retort in mind before you decide against making him cry today. “What do you want, hamster?” That’s as good as it was going to get on your part.

He falters for only a moment, his expression a lack of that notoriously smug expression before he composes himself and says, “My place or yours?”

“Oh fuck of-” You stop yourself, seething at the sight of his raised brow. Damn you and your eyebrows. “My house is too noisy, and I’d rather you not know where I live.”

“So mine it is then.” He smirks, earning wide eyes from Hyungwon and Jackson. Both turn to you, but find that you’ve turned around already. “After school?”

You give him a thumbs up and turn back to Jisoo when she asks for help on a particular question, hoping that the stupid, smug smirk of Kihyun can burn away from your mind and finally put you at ease.

All you know is this is going to be a long week.

You later find yourself face to face with that brat once again, but it’s after school when the sun is burning against the back of your head as you wait for him in front of the school. Unlike the other seniors, you’re among the few who don’t have your own car, so driving to his place is out of the question. You had to ask him for a ride, and that was a further burn on the matter that you were relying on him for the sake of this project.

You have no doubts about his academic capabilities, but you certainly hate that he must be enjoying every moment of this in every way possible. It only deepens his smirk when he calls your name, only a few minutes after the bell rings, to see you leaning against the metal pillar on the sun roof.

“Ready to go? I parked by the bike racks.” He say, already walking.

You grunt an affirmation, following beside him though you can’t seem to relax as you enter his car. Just being around him makes you tense.

He settles inside the grey Nissan, the dark interior seats are smooth leather and the seat themselves are spotless clean without even a small crumb insight. It’s surprising, but you’ve never taken the time to imagine Kihyun outside of classroom settings beyond that stupid, smug smirk that you’d love to wipe off his visage.

“Not what you expected?” He asks when you turn to look back at the windshield.

You glance at him from the corner of your eye and shrug, “That actually requires thinking about you.”

He elicits a breathy laugh, “Aw c’mon, there’s no way you haven’t thought of me. Plenty of girls have anyway.”

You turn toward him, brows furrowed, “And that list doesn’t include me then.”

He smirks at you, an infuriating expression that has you coaxing yourself to think of something to rip him a new one. Before you can, he winks at you, “Whatever you say.”

Without another word, he begins to drive out of the parking lot and toward his house. His parents work so there won’t be anyone to disturb you two, and you already let yours know that you would be doing a history project at your partner’s place during lunch. They sent their affirmation while Jisoo grabbed you an extra parfait in consolation for the turn of events, which you accepted and ate gladly.

By the time you reach his place, surprisingly in silence sans the radio music that plays some pretty chill indie music you can’t really can’t complain about, you two are entering his still neighborhood and decently-sized two-floor home with a wide living room space.

He glances over his shoulder and asks if you want anything to eat but you shake your head, shuffling off your shoes, and lingering by the doorway as he grabs some snacks and leads you up the stairs. Still, he says very little, but you have a very dark feeling that something’s brewing in that evil pink-haired brain of his. Or maybe he’s just going to talk your ear off like there’s no tomorrow until you explode.

You decide not to say anything, glancing around the bare walls until you enter his room at the last door on the left. It’s neat and fairly big with only a bed, a bookshelf, a desk, a dresser, and a keyboard to take up its occupancy. There’s a giant window adjacent to the tan wooden desk with a view of the neighbor’s outside wall while the keyboard takes occupancy in the corner with a small chair in front of it.

At his desk, Kihyun plops down on the chair and offers his bed or the floor, but before you choose the bed he says, “Careful though, I fucked a girl not too long ago there. Just saying.”

Your features scrunch up and you sit on the floor.

“I hope you know you actually have to clean up after yourself when you do the deed, hamster.”

You’re unzipping your backpack as he continues to talk, “Well, of course I do! I can’t just fuck ‘em and then lay in that. God, I’m so good apparently. At least that’s what they say.”

