#my blocking finger is braced and ready for action bc if i put in the time and effort im gonna main tag it

[squaretablehold]

My essay is (mostly) finished, I am moved back home, and it's five am so I have to go to sleep cause my circadian rhythm is shot to all hell, but tomorrow I return!

Shit I wanna do so yall should pester me about it: Write up my meta about Unalloyed Gold being a textile not a metal, write up what I think happened to Miq and Mal's shadows cause I'm absolutely convinced I've figured it out, write some starters maybe, ponder a workshop on character bleed and boundaries (putting my game design degree to work lmaooo), set up a thread tracker, update my verses pages, and maybe even figure out wtf is going on anymore.

[seventeenbiscuits]

Friendly(?) Banter (Minghao Imagine)

Word Count: 1909 omg no how

Genre: FLUUFFFFF

A/N: slipped into the “my bias wrecker is minghao” phase bc of this damn fic

“Oi Minghao, get out of my way.”

“Maybe you just need to slim down, Y/N.”

You summon the most pissed off look you can muster, and shove your most favourite person in this world to the side before storming to the back of the bus.

He doesn’t thud satisfyingly to the ground, to your dismay, and instead catches himself and aims a low kick at your heels.

“Are you a little dog, Minghao? Is that why you need to nip my heels?” you retort, pushing your bag onto a seat and pulling out your earphones to block the irritating boy out. Unfortunately, the cord is tangled with almost everything in your backpack: your hair ties, strips of paper, pieces of your soul, the body of your latest murder victim…

You grin. Just kidding, you reassure yourself.

As you feel like you’ve finally untangled the earphones, someone plunks down next to you and tugs at your hair.

Rolling your eyes, you don’t even need to turn your head to know who it is.

“Get away from me, idiot,” you hiss, messing up his perfectly styled hair and shuffling as far away as you can get from him.

He mimics your voice, pulling a stupid face as he does, and you’re ready to punch him so hard that he’ll fly out of the bus, over to the moon and land on a crater and stay there forever.

You stuff your earphones into your ear and crank up your music as high as you dare. Minghao’s lips are moving with a smirk on his face, but you’ve got no idea what he’s saying. It’s music to your ears.

“Good morning, old man,” you grin with a quick ruffle of MInghao’s hair. “I see you still haven’t stopped dying your hair, or is that just your natural grey hair showing?”

He pokes his tongue out at you. You do the same.

“If I’m old, then what are you,, Y/N?” he retorts with a cheeky smile as he tags on the bus. “Ancient? Where can I find your fossil?”

With a grumpy sigh, you wait for him to find a seat before you pick one far, far away from him.

Tugging out your earphones like you do every day, it's a wonder how they don’t yank out all your possessions as you pull them out of your pocket. You plug them and put your music on shuffle. The bus starts, and you stare out of the window at the passing trees and cars.

A loud thud catches your attention. Minghao’s bag is on the floor, and he’s desperately trying to reach it but it just keeps sliding further down the bus. He looks so comical, arms and legs outstretched, trying to conserve his pride while his backpack just runs away from him. You giggle, and feel just a little bit sorry for him when you see how embarrassed he is.

As the bus continues on it’s journey, more and more people begin to fill up the bus. At this stop, an elderly couple and a couple school kids board the bus. You frown intently at the rowdy group of kids as they shove and push each other on the bus. Thankfully, they move to the back of the bus, leaving space for other people to stand.

Your eyes flit to Minghao, who’s offering his seat to the elderly couple. “Would you like to sit here?” he offers with a charming smile. He pushes his newly dyed, soft and silky lilac hair back and gets up in one fluid motion, standing to the side as the old man helps his wife into the seat. At his dashing smile and sweet act of compassion, your weak heart skips a beat.

“Thank you, young man,” the aged man says gratefully. Minghao dismisses it with a grin and a salute. He catches your gaze upon him and winks.

Your heart, beating painfully fast, starts palpating faster than Usain Bolt can run.

Whyyyy, you cry silently. Why is he just so damn attractive?

As Playboy by EXO graces your ears, you internally shriek at this unfair situation.

Ok, so in high school, he was always the one who got all the girls. Everyone wanted to date him, you groan. And now, he hasn’t changed one single bit!

Except maybe he got even more handsome, if that’s possible, you frown. And it’s like every time I want to tell him “You look nice”, instead I say something stupid like “Ew you look old”.

The automated voice on the bus announces with an almost sarcastic voice, “This stop, Botanical Gardens. Alight here for direct bus services to the National University of Performing Arts.”

Minghao, I’m expressing my undying love for you by bullying you, I hope you understand.

You get up with a sigh, brace yourself for the swarm of girls waiting at the bus stop for Minghao the playboy, and with a forced smile on your face, you dive right into your day headfirst. Today you have a packed schedule and rehearsals between classes, after classes, and a ton of choreography to learn, and you really don’t know what you’re doing.