Perhaps one can see why Kihyun’s the last person you would want to work with.

The idea of working with him makes you glower already.

He’s irritating, cocky, smug, and worst of all, too self-assured for his own good. Given, he is attractive, that makes the whole matter even worse. It’s one thing to be attractive and another to know you’re attractive, and he seems to take it up a few notches. To you, he’s only respectable in the fact that he’s actually smart, considerably intellectual if he didn’t shut up about himself or how attractive he is or how easily he gets girls and all that nonesuch. Not that you care or anything, but you don’t ever remember seeing him with a girl, and him talking to Jisoo most certainly didn’t count. So what metaphorical girls was he blabbering on about?   

When you look at him in disbelief, he actually looks somewhat taken aback.

“What you don’t believe me? Just last week I was with someone, almost did it on the floor you’re sitting on so count yourself lucky.”

He has a crooked smile on his lips, his cheekbones slightly visible, but nonetheless he appears dead serious and even enjoying making you more and more irritable as he continues to talk about his stupid imaginary sex partners.

“Y’know, Yoo, I didn’t come here for a recap on your sex life. Why don’t we get to this project so we can be out of each other’s hairs already?” You ask, breaking eye contact with him to grab your history binder and flip it out to the loose leaf pages to scribble down any necessary notes for your presentation.

“L/N,” Your eye actually twitches at the way he says it. “If you were getting uncomfortable with the way I’m talking about it, then you could’ve just said so.”

“Whatever,” You mutter.

He adds, “If you’re jealous, you could just say so.”

You look up, ready to aim your best glare when he turns away to grab his binder and notes. You mutter again, “Shut up, hamster.”

“What was that?” He asks, turning toward you with eyes that say innocent but scream devilry.

You smile, speaking somewhat stiffly, “I said what did you want to do for the presentation?”

Your eyes narrow at the sight of his reddened ears.

What’s he hiding?

At some point he moved over to the floor when you both grew tired of calling one another over to check out new pieces of evidence, and even that might’ve proven to be a problem.

You’ve been scrawling down notes since he found a bunch of facts in the textbook about the rise of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The topic itself is dense, but nonetheless, it’s one that you both agreed on after a good twenty minutes in trying to decide. You admit that it’s probably the first and only time this will happen, but you make no promises. You both still have to come up with the presentation style, and you’re certainly not looking forward to seeing him again this week.

When his phone begins to rings, he pauses to glance at you. “Sorry, might be one of ‘em. Probably gotta let her down easy, y’know?”

You roll your eyes, “Yeah, yeah hamster. Have fun with your imaginary lover or whatever.”

He’s out of the room before he probably hears the rest of what you said, but you find no reason to care. It isn’t like he’s yours to get upset over, not that you are, so the only reason for your irritation is his constant mentioning of it like you actually care. You aren’t Jooheon or Jackson. Hell, he can go share his egotistical stories with Jungkook for all you care, just as long as he leaves you out of it and lets you work on your portion of the project in peace.

When he returns, ready to open his mouth about whatever the conversation was about, you stop him in his tracks with a glare and one index finger.

“If it’s about your ‘girl’ then please stop right there. I don’t care to hear about all your fake lovers and sex-capades, Yoo. Now sit down, shut up, and get to work.”

His cheekbones become prominent with the smile he’s trying not to make obvious and you actually hear a snicker fall past his lips before he manages to sit and not shut up and get to work like you asked.  

“You say you aren’t jealous, but you sound awfully jealous, L/N.” His tone sounds awfully smug, like he knows more than you do about the matter of your own feelings, which really pisses you off.

“Of what exactly?” You look up, halting your pencil to meet his eyes with a scrutinized glare. “What could I possibly be jealous of that you seem to be aware of, hm?”

He lets out a soft hum, that stupid smile still on his lips, “Well, I get it if you’re jealous of those girls I’ve been talking about. I mean look at me, and god, if you heard them talking about how good I was then you’d probably wish you were them. A little jealousy is healthy once in awhile, y’know? So, don’t be afraid to admit to that.”

A little jealousy is healthy once in awhile? This cocky brat...

You let out a breathy laugh, nodding your head. “Right. ‘Cuz you definitely get girls when no one’s probably seen you talk to another girl since me? Or Jisoo? Hell, even Mrs. Fern. But I hardly think just talking to a girl constitutes as fucking them, hamster. If you’re just making them up, then just know that staying true to yourself is a very important way of life. I get that a little white lie is healthy once in awhile, but don’t get delusional.”

He stares at you with a mix of surprise, amusement, and what actually resembles embarrassment. You decide not to comment on it, opting to wait it out and see what he has to say in response.

He’s quick, but it’s obviously weak. Even his ears seem to appear more and more red.

“I- um. I’m not lying.” He says with emphasis. “I am good in bed. And I have slept with girls, thank you very much. Hell, I’m even a good kisser too. ”

You nod, feigning actual belief, but he’s probably smart enough to catch onto its underlying sarcasm.

“They even say I’m the best they ever had! So really the fact that you’ve gone this far to say that I’m lying kinda -well, really- shows how jealous you must be.” He adds, his lips attempt to form its usual smirk, but at this point, it seems all too forced and way too off to be his notorious one.

You have to admit that this small argument has your heart racing, a mild dose of adrenaline seems to course through your veins so quickly, you don’t even register what you’re saying until it leaves your mouth.

“If you’re so good, then prove it.”

He blanches, blinking several times, “What?”

Any any normal day you probably would’ve screamed at yourself for this sudden spike in bravery, but this isn’t any normal day apparently. Here you are, challenging him to put what he says to the test, and to be perfectly honest, you’re completely okay with either decision he makes for whatever reason

“You heard me.” You say, meeting his eyes with expectancy. “Prove it.”

You’re sitting cross-legged before him, a few textbooks jumbled in between, but still an arm’s length away. At this position, you’re able to get a good look of him. Your eyes sweep over him, trying to identify any telltale of ridicule or even scorn but there’s nothing of the sort. His eyes have softened albeit are riddled with anxiety and actual uncertainty, his ears appear redder than ever, and his body has now tensed up. For whatever reason, he’s actually appears defensive and nervous.

He still continues to make no moves to prove you wrong so you shrug with a smirk curving on your lips, eyes melding into one of your own brand of smugness.

“I knew it. I knew you were all talk. Now let’s get back to work so stop being such a cocky douchebag. Hell, don’t even worry a hair off your hamster head I won’t spill your virginal secret to all your little friends.”

You end your statement on a wink, turning back toward your notes, ready to finish off on your previous note until you hear his voice one more time.

“How can you doubt my sex capability when you’ve never a) had sex with me and b) talked to anyone that I’ve done it with?” You look over at him, halting your ministrations once more, to see how visibly torn he looks. There’s hesitance in that split second before it melts into determination. “Fuck it, you want to get proven that badly then fine.”

His hands plop down atop of the textbooks laid out in front of you and he leans in to meet your lips in a rather rough kiss.

Your initial shock, like holy shit, he really did it, wears off the moment your brain begins to register the small jolt of pain from his teeth clashing with yours and the feeling of saliva reaching a corner of your lip. A part of you certainly hoped for this to happen, and it’s that part that takes up a huge percentage of your body functionality that gets you kissing him back, hands touching each side of his cheeks.

It’s deniable just how much you’ve felt your whole body heat up because of him, usually from a rush of adrenaline and from actual anger, but you know deep down that beyond your sharp words you see him fondly. Otherwise you wouldn’t have offered what you did, and you certainly wouldn’t be sitting on the bed, waiting for his lips to find purchase on yours as he fumbles with his belt buckle.