By the time you get to the bus stop after your exhausting day, it’s dark out and the stars are winking back at you amongst the rich wine of the summer night. The moon is round and full, silver like Minghao’s hair. You let your mind wander to your rehearsal in the dance studio, watching him dance was so distracting. Every movement he did was so sharp and precisely executed with a passion and feel that you could never hope to achieve. All the little things about him made you swoon just a little, from his gorgeous hair to his flushed cheeks, pink lips and-

An electrocuting feeling races down your back and brings you back to reality as you sense someone’s presence behind you. They are wearing a long black hoodie and you can see the malicious glint in their eyes. Fear curls icy fingers around your neck, and dread writhes in your stomach. This person does not mean well.

They are tall, too tall to be anyone you know. Before you can sprint off or reach for your phone, a muscular arm wraps around your shoulders and a rough hand squeezes the sides of your face together. You choke on the combined stench of cheap cologne and cigarette smoke.

“It’s a little too late for outside to be someone like you…” purrs the man in your ear.

Despite the disastrous situation you’re in, you can’t help but laugh at the stupid attacker’s mixup with his words.

“I think you should practice your cliche “creepy harasser” lines before you go and prey on people,” you snigger, forcefully lifting his arm off your shoulders and removing his hand from your face. You pat the stunned man on his back, and slap a 5 dollar note on his hand.

“Go buy yourself a better life,” you beam innocently, before lifting your knee to land a hit where it hurts the most on him.

He crumples pathetically on the floor, and you feel just a tiny bit bad, but he really should’ve thought things out before he went and put his arms around you.

“Y/N!”

The sound of running feet attracts your attention, and as you turn, two hands grip the sides of your shoulders.

You instinctively grab the wrists of the person who just grabbed you, and you twist them, your nerves tighter than your skinny jeans after eating a whole bowl of mashed potatoes.

With a shock, you realise that you’re twisting the wrists of a very pained Xu Minghao.

“Please let go of my wrists,” he croaks, face contorted in pain.

You let him go with a startled and genuinely worried “I’m so sorry” and as soon as you do, he resumes his previous action before you interrupted by bending his wrists.

He grips the sides of your shoulders and with concern embedded in the warm orbs of his brown eyes, he examines your face, tilting you this way and that.

“Are you alright? I saw that guy grab you, so I ran as fast as I could!”

You grin. “I’m fine, but you run really slow…”

He drops his arms and puts them on his waist. “Hey, I stopped because I saw you knee him,” he protests, pushing his hand through his hair.

Oh no, you think. Not the hair, not again…

Your heart takes off again, and you can just imagine tangling your hands in his hair, tugging on it for fun, holding his hand…

“Holding his hand??” you accidentally blurt out loud.

Minghao grunts in confusion. “Holding who’s hand?” he asks, and all traces off tough boy Minghao have disappeared, his head cocked to the side like a little puppy dog. If you concentrate hard enough, you could see something glint in his brown eyes, something that feels a lot like jealousy…

“Y/N?” he calls, waving his hand in front of your eyes.

Uh oh.

“Um… um… holding… your… hand?” you try, your racing heart speaking instead of your brain, which is panicking because for the love of everything in this world, he looks so innocent and adorable and you just cannot.

When those words leave your mouth, you’re ready to just die. Your face is burning and you can feel your hands getting sweaty.

He smirks, and you remember why all the girls fell for him and his stupid heart fluttering moves in high school. With a deliberate motion, he plants both his hands firmly on the glass wall behind you, trapping you between his arms.

Uh oh.

His eyes crinkle with amused confidence, and he brings his face so close that just a little push would be enough for him to kiss you.

You panic just a little bit, and blink as fast as you can to maybe deter him from coming any closer.

Uh oh. You repeat mentally, and your brain suddenly floods with unadvisable courses of action. He’s going to kiss you, turn your head! Knee him! Throw your bag at him! Slap him! Tell him to leave! Nuke h-

In the time while you were internally carrying out your bad excuses for escape plans, he had leant forward and ever so gently brushed your lips with his.

Everything falls away. The beating of your heart and the rush of your blood hits a perfect ostinato, the bass line of his breathing and yours synchronise with the lilting melody of pure joy erupting in your heart and the notes of lightheadedness in your head. The symphony of utter happiness envelopes you, and everything feels so right, so flawless that you wonder how you lived without it.

Minghao pulls away from the kiss, eyes sparkling and a dopey grin on his face. You’re sure that your expression mirrors his, because he beams brighter than you thought was possible. He squeezes you into a tight hug and you bury your head into his chest, loving the feel of his arms around you. It feels safe.

“You don’t know how long I wanted to do that for.”

“Neither, you dork.”

Thanks for reading!