You swat his hands away, allowing his tongue to roam the crevices of your mouth as you undo the metal contraption and unbuttons his jeans, letting him do the rest of the work. Your hand grazes his clothed member, a shudder convulsing his body and and a moan passing his lips into your mouth. You smirk against his lips, allowing him break away for a moment to shimmy off the denim material and return back to you.

He coaxes you onto the bed, pushing you onto the plush material before allowing his body to press against yours. His lips meeting yours with the same fervor. Your head is spinning from the ministrations, but one thing you want to hear is his moan once again. The moan is rather loud but it’s so guttural and so him it has you aching between your thighs at the very thought. So your hands are no longer resting on his shoulders, rather they make their way down his lean torso, slipping past his T-shirt, to his waist and hover between his clothed member and your own clothed heat.

You make quick notions to press your palm against his already hardening tent, smirking once again once your hear his moans fill your ears. You press a little harder just to hear him once again, even grabbing hold of his shaft at one point to see what other kind of reaction you can get out of him. He’s still moaning, the vibrations reverberate against your tongue and your jawline, and he even bucks his hips when your touch feels too light.

The mix between the sound of his moans and the feeling of his him atop of you send you in a wild heated flurry, and you’re ready to tell him to move so you can remove your shorts until you move your hand to reach for the button.

His moans and kisses came to a screeching halt. In its place are soft whining sounds of “Please,” “I need you,” and “Fuck” all melded into a small string that sends you grappling into a moment of dominance. You push him off of you, and the sounds of his whines increase even while he’s on his back and you’re hover over him, pressing a kiss to his lips and making your way down his torso and over his boxers.

You’re nestled between his legs, yours hands already reaching for his boxers when his suddenly sits up and you look up at him with confusion.

The look on his face is enough. His cheeks are bright red, his eyes are frantically searching yours for an answer, and his body seems to be quivering underneath your touch.

“Wh-what are you doing?” He asks, his lips more prominent now that he’s confused as ever.

You smile over at him, touching the bare skin of his arms, watching as gooseflesh rise in the places you’ve ghosted. His cheeks are still red and ever, and he actually appears nervous as hell with you right there. You try to appease him with a simple touch of his cheek, but even to that he seems to shudder, his skin growing more and more hot.

It sets something off in you. To see him like this, a complete and utter mess without so much as snarky remark falling past his lips but rather these innocent questions that only elicits a hotter fire burning in your core.

Let’s give the brat something to remember then. You suddenly think, and you can’t control yourself when you lean up and your lips against his in a hard and fervid kiss.

You push him back down onto the bed and whisper one phrase:

“Tell me if you want me to stop, okay?”

He nods, watching you with interest as he lays back against his pillow.

Without another word, you are back to where you started before he was asking you questions and looking so damn innocent and confused, and you’re quick to pull down the material, allowing his well-sized member to spring free off its confines to hit the end of his clothed torso with a muffled thump.

You grab the base, only continuing when you hear the moan that leans his lips and giving it a few good pumps in response. Your lips press against the tip licking away the pre-cum that coats the tip, the satisfying sound parts his lips and his body seems to convulse in response. You immediately begin to make work of the rest of his member, your tongue exploring each inch of it before your mouth is back at the tip and taking the whole thing in.

He lets out a deep, guttural, “Fuck,” before his hand is suddenly at the back of your hair, tugging on the strands. This elicits a moan of your own at the tug which incites a new wave of pleasure to course through Kihyun’s body. “That feels so good, pretty girl.”

You hollow out your cheeks, continuing to bob your head up and down now at a more faster pace. His hand tightens around your hair at the change in pace, and you actually taste a little more of his pre-cum before you start to slow down once more just to see what will happen.

He’s whining again.

“Faster, please. Fuck, you feel so good on my dick. Your t-tongue… it feels so nice.”

You look up at him, mouth slowly moving from his cock.

“Hm? What was that, brat?” You smile as his whining gets louder.

“Please, pretty girl. I need more.”

“Need more what?” You ask simply, feeling his hips buck beneath you. “You have to tell me, Kihyunie or I won’t know what to do to make you feel so good…”

Before he can speak, you continue, “Should I have your cock in my mouth? Should I kiss you again? Do you want to feel me against you, bare and ready to take you in? Tell me what you’d like, baby.”

“I- uh- I…” He looks at you, his eyes raking over your clothed figure, still hovering over his aching member. He seems so lost, but you can help but watch as he helplessly tries to decide between the options you’ve presented to him.

You giggle, tilting your head at him. Your fingertips trace a random pattern on his legs.

“You have to tell me, I’m getting quite impatient waiting~”

“I want you.” He answers simply, hand loosening your locks. “I want to feel you. Inside you.”

The air shifts ever-so-slightly. The way he says this gets you convulsing with anticipation, and so you rise from your spot, resting on your knees as you remove your T-shirt, hopping away from the bed to shimmy out of your shorts.

You raise a brow at him, “Are you sure this is what you want?”

He nods, “I want you. Fuck, I’ve wanted you for the past three years, Y/N. After a taste, I need more. Please. Please. Please.”

You can’t deny your own surprise at his words, feeling as though this was an explanation to his nerves and recent behavior, but you still can’t deny just how much you’ve wanted him. The way he gets your heart racing even when he’s not around, how much you often look forward to seeing him or hearing his next snippy remark… it fuels you, really.

You decide to acquiesce, pulling down your underwear and unclipping your bra before coming back to the bed. He stares at you in awe. His eyes now taking in your bare form with eyes of interest and absolute adoration, beneath the niceties you can pick up on the lust, the darkening aura clouding over his obsidian hues as he reaches for you.

“So… fucking… beautiful… holy shit.”

You climb atop of his, pushing up the hem of his T-shirt. The white material bars you from seeing his bare form.

“It’s your turn,” You smirk shifting your weight away from him so he can rid himself of the cotton material alongside his boxers, both of which are tossed aside to the floor.

You’re about to climb atop his awaiting member when you raise a brow at him.

“Condom?”

He nods immediately, reaching at the nightstand, digging through the content until he opens the box and rips a packet open carefully. He slips it on, making sure it’s on correctly before you climb on top of him. This time you’re lining him with your entrance before slipping down, allowing him to fill you up before you turn to him and ask, “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah,” He answers, “Are you?”

His eyes search yours, looking for any signs of pain, but he comes up empty and you smile at the concern.

“Ready?” When you receive a nod, you begin rolling your hips, only moving at a steady pace to test the waters.

The notion is enough to get you breathing slower while he’s already coming undone with each roll of your hips. His moans have groan louder, and you feel so in control of every sound. You feel him buck his hips into yours with a particular amount of strength. Just that is enough to get a small moan to pass your lips. He bucks again, earning himself another guttural sound.  

You eventually take control, rolling your hips faster and faster so the sound of your skin slapping together fills the air amongst the throaty moans passing each of your lips. He’s taken hold of your hips, gripping them tightly and making sure you don’t topple over.

“Fuck, you feel like you’re getting tighter,” He mutters, his breath still trying to catch up with the rest of his body. “You feel so good, baby.”

“Do you want to come, Kihyunie?” You ask, hands roaming his chest that feels and appears toned and lean. “Should I let you?”

He pouts, his breathing leaving him after a particular smack, “I’ve been good. Won’t you let me, pretty girl?”

You tap your chin, leaning down to press your lips against his. “Perhaps I’ll let you come with you on top. Just show me how much you want it, baby boy.”

Kihyun’s eyes widen for a moment before the dark, innate lust overtakes him and he’s flipping you two over, allowing you to be pressed against his chest. His lips catch yours in a harsh kiss, his lips trailing down your jawline before creating an array of marks over your breasts. Small little bites marks around the skin matched with a few purplish bruises. He kisses them while fumbling to line himself properly back into you.

The first thrust earns some coaxing from you.

“C’mon baby boy. I can take something rougher than that. You’re doing well… keep going…”

He listens, ramming his hips against yours with more strength this time. When you relinquish a breathy moan, his name falling past your lips, he can’t help but continue his ministrations at the same pace.

“Yeah, like that, baby boy. Keep going,” You say, reach up to kiss his lips. “Let go whenever you’re ready.”

This encourages him, and he can’t seem to stop as his pace slowly increases.

You know you’re close, you feel the coil in your gut and you instruct him to press his thumb against your clit, guiding his fingertip against the sensitive area. It isn’t long until you are soon growing more and more vocal -much like he does- before finally feeling the blinding white sensation wash over you, inducing convulsions and your high already getting ridden out as soon as he reaches his right after.

He nearly collapses on top of you, the perspiration forming on both of your foreheads. He presses his lips against your forehead, rising to probably dispose of the condom and return to pull on his boxers. You pulled on your panties and grabbed your T-shirt, laying atop of his bed and releasing a deep sigh.

A soft smile perches on his lips, he plops down onto the bed beside you.

“Someone looks happy,” You comment, matching his with a tired half-smile.

“Well, I finally got to do something that I’ve been meaning to do for a while now… so yeah.” He answers, turning his body toward you.

You do the same. “What? Have sex or get with me?”

His cheeks grow pink as he says, “Both...”

Your eyes widen, “Really? You’ve never had sex?”

He shakes his head, “I never thought it’d be with you either, so that was a double whammy too.”

“Did you mean what you said earlier?”

“I want you. Fuck, I’ve wanted you for the past three years, Y/N. After a taste, I need more. Please. Please. Please.”

He nods, “Yes. Yeah. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.”

You roll your eyes, “Ever the snarky one, brat.”

“Always.”

Your hand lays between the two of you, his do the same. You soon feel it begin to brush against yours.

After a moment of silence, you raise a brow at him as he eyes them bundles. “If you want to hold it, go ahead. I won’t stop you.”

He meets your eyes once more with surprise, “Really?”

“I wouldn’t have done anything with you if I didn’t feel the same way, dummy.”

It takes a moment for everything to register, but when it does you can’t deny the elation that flashes across your heart to see the happiness on his features. You return his smile, feeling your heart swell despite how unreal everything feels. It’s funny how easily things can change, but you’re not as opposed to getting partnered up with him if it meant all that.

“So…” He says after a while, instead of facing one another, you’re in his arms. His chest pressed against your back and fingers all interlocked together. “Was I as good as I said?”

You turn your head toward him in disbelief, eyes slightly narrowed.

“I’d say it doesn’t count considering I was your first, brat.”

He looks at you incredulously. “But was I good?”

“Don’t ruin this moment, hamster.” You turn away once again.

“Just answer the question.” He whines, trying to move his visage into your line of vision.

When you squirm, he presses his fingertips against your sides and you try your hardest not to burst into fits of laughter though this is a fruitless battle.

“S-stop i-it, you p-punk!” You say between giggles.

“Answer the question, Y/N! I need to know.” He’s enjoying your incapacitated state way more than he should, and as much as you want to smack that look of of him, you relent.

“Fine, fine! You were okay? Kinda shit at the first kiss, but you did pretty well for a beginner.” You answer, swatting away his hands and sitting up. “And anyway, there’ll be more time for improvement.”

He looks at you with a raised brow, “Really?”

“Well, that depends on if someone asks me on a proper date instead of making me doing everything.”

Kihyun takes that moment to smile, one without the traces of his stupid smug cockiness, eyes bright with happiness and relief and asks, “Y/N, will you go out on a date with me? Preferably Friday night.”

You tap your chin for a moment and nod, pressing your lips to his before slipping off the bed and shimmying your shorts onto your legs as well as your bra.

“Now c’mon, hamster. We have a project to finish or we won’t be going anywhere on Friday.”